DOCTOR WHO: STRANDED Volume One

Down to Earth

RELEASED OUT NOW!

291 minutes | CD/download

Publisher Big Finish

Doctor Who stories that maroon the Doctor on Earth aren’t exactly a new thing – the UNIT years and “The Lodger” have already mined the idea for all it’s worth. But after the more outlandish events of Ravenous, Big Finish decided it was time for a change of pace for this four-disc box set, which sees the Eighth Doctor and his companions Liv and Helen adrift in London 2020.

Given current events it’s strangely appropriate seeing the characters deal with the frustrations of being locked down in one place and time while they wait for the TARDIS to be repaired. Moving into a house on Baker Street he purchased years ago, the Doctor quickly runs into everyday hurdles faced by us mere mortals. While noisy flatmates, electrical faults and the daunting prospect of earning money are all handled with an entertaining sci-fi twist, this is Doctor Who at its most domestic.

The sprawling cast of neighbours and friends, including Torchwood’s copper Andy Davidson, give the stories plenty of freedom to roam, although sometimes it’s hard to keep track of who’s who. Limiting Tom

Baker’s mysterious

Curator to the first story is also a let-down. It’s a shame we’ll have to wait for subsequent box sets to hear more from him, given that Baker quickly finds ways to deepen the character he played so briefly but memorably in “The Day Of The Doctor”.

The unfolding realisation that contemporary life can be just as dangerous as trips in the TARDIS leads to some genuinely poignant moments, and budding relationships which give the stories some much-needed warmth look set to play out in later adventures. And while it’s as close to a kitchen-sink drama as the show can reasonably get, Stranded still finds a way to make the familiar disturbing in ways only Doctor Who can. Dom Carter

In a run of BBC Books novels of 20002001, an amnesiac Eighth Doctor got stuck on Earth, living there from 1889-2001.