The Uncertain Shore

Susan's War #1.2

Released: 16 April 2020

Listened: 1/16/22

In any set of stories told about a war, there seems to be a rule that eventually the “Casablanca” story will appear. In this case, it’s Florana, a planet often mentioned in Doctor Who as being particularly beautiful (and touristy), but now it’s just counting the days until a Dalek invasion shows up and kills everybody. Susan and Veklin are after the spy from the previous story, who they believe is somewhere on Florana, and they’ve narrowed it down to three suspects. They’ve been posing as itinerant artists hoping to paint Florana before it’s gone. There’s a bar, of course, and the usual cast of unusual folks waiting for the end times. Beth Chalmers’ Veklin is the real spotlight character in this story, because their cover is so far out of her comfort zone. It’s a bit sad to meet a Time Lord whose mind is focused only on military matters with no appreciation for art, even if there is a war on. Fortunately, prolonged exposure to Susan seems to be softening her up a little bit. Beth is one of my favorite Big Finish actors, and if we’re not going to get more Raine Creevey, I’ll take more of Veklin.