Stories Audio Drama The Lost Stories The Doomsday Contract 1 image Overview Characters How to Listen Reviews 7 Statistics Quotes Overview Released Wednesday, March 17, 2021 Written by Nev Fountain, John Lloyd Cover Art by Ryan Aplin Publisher Big Finish Productions Directed by Nicholas Briggs Runtime 146 minutes Time Travel Unclear Location (Potential Spoilers!) Coelare Coelum, Earth Synopsis Earth - a small, insignificant planet. Entirely devoid of intelligent life. At least that's according to the legal documents. The Doctor, Romana and K9 find themselves at the centre of a most unusual trial. An intergalactic corporation wants to bulldoze the planet for a development project. Only a previous court's preservation document is standing in their way. The Doctor has been summoned as an expert witness. If he can prove Earth contains intelligent life, the whole world will be saved. But with a fortune at stake, it was never going to be that simple. Listen Listened Favourite Favourited Add Review Edit Review Log a repeat Skip Skipped Unowned Owned Owned Save to my list Saved Edit date completed Custom Date Release Date Archive (no date) Save Characters Fourth Doctor Tom Baker Children of Pyxis First Appearance Skorpios K9 Mark II John Leeson Romana II Lalla Ward Show All Characters (5) How to listen to The Doomsday Contract: Big Finish Audio The Doomsday Contract Reviews Add Review Edit Review Sort: Date (Newest First) Date (Oldest First) Likes (High-Low) Likes (Low-High) Rating (High-Low) Rating (Low-High) Word count (High-Low) Word count (Low-High) Username (A-Z) Username (Z-A) Spoilers First Spoilers Last 7 reviews 9 June 2025 · 18 words Review by Rock_Angel 1 This was a fun camp little Court room drama in the alien s17 style we know and love Rock_Angel View profile Like Liked 1 28 May 2025 · 211 words Review by Seagullslost The Doctor and Romana are enjoying a holiday when co ordinates are sent into the Doctors mind. A summons from the highest court in the Galaxy cannot be ignored. This is very much on the comedy side of things. With Douglas Adams as script editor at the time this ‘lost story’ was commisisoned and written by John Lloyd, its no surprise. There are also one or two Hitchhiker references for those who can spot them. You feel that with the Doctor being effectly summoned, an interesting court case is to be played out, yet it seems to go off subject more than once. He’s asked to speak on the defence of Earth, but then has to go into a micro universe for witness protection where he resides for most of the audio. Romana chasing up issues in the real world. As much as I am of a fan of Douglas Adams and John Lloyd for that matter, this story isn’t up there with the greats. Its reasonable, enjoyable, but not that memorable. I am surprised to see how highly its been rated it certainly didn’t strike me as amazing. Its does send up sci fi concepts, bureaucracy, but some of it doesn’t reconcile with established Doctor who lore. Worth a listen. Seagullslost View profile Like Liked 0 7 March 2025 · 47 words Review by Guardax I love this story so much: completely hilarious and with tons of twists and turns, all of which are surprising but also funny at the same time. I still think about the sea turtles joke, and the comeuppance for the villain is hysterical. What a great story. Guardax View profile Like Liked 0 3 February 2025 · 173 words Review by DanDunn Spoilers This review contains spoilers! You don't even have to read the details behind this lost story to know which Season it was originally meant for, this one's pure Douglas Adams wit and writing, even though it was written by John Lloyd, you'd swear it was Adams himself at the writing helm. Massive props to the guy and to Nev Fountain for adapting a story that in many ways feels like a love letter to the Douglas Adams year of Doctor Who as the Doctor faces one of his greatest challenges, courtroom bureaucracy. Between this and Shada, Season 17 really could've been one of the show's best had the two of them made it to TV, there's exactly four episodes I'd have gladly traded for this one. Nev Fountain was the perfect person to adapt this script based on his other works with Big Finish, he's probably the most consistently funny writer Doctor Who's ever had, even with jokes that don't make me laugh I never find myself groaning at them. Definitely worth listening for all Fourth Doctor fans DanDunn View profile Like Liked 0 15 January 2025 · 228 words Review by KnuppMello 2 Original (Brazilian Portuguese) Translation (English) Originalmente escrito por John Lloyd e adaptado por Nev Fountain, "The Doomsday Contract" foi um roteiro descartado durante a produção da 17ª Temporada, abandonado depois que Douglas Adams deixou a série no final de 1979. Inicialmente ao me deparar com um Julgamento, logo veio lembranças de experiências não tão agradáveis com essa proposta narrativa (Parte "Sentence Of Death" de The Keys Of Marinus, Parte 4 de The Stones Of Blood & The Trial Of A Time Lord). Mas o que aparentava seguir caminhos mais técnicos e monótonos, acabou entregando uma história muito versátil e leve de se acompanhar, principalmente em comparação ao seu "companheiro" de lançamento o "Return Of The Cybermen" (que por sinal, eu gostei demais 😁). Sabendo disso... fique tranquilo, não havera "burocracias" em seu caminho (kkkk o humor desse áudio é contagioso hein). O ponto forte de The Doomsday Contract está nos diálogos que apresenta uma excelente mescla entre a seriedade e um humor sutil com uma sagacidade amarga muito bem desempenhada pelo seu ótimo elenco. A dinâmica entre Tom Baker (4° Doctor), Lalla Ward (Romana II) e Leeson (K9) é tão perfeita que ouso dizer que talvez supere até mesmo a dinâmica apresentada na série de TV. Falando no Tom, cara...Como o 4° Doctor esta engraçado nessa história kkkkk várias vezes ele me fez gargalhar muito alto (acho que isso nunca tinha me acontecido ouvindo áudios da Big Finish). Originally written by John Lloyd and adapted by Nev Fountain, "The Doomsday Contract" was a screenplay discarded during the production of the 17th season, abandoned after Douglas Adams left the series at the end of 1979. Initially, when I came across a Trial, it quickly brought back memories of not so pleasant experiences with this narrative proposal (Part "Sentence Of Death" of The Keys Of Marinus, Part 4 of The Stones Of Blood & The Trial Of A Time Lord). But what seemed to follow more technical and monotonous paths, ended up delivering a very versatile and easy-to-follow story, especially compared to its "companion" release "Return Of The Cybermen" (which, by the way, I really liked 😁). Knowing this... rest assured, there will be no "bureaucracies" in your way (haha the humour of this audio is contagious, isn't it?). The strength of The Doomsday Contract lies in the dialogues that present an excellent mix between seriousness and a subtle humour with a bitter sagacity very well performed by its great cast. The dynamics between Tom Baker (4th Doctor), Lalla Ward (Romana II) and Leeson (K9) are so perfect that I dare say it might even surpass the dynamics presented in the TV series. Speaking of Tom, man... How funny the 4th Doctor is in this story haha several times he made me laugh out loud (I think that had never happened to me before while listening to Big Finish audios). (Translation generated by AI, so mistakes are possible). KnuppMello View profile Like Liked 2 Show All Reviews (7) Open in new window Statistics AVG. Rating71 members 4.19 / 5 Member Statistics Listened 108 Favourited 20 Reviewed 7 Saved 7 Skipped 0 Quotes Add Quote Submit a Quote
