The Hunting Season

The Ninth Doctor Adventures Series 1 #3.1

Released: 23 November 2021

Listened: 9/24/22

This third boxed set is called “Lost Warriors,” and pretty much does what it says, which makes a nice setting for the Doctor trying to recover from a war. This first story is by James Kettle, who normally writes comedy, but this story is anything but. The Doctor washes up in 1930s England, near a countryside manor house that’s being besieged by…something. The lord of the manor and his butler (he’s so violent!) are both war veterans, and perfectly happy to try to kill off the intruders themselves without aid, because honor and stuff. Some versions of the Doctor are OK with the aristocracy, but the Ninth definitely isn’t one of those. He’s not particularly hostile, but he doesn’t care whether he meets with their expectations of behavior or not. As for the intruders and the danger they pose, the Doctor is quite insistent on talking first, shooting never, which is pretty standard, but he’s normally not up against quite this much opposition. And, of course, the situation isn’t what it appears to be, but that’s starting to become standard for these stories.