Out of Time

Out of Time #1

Released: 26 August 2020

Listened: 11/27/22

This is the first of three Big Finish crossover stories that were recorded in lockdown, when David Tennant suddenly had a lot of time on his hands. A Fourth/Tenth Doctor crossover was always high on just about everybody’s wish list, and this story pretty much fit the bill. The Doctor is coming off his Time Lord Victorious binge, and is in his extended “I don’t want to go” period of dodging the summons from the Ood. He’s companionless, and directionless, which brings him to a cathedral outside of time, where the Fourth Doctor is recovering after the events of “The Deadly Assassin.” Basically, the Tenth Doctor fan-goobers all over the Fourth, while still maintaining his own superiority by dint of experience. The Fourth Doctor finds the Tenth to be arrogant, as well as a reminder of his own mortality – logically, if the Tenth Doctor exists at all, the Fourth no longer does. And yet he doesn’t regard that as a loss, but as a continuation of his own life, an attitude the Tenth Doctor doesn’t share. We’ve also got Daleks invading the cathedral and killing people, but it’s a little bit pro-forma, and honestly, that’s fine. Fighting Daleks is something we’ve seen them both do before, but working together is something new. It’s short, so it doesn’t overstay its welcome, and within those bounds, it does just what you’d want it to do.