Review by Jacob Licklider

The Seventh Doctor Adventures of 2022 were split between two TARDIS teams and it seems 2023 will be following this format, the second set being the first installment of The Last Day which was announced in the original pitch announcement for Big Finish Productions’ move to the box set model, but the first of the year continues the companion threads of Sullivan and Cross – AWOL with Far from Home.  Now, social media has made several Spider-Man jokes but I actually haven’t kept up with the MCU so insert topical Spider-Man reference here, but Far from Home is the set that wants to take Harry and Naomi away from their second status quo of 21^st century London and into a past that is a very prominent shadow for both of them and into the far-flung future.  The structure of the set follows Conflicts of Interest by giving the listener two three-part stories to enjoy and once again I cannot praise Big Finish enough for going with this model, it’s a far more sustainable model for storytelling than a reliance on one hour Doctor Who stories as the short runtime often leads to overstuffing and an underbaked exploration of the idea.  With three-part stories, especially on audio where the standard length of an episode is 30 minutes instead of just the classic 25 minute format, writers can push their one-hour ideas to what they need to be without needing tot do a larger story that would suit the four-part format.

Operation Dusk is honestly a perfect example of the three-part format working to its fullest extent.  This is the story that was pitched as the eye-catcher to fans, bringing in a recognisable villain in the Vashta Nerada to grab the discerning fan, but Alfie Shaw realises that the Vashta Nerada need to have an actual purpose in the story.  Big Finish have used them twice before, both tying them into the Time War, but Operation Dusk is a story where the Vashta Nerada become only one alien party in a story of many.  Set during the London Blitz, Shaw’s opening is great at catapulting the Doctor, Harry, and Naomi into the action, they’ve had correspondence with the War Office about a mysterious death where a woman, potentially a spy, was killed in an explosion but her bones have been picked clean.  This is only the beginning as the conspiracy goes far deeper into the British government and the Vashta Nerada.  Shaw makes the utterly brilliant move of making the Vashta Nerada the innocent bystanders in Operation Dusk, they are not invading the Earth as they were here already and what is making them begin to feed on humanity is something far more sinister.  Each of the three-parts reveals another layer of the mystery split between two fantastic cliffhangers as the story takes on the shape of a political thriller with the Doctor at the centre of it.  Sylvester McCoy is wonderful as the Doctor here, being not quite one step ahead but always shifting his feet while still looking for the least violent outcome before unravelling who is just at the bottom of this conspiracy.   Shaw also takes time in the first episode to begin exploring how Harry and Naomi are feeling traveling with a new Doctor, Eleanor Crooks has a wonderful scene where Naomi reflects on where her home actually is now as a person of colour from the 1970s sent forward to the 2020s where progress had been made.  Harry’s part to play in all of this also leans heavier into his training as a surgeon and with UNIT, Christopher Naylor giving his best performance yet.  What especially elevates Operation Dusk are the final twists and interplay between the alien groups, the twists being predictable but perfect for what the story is doing leading to this being the best Seventh Doctor story we’ve had in a very long time.  10/10.

Naomi’s Ark is the other story in the set, set in the far future on a space ark, lamp-shading the similarities to The Ark in Space early on, but this coming so close to Doctor Who and the Ark.  Alison Winter’s script is actually far more interested in exploring what it means to be alive and to be human, focusing squarely on Naomi as a character as she is split on the Ark while the Doctor and Harry have a fun investigative side plot to try and rescue the ark.  The Doctor’s best moments are the sequence where he psychically links with Indra Ove’s Queen Maylee, but really this is Naomi’s story.  On the ark are a race of immortal children with no real sense of growing up which Winter uses to explore Naomi and her place in the universe, Eleanor Crooks giving her single best and defining performance as the character thus far.  Naomi as a character has slightly suffered due to Big Finish’s release schedule introducing audiences to her in the middle of her story with the UNIT Nemesis and Seventh Doctor Adventures appearances with her earliest stories only being released next year in 2024’s Fourth Doctor Adventures.  Naomi’s Ark also generally works by exploring what happens when an artificial intelligence gains sentience which is explored quite well through the three episodes without losing sight of this being a character piece, though perhaps there were one too many characters in places that bring things down ever so slightly.  9/10.

Overall, Far From Home is the best Seventh Doctor release of the last few years, both stories wrapping themselves around the theme, leaving the listener disappointed in the fact that the Seventh Doctor, Harry, and Naomi won’t have their story arc continue until at the earliest 2024, bar maybe an appearance in The Last Day.  It’s also just an incredibly strong release in general, focused squarely on exploring what defines this TARDIS team beyond the basic displaced companions story.  9.5/10.

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Review: Seventh Doctor Adventures – Sullivan And Cross AWOL

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