Transit of Venus (Dr Who Companion Chronicles 3.7) [Audiobook] [Audio CD]

I'll confess, I'm not entirely sold on the format of 'The Companion Chronicles' - one of the Doctor's former associates telling the story almost in monologue form, with the addition of dramatised sections featuring another actor - it can limit the way the stories can be told to an extent. But when the stories are as entertaining as this one, I'm more than happy. In his twilight years, the First Doctor's companion Ian Chesterton relates a hitherto unheard-of adventure where he and his fellow TARDIS travellers find themselves meeting Captain Cook aboard his ship the Endeavour, en route to discovering Australia. 'Doctor Who' traditionalists should love this story, as it's very much in the spirit of some of the classic historical adventures from the early days of the series, albeit with an intriguing twist, as Ian begins to suspect the ship's scientist, Banks, is not all he appears to be. It's a joy to hear William Russell reprising his role as Ian, and he makes for an engaging narrator, so much so that I forgot my reservations about the format and became lost in the story.

For anyone who enjoys the William Hartnell era, it's wonderful to be able to revisit it in the company of one of the original cast, in a tale which evokes those 1960s adventures so brilliantly.

This story really is in keeping with the spirit of the first season of the classic Doctor Who both in terms of pace and continuity. William Russell's natural ability as a story-teller really had me wanting to hear of other adventures, but more importantly I did not feel any less engaged by the absence of the other regular cast members. The story "resolve" is rather clever.

Big Finish's Companion Chronicles range are different from the full-cast audio dramas that they produce in the Doctor Who line as they focus primarily on the First, Second and Third Doctors era, using their companions to retell a 'lost story' in a monologue form. Since the companions were a lot younger than those original Doctors, many of them have outlived their Doctor and are available to tell these lost stories, often framed as the Companion (now in old age, to explain the difference in voice) tells a tale to the audience or a secondary character.

This particular release focuses on Ian Chesterton (William Russell) who along with Barbara Wright, was one of the first human companions to accompany the First Doctor and his grand-daughter, Susan, on their adventures in time and space. I had watched the First Doctor's adventures recently on DVD and was particularly fond of Ian and Barbara's tenure on the show. This story takes place firmly between two of the televised adventures, 'The Sensorites' and 'The Reign of Terror' and makes frequent reference to the events of the former adventure, so it is recommended that you view that serial before listening to this audiobook. Luckily, it has been recently released on DVD as Doctor Who - The Sensorites [DVD], so it should be easier to source than before when your only option was VHS or dodgy youtube links.

William Russell manages to keep the story interesting and it does feel as if it would slot into the First Doctor's era, since there is a very historical & educational tone to the story, which was one of the key components to the early black and white serials. Russell slips effortlessly back into his role as Ian Chesterton and manages to convincingly convey the voices of his absent cast members, especially his interpretation of William Hartnell's Doctor. The 70 minute story is broken up into two distinct parts, including the classic Doctor Who theme music separating them and a trademark cliffhanger!

I would recommend this to fans of Doctor Who, particularly the Classic black & white stories, who haven't experienced the Big Finish Range of Audio adventures. It manages to be quite stand-alone without much continuity, apart from watching the serial 'The Sensorites'. Sometimes the main range of Big Finish audios are quite self-referential and require listening to prior audio stories, even from completely different Doctors, in order to pick up the plot or characters. As I said, that isn't the case with this story which supplements the TV adventures really well. I would quite enjoy listening to further lost stories from Ian Chesterton and the rest of the classic companions!