okay so . The Incherton Incident is a special story for me. it’s good and all, but the first time I heard it was like a special occasion . I promise it didn’t color my opinion on the story (banger) but it’s just such a good memory too so I gotta tell it, I have to share it with you people. I will briefly talk about the story for those who just want a quick summary and then I’ll tell the personal anecdote thingy.

This is one of those big finish audios that is more about recreating an era than telling a unique and glorious plot that you would write nowadays. So in short, the opposite approach to The Demon Song, the previous episode which had exceedingly modern sensibilities. If you don’t like nostalgic retreads, it might not necessarily be your thing, but also, I do think it’s got more to it than Nick Briggs desperately hoping to recreate 60s magic. There’s a good usage of One and Dodo in this one, and I really miss having releases with just One and Dodo, I don’t want other companions with them, because their chemistry in this is magical, even if they spend the majority of it separated. But now I’m done talking about the review thing itself. I want to talk about my experience with this one, which I promise, didn’t majorly color my opinion too much. I still earnestly think this would have made me happy without the special circumstances. But as to those circumstances…

My family was on our boat, which is a thing we have, I’m not getting into the Plum lore, and we were on vacation, going up the coast. It was slow going. the boat was neither large or fast nor particularly new and so it would break down now and then and we’d just have to fix it ourselves. One of these nights we were out on the open water and the boat broke down. Because it’s a boat and they float and everything this wasn’t a big deal.

But we were miles from civilization. Out at night, in the middle of the ocean. The ocean is reflective, you understand. Obvious fact, but it bears saying, because if you’re out at night on a boat with the water, and you don’t have many lights or anything, you can look out into that water and you can’t tell the difference between the water and the sky, it’s just an infinity of black.

And so, sitting there, in the goddamn void, was the time I chose to put on my headphones, look out into the water sky and listen to the Incherton Incident. And I don’t think I’m ever going to have an audio drama experience like that again. It was the perfect story for that occasion, this bleak seaside town. The authenticity of the story to that 60s era. I have such good memories of that moment. I don’t think another audio would have been more suited to that moment, sitting there, imagining a black and white world, hearing in the background the small lapping of the waves…

This was pretty solid, overall. It was my first taste of Stephen Noonan as the First Doctor. It was pretty good - a little off-putting at first, but after a while, I really got into it. It didn't really feel like a good impression to me, but it did achieve the spirit of William Hartnell's original performance. Plus, it really blended nicely with Lauren Cornelius' Dodo. Dodo, who didn't really have much of a presence in the original show, is always welcome in Big Finish since it makes her more of a character and gives said character the opportunity to be in better stories.

The story itself is decent. There's this whole evacuated town after a ship tried to track down the TARDIS. Set in a post-war England with a military man recovering from PTSD, there's a lot to like about the audio and it felt like a cozy listen even with some of the dark themes about war and justice. What's a little weaker is the villain, who kind of comes across as a little cartoonish even if her [Sanderson's] motivations aren't entirely evil. Still, The Incherton Incident isn't a bad listen and has some solid ideas to it that I feel, overall, make it worth a listen if you can get it for a good price.

This is part of a series of reviews of Doctor Who in chronological timeline order.

Previous Story: The Demon Song

While the two-parters so far have been really consistent, the four-parters have been struggling a bit. This story just really doesn't warrant it's length. It could EASILY have been about an hour shorter and it would have made it so much better. It's not terrible though, just disappointing.

The plot is vaguely like a spy thriller, set in the sleepy town of Incherton-on-Sea. I did actually quite like the setting, it was fairly quaint but it wasn't exactly anything unique. The alien plot was also pretty weak, although the idea that they were tracking the Doctor down for "future crimes against the galaxy" was an interesting one.

Noonan continues to do a great job as the First Doctor and he has a great dynamic the American spy character. Past all that though, there really isn't much to say about this one. It's not one of Briggs' worst but it's nothing I'm keen to relisten to any time soon.

Next Story: Fugitive of the Daleks

A story that is wide as an ocean, but deep as a puddle.

The Doctor and Dodo crash into something while flying through the time stream. This causes the Tardis to land near the small town Incherton, 1947. When they arrive, they are quickly swept up in a local emergency: Something alien has crash landed on the town, destroying everyone who lived there. What could it be?

I’ve thought long and hard about the best way to describe this story, but I think I have found it. Do you remember those annoying little slidey puzzles? The ones where you just constantly smash little pieces together in the hopes of ending up with something worthwhile?

That’s what this story is. The characters are the small little pieces. They are all insignificant, flat and really not detailed enough. Yet they keep confronting them with each other in the hope that one of the clashes leads to something meaningful. Yet realistically, all you end up with is frustration.

Let me explain. Each character can be described with 2, maybe 3 words: The traumatized commander, The snarky spy, the traitor, the hypnotizing alien. All of them are flat as a board. Sadly, the same thing goes for our main cast, as they are reduced to their most stereotypical traits: The grumpy know-it-all and, well, Dodo.

And all these characters seem to do is bicker. The Doctor argues with the spy. Dodo gets the commander. They fight and fight, maybe swap some dynamics around if you’re lucky, then we continue fighting.

It doesn’t help that the overarching plot has nothing new to offer either. The threat is an alien who was hidden deep underground, but is now awakened and using hypnosis to influence people. This is basically the exact same premise as “the miniaturist”, which was 2 stories ago… So realistically, this story has nothing. No themes, no unique setting, no memorable characters, nothing.

And frankly, I have nothing more to add. I am doing Doctor who mostly chronologically, and yet I feel like I’ve already seen this story a million times. It’s completely bland, unoriginal and way too long. Hopefully the next story will throw something engaging into the mix, like characters or a plot.

What an nice 4 parter I think Stephen and Lauren are finally in there element as the Doctor and dodo and the fact we where left on that cliffhanger for a whole year is evil I love it