Following the Thirteenth Doctor’s inaugural adventure with Big Finish earlier this year, the series continues with a new, 60-minute story featuring her solo travels with Yaz.

The Return of the Doctor by newcomer Rory Thomas-Howes presents a tale of consequences. Returning to the planet she just rescued, The Doctor learns that making a quick getaway isn’t always the best option.  

Having saved the peaceful Zaarians from an evil alien threat, the Doctor and Yaz sail off to their next adventure. Only this time, Yaz wonders if they’re moving on, or running away.

Convincing a grudging Doctor to return to the planet, they are shocked to find the Zaarians in turmoil. What did the Doctor do? Why is the city in ruins? And what’s that voice in Yaz’s head…?

Big Finish Synopsis

The latest of Thirteen’s travels plays around with an idea that I’m very much on board with: Doctor-Companion conflict. Seldom utilised during Thirteen’s era, it was often cited as one of the main criticisms of her onscreen adventures. So, when these Big Finish stories were announced, it was one of the things I was most excited to see them tackle.  

The source of the crack in the relationship between The Doctor and Yaz in this story plays nicely towards a running theme throughout Thirteen’s era in the TV show. The destruction of Gallifrey is a repeating source of trauma for this version of The Doctor, never allowing her to settle in one place for too long. At the start of this episode, Yaz has finally had enough of running away and challenges The Doctor to stay and face the consequences that have occurred thanks to her interference. Where this story should pick up easy marks, then, is in exploring this conflict that is already naturally woven into their character arcs. Unfortunately, the conflict between The Doctor and Yaz turns out to be artificially created, thus forming this release’s main problem.

The rift is caused by the malicious intent of a creature known as The Whisper—a psychic entity that feeds off blame. While the idea of an entity that exacerbates a society’s sense of blame is an interesting concept, it takes away the teeth of the conflict between The Doctor and Yaz. Ultimately, The Whisper gets in the way of genuine emotional growth between them because the source of the conflict is something external rather than something that has naturally triggered Yaz to feel this way.

Despite this issue, there are still plenty of good moments to be had throughout the story. Jodie Whittaker is on top form, bringing some much-needed moments of fun and warmth during the scenes of downtime between the action. Moreover, the idea of blame hysteria is novel and sells itself well enough that I would like to see how it could be developed upon in a different scenario.