Doctor Who review: The Eleventh Doctor Chronicles (Big Finish audio)

Jacob Dudman narrates The Eleventh Doctor Chronicles, a collection of four stories focusing on Matt Smith’s eccentric Doctor from Big Finish.

Following on from The Tenth Doctor Chronicles earlier this year, we have the next set of Doctor Who audio stories partially narrated by Jacob Dudman with The Eleventh Doctor Chronicles.

One thing that I need to make clear right away: as the Tenth Doctor, Jacob Dudman was good in the Doctor Who audio box set The Tenth Doctor Chronicles. No, better than that, brilliant. It was an incredible impression that really captured Tennant’s voice and mannerisms incredibly well.

So to say that his performance as Eleven is even better is not something that I say lightly. But Dudman is, quite frankly, absolutely perfect as Matt Smith’s Doctor in The Eleventh Doctor Chronicles. You can tell that he’s not just simply a fan who’s watched Smith’s original performance so closely. He’s also an incredible actor himself.

Now that we’ve covered just how good Dudman is as Eleven, let’s take a look at each of the stories in this box set, kicking off with The Calendar Man.

More from Winter is Coming

We’re presented with an intriguing mystery with this story. With not just people dying but literally being forgotten about every single day, the episode fits in perfectly with Series Five.

The story unfolds at a really nice pace, and really leaves you wondering what’s really going on, thanks to AK Benedict’s nicely plotted writing. Eleanor Crooks plays Olivia, a character who’s rejected by the community for what she remembers. So she has an interesting part to play in the story, especially as she finds out more about what’s going on with the Doctor and Amy.

We also get a little bit of exploration of Time Lord mythology, and a nice little reference to something revealed much later in Matt Smith’s run as the Doctor. Overall, The Calender Man is a nice, straightforward little sci-fi mystery, and gets the box set off to a good start.

The Top of the Tree

The Top of the Tree is a different kind of story. Set during A Christmas Carol, the Doctor is travelling with Kazran Sardick. Arriving on a primitive world, they find that nature itself is against them. Do they have a chance to fight against it and save everyone?

What really leaps out about Simon Guerrier’s story is how it explores the rather unique relationship between the Doctor and young Kazran. The Doctor knows who Kazran is meant to become. He’s doing his best to show Kazran that he can become something better than his father, even better than who he’s meant to be.

The conversations between the two are really fantastic. You can see that Kazran is learning, becoming more intelligent and more open-minded about the universe, and about helping others.

But at the exact same time, he’s also torn between wanting to be a better person and wanting to be his father’s son. Despite knowing how cruel and terrifying his father can be, Kazran still respects him. How The Top of the Tree really explores that duality is brilliant to hear.

You also have a very different kind of threat in this story. There’s no “villain” or “monster” that just wants to take over. Instead, the Doctor and Kazran are struggling against something that’s natural to the planet. It not only gives us a different kind of story as a result, but it also shows just how dangerous, perhaps unstoppable, nature can really be.

With an intriguing story that allows for plenty of drama, The Top of the Tree is a really enjoyable listen, and a great look at an era that was only briefly seen in one episode.

Dorium Maldovar returns in The Light Keepers. Set before the events of A Good Man Goes to War, Dorium is still rather attached to his body at this point…

(Image credit: Doctor Who/BBC.

Image obtained from: official Doctor Who website.)

The Light Keepers

The Light Keepers features another fantastic character: Dorium Maldovar, as played by Simon Fisher-Becker. Fans will remember him from The Pandorica Opens, A Good Man Goes to War and The Wedding of River Song. This story is set between the first two stories, and has the Doctor having to settle a little debt with Dorium.

The Light Keepers takes a while to get going, and is very slow paced in its first half. However, we do have some great banter between the Eleventh Doctor and Dorium.

Dorium is such a fantastic character, and it’s almost a shame that Moffat decided to chop his head off in only his second appearance. (Something Moffat must have regretted too, as he came back from the dead as just a head in his third and last appearance on television.) So it’s great to have a story that focuses a lot more on his relationship with the Doctor.

Things also begin to pick up considerably in the second half of the story. Without giving too much away, this story connects very nicely to another release from earlier this year. However, this story works well enough on its own if you haven’t listened to the earlier release.

Once again, Jacob Dudman gives another fantastic performance as the Eleventh Doctor, and bounces off Fisher-Becker’s Dorium very well. I’d love to hear more from these two characters, or even have Dorium with other Doctors. Now that he’s been given the spotlight, it’s clear that that there’s a lot of potential with Dorium Maldovar.

Jake Dudman narrates the Eleventh Doctor Chronicles while giving the Best. Matt Smith impression. Ever.

(Credit: Big Finish)

False Coronets

You may remember Clara mentioning Jane Austen quite a few times, particularly during Series Ten. Well, Big Finish have now given us the story of how the two met.

False Coronets is a fun little pseudo-historical. With a story that involves alternative timelines, a potential revolution in nineteenth century England, and a certain famous author, there’s definitely a lot more plot here than the other stories in this set. But it just about works.

Nathalie Buscombe does a great job as Austen in False Coronets. At the very least surprised by the world she’s in, her character also does her best to take as much in her stride as she can.

False Coronets is a fun little story. Even while it has a lot of plot, it passes off more as light-entertainment. In many ways, it’s a perfect fit for the setting of Series Seven.

Summary

There’s quite a lot that I like about The Eleventh Doctor Chronicles. There are some good scripts and great guest actors.

But, more than anything else, it’s Jacob Dudman’s performance that really make this an essential purchase. He performs so many voices across all four stories, but it’s his Matt Smith impression that’s really amazing to hear.

So much so that, quite honestly, I honestly wouldn’t object too much if he started playing the role in full-cast stories. (Matt Smith is incredibly busy, after all. And Dudman’s performance really is amazing. Please, Big Finish?)

If you’re a fan of the Eleventh Doctor, and want to hear more stories involving the character, then you can’t go wrong with The Eleventh Doctor Chronicles. A very impressive set that continues to show how incredibly talented Dudman is.

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Have you listened to The Eleventh Doctor Chronicles? Would you like to hear more from Dudman in the role? Let us know in the comments below.

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