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The Companion Chronicles #3.3
Doctor Who: The Doll of Death
A new adventure with the Third Doctor as told by his companion, Jo Grant.
"Retrocausation! Events before their cause. Time in reverse."
While investigating a temporal anomaly in Central London, the Doctor and Jo Grant meet Professor Harold Saunders, a man who possesses an unstable alien artefact, and who is seemingly haunted by the ghosts of dolls.
Who is the mysterious Mrs Killebrew? Why is a pack of hounds hunting them in reverse? And can Jo pick up any bargains while backwards shopping on Oxford Street?
"Retrocausation! Events before their cause. Time in reverse."
While investigating a temporal anomaly in Central London, the Doctor and Jo Grant meet Professor Harold Saunders, a man who possesses an unstable alien artefact, and who is seemingly haunted by the ghosts of dolls.
Who is the mysterious Mrs Killebrew? Why is a pack of hounds hunting them in reverse? And can Jo pick up any bargains while backwards shopping on Oxford Street?
Audio CD
First published September 30, 2008
57 people want to read
About the author
Marc Platt
111 books48 followersMarc 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.
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.
Ratings & Reviews
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
October 27, 2008
This story manages to combine the typical surreality of a Marc Platt story with the distinctive atmosphere of UNIT-era Doctor Who. In fact, it does such a good job of capturing the distinctive atmosphere of those stories that it comes close to crossing the line into parody. (I snickered at Sgt. Benton's purple flares.) For the most part, though, Platt manages to stay on the right side of the line.
Platt hinges his plot around an unusual temporal distortion. I'm not sure we've ever seen time behave quite this strangely in Doctor Who before, and that's saying something.
Katy Manning gives a superb performance as the main voice actress in this. I was particularly impressed with her renderings of the Brigadier and Jon Pertwee's Doctor - she doesn't try to impersonate them, but she does a wonderful job of conveying their vocal inflections.
This one is a must-have for Pertwee fans, but well worth a listen even for those who don't rank him among their top Doctors.
Platt hinges his plot around an unusual temporal distortion. I'm not sure we've ever seen time behave quite this strangely in Doctor Who before, and that's saying something.
Katy Manning gives a superb performance as the main voice actress in this. I was particularly impressed with her renderings of the Brigadier and Jon Pertwee's Doctor - she doesn't try to impersonate them, but she does a wonderful job of conveying their vocal inflections.
This one is a must-have for Pertwee fans, but well worth a listen even for those who don't rank him among their top Doctors.
May 22, 2014
Excellent characterization for Jo and the Third Doctor - she is brave and compassionate but not very sensible, and he is dashing, gruff, and occasionally impatient. The story holds together fairly well and has plenty for all the characters to do, and I found it very enjoyable; Katy Manning's narration was perfect.
January 21, 2016
This was a weird story involving backward time and evil dolls. Pretty creepy and good for a scare.
December 19, 2021
Creepy dolls, ghostly dogs and time anomalies. Unit stories are usually about alien invasions or scientific research in contemporary Earth. This is more about the dimensions of time and creates a weird tale with people moving backward through time and people unstuck in time. Katy Manning gets to tell a tale of Jo Grant's time with Unit and Jo Grant gets a chance to shine as both an investigator and problem solver. She doesn't get everything right, but does end up saving the day.
August 17, 2017
Very creepy audio and reminds me of the Scorchies that Iris and Jago and Litefoot encounter. Katy did a wonderful job with the voices.
February 10, 2019
Creepy Doctor Who is my favorite Doctor Who. Once again, Katy Manning was stunning as Jo, the Third Doctor, the Brigadier Yates, and Benton. She needs to be in EVERY Big Finish drama!
September 6, 2022
Voices were somewhat creepy.
October 13, 2024
YESYESYESYESYESYESYES
December 4, 2025
I enjoyed this story. Loved the premise and thought Jo was particularly well done.
July 29, 2017
The Companion Chronicles is a Big Finish Audio Series that let's the company explore earlier eras of Doctor Who than the full audio plays do, which feature the living Doctors. The Doll of Death is read and performed by Katy Manning (Jo Grant). Although it starts in "modern" times with Jo attending an environmental conference with her activist husband Professor Jones, she's sick in her hotel room - so she decides to "catch up with her blog". The rest of the story is Jo telling the story, and because it's Katy - she uses "funny voices" to play the various characters.
The story does feel very much like a typical Third Doctor Era story. The Doctor has a device, a blue shift detector that sets off an alarm. He and Jo investigate a mysterious break-in at a museum. At the museum - they meet a professor who accuses them of trying to steal his research and project (not to mention a mysterious tablet). There are mysterious blue doll-creatures, and backwards-running attack dogs. The dogs are described as "Labradors" though - not something I would ever think of as "vicious" or even used in an guarding or attack capability. Anyway, once the Doctor and Jo's investigation really kicks off - the story proves to be fascinating despite it's very typical framing. The Doctor and Jo encounter a research from a parallel Earth that runs backwards to this one, what the Doctor calls "Reverse Causation" - events before their causes. The Doctor and Jo, but especially Jo, investigate and see the results first, then the causes - bit by bit. It's Jo who finds the creepy "doll hospital" and it's owner Mrs. Killebrew, who is "possessed" for lack of a better term by the Alternate Earth researcher. Throughout the story, the motivations of the researcher are in question - is she an honest academic who was trapped? Or does she have deeper and darker motivations - especially when it's revealed that she is their to observe the Doctor.
I liked the way the backwards-story and forwards-story collided. And the story does make a lot of sense - one can follow it easily. My rating for this particular Companion Chronicle would be 3.5 though. I thought the story was just a little bit too typical. It's always good for a Companion Chronicle to reflect it's era - but this one just fell a bit flat. It's also presented as "Jo telling us a story" - rather than it being about the companion giving us their own point-of-view on being a companion for the Doctor. This particular story was very much, just OK, but not great. I'm not totally disappointed - I've just heard better (Like "Find and Replace" also a Companion Chronicle or "The Wormery" which technically features Iris Wildthyme played by Katy from the main range.) I wouldn't discourage anyone from picking it up - the dolls ARE creepy, the backwards story works, etc., but it was very much only, well, 3.5 stars.
The story does feel very much like a typical Third Doctor Era story. The Doctor has a device, a blue shift detector that sets off an alarm. He and Jo investigate a mysterious break-in at a museum. At the museum - they meet a professor who accuses them of trying to steal his research and project (not to mention a mysterious tablet). There are mysterious blue doll-creatures, and backwards-running attack dogs. The dogs are described as "Labradors" though - not something I would ever think of as "vicious" or even used in an guarding or attack capability. Anyway, once the Doctor and Jo's investigation really kicks off - the story proves to be fascinating despite it's very typical framing. The Doctor and Jo encounter a research from a parallel Earth that runs backwards to this one, what the Doctor calls "Reverse Causation" - events before their causes. The Doctor and Jo, but especially Jo, investigate and see the results first, then the causes - bit by bit. It's Jo who finds the creepy "doll hospital" and it's owner Mrs. Killebrew, who is "possessed" for lack of a better term by the Alternate Earth researcher. Throughout the story, the motivations of the researcher are in question - is she an honest academic who was trapped? Or does she have deeper and darker motivations - especially when it's revealed that she is their to observe the Doctor.
I liked the way the backwards-story and forwards-story collided. And the story does make a lot of sense - one can follow it easily. My rating for this particular Companion Chronicle would be 3.5 though. I thought the story was just a little bit too typical. It's always good for a Companion Chronicle to reflect it's era - but this one just fell a bit flat. It's also presented as "Jo telling us a story" - rather than it being about the companion giving us their own point-of-view on being a companion for the Doctor. This particular story was very much, just OK, but not great. I'm not totally disappointed - I've just heard better (Like "Find and Replace" also a Companion Chronicle or "The Wormery" which technically features Iris Wildthyme played by Katy from the main range.) I wouldn't discourage anyone from picking it up - the dolls ARE creepy, the backwards story works, etc., but it was very much only, well, 3.5 stars.
June 25, 2017
A Third Doctor story told from the perspective of Jo Grant.
The basic concept here, which involves time running backwards, is one that it's a little surprising hasn't been used before in Doctor Who, at least as the basis for a story in its own right. By the same token, it's not groundbreaking, and needs something more interesting and original done with it than happens here.
In fact, the story as a whole is rather flat, with much of it involving the characters wandering around London somewhat aimlessly. It might work better if you could actually see the backwards visuals, rather than having them described, but that's hard to convey in audio.
There are some nice touches that pull it above mediocrity, such as the clearly emphasised '70s setting, and our glimpses of elderly-Jo-as-narrator. Katy Manning is also good at bringing out the characters, without actually trying to mimic their voices directly.
There have certainly been weaker Companion Chronicles than this, but it still didn't quite do it for me.
The basic concept here, which involves time running backwards, is one that it's a little surprising hasn't been used before in Doctor Who, at least as the basis for a story in its own right. By the same token, it's not groundbreaking, and needs something more interesting and original done with it than happens here.
In fact, the story as a whole is rather flat, with much of it involving the characters wandering around London somewhat aimlessly. It might work better if you could actually see the backwards visuals, rather than having them described, but that's hard to convey in audio.
There are some nice touches that pull it above mediocrity, such as the clearly emphasised '70s setting, and our glimpses of elderly-Jo-as-narrator. Katy Manning is also good at bringing out the characters, without actually trying to mimic their voices directly.
There have certainly been weaker Companion Chronicles than this, but it still didn't quite do it for me.
February 20, 2015
Another gem of a recording - Katie Manning carries on Jo's character with breathless excitement as though she never really gave it up and adds versimilitude to renditions of the Brig and Benton. Once again UNIT is a big happy(ish) family.
Some of the narration is a bit silly with reversing Doctors and Brigadiers undoing things backwards and running out of the line of fire but nothing that isn't closely related to the plot.
Some of the narration is a bit silly with reversing Doctors and Brigadiers undoing things backwards and running out of the line of fire but nothing that isn't closely related to the plot.
Read
April 8, 2009literally the first decent Third Doctor audio I have heard (and I include also The Ghosts of N-Space and Paradise of Death among those I didn't like). As you would expect from Platt, he takes the story very much towards the surreal, with two literally contraflowing timestreams. Manning does lots of male voices well, and the plot is inevitably a bit confusing but avoids being self-indulgent.
January 30, 2013
Katy Manning did a lovely job with this audio. It is such a pleasure to listen to her, she does so many voices it's almost like listening to a full cast audio rather than a companion chronicle. I must admit I did find the plot a bit confussing and will have to listen again to understand it properly I think. But there were some lovely moments and some funny insights into the characters.
June 22, 2015
A Companion Chronicle told by Katy Manning as Jo Grant. Reverse time, creepy dolls, snarling dogs and Three, the Brigadier and Sgt. Benton.
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews