Doctor Who: Death Comes To Time

By: BBC

Narrated by: Full Cast, John Sessions, Sophie Aldred, Stephen Fry, Sylvester McCoy

'Even Time Lords die...' When a dissident Time Lord group inadvertently caused the destruction of an entire civilisation through interference, its members vowed to repent by serving the Universe not as gods of Time but as mere men. Many years later, this peaceful resolve is severely tested when two of their number are killed - and the Doctor's seventh incarnation becomes embroiled in the struggle against the apperently unstoppable General Tannis. Plagued by ominous portents, the Doctor and his companion Antimony must race across the Universe, taking in the Santine Republic, the Great Orion Nebula and the frozen heart of the Canisian Empire. Meanwhile the mysterious Minister of Chance battles his own inner demons, and former TARDIS traveller Ace finds herself in training for a destiny she never dreamed possible. Matters reach a terrible climax when Tannis' next target for subjugation is identified. Exactly how much is the Doctor prepared to sacrifice in order to save Earth? First webcast on BBCi and also featuring Jon Culshaw, Anthony Stewart Head and Jacqueline Pearce, Death Comes to Time is an original audio adventure uniting elements from the Doctor's past with bold and original ideas for his future.©2002 BBC Worldwide Ltd; (P)2002 BBC Worldwide Ltd

Great story

Of all the audio Doctor Who adventures, this is one of my favorites. (The other being Ghosts of N-Space.) I like this because of the twists and turns in the story. I like having Sophie Aldred and Sylvester McCoy being Ace and the Doctor. I especially like what happens to Ace. It would have been wonderful to see this on the television.

What could have been?

This is an original audio drama produced by the BBC in 2001 and broadcast online. There was talk at the time about continuing the Doctor's adventures in this format, so this could be seen as testing the waters on some level.

As a fan of the show, it is hard to be objective reviewing this radio drama as it does a fair bit of "re-imagining" of the premise of the show. The Time Lords are presented as "Gods of the Fourth", supremely powerful and unable to interfere with the machinations of the universe without destroying it (and given all the killing with a single word stuff, is paying homage to Frank Herbert's Dune).

We encounter a Doctor who has dealt with the issue of unpredictable companions by literally building his own, who of course is not aware of his own origins (which I admit leads to some lovely scenes when The Doctor has to deal with the loss of Antimony). TV companion Ace is back, voiced by the gorgeous Sophie Aldred, but now even she is something more than we remember and has a difficult path ahead of her as she moves away from The Doctor.

The plot follows the conquests of the brutal General Tanis, while the 7th Doctor is busy pulling strings behind the scenes to manipulate his downfall. The production becomes almost surreal at times with wonderful characters such as the "Minister of Chance" weaving themselves in and out of events. In coming to resolution, The Doctor is forced to make some very difficult decisions, some of which change the universe (and by extension, the nature of any adventures that might have followed in this canon).

Personally, I loved this drama and found the bizarre quality of the story and characters genuinely engaging. That being said, I can see how the story might be too confusing for someone not a fan, and ironically may put off the die-hard fan due to its rewriting of continuity.

Fans of the series who can deal with speculative treatments of the material may find a hidden gem here.

This is much better as a web story

It is had to follow without the imagery associated with the original web story. One does not get a sense of place, which is important in a complex story.

Classic Doctor Who... with a Twist

I'm not sure that I can recommend this for those who are new to Doctor Who because you have to know something about the lore to appreciate this story. But for those fans of the classic series, especially those who enjoy Sylvester McCoy's run... here's the thought for the day that will make you scratch your head:

Ace... in training to become a Time Lord.

Do I have your attention yet? This story is straight from the planned scripts that were in line to be made for the next season before the series got cancelled. Think of this as a peek behind the curtain into what might have been as part of the Cartmel Masterplan.

I was disappointed

I'm a Doctor Who fan, I watch the show from the Eccleston series, so I had my expectations. Actually I don't know what to make out of this product. It is not an audio book in a sense that someone is performing a story. It is several episodes of BBC audio production put together. It doesn't have a narrative at all. The whole story is pure dialogues between the characters. The sound effects are very good, which helps to understand what's happening. But often I don't know which character is speaking, it's difficult to recognise the voices, so it's difficult to follow the story.
I almost gave up listening, only the performance kept me going, the actors do their best.