Thworping through time and space, one adventure at a time!

“WITH THE ANGELS, PART 1 – SEVEN FACES TIME (AND CHESS-SET ANGELS)”

A haunting farewell, time-twisting tactics, and the most sinister game of chess you’ll ever hear.

Past Forward kicks off with With the Angels, a Weeping Angels tale split across two parts at the beginning and end of the boxset, with another story wedged between. It’s a structure that fits the story’s time-hopping premise, beginning with an unnerving opening scene: the Seventh Doctor trapped in a room with a man and the Angels, a terrifying vision of what's to come.

Still travelling with companions Harry and Naomi, the Seventh Doctor arrives on Earth in 1999 (the TARDIS aiming for the ‘70s and missing, as ever). But there’s little time to settle in before UNIT swoops in to investigate a potential Angel threat. Naomi is growing increasingly ready to leave the TARDIS, and this looming departure gives the entire adventure a bittersweet air.

CHESS PIECES OF DOOM

Big Finish has always had to innovate to make the Weeping Angels work in an audio-only format, and here they come up with a chilling new twist: a chess set of 32 Angels, carved from a single Angel, time-locked, and ready for auction. These are quiet Angels, not hunting – yet – but still deeply disturbing. The idea that they’ve been sliced up and sold to the highest bidder is brutal, grotesque, and a sharp comment on the appetites of the ultra-rich.

There’s a constant undercurrent of unease, especially in the Doctor’s suspicion that something about the situation is fundamentally wrong. He’s not wrong—by the end of Part 2, the base is in lockdown, Angels are on the move, and the chess pieces are scattering into chaos.

And then it gets worse.

TWO DOCTORS, ONE PLAN

One of the biggest surprises comes early: the Seventh Doctor meets himself. A future version of Seven, cool, calm, and cloaked in mystery. The older version imparts secret knowledge to his past self – knowledge we never hear – and thus begins a carefully crafted Chessmaster plan. The Seventh Doctor at his most manipulative is always a treat, and this story leans heavily into that persona.

While Harry and Naomi are left confused by the Doctor’s secrecy, the audience shares in their uncertainty. Only gradually does the full picture emerge, especially when the two companions discover future UNIT files about themselves. And in those files? Naomi is listed as missing. It's an ominous discovery, one that casts a long shadow over the story.

WHITE ANGELS, BLACK ANGELS, AND FAREWELLS

The story’s second half ratchets up the tension with the introduction of two types of Angels: the familiar ones who send you into the past, and black Angels who send you to the future. That concept alone would be enough for a good story—but then Foley makes it heartbreakingly personal.

The Doctor, it turns out, has orchestrated a horrifying plan. Harry and Naomi must be touched by the Angels. One to the past, one to the future. Only this way can he ensure they end up where they want to be—even if he can’t get them there himself.

The moment of realisation, when Harry and Naomi understand what’s about to happen and say goodbye to each other, is beautifully performed and devastatingly abrupt. There’s no swelling music or long goodbye. It just happens. And in that moment, the listener feels the Doctor’s cold logic, as well as the emotional cost it demands.

It’s classic Seventh Doctor: noble intentions hidden behind manipulation and heartbreak.

RICH MEN, STOLEN ANGELS, AND MILITARY MISTAKES

In typical UNIT-story fashion, it’s all gone wrong because someone got greedy. The Angel chess set has been stolen by a UNIT Captain acting on behalf of a wealthy collector with designs on turning the Angels into a private army. It's a clever subplot that highlights the absurdity of militarised wealth: someone thinking they can control the Weeping Angels. The result? A base in ruins and time thrown into chaos.

The story’s social commentary is pointed but never heavy-handed, using the Angels' horrifying nature as a mirror for human exploitation and hubris.

SEVEN’S SADNESS AND COMPANIONS IN CRISIS

Sylvester McCoy is in top form here, giving us a masterclass in duality. The “present” Seventh Doctor is cheeky, sharp, and forward-moving, while his future counterpart is more subdued and sombre, quietly haunted by things we haven’t yet seen. His performance makes the mystery of the future Doctor even more compelling, and subtly reinforces the tragedy unfolding behind the Doctor’s schemes.

Christopher Naylor and Eleanor Crooks both shine, especially in Part 2. Their chemistry clicks once the Doctor vanishes, and they’re left to navigate the madness of a Weeping Angel-infested base. Naomi’s growing dissatisfaction with TARDIS life is convincingly portrayed, and her final scenes with Harry are some of the most affecting the range has delivered so far.

THE LEGACY OF RAY AND A NEW BEGINNING

Just as the dust settles, the Doctor brings in an old friend—Ray, last seen in Delta and the Bannermen (and briefly featured in the latest Classic Doctors, New Monsters set). It’s a lovely nod to classic Doctor Who, and an elegant way to close one chapter and open another. With Harry and Naomi gone, Ray steps in, and the boxset shifts gears.

But this story isn’t just about change—it’s about loss. It closes the loop on Harry and Naomi’s timeline and retroactively aligns it with their appearances alongside both the Fourth and Seventh Doctors. It’s a satisfying, if complex, puzzle that rewards those paying attention.

📝VERDICT: 9/10

With the Angels is a standout Weeping Angels story—not because it relies on fear, but because it leans into emotional devastation and temporal complexity. With its twin Doctors, divided companions, and terrifying chess-set Angel concept, it balances horror with tragedy in true Seventh Doctor style.

The plot is intricate, the performances are excellent, and the emotional payoff is quietly brutal. In other words: classic McCoy.