The Final Beginning

Exile? You lot couldn’t exile a cheese roll!

The Second Doctor

Synopsis

Believing he has escaped exile – and a change to his appearance – by the Time Lords, the Doctor finds himself lost on a snowy, alien world. He is not alone – prospectors Catrona and Silas are stranded on this nightmare planet, but without his TARDIS, the Doctor is powerless to help them.

Seeking answers – and freedom – the Doctor’s hopes and suspicions are aroused when a crashed TARDIS is discovered in the snow. Are Catrona and Silas as innocent as they seem? And who is Raven, the young woman who watches from afar?

Long buried secrets are about to be revealed in this icy wasteland, and the Doctor discovers that every end has a terrifying new beginning…

Review

The Final Beginning is the start of Big Finish delving into the idea of a Season 6B, in which the Second Doctor does not immediately regenerate into the Third, but instead is enlisted by the mysterious Celestial Intervention Agency. This theory has often been used in extended media, and is possibly most notable to explain why the Second Doctor and Jamie look older than they did in their original run during The Two Doctors. It’s relatively new territory for Big Finish, and the casting of a new actor to step into Patrick Troughton’s shoes allows these stories to become full cast adventures.

The story is shorter than usual, with parts of fifteen minutes, meaning that this story totals around about an hour in running time. This has both positives and negatives, as it does mean that the story has a rapid pace, but it does mean that none of its ideas are allowed to develop as they would in a story of a similar length. It is clear that the return of Skaro and the Daleks following their destruction at the end of Evil of the Daleks is intended to be an overarching plot thread rather than something to be resolved in this story. Writers Mark Wright and Nicholas Briggs use this story to fill a hole in the show’s narrative concerning the supposed destruction of both, whilst not treading on the narratives of Second Doctor’s television era. It makes sense to expand in this area for new stories and allow Big Finish a relatively clean slate to tell new stories about this Doctor. There are nice ideas here, like the Daleks fading in and out of existence due to the events of Evil of the Daleks, but given how odd the Second Doctor’s state is in the first place, the story, combined with the music of Toby Hrycek-Robinson makes this story feel suitably atmospheric and uncertain.

This story introduces a new antagonist in the shape of Raven, a member of the Celestial Intervention Agency, who offers the Second Doctor a way out of the death of this incarnation. Raven is played by Emma Noakes, who puts in a creepily softly spoken performance, which is unsettling to both the Second Doctor and the audience and sets up intrigue as to where this plot line will take the Doctor. The other characters in this story are Silas and Catrona, the first of whom is played by Tim Treloar, better known for being Big Finish’s Third Doctor, and he is on double duty here. These two characters do suffer from the shorter running time, but Treloar and Anna-Maria Nabirye do manage to convey chemistry between them that made me believe that they did have a preexisting relationship. It almost goes without saying, but Nicholas Briggs is solid as the Daleks and the Dalek Emperor.

This story launches a range of Second Doctor stories starring Michael Troughton, son of Patrick, taking on the role, which he had debuted in The Annihilators, a Third Doctor story which sees an older Second Doctor and Jamie turn up. Michael Troughton is able to inhabit his father’s role admirably and, albeit with some moments which feel a little bit off, it is easy to forget that you are not listening to the real thing. The quirks of the performance do settle down relatively early on, and can be justified as being as a consequence of the Doctor’s sentencing. This Doctor is given little other choice but to comply with Raven and the Celestial Intervention Agency if he wants to continue his existence in this form, and he is haunted by hearing his successor and the Brigadier conversing in the early part of the story, which is a discombobulating situation to be sure. The Doctor is without his faithful TARDIS and embroiled in a mystery which will keep him intrigued. There’s a lot to like about the Doctor in this story and promise in this story that makes me intrigued to see where this range goes moving forward.

Verdict: The Second Doctor’s adventures continue to aplomb with The Final Beginning, giving opportunity to explore Season 6B. Michael Troughton and Emma Noakes shine in an unsettling story which only suffers as a result of having slightly shorter parts. 8/10

Cast: Michael Troughton (The Doctor), Emma Noakes (Raven), Tim Treloar (Silas/The Third Doctor), Anna-Maria Nabirye (Catrona), Nicholas Briggs (Celestine/The Daleks) & Jon Culshaw (Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart).

Writer: Mark Wright & Nicholas Briggs

Director: Nicholas Briggs

Producer: Mark Wright

Composer: Toby Hrycek-Robinson

Parts: 4

Release Date: 6th July 2022

Behind the Scenes

• The events of this story are set a quantum of a second after the Doctor’s sentencing in The War Games.
• At the suggestion of Nicholas Briggs, it is a sequel to The Evil of the Daleks, and its title is a reference to the Doctor’s line about that story being a Final End for the Daleks.
• It is unusually short, with each part only being 15 minutes long.

Cast Notes

• Emma Noakes also voiced Elanora in Blood of the Time Lords.
• Anna-Maria Nabiyre also voiced Kalu in Interstitial.

Best Quote

I assume you’re watching me, Raven. Well, how am I doing? I hope that this is all very entertaining for you.

The Second Doctor

Previous Second Doctor review: The War Games

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