Doctor Who BF-105 The Condemned

"Manchester, 2008. The TARDIS lands inside a run-down tower block, beside a dead body – which leads to some awkward questions when the Doctor is found there by the police. Made the prime suspect, how can the Doctor prove to the no-nonsense DI Patricia Menzies that this is not the open-and-shut case it seems, and that she’s actually investigating the death of an alien?"

The Condemned is my favourite sixth doctor story, and my favourite big finish story so far. The images created in this story are fantastic. I have listened to this story at least ten times over the past year, because it is still full of surprises.

Detective Inspector Patricia Menzies (Anna Hope) is brilliant. If the Jago and Litefoot series ever finishes, I would encourage Big Finish to give her a spin off. “DI Menzies- protecting the streets of Manchester from alien life.” It could happen, and I would preorder the series now, if I could. Even without a synopsis.

You may have noticed that I mentioned DI Menzies before Charley Pollard (India Fisher) but don’t take that as a suggestion that I’m not a Charely fan. I am quite a big Charley fan, as a matter of fact. I have only listened to one or two eighth doctor and charley episodes, but as soon as I listened to “The Condemned”, I quickly ran through all of the sixth doctor and Charley episodes, whilst in France. I am still not clear how the “Charley hasn’t met the Doctor yet” plotline, so I’ll have to take another listen to them before I write a review.

At first, I thought that I’d be disappointed by the Doctors blue coat, because it didn’t seem to fit. But by the time episode one had finished, I just knew that it worked. The blue coat matches the Doctors changed attitude. In the television series, he was arrogant, rude, and harsh. But like a good wine, the Sixth Doctor has mellowed with age.

Listening to this after listening to the big finish audio “The Crimes of Thomas Brewster”, I see how carefully (if not accidently) this story has been carved. It was revealed in TCOTB that the events in “The Condemned” was not the first meeting between the Doctor and DI Menzies. And upon their “supposingly ” first meeting, the Doctor mutters “Typical…” When DI Menzies bursts onto the scene.

So, in conclusion, “The Condemned” is a great story, and is a fantastic start for any listeners new to big finish. A PERFECT big finish story. This is how the sixth Doctor needs to be written.

10/10