Dark Universe

Main Range #260

Released: 21 January 2020

Listened: 3/26/21

This seems like it should be a pretty monumental episode, as it features the return of Ace, taken from the present, at Sophie Aldred’s current age, and both a professor and CEO now. Writer Guy Adams certainly intended it that way, as a comic-book style crossover. However, as a capstone to the Seventh Doctor era, it doesn’t quite satisfy. Ace isn’t particularly happy to see the Doctor, as it’s been 20 years for her, and apparently they didn’t part on good terms. As for the Doctor, he doesn’t show the remorse that he does in other stories set near the end of his life. In fact, he’s more secretive and manipulative than ever, even endangering the entire universe to further his plans, which Ace calls him out on, further damaging their relationship. (Whether this is the rift referred to in "The Power of the Doctor" is unclear.) The villain in this story is the Eleven, the character brilliantly played by Mark Bonnar who was the driving force behind the “Doom Coalition” stories, except those haven’t happened yet. In fact, this is a direct prequel, as the events of the Seventh Doctor defeating the Eleven, referred to in “Doom Coalition,” are fleshed out here. And because there’s Gallifreyan intrigue, we get Cardinal Olistra, the Carolyn Pickles iteration. She’s not quite as spiky as the Jacqueline Pearce version, but she’ll do when a snarky Time Lord is needed. The plot zings around from place to place, with Ace appearing to work with the Eleven against the Doctor at first, gradually revealed in flashbacks to be a long con, but the Doctor is running an even longer one. It’s one of the rare stories where the villain actually succeeds in taking over the universe, but of course he’s insane, so it can’t hold up for long. The plot itself isn’t horribly complicated, just another terrible Time Lord artifact that they buried instead of destroying like they should have. But there’s so much else going on that the Eleven can be forgiven for not having a grand scheme (he’ll have one later). I would have preferred to have some closure for the Seventh Doctor and Ace, who certainly deserves it after all she’s been through, but it’s not here.