The Annihilators

Third Doctor Adventures #9

Released: 8 February 2022

Listened: 2/10/22

This is a rather unusual Third Doctor story in several ways. It’s a 2022 release, so stars Tim Treloar, John Culshaw, and Daisy Ashford, who keeps getting better at sounding like Liz. It’s clearly part of Season 7, because it’s a seven-part story, although most of the episodes are considerably shorter than normal for Big Finish. But the really special bit is that it features the Second Doctor and Jamie, played by Michael Troughton and Frazer Hines respectively. Up until now, Frazer Hines played the Second Doctor, but the role has now been given over to Patrick Troughton’s son. Admittedly, Hines’ version sounded something like a caricature, but Troughton’s version doesn’t sound a whole lot like his father, most of the time. It lacks the characteristic pauses and drawing out of words that Patrick did. For the Second Doctor and Jamie, this story takes place during the newly minted Season 6B adventures, as the Brigadier notes that Jamie is quite a bit older than the last time they met. But it’s before “The Two Doctors,” as Jamie hasn’t met any other incarnations yet. At the time of this story's release, those Second Doctor stories hadn't been released yet, so listeners were very confused. In any event, it’s primarily a Third Doctor story, the usual alien invasions that lead to strange happenings and UNIT gets called to investigate. Because it’s a seven-parter, the story can spread out quite a bit, with the Doctor and Liz doing sciency things separately. We’ve even got two alien races in opposition, each one claiming that they’re doing the right thing. Honestly, working out which is which isn’t all that difficult, so it’s not much of a mystery. If it weren’t for the extra Doctor in the story, this would be awfully drawn-out for as little story as there is. Fortunately, it does have that extra bit to recommend it.