An unexpected Coda to To the Death released all these years later. The story of the original TARDIS team navigating a ship that has lost its crew in the past is all well and good, but that's not where the true magic is. This story is about Susan grieving the death of her son, and finally deciding she can let him go. It's heartbreaking and beautiful, and how lucky are we 60 years later Carol Ann Ford can still deliver like this?

So far, a fantastic boxset, do not overlook it!

Stardust and Ashes - ★★★½☆

This review contains spoilers not only for the title story but also for "An Earthly Child", "Relative Dimensions" and "Lucie Miller/To the Death".

Reflecting on Stardust and Ashes was interesting. Ian Potter is not an author I've heard many stories from, his most notable contribution to me being The Alchesmists, another Companion Chronicle for which I don't have much affection. I only checked who had written this story after I had finished listening, so any previous opinions I had about the author didn't affect my experience this time. And I was taken by surprise.

This is a very perspective-driven story, as Companion Chronicles often are. The structure of the range allows its releases to exist on two distinct layers - the main story, which is being told by the companion, and the set-up story, which sometimes has a metanarrative purpose. It is common for stories to be told by the companions years after their departure. Stardust and Ashes is set in a particular period in Susan's life - shortly after "Lucie Miller/To the Death", the resounding finale of the fourth season of the Eighth Doctor and Lucie Miller's adventures. There, Susan was reunited with her grandfather, introduced him to her son and, later accompanied by Lucie, they were brutal victims of a second Dalek invasion of Earth. To the Death is a massacre of the regular cast, with Susan and the Doctor being two of the few survivors.

Stardust and Ashes' Susan is a grieving one, completely lost and not quite sure who she is anymore. The setup intertwines with the story she tells, set many years earlier when she was still traveling with the Doctor, Ian and Barbara, in the frustrations she faces. The narrative this time stands out for bringing to light, from her point of view, some contradictions that the character has gained over the years. She patronized at various times, both by her grandfather and by Ian and Barbara, and she points out to the man she tells the story to that she believes that her grandfather and her began to play a role after their departure from Gallifrey. That they both, at some point, began to believe that she was just a child.

It's such an interesting perspective that I also think works on a few levels - it addresses some of the character's inconsistencies, it questions a bit the role that Caroline Ann Ford herself had as Susan in the classic series (Doctor Who in the 60s had surprisingly well-developed female characters, but Susan is often not one of them) and it also, lovingly, shakes her relationship with the other characters. Susan wasn't just patronized by her peers - she was treated that way by the text. Another question arises from this: what else can Susan be?

In the context of this audio, and the future that the character has conquered, she has also become a wife. A mother. And as she herself says, those were two other roles that she learned to play. But in Stardust and Ashes she has lost all of that - David has been dead for years, Alex and Lucie have been killed by the Daleks in a bloody showdown and her grandfather, with whom she had just reconnected, has once again left as broken as she is. From the ashes of all that she has lost, is there any Susan left who can rise again?

The last seven minutes are stunning. Quite possibly my favorite performance by Ann Ford in the role. All of Susan's grief, all of her pain, all of her loneliness comes out. It's heartbreaking and it hurts. To quote my favorite line:

"I miss all of them so much. And what do I got now? A ruined city. Not even my boy's ashes."

"A rebuilding city. You're not regretting let him go?"

"No. No regrets. I needed to."

"So, what's next?"

"I don't know. I'll just have to do what I feel's right. Stop looking back and keep going forward. I've got something to prove."

The stronger part is definitely the setup story, but the story that Susan tells has its merits - it's one of those scenarios where the characters are trapped in a ship controlled by a computer that doesn't want to let them go and becomes a threat. It's not my favorite of this niche in Doctor Who, that title goes to Aquitaine, but it has great characterizations for the regular cast. Several decisions made in the plot felt very true to the spirit of the 60s - there's a scene in particular where the Doctor asks Susan and Barbara to go investigate another place as an excuse for them to leave where they are so he and Ian try to use a dead body to unlock a passage. I rewatched The Daleks recently and this scene reminded me of the moment when the two of them pull the Dalek out of its shell without Susan and Barbara seeing the creature. Here Susan herself points out how stupid it is because they've seen much worse (and it's playing by a sexist point of view that was common in the 60s but don't make much sense with the current background the character has), but it's a touch of characterization that stood out to me.

The threat from the ship is rarely physical, so this is a great opportunity to highlight the characters' naivety. The decontamination scene is really cool. The way Susan "resolve" the plot is also really cool. I think her uncertainty about whether they were the ones who helped the ship or if they were put in situations that led them to do exactly what the ship wanted is interesting, and I like how it ties into the discussion she's been having with Mr. Barryman about wanting to be alone vs. the strength of being together.

TARDIS report #1: I want to quote another moment that stuck in my head:

"Can you still do that? Y'now, travel back into the past."

"Only in memories. And stories. Now I only travel to the future like everyone else does. Moment by moment, day by day."

TARDIS report #2: I have some continuity notes. This story is set after The Sensorites, since the sensesphere is mentioned by the TARDIS team. Susan stated at the end of the story that shortly after the events narrated, she left the TARDIS during the events of The Dalek Invasion of Earth. So it's a little further ahead in the timeline. The setup story probably takes place shortly after Lucie Miller/To the Death, but before Susan joined the Time War.

TARDIS report #3: Obviously this story agrees and disagrees with various previous characterizations of Susan as is often the case. This is a version of the character that suggests she is much more mature and capable than some other versions. Older, too. But perhaps the most glaring discrepancy is the implication that her joining Coal Hill School was the Doctor's idea; usually the stories agree that it was Susan's.

TARDIS report #4: it's GREAT to have the Companion Chronicles back. Such a wonderful range. Some of my favorite stories ever in Doctor Who are Companion Chronicles. Hope they stay around.

This story is beautiful honestly such a compelling story