The Stealers from Saiph

Companion Chronicles #3.12

Released: June 2009

Listened: 6/12/22

This was the first Companion Chronicle (in release order) to feature Mary Tamm as Romana I, and they absolutely gave her a workout in this story. There’s no second actor, so Mary plays everyone, from the Doctor and Romana to upper-class twit Tommy to a German professor to an American millionaire to alien sludge. The storyline is a little bit convoluted, with body-snatching and some “whodunnit” qualities that take the Doctor and Romana time to unravel. Romana is mostly treated like an equal partner in this one, except in a few spots where the Doctor has greater experience. The story as a whole is serviceable rather than excellent, but the acting is really amazing, so that’s a good one on which to bid farewell to Mary Tamm for this project (mostly).