In Review: Big Finish: Doctor Who: The Second Doctor Adventures: The Haunted Windmill

Synopsis: The Second Doctor and friends return!

To escape the Time Lords, the Doctor, Jamie, Zoe and Raven take a desperate gamble. They jump to planet Earth, in 1963.

However, this is not the Earth as the Doctor knew it. This is the world as it would have been if he’d never, ever landed there at all. 

It’s an Earth free of his influence. It’s an Earth in which old friends are strangely changed.

If he tries to save this Earth, or escape it, the Time Lords will find him. Consequently, he remains hidden away in a haunted windmill. 

On the edge of a marsh, all he can do is observe. But the monsters are coming.

Review: Doctor Who: The Second Doctor Adventures: The Haunted Windmill took the storytelling in a delightfully off-kilter direction. The resulting box set was a literary and lyrical treat.

Story

Writer Alan Barnes mixed Lewis Carroll’s stories of Alice with PJ Hammond’s Sapphire and Steel. Additionally, he added elements from the Third Doctor’s era for dramatic irony.

“The Haunted Windmill” was an excellent first episode for this new arc. I loved the world building Barnes used to establish this alternate Earth.

I also really appreciated how he dealt with the Doctor’s established companions in the story. Moreover, I’m thoroughly invested in Lucius and Bertie.

As for the plot, Barnes gave listeners the most effective use of a book in Doctor Who since ‘Shada.” He also appealed to computer history geeks with a nod to Charles Babbage’s Difference Engine.

“The Crystal Ship” offered a marvelous showcase for one of the Second Doctor’s baddies and one of the Third Doctor’s companions. Indeed, Liz Shaw proved to be invaluable in yet another alternate reality.

I also appreciated the world building behind Barnes’ use of the crystals. When the penny dropped, I realized how effectively he’d employed the jewels to increase suspense.

“The Hungry Glass” was Barnes deft mash-up of “The Power of the Daleks” and Alice Through the Looking Glass. I absolutely adored meeting this version of Victoria, and I can’t wait to hear how she develops.

As it turned out, one of my favorite elements of the story was that it will continue. Barnes didn’t neatly wrap up the narrative with this box set.

Victoria’s story will continue along with the others next year. Based on this, I’m hoping listeners get several more sets in this arc.

Acting

The entire cast was excellent. That said I must live kudos to three performers.

For their parts, Frazer Hines and Wendy Padbury were obviously having a blast playing alternate versions of Jamie and Zoe. I particularly liked Hines’ surprise performance in “The Hungry Glass.”

Though the supporting cast excelled, the soundscape belonged to Michael Troughton. Yet again, he managed to find the essence of his father’s performance, while still making the part his own.

Overall

Doctor Who: The Second Doctor Adventures: The Haunted Windmill held great promise. I can’t wait to hear how this new arc unfolds.

You can purchase Doctor Who: The Second Doctor Adventures: The Haunted Windmill here.