Doctor Who Review - "Shadow of Death"
rating: 4.5
I've often said that my favorite Companion Chronicle stories are ones that feature Frazier Hines playing Jamie because he also plays the Second Doctor, and does such an excellent job. Thankfully this second entry in the Destiny of the Doctors series features Hines doing just that, and its every bit as wonderful as Id expected! We begin with the Doctor, Jamie and Zoe arriving at a mysterious planet near a pulsar. There they find a small research outpost. Yes, its basically another base under siege story. The scientists are there to research a civilization that had existed on the planet and had disappeared. Of course theres also sinister goings on and deaths start happening and timey wimey stuff begins to occur. So pretty much just a normal Tuesday for the Doctor. While this is a fairly basic and pedestrian story, it was well-executed. Simon Gurrier proves yet again that hes one of the best writers for the early Doctors, and of course Hines is every bit as excellent as usual. Supporting actress Evie Dawnay turns in a decent, if not terribly memorable, performance as well So a very basic story. Well-executed, but nothing special on its face. But what makes this more special than usual is that the Big Finish team are able to use elements from the new series mixed in with the old. So therefore its not a huge surprise when the psychic paper turns up, though what happens next is a major surprise, and one I wont spoil for you here! The one and only disappointment that I have is that Im not sure how this is going to tie in with the larger epic picture. Theres no hint of a connection that I could spy with the First Doctor story, and as I write this, Ive already listened to the Third Doctor story, and I dont feel any connection there, either. Still, its possible that may be coming later. If theres one thing that Ive learned from listening to so many of the audio stories, its that Big Finish is excellent at planting seeds that dont sprout fruit until much, much later (over ten years in at least one case), so waiting to see how all this blends is fine with me. Would I recommend listening to just this story? Not really. Look, its dead cheap if you buy it on download, as is the First Doctor story. Just buy them both and listen to them both. You probably wont be disappointed. NEXT TIME: The Mike Yates origin story weve all wanted all these years!