The Starship of Theseus

The Time War #1.1

Released: 26 October 2017

Listened: 1/17/22

This story is unique in that you can see the effects of the Time War actually occur from the outside. Naturally, John Dorney was tapped for this one. In a presumably Pre-Time War timeline, the Doctor lands on a luxury spaceliner with his companion Sheena. Something shady is going on, and they start on a fairly typical story, except that Sheena’s name changes to Emma mid-story, and nobody notices. It’s so smooth even the listener might not catch it the first time through. Just when you’ve forgotten why that’s odd, it happens again, and Emma becomes Louise. They’re all played by Olivia Vinal, so presumably they’re intended to be the same person, but you could be forgiven for thinking they’re not. They all sound like perfectly normal companions: young women who are curious, brave, and clever, and willing to snark at the Doctor, which is what makes the trick work. Unfortunately, there’s another shift where the Doctor has no companion at all, and the starliner has become a refugee ship. There’s still one couple who seem not to have changed much, Quarren and Rupa Maguire. This may be Important Later. Of course, Daleks invade, looking for “the Renegade Time Lord,” which sets the Doctor off on his usual thing, and also introduces Bliss, another refugee who’s smart and capable and not afraid to blast a Dalek if necessary. She’s got “companion” written all over her. The point of the story is the timey-wimey, and it takes the time and space to set that up properly. However, that doesn’t leave much room for the rest of the story, so it doesn’t really have a proper ending.