Tempestuous Temp: Coming home and picking up life might have become a trope during the Moffat era but it was quite the novelty at this stage of the game and the creators of this set have chosen the perfect moment in Donna’s run for her to want to come home a heal before heading out and travelling with the Doctor again. Her experiences in Library were traumatic in the extreme (being handed a domestic life and having it cruelly and sadistically snatched away) and a little time with her Gramps (less so her mother) and some retail therapy and friends is just the ticket. But with Sylvia giving her the usual gob and setting her up for speed dating, things aren’t going to be quiet. Donna’s outrageous lies in the speed dating sequence will have you howling. She’s a card, that one. Donna is quick to react when she thinks that somebody is following her, thinking the Doctor has sent one of his UNIT pals to keep tabs on her. She’s been having nightmares, talking in her sleep after her recent upset. Since the Library, Donna has found herself questioning the nature of reality. To her friends questioning the nature of reality makes her sounds like a total nut (especially when she keeps going on about her ‘Doctor’) but to those in the know this is intriguing fallout to her personal crisis in VR. It’s the sort of cracks between stories development we often miss with the new series because we need to get on with the next adventure and I’m really pleased to see it explored here. Donna’s glorious scene with the Doctor at the end of Forest of the Dead is still one of the best ever Doctor/companion scenes (‘Is alright special Time Lord code for not being alright at all?’ ‘Why?’ ‘Because I’m alight too’) and Kidnapped! shows what happened next. With Donna and Nat kidnapped it delivers the advantageous format of having Donna as the experienced time traveller with Nat as her green companion. It makes Donna the shining star we always knew she was. Give me more.
Sidechick: Such a smart idea bringing in Wardley from Tate’s comedy show to play Donna’s ‘companion’ for this set. They already have an established chemistry which is obvious from the outset and Wardley has experience with audio drama and sounds perfectly at home with this style of acting. Donna has always been honest with her friends, and so even if she is saying crazy things Nat knows that what she is saying has merit. I love the fact that their first scene together made me frightened that this was going to wind up being a four hour long Catherine Tate sketch (I happen to love the show but I wouldn’t want one sketch to be elongated to 240 minutes and by the end of the story they had become a thoroughly engaging investigative duo (albeit with acidic one liners and pop culture references galore). It bodes extremely well for the set ahead.
Mother from Hell: Sylvia loathes the Doctor because all he brings to their door is death and disaster. Frankly hers is the most natural response to him tumbling into your life and turning it upside down. Whilst there are some laughs along the way, Sylvia is right, he does tend to leave people shaken and not in a positive way. Had Donna listened to her mother she might have been spared the heartache of having her life with the Doctor stolen away. But then she would also have been denied the trip of a lifetime (for her and us) and that simply would not do. Nobody says no to Sylvia, she’s scary. And she proves it when she thinks Donna’s life is in danger and attacks a man with a golf club!
Mockney Dude: The Doctor doesn’t ring the doorbell. He isn’t a ring the doorbell sort of person. He’s more likely to blow it off its hinges and make an entrance.
Standout Performance: Catherine Tate sounds a little unsure in the first scene but is at her absolute best by the end of the story. She’s a hugely adaptative actress. Her and Wardley together is magic.
Sparkling Dialogue: ‘He’s clearly about a 2 and I’m a strong 9 and he didn’t tick me!’
Great Ideas: Sometimes you know something is going to be good just because of the people who are involved with its creation. Here you have some Big Finish’s most accomplished writers (Rayner, Dorney, Goss – just take a look at their credits), the most polished and engaged director (Barnaby Edwards, the man who brought us The Chimes of Midnight) and a musician who never fails to make my heart cheer (Howard Carter, whose rendition of the Jago & Litefoot series 5 theme tune is my happy place to this day). I would take a punt and listen to anything that was being conjured up by these five people but add in the fact that Catherine Tate is involved and spotlighted (Donna is still my favourite new series companion, and one of my favourite companions out of the entirety of Doctor Who) and I was foaming at the mouth to try this. The great news is that between the two tenth Doctor sets, Donna Noble Kidnapped! and the Destiny of the Doctor and Short Trips stories we have the equivalent of an entire second season with Donna and we can only be thankful to Big Finish for that. In my rare single days, I feared that speed dating would turn out to be Hammers House of Horrors, so it’s nice to have that confirmed here. I’ve seen the ‘terror in the dating columns’ before (The X-Files pretty much had it covered in 2Shy) but throwing Donna into the mix means that this is a wildly original approach, especially with her recent domestic disturbance. Adrian is an alien whose organs are failing but he has a way of extracting what he needs from humans to repair himself…he just needs to lure them in first and the speed dating scene seemed like the most efficient way of doing that. He wants Donna’s liver because it has a little extra artron fizz to it.
Musical Cues: The series four version of the theme is still the best by a country mile. It still gets my heart racing. Accept no imitations. Especially compared to some of the ghastly compositions that came after it.
Isn’t it Odd: I’m not mad on the cover that seems to have been hastily cobbled together out of publicity shots without much thought. I’d have given this one over to Tate and Wardley and taken the time to have arranged a proper shoot. This is a pretty prestige set, and so it deserves prestige packaging.
Standout Scene: There’s a wonderfully poignant moment when the sitcom banter between Sylvia and Donna transforms into powerful drama and she admits that after losing her husband, she doesn’t want to lose anyone else. Davies is too good a writer to skip over the loss of Geoffrey Noble without tapping the emotion of grief (although how he does it in The End of Time Part Two is wonderfully unexpected and uplifting) but we never got the heart to heart between Donna and her mother where they talk about their shared loss, which is rectified here. I always loved those moments when Donna and Sylvia dropped their rivalry and you can see the blinding love that they share for each other underneath.
Result: With Catherine Tate spearheading the box set, Jaqueline King on form and Niky Wardley back at Big Finish for a second (and I would say more successful) stint, Out of this World is a story with three strong female protagonists and written by the most prolific female writers. And it’s hugely enjoyable. Whilst we’re in a time where a female-centric production shouldn’t need to be celebrated, it is worth noting that this simply has not been Big Finish’s strongest point over the years and it is something that they making great strides at rectifying. Not just more women working behind the microphone, but with box sets devoted to Donna, River, Benny, Missy, Lady Christina, Leela and Romana, Lucie Miller, Jenny, UNIT, The Paternoster Gang and ATA Girl, there is a strong emphasis on levelling the gender playing field creatively too. It’s about damn time. I’ve heard some anti-Donna opinions of late but the impression I still get all these years after her single season stint on the show is that she is a much-loved companion and she made quite an impact on fandom. She certainly did on me. I thought at first this was going to be all sitcom antics and light comedy but this transpires to have some awesome development of Donna and Sylvia that genuinely enhances series four as a result. Donna leading her own investigation is exactly what we saw in Partners in Crime (and The Unicorn and the Wasp, Turn Left) and so this feels perfectly in tune with the era. She’s a surprising protagonist because she is blisteringly funny for the most part but can turn on a dime into the seriousness of the drama and that makes for unpredictable (in the best possible way) listening. The confidence of the writing and the production (Barnaby Edwards always brings a sheen and charisma to his direction of proceedings) shines through and if you’re looking for an accomplished diversion in a difficult time and happen to be a big fan of series four, this is custom made for you (and me). Touching, funny, surprising and engaging: 8/10
Thanks for this
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