No Man’s Land is the Doctor Who story which is relatively unique in its setting – a pure historical set during the Great War. There are stories with Weeping Angels and Daleks infiltrating this time period but setting the Doctor and his companions down in the middle of this terrible conflict and just allowed them to experience it as was is far more unusual.

Admittedly, No Man’s Land does still have the slightest of sci-fi twists but overall, the Doctor, Ace and Hex have to fight against the horrors of humanity. There were many parts of this where I could see it working as a Young Indiana Jones story, particularly their investigations around the hospital and when Ace and Hex head out to an abandoned church in No Man’s Land.

From the outset, things seem a little awry at the military hospital. A letter has been received announcing the arrival of the Doctor and two associates. This gives the TARDIS crew an immediate in road and a compulsion to investigate the mystery not only of the letter, but also of the murder it predicts.

Even without the letter, things don’t seem right. The soldiers are regularly subjected to the ‘Hate Room’ where they are more or less brainwashed into becoming killing machines. What’s bizarre is that nobody seems to be questioning this rehabilitation tactic, not even the Doctor initially – and that’s with Hex being subjected to the room. If there’s one criticism I’d level at the story it’s that obviously odd or suspicious occurrences go almost without comment. Hex, for example, goes missing for quite a while (he’s being held captive in the Hate Room’ and yet the Doctor and Ace don’t seem to be actively searching for him. The hospital can’t be so big that they couldn’t do a quick sweep to find out where he’s got to.

When the Doctor does eventually find Hex, very little is made of the fact that he has been subjected to the process or why Sergeant Wood put him there.

Aside from this, though, the story rattles along at a good pace with the focus, initially, being on the predicted murder, and then shifting to the machinations of Lieutenant Colonel Brook and what’s really going on at the hospital.

There’s also some interesting examination of the role of soldiers and the idea of cowardice. I remember, many, many years ago, watching a schools serial called ‘How We Used to Live’ based around the First World War. One aspect which has stuck with me all these years was a character being sent a white feather as a sign of cowardice for not enlisting in the armed forces. It’s a horrible example of society guilting people into put themselves up for death and yet here, in No Man’s Land, we see how soldiers were constantly battling not just the enemy, but prejudice in their own ranks either for perceived cowardice or unentitled privilege.

Listening to No Man’s Land has highlighted something which has been bugging me about Sophie Aldred. I recently listened to the ‘Hector trilogy’ (Nucleus of the Swarm, Mask of Tragedy and Signs and Wonders). Weird creative decisions about Hex/Hector’s character development aside, one frustrating aspect of those audios is Sophie Aldred’s sudden change of performance style for Ace. In stories like No Man’s Land, it’s clear Ace has matured and Aldred’s acting is spot on. In the Hector trilogy, though, Aldred has become very shouty, Ace seems to have regressed into a teenager again and, strangest of all, she sounds more and more like a boy. Aldred, a few years ago, did a series for CBeebies called Tree Fu Tom. In that, she provided the voice for the main character – a boy called Tom who shrinks down and hangs out with fairy folk. What seems, oddly, to be happening is that Ace is turning into Tree Fu Tom. More and more, her voice acting seems closer and closer to that performance than it does to those from No Man’s Land (and Gods and Monsters, although there are hints of Tree Fu Tom breaking through, even there).

Listening to No Man’s Land highlighted the change in Aldred’s performance to me and it’s frustrating that directors of the audios don’t seem to be noticing this weird shift in her performance. Aldred can be amazing as Ace, particularly in the run of stories from The Harvest through to Gods and Monsters, but it’s just not working after that (and I haven’t heard great things about her performance in the more recent audios teaming her up with Mel again – all of which are supposed to occur after her travels with Hex).

No Man’s Land is also a good vehicle for Philip Olivier’s Hex, a companion I’ve had trouble with in previous audios for this marathon. Here, he is great, and bounces well off Ace and the Doctor. Sylvester McCoy also gives a good turn as the Doctor without too much of the ‘angry’ acting and more of the ‘quiet menace’ that he’s much better at.

The guest cast are good, although due to it all being male a few of the soldiers are a little difficult to distinguish at certain points of the story. Leading them, as Brook, is Black Orchid and Ghost Light alumni Michaael Cochrane, who is brilliant as a man able to charm and intimidate in equal measure, turning on a sixpence as the situation demands it.

Historically, this story hits many of the same beats as previous WW1 set stories, but with specific focus on the hospital and No Man’s Land itself. The overall mystery does have a slightly sci-fi reveal (in that the people Brook works for are hinted as being the Forge, which – signficantly – ties in to Hex’s tragic family background). But this reveal is a minor tag at the end of the story, almost an afterthought, and the main thrust retains its historical focus.

No Man’s Land is a bit of a forgotten gem and a Big Finish audio worth seeking out as a good example of Doctor Who doing ‘history’ and of the 7th/Ace/Hex TARDIS team.