Doctor Who review: The Companion Chronicles: The First Doctor: Volume Three explores heroism in various forms

The idea of heroism is explored in many of its forms, in the latest fantastic instalment of the Doctor Who audio range, The Companion Chronicles: The First Doctor: Volume Three.

I absolutely adore The Companion Chronicles. While once upon a time, I was skeptical of a Doctor Who range with considerably more limited casts than the regular audios, the series has become a favorite of mine, and indeed, many other Big Finish listeners. The range has been extremely creative over the years, and the fact that it’s still going – even with The Early Adventures range also telling stories of the first two Doctors, albeit with full-casts – shows how much the fans enjoy the series.

Unsurprisingly, the most recent box set in the range – The First Doctor: Volume Three – continues that same level of creativity. We get four excellent stories, all extremely different, and yet each of them captures the First Doctor’s era wonderfully well.

One thing I appreciated about this volume is how all the stories shared one common theme: heroism. Whether it’s with superheroes, or historical heroes and villains, or even just having someone to look up to, The First Doctor: Volume Three explores the concept of heroes in a variety of ways.

Elliot Chapman, Anneke Wills and David Warner all give brilliant performances in The Crumbling Magician, just one of the stories featured in this box set.

(Image credit: Doctor Who/Big Finish Productions.

Image obtained from: Big Finish Productions.)

A variety of ideas and stories

The best thing that I can say about The First Doctor: Volume Three is that it’s very difficult for me to pick a favorite. All the stories are rather brilliant, in their own way.

E is For… is a great little story for Carole Ann Ford and Mark Edel-Hunt. While Lisa Bowerman also appears in this as Colonel Maria Rage, the story mostly feels like a two-hander a lot of the time, as Susan learns a great deal about her new friend Virgil and the extraordinary things he can do. While it explores the idea of superpowers, it actually avoids being a typical superhero story, and feels just a little closer to being regular science-fiction.

Despite the spoilery title, The Vardan Invasion of Mirth works very well in its own right, especially as a tribute to comedy. The Vardan portion of the story almost takes a backseat compared to the character study of comedian Teddy Baxter, brilliantly played by Stephen Critchlow. Peter Purves is, as usual, excellent as Steven Taylor, and he gets to play the straight man to Critchlow’s comic. It’s a really fun and enjoyable story with some nice hidden depths.

The Crumbling Magician rounds out the set nicely, giving us more of a straight-forward drama, even one with a limited cast. Along with exploring where the First Doctor is at this point in his life, we get some truly fantastic performances. Both from regulars Anneke Wills and Elliot Chapman as Polly and Ben, and of course from David Warner, who plays the brilliant character of Allie. Just as The Plague of Dreams did for Volume Two, this rounds off the third volume of The First Doctor very nicely.

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Heroes and villains

But if I’m honest with myself, and absolutely had to pick a favorite, then Daybreak by John Pritchard springs to mind. The story looks at the idea of heroes – historical heroes, in this case – in a very satisfying way. Particularly how people are usually neither heroes nor villains, not completely, and things might be a little more complicated than they’re depicted.

On top of that, we get great performances from Maureen O’Brien as Vicki and Clive Hayward as the Judge, particularly in their many key scenes together. Overall, Daybreak is a challenging but rewarding listen, and just might be the best out of a strong set of stories.

Overall, The Companion Chronicles: The First Doctor: Volume Three is an extremely strong release. With four great but extremely different stories and so many fantastic performances, this is highly recommended for fans of the First Doctor’s era, as well as for fans of great storytelling in general. Another fantastic box set in the series.

Have you listened to The First Doctor: Volume Three? Which is your favorite story in the box set? Have you listened to any of The Companion Chronicles before? Let us know in the comments below.