Start to Finish: 5.05 - A Town Called Fortune

Image (c) Big Finish Productions Ltd

Dr Evelyn Smythe is another companion introduced for the audio plays. A prickly, abrasive, opinionated history lecturer, she was written from the first to be the Sixth Doctor's foil, to match him in stubbornness and be instrumental in mellowing him from the erratic writing of his TV appearances to the characterisation that the plays were settling on. She is probably the oldest companion ever, and is mostly pretty good, even if she is occasionally thrown a ludicrous bad-history argument* to carry. Fortunately, there is no sign of that in Paul Sutton's A Town Called Fortune.

In this story, the Doctor and Evelyn land on a train in the wild west, only to discover that the Doctor is wanted for a years-old murder. Revenge, corruption and secrets; there's gold in them thar hills and evil in the hearts of men.

The framing narrative in this case is part of the main story, as Evelyn recounts her view of events to the Sheriff of Fortune (Richard Cordery, with a passable accent) immediately after the fact, and in doing so provides the cap on the main story. Stables carries the narration well, and provides a good range of voices for her supporting cast.

The story is another pure historical, something that the Sixth Doctor never got on television. Even the TARDIS is whisked away along the line for the majority of the play. The recreation of the old west may not be accurate, but it is certainly evocative with its saloons, bar brawls and squalid mine camps; slick gamblers, weary lawmen and honest barmaids. The worst to be said, as is a risk with historicals, is that it's not really anything that hasn't been done before, but it has some good characterisation and moments.

Next up, we go back beyond the beginning, with a pre-series adventure for the First Doctor and Susan on Quinnis.

* For instance, claiming that if Julius Caesar had been born a woman, the cause of equality would have been advanced a thousand years, rather than Caesar simply occupying a woman's role in Roman society.