pretty decent lighthearted romp, although it was a bit too puerile for my tastes at certain points

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.

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

Previous Story: The Queen of Clocks

This is one of the funniest Doctor Who stories I've done in ages. It starts off with a simple premise of someone impersonating the Doctor - TARDIS, companion and all. It turns into an extremely fun Douglas Adams-y adventure where the real Doctor and the impostor are forced to team up with each other's companions to go on a quest for "three great treasures" to save an entire system from total obliteration.

These quests are really funny, The Doctor goes off to a gameshow being played wherein the contestant is an all-knowing databank and never gets any questions wrong. There were some really funny gags about the usual ways to combat this and I found the solution in the end to be quite clever. Mel meanwhile is at a furniture store and she's forced to build an unbuildable set of shelves by really absurd robots.

What this story really is, is a parody of Doctor Who and it's absolutely brilliant. It's clearly done with love though. The cast are really giving their all, 6 and Mel feel like a perfect TARDIS team for this and the impostor Doctor and companion complement them perfectly. The Delaware theme playing was an odd touch, it certainly surprised me and it really added to the ridiculousness of the story.

Overall a really good story, even if it was made by a really awful person.

Next Story: The Juggernauts

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.