The Doctor faces two of his greatest enemies with a motley crew of old friends by his side…
If, like me, you were disappointed by this month’s official Companion Chronicle release, then make sure your main range subscription includes this wonderful single disc tale, which more than makes up for the lack of companion-centric adventure!
There’s more than a little thematic link to another “Five” adventure featuring the fifth Doctor, as this time, it’s a quintet of his companions who are drawn together into an area from which they cannot escape. Ian Chesterton teams up with astronaut Steven Taylor – who is quite surprised to encounter the late lamented Sara Kingdom (suitably later in her Big Finish timeline), as well as Polly and Nyssa. Eddie Robson juggles the various elements – which includes Nick Briggs as assorted Daleks as well as Dan Starkey recreating a bevy of Sontarans (would batch be the correct term perhaps?) – and allows the companions to take little shots at the Doctor without it ever becoming quite the “you bastard” meeting that the New Adventures seemed to favour when companions reunited with the Time Lord.
The age of the actors is taken into account, and while there’s a certain amount of credence given to the theories posited in the Sarah Jane Adventure Death of The Doctor about the companions’ futures, this version, for obvious reasons, ties into the Big Finish established continuity.
Verdict: Without wanting to make this sound like a Big Finish advert (remember, subscribers get…), The Five Companions is one of the best reasons for taking out a sub in recent time. 8/10
Paul Simpson
The Five Companions is only available if you have a subscription covering Army of Death.
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