Doctor Who review: The Five Companions reunite with the Fifth Doctor (audio special)
By James Aggas
During the events of The Five Doctors, the Fifth Doctor meets several very old friends in the Doctor Who audio special, The Five Companions.
Watching The Five Doctors reminded me of two special audio stories from Big Finish. One was The Light at the End, which I’ll be reviewing later this week. The second was The Five Companions, a story only available to Big Finish subscribers.
The idea is actually pretty simple. The title’s similarity to The Five Doctors obviously isn’t coincidental, and in fact, it’s actually a key part of the story, as Companions takes place literally in the middle of Doctors.
It turns out that more people had been taken by the Time Scoop than we first saw, and five of the Doctor’s former companions are stuck in a part of the Death Zone cut off by the rest. Nyssa has found herself there, but the rest of the companions were all originally companions to the First Doctor: Ian Chesterton, Steven Taylor, Sara Kingdom and Polly.
Despite being only an hour long, the reunions in this feel, on the whole, more satisfying than the ones we saw in The Five Doctors. For one thing, we actually catch up with what all the companions have been up to. Their reactions to the younger-looking Fifth Doctor are really fantastic to hear, especially as most of them had no clue about regeneration.
The Fifth Doctor faces not just the Daleks but also the Sontarans in The Five Companions.
(Image credit: Doctor Who/BBC. Image obtained from: official Doctor Who website.)
Old friends and old enemies
Mainly focusing on companions from the First Doctor’s era is a brilliantly simple idea, as it shows us how much the Doctor had changed already by the time he was Five. Little things like being more open about the Time Lords and regeneration are highlighted well in this story.
Having it in the middle of The Five Doctors also allows both the plot and the drama to get going very quickly. Since the story understandably assumes that listeners will be familiar with the original TV story, the plot gets moving along very quickly.
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We also get a good Daleks versus Sontarans tale with this one, too. Both Nicholas Briggs and Dan Starkey do great work at providing various voices for numerous characters.
(The fact that they are both good at that was probably a key reason why these two monsters were used. After all, having two actors who can sound like entire armies can certainly help to cut down on the cast list!)
Overall, The Five Companions is a really enjoyable story that balances out a cool story with Daleks, Sontarans and dinosaurs. It also allows for a fond look back at the First Doctor’s era and provides many exciting reunions. Along with An Earthly Child (which is more widely available now), it’s one of the stronger subscriber bonus stories from Big Finish.
The utter joy of The Five(ish) Doctors Reboot. dark. Next
Have you listened to The Five Companions? Which old friends would you like to see reunited with the Doctor? And which do you prefer: Daleks or Sontarans? Let us know in the comments below.