The Architects of History

Main Range #132

Released: 10 March 2010

Listened: 3/10/21

Spoiler from the last story: Klein has stolen the TARDIS, and after observing the Doctor on her previous journeys, she’s got some idea of how to fly her. This story opens some time later, after Klein has spent some time creating and aborting new timelines. She’s got the Doctor prisoner, but this version of him doesn’t remember traveling with her, or so he says. She can’t manage to get back to her original timeline (the TARDIS won’t go there), so she’s been building a Fourth Reich of her own in the future, continually doubling back on herself to fix mistakes, but never seeming to get it entirely right. There’s also a young woman named Rachel, who at first seems to be just a rebel, but is revealed to be the Doctor’s companion in this timeline, although they’ve been separated for some time. She manages to sabotage Klein’s TARDIS, preventing her from making more changes. The Moonbase where this all takes place is attacked by aliens from the future, apparently part of a rather vicious plan set up by this reality’s Doctor, which may very well end in the destruction of Earth, although he’s probably got a plan. Which is unfortunate, because this timeline’s Doctor has been replaced by the one who was traveling with Klein, and that means he has no idea what the plan was, and is forced to improvise. Writer Steve Lyons is Klein’s creator and also the writer of “Colditz,” and he’s got a fondness for time-travel complications, but also the moral implications they bring. Eventually the Doctor escapes with Klein in another TARDIS, one specifically designed to erase her from history, as an anomaly. Tragically, Rachel is left behind to die, because this Doctor has no idea who she is, but her biggest worry is that in the restored timeline, she’ll never meet the Doctor. It’s wrenching, and shouldn’t really be effective from a character we’ve only known for half a story, but Lyons and actor Lenora Critchlow really sell it. It’s left ambiguous whether Klein removes herself from history, or forces the Doctor to do it against his principles, but it does get done. As a result, the timeline isn’t precisely restored; there’s a new Klein, one who grew up in England and worked for UNIT. And Big Finish could have left it at that, but Tracey Childs is just too good not to use again. It’s definitely a thinky story, although it packs in quite a bit of action and shouting among the dialog, which is a tricky balance. Although Steve Lyons doesn’t do a lot of Big Finish, I usually appreciate the ones he does.