Audio Catchup: Doctor Who: The Curse of Davros

written by Jonathan Morris
directed by Nicholas Briggs
released January 2012

starring
Colin Baker as the Doctor
Lisa Greenwood as Flip Jackson
Terry Molloy as Davros

Doctor Who #156: The Curse of Davros

Jonathan Morris’s Doctor Who audio The Curse of Davros introduces a new companion, but an old character, bringing back Lisa Greenwood as Flip Jackson, who previously appeared in the overcrowded The Crimes of Thomas Brewster. I actually heard the announcement that Flip would be returning before I heard Crimes, and on finally listening to the story, I was baffled; I don’t think I’d’ve noticed her at all if it hadn’t been for that announcement. But here she is back (alongside her boyfriend Jared) when an escape pod carrying the Doctor crashes in London, and she’s the only one who notices.

What follows is a story that’s hard to discuss, because it has a central premise that would be partially ruined by giving it away. I managed to intuit it even by reading a non-spoiler discussion, so I’ll try to be super-vague. In general terms, however, the Doctor is on the run from the Daleks in 2012, trying to get back to 1815, where Davros is allying with Napoleon to change the course of the Battle of Waterloo. The Doctor, Flip, and Jared must dodge the Daleks, the police, the French, and the Duke of Wellington if they want to keep history on course. It feels a little bit too small scale for Davros and the Daleks, coming off a lot like the Master’s plan in The King’s Demons.

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