Big Finish’s Doctor Who 60th anniversary mini-series drops an extra morsel, pitting Doctor against Doctor for Once and Future: Coda – The Final Act.
The 60th anniversary tale Doctor Who: Once and Future raced up and down the timelines of the Whoniverse last year. Monthly instalments dropped from April 2023, each fronted by a different incarnation of the Time Lord, incorporating friends and enemies from across the show’s six decades.
Coda – The Final Act materialised on November 22nd, 2024 – the final day of the show’s 60th year – and picks up the Once and Future storyline for one last adventure. However, other than knowing that the Doctor is recovering from his unstable degenerative condition, it’s pretty continuity free. Instead there’s the whopper of a premise: what if the Doctor’s two most unlikely incarnations were set against each other? It’s Doctor vs Doctor as the Fugitive Doctor has the War Doctor firmly in her sights!
Coda – The Final Act
Tim Foley’s story wastes no time in getting going, as the War Doctor finds himself the subject of a time ram from the Fugitive Doctor’s TARDIS. Escaping, they both lay traps for each other, which brings in the treat of two old friends. One is former bounty hunter Vienna Salvatori (Chase Masterson), while the other is many a Doctor’s stalwart companion, the 26th century space archaeologist Bernice Summerfield (Lisa Bowerman).
The latter becomes firmly entwined in the plot as she attaches herself to the Fugitive Doctor’s side and as both Doctors raise armies for an almighty battle, can Bernice stop them from destroying each other?
With the mystery of the degeneration left behind, ‘Coda – The Final Act’ offers plenty of impossible fun with precious little baggage. The War Doctor chooses to raise an army of Elizabethan soldiers led by Good Queen Bess herself, unknowingly brushing with his future and the events of ‘The Day of the Doctor’. Meanwhile, The Fugitive Doctor turns to a sect of the Voord, a deep cut back to the Hartnell-era tale ‘The Keys of Marinus’.
War Criminal vs Fugitive
Jo Martin makes an impressive debut as the Fugitive Doctor, although the extras later reveal that this story was recorded after her upcoming solo series. Regardless, she’s punchy, powerful and a pleasure to listen to. She trades barbs and bon mots with Jonathon Carley’s terrific take on the War Doctor, and when finally working in concert the pair are great fun together.
For her part, Lisa Bowerman’s Bernice asks all the right questions, proving her worth at the side of any Doctor. To that point, there’s a touching reference to a Doctor from another universe too. And then there’s Vienna, down on her luck and far from the glamourous gun for hire we’ve met before. It’s a fresh take and we’d love to hear more from Time War iteration of the character.
In the guest cast, Imogen Stubbs takes on the role of Elizabeth I. Towards the end of her life, the Queen jumps at the chance to have one last hurrah – albeit in the skies of an alien world. Given the heartache the Doctor will/has brought her, it’s appropriate to change how her story ends.
In Summary
As celebrations of Doctor Who go, this one is about as impossible as you can get. Putting aside the fact that Sir John Hurt sadly passed away before Jo Martin was cast, you could never honestly imagine these two alternate incarnations of the Doctor getting that much screen time, let alone together.
However, we’re lucky enough to enjoy these characters in the boundless universal afterlife of audio and ‘Coda’ ably delivers the requisite celebratory feel, while shimmering with the prospect of a whole new era opening up. Sixty years you say – it feels like we’re just getting started!
Special Edition
We listened to the Special Edition version of ‘Coda – The Final Act’ which comes with approximately 45 minutes of behind the scenes interviews. Some focus on the stories, while the others explore the participants’ connections to the series over the years.
Doctor Who – Once and Future: Coda – The Final Act is available to pre-order as a single-disc collector’s edition CD (+ download), or on digital download only. It’s also available as part of a Special Edition series bundle, which contains extended behind-the-scenes extras and music suites for each story.
Catch up with our coverage of Doctor Who – Once and Future, including reviews of all the previous instalments.