Auld Lang Syne

The Ninth Doctor Adventures Series 2 #1.3

Released: 4 May 2022

Listened: 10/8/22

Tim Foley has the third story, which takes place in the early 90s, more or less. Mandy Litherland is a young Northern woman who rents out a manor called Foulds House for her family to celebrate the New Year. The Doctor is there, pretending to be the caretaker, because something is wrong with time in this house. It’s almost a Doctor-lite story because the focus stays firmly on Mandy and her fractured family. All of the characters are wonderfully drawn, and clearly bound by love even as they’re rude to one another. The story has a remarkable amount of timey-wimey, as the Doctor’s parts of it take place out of order, and Mandy’s bits are several consecutive New Years Eves, through which she travels the long way around. The only real flaw is a character who’s not what they seem, and it’s pretty easy to spot. It’s tricky to spin a timey-wimey plot and tug at the heartstrings at the same time, but this story pulls it off, making it the standout from this set.