Doctor Who: Once and Future: Past Lives – Review

Kicking off their celebrations for Doctor Who‘s Sixtieth Anniversary, Big Finish has finally released the highly anticipated first story in their Once and Future Series. Past Lives sees the Fourth Doctor and Sarah Jane meeting Kate Stewart and Osgood while having to fight the latest crazy scheme from the Meddling Monk. But there is a regeneration sickness thanks to the Doctor being hit with a mysterious energy weapon and now he’s cycling back through his many lives.

The story makes the right decision in its opening moments to not keep that moment from listeners with the Doctor, once again dealing with the Time War – being hit with energy that sees him going through his various past lives. It’s a nice moment to allow us to experience all the other Doctors, but even though the right decision was made, not making us wait to the very end to see how the Doctor has gotten here, it does feel a little rushed with author Robert Valentine focusing more on his actual story rather than the opening bit of bookending.

The Doctor is following the Monk’s TARDIS sure that he is the reason why this is happening to him. And again, things feel a little rushed in the beginning with the locations swapping every few minutes. Valentine does seem to know what he’s doing but it does run the risk of feeling very breathless, not really giving us listeners a moment to catch our breath before we move to the next location. I don’t mind Rufus Hound as the Meddling Monk even if sometimes there have been stories which really didn’t need him in it. Luckily, the Monk plays an important part in this story and his character doesn’t get drowned out by the other supporting characters.

Unfortunately the same can’t be said for Sadie Miller’s Sarah Jane Smith. For most of the story, she feels surplus to the action, just there because the team at Big Finish could put her there rather than actually serving any function. It also doesn’t help that she doesn’t have any chemistry with the Monk. So the pair being together does feel rather odd. Ok, he’s the villain and kidnaps her, but there just isn’t anything, not like Jo and the Master and certainly not like Sarah Jane and the Fourth Doctor. There is a nice moment at the end where Sarah gets to reflect on her departure with the Doctor before learning he has a daughter who will he leaves to find at the end of this episode. But I did feel a little sorry for Sarah and actress Sadie Miller here, who is still excellent in the shoes of her mother, but just really didn’t need to be there.

On the other hand, Big Finish have done wonders in exploring the friendship between Kate Stewart and Osgood, going to great lengths to portray them as deserved characters rather than the piece of fan fiction they can sometimes come across as on television. This strong characterisation continues here and there is a rather touching moment where Kate finally gets to meet one of the Doctors her late father had worked with. Jemma Redgrave and Ingrid Oliver are on fine form here and while some people might be worried about how they fair in this story thanks to how many other balls are trying to be juggled, Kate and Osgood actually end up coming across as one of the strongest things in this opening episode.

Speaking of lots of things being juggled there is The Highrev, the fearsome crocodile samurais that grace the cover. They never quite live up to the promise they have on the cover art. It’s a shame because Valentine does make sure there are some interesting things to be done with them. Without a war or a fight, they don’t know what to do anymore and just stop. War and fighting is almost their way of living and without it, they don’t seem to know how to function. But the building battle doesn’t really take off, with much of the action being standing around and talking. It’s a shame because their striking design and genuinely good dialogue don’t a great monster make.

Past Lives is an interesting little story. It’s important to remember it is the opening salvo to an eight-part series but it does crumble somewhat under its own weight. Valentine throws a lot at the wall and much of it sticks but what doesn’t really lets the story down. It’s not the worst that Big Finish has given us this month, (looking at you, Genesis of Terror), but it certainly isn’t among the best. Not as full of cameos as I thought it would be, there are germs of a good story here, but I feel a lot of the success of these stories coming from Once and Future will depend on the ending. Had this one been a later inclusion into the series then I feel it may have faired better, unfortunately, though it just feels like a rather noisy party as opposed to the start of a sophisticated celebration.