The Second Doctor Adventures continue with The Doctor, Jamie and Zoe reunited.
Since Michael Troughton took on his late father’s role, we’ve heard the Second Doctor’s life continue beyond his trial. Extracted after ‘The War Games’, he’s now an unwilling agent for his own people, under the director of the unscrupulous Raven.
He’s battled Ice Warriors and been reunited with his faithful highlander companion Jamie McCrimmon (Frazer Hines). Now, the adventures continue in Conspiracy of Raven, and they’re joined by Wendy Padbury’s Zoe Herriot.
The pair’s adventures continue in the latest box set Conspiracy of Raven, which is comprised of three 2-part tales. The set comes from director Nicholas Briggs and producer Mark Wright. The pair each write one tale and collaborate on the third.
Kippers
The first story, bizarrely titled ‘Kippers’, picks up from the cliffhanger ending of ‘The Shroud’ in the previous box set. The Doctor has fallen down a time spiral and Jamie is lost.
He ends up on a deserted Time Lord space station, in the company of the arrogant Raven (Emma Noakes) and Paul (Mickey Knighton), the avatar for a sentient weapon for company. However, the station is deserted and drained of energy, with something odd and alien afoot.
With his writing hat on, Nicholas Briggs provides an entertaining opener which explores the antagonistic relationship between the Doctor and Raven. Oh, and there is a solid, clever reason for that bizarre title.
Catastrophe Theory
Mark Wright takes over for the second story, as the Doctor deals with the fate of a space liner and the return of his former companion Zoe (Wendy Padbury). Jamie’s on board too, and he befriends the delightful avian cabin crewmember Magrit (Susan Harrison).
There reunion scenes between the Doctor and Zoe are great, each sizing the other up, disbelieving.
Meanwhile, poor Raven is still stuck on the space station, valiantly remonstrating with a sound effect, purporting to be her mysterious Time Lord masters, for what felt like an inordinate time.
The Vanishing Point
In the finale, we end up at a monastic outpost where a non-interfering race watches the timelines. It’s another one of those Time Lord myths which turns out to be true – you know the sort of thing.
Here, as we trace the recent journeys of the TARDIS back across the web of tine, the Doctor finally gets a sense of the threat he’s facing.
As the imperious Ananke, Jacqueline King leads this race of observers, the Morai, while Callum Pardo plays
the restless Aither who forms a nice relationship with Zoe.
In Summary
Conspiracy of Raven is a fun boxset which pushes the ongoing mystery of the Doctor’s missions forward. While framed as three two-parters, it’s effectively one long story which begins by resolving a cliffhanger and ending with an even bigger one.
The antagonistic relationship between Raven and the Doctor develops interestingly, rebalancing across the three stories as she begins to see the value in his chaotic approach.
It’s terrific to hear Frazer Hines and Wendy Padbury reunited as Jamie and Zoe, albeit as older versions of their characters. Together, they reflect on their memories and the perils of travelling with the Doctor. The interplay chimes nicely with the pair’s recent appearance in the Memory TARDIS.
We look forward to seeing where this is all going – unfortunately, the resolution isn’t due until July 2025! Given the cliffhanger, it’s surely going to be worth the wait!
Doctor Who – The Second Doctor Adventures: Conspiracy of Raven is out now. It’s available as a collector’s edition CD box set (+ download), or on download only, from Big Finish.