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“LOST PROPERTY: A DOCTOR IN DOMESTIC EXILE”

A quiet, eerie, and grounded opener that introduces a very different kind of Doctor Who story.

There’s something chillingly prescient about Stranded, a Doctor Who box set centred on the Eighth Doctor being stuck in present-day London—trapped in a flat, facing mundane everyday challenges, and slowly acclimatising to a world he can’t easily fix. Written and produced before the COVID-19 pandemic, but released in the thick of it, the first story, Lost Property, hits differently in hindsight. The Doctor may be stuck due to a TARDIS malfunction, not a global crisis, but the themes of confinement, uncertainty, and reluctant domesticity resonate eerily well.

Matt Fitton’s script takes a bold swing by stripping back nearly all the usual trappings of Doctor Who. Gone are the monster-of-the-week theatrics and zipping through space-time. Instead, we get the Doctor in a cardigan, fuming at broken boilers and awkwardly trying to fit in with the tenants of Baker Street. This is Doctor Who as a grounded, character-led drama—think Being Human meets The Archers, with a subtle sci-fi undertow.

FITTON'S FINE INTRODUCTION

As a series opener, Lost Property wears the heavy burden of introducing a whole new premise for the franchise. It’s not just one story—it's setting the stage for a radical shift in tone and structure. Fitton does well to ease listeners into this new normal, blending low-stakes tension with grounded character work. He cleverly taps into everyday anxieties—tenancy agreements, dodgy landlords, financial woes—and uses them to mirror the Doctor’s alienation. For once, the threats are bureaucratic rather than galactic, and that shift alone sets this apart.

What the script lacks in explosive plot, it makes up for in mood. Fitton creates an atmosphere of tension—not from monsters lurking in the dark, but from simmering frustrations and unanswered questions. The seeds of mystery are gently scattered across the story, hinting at time-bending events, hidden dangers, and secrets within the walls of Baker Street.

A GRUMPY DOCTOR IN A SHRUNKEN WORLD

Paul McGann, now fully settled into his older, wearier incarnation, gives a beautifully restrained performance. His Doctor is brooding, sulky, and quietly furious at being grounded. No longer the swashbuckling romantic of Storm Warning, this is a man whose fire is dimming—not because he’s tired of fighting monsters, but because he’s not allowed to fight them at all. And yet, for all his irritation, McGann never lets the character tip into cruelty; he’s still recognisably the Doctor, just one who’s forced to deal with service charges and gas leaks.

The chemistry with Liv and Helen remains strong but fraught. Nicola Walker and Hattie Morahan ground the story with believable, measured performances. Their frustration with the Doctor is entirely justified—he wants to escape, but they have to live in the here and now. As the Doctor resists the idea of settling down, Liv and Helen are left to sort out finances and practicalities, lending the TARDIS trio a new, refreshingly relatable dynamic.

THE NEIGHBOURS AND THE CURATOR

One of the great successes of Lost Property is how it builds its cast of recurring characters. Rebecca Root immediately impresses as Tania Bell—a character who feels fully realised from the moment she steps into the story. Smart, compassionate, and quietly complex, she becomes the emotional heart of this new era and quickly emerges as the standout voice in the flat.

Then there’s The Curator. Tom Baker’s return as this enigmatic presence from The Day of the Doctor is brief, but deliciously intriguing. His cryptic appearances are like narrative Easter eggs—frustratingly limited, yet dripping with potential. There’s clearly more to him, and the script knows just how to dangle those threads without overplaying its hand.

MUNDANE MAGIC AND RTD VIBES

There’s a definite Russell T Davies touch to Lost Property. It’s not just the blend of everyday life and subtle sci-fi; it’s the focus on flawed, ordinary people and their complex inner lives. The sense of community among the Baker Street residents feels distinctly RTD-era—real people, real problems, and a Doctor who, for once, isn’t the most important person in the room.

That said, the story doesn’t quite function as a standalone. It’s more of a slow burn prologue than a self-contained adventure. There’s no climax, no resolution—just mood and setup. It feels like being handed the corner of a jigsaw puzzle, with the rest of the picture tantalisingly out of reach. The lack of forward momentum might frustrate some, especially those used to the punchier style of other Big Finish openings.

And the sound design, while rich, sometimes hampers clarity. With so many voices in overlapping dialogue, and characters who sound similar, it can be hard to follow who’s speaking—especially in crowded scenes.

IS THIS REALLY DOCTOR WHO?

This is a subjective sticking point, but it’s worth noting. Lost Property often feels more like a domestic drama with sci-fi notes than a proper Doctor Who story. For some, that’ll be a welcome novelty—a refreshing change of pace. For others, the lack of action, aliens, or even basic sci-fi trappings might leave them cold. It doesn’t give you the usual thrills, but it does offer something deeper and potentially more rewarding—if you’re willing to settle in for the long haul.

📝VERDICT: 8/10

Lost Property is a bold and atmospheric opener to Stranded, introducing a radically different kind of Doctor Who experience. Moody, grounded, and richly character-driven, it prioritises emotional stakes over sci-fi spectacle. While its story is more set-up than payoff and it doesn’t work especially well on its own, it lays compelling groundwork for a new kind of Doctor Who storytelling—one rooted in the mundane and the mysterious, in landlords and lost identities, and in the question of what happens when the Doctor can’t just leave.

I've been looking forward to Stranded for a very very long time, and I'm happy to say that this was EXACTLY what I was hoping it would be. The tone is just absolutely captivating. I'm extremely excited to see where this goes.

A+. Maybe S.

Lost Property is very much just setup for the rest of the arc, but it does a great job of it.

Even as someone who's barely listened to barely any 8th Doctor stories, this does a great job of bringing you into the world and the characters. Liv and Helen are immediately likable and all the context you need for their characters is here in this story, and is communicated to the audience in a way that doesn't feel expositionary, Liv namedropping Kalador and Helen mentioning about how much everything's changed could have ruined the pacing or feel forced, but they really don't with the way that they're done.

I also like how little we get of Eight here, this isn't a situation he's used to at all and more than anything it just frustrates him, drawing on the characterisation of Eleven in The Power of Three or Three in most of his era, and unlike those two he doesn't even have alien threats to figure out. He sort of isolates himself in a way that makes a lot of sense until he's drawn out at the end by Liv and Helen. In perfect contrast to this we also see The Curator, this future doctor who doesn't want to meddle in his own timeline but knows he has to do something, he's so charming and personable, and it's a great reminder that The Doctor can be that, he just needs to try, so when Eight does at the end of the story, it works really nicely.

The will-they-won't-they dynamic that the new character of Tania introduces for Liv is great as well, and especially knowing a little more about her character, I can't wait to see more of Tania going forward.

The actual alien threat in the story feels a little underdeveloped unfortunately, but it's not trying to be a big part of the story and I think it works for what it is.