This is what Doctor Who looks like when all bets are off!

After a recent meeting with Alexander the Great, the Doctor, Scientist Ian Chesterton and Susan English are back in the Tardis. They’re mourning the loss of their close friend Barbara, who died thanks to the radiation poisoning they got on Skaro. That all changes, however, when Barbara suddenly walks into the room. But this Barbara is not the secretary and tutor they knew. This Barbara is a teacher from Coal Hill school. Something going wrong in time and space…

In case you didn’t really get that little summary: This book starts not with our regular cast, but with their book adaptation from “Doctor Who and an Exciting Adventure with the Daleks”. Several details were changed between the book release and the tv run, like the original origins of each character. Campaign’s use of these alternate origins early on can be seen as a mission statement: It’s going to challenge every assumption and attempt at canonicity, and it is going to get weird fast! You can constantly expect character to change names, personality, origin and behavior. Combine that with eventual bouts of long-term exile and some existentialism, and you’ve got a challenging read ahead of you.

Yet in a sense, it always feels grounded, because we constantly take the perspective of one of the characters. No matter what happens, the emotions are presented as is. Which is an interesting anchor as the world constantly shifts and shapes around our crew.

At times, this book is almost more of a creative writing exercise and less of a story. It feels unconstrained in both a physical sense and as a Doctor Who story. It is a story that will suddenly change fonts, use facts from old Doctor Who annuals, turn into a comic, give you a chapter with some drawings of robots and much, much more. In that way, it might just be the most Doctor Who story to ever exist. It can go everywhere and do anything.

Which brings me back to the reality of the book, which has to be addressed: Campaign was never officially released as part of the Doctor Who “brand”. It was planned as a Past Doctor Adventure novel, but because of deadlines, medical emergencies and changes in leadership it never came to fruition. Which is a massive shame. As far as I can tell, it also caused writer Jim Mortimore to never work for Doctor Who again, which is an even bigger shame.

However, eventually Campaign saw the light of day in an unofficial capacity, with all proceeds going to charity. For modern readers, that means you can go online and find a free pdf pretty easily and legally. So it’s not hard to get a copy of your own. It even has writer commentary for every chapter!

When reading Campaign, my brain constantly got tickled with what-ifs: What would this have looked like if made for tv? What if it had been published? Would it have influenced other writers? Would Steven Moffat have changed the way he approached time travel shenanigans if he read Campaign?

And I think that is the essence of the novel. At the very edges of this show, there exists a little book that did its own thing and went creatively wild. Even more creatively wild than Doctor Who as a series dared to go. It lives in infamy as one of the strangest pieces of media, but by being strange, it also constantly reminds you of what Doctor Who can be. If you’re ever lost in the deep fan minutiae and every piece of Doctor Who media starts to feel the same, give Campaign a go and be surprised at how many directions this show can actually take.

A decent story that stands out for its great villain and decent setting.

Our party visits an interplanetary casino where deadly games are being played. While there, Ben gets accused of cheating and Polly gets arrested for time travel. How will they get out of this one?

Let’s start with the setting, as it demonstrates both the best and worst parts of this story well. On paper, the interplanetary casino is a great idea. Casinos generally exude a lot of energy. Flashy lights, high risks and people both happy and destitute. Add the sci-fi element to it, and you do have a place worth exploring.

However, it feels difficult to truly settle in the place. Elements and characters seem to be chosen at random. For example, the casino is run by 1920’s snake gangsters from Earth and one of the guests is just an old cowboy. They are fine as they are, but they don’t really feel like they fit in with an interplanetary casino, aliens and a general future aesthetic. Yet these characters feature prominently and play a big role in the story.

And really, that clash in elements continues in this story. As it goes on, Polly gets her hands on a time bangle and uses it throughout the story. Never questioning what it is exactly, yet using it to get the story where it needs to be. In 60s Who, where changing history always seems to loom in the background, this feels sloppy. It all functions perfectly well, but it feels a bit stitched together, rather than using the characters or setting organically.

One element shines however, and that is the villain, Miss Fortune. As the name might suggest, she preys on people with back luck and can see the odds someone has played through their life. It’s unsettling and a great challenge for Polly, even though she never does anything more than talk. It’s also never made clear if she’s just a human or something bigger. I wouldn’t mind if she came back in a story with higher stakes.

All in all, the story is just too flawed to be great. It is coherent and the main plot works, but the way it just seems to add in random elements is off-putting. Worth a listen, but not more than that.

Didn’t love this one for several reasons.

The party lands in the mysterious Elbion, where magic and fantasy come to life. After a battle with a dragon and a meeting with the king, Susan gets kidnapped by an evil sorcerer, who aims to take over the land. The only thing that can stop him is a mysterious relic. Will the Doctor and Ian get it in time?

The big problem with this story is its massive lack of character. Things happen to our main cast. Ian and the Doctor travel the world, Barbara gets kidnapped and led into a dangerous magic forest and Susan is locked up in a tower, but the characters never seem to react to these situations appropriately. They feel like 2d versions of their usual selves. And sadly, the original characters don’t fare much better.

And to make matters worse, the main story doesn’t really pick up the slack either. It’s incredibly slow and descriptive, without that ever serving a deeper function. Every mountaintop and bump in the road gets explained in so much detail, but it never really comes into play. It’s a load of fluff that is never story relevant or important to the characters.

It feels like this story only exists to feel pages, without any other layer to grab on to. A shame.

Not too much to say about this one, I’m afraid.

The party lands in an intergalactic bank. However, trouble soon arrives when Selachians decide to barge in and take all the customers hostage. Looking to get access, they warn both the manager and the police that they will shoot the hostages if they don’t get their way. Will the Doctor be able to mediate and find a way for everyone to escape?

Let’s start with the positives: The setting for this story is pretty neat! The focus is on opening the big bank vault, but this isn’t your average combination lock. The vault is “Dimensionally transcendental”, meaning alle contents are stored in another dimension. To get access to this dimension, the right code has to be entered, which changes every few hours. It’s a well thought out concept and adds a bit more nuance than the usual ‘put some dynamite on the door’ tactic.

Another positive is that, for me, this is the first introduction of Selachians in audio form! I was quite fond of them when I first read about them in “the Murder Game”, since they had many little tidbits of information that really made the whole species come to life. Like the fact they were a peaceful race that were forced into war and the fact their biology is secretly closer to dolphins than sharks. However, even with all that information, they were still ready to shoot you at any moment and a real physical threat that’s hard to stop.

However, hearing their reintroduction here, I have to say their charm is really diminished. They are really just there to hold a gun and be threatening. There’s none of the detail, charm or anything else that would make them special. They are, for all intents and purposes, water Sontarans. They call humans plankton and threaten to shoot. That’s it.

Even little things like their voices are not that outstanding. I can hear the intent: they want the sound to be similar to gurgling, like you’re talking underwater. But the end result is so monotone that it could also be used for a cybermen. It diminishes their originality.

Now, don’t get me wrong. I liked their introduction a lot, but I am definitely not opposed to a new take on them. This is a different medium with different rules. The problem is that there’s so little to chew on. The only real traits they get is that they have a microphone in their helmet and they like weapons. And that’s just not enough for a monster to stand out.

And that lack of depth also carries through in the rest of the story. Characters barely do anything and mostly sit around for the Doctor to fix things. There’s some small action elements, like Ben, Polly and Jamie trying to use a glue bomb, but that’s really not impactful enough for me to feel all that much excitement. It's too basic without anything to give it an edge. Nothing to really hook you. No special character moments, no unique circumstances, no threatening monster. Nothing.

This story is the equivalent of elevator music. It’s fine. Harmless, but not special at all. It might bring in some familiar notes that you’ve heard before in a more exciting context, but it fails to deliver anything that makes in stand out and unique. As bland as they come.

A great story that focuses on the role Polly has in the Tardis team. With her longing to be more than just a damsel and a coffee machine. Could this finally be her time?

The Tardis lands in Nazi-occupied France, 1944. As soon as we land, the party is ambushed by the Gestapo. The Doctor and Polly manage to escape, while Ben and Jamie are captured. It is now up to the Doctor and Polly to survive their hostile surroundings and find a way to escape. But Polly might have more on her mind.

It's always interesting when Doctor Who puts the 60s companions in the second world war, because they grew up in the aftermath. They saw the consequences and are unwillingly forced back into the origins. It gives it a personal element which I can appreciate. That personal element is even stronger than usual in this story, since Polly comes across her uncle, who died in a concentration camp.

While the story paints quite a vivid picture of an occupied France, the real focus is on Polly’s internal conflict. She has an opportunity to save her uncle, but that would mean changing history. A big no-no in the Doctor’s book. At the same time, Polly is confronted with an overall feeling of uselessness. Seeing a young, female member of the resistance makes her realize that she could be doing much more to make a difference in her adventures. She wants to be more than the cleaning lady and the coffee girl.

These internal and external factors generally drive her to be more reckless in this story. She leaves the Doctor behind to jump on a train, she gets into a fight and is generally a bit more brash. This, for me, is where the problems begin, as it all feels a little aimless.

I have absolutely no problems with Polly trying to be more active. Fact of the matter is that she is often shoved aside in every medium. It’s rare for her to take action and take center stage. But it is unclear for me what the story tries to accomplish with this plot point. It’s not like she fails when she takes action, yet the story berates her for trying at the end. It makes a big deal out of it with the Doctor mentioning it is “not her time yet”. It feels aimless. Should Polly try to be more assertive or not? I feel like the story has no answer to that question.

What does work is the twist later on with Polly’s uncle. It turns out he is not really her uncle, but an impersonator who tries to undermine the resistance. While his eventual plan isn’t entirely clear, it did catch me off guard and made for a real interesting threat to Polly, quickly turning the tables on her.

However, this too undermines Polly’s agency. Since the fake uncle is a traitor, Polly no longer has a chance to save him. No reason to change history. So the big question of changing history fades away, without having a clear answer. And that feels a bit unearned. Polly didn’t learn anything from it. It didn’t make her grow as a person. Which is a shame.

Most characters so far have had an “Aztecs” moment, where they experience history at its worst and have to make a decision about changing it. This would have been the perfect moment to give Polly her version of this moment. Instead, since the uncle is twisted away, it feels a bit arbitrary. This random traitor coincidentally decided to disguise himself as Polly’s uncle, just in time for him to meet his time-travelling fake niece. It doesn’t flow particularly well.

That said, there is still a lot to like and the story is far from bad. The grim setting comes through perfectly and I don’t feel any of the characters are mischaracterized. The big twist doesn’t really pay off in the end, but in the moment, it does catch you off guard, which is something. I hope future stories keep pushing Polly a bit further, but as it stands this is far from bad.

A story of two halves, but entertaining all the way through.

Our party land on an earth colony in the far future. While the colony is peaceful and accommodating, something more seems to be going on behind the scenes. The people take all their orders from a mysterious controller, who is only shown on a screen. But who is really behind those orders? And is this society as peaceful as it looks?

Let’s start with the options: This story is, once again, missing in full. But not to worry. There is a brilliant animation which isn’t necessarily faithful, but has a fantastic atmosphere. On a creative level, this is by far the strongest animation I have seen. I would give it a go if you want to experience this story yourself.

Moving past that, this story takes some clear inspiration from George Orwell’s 1984, in which a future society follows orders from a mysterious man shown on a screen. Any attempts to deviate from the norm set by the mysterious leader are quashed without mercy. While this Doctor Who version is notably a bit less harsh, its cruel utopia still comes through loud and clear.

It's all fairly typical: The party enters the beautiful surface level and enjoys the luxuries, but soon find a hole and look behind the curtain. They discover monstrous creatures on the outside.  They discover secret mines far beneath the city. They discover the controller is nothing but a weak, old man that is used as a puppet.

It's a fine setup. I like seeing the party poke holes in the system. Some of their plans succeed, while others fail with dire consequences, which makes you feel tense every time they try something new. But while I like the way this story slowly falls into place, there are 2 of the major shifts in our party’s favor that are not really earned.

The first is the discovery of the “real controller”, who is an old man, tortured by the mysterious Macra. They discover him by yelling at a screen for a while. Just a few chants of “We want to see the real controller!” and bam! The Macra turn on the camera feed and reveal a major piece of their scheme. It is completely unearned. The Macra weren’t fooled or cheated out of this information. They just heard screaming and gave in.

Another unearned moment shows up at the end of the story. The Doctor meets up with the captain, the man “in charge” of the settlement. A man who has been hypnotized by the Macra all his life. But for some reason, the Doctor has absolutely no trouble convincing him to shake off his programming and just follow him into the deep underground mines to discover the truth of his society. It completely undermines the blissful ignorance we’ve seen through the entire 4 parts, just so it can quickly wrap up the story.

But while these moments blemish the story, they are also incredibly interesting to analyze. Without realizing it, Doctor Who has hit a bit of moral roadblock: How do you properly break down a dystopic control state?

It’s something the original 1984 didn’t really have an answer for. And this story never really bothers explaining it either. It feels like the Doctor just got lucky as he suddenly convinces the captain. The Macra get scared off and everything is better now by default. Ironically, this is where the story asks us to stop thinking, as we now put one man in charge of the entire colony.

And of course this is thinking way too deep about the topic, but it is interesting. We’ve seen the Doctor save plenty of civilizations, without spending any time on the fallout. The big difference is that the people here already believed they were living in a utopia. What happens to the frail excuse of “helping the oppressed” when the society doesn’t feel oppressed? How do you help the happy?

It's something I don’t have a clear answer on, but it keeps nagging at my mind. This story just begs you to ask those kinds of questions. And because of that, this story has matched its inspiration. Which is quite the accomplishment! Is it perfect? No. It does dawdle, and it has the previously mentioned plot holes, but it is also thought-provoking. And that is worth quite a bit too.

A very muddled story that has a lot of clever ideas, but fails in executing almost all of them.

The Doctor, Ben and Polly land in London, 1948. It is a London still wrecked from the second world war. Within the wreckage, they find a mysterious can of beans that tells them of an ongoing conspiracy. And Polly might be more involved than she realizes.

Let’s start out with a comparison. Do you remember those early internet webcomics? Those days where “random = funny” reigned supreme? That’s what this story feels like. Things happen, but they are unexplained and a bit out there. I am not against creative and whacky sci-fi ideas, but this story throws so many ideas at you, that you can never really find your footing in the setting.

To make it as clear as I can: This story features a battle between a possessed can of beans that speaks through vibration and a force that possesses teddy bears, who are evil because they are missed by their owners. One of those bears belongs to a young Polly, who teams up with our gang to stop the evil force. Eventually, they defeat the threat by changing a “Lost and found” sign to “For disposal”.

It's clearly going for zany, but it fails to take the reader by the hand. It takes a little time to lay some groundwork as we’re standing in the ruins of the war, but it doesn’t take long for the can of magic beans to suddenly show up and become plot-essential. We don’t know what the can does, wants or means, yet suddenly we’re all in on it being the center of our attention. The can becomes our goal and later gives us our next objective, yet we never get the full picture of why we should even trust this can of beans. Would you trust a strange voice whispering in a can?

This is starting to sound stupid, but I think the fact that the can of beans never really proves itself is what makes the whole story collapse in on itself. It makes you lose a lot of investment and there is nothing that picks up the slack. The story tries other stuff, like a younger Polly and the teddy bear plot, but it all feels like an afterthought now. It has no weight, no danger, no importance.

Outside of the main plotline, there’s also not much to write home about. The banter between characters is noticeably weak and there are no strong character moments. Which is weird, considering we meet one of our companions as a child. It’s just another part where the connection with the listener is lacking for me.

All in all, Lost and Found is not a strong story. It lacks fundamentals, character motivations and fun little details that make a story shine. It clearly tries to be whacky, but it all feels halfhearted. I wish I could point out at least one thing it did well, but sadly, I’m drawing a blank.

A story that shines in certain aspects, but is mediocre in other.

Our party lands on the surface of the moon. They discover a small human settlement built to monitor and change the weather on earth. However, such power should never fall into the wrong hands.

To get the obvious out of the way: This episode is half-missing. The other half is animated. The animation was actually shockingly good. Characters looked like themselves and were generally more realistic, which works with the tone this story had. If you want your animations to be as faithful as they can be, this is probably the style to go for. Even though it could probably still be a bit more refined.

As far as the actual story is concerned, this one starts out real solid. People in the base are falling ill to a mysterious disease. Meanwhile the cybermen slowly take the sick under their control. There is a big focus on the scare factor, which meshes well with this new cybermen design.

I know that, in recent times, there has been a new appreciation for the original Mondasian design. And quite right to! I have gushed about that exact design in my Tenth Planet review. But to be honest, I didn’t miss it here. This new design is great in its own right, as it reinforces the sterility and lack of emotion these creatures have. It also has a more advanced look, which fits in with the huge difference in time between the last 2 cybermen stories. This time, there are now human eyes to be seen. No movement in face muscles. A metal face is all that’s left. Unmoving. It has a real creep factor! I also never saw it as just a man in a suit. Even with those floppy pants! The way it is shot/animated always made it feel solid and machine-like.

Outside of the monster, this story offers quite a few interesting tidbits. It teaches us about the Gravitron, a machine used to alter gravity. Changing the tides and weather as a consequence. It also has a small example of such a device being used for evil, when a rescue ship is sent towards the sun. It shows both sides of the device, which I really liked! The machine is not evil, it is how it is used. This kind of detail makes a story interesting!

In the character department we don’t have quite as much to chew on. Ben and Polly are fairly flat. Jamie is mostly knocked out. The exception is a scene with the Doctor, as we get to hear his thought process at one point. Doing so is a bit of a double-edged sword. This Doctor is noticeably internal. You don’t know what he is going to do next. That is a big part of his strength. Giving insight into his thoughts could ruin that. Luckily, it is done well, so no harm done!

However, there is one part of this episode that is not as solid as all these other parts. And sadly, that is the main plot. The Cybermen’s plan makes very little sense. They want to use the base to destroy the earth, because it could be a potential threat. They try to take over the base by infecting its inhabitants with sugar, instead of invading. Their reason for this is unknown as far as I could tell. In the end they try to invade anyway, and they fail. It is noticeably incoherent and illogical, which is a bit ironic.

The story also shies away from the inherent “Body horror” aspect that the cybermen encapsulate. I know this is early days, but we get plenty of reminders that the cybermen used to be like us. They can change us into them. But instead of fully committing to that idea, we get a robomen rip-off, which is a bit disappointing. Just some people with a bit of tinfoil on their head. The story already went for an eerie horror-esque vibe at the start. I wish it went all the way.

But overall, this story is still perfectly fine. It has great moments, but they never really come together into a cohesive whole. It’s details are what really make it shine. If you can enjoy the little things, this is still a perfectly fine watch.

A perfectly fine story, but nothing to write home about.

The Doctor, Ben, Polly and new companion Jamie discover the long-lost city of Atlantis hidden below the surface. While there, they meet with a professor Zaroff, who is planning to return the majestic city to the surface. However, he has very little qualms about the destruction such an operation might bring.

First things first, this episode is missing. Which seems like a bit of a given for this season. We are now 13 episodes into our new doctor, and this is the first chance you have to actually see him in the flesh. And even then, only for half of the story. It’s kind of interesting how I’ve never really seen that as a talking point. Still, there is a new and pretty decent animation that covers the gap. It does the job. I’d recommend watching the live action episodes between the animated ones for the best experience.

As for the story itself, as mentioned at the start, it is nothing really exemplary. Professor Zaroff is the clear highlight with his insane ramblings and his famous “NOTHING IN THE WORLD CAN STOP ME NOW”. But other than that, it is a story that has trouble standing out.

Sure, there’s ideas! We are in Atlantis, that alone should bring out some creativity. But the city has no real consequences. There is also some religion vs. science discussion hidden in there, but nothing concrete enough to make it a true talking point. And, most disappointingly of all, there is a race of artificially made fish people that get one real scene and are never seen again. What a waste!

At points it feels like this story deliberately chose the easy (and more boring) route instead of doing something interesting. A particular scene I noticed was the climb with Ben and the Doctor at the very end. As Atlantis is crumbling at their feet, they climb to save themselves from the rising water. This would have been the perfect moment to redeem the fish people. Why not have them show up to save our heroes, as thanks for their freedom? Or why not show a shot of them living in Atlantis now that it is completely submerged? It would give the ending a little more weight.

There is plenty of other moments just like that, where it would’ve been relatively easy to make a change that would make the story a bit more impactful. Little moments that make the whole package shine. But very few of those little moments actually make it to screen.

Our cast isn’t exactly at their best either. The Doctor gets one moment, where he tries to go back to save Zaroff. Doing the right thing even in dire circumstances. Other than that, we are completely defaulting. Polly is a damsel. Ben is action guy. Jamie has no personality yet because he was hastily written in. Except for the first Tardis scene at the beginning. It is nothing to write home about.

And that sentiment goes for the whole story. It is a story of averages. Some good ideas, but a failure to really take them anywhere. The only thing that raise it up a bit are some neat effects on the fish people and the batshit insane villainy from Doctor Zaroff. Other than that, it really is one in a million. A drop in the ocean.

A decent historical that could’ve done with a bit more background and details.

The Doctor, Ben and Polly land in the middle of a battlefield in the Highlands of Scotland. Soon, they come across a small party of Scots that are hiding from the English army. Together they will face the odds as they get captured, split up and make new alliances.

First things first: This story is missing with no animation in sight. There is some fan stuff, but nothing too exciting, that leaves you with three real options: The Target novelization, the telesnap reconstruction, or the narrated soundtrack. For this one, I decided to combine the telesnap reconstruction and the target novel. Overall, I’d recommend the target novel as the best way to experience this story, as it adds a few more character insights. It’s also a bit easier to follow.

That being said, I wouldn’t call this story a powerhouse by any means. The structure is fine, there are plenty of memorable moments, but it doesn’t really stand out as anything noteworthy. Except, of course, for the introduction of Jamie. But even that noteworthy tidbit feels like an afterthought. It just sort of happens.

It actually reminded me a lot of my experiences with “The Crusade”. It is one of the more serious historical stories, but it never really bothers giving you the actual history. From my perspective, it puts stories at a disadvantage. I am not British and I am not too familiar with British history, so I do not know what fight I am even watching. On top of that, the story is missing, so what am I even left with?

Of course, part of that is on me. I am not a British kid from the 60s, so I am not the target audience. But on the other hand, shouldn’t this make kids curious too? Shouldn’t this be the bait to get kids into that history?

There are some interesting parts that show why this is a setting worth exploring: Jamie has a job his entire family has had. The Highlanders have all kinds of honor codes. The “medical” art of bloodletting gets a short mention and we have several mentions of the game whist. All these things make the setting a bit fuller. A bit more realized. But I think it could still have had a bit more meat on its bones.

The story also has its fun moments. Especially surrounding Polly, who is blackmailing a lieutenant in the British army. But all these little parts do not make the story complete. They add little dots to an otherwise blank canvas. It helps, but doesn’t make the total picture more convincing.

But on the other hand, I don’t feel like I have the chance to be entirely fair to the story. It is missing! How am I going to complain about a lack of depth and detail when the story cannot even show me what it had?

That’s why I read the novel. I wanted to see if the story had more to show me when it was completely in prose. But even then, it still left me a bit hollow. Like it could’ve done more.

For example, I really don’t know anything about Jamie yet. He’s a piper and has a bit of a temper. I’d love to see how he develops, but as it stands, there’s really nothing to latch on to. Nothing that defines him.

And I think that conclusion carries over to the entire story. It is by no means bad, insulting or terrible, but it also gives you practically nothing unique or charming. It just happens and then it is over. Far from the worst, but nowhere near the top either.