The Fourth Doctor Adventures - The Abandoned

The point this review would normally start at is, in a somewhat mundane fashion, the beginning of the story. But in fact, it’s probably best to start with the rather well put together trailer, appearing at the end of the previous two episode excursion in the Fourth Doctor Adventures range, “Destroy The Infinite”. The trailer itself feels very reminiscent of the revived series, particularly feeling like something from the series 8, 12th Doctor pen of Steven Moffat. With supernatural elements appearing ubiquitously, along with dramatic music and a fairly anxious looking Doctor, the premise, such as it could be understood, looked promising.

The two episode adventure certainly lives up to this, with a production that twists and turns whilst keeping the number of visited locations to a minimum. Moreover, the linear plotline of most stories is replaced by a relative maze of possible angles, with the situation encountered by The Doctor and Leela, played with their usual flair and characteristic quirks by Baker and Jameson, remaining unresolved for a not unreasonable length of time. The use of references to past events and characters, as depicted in previous stories such as The Evil One are not without reason, woven into the tapestry that leads to the dramatic climax. The structure of the adventure could be seen as filmic in places, with the location shifts providing an impression of cause and effect between the actions of individuals or groups.

The most apt descriptions, subjective though they may be, for this story would probably be surreal and ground-breaking. The doctor and Leela’s dialogue, while at points seeming a little tense, conveys the slightly odd student-teacher dynamic well. Stephanie Cole’s Lady Marianna is at once chillingly unsympathetic and unrelenting, the latter trope also being present in the rather unnerving performances of Mandi Symonds, Andy Snowball and Jameson’s co-writer, Nigel Fairs. The score is well suited to the adventure, falling quiet when the need arises for tension and allowing the eerie atmosphere to settle in, complimenting the high quality production that most have come to expect from Big Finish’s various audio ranges. Leela’s part in the story is suitably larger than usual considering the doctor’s deteriorating mental state, as well as the fact that Jameson came up with the original idea and had a large part in the writing process. The additional references to elements like Block Transfer Computation gives opportunities for fans familiar with the classic, pre-revival era to try and spot the others laced throughout which, according to additional research, even include references to audio ranges outside of the Fourth Doctor Adventures.

All in all, while the story itself is very well crafted by Fares and Jameson and is an interesting and thought provoking performance by all members of the cast, it would most likely be confusing to new fans of the range or indeed of Doctor Who in general. This is due, in part, to the fact that the entirety of the adventure is an exception to the classic idea of Doctor Who stories, where the Time Lord is seen saving a planet from some alien race or other. The fact that other previous stories are referenced, if subliminally, also means that fans familiar with a wider portion of the canon will, in theory, be able to get more out of this than those hearing this as an initial entry into Doctor Who audios. This is a good adventure in spite of these minor points and I would urge anyone looking for something new and relatively abstract to give this one a listen if they are fans of the third season of The Fourth Doctor Adventures or the Big Finish ranges in general.