Doctor Who: Thicker Than Water

Big Finish: Monthly Range #73

by Paul Sutton, Colin Baker (Narrator), Maggie Stables (Narrator)

This is an Audio Drama. This is a full-cast original audio play produced by Big Finish Productions.

Three years after Világ was all but laid waste by the Killorans, the Doctor is back alongside a different companion. And a lot has changed. Now elected Principle Triumvir, head of a tripartite government, Rossiter is working to secure a peaceful future for the planet by researching the technology the Killorans left behind. But he has to contend with opposition from his daughter, Sofia, who heads a public campaign demanding the destruction of all alien artefacts.

Politics has caused a rift between father and daughter, and as if that weren't enough, Sofia doesn't approve of her new step-mother either. Emotions soon boil over into violence, a violence that seems to have gripped the entire city.

Friendships bind people close, but they say that blood is...

Chronological Placement
This story takes place between the television adventures, The Trial of a Time Lord and Time and the Rani.

Genres: Doctor Who, Audiobook, Science Fiction

Audio Play

First published September 1, 2005

About the author

Paul Sutton is a writer who has written for Big Finish Productions audio and collected novella range. He has written for the Fifth, Sixth, Seventh and Eighth Doctors in Big Finish's audio story range and also a novella part of A Life in Pieces a Big Finish's Bernice Summerfield series.

Sutton also wrote two linked audio stories Arrangements for War and Thicker than Water which introduced the planet Világ and were part of the exit stories for Evelyn Smythe.

Reviews

[Gabriel Mero · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was my first introduction to Evelyn; I definitely want to see more of her!

[Chrissy · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Arrangements for War" is one of my favorite Big Finish audios, so I had high hopes for this one as its sequel. And I believe they were met - though I still think "Arrangements" is a little bit better. But I enjoyed this story quite a bit. It's not often that a companion of the Doctor's gets to meet a previous companion. I loved Mel and Evelyn's scenes together and learning everything that happened to Evelyn since she left (even finding out how she left - I don't think we actually got her leaving story before this).

And that scene at the end with the Seventh Doctor was lovely. Something that Big Finish had been building up to for a while. I probably thought I needed more background on that detail before I listened to this story, which is why it took me so long to do it. But there's really not a whole lot that needs to be set up, if you just want to listen to this one after "Arrangements for War."

Solid four-star story!

[Mel · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was just wonderful. Such a lovely tribute to Evelyn. It was wonderful to see her and Mel together, and her and the Doctor. The world seemed so much better and more believable than in the first instance. A truly wonderful story for a wonderful companion. The little surprise was just the icing on the cake.

[Frank Davis · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had wanted to enjoy this a lot more than I did, because Evelyn is one of my favourite new companions. I didn't though and probably because I don't really enjoy some of the relationship issues explored.

In this story we find out how Evelyn and Six part company and then later reunite when Six brings Perry over to meet her. The timing of the reunion is not good for personal reasons, but spot on for TARDIS reasons - they arrive in time to get caught up in a nasty business that requires sorting out.

The current crisis is quite interesting but takes a backseat to the relationship issues being explored.

[Ellen Schoener · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a sequel to Arrangements to War, it is not as good as the previous story, but that would have been a hard ask since Arrangements for War was great and even made me cry at the end.
Still, very nice story which is a little bit along the lines of "School Reunion" from the TV series.
And I did not see that ending coming!

[Kelly McCubbin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not quite the masterpiece that "Arrangements For War", which this is a sequel to, is, but still quite good. In many ways the actual adventure narrative takes a back seat to a story about family and a nostalgic tribute to the crowning jewel of Big Finish, Dr. Evelyn Smyth.
Listening to these two stories is a real joy.

[Sara Habein · Rating 4 out of 5]

I accidentally listened to this WITHOUT having heard Arrangements For War first, so I was a bit like "....? I seem to have missed some things," but it was still a good story all the same. I'll go back and listen to part 1 now. I always enjoy Evelyn as a companion though.

[Chris · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

[Tabitha · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nice to see the team reunited again, and I like that it picked off where the relationships left off

[Steven Shinder · Rating 5 out of 5]

There was a certain voice I was not expecting. There were essentially two goodbyes. So very well done.

[Michael Botterill · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really good story and it felt like a natural goodbye and was a very emotional ending

[Nicholas Whyte]

Paul Sutton's Thicker than Water takes an unusual continuity angle of visiting Evelyn Smythe after she has left the Doctor and married Rossiter from Arrangements for War: Six takes Mel to visit her, Mel having expressed interest in meeting the woman who tamed the Doctor after the unstable start to his regeneration. The actual plot is rather straightforward - emotional conflict between Evelyn and her doctor stepdaughter, with a rather minor sfnal element of alien tech captured from the Killoran invaders - but there are lots of reflections on parental and quasi-parental relationships, including a twist at the end involving a brief appearance from elsewhen in continuity. Actually rather satisfying.

[Debra Cook · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Doctor takes Mel to meet Evelyn on Vilag where Evelyn has gotten married and helping her husband build a new planet after war. While giving a speech Evelyn and Mel are kidnapped and Evelyn gets ill. Can the doctor rescue his companions in time?

[Anne Barwell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Evelyn Smythe is one of my favourite companions, and this was a nice send-off for her (discounting her brief return in a later 7th Dr story). I particularly liked her and Mel meeting and the 7th Dr visiting at the end and telling her about Hex.

[Steven · Rating 2 out of 5]

The Doctor and Evelyn’s “last dance” is the emotional rollercoaster that one would imagine, but in the spirit of their adventurous friendship it is also a good story.

[Ritchie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Six and Mel visit with Evelyn. Trouble ensues. Surprise cameo near the end.

[Sidney McKidney · Rating 3 out of 5]

I. I dunno. It was ok. The timeskip between this and the last audio gave me whiplash. Also, I dunno, interspecies medicine should be more complicated than it's portrayed here. Or something.

[Jennifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am not sure that the bombastic Sixth incarnation is anyone's favourite Doctor but he is important, and his pairing with Dr Evelyn Smythe as companion is productive for making good stories. It was an interesting idea to have him return to see her well after she has begun a new life and he has travelled on without her.

The plot allowed for the examination of all manner of things - the treatment of vanquished foes, the Wicked Stepmother stereotype... but most of all it allowed the depiction of a true relationship of love between equals, several loves between equals as Evelyn is clearly very happy with her husband Rossiter.