✅(8.65) = VERY GOOD!

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

The One Doctor is Big Finish going full farce and constantly surprising the listener with comical takes (beginning with the Monopoly gag!). The real fun starts once Sixie and Mel arrive on the planet Generios to save the day, only to notice that it’s already been saved by the Doctor and his companion—or someone claiming to be them.

Chrisoffer Biggins is simply perfect as the impostor Doctor, whose fraudulent ways are very un-Doctorish but whose gentlemanly ways make him very likable. His companion is hilarious, and the two of them remind me of the two frauds in Carnival of Monsters.

Colin Baker and Bonnie Langford are in top form. They are constantly funny, but they don’t make fools of themselves. The central quartet is amazing.

So this adventure relies on the mystery of the One Doctor (and his psychic screwdriver and STARDIS) and the constant, small, but ridiculous turns that maintain a jolly, light-hearted, and fun tone. Then there's a real alien threat as well, which needs to be solved.

While Part 2 is a little bit more of messing around, turning the story into a silly fetching mission, Part 3 surprises with a different opening tune followed by the Doctors joining a The Weakest Link-style eternal game show (yup, BF did it before RTD!), while Mel tries to assemble a seemingly impossible-to-assemble piece of furniture. This entire Part 3 is one of the funniest single episodes in BF history.

(DISCLAIMER: THIS IS A STORY WRITTEN BY GARETH ROBERTS, A FIGURE WHO HAS MADE HIMSELF INFAMOUS IN THE DOCTOR WHO COMMUNITY THROUGH REPEATED VILE AND NASTY COMMENTS MADE ON SOCIAL MEDIA. THIS REVIEW IS NOT AN ENDORSEMENT OF HIM AS A PERSON, PURELY HIS WORK. DO NOT TAKE ANY PRAISE I LEVEL AT HIM HERE AS ADMIRATION TOWARDS HIS UTTERLY BACKWARDS VIEWPOINTS. ANYWAYS, WITH THAT OUT OF THE WAY, PLEASE DO ENJOY).

The Monthly Adventures #027 - "The One Doctor” by Gareth Roberts and Clayton Hickman

Comedy in Big Finish is always something I find impressive. Non-visual comedy will rely a lot on script and performance and very rarely can you cheese it, so when it works, it really works (and by extension, when it doesn’t it very much doesn’t). Gareth Roberts, for all his many, many, many faults, is a rather accomplished comedy writer and whilst his efforts in the show rarely land for me - although whether that’s his fault or James Corden’s I’ll never know - his expanded media often do and even, dare I say it, emulate the legendary Douglas Adams’ and his ultra-specific brand of dry British sci-fi comedy. So what happens when the Doctor gets his identity stolen?

Chasing a distress signal, the Doctor and Mel discover a planet in celebration, for he has saved them, along with his plucky companion Sally-Anne. But how could that be? And what will these imposters do when a real alien invasion comes a-calling?

(CONTAINS SPOILERS)

A self-parody was a concept that, by this point, was very overdue in Doctor Who, and I don’t think that there could’ve been a better execution of the concept than this. It is very unfortunate that Gareth Roberts is this good at writing comedy. Centre to this glorious pantomime are Banto Zame and Sally-Anne, the respective Doctor and companion con artists that are paired with our main cast for the duration of the episode and they are an absolute joy to have around. Christopher  Biggins is certainly the stand out performer here: he manages to blend a genuinely good impression of the Doctor with a two-bit crook swindling his way out of situations with Saul Goodman levels of bullshitting. Sally-Anne also is shockingly endearing as a companion and, though the main focus is on her having an oddball romantic fixation on Sixie, she makes for an honestly great one-time traveller. These are two characters that I feel wouldn’t work in pretty much any other context, and I think the creative team of Hickman and Roberts pull it off so well because of their Adamsesque comedy, which encourages mundane absurdity and a teatime perspective of the universe at large. But enough about their imposters, how does the real Doctor and companion fare in this story? Really very well I say; we are on the furthest side of the Big Finish to Twin Dilemma spectrum and Six is very much like a pompous teddy bear, constantly arguing with the vocabulary of a thesaurus and getting hurt by Banto’s less than flattering impersonation - his inherent ego makes me consider him to have been the best choice of Doctor for this story. And I think it’s time we talk about Mel, because she was one of my least favourite companions ever until a few months ago; her lineup of stories and reputation as the 80s’ screamer caused her image in my mind to turn sour, and only because of some of her Big Finish appearances and her glorious return to the revival (or revival’s revival) have I become aware of the more nuanced and interesting side of her character. Bonnie Langford is the main reason I enjoy Mel so much (Langford is just magnificent in the role) but I also feel that, whilst not working quite as well as somebody like Evelyn, she worked so much better as a companion to Six than Peri; their personalities just seemed to fit together well. Her and Seven however? I am yet to be convinced of that pairing’s worth. One other thing I’d like to note is the music, which I found to be incredibly immersive this time around and very reminiscent of the scores found in the 80s era, which is great since the inherent camp of this script is very much a product of JNT’s loud and proud era.

As for negatives, I find that The One Doctor slips up in the same way as many other audios - story troubles. Whilst I found the middle section to be some excellent, witty shenanigans, like trying to end a game show that's been running for millennia or attempting to build the universe’s most egregious IKEA shelf, the beginning and end both stumble. For one, this story takes surprisingly long to start moving - we’ve barely seen our inciting incident and already Part One is over - and really the story only gets good when Banto and Sally-Anne get grouped with our regulars. Also, I found the script to lose steam somewhat by the end and Part Four to be a bit of a drag. Spending twenty minutes waiting for a slime-man’s  (oddly enough voiced by Matt Lucas) package to arrive is a concept that just doesn’t sustain itself for the whole runtime and by this point you’re just waiting for the neat little conclusion at the end, which we do get but only after a peculiar musical number from the aforementioned Matt Lucas slime man.

The One Doctor really was a breath of fresh air, a witty and unique trip that feels as if Douglas Adams wrote for Who in the 80s. A great cast and some absolutely sidesplitting antics make this whole thing an absolutely great time but I find the jokes to take over from the story sometimes, leaving the narrative to fall just shy of the mark.

8/10

Pros:

+ Genuinely really funny

+ Banto and Sally-Anne were really fun as one-time TARDIS members

+ Six and Mel’s dynamic was great, with stand out performances from both actors

+ Great score that really captured the 80s

Cons:

- Part Four didn’t land as well as the previous three

- Takes too long to get going

Colin Baker truly shines in this one. You grow to love and appreciate his Doctor and also Mel (who I’ve never been particularly interested in) through their comparison with the fake doctor - who is everything the doctor shouldn’t be.

Baker is, of course, amazing in audio but does particularly well here because they don’t write him as too pretentious or judgmental - it’s a well judged portrayal. This story also proves that Doctor Who does not have to be serious to be engrossing. It’s properly funny.

I had so much fun with this audio.  The One Doctor is silly, weird, and kind of perfect.  Christopher Biggins is so funny as Banto Zane, a con man posing as a Doctor who gets caught up with a real adventure involving Mel and the Sixth Doctor.  This audio is such a great example of the redemptive arc of the Sixth Doctor.  We actually get to have fun with these characters and they actually get to be in a great story.  It sounds so simple but in contrast to the show it really felt like these two never got to have stories like this until now.

Both characters really get to shine here as they go on a few quests to get some key items to save the day.  I really liked the first two quests - they were fun and memorable, especially when the Doctor finds himself in a game show against a machine that knows everything - but the third quest kind of felt a littler weaker.  The Jelloid was a little unbearable to listen to and it's the only one of a couple weak spots in the story.  Still, the overall structure and tone of this story is pretty excellent, and does end on a touching moment as Mel and the Doctor celebrate Christmas together.

I don't have a ton else to say about this.  I found it funny and it really kept my attention nicely which is all one should want in a story such as this.  Some of the cultural references feel a little dated to the early 2000s near the end, but it hardly matters in a story this fun and The One Doctor holds up really nicely on the whole.

I've never experienced a Doctor Who story quite like it, and I LOVED it! Super camp, really really ridiculous and it heavily leans into it. I think Banto and Sally-Anne are just hilarious, and the right level of annoying. Super fun story, and I really found it super enjoyable from start to finish, SO many laugh out loud moments.