Review: Stranded 2 – Baker Street Irregulars (3/4)

Still locked down on Earth in 2020, the Doctor, Helen and Liv face an easing of restrictions in this month’s Stranded 2. The TARDIS is slowly coming back to life, allowing for visits to the planet’s past and its doomed future. But does this newfound freedom enhance or detract from Stranded’s unique premise?

Much like UNIT Dating before it, Baker Street Irregulars by Lisa McMullin uses time travel to shed some more light on the Doctor’s tenants. This time it’s the turn of the Akhtar sisters, Aisha and Zakia, to travel back in time to meet their grandparents, both of whom are special operatives during World War 2. Quite why the Doctor thinks a trip to the actual war is a safe distraction from the unexploded WW2 bomb outside their home in 2020 is never really explained!

The Doctor’s eagerness to take the TARDIS for a spin continues to eclipse his traditionally choosy nature when it comes to travelling companions and this is the second episode out of three that gives us a crew of six. Five companions for a one-hour long story is a lot and much of the first five minutes is taken up with loading everyone into the TARDIS! Whilst everyone gets something to do, half the characters are relegated to sitting (or standing!) around dispensing exposition – namely Helen, Aisha and Tania.

There’s a lot going on here, the Doctor having to aid a secret mission for the Allies to ensure that history remains on course, Liv and Tania’s relationship developing to the next stage whilst diffusing an unexploded bomb and the simmering familial revelations about to emerge for the Akhtars. As a result, there’s a slightly breathless pace to everything which certainly aids the race against time nature of the main plot but also results in important moments and exciting set-pieces being rushed or brushed past. The fact that it also balances the ongoing Stranded arc threatens to weigh down the episode even more. 

It’s also a story that’s steeped in other Doctor Who stories, calling to mind The Empty Child, Father’s Day and Demons of the Punjab in how it discusses the war, cause and effect, motherhood, grandparents and pre-partition India. As such, it never really comes into its own, which is disappointing as there’s an exciting historical adventure at the heart of it. Similarly, the story’s big emotional reveal falls a bit flat likely due to the overstuffed cast list and the unexploded bomb subplot pulling focus from the Akhtars.

Baker Street Irregulars has a lot to juggle and doesn’t quite manage to keep everything up in the air. And yet, it would be unfair to judge Lisa McMullin’s script too harshly. There’s some great dialogue and the attraction between Nisha and Adi is well-drawn and performed by Anjli Mohindra and Homer Todiwala respectively. Aside from the fact it serves as a distraction from what should be the bulk of the story, Nicola Walker and Rebecca Root continue to bring a lot of nuance to their performances as the couple deal with distrust and jealousy.  

Perhaps it would have been more successful if the story had solely focused on the Doctor and the Akhtar sisters. Paul McGann is clearly relishing the chance to play a Doctor who’s so keen to share the TARDIS and it’s infinite possibilities – albeit slightly limited, under the circumstances. His scenes with Avita Jay as Zakia sparkle and it’s a great shame that there’s not more of them to enjoy. Perhaps we’ll see more of this pairing as the story develops.  

And develop the story does, as we’re about to head into the final story of this second set of Stranded adventures… 

You can buy Stranded 2 here or purchase the whole series here.