When approaching the Lost Stories series, few within its range have managed to gain a reputation quite like Mission to Magnus. Even coming from an era well-known for its missteps, this story is infamous for having missed the mark by several hundred light-years.

Written by Philip Martin, the story is a sequel to season 22’s Vengeance on Varos and features The Doctor and Peri’s second encounter with Sil as well as the return of the Ice Warriors.

The Doctor and Peri face enemies at every turn on the planet Magnus. There’s the Time Lord bully Anzor, who made the Doctor’s life hell during his time at the Academy. There’s also Rana Zandusia, the matriarchal ruler of the planet, who seeks to prise the secret of time travel from these alien visitors.
 
Also on Magnus is the slug-like Sil, still bitter from his defeat on the planet Varos and seeking to make his fortune from the most potentially destructive ends. And, deep within the planet, there is something else. Another old enemy of the Doctor’s. And the future is looking decidedly colder…

Big Finish Synopsis

Not remembering much from my first encounter with this story, upon my decision to revisit it, I was hopeful that its infamy had been over-exaggerated. Unfortunately, this one is more than deserving of its bad reputation. However, before I begin slating this story, I think it’s best to start this review with a little positivity and talk about its few redeeming features.

As his creator, Philip Martin manages to get Sil’s character from Vengeance on Varos down to a tee, and in this story, he is slimier and more two-faced than ever. Sent to Magnus as punishment for his failures on the planet Varos, he’s once again looking for any and every way to make as much profit as possible. In this aim, he truly excels himself, and by the end of this adventure’s two-hour runtime, there isn’t a character left that this wholly unlikeable antagonist hasn’t double-crossed or attempted to bargain with for the sake of a few more measly credits.

There’s also some positivity to be had around the story’s concept of giving The Doctor the Gallifreyan equivalent of a high-school bully. This works well initially, as this incredibly arrogant version of The Doctor is forced to instinctively cower at the mere mention of Anzor’s name. As the story progresses, however, it is clear that this concept never made its way out of the ideas phase, as Anzor quickly makes a disappearing act before the end of part one.

Unfortunately, the lack of depth in the interactions between The Doctor and Anzor is the least of this adventure’s worries. Set on a world run by women and centring itself as a female empowerment story, the adventure often finds itself undermining these themes. Of the female characters we meet during this story, almost all of them, except for Peri, are power-mad and prone to violence. Moreover, the solution to Magnus’ ills revolves around its female population becoming dutiful wives, and it doesn’t take a genius to realise how that undermines the story’s central messaging!

Exacerbating these issues is that, much like its predecessor in this range, this release struggles with its pacing. Aside from the few scenes we get with Sil, the plot moves at a glacial speed. Attempting to pad the story’s runtime, there are numerous scenes where characters meander through caves towards the next plot point. This is especially prevalent in the adventure’s second half as the Ice Warriors use the cave system to set up their plan involving several detonators and bombs.