i love lisa mcmullin but this was not my cup of tea. the setting/title of the story made me think we'd be in for a historical but alas it's literally barely at the forefront of the story. the doctor chases around a schoolgirl for what feels like an eternity and there's plot threads set up that go nowhere like the alien being from the planet the doctor wanted to go to? like the coincidence was just that? and the beginning of the story had some awfully jarring flashforward scenes with the girl and her teacher that really took me out of it.

Definitely the weakest story with Audacity so far. While there is a lot to be said for this being an important story, it all feels a bit disjointed. The title, 'Women's Day Off' plays very little into the overall story, with it mainly focussing on a young girl and her teacher who happens to be a woman so she's on strike. Then there's the random part with the alien who's trying to get home, which honestly felt like it could have been cut. I feel this episode would have felt better if it had instead been a prequel of sorts to the Sarah Jane Adventures story Mark of the Beserker, as the item that causes the young girl to gain powers is remarkably similar to the pendant from that episode in its abilities. I did appreciate Audacity and Charley showing their solidarity with the women, although Audacity feels a little half-baked in this episode, as you'd think she'd have more to do in an episode all about women being treated equally.

Day On

Prerequisites: None needed.

Women's Day Off is pretty half-baked. I fully agree with some other reviewers here in that the two separate plot lines feel entirely disconnected and unrelated to each other in the slightest. There's definitely an interesting historical story to be written following the women's march in Iceland, but this story doesn't even attempt that. Instead, despite being the literal title, the titular "Day Off" is barely set dressing. This is doubly disappointing considering that this is a rare Tardis team with just the Doctor and two women; there's definitely character work to be done here! McMullen chooses to focus instead on some random alien's spaceship troubles, which seemingly only exists to give the companions something to do in the plot. Plus, it's frankly silly that this is only 45 minutes. This could've been a great story if one story thread was focused on, and it had a full hour to develop its themes. Instead, this is a profoundly mediocre audio.

This was solid and fun with good performances, but I feel like the women's march and the sci-fi stuff never really came together with each other and felt quite disparate.

The story flows awkwardly but is still a fine listen with the three leads on top form. The Doctor showing up during a woman's strike is a fun idea to get him a little more out of his comfort zone. Ended up with an extra half star from me because of the emotional ending, but ultimately not a necessary listen.