The Doctor, Leela and K9 team up with the Brigadier to tackle The Silence, before heading to ancient Egypt for a fateful encounter with Cleopatra.
Tom Baker’s 14th run of Doctor Who audio adventures with Big Finish have reteamed him with Louise Jameson’s Leela and the ever-faithful K9 (John Leeson). Together they’ve dealt with a ghost-filled safari park and met up with the Brigadier (Jon Culshaw).
For the concluding boxset, there’s another summons from the Brigadier to deal with an oil rig mystery courtesy of those memory meddling confessional priests, The Silence. Then follows the title story, a four-part historical epic starring Mark Anthony and Cleopatra…
Conspiracy of Silence
In their debut story, the Eleventh Doctor comprehensively defeated the Silence, weaponising humanity with a murderous imperative embedded in the moon landing footage. However, following that clever in-the-moment resolution to their threat, the show never dealt with the implications. Enter writer Jonathan Morris – his story takes this on and plays with the delicious idea of a defeated enemy taking revenge on the Doctor for something he’s yet to do.
With the TARDIS unable to land on the oil rig, which is missing its 150 strong crew, we follow the regulars, plus the Brigadier and an ill-fated Nolan (Charlie Hayes) who are dropped by helicopter. The drama then plays out with mysterious goings on and an encounter a smoke-like creature who can animate the dead, ending with an almighty explosion.
Episode two replays the events, but it’s like an alternate edit with the bits all the characters weren’t able to retain the first time around due to the influence of the Silence. Clever and atmospheric, it makes for a fascinating listen. And relisten!
The Last Queen of the Nile
Pure historical Doctor Who stories, in which only the TARDIS and her crew are the sci-fi elements, stopped in the late-60s (save for a lone 80s 2-parter). Despite filling the BBC’s Reithian remit, viewers and producers seemingly preferred the monsters and aliens. However, a well-written historical can enthral like any other and it’s easy to imagine the Doctor Who production team mounting their own swords and sandals epic in the wake of I, Claudius.
‘The Last Queen of the Nile’ deposits the TARDIS trio near Alexandria at a perilous time. In the aftermath of Julius Ceasar’s murder, control of Rome is split between Mark Anthony and Octavian. While Mark Anthony’s attentions are elsewhere, principally on his new wife Cleopatra VII, the wheel of history turns, and the Doctor knows Anthony’s ultimately tragic end. Unfortunately, so does K9, and he’s not quite so circumspect! Soon the time travellers are entangled, with K9 gifted to Cleopatra and Leela becoming her bodyguard after saving her life. Meanwhile, the Doctor moves from court entertainer to prisoner as he tries not to alter events.
David K. Barnes’ terrific script covers political intrigue and recorded history, while taking a look at the personalities involved up close. Pippa Bennet-Warner’s initially imperious Cleopatra is a woman trapped by circumstance, while Michael Lumsden’s Mark Anthony chases fading glory. However, blending comedy, tragedy and farce, this is no dry history lesson and it draws inspiration from the Golden Age of Hollywood as much as any textbook. The story also nods to other historical travels too, from the ummade ‘Farewell, Great Macedon’, to Leela’s encounter with Boudica.
In Summary
Despite being wildly different in tone, this is a confident pair of stories to conclude the series. K9 is well-deployed in both, with the latter seeing his know-it-all tendency as a threat to history. Both Tom Baker and Louise Jameson are on top form throughout, responding to the quality of the scripts. They’re always good together, but this particular set is sheer magic!
Doctor Who – The Fourth Doctor Adventures: The Last Queen of the Nile is out now. It’s available on Collector’s Edition CD (+ download), or download to own, from Big Finish.
Next Year: Doctor Who – The Fourth Doctor Adventures Series 15
Following the same three-box set format, Series 15 of The Fourth Doctor Adventures appears in March, June and September 2026.
Available to pre order now, it reunites the Doctor and Sarah Jane Smith (Sadie Miller) with their unit allies, The Brigadier and Harry Sullivan (Christopher Naylor). March’s box set is titled ‘The Ministry of Death’, with story details available here.