In Review: Big Finish: Doctor Who: The Early Adventures – The Crash of the UK-201

Synopsis: You can’t change the past, every time-traveler knows that. What’s done is done and cannot be unwritten. But what if it isn’t the past anymore? What if it’s now the present?

Review: I went into this story not really being too sure what to expect. I mean time paradoxes have been done a lot in the past and it takes a pretty compelling story to pull this kind of thing off. But my concerns were alleviated by the end of the opening 25 minutes.

The Story

When the Tardis malfunctions. We find Vicky and Steven dropped on a spaceship, which is immediately familiar to Vicky who does not hesitate to enlist Steven into helping her save her father. Thus starts a story, which sees Vicky living a completely new life while still retaining much of her memories of past adventures with The Doctor and Steven.

The one constant in this new life is Steven who is appearing and disappearing throughout Vicky’s life looking no different from when she last saw him.

What is going on and can’t Vicky seem to find a version of her new life that truly makes her happy? What is this costing her and steven?

These are all questions that this story explores.

The Acting

It has to be said. This story features a fantastic acting performance from Maureen O’Brien who gets to play Vicky at age 15, Age 30, Age 40, Age 60 and 170. The subtle changes in vocal inflections and intonation are pulled off with seamless ease. It’s pretty obvious that Maureen O’Brien has Olympic standard vocal cords to be able to pull this all off.

Michael Lumsden also puts in a wonderful performance as Vicky’s father, who we never got chance to meet in the TV series. We get to see why Vicky is so desperate to save her father through Lumsden’s sympathetic performance of a loving father.

Overall

This was a wonderful story, which put me in mind of elements of ‘Back To The Future’ mixed in with the ‘Star Trek: The Next Generation’ episode ‘Tapestry’ in which Picard got to see what his life would have been like had he not taken so many chances.

Although you know that it isn’t going to end well. You find yourself wanting for Vicky to have a perfect life, but also find yourself yelling at her about the dangers of changing stuff in one’s own timeline.

• You can order your own copy of The Crash of the UK-201 here at the Big Finish website. 

I recommend you do if you are looking for something a little more cerebral and thoughtful.