Doctor Who Unbound: Auld Mortality

Doctor Who Unbound

by Marc Platt, Geoffrey Bayldon (Narrator), Carole Ann Ford (Narrator)

What if...
the Doctor and Susan had never left Gallifrey?

In a marble mausoleum, deep in the cisterns beneath the Capitol, Gallifrey's favourite author faces his ultimate destiny.

Who is the woman who claims to be his granddaughter?

Who is the sepulchral figure in robes of night?

Which path should Hannibal's army take to Rome?

And on a snowy mountain high in the Alps, the Doctor remembers the ultimate question: What if he and Susan had ever left Gallifrey?

Genres: Doctor Who, Science Fiction, Audiobook

1 pages, Audio CD

First published May 28, 2003

About the author

Marc Platt is a British writer. He is most known for his work with the BBC science fiction television series Doctor Who.

After studying catering at a technical college, Platt worked first for Trust House Forte, and then in administration for the BBC. He wrote the Doctor Who serial Ghost Light based on two proposals, one of which later became the novel Lungbarrow. That novel was greatly anticipated by fans as it was the culmination of the so-called "Cartmel Masterplan", revealing details of the Doctor's background and family.

After the original series' cancellation Platt wrote the script for the audio Doctor Who drama Spare Parts. The script was the inspiration for the 2006 Doctor Who television story "Rise of the Cybermen"/"The Age of Steel", for which Platt received a screen credit and a fee.

He lives in London.

Reviews

[James · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not the strongest start to a series that aims to do for Doctor Who what What If? did for Marvel. What if the Doctor had never left Gallifrey with Susan and instead spends his time writing pulpy historical romances while living as a recluse. Sadly, talking elephants aside, it just never really seems to go anywhere.

[Rick · Rating 3 out of 5]

An alternate reality? A variant history? An incarnation of the Doctor and/or a timeline that was erased by effects of the Time War? Well, this was ... different. I knew going in what the premise was, that this was a mirror universe kind of thing, a What If …? (to borrow the phrase popularized by Marvel). It was interesting and rather fun. But I couldn’t quite completely get into it. I kept trying to see how it would fit together in the Doctor’s and Susan’s timeline, even though that’s pointless. I had a similar viewing discontinuity while watching the two theatrical released films with Peter Cushing as Doctor Who.

[MrColdStreamComics · Rating 4 out of 5]

"UNBOUND: AULD MORTALITY" FROM BEST TO WORST

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(10) Geoffrey Bayldon offers a wonderful variation on what we've come to know as William Hartnell's First Doctor. He is soothing to listen to when he is narrating and he is booming with personality in the dramatized parts. This is one of the warmest and most heartfelt takes on the Doctor I've ever seen or heard.

(10) Bayldon and Carole Ann Ford have a chemistry that at times feels warmer and more loving than the original Doctor/Susan bond. Their moments of happiness are infectious!

(8) Derren Nesbitt (one of the first memorable Doctor Who villains in Marco Polo, 1964) performs one of the better and more memorable Time Lord characters.

(8) Writer paints a convincing portrait of a reimagined timeline, where the Doctor never left Gallifrey. It feels familiar enough to come across as plausible, but different enough to make an impact. I particularly like how well the story utilizes typical Doctor Who elements in new and surprising ways.

(7) There are beautiful moments of contemplation and dialogue that explore the consequences of this reality, followed by a satisfying conclusion.

(7) It's very interesting to hear about the Doctor's need for exploration and knowledge and the workarounds he has invented instead of stealing a Tardis with Susan.

(6) I love the relationship between the Doctor and Badger, as it feels very in character for a possible version of the First Doctor.

(6) Platt's writing can take some confusing turns, as the boundaries between fact and fiction become unclear, but he uses this as a great effect to upkeep tension and mystery.

(6) The historical parts with Hannibal seem a little off as if they're trying to be comical rather than realistic, but they end up serving an important purpose in the story as a whole.

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68 positive points / 0 negative points = 7.5/10

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[David Layton · Rating 3 out of 5]

The first of the "What if the Doctor..." series takes us back to the first Doctor. What if he had never left Gallifrey? This is an interesting enough idea on its face. Marc Platt has him down as a writer of time-travel Romances and a do-it-yourself historian. That is fine, and makes a certain degree of sense. However, Platt has typically gone off the deep end in the "which reality are we in" department. The idea is to make the story a kind of ode to imagination, which can allow us to "travel" in ways impossible otherwise. Again, that is fine and in keeping with the spirit of the thing. However, Platt has developed a needlessly complicated plot involving the Doctor's use of a machine for creating virtual reality worlds, an attempt by a dead Time Lord to gain power by taking control of the next candidate for President of the High Council, a chase with mixed up realities inside the virtual reality machine, and not the slightest bit of effort to untangle all the strands.

[Danny Welch · Rating 4 out of 5]

What if The Doctor never left Gallifrey and became an author?

This is an intriguing start to The Unbound range with ideas burrowed from the novel Lungbarrow also by Marc Platt but also a lot of interesting new ideas too. I really like the concept of how The Doctor writes his stories, with him being linked up to a machine which helps to develop stories within his mind, really neat idea. But what I really liked about this release was the chemistry between Geoffrey Bayldon and Carole Ann Ford who really bring in impressive performances and I will admit I think this is the best performance from Carole Ann Ford yet! The ending is really cool too.

This isn't a particular favorite for me in the Unbound range but it is certainly a very good beginning for what I feel an underappreciated range. 8/10

[Steven Shinder · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a strong start to the Unbound series. Essentially a what if scenario, this time being what if The Doctor had not left Gallifrey. Geoffrey Bayldon does a decent First Doctor impression, actually. The Doctor becomes an author and essentially lives vicariously through his stories. Really got Master of the Land of Fiction vibes. The return of Susan in his life makes him wonder if he made the right choice. Kinda feels like a precedent for “Turn Left,” and he even wonders how different things would be if one were to turn left. The ending plays into the whole “It can go either way” thing, teasing at multiple realities. Some might find this annoying, but I found it fitting.

[Jay Emmerich · Rating 4 out of 5]

It walks an interesting line trying to not be the show while also serving as what could be seen as an origin for the show. Minor changes cascading out due to a lack of intervention has untold consequences on the timeline, but this doesn't really talk about any of that. It mainly just focuses on a reclusive version of the Doctor, who I thought hit just enough notes to feel like Hartnell while also not being him exactly. Thought it also did a really interesting job harkening back to that early point in the show, where anything could happen. I look forward to listening to the sequel.

[K · Rating 4 out of 5]

ドクターとスーザンがターディスでガリフレイから逃げ出さなかった世界の話。

ドクターは”ポッシビリティジェネレーター”というマシンを発明して地球の歴史を研究していた。
ある夜、スーザンが訪ねてくるがドクターはスーザンのことを覚えていなかった。

ドクターはポッシビリティ・ジェネレーターのせいで今ある世界が自分が作り出したものなのか、それとも自分とは関係なく存在しているのかわからなくなっている状態。いつか大統領にさせるためにドクターの祖父から長年幽閉されているっぽいのだけれどそのあたりの事情が何度聞き直してもわからなかった。
結局スーザンが大統領の座につくことになり、ガードに取り囲まれずに行動できる最後の1日をドクターを探すことに費やしたスーザン。ターディスに乗って2人でガリフレイを飛び出したのか、それともスーザンは大統領になりドクターだけがターディスで飛び立ったのか、可能性は無数ということで胡蝶の夢みたいな話という解釈でいいのかな。

[Josh · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've wanted to start this range for years! What a treat! I'm a sucker for alternate dimensions, alternate universes and stuff like that. This version of The Doctor and Susan were a joy. Very intrigued for the rest of the stories!

[Charles Mitchell · Rating 4 out of 5]

What if the Doctor and Susan had never left Gallifrey?

[Sara Habein · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'd never heard any of the Unbound series with the non-David Warner Doctor before, and this was quite a good beginning, where he and Susan have yet to ever leave Gallifrey.

[John Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very fun AU, its a joy to hear Susan and I enjoyed the way the story was set up, definitely reccomend.

[Tabitha · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was completely different than what I'd expected. The series is probably going to be great or awful, with no in between.

[Seb Hasi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Years ago I tried to listen to this story but gave up really quickly when names from about £700s worth of extended media cropped up. Having given it another go all this time later with the mindset of ‘you can piss off if you think I’m reading everything up to Lungbarrow before listening’, I found that it was fun, but mostly really sweet. The story itself does play out in way where you are meant to be aware of major plot details when the characters aren’t. This doesn’t make the story predictable at all though as there are some really great twists, and such a heartwarming ending. Geoffrey Balydon makes for such a good Doctor and I immediately accepted him as a version of the character, and given how well he played against Carol Ann Ford’s older Susan, I was absolutely satisfied with the cast and performances. The only thing that gives this story a lower rating in my books is the fact that A) It just goes on for far too long and so much could have been cut, and B) the villain is hardly difficult to overcome. While I was drawn in by the touching familial aspects, I couldn’t fail to recognise the story failing to provide a remotely threatening villain, and the fact all the scenes in the ‘dream machine’ that are of only minor consequence to the plot; summate to around a third of the runtime. I definitely do recommend this one for it’s charm and obviously the way it tells a story of what the Doctor’s life could’ve been like, but trying to fit a life in a fiction machine plot, family drama and a Gallifreyan conspiracy into an hour just doesn’t work as well as it could if it were; for example a two parter.

[A room full of books~ :) · Rating 2 out of 5]

Even as a "what if" alternate reality story it didn't make much sense... 😅 It would probably have been about a 1.5 star rating, but I gave it an extra half-star for the talking elephant, LOL. 🤷‍♀️

[Jamieson · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Unbound range from Big Finish was something akin to Marvel's "What If...?" or DC's Elseworlds. It was a short series of non-canonical, hypothetical takes on Doctor Who. The first in the series, Auld mortality, takes and runs with the question "What if the Doctor never left Gallifrey?". It's a good story, featuring the late Geoffrey Bayldon as an alternate First Doctor. In this, the Doctor is a hermit who uses Tardis tech to research his pulpy historical fiction. In this story, his target is Hannibal in the Alps. Meanwhile, Susan is the president-elect of Gallifrey and is trying to get through to her gradfather who is under the sway of the ghost of his great-granduncle, Ordinal-General Quences. It's an interesting take on the First Doctor and on Gallifrey by Marc Platt (who, for the uninitiated, wrote the novel Lungbarrow, a Seventh Doctor finale that was steeped in obscure Gallifreyan lore). It took a bit to get into (such that in my first time listening, I didn't get very far), but in the end, it's very worth it. So if you crave experimental, non-traditional Big Finish, then give this a shot.

[Nicholas Whyte]

"Auld Mortality" has the Doctor, Geoffrey Bayldon (=Catweazle), musing about what might have happened if had given in to that impulse he had so many years ago of leaving with his granddaughter, rather than staying at home to become a writer of time-travelling adventure narratives. Susan, still played by Carole Ann Ford, drops by to find out what is up with her half-forgotten relative. The play is by Mark Platt, who is not always comprehensible (see Lungbarrow, Downtime, Ghost Light), and I confess I didn't quite understand everything that was going on (specifically, I did not get who or what "Auld Mortality" actually was supposed to be), but the ride was fun, the acting is great (Ford's Susan being particularly memorable) and I loved the way Platt manged to have two endings to the story, having his cake and eating it.

[Yosef Shapiro · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the first in a series of alternative continuity Doctor Who stories. These stories look at the What Ifs that are different directions from the one the series went in. What if the Doctor did not steal a TARDIS and leave Gallifry? What would he have done instead? What would Susan have done with herslef if she did not travel with her grandfather? The concept is a good one. However, i would like to have seen it developed further.

[Debra Cook · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was interesting to hear the doctor as a history professor and Susan being responsible for saving Gallifrrey from a phscho. Highly recommend. Can't wait to hear the rest in the series.

[Gregory Rothbard · Rating 4 out of 5]

doctor who audio oh great fun on a day set for cleaning ....

[Melenia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Decent