Dead Time

Stranded #2.1

Released: 10 March 2021

Listened: 12/31/21

The first boxed set was rather calm and domestic, which made for a nice change, but the second box slowly dips back into the time-travel, but with a much larger cast of characters, all of whom are in on the Doctor’s secrets, but also are also still keeping secrets of their own, which start to come out in this set. The Doctor discovers that the TARDIS can move in time, but not in space, which is a problem if he wants to find out what’s wrong with Rarkelia. Recognizing Tania’s acumen from the last story, he offers to take her on a test run, but Andy insists on coming along too, and Robin stows away while they’re arguing with Andy, so it’s a big group who all end up several million years in the future. And rather unfortunately split up, the Doctor with Tania, who continues to display competence at this kind of situation, and therefore has to confess at least a tiny bit about Torchwood to him. Liv is with Andy, who has to confess the same thing, although he’s much worse at coping with time travel. (Andy also tells Tania later that Torchwood has been disbanded, but that doesn’t stop either of them from acting like Torchies.) Robin runs off alone, which would be an amazingly terrible idea, except he finds a doomsday bunker with robots and a computer who recognize him. The Divine Intervention organization that created the bunker reveals that Robin is critical to this future, a fact that he doesn’t share with anyone. The Doctor also finds his psychic paper in an old jacket, enabling him to use it henceforth, but doesn’t have time to create a new sonic screwdriver, so he’s without that. On the whole, it’s a pretty brief story: time-travel, explore, face peril, go home. But that’s fine, because we’re mostly setting up the larger plot, getting in some character interaction, and everyone’s learning that it’s stupid to tell a teenager that he can’t come in the time machine, because c’mon.