Big Finish Productions brings the Doctor Who: Once and Future audio saga to a close with Coda: The Final Act which stars Jo Martin and Jonathon Carley as the two secret surprising incarnations of the Doctor. Tim Foley wrote the script which was directed by Ken Bentley. Lisa Bowerman reprises her role as Professor Bernice Summerfield. Chase Masterson returns as the glamorous galactic bounty bunter Vienna Salvatori. Nicholas Khan, Richard Reed, and Imogen Stubbs round out the guest cast.
The War Doctor has little time to recover from the effects of a degeneration weapon that had him flitting between prior incarnations when he has to rejoin the fray known as the Time War. A mysterious stranger in a TARDIS attempts to intercept him, but the woman at the helm is a fugitive from a time in the Doctor’s life that he cannot remember. The War Doctor is gathering some unexpected allies, and an old friend is caught in the crossfire as well.
First of all, I am not one of the fans who was overly enthusiastic about the creation of the iteration known as the Fugitive Doctor who first appeared on the television series during Jodie Whittaker’s era. This audio episode hasn’t really changed my mind all that much. Jo Martin in that role is not the problem. I am just one of those old school fans who had no problem accepting that William Hartnell played the First Doctor, and no prior incarnations needed to be invented for the sake of racial diversity or whatever. I know the television producers spin this rather differently, but I believe then to be rather disingenuous.
Saying that, it’s not a bad episode, although it feels somewhat just tacked on. Martin is a talented performer, but I just don’t find her version of the Doctor all that interesting. I have come to enjoy the War Doctor series, although I was a little exasperated with this idea of a sudden secret incarnation of the Doctor which seemed to like just ab excuse to have John Hurt in the role. Carley does a masterful impression of Hurt, and the War Doctor series is actually rather compelling. Maybe I need to give the upcoming Fugitive Doctor a chance before I write her off completely.
Anyway, it was rather interesting when Carley and Martin do get together. There are some amusing moments whenever the pair finally figure out how they are being manipulated by some mysterious opponent.
Even if I am not too keen on some paths the television producers have chosen to take, Big Finish does manage to take the ball, run with it, and come up with a pretty good episode. Any time Bowerman is involved does guarantee a few laughs as well.
Anyway, I am glad that I got to hear the conclusion of this saga despite my reservations, and Foley is a decent and imaginative writer and definitely needs to stay on with Big Finish as a regular contributor. I may even be curious to give the Fugitive Doctor a more serious try when more of her stories are released, but that’s still in up in the air.
This release didn’t really fire me up with unrelenting enthusiasm, but neither did it really bother me as much as I feared.
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