Doctor Who Unbound: Full Fathom Five

Doctor Who Unbound

by David Bishop, David Collings

What if... ?

"If I told you the truth, I'd have to kill you..."

The Deep-sea Energy Exploration Project was apparently destroyed by dirty bombs in 2039 AD, turning the surrounding sea bed into a radioactive tomb. Rumours suggest the DEEP was conducting illegal, unethical experiments...

In 2066 the Doctor discovers the research centre remains intact. The terrible truth about what happened twenty-seven years ago will soon be revealed. The Doctor is determined to be the first to uncover and confront the secrets of the DEEP.

But unearthing the past can have terrible consequences for your future…

Genres: Doctor Who, Science Fiction, Audiobook

Audio Play

First published July 4, 2003

About the author

David James Bishop is a New Zealand screenwriter and author. He was a UK comics editor during the 1990s, running such titles as the Judge Dredd Megazine and 2000 AD, the latter between 1996 and the summer of 2000.

He has since become a prolific author and received his first drama scriptwriting credit when BBC Radio 4 broadcast his radio play Island Blue: Ronald in June 2006. In 2007, he won the PAGE International Screenwriting Award in the short film category for his script Danny's Toys, and was a finalist in the 2009 PAGE Awards with his script The Woman Who Screamed Butterflies.

In 2008, he appeared on 23 May edition of the BBC One quiz show The Weakest Link, beating eight other contestants to win more than £1500 in prize money.

In 2010, Bishop received his first TV drama credit on the BBC medical drama series Doctors, writing an episode called A Pill For Every Ill, broadcast on 10 February.

Reviews

[Rick · Rating 4 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? This is definitely a twisted and dark variation of the Doctor. This is a Doctor who embodies the notion that the end justifies the means. David Collins delivers a startlingly unique interpretation of the Doctor, unlike anything else any other actor has done. This is a Doctor that would have been a hard sell for a continuing character in the confines of the television series. But this particular story, with its 27-year hiatus, is certainly an interesting and fascinating examination of the depths to which the Doctor could (might?) sink, given 27-years of confinement and living through that length of time ... the long way around. Yep. This is a dark one. Really, really dark. Also guest-starring Ed Bishop (from UFO).

[Melenia · Rating 1 out of 5]

If you're a fan of new Who don't bother listening to this one. It's awful. If it hadn't been so short it would have been a dnf but since it was just over an hour I went ahead and listened too it. I wish I hadn't. :( so disappointed.

[Shteblanc · Rating 2 out of 5]

Decently written but rather dull considering revival’s exploration of the topic

David Collings is excellent

[MrColdStreamComics · Rating 4 out of 5]

SHOULD OR SHOULDN'T YOU LISTEN TO "UNBOUND: FULL FATHOM FIVE"?

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YOU SHOULD LISTEN TO IT, BECAUSE...

It features a darker and more mysterious Doctor.
The best part of Full Fathom Five lies within the characterization of the Doctor himself and the sinister mystery surrounding him before the plot twist. The Doctor's manipulative and ruthless side is shown in this story, and it works well as plot fuel.

It also features an unusually antagonistic companion.
Siri O'Neal provides a great performance as companion Ruth who, in the end, proves to be the Doctor's ultimate enemy in the surprisingly bleak ending to the adventure.

You'll learn that the end might sometimes justify the means.
This central mantra of the adventure becomes apparent towards the final third of the story and reveals an unusually dark and dramatic turn to the plot, which makes us happy the Doctor is less abrasive in "real life".

The mid-80s style bleak atmosphere is palpable.
Some of the imagery presented to us makes me think of the bleaker, more violent Doctor Who adventures like Resurrection of the Daleks (1984), which are always nice to return to.

〰〰〰〰

YOU SHOULD NOT LISTEN TO IT, BECAUSE...

There is a lack of familiarity.
Unlike the previous two Unbound releases, Full Fathom Five lacks a sense of familiarity that would make it an exciting listen to Doctor Who fans; it might as well be a completely original BF release.

The performances are disappointing.
David Collings is fine, if slightly boring. The guest cast isn't up to usual BF standards, though, except for Siri O'Neal.

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4 reasons to listen / 2 reasons not to listen = 6.7/10 = 7 stars = YOU SHOULD LISTEN TO IT!

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[David Layton · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Doctor Who Unbound series brief of "What if..." with Doctor Who goes for "What if The Doctor really did believe in the greater good moral philosophy?" The idea here is that if we take criticisms of Doctor 7 literally, that he is just a manipulator with an "ends justify the means" mentality, what would he really be like? David Collings is The Doctor here, played exceptionally well. The story involves The Doctor trying to solve a problem he left unresolved many years earlier. An experiment in human genetics, paid for off the books by the US military, "must be stopped." So, a fairly typical kind of Doctor Who story, seemingly. Yet, as the story progresses, The Doctor's behavior becomes more erratic and questionable, and he gets more self-righteous than moral. There are a few too many coincidences and improbabilities to make the story totally effective. Yet, writer David Bishop pursues the logic of the main idea with gritty determination. This is definitely not for every Who fan.

[Danny Welch · Rating 5 out of 5]

What if The Doctor believed The ends justified the means?

Wow, this story was dark with a callous Doctor and it's terrifying. David Collings really brings a great performance to this darker iteration of The Doctor with great meance and cruelty. But gosh that ending was truly something else so horrible and shocking, it's brilliant!

The Unbound Audios are underappreciated range I feel, their so good with some brilliant alternatives to what Doctor Who could have been like and this story is certainly something incredible! 10/10

[Steven Shinder · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've been making my way through Gerry Anderson's UFO, so it was interesting hearing Ed Bishop as General Flint here. Weirdly, the last two UFO episodes I watched were titled "Timelash" and "Survival." In this What If? scenario, The Doctor believes the ends justify the means and actually turns out to be a villain. Interesting conceptually, but I'm glad it was only an hour. The ending is pretty dark, and perhaps too crass. Somewhere in the middle, I was surprised to hear "bulls**t" in a story under the Doctor Who title.

[Lucas Johns · Rating 4 out of 5]

What if the Doctor believed in the ends justified the means? Well it would be a very dark and grim story wouldn't it? Full Fathom Five is exactly that. I really enjoy David Collings' performance as a more serious Doctor than most other Doctors. Personally, I think the best character of the story was General Flint, he is so hatable and cruel.

9/10

[K · Rating 4 out of 5]

これまで聴いた中で1番怖かったしショッキングだったような気がする。

核爆弾で海域を放射線で汚染した研究者を父親に持つルースはドクターが27年ぶりにその現場にいくとききついていこうとする。

海底施設で行われていたのはスーパーソルジャーを作るために人間のクローンと他の生物のDNAをかけあわせる実験。倫理に大きく外れた恐ろしい実験でしかもその実験に成功していたという。

ドクターがその実験を闇に葬るために生存者を殺したのもショッキングだったけれども父親を殺されたルースがドクターを殺し、さらにリジェネしたドクターも殺すという。
もう怖いのなんのって。
でもなんか紙一重だなぁと。
27年間放射能汚染のせいでターディスに近づけなかったドクター。遠隔操作できたらいいのにねぇといつも思う。

いやでも怖かった😓

[John Smith · Rating 3 out of 5]

Essentially a horror movie featuring a new doctor and companions who feel familiar, only problem is some of the voice actors aren't that great imo, kind of took me out of the story, but if you're interested in hearing a darker doctor story I'd check this out

[Josh · Rating 5 out of 5]

Now that was a dark story. Literally a Doctor seemingly without a concious. Everything that could've went wrong did.
Makes you wonder what happened after that.

[Jpr0328 · Rating 3 out of 5]

Damn that ending was dark!

[November · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don't think I like this Doctor..

[Tabitha · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very dark, very old-school style Doctor, and a great ending! It didn't get a 5 because of all the bouncing around. It took me a bit to realize just what was going on there.

[Seb Hasi · Rating 2 out of 5]

As unappealing as I find the modern releases by Big Finish and how they have to tow the line of bland positivity, this step back into a time when Big Finish had more creative licence was surprisingly dissatisfying.

Any story with the query ‘What if the Doctor thought the ends justified the means’ is naturally going to end up being dark but this went way beyond even that. There’s a dissonance between all the characters so no real way to get to grow used to, or like any of them, and with a short singular narrative, not enough to time to grow to like any of them either. The first half of the story is just exposition and some horror, the second however is pure exposition and ghoulish overkill in its horror.

The story, I cannot deny is thought provoking and does explore morality to a certain level, but struggles when each part is interrupted by some new twist or bit of body horror. The merits are very clearly presented when listening to the story but are greatly overshadowed by dour and morose moments; none of which more so than the ending which is one of the bleakest Dr Who related things I’ve heard.

It’s so visceral and graphic, and despite having justification in the build up, still feels like such a null end. I was never hoping this would be a Doctor/story that got picked up again, but I went further to just being glad it was over before something else unnecessary and graphic happened. To surmise, the story doesn’t pull its punches but it doesn’t earn any of the twists or unexpected moments as the pacing and tone make it a begrudging listen right from the first scene.

[Wendy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed the mystery/suspense aspect of the investigation into events on the research base, even if the story did hit one of my scientific pet peeves - DNA does not work like that! And there's a certain impressive grimness to the ending - it's just not the sort of thing you expect in Doctor Who.

Still, I think this is the weakest of the Unbound plays that I've heard so far, mostly because once you get over the shock value of its "what if" premise, there isn't much farther to go. Both Auld Mortality and Sympathy for the Devil opened up an entire universe of alternative possibilities (as evidenced by the fact that both have had sequels). I'm certainly glad to have heard it, but I'm not sure if it will get many repeat listens.

[Nicholas Whyte]

features the Doctor not as hero but as villain. In "Full Fathom Five", we have no back story, just the Doctor (David Collings) and his companion raiding an underwater scientific base where there are Secrets Man Was Not Meant To Know, and the Doctor destroys everything that might allow said secrets to leak out. I was not really satisfied. The most interesting thing about the Doctor is that he is a hero; subtract that, and you can have a character study of evil but it's not as interesting. I felt there was also too little that really added up about the plot of "Full Fathom Five".

[Debra Cook · Rating 4 out of 5]

In this alternative live adventure of the Doctor we find a man who is trying to cover up his activities on a Deep water energy project. The doctor comes to help exchange ideas on new energy ideas but stumbles into a military project with a horrible side effects. The scientists daughter who was raised by the doctor, stows away to see what happened to her father. Will she forgive the doctor for what she finds out.

[Gregory Rothbard]

Not sure about the professors voices at times way too campy for my tastes. But a good story none the less.