The Wrong Doctors

Main Range #169

Released: 14 January 2013

Listened: 7/25/20

From Mel’s and the “colorful” Doctor’s point of view, this happened just after the Trial. From the “blue” Doctor’s point of view, it happens here. (Or right after Evelyn departs; doesn’t really matter.) This is a candidate for the most timey-wimey story from the main range, as it’s got two Doctors and two Mels running around, and that’s just the beginning of the temporal shenanigans. Even worse, the title is accurate -- both of these Doctors are in the wrong place at the wrong time, and that place isn’t what it appears to be, either. The younger Doctor is trying to return Mel to her proper place in the timestream after the Trial, but he gets it wrong. The older Doctor is attempting to meet Mel for the first time (from her perspective), but it’s not time for that either. Colin Baker does an excellent job of differentiating the two Doctors, with the younger one sounding much more arrogant, although a lot of that is in the writing. Bonnie Langford has a similar challenge, but the two Mels have to sound mostly the same, but the older one being more confident and capable. The bit of the big corporation mining for temporally sensitive material is a bit silly and overdone, leaving the story without much of a villain, but any villain they could have used would’ve been overwhelmed by the two Doctors anyway. Definitely good for a brain twist.