Forever Fallen

Short Trips #6.X

Released: 29 December 2016

Listened: 11/25/20

This is one of those stories that only works well in the Short Trips format, because it’s less about the big conflict than it is about what happens next. The Doctor stops a young would-be dictator, one of those misunderstood genius types, from using his army of androids, his orbital death laser, or his mind-control ray...and then lets him go. The Doctor claims he’ll check in on the man periodically, as he often says, but this time we actually get to see that happen, through a series of meetings one year apart. We see the changes he goes through, and the ups and downs of his attempts at redemption. This story really plays into the Seventh Doctor’s chessmaster persona, as you see him setting up his long game for once. Nick Briggs is the narrator, and although his Scottish accent sounds more Capaldi than McCoy at times, he’s a skilled reader, bringing some good gravitas to one of the Doctor’s high-minded speeches. It’s a quality use of the format.