The Next Life
Main Range #64
Released: December 2004
Listened: 8/26/21
In 2004, it became clear that Doctor Who was returning to TV. Suddenly, the Eighth Doctor ceased to be “current” and became a past Doctor, one who might even be written out of continuity. Big Finish feared that new fans drawn to the audios by the TV show might be put off by the strangeness of the Divergent Universe, so they cut the arc short to bring them all back to “our” universe. Which makes this story a sequel to “Zagreus,” and it’s about the same length, a huge six-parter. It seems there was planned some character development for C’rizz, in which it would be clear that he had been a “holy assassin” for the Church of the Foundation he used to belong to, because that’s all rushed out early in the story, when C’rizz and Charley get to spend some time in mental environments. Anneke Wills returns as Charley’s mother, which is nice to see. The Doctor, meanwhile, stumbles upon some missionaries from the Foundation, who are behaving rather oddly, including one with an American accent who seems to make references to Earth. The extra length leads to a lot of exposition, as the characters, separately and together, try to figure out the truth about the Foundation, the Divergence, the Kro’ka, and exactly what the whole universe’s deal is anyway. It all has something to do with Rassilon and his plans from long ago, but to be honest, I’m not at all sure it holds up. The Foundation still has a big effect on C’rizz, and we learn for the first time that his chameleonic nature means that his personality changes to match who he’s with, as well as his skin tone. Which makes him an untrustworthy companion, which is useful for this story, but it’s never come up before, and means that he can’t be entirely trusted going forward, which is bad for character growth. Once again, it’s not entirely clear if the Doctor “won,” or just happened to be around when the bad guys foiled each other. I still don’t know what was planned for the rest of the Divergent arc, but this story comes off feeling a little rushed and incomplete.