The Artist at the End of Time

Not all worlds die screaming; some walk into sleep.

Roboguide

Spoiler Warning: This review contains spoilers for The Artist at the End of Time, as well as the previous installment in ‘Once and Future’, Past Lives. I’d suggest that you go away and listen to both stories before reading this review!

Synopsis

Suffering the effects of degeneration, the Doctor heads towards the end of the universe in search of answers. Instead, he finds his daughter – Jenny – and an Artist whose works appear to mark the end of every world they touch.

The Doctor stabilises into his Fifth form to join forces with Jenny and the Curator to solve the mystery of the Final Gallery and the art it has collected.

Review

After the bombast of Past Lives, The Artist at the End of Time feels like a distinct change of pace for Once and Future, giving us a smaller and much more contemplative story which doesn’t really seem to do much to advance the ongoing narrative. Whilst some might see that as a problem, in my opinion, The Artist at the End of Time‘s side quest gives us some moments of real melancholy and lovely moments between our central trio.

James Goss’ story feels quite somber and melancholy, focusing as it does on the destruction of multiple planets and two of the central characters struggling with their identities. The story extends the idea of art gathering value after its creator dies to the fact that at the end of time, the same logic would apply to the last piece of art created on a planet. I think the extrapolation of the art idea is an effective one, and allows the Doctor and Curator to bemoan the exorbitant prices being charged for the art and the fact that the money is not being used to help the survivors in the universe, struggling on worlds that have seen better days. Instead, the money is being used to purchase these items for the richest people in the universe to gloat about owning. The Curator just wants his art to be used to remember the lost worlds, some of which have not been seen for many years, whilst the Doctor struggles with his inability to save these planets. With the Doctor degenerating, and the Curator believing that he is destined to cause the destruction of every world he steps on, it would be easy for this story to feel utterly bleak, but Goss manages to inject some levity through Jenny, the Doctor’s daughter, some lovely character moments for the Curator and the scenes of the Doctor and the Curator trying to skim stones on the Eye of Orion.

He’s calling for the guards.

That means we’re on to something.

I’m so pleased!

The Fifth Doctor and Jenny

I have seen some state that the story does feel a little bit like a side quest, and I would certainly agree to an extent, but it’s not something that massively bothered me. The mystery of the Final Gallery and the creator of the artworks contained within it feels like something that would organically cause the Doctor to divert himself, especially as the forces of the end of time seem to at least alleviate the effects of degeneration for a little while. This story focuses on the impact of the feeling of degeneration on the Doctor, who is having something of an identity crisis caused by being hurtled backwards through his past faces, and Goss goes to lengths to tie this back into the arc towards the end, highlighting the diamond in amongst the stars with a mysterious figure watching, spotted in one of the works created by the Curator. Whilst stories in arcs like this one should feel like they progress towards a conclusion, a story like The Artist at the End of Time feels at home at the beginning, when there is time for the twists and turns of future installments to unfold in full.

Gallifreyans sulk like moutains: geologically.

The Curator

With the Doctor degenerating into his more reserved and considered Fifth incarnation, pairing him up with Jenny and the Curator, taking the form of Colin Baker, adds some nice juxtaposition, and the trio bounce off each other delightfully. There’s a real feeling that Tennant and Baker are enjoying ribbing Davison at times, which does play into the idea of the family dynamic between the Doctor and his canonical daughter, and feels as though it almost ties into The Five(ish) Doctors Reboot. There’s certainly a theme of futility with the Doctor questioning whether his actions saving worlds over thousands of years are worth it and he is himself stubborn when told that the Eye of Orion is about to be destroyed. Meanwhile, the Curator is saying goodbye to the lonely planets, the ones that no one lives on, only to find that his work in celebrating them is leading to their destruction. Both need a push to find themselves again, and that’s the purpose that Jenny serves in the narrative. Goss keeping the focus on this trio possibly saves it from the distractions of Past Lives, which at times felt like it had a little bit too much going on.

It’s one of my favourite worlds.

They’re all my favourite worlds.

The Fifth Doctor and the Curator

I still have questions about ‘Once and Future’:

1. Tom Baker doesn’t feature in the degeneration sequences in this story. Presumably that means that once an incarnation has been revisited in a standalone story, that means that they’re gone? I’m intrigued to see if Davison appears in these sequences in A Genius For War next month.
2. To that end, does Colin Baker’s appearance in the sequence at the end mean that we’re going to get a standalone Sixth Doctor story in this arc? I certainly hope so!
3. I’m still none the wiser about how the Eighth, Ninth and Tenth Doctors tie into this narrative. Presumably the Doctor who degenerates at the beginning of Past Lives is the Eighth Doctor, but in which case, how do Eccleston and Tennant fit in to this journey?

I’m certainly excited to find out the answers to the above as we continue through ‘Once and Future’!

Verdict: I really liked the themes and performances contained in The Artist at the End of Time. It may feel like a side quest, but it gives us a respite and an insight into both the Doctor and the Curator. 9/10

Cast: Peter Davison (The Fifth Doctor), Georgia Tennant (Jenny), Colin Baker (The Sixth Doctor/The Curator), John Telfor (Floom/Guide/Robopolice/Roboguards), Abi Harris (Roboguide/Thief/Stallholder), Stephen Noonan (The First Doctor), Michael Troughton (The Second Doctor), Tim Treloar (The Third Doctor) & Sylvester McCoy (The Seventh Doctor)

Writer: James Goss

Director: Ken Bentley

Producer: David Richardson

Composer: Howard Carter

Release Date: 14th June 2023

Behind the Scenes

• The standard cover was replaced with a different cover on 31st May 2023.

Cast Notes

• In case you’re in the minority of Doctor Who fans who don’t know, Peter Davison is Georgia Tennant’s father. They have previously appeared opposite each other in the Big Finish story Relative Time. Georgia Tennant is also married to Tenth Doctor actor David Tennant and appeared together in The Doctor’s Daughter. Georgia Tennant also auditioned for the role of Rose. In addition, Georgia Tennant went to school with Colin Baker’s daughter, Lucy.
• John Telfor previously appeared in War Seed, from the Big Finish Missy release.
• Abi Harris previously appeared in The Monsters of Gokroth, Beauty on the Inside (Two Rivers and a Firewall) and Fairies at the Bottom of the Garden (The Eight of March Volume 3).

Best Quote

That’s another reason I don’t come this far. The universe is so old even morality is tired.

I tried to preserve all that was good, but what if there’s nothing worth saving?

The Fifth Doctor and the Curator

Doctor Who: Once and Future: The Artist at the End of Time is available to purchase from the Big Finish website.

Previous Once and Future review: Past Lives

For more Fifth Doctor reviews, click here.