The Girl Who Never Was

After all, what could possibly go wrong? Stupid, stupid Doctor.

The Eighth Doctor

Synopsis

‘Dot dot dot, dash dash dash, dot dot dot. Someone’s listening. Somewhere.’

A ghost ship. A girl with no memory, adrift in time. An old enemy. This could be Charlotte Pollard’s finest hour – or her last.

Set course for Singapore, 1931. Journey’s end.

Review

With the Eighth Doctor having new adventures released with his new companion Lucie Miller, Big Finish returned to close out his original Big Finish companion’s time with him, only to reveal that her time with an earlier incarnation is only just getting started.

Some things are too good to be forgotten.

Charley Pollard

The Girl Who Never Was is a fast-paced and intriguing story, which very rarely pauses for breath. To close out this arc, Alan Barnes returns to write Charley’s departure story, having written all the important parts of her story to date, including her introduction in Storm Warning and Neverland which takes major steps towards resolving the plot lines relating to Charley and the Web of Time. It’s a breakneck story, set across three different times; 2008, 1942 and 500,002. I’ve written previously on this blog how much I like stories where time is used beyond the mere usage of the TARDIS to get the Doctor and his companions into the story. Here, Barnes uses it to separate the Doctor from Charley before bringing them back together in the final part. We also have a mystery plot, with both the SS Batalia and the identity of the elderly Miss Pollard in 2008, the sole survivor of the ship seemingly disappearing in 1942. She claims to be an older version of Charley, but is amnesiac.

Barnaby Edwards states in the behind the scenes that this is one of the best casts he has worked with. They certainly all slots into the story relatively effortlessly. The standout to me was Robert Duncan, who I am familiar with through his work on Drop the Dead Donkey. These are very different roles from the rather smarmy middle manager Gus, and more dislikeable, especially Colonel Borthwick, who has Nazi gold and disregards the advice he is given by the Doctor and his friends. This culminates with Borthwick and the rest of the passengers being blown up by a sea mine, which is a rather brutal way to meet your fate. Equally,

In a way, it is a bit of a shame that the Cybermen feature so prominently on the cover of The Girl Who Never Was, because their inclusion at the end of Part 2 could be a complete surprise otherwise. There’s nothing in the story that leads you to believe that the Cybermen are present leading up to this point. The Cybermen want to convert the humans onboard the SS Batalia with the aim of rebuilding a new Cyber army, feeling abandoned and without orders in the future. Nicholas Briggs brings the Cybermen to life with reliable, successfully bringing a variant of the early Cybermen to audio.

Charley Pollard

The Eighth Doctor

Verdict

Cast: Paul McGann (The Doctor), India Fisher (Charley Pollard), Danny Webb (Byron/Tourist), Anna Massey (Miss Pollard), Amanda Root (Madeleine Fairweather), David Yip (Curly/Tourist/Inspector Yew), Robert Duncan (Borthwick/Captain), Natalie Mendoza (Receptionist), Tim Sutton (Colville), Jake McGann (Young Man) & Nicholas Briggs (Cybermen/Tourist/Goon).

Writer: Alan Barnes

Director: Barnaby Edwards

Producer: Sharon Gosling

Music: Andy Hardwick

Sound: Gareth Jenkins

Parts: 4

Main Range Release Number: 103

Release Date: 3 December 2007

Behind the Scenes

• This is the last story chronologically to feature the Eighth Doctor and Charley, and the final story featuring this pairing until the release of The Light at the End in 2013.
• This was voted the best audio story by readers of Doctor Who Magazine in 2008.
• Charley’s story continues with the Sixth Doctor, which is something alluded to by using his era’s theme tune.

Cast Notes

• Danny Webb played John Jefferson in The Impossible Planet and The Satan Pit. He also appeared in The Dark Husband.
• Amanda Root would go on to play Lendek and a scientist in The Lords of Terror.
• David Yip had previously played Veldan in Destiny of the Daleks.
• Robert Duncan also played Pallister in The Entropy Plague, Mr Thomas and Doctor James Greco in Damaged Goods and
• Natalie Mendoza played Lolanthia in Absolution.
• Tim Sutton would go on to play Scandrius in Time in Office and Farl in Phobos.
• Jake McGann would go to play the Doctor’s great grandson, Alex, from An Earthly Child.

Best Quote

Why not call the Telos helpline? Not surprised, it would cost a fortune from here.

The Eighth Doctor

Previous Eighth Doctor review: Absolution

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