Earlier this week, the first volume of Doctor Who: The Fugitive Doctor was finally released. Expect a review on the box set shortly, but first, I thought a review on the Fugitive Doctor's Big Finish debut was overdue.
Once and Future: "Coda - The Final Act" is an interesting release - and not just because it's a multi-Doctor story, either. From May to Oct 2023, Big Finish told its own 60th anniversary story. Spread across seven episodes, Once and Future saw the Doctor in a state of constant degeneration, going back and forth throughout all their lives.
The main story of the series concluded with "The Union", where he finally found out who and what caused him to degenerate. Even better is that he finally found a cure, restoring him to his true current self. (Ironically, his current self turns out to be War, the one who gave up the name of the Doctor to fight in the Time War.) It seemed like the story had been wrapped up perfectly, and yet Big Finish fans always knew that there was one more story left to be told. A story that we had to wait over a year for.
Doctor versus Doctor
That story was finally released on Nov 22, 2024, one day before Doctor Who's 61st anniversary. Having finally found the time to listen to it, it lives up to the title of "Coda", in more ways than one. It's a fun story in its own right, but while it begins immediately after "The Union", it feels like a fun addition to the series rather than a vital part of its arc.
And it's definitely a fun listen. Surprisingly so, considering it features the War Doctor, arguably one of the Doctor's darker incarnations. But Tim Foley has written a clever way of bringing War and Fugitive together - two of the Doctor's most unusual incarnations - and making sure that the listener has a lot of fun along the way.
A great hook of this particular little multi-Doctor story is that it isn't a team up. As soon as the episode begins, the Fugitive Doctor is tasked with hunting down the War Doctor. Neither incarnation knows who the other really is. So for much of the story, it's Doctor versus Doctor.
Anniversary party
Even better is that they're not the only people invited to this anniversary party. "Coda" features Elizabeth I, the Voord, and best of all, Professor Bernice Summerfield. I'm a massive fan of Benny, and she's been a big part of Big Finish since the very beginning, so it was great to hear her meet these two unique Doctors.
Considering Thirteen doesn't recognize Fugitive when they meet in "Fugitive of the Judoon", you might be unsurprised to learn that the story ends with a nice, convenient reset. But that doesn't stop "Coda - The Final Act" from being a fun little listen in its own right. Overall, it's a nice way of truly ending Big Finish's ambitious 60th-anniversary series, one that provides a decent little glimpse of Jo Martin's Doctor before her new audio series. You can expect a review on Doctor Who: The Fugitive Doctor: "Most Wanted" very soon.