Going into this, I was a little disappointed that they'd chosen to focus on Fugitive as, well, a fugitive, rather than giving us more of her time in Division...

Those disappointments were easily put to bed however when I listened to this, especially with the interviews afterwards. It makes sense for them to focus on Fugitive as a fugitive, as it's the part of her life that we've actually already seen her in, plus would be a weird title for a set if it were called 'The Fugitive Doctor Adventures' and she wasn't one.

Anyway, onto the actual story.

I love the way the story starts, the glimpse at Division, her partner betraying her, her getting away and then getting caught. Her doing the thing of going up to the biggest guy in prison and humiliating him is fun to see, and I absolutely love just how reluctant she is through all of this. You do get the sense that she's not quite The Doctor(tm) yet, but she's absolutely getting there.

I'm also surprised by how much I enjoyed the Daleks here. I'd somehow managed to forget they were in this, or assumed it was a later story, so their appearance did surprise me. I love Fugitive's interactions with them as well, them knowing her but her not knowing them yet, her trying to get more information. I love that they chose to use The Chase Daleks over the Time War Daleks, and the way they're eventually defeated by blowing them up with Oppenheimer's bomb is fun, and shows us that Fugitive still has a decent knowledge of Earth, even in this incarnation, wherever it is.

Also I really like her interactions with Fade here. The Doctor is often characterised like a teacher, and I think the way she's characterised here feels almost like a 'strict headteacher', the core of it is still there, but she's not quite the person she becomes yet.

This story wears its influences on its sleeve, namely (as cited in the interviews) the Prisoner, A-Team and the Hartnell story 'The Chase'. It's not radical (it is a prison break and Dalek story after all) but as a series pilot it's an effective one- this Doctor is a much more hardcore, harsh one actively on the run, reluctantly drawn to help. It's fast paced (even by NuWho standards), but great fun.

Fast times offers a solid and strong opening for The Fugitive Doctors audio adventures. Jo Martin gives a wonderful performance, I loved her Doctor from her first episode and she is just as good here, oozing strength and confidence, even with so much uncertainty and unknown about her past and herself, this incarnation feels like a powerful force. Martin is a delight to listen to. The Daleks appearance here is surprisingly well done, they know the Doctor, she doesn't know them. But she still eludes and beats them with style. It's not the most amazing story but it is a solid hour of fun that gives us time with this mysterious incarnation and sets up the status quo of her fleeing division, a pursuing antagonist in Cosmogan, Alice Krige giving a lovely performance, and while this is in a lot of ways just a Doctor Who story with Daleks, it feels interesting and like we are in an unknown era. Really excited to see where this series goes as there is so much potential in this incarnation.

It's a fun exciting opener for the Fugitive Doctor stories. After a quick shop in prison, we're immediately on the run with the Doctor facing an enemy that claims to know here: the Daleks! Jo Martin gives a great performance as a Doctor who isn't quite down with the whole hero thing,  but just can't help herself getting involved. It's a confident opener to the series, excited to see what else is to come.