The Secret History

Main Range #200

Released: 17 June 2015

Listened: 12/7/19

This is the final part of the “Locum Doctors” trilogy, which saw Doctors stepping into the places of previous incarnations and interacting with their companions. In this case, the Fifth Doctor replaces the First, and interacts with Vicki and Steven. It feels very much like a First Doctor story, taking place in antiquity, and having the characters separated for long periods of time. As a gimmick, it works quite well. Vicki and Steven do a great job coping with this strange Doctor, especially when neither has any idea about regeneration. As the wrap-up to a three-part anniversary story, it perhaps leaves something to be desired. The mastermind behind the whole trilogy is revealed to be a character who’s reacting to something that happened in the last series of The Eighth Doctor Adventures, so of course the Fifth Doctor has no idea what’s going on, and neither will the listener, unless they were listening in production order.