Time in Office
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Big Finish Productions Time in Office |
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| Written by | Eddie Robson |  |
| Format | Compact Disc | |
| Released | 2017 |
| Starring Peter Davison, Louise Jameson, Janet Fielding |
| Synopsis: The Doctor's adventures in time and space are over. The Time Lords have recalled him to Gallifrey - but what he faces on his home planet is worse than any trial. Following the disappearance of President Borusa, the High Council condemned him to the highest office - and he can't evade his responsibilities a nanosecond longer. So all hail the Lord High President! All hail President Doctor! |
Rehabilitation by Stephen Maslin 5/9/21
During all the coronavirus hysteria, it seemed at times that all other ailments had evaporated; that there was only one way to get sick, and previous medical conditions that had bedevilled the human race for millennia had ceased to exist. I am here, luckily, to tell you that at least one of them had not.
I woke up in the "not-coronavirus ward" of a hospital, alive and conscious, though with annoying things like sitting up and focussing the eyes having become a bit of a stretch (and intensive-care nurses can get pretty fierce if you try and do things you're not supposed to do). Thankfully, my hearing was still in good order, so what better, then, than a friend bringing some listening materials to pass the time: lectures mostly (as requested) plus... Oh. Some Big Finish downloads. But I've been trying to distance myself from all that! They stopped making half-decent product years ago, didn't they?
THE FLASHBACK.
About a decade previous, I had decided to stop giving BF the benefit of the doubt, and acquired a good deal less of their output by the application of certain rules, including:
AVOID anything with a stupid alien name in the title or that has the whiff of hard sci-fi;
AVOID any new companion unless accompanied by a "real" one;
AVOID certain writers (I shall spare blushes as to which ones);
AVOID spin-offs;
and above all
AVOID the Daleks.
As Time in Office did not fall foul of any of the above, I took a deep breath and plunged in...
I need not have worried.
THE WRITER.
The script is quite simply wonderful; not a Caves of Androzani portentous kind of wonderful, but an Androids of Tara breezy kind of wonderful. With his encyclopaedic knowledge of all things Who (and with a merry wit indeed), writer Eddie Robson envelopes us in a cozy blizzard of clever nods to the past, none of which falls flat. He also realises that what entertains us is not whether the Doctor and his friends will prevail (of course they will) but how they will do so.
THE CAST.
We have Peter Davison taking over the mantle of best audio Doctor ever (now that Paul McGann post-NEDAs has "sombre" written into his BF contract), sailing through every scene effortlessly and showing off some brilliant comic timing. We have Louise Jameson in a spot-on secondary role, capturing perfectly the tone of a former "savage" who has her spent time on Gallifrey maturing into a "savant". Beautifully played. We have a great support cast too, notably Julie Teal as Vorena, Tim Sutton as Scandrius, and Sheri-An Davis as Lowri (though the latter pronounces -ing words without the 'g' and, rather charmingly, calls students "shtoodens", both of these idiosyncrasies making her Castellan sound about 14).
THE SCENE-STEALER.
Best of all, we have Janet Fielding in one of her best performances to date: proactive, strident and, when need be, really bloody funny. ("I'm cross!"). In the earliest days of Big Finish, then-producer Gary Russell spoke of having a shopping list: namely Paul McGann, Bonnie Langford and Janet Fielding. All three proved themselves to be among Big Finish's best voices, but Ms Fielding, the last to jump onboard, has massively outstripped all expectations, finally getting the quality of scripts that she deserves.
THE DIRECTOR and THE COMPOSER.
The snappy first-time direction from Helen Goldwyn is top drawer, making the whole thing fly, and (now here's a rarity) the music is marvellous too (all the more so for being understated and unobtrusive), with none of that perky-perky-cheeky-n-chirpy naffness that stifles so many attempts at humour. Andy Hardwick, take a very big bow.
THE SUMMARY.
If you're a classic Doctor Who fan and Time in Office doesn't put a smile on your face, then you are clearly closer to death than I was.
THE APOLOGY.
Humble pie is hospital food, so Big Finish, I owe you an apology. I've been less than charitable about some of your output in the past, but once in a while, you can still come up with gold. Time in Office is unrelentingly fab.
A Review by Thomas Tiley 12/9/25
The past finally catches up to the Doctor as due to political upheaval on his home planet he is forced to become their president.
The story is slightly unusual in that its really an anthology of four loosely connected stories via a thread of the Doctor in his new political role. The first story set the scene with the Doctor being made president and planning reforms that certain parties are against. Rather brilliantly I thought, there is a secret organization that abuses time travel to make sure the president never makes a bad decisions and appears infallible (we could do with one of those in real life) while Tegan is in danger of having her memories erased by the Time Lords. Her scenes are rather funny, with Leela suggesting Tegan marry the Doctor in order to stay and then later Tegan being made ambassador and the power going straight to her head. There are some good jokes such as political commentator remarking he has no problem with female politicians because he used to be a woman in a previous regeneration.
The second story has them go on a diplomatic mission to an alien race that poses as gods and are powered by their believers' faith. Unfortunately, it turns out the Doctor and Leela killed the alien ambassadors brother (technically), leading to a diplomatic incident. Tegan ends up saving the day with her rather clever plan: the aliens are powered by the beliefs of their followers, so what if they were to meet their so called gods? A funny story with Leela offering to duel the ambassador; she is told that they are in a peace garden, and she replies 'We could duel somewhere lese' or when she and the Doctor try to hide in a shed and thinks a lawn mower would make a good tank/chariot, and the Doctor remarks they wouldn't get very far going at six miles an hour. Tegan is funny as well, trying to make small talk about the weather or asking the ambassador if he has ever been to earth ('That wretched planet where my brother was murdered?') or when she suggests as ambassador she should get her own TARDIS
The third story involves the Doctor touring the academy while a student plots a demonstration and Tegan gets abducted by the Time Lord equivalent of a Doctor Who fan. Meanwhile, Chancellor Vorena is plotting something. Probably my least favorite of the three stories, it has some nice ideas (the Doctor touring his old university digs and meeting an older professor/teacher) and funny bits such as the wannabe Doctor walking out of his stolen TARDIS only to end up falling into a hole, but like I said not my favorite story.
The last part has the Doctor (in full Time Lord regalia) and co take a tour of the new citadel only to find the building has a mind of its own. The scenes of it shifting, passageways moving and doors disappearing reminded me of the anarchitects from Alien Bodies until the reveal: the new citadel is in fact a humungous TARDIS. This is a brilliant concept, as are the liquid statues in the foyer, statues that shift and warp to show the various incarnations of the Time Lords they depict. There are a few interesting bits such as Vorena trying to make the Time Lords more proactive and the Doctor's arguments against this, although considering TARDISes are meant to be alive I find it strange that the Doctor mistreats the one that he meets on his travels (save his own) wanting to essentially trap the whole thing in a time loop. The story ends with the Doctor dumping the role of president onto the Castellan and running away with Tegan to lead back into the end of Frontios.
Davison is great in his role, tetchy and reluctant at first and trying to escape his duty. Janet Fielding as Tegan and Louise Jameson as Leela are great, getting some of the funniest lines. In fact, the story has some strong female leads, such as Chancellor Vorena, a standard politician scheming and plotting type, and Castellan Lowri, a nice, pleasant sort that the Doctor takes under his wing.
The only downside is how rather light the story is, but it makes a change from all the dark or heavy serious stories in the range, so you could consider that a plus. It all depends on what you like. All in all I recommend this. 9/10