Whilst it may seem on initial reading of its synopsis just a re-hash of The Chase, this audio proves to be so much more. Full of charm and really evoking that 1960s feel, the Stephen Noonan led First Doctor Adventures continue to be one of my favourite ranges showcasing just how good Big Finish can be at accurately recreating eras on audio.

The basic premise of this audio is as already stated a loose re-hash of The Chase with seemingly the main wrinkle being that of a much older Vicki returning for one final adventure with The Doctor, but upon closer inspection all is not as it seems. Whilst featuring The Daleks, they are not the main villains of the piece. In a wonderfully executed twist, the main villain of the piece is revealed to be the robot duplicate of The Doctor from The Chase. The inclusion of RoboDoctor provides the piece with a fascinating discourse of the nature of being alive and free will and his scenes with Vicki where he truly believes himself to be The Doctor are wonderful.

Vicki being so much older in this story also provides the story with a nice bit of closure for her as she gets to say a 'proper' goodbye to The Doctor in what is a really heartfelt moment. The scene where The Doctor laments that he is the one being left behind instead of his companions is heartbreaking and really does portray The First Doctor as being a lonely wanderer (something never really touched upon in the TV show).

The additional wrinkle in the story is Dodo dealing with the Doctor's sudden disappearance at the end of The Incherton Incident, I can tell that this specific plot thread will run on for a while maybe not being resolved in the immediate future. Although The Doctor mentioning that he was taken out of time does indicate to me that we may well get some answers when Deathworld is released in July

Now, the contentious point with these audios is always the recasting of deceased actors. Personally, I'm a big fan of Noonan and think his take on Hartnell is perfect with the mannerisms nailed and he has the cadence of speech on lock too. His performance has gone from strength to strength with each boxset and I'm sure he can only improve with further exposure in the role.

Overall, this was a delightfully charming audio further cementing the First Doctor Adventures as one of my personal favourite ranges in the Big Finish repertoire.