The Girl Who Never Was

It's been awhile since I listened to any Big Finish Doctor Whos, but with their new download system in place, I thought I'd give them another go. (Having them shipped from England often got very expensive, and as much as I love the good Doctor, dropping fifty dollars for a ninety minute radio play is something you don't do twice.)

I'm happy to report that The Girl Who Never Was
was well worth the $15 I spent to download. It reminded me of how much I loved the Eighth Doctor radio plays, and again how unfortunate it was that Paul McGann's only screen time as the Doctor was in that horrible 1996 movie. McGann is a very good Doctor. For geeks like myself, he was the Doctor for many years, since he was the focus of the BBC novel line. Yes, he only made the one film, but it was the Eighth Doctor who went through so much in that novel line, from Faction Paradox, the Compassion saga, the horror of Fitz Kreiner, the Sam/Dark Sam stories...of all the Doctors, it can be said he suffered the most.

(Which is why I was happy to see a nod to McGann in the current series, when we see the Tenth Doctor having sketched him in Human Nature.)

Once again, McGann provides another great Doctor here in Girl. It's been noted that for a show about a time traveller, Doctor Who rarely tells stories about Time. Here, we have a Time addict's feast, with paradoxes and different time lines running alongside one another. Both the Doctor and his companion Charley battle Cybermen aboard the same ship, separated only by about sixty six years in Time. It's also Charley's last adventure, after four years of travelling with the Doctor. It's good, solid Who.

As for Charley, those who think that the Rose/Doctor love affair was new...umm...sorry. No. Charley and the Eighth Doctor were in love with each other for years before a blonde shopgirl ran into a leather clad Doctor in a department store. In fact, were I a sad geek, I would point out that perhaps it was the love between Charley and the Doctor that led to the Ninth Doctor bonding so quickly with Rose. Both are young, both are blonde, and both are as sarcastic and quick as a fox with a winning poker hand. But I shall refrain.