Domain of the Voord

Early Adventures 1.1

Released: 4 September 2014

Listened: 1/3/20

The Early Adventures are like the Companion Chronicles on steroids. They’re full-cast stories, although because of the lack of William Hartnell and companion actors, they’re still partially narrated. They also tend to be longer, a traditional four-part story, which enables the story to expand in a way that feels more true to the original stories. This story feels like it could have fit nicely into the first season. It features the return of the Voord, but like many Andrew Smith stories, we discover a lot more about the villains and their society. There are a number of First Doctor tropes: The Doctor puts Susan’s safety, and the TARDIS, over that of the other people they meet. Ian is strangely competent at a number of skills (SCUBA diving, commando raids). The only real difference is that Barbara doesn’t get as much to do. She and the Doctor get sidelined and are missing for most of episodes 2 and 3, which lets the story concentrate on Ian and Susan, who have actual actors. As often happens, the Doctor wins in the end by doing something clever and sciency that’s never entirely explained. Russell and Ford sound closer to their actual ages, and Russell has William Hartnell’s mannerisms down, but doesn’t quite match the voice. Still, there’s enough of the feel of an early story here that it’s a success.