The Thousand Year Thaw

The Quin Dilemma #5

Released: 22 March 2024

Listened: 4/26/2026

This piece of "The Quin Dilemma" is placed here in defiance of Craig Brawley, because the Doctor mentions that he hasn't taken Peri to the Gogglebox yet, so this must be before "The Reaping." The Doctor finally brings Peri someplace that he think she'll enjoy: Zycros, not too far from Necros, but decidedly different. The planet is frozen, but every thousand years it comes close enough to a rogue star to thaw for a year, during which it has the most fertile soil for light-years. Farmers descend on it to grow enough to feed trillions, but also the natural flora are spectacular, and Peri appreciates the gesture. Amazingly, they have a conversation that they've been avoiding for a very long time: why Peri stayed after the events of "The Twin Dilemma." To be fair, that's a very good question, and Peri admits that if she'd seen anyone else in that situation, she would've told them to get out. But her affection for the Fifth Doctor was so great, especially after he essentially died for her, that she decided to treat the new Doctor as an illness, and resolved to stay to help him get better. (No mention is made of the absurdly long period that Big Finish has inserted into her history with the Fifth Doctor, probably for the best.) For his part, the Doctor can't remember the initial period after his regeneration, which is kind of letting him off the hook, but he's very contrite and appreciative of Peri. I don't know how that squares with other stories with the two of them in this time period, but I'll take it. Of course, we've still got this Princes of Arunopal storyline going on, and this prince Urvis is the worst of them. He's self-centered and cruel to the point of being sadistic, and basically murders his way onto the planet to grab the Doctor, heedless of anything else. He's so nasty that he's hard to take seriously as a character, because villains who murder everyone around them for no reason don't tend to last very long. Regardless, the Doctor goes with him so no one else will get hurt. Peri suddenly remembers the events of Escape from Holy Island, but not their outcome. She's determined to rescue the Doctor no matter what, to the point of becoming rather shrill in saying so. This is probably the best story so far, simply because of that one conversation, but it's a low bar. For the Doctor and Peri, the story continues from here to The Firstborn, before they come back here.