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The Companion Chronicles #8.12
Doctor Who: Second Chances
From time to time, everybody makes mistakes. Everybody has things from their past they'd like to undo, but nobody gets a second chance. What's done is done and we can't change that.
Zoe's mistakes have led her to imprisonment at the hands of the Company. But when news reports trigger memories of the Doctor, Jamie and an appalling threat, she begins to sense a way out. An opportunity for redemption opens up to anyone willing to take it.
Nobody can alter what's been done. Nobody gets a second chance.
Or do they?
Zoe's mistakes have led her to imprisonment at the hands of the Company. But when news reports trigger memories of the Doctor, Jamie and an appalling threat, she begins to sense a way out. An opportunity for redemption opens up to anyone willing to take it.
Nobody can alter what's been done. Nobody gets a second chance.
Or do they?
- GenresDoctor WhoAudiobook
Audio CD
First published June 1, 2014
62 people want to read
About the author
John Dorney
172 books26 followersJohn Dorney is a British writer and actor best known for stage roles including the National Theatre, the BBC Radio 4 sitcom My First Planet; and his scripts for the Big Finish Doctor Who range. His script 'Solitaire' was rated the most popular Doctor Who Companion Chronicle of 2010 on the Timescales website and was the runner up in Unreality Sci-fi net's poll for Story of the Year 2010-11.
As well as Doctor Who, he has written for Big Finish's Sapphire and Steel series and on radio co-wrote three series of BBC Radio 4's Recorded for Training Purposes. He won the BBC Show Me the Funny 'Sketch Factor' competition, was a finalist in the BBC 'Laughing Stock' competition, and has performed in Mark Watson's Edinburgh Comedy Award winning long shows as 'The Balladeer'. On stage, he has written plays for the Royal Court Theatre, Hampstead and Soho Theatres.
He trained at LAMDA.
As well as Doctor Who, he has written for Big Finish's Sapphire and Steel series and on radio co-wrote three series of BBC Radio 4's Recorded for Training Purposes. He won the BBC Show Me the Funny 'Sketch Factor' competition, was a finalist in the BBC 'Laughing Stock' competition, and has performed in Mark Watson's Edinburgh Comedy Award winning long shows as 'The Balladeer'. On stage, he has written plays for the Royal Court Theatre, Hampstead and Soho Theatres.
He trained at LAMDA.
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
July 17, 2014
A fitting conclusion to the Zoe stories in the Companion Chronicles, with a bit of timey wimey thrown in.
August 25, 2018
Big Finish's Companion Chronicles audio Doctor Who Second Chances is the final volume in the Zoë series, which is now four titles total. The audio picks-up where the previous one left off, with Zoë in the clutches of The Company who want information from her - information on the Doctor, on Time Travel, and even on the Achromatics from Echoes of Grey. But whereas before Zoë had been reluctant to say anything, her interrogator, Kym, gets her talking pretty quickly.
Zoë tells Kym that the TARDIS landed on a space station. She the Doctor, and Jaime learned quickly that the station was one of a pair, and the sister-station, Apollo, had just broken up. But before the break-up, Artemis Station received a coded message. Zoë offers to decode the message. As she works, she realizes the full horror of the message - it's a computer virus that can jump species and infect humans as well, through sync operators that plug physically into computers. She tries to block and contain the virus but is knocked out.
Back at the company's stronghold, Kym returns and tells Zoë that the Apollo Station has been destroyed, but since she said Artemis Station was destroyed two days later, they can reach the station and stop the destruction. Zoë agrees. But when she gets to the station, she slowly realizes the truth. It was Kym who knocked her out in the station - allowing the virus to get loose. And it was the older Zoë herself who gave the injured younger Zoë a breather, stating it's "standard issue". It's even Kym and Zoë who are locked in the shuttle that refuses to let anyone from the station on board - and then rips the station apart when leaving. But Zoë is able to send the virus to The Company's computers - to utterly destroy the company, and then burn itself out before it does any more damage. Younger Zoë is rescued in space by the Doctor. Older Zoë is rescued by Jen, a former Company employee and the pilot of Kym's shuttle, who tells Zoë she will use leftover Company technology to help her remember - no strings attached.
I enjoyed this story. It was good to have the Zoë Trilogy (Quadology?) finally wrapped up and with a satisfactory conclusion. I did find the story to be a bit predictable though. Still, the performances are excellent, and I liked the story. It is highly recommended. Do listen to the first three volumes first, however.
Zoë tells Kym that the TARDIS landed on a space station. She the Doctor, and Jaime learned quickly that the station was one of a pair, and the sister-station, Apollo, had just broken up. But before the break-up, Artemis Station received a coded message. Zoë offers to decode the message. As she works, she realizes the full horror of the message - it's a computer virus that can jump species and infect humans as well, through sync operators that plug physically into computers. She tries to block and contain the virus but is knocked out.
Back at the company's stronghold, Kym returns and tells Zoë that the Apollo Station has been destroyed, but since she said Artemis Station was destroyed two days later, they can reach the station and stop the destruction. Zoë agrees. But when she gets to the station, she slowly realizes the truth. It was Kym who knocked her out in the station - allowing the virus to get loose. And it was the older Zoë herself who gave the injured younger Zoë a breather, stating it's "standard issue". It's even Kym and Zoë who are locked in the shuttle that refuses to let anyone from the station on board - and then rips the station apart when leaving. But Zoë is able to send the virus to The Company's computers - to utterly destroy the company, and then burn itself out before it does any more damage. Younger Zoë is rescued in space by the Doctor. Older Zoë is rescued by Jen, a former Company employee and the pilot of Kym's shuttle, who tells Zoë she will use leftover Company technology to help her remember - no strings attached.
I enjoyed this story. It was good to have the Zoë Trilogy (Quadology?) finally wrapped up and with a satisfactory conclusion. I did find the story to be a bit predictable though. Still, the performances are excellent, and I liked the story. It is highly recommended. Do listen to the first three volumes first, however.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 2, 2018
A Second Doctor story told from the perspective of Zoe, this was the last in the original monthly run of Companion Chronicles.
The problem with Zoe as narrator, of course, is that she had all her memories of her travels with the Doctor erased in the TV episode The War Games. Over the course of her audio tales, therefore, we have had a long-running frame story in which the sinister "Company" tries to recover those memories in the hope of (among other things) learning the secrets of time travel. That began with the second Chronicle, back in 2007, and finally concludes here.
The first half follows the standard format, with an interrogator once again trying to recover those memories, this time revealing a story of the TARDIS's arrival on a doomed space station in (from Zoe's perspective) the near future. This is itself a decent tale, with some interesting plot devices used along the way, such as the interrogator skipping questions about the "boring bits" to jump the narrative forward, and, at one point, switching to the narrator role herself as her memory recovery device retrieves an event from her own past.
The real strength, however, is in the second half, once it transpires that so much time has passed since Zoe left the Doctor that that "near future" is now the present, and both she and the interrogator head to the space station to try and change the course of events. This creates a strong time travel story, with past and present colliding, and the usual frame story now becoming the central narrative. Much that happens in the first half now becomes directly relevant as we head for a dramatic and emotional ending that wraps everything up.
While this particular plot arc comprises only five of the eighty CC releases in the initial run, this feels like a fitting conclusion to the entire line, a suitable "season finale", if you will. Not only is Zoe herself a key and proactive player in the events - the Doctor is almost sidelined - but I'll note that Padbury is particularly good at doing the voices of the other characters (often a weakness in the Chronicles).
And, oh, yeah... I loved her delivery of the very final line.
The problem with Zoe as narrator, of course, is that she had all her memories of her travels with the Doctor erased in the TV episode The War Games. Over the course of her audio tales, therefore, we have had a long-running frame story in which the sinister "Company" tries to recover those memories in the hope of (among other things) learning the secrets of time travel. That began with the second Chronicle, back in 2007, and finally concludes here.
The first half follows the standard format, with an interrogator once again trying to recover those memories, this time revealing a story of the TARDIS's arrival on a doomed space station in (from Zoe's perspective) the near future. This is itself a decent tale, with some interesting plot devices used along the way, such as the interrogator skipping questions about the "boring bits" to jump the narrative forward, and, at one point, switching to the narrator role herself as her memory recovery device retrieves an event from her own past.
The real strength, however, is in the second half, once it transpires that so much time has passed since Zoe left the Doctor that that "near future" is now the present, and both she and the interrogator head to the space station to try and change the course of events. This creates a strong time travel story, with past and present colliding, and the usual frame story now becoming the central narrative. Much that happens in the first half now becomes directly relevant as we head for a dramatic and emotional ending that wraps everything up.
While this particular plot arc comprises only five of the eighty CC releases in the initial run, this feels like a fitting conclusion to the entire line, a suitable "season finale", if you will. Not only is Zoe herself a key and proactive player in the events - the Doctor is almost sidelined - but I'll note that Padbury is particularly good at doing the voices of the other characters (often a weakness in the Chronicles).
And, oh, yeah... I loved her delivery of the very final line.
May 10, 2022
So now we've come to the end of these adventures with Zoe and her memories. It's been a great time, some really fun, atmospheric, wonderful character pieces that Simon Gurrier and John Dorney have brilliantly brought to life, and the wonderful Wendy Padbury and her supporting stars have done an amazing job.
Second Chances is no different, it's a bleak epic finale to this arc of stories. A story about loss, a story about grief, and a story about second chances. John Dorney has written an incredibly moving tale that ties everything up beautifully whilst telling a wonderful space disaster story one that Zoe feels nothing but guilt the way that events occurred in this tale.
This story has by far Wendy Padbury's best performance as Zoe Heriot, bringing to life a wonderful script with raw, heartbreaking emotion whilst brilliantly narrating this story. I have to praise Emily Pithon as Kym as well, it's a shame in a way we won't get more stories with these two because they work brilliantly together.
Overall: Second Chances is by far an amazing way to close off the singular releases of the companion chronicles, feeling like a great closing-off point that is by far one of the best scripts John Dorney has ever written! 10/10
Second Chances is no different, it's a bleak epic finale to this arc of stories. A story about loss, a story about grief, and a story about second chances. John Dorney has written an incredibly moving tale that ties everything up beautifully whilst telling a wonderful space disaster story one that Zoe feels nothing but guilt the way that events occurred in this tale.
This story has by far Wendy Padbury's best performance as Zoe Heriot, bringing to life a wonderful script with raw, heartbreaking emotion whilst brilliantly narrating this story. I have to praise Emily Pithon as Kym as well, it's a shame in a way we won't get more stories with these two because they work brilliantly together.
Overall: Second Chances is by far an amazing way to close off the singular releases of the companion chronicles, feeling like a great closing-off point that is by far one of the best scripts John Dorney has ever written! 10/10
December 7, 2023
WHAT DO YOU MEAN THIS IS HOW IT ENDS? Oh god poor Zoe. She deserved so much better but at least she destroyed the evil company that ruined her life.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 18, 2024
Bloody brilliant finale.
December 7, 2024
Nice to have Zoe remember.
December 10, 2025
This feels underwhelming. Wendy is great here but I feel the story is lacking that feeling of desperation that I think would have helped push this over the top.
"computer virus"
"computer virus"
January 30, 2017
Zoe tries to stop a tradegy from happening.
December 15, 2014
I have to say this was by far the best of the Zoe companion chronicles. Rather than older Zoe remembering a forgotten adventure there were all sorts of layers and traveling going on with this one. Zoe was particularly strong in this one using all her computer skills to try and save people. It was a story where she didn't rely on the Doctor but did everything herself. While it carried over from her previous companion chronicles you didn't need to remember them very clearly to enjoy this one (at least I didn't). A good ending, albeit a sad one, to Zoe's stories.
May 7, 2015
Was possibly hoping for more from the end of this story arc but was still really good.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews