Doctor Who Review - Destiny of the Doctors - "Hunters of Earth"
rating: 4
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So in case its escaped your notice, 2013 is the fiftieth anniversary of Doctor Who. To celebrate, the BBC are doingwell, a number of things. One of those things is a series of special audio stories (produced by Big Finish). These stories are being released each month, and each features a different Doctor and companion. For the First Doctor, we get Carol Anne Ford reprising her role as Susan, relating a story that takes place just before An Unearthly Child. As the story begins, Susan is learning how to live life among the humans. Shes attending school and dealing with many of the same issues human teenagers deal with, including an interest in a boy (Tam Williams). However just as she starts feeling her place among the humans, some of the begin to exhibit strange behaviors, most notably forming into mobs and attacking anyone who appears to be an outsider. Throughout all this, the Doctor, currently basically just hanging around and stealing things, is constantly telling Susan that they must avoid getting involved, and avoid humanity as much as possible. Hes very much the Doctor we see in An Unearthly Child; very much a vinegary sort of man who really doesnt seem to like anyone and is very paranoid. But when soon he finds himself and Susan both facing off against an angry mob, and he finally is forced to take action. There was much to enjoy with this story. Though it is only an hour long, it does a good job of setting the stage for events in the first episode of the series. Not only is the Doctor very much like he is in the first story, but Susans characterization seems spot-on as well. Its also worth noting that despite being produced some fifty years later, this story feels more like something from the 1960s than An Unearthly Child did. It was also nice that, due to their arrangement with the BBC and Audio Go, Big Finish were able to sneak in a few new series references here and there, though perhaps The Idiots Lantern wasnt the best choice to refer to. As for the plotline, wellit wasnt perfect. I liked the idea of emphasizing Susans nature as a stranger in a strange land, but it went a bit too over the top with the idea of there being people aware of her alien nature and trying to capture or kill her and the Doctor because of that. Also, I could have done without the completely non-subtle scenes with a Jewish immigrant. But that said, this is still worth hearing, and at only four dollars for the download version, its a good deal. Given the way it ends, its also very clear that it ties in with the other ten adventures were getting this year, so I suspect if for no other reason than continuity, this will be a good one to listen to.