Thicker Than Water

On a whim, the Doctor decides to take Mel to visit his old friend and former companion, Evelyn Smythe. Happily married to her old flame Justice Rossiter, Evelyn is now an influential figure in the political theatre on the planet Vilag during its reconstruction after the Killoran invasion. Protests to destroy all machinery and devices left from the war are now the hot topic, the loudest voice being Evelyn's new stepdaughter, Sophia. The day the Doctor and Mel arrive violence breaks out, and Vilag is once more on the brink of destruction, this time from within, with Evelyn caught in the middle.

Evelyn, as you may have noticed by now, never had a farewell scene or story. Clever Big Finish; they've given her a happy ending of sorts here with her new life with Rossiter, complete with a flashback to when she actually did leave the Doctor. Her departure hurts him, you can tell by the tone his voice takes when she says she is going to stay with Rossiter, but by an interesting switch of circumstance when the Doctor and Mel come face to face with Evelyn there's an awkward pause and even a slight bit of tension between the two companions. Why Evelyn should feel anything about the Doctor having a new companion travelling with him is hard to say, considering she did leave him. If anyone should be upset, it should be the Doctor at having been so casually discarded.

Political situations on Vilag have not gotten any better after the invasion; all three nations are now united as one but the internal strife over what to do with the Killoran remnants is causing friction on all levels. And somewhere in there, someone has their own agenda just to suit themself. Where the temptation would be to have a second invasion attempt seeing as this is a sequel, thankfully it is not the case; the struggle of the world to put itself back together and carry on is far more interesting, especially with an old "friend" like Evelyn enmeshed in it.

I liked this one. A lot. I liked it a lot better than a novel called Instruments of Darkness, a BBC novel by Gary Russell which also features the first meeting between Evelyn and Mel, but under very different circumstances. All I really enjoyed about Instruments was the Doctor's rant early in the adventure when chided by Mel to return a "borrowed" Volkswagen beetle (the writers trying so hard to be trendy back then - the eighth Doctor actually had one as a sad replacement attempt for Bessie); he insists that Grant would let him keep the car (the last time we hear that name to date) and then muses that Evelyn would as well, and would make him a chocolate cake while she was at it.

What else did I like? The story just felt more real, and the whole feel of Vilag was recreated through the characters who survived the invasion, and the mention of those who were not so fortunate like the lovestruck couple the Doctor and Evelyn befriended on their first adventure there. It's also got a bit of a harder edge to it with the abduction of Evelyn and Mel, and Mel getting smacked around a bit (and you might not think she deserves it, as she is being better written in audio than she was on television, but just wait... you won't like her after a few season 24 episodes), and the terrible truth of what's going on behind the scenes on Vilag. And to close off the whole Evelyn storyline, she receives a surprise visit by the seventh Doctor with some news from her past and his future to share. Clever, though; with no definitive final Evelyn story, Big Finish can go back and pair her with the sixth Doctor as long as they continue producing episodes on CD.

So there's not much more time left for the sixth Doctor and Melanie. Change is coming. Just a few more adventures.

NEXT EPISODES : THE WISHING BEAST and THE VANITY BOX