Doctor Who: The Second Death

Doctor Who: The Twelfth Doctor Adventures #1

by Alfie Shaw

After a chance encounter at the end of time, the Doctor has a new friend and a new mission. History is full of people who need help and evils to be fought. The universe needs the Doctor and Ash.

Further story details to follow.

Genres: Doctor Who, Audiobook, Science Fiction

Audiobook

First published July 15, 2026

Reviews

[Emilija]

The 150 Prompt Doctor Who Reading Challenge - Quotes - 7) “These Shoes! They Fit Perfectly!” - Pick A Comfort Read; A Book You Know You’ll Love Or An Author Who Always “Fits”.

This story is great. Alfie Shaw can really climb into the Twelfth Doctor's head and write a great story for him, and Jon Culshaw is great as the Twelfth Doctor. It sounded like Peter Capaldi, and he was really good. I also really liked the new companion, Ash, who had great characterisation from the get go, and the two main characters really work well together.

The story itself was bleak, atmospheric and a little depressing, but it was a well rounded story, that was a very good listen.

I am really excited for the rest of this series.

[Katherine Wheeler]

Giving this a 4 because I really like this episode from a technical standpoint. All the non-diagetic aspects were really well thought about and you can tell. I also like being able to see where the bare bones of structure are and you really can in this episode. Ash is my favourite part so far, and writing this retrospectively, I enjoy where he’s gone from here.

[Aeryn Natalia]

This was very middling to me, for multiple reasons. First of all, I found the story very hard to follow - though I don't think this was an issue with the writing, and more an issue with the characters, or perhaps a little with the production. Every single person in this audio (aside from one, who was only present for a few minutes) was a man, and only the Doctor had a distinctive voice. Every single other character was impossible for me to distinguish, so I just couldn’t follow the conversations being had between the characters. I’ll probably get used to it as I listen to more episodes and start to recognise Ash’s voice, but he unfortunately just has a very generic male voice and accent. This was made even more confusing by the Doctor time travelling and appearing out of order, though I enjoy that in concept. Visually, this would be aided by something like a jacket being taken off later in the episode so that he’s not wearing it at the start when it’s his future self appearing.

I imagine I’m the only person commenting on Ash’s voice rather than the Doctor’s. At first, I wasn’t sure on it - the very first scene with the Doctor didn’t sound quite like him, and the audio quality sounded different to everyone else’s. But after that, he had me believing he was Twelve (aside from a few random lines where he seemed to lose it a little, but they were rare so I didn’t need to focus on them), and in the majority of scenes the audio seemed to match better.

What I did really like about this episode was the Doctor talking about what brought him to that planet. I don’t want to spoil if you haven’t listened to it yet… but that was just a lovely moment.

My only real comment on the writing is that it felt like this was S8/early S9 Twelfth Doctor, rather than pre-s10 Doctor. It was in him saying “shut up” and making a whole big deal of it, which is a very childish Moffat quirk, and went away near the end of S9 and in S10. But like, I can see why it was written into existence, because Twelve does do that. I just don’t think he would be doing it at this specific point in his timeline. The same goes a little for destroying Ash’s gun. I didn’t like him doing it, but it was a Twelve thing to do– though possibly an *earlier* Twelve thing.

I wish I had more to say on the plot, and I would do if I’d actually been able to follow it. I’ll keep listening to the series, because Rochana Patel has written the next one and I love her– and because I’ve heard very good things about the 11DAs, so I want to listen to this set as it airs to be part of that with everyone who is already on board. I do really, really, want to love this series. And I imagine it’ll be easier to love as I get used to Ash’s voice, and maybe then I’ll come back and relisten to this one. We’ll see.

[Daniel Cork]

The Twelfth Doctor Adventures is what everyone’s been hyped about from Big Finish this year. Sure it’s Jon Culshaw doing an impression of 12 but not only is it better than nothing but his impression is great. Very excited to see what Alfie Shaw has in store for us as his 11th Doctor stuff was great.

A planet at the end of time, the universe is dying and in turn it’s people. Ash knows loss more than anyone but he has lives to save and only a time traveller can help.

Alfie Shaw has written a brutal, heartbreaking and jaw-dropping story on grief and despair. Its an atmospheric and bleak story that often gets your hopes up before crushing them. A story with terrific ideas but for an introduction it’s harrowing.

Overall: A brilliant story. Can’t wait to see what happens next in this series! 10/10

[Nikolai]

A little hard to follow plot-wise, and I was distracted by the Doctor’s voice in an uncanny valley way. (It feels better even in the second story in this series btw, so Jon Culshaw is clearly getting adjusted here.) But it’s fun to have more of 12 and listening to the extras I really appreciated the approach of making this more melancholy of a storyline. Ash was great, too.

[Ryan]

*chefs kiss*
Beautifully written and performed, very true to the 12th Doctor Era
A very strong start to the new 12th Doctor Adventures Range

[Noah Soudrette]

Definitely not the feel good story of the summer. Culshaw does an excellent job as the 12th Doctor. Curious to see where this series goes.

[Jordan White]

I’ve been really looking forward to this after what Alfie Shaw did with the 11th Doctor and it really delivers! Really looking forward to seeing if the rest of the series keeps this momentum.

[Marcel van Driel]

Solid story and acting, not completely convinced by Jon Culshaw, but he’s pretty close so Capaldi. Some great one liners. 3.5 stars

[Piper Huxley]

hell yeah!!!!!!

3.5/5

[Plingben]

Not a perfect impression but god I believed it

[Rick]

Well, it may not be Peter Capaldi, but Jon Culshaw does a really nice job at filling in. We’ve also got a new companion and it’s set right after the events of The Husbands of River Song, so there’s a lot of emotional trauma to deal with. And it sets up the potential for a really strong arc over the next several episodes.