I used to buy/listen to quite a few "Doctor Who" audios from Big Finish, mostly in my car during my daily commute to/from work, but the pandemic put the kibosh on that. My interest was primarily in the the Eighth Doctor, "my" Doctor. One way to save money was to "bundle" purchases together, which were often solicited months or even years before they were to be released. I thought my bundle orders were long since completed, but I received one completely unexpectedly over the weekend. Honestly, I don't even recall specifically which series this is a part of.
"The Doctor and his great-grandson Alex have been reunited amid the Time War. Splintered timelines drawn them ever closer to another fellow traveller. does Cass's destiny lie in the TARDIS? As the Time War rages, the Doctor enters uncharted territory--where the only 'friends' they meet might not be what they seem..."
- Nowhere Never
- The Road Untravelled
- Cass-Cade
- Borrow or Rob
Replies
NOWHERE NEVER: "Cass is lost. A suburban housewife counts the hours until her family returns, as a terrifying air raid rips through her calm. The Doctor and Alex are trapped: patients in a strange hospital run by a fearsome Matron. They were injured in a war, bit neither remember which war... All soon realize that time is not on their side."
This may not have been the best story for me to jump back in. For one thing, all the characters have amnesia. Normally I'd just go with that, processing the story from their point of view. But in this case, for example, I remember Cass, but I don't remember how she came to be travelling with the Doctor. And the last thing I remember about the Doctor's grandson (played by Paul McGann's actual son), is that yrots suoiverp a ni deid eh. Each floor tile of the hospital in which the Doctor and Alex awaken reresents a different dimension. As a character carries his medical chart across the room, it changes to reflect that reality: lost the use of his legs in one, gangrene in another, PTSD in a third. The prognosis in all of them, however, is identical: death. the Matron is a character who has appeared before, but not in any I have listened to (another point of confusion for me).
Cass exists in a sort of post-WWII England in which society tried to shove women back into their pre-WWII domestic rolls. "Neighbor" is a character who can change her identity to various people in the Doctor's life. One of the people whose identity she assumes is Helen Sinclair, and cast in the role is Hattie Morahan, who played Helen Sinclair. the episode ends on a cliffhanger so nothing is really resolved in this first episode.
THE ROAD UNTRAVELLED: "The Doctor, Alex and Cass find themselves on board a strange ship in an ever stranger environment. It's a place where friends might be enemies, or worse. Where even time cannot be relied upon. And something is out in the Void, following them. Their troubles are only just beginning..."
In this episode, Alex becomes separated from the Doctor and learns that he is not the original Alex, the one who died, but rather a reflection. A "reflection" is a sort of temporal duplicate, and the villain of the piece uses this knowledge to undermine Alex's faith in his grandfather. The Doctor, however, maintains that all "refelections" are, essentially, a being's "true" self. There is also some stuff about ancient TARDISes made of wood (a very special kind of wood). One of the characters claims to have been Cass's lover before she lost her memory. Stuff happens and the episode ends with Cass falling through a dimensional portal.
I have figured out where this set fits in continuity, why I was so confused, and why I had trouble placing it. First of all, this is the sixth set of the new EIGHTH DOCTOR ADVENTURES; second, I was so confused because I have not yet listened to sets three, four or five; third, not only did I have sets 3-5 filed on a different shelf from the other "Eighth Doctor" stories I have listened to, but also Tracy took set two on her last road trip and I neglected to reshelve it properly when she returned. I'm going to finish out this thread, then (someday, I hope) move the conversation back to the proper one. [Also, I have completely reformatted and re-indexed "The Eighth Doctor Adventures" thread after the switch to Ning 3.0.] Now on with...
CASS-CADE: "Cass is falling through the timestream of the universe, splintered in chronology. She encounters the Doctor and Alex again and again--but for the first time, every time. Cass must fight to center herself, fight for her existence, and fight for her friends to remember her."
That's a pretty decent capsule summary, to begin with. This is a "time loop" story, but one with a twist in that Cass keeps returning to the event (a space station plummeting into the sun) at random times in the timeline. At first, she has no memory of who she is, but she retains her memories of the various loops even though no one else does. She has to figure what is happening, why it is happening, who is responsible and how to prevent it. At first she doesn't even realize this is/these are the same event(s) because they are so random. Unkile the first two episodes in this set, I wasn't confused at all; a great "introduction" to Cass. All one really needs to know is that Cass is one of the Doctor's companions. Very entertaining, highly recommended.
Is this meant to be the same "Cass" that appears in "Night of the Doctor"? That "Cass" didn't seem to know him.
I found out just today (on the CD "extra") that yes, it is. Cass Fermazzi is played by Emma-Campbell-Jones, the same actress who played her in "Night of the Doctor." How to reconcile that Cass with this Cass I don't know. Last week I said, "I remember Cass, but I don't remember how she came to be travelling with the Doctor," but I must have been talking out of my arse. Cass's first "Big Finish" appearance was in the Time War 5 set (and I stopped collecting with TW4). I can see I've got some catching up to do.
...this is the sixth set of the new EIGHTH DOCTOR ADVENTURES
AND I just figured out this is NOT the sixth set of "Eighth Doctor Adventures," but rather the sixth set of "Eighth Doctor: Time War."
I feel a headache coming on. I'm going to go lie down.
For that matter, the Doctor didn't seem to nrecognize her, either. Oh, well, I'm sure that there'll be some wibbly-wobbly, timey-wimey, bullsh*tty-wullsh*tty answer eventually.
There probably already has been one. At this point I'll probably get that "Time War 5" set sooner rather than later.
Waitaminute. If this was part of a bundle order I made a few years ago (and it was), why didn't I get "Time War 5"? I'm so confused.
But I think I know. I checked my records.
The following bundle items will be sent when they become available:
- Doctor Who - The Eighth Doctor Adventures - 6 - Doctor Who: Time War 6: Title TBA
It is both "8th Doctor Adventures 6" and "Time War 6"! And it is also "Time War Uncharted 1."
Had me some errands to run today, so I listened to the fourth part of this set.
BORROW OR ROB: "The Doctor and his friends are traversing the Void, pursued by unknown forces--and their grip on reality is becoming ever more tenuous. As the enemy boards their ship, Alex and Cass edge closer to the truth. And the Doctor faces the consequences of this choices..."
Part 4 picks up (from the Doctor and Alex's POV) directly from the end of part 2, and I was right back to being confused again. "Borrow or Rob" refers to the state of the TARDIS, whether the Doctor borrowed it or stole it when he left Gallifrey. This set's villain has put it into Alex's mind that he is only the latest in a long line of Alex "reflections" that the doctor "goes through like matches." At one point the Lord President of Gallifrey is revealed to be a Sontaran (played by Dan Starkey). another one of the things that assumed the role of Helen Sinclair in part one assumes the role of C'rizz (one of the Eighth Doctor's earliest companions). And there is something about Cass experiencing multiple realities with the Doctor, all of which end in her death (which does not explain "Night of the Doctor"). At the end of the set, the Doctor, Alex and Cass are all separated. What I really need to do is go back and listen to the set I missed before going forward. I wish I had known about "Cass" before I ordered "Once and future." Those "per order" charges are going to eat me alive.
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