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“THE YEARN: A WORLD AT WAR, A LOVE IN BLOOM”

The Yearn drops Eleven and Valarie onto Medrüth, a world under siege, where its people hide in underground bunkers from an unknown threat. The mysterious invaders, known only as the Yearn, lurk in the shadows, their motives unclear, their presence a constant danger. With the Doctor determined to uncover the truth and Valarie using her cybernetic expertise to fight back, they might just be the Medrüthians’ last hope—if they can prove they aren’t part of the enemy forces themselves.

Originally intended as Valarie’s first trip in the TARDIS, this episode has all the hallmarks of a classic Doctor Who initiation story: an unfamiliar world at war, a wary population, and the Doctor arriving to set things right. However, its later placement in the series allows for a deeper focus on Valarie’s character, particularly in how she interacts with the people she meets—most notably, Roanna.

A CLASSIC DOCTOR WHO PREMISE

At its core, The Yearn follows a familiar structure: a world torn apart by a seemingly endless conflict, the Doctor caught in the middle trying to find a peaceful resolution, and the locals immediately suspecting the newcomers of being enemy agents. The added complication of the Yearn being an unknown force means that paranoia runs high, forcing the Doctor and Valarie to tread carefully as they work to uncover the truth.

While the Doctor takes on his usual role as the grand strategist, it’s Valarie who gets to shine in the action-heavy moments. Her cybernetic expertise is put to good use, as she designs traps to help the Medrüthians fight back against the Yearn, proving herself as more than just a companion but an essential problem-solver in her own right.

INTRODUCING ROANNA – LOVE AMIDST WAR

The most significant addition to the Doctor Who mythos here is Roanna, a Medrüthian who quickly forms a deep bond with Valarie. Their relationship develops at an accelerated pace, moving from first impressions to a full-fledged romance within a single episode. While the speed of their connection feels slightly jarring, the performances from Ingaar and Mia Tomlinson sell the emotional beats, making their chemistry feel genuine.

Unlike many companion love interests, Roanna doesn’t immediately board the TARDIS at the story’s end. Instead, Valarie gives her contact details, allowing them to keep in touch and leaving the door open for future encounters. This feels like a more natural and mature approach, letting their relationship develop organically rather than being rushed into a “travel together or never meet again” scenario.

THE YEARN – AN EXISTENTIAL THREAT

The reveal of the Yearn’s true nature is one of the story’s strongest elements. Rather than being a simple conquering force, they are a strange, eerie collective entity that exists without physical form, desperate to inhabit physical bodies to experience existence in a tangible way. Their motivations aren’t strictly evil, but their actions—taking over people’s bodies without consent—raise clear ethical dilemmas.

This idea taps into classic Doctor Who themes of body autonomy and identity, adding layers to the standard “mysterious alien menace” trope. When the Yearn begin targeting Valarie, the stakes are raised significantly, leading to a thrilling final act where she must think quickly to outmanoeuvre them.

📝VERDICT: 6/10

The Yearn is a solid, well-structured adventure that balances action, mystery, and character development effectively. While the romance between Valarie and Roanna moves at an almost breakneck pace, the emotional beats land well, and the episode successfully sets up future potential for their relationship. The Yearn themselves make for an unsettling and thought-provoking threat, adding depth to the story’s central conflict.

I wasn't huge on this one. The base under seige is pretty generic, and not all that memorable. Though, it does do a good job at giving Valerie some more development and insight, her story is probably the strongest aspect of this.

Lions, Tigers, and Yearn

Prerequisites: The previous 11DC audios, and Series 7 of New Who.

The Yearn is notable for being far and away the lowest rated 11DC story. I was pretty curious to find out why, and the answer is that this is just a pretty basic base-under-siege tale at its core. Honestly, that's mostly it. I do have a few actual critiques though, mostly concerning the Yearn themselves. The idea behind them is cool, but frankly I found the explanation behind their motives and history to be way too abstract and full of blatant exposition for me to really track it. That scene was certainly not helped by the sound effects behind the alien voices, which were particularly difficult to understand. Other than that though, I liked this story well enough. The side characters are pretty good, Valerie's new romance is cute, and as always Dudman and Ingar are amazing together.

A perfectly solid story!

A 'base under siege' story is very much classic Doctor Who, and it's a story concept that always feels like it fits perfectly wherever it is it ends up being, here being no exception. Our core cast are nice, kept to just three extra characters which lets everyone have time to get uniquely characterised.

The threat itself is pretty solid, and I really like the ties to the mythology of the peoples, and the mechanics of how they function. Plus the imagery that's used here is really great, 'psychic energy panthers' is just a really really fun image.

Also I loved the romance we get in this episode, the character dynamic is sweet, always love a bit of queer rep, and the lampshading classic who companion's exits is also funny.

That all said, I think this is the 11/Valarie story not to blow me away. It's good don't get me wrong, but it's definitely 'solid' not 'stunning'. When that's the worst thing I can say about a story though, especially looking at the rest of the range... what's the opposite of damning with faint praise?