Death on the Mile

Lady Christina #1.4

Released: 23 August 2018

Listened: 5/22/23

This story also doesn’t seem to come off quite as hoped, and again, I think it’s because it goes too big. There’s no globetrotting this time; the whole story takes place in Edinburgh, at the time of the Royal Tattoo. Sam Bishop is back again, and now we’ve got Jacqui McGee as well, who’s on hand trying to help out a friend. Which is an OK setup, but once the Slitheen get involved (no spoiler; they’re on the cover), things get very large, very fast. Normally in Doctor Who stories, especially Earthbound ones, you don’t destroy major landmarks. Which is why it was startling when UNIT wrecked the Tower of London in “Shutdown,” but at least there was some handwaving toward covering it up. In this, most of Edinburgh gets wrecked, along with major landmarks and even big chunks of the geography. I know it’s strange to worry about suspension of disbelief in Doctor Who, but my brain just rebels at the idea. It’s trying to be slam-bang, and there’s certainly a lot of bang, but I’m left feeling it’s mostly noise. So the boxed set is a mixed bag. Two very good stories, and two that don’t really hit their mark.