Trial of the Valeyard

Bonus Release

Released: 17 December 2013

Listened: 5/25/20

We’re still not done with obsessing about the trial, and it’s getting a little tiresome, at least within the context of this project. This special release sees the Doctor called back to the judicial space station, where the Valeyard is on trial now, with the Inquisitor once again presiding. The whole thing is an excuse to get Colin Baker, Michael Jayston, and Lynda Bellingham back together again for a 50th anniversary story. Much of it is spent with the Doctor blustering on and on about being kept in the dark, but the Valeyard has some interesting things to say about the limits of regeneration, and he would know. (Spoiler: As of 2020, this is even more interesting with the revelations about the Timeless Child.) Unfortunately, the story falls apart at the end, and it all becomes rather petty. Even for a short special, this seems over-long. It’s half an interesting story in search of an ending.