Destiny of the Doctor: Hunters of Earth Review

I'm doing a series of reviews on the AudioGO/Big Finish 50th Anniversary audio series, Destiny of the Doctors. I'm going to play catch-up first, then I'll being doing one each month.

Assuming there is any kind of story arc to Destiny of the Doctors, this is a good way to start it out. Just another day at Coal Hill, nothing out of the ordinary. Then you realize something's wrong. Someone's acting up. Then the Doctor sends a message from the future. Okay, no biggy, that can't be the first time he's interfered in his own timeline. Then something's really up. By the end of the story, you're still not sure who was behind it all. Maybe it was the Nazis, maybe it was aliens. Finally, at the end, it hits you: there is a story arc after all.

So there's a story arc, but that's all you know. What's happening? Who's behind it? How long is it going to take? Was this a first strike? Will the next story play into it more? These are all questions the listener has to deal with.

As far as the story goes, it's not your usual Doctor Who one. There are no aliens to speak of. It's based more on human tendencies than alien aggression. It also deals more with day to day life than fast-paced exciting life with the Doctor.

There is actually a timing error in the story. The Doctor and Susan have supposedly been there for four months and Susan has been in school almost the entire time. However, in An Unearthly Child, it's November and they have been there for about seven months. So unless school started sometime around June, that can't work.

All in all, maybe not the best story to listen to if you haven't watched An Unearthly Child and Remembrance of the Daleks, but still very good as an introduction to the eleven-part story.