Antillia the Lost

Fourth Doctor Adventures #12.2

Released: 2 March 2023

Listened: 5/6/23

For her second trip, Margaret again gets a sci-fi setting. The TARDIS ends up unexpectedly on Antillia, a huge space station with its own environment that was host to a lot of scientific research, then disappeared, leaving a legend. They’re here because a ship with an experimental drive has located the station, and drawn the TARDIS off-course. Author Phil Mulryne has a lot of high concepts here, from the mystery of the disappearance to what happened to the inhabitants, to what the explorers are really up to. The secondary characters are very well-drawn, including a journalist played by Anjli Mohindra (Rani Chandra), who is always awesome, and a bodyguard who Leela forms an unusual respect for. And speaking of respect, she’s getting closer with Margaret, although they do spend a chunk of the story apart. Younger Leela might not see this so readily, but she recognizes Margaret’s innate bravery and sense of adventure, even if she hasn’t lived a life that brought that out of her before. Admittedly, there’s a lot of plot in this one, and not so much time for personal relationships. It zips along readily, with perhaps a touch too much capture and deathtraps and escapes and running, but that’s fairly common for the period. It’s good, but not a particular standout.