The Bonfires of the Vanities

Companion Chronicles #11.3

Released: 15 June 2017

Listened: 3/4/20

This is the first story in this project to feature both Polly and Ben, but not the first Anneke Wills and Elliot Chapman recorded (they did some Second Doctor stories first). There’s a difference in the way they treat the Doctor here; they’re obviously not used to him yet, but they also treat him as someone who needs a lot of care and protecting, as he’s clearly nearing the end of his life. Wills and Chapman split the narration, which means they each get a chance to voice the Doctor, and they both do reasonably well. Chapman is really uncanny in his impersonation of Ben; I could believe it was Michael Craze. As for the story itself, it revolves around Bonfire Night, which is always going to seem a bit odd to an American. It also features a resolution of the Doctor essentially talking the problem away, which is something we frequently say the Doctor does, but in practice he doesn’t do it all that often. There’s a hint that they were supposed to land in Antarctica, but got diverted; that won’t be explained for a bit. It’s a fairly strong start to this short era of the show.