Jonathan Morris's Doctor Who audio The Curse of Davros introduces a new companion, but an old character, bringing back Lisa Greenwood as Flip Jackson, who previously appeared in the overcrowded The Crimes of Thomas Brewster. I actually heard the announcement that Flip would be returning before I heard Crimes, and on finally listening to the story, I was baffled; I don’t think I'd've noticed her at all if it hadn't been for that announcement. But here she is back (alongside her boyfriend Jared) when an escape pod carrying the Doctor crashes in London, and she's the only one who notices.

What follows is a story that's hard to discuss, because it has a central premise that would be partially ruined by giving it away. I managed to intuit it even by reading a non-spoiler discussion, so I'll try to be super-vague. In general terms, however, the Doctor is on the run from the Daleks in 2012, trying to get back to 1815, where Davros is allying with Napoleon to change the course of the Battle of Waterloo. The Doctor, Flip, and Jared must dodge the Daleks, the police, the French, and the Duke of Wellington if they want to keep history on course. It feels a little bit too small scale for Davros and the Daleks, coming off a lot like the Master's plan in The King's Demons.

The Curse of Davros has a compelling idea at its centre, but is not quite the sum of its parts. Every scene that explores Davros himself is great, but I found myself a little worn out by much of the rest of the story. But if you like a good Davros story, pick this one up-- it's a great Davros story, actually, and an average story in every other regard.

You can read a longer version of this review at Unreality SF.

I have been known to get unreasonably excited about Doctor Who stories set in Belgium, and I must admit that I was thrilled when it became clear that Big Finish's latest audio takes shape-shifting Daleks to the Battle of Waterloo, trying to engineer a French victory. When we first moved to this country we lived in the next town north of Waterloo and I would occasionally go there on Sundays looking for the English papers, there being a thriving expat community there. And parts of this story are set in Wavre which I pass through more often than not during my morning commute.

To be honest, though, the Belgianness of this story is a bit disappointing. As with the last Belgian Who story I encountered, we are merely a place where a battle between other tribes of humans is interfered with by non-humans and there isn't a single Belgian character in the play. (And yes, I know we didn't become independent until 1830, but the characters here are English, French, Daleks, Davros and the Doctor.) And geography is rather telescoped - one gets the feeling that Wavre is just around the corner from Waterloo, whereas it's a good half-hour's drive even on today's roads.

This is mere technical quibbling and whining of course. This is really one of the better aliens-will-change-Earth-history stories. It's also unusual for a Dalek story to try and take us inside the minds of the creatures. Colin Baker and Terry Molloy get called upon to deliver a lot more than usual as the Doctor and Davros, and rise to the challenge very entertainingly. And new companion Flip, played by Lisa Greenwood, is a great contrast both with Baker, who she seems to have an instant rapport with, and with the unspoken presence of Billie Piper's Rose, who shares a number of narrative points with her. She also has a good exchange with Molloy about Davros and disability, which is a strong sub-theme of the piece. It's rather a delight to hear her in action, though a bit sobering to reflect that as far as I can tell she had not yet been born when Colin Baker was the Doctor on TV.

I see that Terrance Dicks brought the Second Doctor to Waterloo as part of Season 6B, and look forward to getting to grips with that too. But for now, while this story may not completely satisfy Belgian perfectionists, it's rather a good new lease of life for the Sixth Doctor. ( )