The Auton Infinity

Forty 2

Released: 7 September 2022

Listened: 9/12/22

This chunk of the “Forty” story explicitly takes place here, and although the other two pieces focus on the time-displaced Doctor, this one splits the difference. Since the Doctor from the “proper” timeline is the only one to continue after this story, it’s reasonable to cover it here. The Doctor, Tegan, and Turlough arrive in the middle of a UNIT training exercise being conducted by one Captain T. Mears. The Brigadier is along as an observer, having retired from teaching (which never made much sense). Colonel Crichton is stated as being in command, but he’s away. The Brig remembers both Tegan and Turlough, most likely from “Mawdryn Undead,” but possibly from “The Five Doctors” as well. References are made to Time Scoops throughout, so it’s possible the reference is deliberate. The Brig seems unlikely to forgive Turlough over the matter of his car any time soon. As a six-parter, it’s a rather complicated story, with the first two parts dealing with the UNIT exercise, and the Autons’ attempt to use it for cover for an actual invasion. After that, things go distinctly timey-wimey, as the time-lost Doctor shows up, the action moves to an ancient Time Lord ship, and we possibly find out the origin of the Nestene Consciousness, making them rather more dangerous than we’d always believed. Much like “Nightmare Country,” Tegan is more reserved and empathetic in this story. The time-lost Doctor refers to her as an anchor, present throughout all his jumps. She has a lot of sympathy for characters who are injured or killed, and makes a number of overt references to starting to be tired of all the death, which fits nicely into the next story. The Master is around as well, with a seriously half-baked and confusing plan, but honestly, that’s par for the course for this incarnation. The Master is the only weak link in Jon Culshaw’s portrayals. He’s got the quiet, oozing menace down perfectly, but the Master did raise his voice from time to time, and Culshaw doesn’t seem to quite capture that here. Writer Tim Foley does reasonably well with all the plot he has to pack in, but I wonder if maybe this would have gone better as a four-parter. On the whole, the “Forty” series doesn’t seem to hang together as well as one might hope. I wonder if it was a victim of pandemic compromises.