Hogan Reviews

While only half done I think “The Last Day” might be a classic case of “careful what you wish for” because I complained that the Sixth Doctor’s audio-exclusive final adventure before his regeneration was rather flat and uneventful but here the Seventh Doctor’s audio-exclusive final adventure is so over-stuffed with characters, continuity and episodes that it’s so far pretty poor, I have to say. I mean I know I’m technically judging half a story but boy if this half is the set up I don’t have a lot of faith in the second half having a good pay-off given just how many characters and storyline strings are going on… Let’s take a look anyway!

The core premise is that the story is set in an alternate timeline where The Doctor (Syvester McCoy) has used the power of the Dark Universe to alter events to his pleasure, creating peace often times through force or manipulation, including controlling an older version of Ace (Sophie Aldred) who is now President of Earth, from behind the scenes. On this version of Earth the happy ending couple of Hex (Phillip Olivier) and Sally (Amy Pemberton) still exists, though neither have had any adventures with The Doctor, and they have three kids, including young Cassie (Lizzie Annis) who gets to have a meeting with the President after her early achievements in school have put her on Ace’s radar. The story of Hex the over-worked nurse and Sally the over-worked soldier still having a loving relationship and being possibly over-protective on their children in a dystopian world really works and is by far the best part of the story as both get dragged further and further into the overall narrative.

On the other side though is a other plotlines that see another version of Ace who remembers the original timeline and wishes to stop her old mentor and restore it going around and recruiting a group of allies and enemies to help take The Doctor and the “Dark Citizens” of the Dark Universe down. She first recruits Mel (Bonnie Langford) and Benny (Lisa Bowerman) and drops them both off on the planet where the Quantum Possibility Engine was last seen so Mel can use it again and features Hob (Wayne Forester) from that story flanked by Ogrons and takes a long time to go nowhere (though Mel and Bernice do make a fun duo) Ace then visits Hex at the hospital in hopes of jogging his memory, but fails in that aspect before creating a group of former foes in The Master (Geoffrey Beevers); Kane (Edward Peel), who is still alive as a older gentleman in this timeline; Garundel (Stuart Milligan) from a couple of audios I didn’t really remember; and Mother Finsey (Richenda Carey) from… that one Third Doctor story from years ago that I’d completely forgotten about. Not exactly an all-star team up and focusing so much on their re-introductions and recruitments was a real negative of the story. At some point Ace also tried to recruit Vienna (Chase Masterson) but that doesn’t go as smoothly to say the least, so yeah… that’s a lot of characters to cram into one story, and they’re not done yet!

Even the cover is a jumbled mess, with more focus being put on Kane than Hex, who is the key part in this whole story so far (but I guess is more recognisable for people who have only watched the TV episodes…)

While Hex is dealing with his daughter having clandestine meetings with the President his wife Sally is on a secret, off-the-books mission with her superior Lysandra (Maggie O’Neill) in a double act reunion I doubt many were clambering for, though at least they do make also make a good double act. The two of them have to deal with Sontarans (voiced by Dan Starkey, naturally!) who have been allowed to take over the Earth’s military as extra security by the President. If this all sounds like a bit too much, then you’re right! It is… way too much. At six half-hour parts none of it seems rushed, instead it’s all drawn out and mostly uninteresting, again apart from the Hex/Sally stuff. What’s that? The Doctor? Oh, he’s barely in this first half of his big finale. He has a few moments debating his actions with Dark Citizens or President Ace, and generally giving the latter advice in how to deal with the alternate Ace or Hex, and that’s about it, beyond a cliffhanger-y bit at the end I’ll get to in the spoilers, but even that’s just a shadowy conversation lasting a few minutes.

Overall this story is the licensed audio equivalent of one of those bad fan fiction stories where someone has just made a list of characters they want to write a story about and create an alternate timeline so they can do whatever they want to give them a chance to interact with each other and then try to be “risky and out-there” by turning fan-favourite characters evil for the sake of it to top it off. As I mentioned in the opening paragraph, I know this is literally just half a story, but I’m far from impressed with what I’ve listened to so far, to the point when part 2 hits (in many months’ time!)  I’m not going to be downloading it with great anticipation…

The Continuity:

Blimey, well, where to start? This is a sequel to “Dark Universe”, which I was similarly disappointed with, and has strong ties to the decidedly average “Quantum Possibility Engine” audio from a few years ago. It has Hex and Sally as a couple as seen in their last story “Signs and Wonders”, Kane from TV story “Dragonfire”, Garundel from “Black and White” and “Starlight Robbery”, Mother Finsey from Third Doctor audio “The Transcendence of Ephros”, Lysandra, who first appeared in “Project Valhalla” and then appeared in several more stories, and finally Vienna, who first appeared in “The Shadow Heart” before going on to have her own unsuccessful spin-off.

Is that enough continuity for you? That’s not even mentioning the likes of two Aces, Mel, Benny, The Master, Sontarans and Ogrons, due to them obviously covering a wide enough group of stories to not be a singular reference…

Overall Thoughts:

The Last Day – Part 1 is a jumbled mess of a story, so full of side-characters and uninteresting plots that you just stop caring at points, especially as its established as an alternate timeline that will therefore clearly be reset by the end of the story, meaning that nothing has any real consequence. The Hex / Sally family dynamic and story is the only highlight, which at least is something… I know I’m only rating half a story, but I’m afraid this as a three-hour listening experience is pretty poor.

On Earth Lysandra is killed by the Sontarans and Sally is captured, on the planet with the Quantum Possibility Engine Bernice gets killed and Mel captured by Hob, and good non-president Ace sends all of her bad guys into the Dark Universe and legs it, apart from The Master, who had already ran beforehand. Of course all of this is an alternate timeline so none of the deaths matter a bit! Hooray?!

Back on Earth however there is a good, well-written tense scene as evil President Ace restores most of Hex’s memories of the real timeline expecting him to side with her but his loyalty and protective-parental nature means he still sees Ace as a threat to Cassie’s safety. This leads to Sally being brought on screen and Hex held by guards and Ace telling Cassie that she has to choose one parent who lives, with the other being killed then and there. Blimey, this Doctor/Ace combo aren’t messing around, apparently… The result of that scene is left in the air for Part 2. So once again the Hex/Sally family story was the only highlight. I’ll also mention that at the end The Doctor recruits The Master to help him run the universe, which is clearly going to end well! Tune in for Part 2, I guess and we’ll see if any of this actually pays off in a meaningful way or not…