The First Wave

Companion Chronicles #6.5

Released: 8 November 2011

Listened: 2/24/20

Poor Oliver. Only three stories, and he never left the solar system. Once again, there’s a lot of hard science in this story, perhaps a touch too much. The Vardans are the bad guys, which is somewhat unexpected. The Doctor is aware of them before this story, but it seems to be the first time the Vardans meet him, and they find out about Gallifrey, which will play a role in the future. The Doctor gets rather arrogant again about his responsibility to the Laws of Time, and Oliver calls him out on it in a big way. I won’t spoil Oliver’s final fate, but I find myself wishing he’d stayed around longer. The Doctor and Steven don’t really need more sad departures at this point, and Oliver deserved to be able to see more, I think. I liked him as a companion, and it’s a good trilogy on the whole.