Prisoner of the Sun

Eighth Doctor Adventures #4.8

Released: January 2011

Listened: 11/8/21

Since Lucie has gone off with Alex, the Doctor is alone again. However, this doesn’t seem to have led to a long period of solo adventures. Instead, we come in close to the end of a story, after the Doctor tried to help a rebellion and then spent six years trying to keep a sun stable so that it doesn’t fry a couple of inhabited planets. I normally have a negative opinion of stories that have the Doctor sit in one place for a long time, but this one isn’t all that long, and we’re seeing the end of it. Eddie Robson shows good insight in determining that the only prison that can hold the Doctor is one made of his own responsibility. There’s multiple layers of misdirection throughout, because the Doctor is isolated, with limited information from outside, so when a rescue squad shows up, he (and the listener) isn’t sure what to believe. When the Rebels turn out to have conflicting hidden agendas, you could be forgiven for getting lost, but it keeps the tension pretty high. Although Lucie doesn’t appear in the story, Sheridan Smith is quite present, because she plays the Doctor’s android assistants, who he programmed with Lucie’s voice and persona. Beth Chalmers also has a tiny role, but you won’t know it’s her until the extras. You could imagine this story is just killing time, because it isn’t connected to the larger series arc, but a breather is necessary for pacing, and a story that keeps you guessing is engaging as a breather.