Afterlife

Main Range #181

Released: 17 December 2013

Listened: 1/11/21

So, spoiler, Hex died in the previous story, and there’s going to be a reckoning for that. This story came nearly two years later in production order, so fans had been waiting for closure for quite some time. Ace really lets the Doctor have it in the first episode, bringing up just how damaged she is as a person, in that she can’t even quit the TARDIS because she doesn’t fit in anywhere. The Doctor is frankly terrible at coping, and one suspects that the Sixth Doctor (Big Finish version) would do a lot better at handling their companion’s feelings. However, he does agree to Ace’s request: to tell Hex’s grandmother Hilda in person, as a commanding officer should. He even arranges a memorial in Hex’s hometown and invites his friends and colleagues. It’s a new-series twist on what it means to be a companion, but it’s a valid and worthy one. And the Doctor continues to be bad at it, until Sally Morgan shows up to help. (Sally and Lysandra got dropped off between the last story and this one.) And although Hex does deserve proper remembrance, you can’t fill a whole four-part story with a funeral, so there must also be alien goings-on in Liverpool that Ace stumbles into. Specifically, there’s Hector Thomas, a mob leader in the guise of a “successful club owner” who’s a dead ringer for Hex, but has none of his memories or personality. And his mob rivals aren’t just otherworldly, they’re Elder Gods, yet again, which explains how they’ve revived Hex. You’d think the Doctor might have learned from his recent experiences, but he takes down the gods rather easily, while giving an “I am the Doctor” speech that would do Steven Moffat proud. The gods part isn’t really what’s important; it’s the semi-resolution for Ace and Hex, and to a lesser extent, Sally. From an emotional perspective, it gets the job done.