4th Doctor 5.8 - Casualties of Time

If you cast your minds back to the finale of Doctor Who series 5 (the Matt Smith one not the Troughton one) and the episode The Big Bang there is a rather elongated pre-credits sequence which ends up with little Amy Pond opening the Pandora to find older Amy Pond inside said plot device, on which the older Pond says something like “hold on kid, this is where it gets complicated”, well dear readers that phrase is an apt description of the finale of the fifth series of Fourth Doctor stories from Big Finish – Casualties of Time.

This is not a story for the feint hearted or uninitiated on to the audio world of Doctor number 4 and Romana (or Ramona if you like to deliberately annoy her like Cuthbert does) – this story goes all the way back to The Key to Time in its roots taking in the Cuthbert stories from audio series 2 for seasoning and simmering with a pinch of foreshadowing that has been haunting this latest season Oh and its also the second part of the season finale started last month with The Pursuit of History (which you can buy HEREand the review is HERE)

 So what can I say about Casualties of Time? Well, its complicated and involves Cuthbert (David Warner) and the Conglomerate that he controls – it also features a villain who was revealed at the end of The Pursuit of History and who I will NOT be revealing the identity of here – but he is played by David Troughton. However as much as this is an epic about time travel and long hatched plots of revenge when you peel back the layers this really is a story about redemption and knowing the part you play in the greater good – its almost A Christmas Carol like – and not only for one character, because what we think we know is only half of the story and perspective is everything. It also features the Parrot I was so enamoured of in the last episode.

 A story of paradoxes and plots and redemption with an Adams-esque take on the more preposterous aspects of Sci-Fi and a charm that is all Nick Briggs all wrapped up in a nice Season 17 level of silliness (again space Parrot = certified brilliance) and a rather satisfying if confusing end to the season that really doesn’t pan out as you expect it to. Not a casualty of a story more of a heartwarming reaffirmation that there is good in everyone 8/10.