The Year of Martha Jones

The Year of Martha Jones

Released: 16 December 2021

Listened: 10/24/22

The Last Diner

This story has Martha doing what we know she did during this period: Moving around, telling stories. Except not so much moving around right now. She’s near a work camp that has an old diner nearby, and the workers use that as a gathering place to meet up. There’s no food, just water, and the owners don’t seem to be around anymore. I’m not even sure where it’s supposed to be. They’re in America, so there’s a diner, and the two people who seem most in charge have American voices, but others are British. Karen is played by Marina Sirtis, sounding just enough like herself to make it a little strange, and Tucker is an older man who likes music. The main theme here is paranoia, as Martha literally can’t trust anybody, not her old friend Holly from medical school, and not even her own mother when she turns up. This trick only works because it assumes the listeners know what Martha’s really doing, having seen the TV episodes. Francene is fairly cutting and dismissive. She already didn’t like the Doctor, but she’s personally seen him fail them, and now she has to listen to Martha telling praiseworthy stories about him. It’s all a bit much for her to take. Martha doesn't really react well to her Mom butting in on her mission either. And then it just kind of ends, which is a little anticlimactic, but this seems to be one of those boxed sets where there’s really just one story.

Silver Medal

Martha, Francine, and Holly continue their trek through the American west, into Nevada, specifically the Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest. They come across a fairly large camp, which they’ve been trying to reach because apparently the camp folks have been in touch with friendly aliens. However, the camp’s leader, Jessie, rules with an iron fist. All camp tasks are a competition, either individual or in teams, and if you don’t win, you don’t eat. Martha finds this pretty horrible, but the residents describe it as either “American” or “capitalist.” Martha’s story this time is told as a full-blown flashback, with Martha as the narrator, and the Doctor as more of a character. Which is fine, but the flashback story itself is a bit weak. Admittedly, it does what Martha wanted it to do, which is emphasize the benefits of cooperation. Holly and Francine haven’t changed much; they both seem to like Martha, but Francine is a bit too prickly and Holly is too chirpy. In the end, they simply move on to the next location.

Deceived

The last two stories felt a little incomplete, and that’s because this one really rounds out what’s been going on. And yet, even this one is incomplete, because we know that Martha’s story won’t be over for a while. Jones & Co arrive in Las Vegas, where they take shelter in a casino for a bit, so at least they’re comfortable. However, it turns out that pretty much nothing so far has been what it seemed to be. We know that Martha’s mission is a cover, and she’s got a cover hiding on top of that cover too. We know the friendly aliens are fake, we know the bad guy is working independently of the Master while seeming to obey him…basically, nobody can trust anybody, and with good reason. And when you’ve got a web of deceit like that, things are gonna get messy, which they do. This one is pretty dark, but all three stories are pretty dark. It’s possible that Big Finish could continue the story, as Martha still has a long way to go, but I don’t know if that’s a great idea. I’d really rather see more adventures with Martha and the Doctor before everything went sideways.