 | Doctor Who Big Finish- There's No Place Like Home |
There's No Place Like Home
Released January 2003
(supplemental story)
The Doctor decides to give new companion Erimem a tour of the TARDIS only to find that he has lost his way in his own home. The interior of the TARDIS is re-configuring itself much to the delight of a hidden foe who watches the Doctor and Erimem's plight on a monitor. When a construct of the Time Lord High Council named Shayde appears, it becomes clear to the Doctor that there is more at stake here than simply being lost.
There's No Place Like Home was given away as a supplement with Doctor Who Magazine #326 (along with a sample of Dalek Empire). A 'filler' story in much the same way as the Ratings War and Last of the Titans, there's not much to There's No Place Like Home, but Davison and Caroline Morris fill in the gaps with the opportunity to further flesh out the relationship between Erimem and the Doctor. It's touching to hear the young/old Fifth Doctor talk about his solitude among his own people and his reluctance to think or even talk about his family. It's a subtle way of dealing with these issues that would later be hammered home in the BBC Wales production. Erimem is also given just enough space to appear a more fully rounded character, in direct opposition to her rather flat first appearance in The Eye of the Scorpion.
The wardrobe of the TARDIS is used as an in joke as the Doctor sheepishly attempts to explain the long scarf, fur coat and frilly shirts of his previous incarnations. I quite enjoy the social awkwardness of the Fifth Doctor, a trait that would have made his portrayal stronger if it had been played up on screen. Erimem can't really see the sense in most of the clothes, but is entertained by them. Her ability to enjoy the madness and random nature of life with the Doctor is a charming quality that reminds me of the classic companions of the 1960's. Along with being lost in the TARDIS, the Doctor is also uncomfortable with having
Erimem's cat on board as it is a nuisance in the long white corridors of the time vessel. But Erimem cannot see the problem from the Doctor's perspective and suspects that he simply doesn't like cats. The Doctor admits that he never had this kind of trouble with his faithful robot dog companion, K-9.
The real interesting part of There's No Place Like Home is of course the inclusion of the Shayde, a bizarre creation from the Doctor Who Magazine comic strip. I remember first seeing Shayde in the comic strip back in the 1980's when Marvel Comics reprinted a few of the Tom Baker and Peter Davison stories in color. Able to blend into shadows and absorb information by removing his spherical head, he's an impressive visual, but in the audio format Shayde is somewhat less successful.
The Shayde explains that the Doctor has been irresponsible in protecting his TARDIS and has allowed for it to become compromised. An alien entity is attempting to take control of the TARDIS which could in turn damage the web if time in unpredictable ways. After warning the Doctor that the situation has been identified by the High Council as catastrophic, the Shayde attempts to take control of the situation in eliminating the threat that the still unseen menace poses. Erimem prompts the Doctor, somewhat shaken by the situation, to take the matter to hand. They are then confronted by a villain so strange and unusual that they are overcome by fits of laughter.
A Gallifreyan rodent, transformed by radiation, has become mutated in a hyper intelligent being... and he's angry. Furious at his lot in life he demands justice. All of this is too much for the Doctor who, even though he recognizes the implications, cannot get over being ranted to by a mouse. In the end, the solution is a simple one, but the Doctor still dislikes Erimem's cat.
Like Last of the Titans and The Ratings War, There's No Place Like Home is a quick adventure filling up the time between Fifth Doctor audio stories. I quite like it and it has elements that remind me of the comic strip, such as Shayde and the weirdly villainous Rovie.
Read other Big Finish reviews at the Daily P.O.P.
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