5.7 - The Pursuit of History

Continuity note: this story is the first in a linked pair that form the final chapter of the Cuthbert trilogy. I made the mistake of trying to listen through without the preceding stories (The Sands of Life / War Against the Last and The Dalek Contract / The Final Phase, both pairs from the second season of 4DA) and was completely lost. If you haven't heard those yet it is highly recommended as the events will be referenced frequently with little to no context.

Cuthbert's mysterious exit in The Final Phase left a pretty big plot strand dangling that presumably was intended to be carried on but was dropped when Mary Tamm's passed away. It's finally picked back up here and we get some closure and answers about Cuthbert and his Conglomerate's origins. The tone of the story is very much in the spirit of the intended television era with some Douglas Adams-esque elements like the TARDIS parrot and the charmingly naive Oortag. The story is quick and expedited by The Doctor and Romana being separated and learning pieces of the bigger picture independently. This is easily the most interesting of the trilogy of stories and the reveal at the end of this release sets up the finale perfectly.

The Fourth Doctor Adventures do not have the best track record when it comes to finale's, almost always succumbing to a syndrome which the revived series of Doctor Who have, falling apart in the second half and generally feeling rush. Also for the first five series they were written by Nicholas Briggs. The Pursuit of History actually starts the finale really well with Tom Baker, Lalla Ward, and John Leeson giving some great performances: Briggs brings back the Conglomerate for a time and space chase after Cuthbert while Romana is separated by the Laan. As a story this is not one of those stories that try to be a space spanning, large scale adventure even if the title suggests that, it's much more intimate with buildup.

Separating the Doctor and Romana in two different time zones is actually a stroke of genius, allowing them to interact with different characters and have their personalities shine. It also helps that one issue with this series is that occasionally you can tell that Baker and Ward are not recording in the same room. David Warner and Toby Hadoke steal the show as their characters from the previous Conglomerate stories, with Cuthbert getting the most development on screen while Hadoke does his character growth off-screen. All in all, a good setup, if a bit misleading as the villain of the piece doesn't actually show up until the second release.

Romana is ripped from the Tardis by the Laan, and the Doctor pursues her, only to re-encounter Cuthbert, tycoon CEO of the Conglomorate who is busy making his own future come to past while travelling through time while Romana ends up at Cuthbert’s Quantum Gateway.

We’re taken into an intriguing plot as we learn how Cuthbert is quite literally a self-made man and it’s a great source of mystery. Romana’s side of this is a little less remarkable. While it is possible to listen to this without having heard the earlier Cuthbert stories from Series 2, it is helpful to have seen them.

Overall, this is a solid start to the series finale.

Another month as come and gone, and here we are with another brand new 4th Doctor adventure. We have the pairing of the No.4 with Lalla incarnation of Romana. We also have the welcome return of Cuthbert and his unscrupulous business dealing as the Conglomerate, he is trying to double deal his way to making money, however at the expense of some rather unsuspecting workers from the industrial revolution, what is more he is fuelling his time travel by the enslavement under contract of course of the Laan. Will Cuthbert stop at nothing for his own ends, it appears not. The separation element of the story is concentrated with Romana dealing with Cuthberts henchman Mr Dorrick played wonderfully by Toby Hadoke, nice to hear Toby again in a Who adventure. Whilst Romana is battling the unhand misdoing's of Cuthbert's and his Conglomerate. The Doctor is dealing with Cuthbert directly who is proving to be as every bit evasive as he has always been. Baker is best is the rally cry I hear when ever I settle down to a 4th Doctor release, and it is true, it captures the essence of my growing up as a child and he was my Doctor after all. My only criticism of Big Finish's releases in this range, is that for me they are not long enough at just over 1 hour running time, sure you get loads of extra's but I would like more story and less extras please