The series story arc kicks off in ‘Ride of Die’ as the time travellers are lured into a war on an alien planet.
As the Doctor seeks to end the conflict, Yaz is prompted to consider her TARDIS/home life balance.
Ride or Die
A flurry of space/time coordinates beamed at the Doctor begin this story. It’s surely a trap, but there’s only one way to find out.
When they realise the messages reveal the location of a series of dimensional tears, she and Yaz investigate. At one close to home in Sheffield things get complicated: both Yaz and her paramedic pal Megan (Lauren O’Leary) find themselves stranded on an alien word. With an ambulance.
On the charmingly named Rock, where an expat human civilisation has taken root, Yaz and the sparky Megan find themselves recruited into a war. The humans can’t communicate with their opponents but have dubbed them Banshees thanks to their wielding of sonic abilities. While Megan is gung-ho, happy to follow orders and take up arms, Yaz is more enlightened, thanks to her travels with the Doctor.
In Summary
‘Ride or Die’ puts our heroes through the mill as the Doctor steadfastly refuses to fight seeks a peaceful solution, and to track down the mastermind behind the conflict. She’s up against both an alien threat and a group of frightened humans who are literally fighting for their lives.
It also sees Yaz consider the balance of her life between time travel and time at home, as Ryan did previously. She’s also working through her feelings for the Doctor too and it’s great to hear Yaz (Mandip Gill) receive this further character development. It does rather eat the lunch of Dan though, who called Yaz out on those same feelings onscreen later on.
Rochana Patel’s tale is a gritty affair that doesn’t sugarcoat its message. In that respect, it nails the unsubtle, socially conscious tone of the Thirteenth Doctor’s era onscreen. She also manges to drop in a fun reference to Torchwood and has the Doctor use her history with UNIT in a novel way.
The story also brings the series arc out of the shadows with the reveal of The Tourist (Maddison Bulleyment), although their precise nature and agenda remains open ended.
Doctor Who – The Thirteenth Doctor Adventures: Ride or Die is out now from Big Finish. It’s available as a digital download to own, or as a download to own with Collector’s Edition CD.
You can find reviews of the previous stories in the series here.
Next Time: The Violet Hour
The adventures continue in March with ‘The Violet Hour’ from writer Rafaella Marcus.
The Doctor and Yaz arrive in the East End of London, 1926. There’s grief in the air: not only the years of war and sickness, but a more recent death.
A strange message prompts them to investigate the murder of a medium. A young woman whose seances hide deeper secrets – and an unearthly power that threatens the entire city.
The guest cast includes Liv Andrusier, Joseph Arkley, Anna Crichlow, Olivia Marcus and David Robb.
Doctor Who – The Thirteenth Doctor Adventures: The Violet Hour is out in March 2026 and available to pre order from Big Finish.
Jodie Whittaker interview
In addition to the video trailer, Big Finish also published a video Q&A session with Jodie Whittaker to accompany ‘Ride or Die’, which is worth a watch.