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.

This is a very good opening to a (hopefully) very good era. Although it doesn't start out promising with a generic prison story it quickly picks up the pace into a mad dash that is a crazy fun listen. The last 20 minutes are incredibly good. All the vocal performances are on point as well, with Martin being as incredible as she was on the TV Show and new-comer Alice Krige is great as the more professional foil to Martin's doctor.

Still, it's not without fault, the biggest of which is that it's just Doctor Who. It's good Doctor Who, but Doctor Who none the less. Which may seem like an odd complaint about a Doctor Who audio but it raises the question of what is the point of the Fugitive as an incarnation. She's still a time lord who travels around the universe in a TARDIS while fighting daleks and has a seemingly encyclopaedic knowledge of Earth history. So why is she a pre-Hartnell doctor, and not an Unbound, or a future one, or something else. None of the potential of having a pre-Hartnell doctor is realised and it leaves me slightly disappointed at what could have been.

Still, the story is good, and the Doctor is incredible, so I will be returning to this range. I'd highly recommend it as well, it's just a shame as it could've been a bit more interesting.

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

“FAST TIMES – A THRILLING FUGITIVE RUN WITH A FEW BUMPS ALONG THE WAY”

Most Wanted marks Big Finish’s first dedicated box set for Jo Martin’s Fugitive Doctor, a character shrouded in mystery ever since her brief appearances in Flux and The Power of the Doctor. With her past still largely unexplored, Fast Times kicks things off with an action-packed, high-energy chase, firmly establishing the core of this incarnation—constantly on the run from the Division, the organisation she once served.

The setup is simple but effective: the Doctor is captured and thrown onto a prison spaceship, where she quickly finds herself standing up for a bullied inmate while clashing with a brutish warden. It’s a perfect showcase for Jo Martin’s Doctor—tough, no-nonsense, but still possessing that classic sense of compassion and responsibility. She doesn’t pick fights needlessly, but when forced into action, she’s commanding and unyielding. This version of the Doctor thrives in tense, high-stakes environments, and the prison break scenario allows her to shine.

FADE, THE DALEKS, AND A MYSTERY IN THE TIMELINE

One of the most intriguing aspects of Fast Times is its introduction of Leah Harvey as Fade, an inmate who starts off as a frightened prisoner and gradually evolves into something of a companion figure. Her backstory is compelling—she’s on the run from the Daleks, who wiped out her family, making her wary of trusting anyone.

The most fascinating twist? The Fugitive Doctor has never encountered the Daleks before. This raises immediate questions: is this Doctor truly pre-Hartnell, experiencing her first brush with the Doctor’s greatest foes? Or is something else at play, such as memory loss? This uncertainty adds a fresh dynamic to the Doctor’s interactions with the Daleks, who, for once, are more terrifying to the companion than to the Doctor herself. Instead of engaging them immediately, the Doctor initially chooses to escape and leave Fade to fend for herself—an unexpected moment that underscores how this incarnation is still developing her moral compass.

While the chase format works well for the most part, the inclusion of the Daleks feels somewhat unnecessary. The second half of the story essentially turns into a The Chase-style pursuit, with the Doctor and Fade hopping through time—from the late Cretaceous period to the Manhattan Project—to evade the Daleks. While these settings add variety, they don’t contribute much beyond spectacle. That said, the Doctor using a nuclear bomb test to eliminate the Daleks is a strikingly bold move, excessive yet oddly satisfying.

COSMOGON—A NEW DIVISION THREAT

Adding another layer of tension is Cosmogon, a Time Lord agent tasked with capturing the Doctor. Her pursuit of the Fugitive Doctor adds to the sense of urgency, and their interactions suggest a long history yet to be uncovered. The fact that the Doctor’s new friends actively work to hold off Cosmogon so the Doctor can escape is a satisfying moment, reinforcing how quickly she inspires loyalty even when she tries to keep others at arm’s length.

VERDICT: A SOLID START WITH ROOM FOR MORE

Fast Times is essentially one long chase sequence, but it does a great job of establishing Jo Martin’s Doctor and setting up intriguing mysteries for future stories. While the Daleks’ inclusion feels somewhat unnecessary, the dynamic between the Doctor and Fade, as well as the looming threat of Cosmogon, keeps things engaging. This Doctor is still figuring herself out, and that makes her journey all the more exciting to follow.

📝81/100

For a start to a new doctors era on big finish I am fully hooked can’t wait to listen to the rest