The adventures continue for the Fourth Doctor and Sarah on the frontiers of science…
This year, the Fourth Doctor’s fifteenth run of audio adventures has returned to his roots with a series of stories set in classic Doctor Who‘s beloved Season 13. The first release saw two outings with the UNIT team, and now he and Sarah are back out in the universe. Under the title of Lethal Progress, three two-part tales explore a loose theme of the dangers of scientific endeavour.
Green and Pleasant Planet
Strange energy readings bring the Doctor and Sarah accidentally onto an exploratory mission to a new planet. There, alongside a quirky crew of seasoned officers under an untested young captain, they discover a forest of crudely carved wooden animals.
Tim Foley’s story offers a twisted take on Gulliver’s Travels, when they uncover a model village which comes to life with murderous intent. It’s a creepy and clever small-scale tale, showing the accidental impact of the human race on the wider universe when it’s in one of its imperial phases.
In the guest cast, the ill-fated Captain Bradford (Orlando Gibbs) gave off vibes of Red Dwarf’s rule-obsessed Rimmer, while Nisha Nayar makes her mark as the engaging Dr Ulster.
The Continuum
The second tale, from writer John Dorney, explores humanity’s first step into hyperspace. While Lucie Goldie’s Captain Mina Dixon has a successful maiden flight, it soon transpires that the test pilot has brought back an existential threat with her.
The story plays out against the clock, although we didn’t feel the urgency throughout. On screen there might have been visual reminders? Certainly, something needed to ramp up the tension in a tale that was more about the chase than the kill. However, everything required for the Doctor’s solution to their predicament was elegantly laid out along the way. We wonder if this should have dared to break the format and been a non-stop 50-minute special instead?
The Audience
The final tale brings us into the world of theatre, where a futuristic society is taking performance far too literally. While the Doctor becomes embroiled in the mechanics of it all, and comes under genuine threat, Sarah finds herself forced to take to an all-too-real stage in a story drawn from her memories.
Writer Lizzie Hopley’s tale is a complex one that builds up a whole civilisation, of which we are seeing one small part under the command of the misguided Thalia (Dawn Murphy). The story take the theatrics to extremes with an infusion of cybernetics and a tragedy at its heart. For us, it’s the highlight of this set.
In summary
It’s great to hear stories out in the wider universe with this duo – Tom Baker always sparkles as the Doctor, while Sadie Miller’s Sarah enjoys some great passionate moments. However, the two-part format is not always satisfying – there was plenty to explore in these stories with the first and last easily capable of sustaining a longer run time.
Doctor Who – The Fourth Doctor Adventures: Lethal Progress is available on CD and download to own from Big Finish now.
Catch up with our reviews of previous series of The Fourth Doctor Adventures here.
The third volume of this series, with details yet to be released, is out in September 2026.