Concluding The Doctor, Charley and Audacity’s Causeway boxset adventures, The Time You Never Had is an epic two-parter written by Big Finish veteran Tim Foley. Featuring time shenanigans, permanent consequences and a Doctor-like Silurian, it sees the trio take on a shady group exploring how to bring time travel to the masses.

The yesterday of opulence
Tomorrow soft and ironclad
Beyond the merry Oculus:
The time you never had.

Big Finish Synopsis

After the first story in the Causeway boxset brought with it a rather mixed bag, Foley’s contribution to the series is an unabashedly spectacular home run. The story kicks off at pace during its first part as the TARDIS trio experience a disturbing time anomaly that almost kills Audacity. Taken to 90s Copenhagen as a result, their investigations of the source see them come under the watchful eye of the Causeway corporation and the many mysteries that surround them.  

Throughout the story’s first sixty minutes, the intrigue around Causeway is palpable, as The Doctor’s usual fountain of information continually draws a blank about them. Seemingly coming from nowhere, this corporation already has intimate knowledge of The Doctor, is somehow offering time travel for the masses, and can wield an incredible amount of force that constantly has our main characters on their toes. As a result, they come across as a credible threat, which invites further listening to see how The Doctor is able to thwart their efforts.

During the adventure’s first half, there is also some good character work for Audacity. Immediately following on from the events of the previous story, the opening moments go into deeper detail about her struggles due to the events on the Nautilus, which have only strengthened her need to discover and explore. She also has an interesting bout of conflict with The Doctor during this part about time travel for the masses. However, the best character work for Audacity comes as the story reaches its final hour. Unfortunately for her, the time anomaly from the beginning of the story had more effect on her than just a brush with death. Unbeknownst to anyone, during these moments, Audacity had been split across two timelines.

The story’s second half starts by following this alternative version of Audacity. Ripped into another dimension, she finds herself travelling with a Silurian named Mr Barabbas, who shares a lot of characteristics with The Doctor. Over the course of 20-30 minutes, the adventure focuses heavily on their dynamic, but more importantly on how the alternative Audacity learns to adapt to the fact that she’ll never return to her own dimension, and ultimately on how she eventually comes to think of life with Mr Barabbas and the Oculus as her new home. As this part progresses towards its climax, the time that we’ve spent with them is utilised with amazing emotional impact. What’s more, unlike with most other stories within the Doctor Who medium, there are tangible consequences for what happens, which will affect Audacity’s relationship with The Doctor and Charley for the remainder of their adventures together.