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Big Finish: Monthly Range #105
Doctor Who: The Condemned
"Dr John Smith – you’re under arrest. You do not have to say anything, but it may harm your defence if you do not mention when questioned something which you later rely on in court..."
Manchester, 2008. The TARDIS lands inside a run-down tower block, beside a dead body – which leads to some awkward questions when the Doctor is found there by the police. Made the prime suspect, how can the Doctor prove to the no-nonsense DI Patricia Menzies that this is not the open-and-shut case it seems, and that she’s actually investigating the death of an alien?
Higher up in Ackley House, a girl named Maxine watches the Doctor being taken away in a squad car. Someone wants her to find out what happened in that room, and isn’t going to be happy if she doesn’t come up with the goods. But she’s got hold of someone who knows – someone very important to the Doctor.
A deadly conspiracy is at work – one whose effects will be felt far beyond the walls of Ackley House…
Manchester, 2008. The TARDIS lands inside a run-down tower block, beside a dead body – which leads to some awkward questions when the Doctor is found there by the police. Made the prime suspect, how can the Doctor prove to the no-nonsense DI Patricia Menzies that this is not the open-and-shut case it seems, and that she’s actually investigating the death of an alien?
Higher up in Ackley House, a girl named Maxine watches the Doctor being taken away in a squad car. Someone wants her to find out what happened in that room, and isn’t going to be happy if she doesn’t come up with the goods. But she’s got hold of someone who knows – someone very important to the Doctor.
A deadly conspiracy is at work – one whose effects will be felt far beyond the walls of Ackley House…
Audio CD
First published February 1, 2008
1 person is currently reading
82 people want to read
About the author
Eddie Robson
158 books111 followersEddie Robson is a comedy and science fiction writer best known for his sitcom Welcome To Our Village, Please Invade Carefully and his work on a variety of spin-offs from the BBC Television series Doctor Who. He has written books, comics and short stories, and has worked as a freelance journalist for various science fiction magazines. He is married to a female academic and lives in Lancaster.
Robson's comedy writing career began in 2008 with material for Look Away Now. Since then his work has featured on That Mitchell and Webb Sound, Tilt, Play and Record, Newsjack, Recorded For Training Purposes and The Headset Set. The pilot episode of his sitcom Welcome To Our Village, Please Invade Carefully was broadcast on BBC Radio 2 on 5th July 2012. It starred Katherine Parkinson and Julian Rhind-Tutt.
His Doctor Who work includes the BBC 7 radio plays Phobos, Human Resources and Grand Theft Cosmos, the CD releases Memory Lane, The Condemned, The Raincloud Man and The Eight Truths, and several short stories for Big Finish's Doctor Who anthologies, Short Trips. He has contributed comic strips to Doctor Who Adventures.
Between 2007 and 2009, Robson was the producer of Big Finish's Bernice Summerfield range of products, and has contributed four audio plays to the series. He has also written books on film noir and the Coen Brothers for Virgin Publishing, the Doctor Who episode guide Who's Next with co-authors Mark Clapham and Jim Smith, and an illustrated adaptation of Bram Stoker's Dracula.
Robson's comedy writing career began in 2008 with material for Look Away Now. Since then his work has featured on That Mitchell and Webb Sound, Tilt, Play and Record, Newsjack, Recorded For Training Purposes and The Headset Set. The pilot episode of his sitcom Welcome To Our Village, Please Invade Carefully was broadcast on BBC Radio 2 on 5th July 2012. It starred Katherine Parkinson and Julian Rhind-Tutt.
His Doctor Who work includes the BBC 7 radio plays Phobos, Human Resources and Grand Theft Cosmos, the CD releases Memory Lane, The Condemned, The Raincloud Man and The Eight Truths, and several short stories for Big Finish's Doctor Who anthologies, Short Trips. He has contributed comic strips to Doctor Who Adventures.
Between 2007 and 2009, Robson was the producer of Big Finish's Bernice Summerfield range of products, and has contributed four audio plays to the series. He has also written books on film noir and the Coen Brothers for Virgin Publishing, the Doctor Who episode guide Who's Next with co-authors Mark Clapham and Jim Smith, and an illustrated adaptation of Bram Stoker's Dracula.
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Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews
November 10, 2022
Enjoyable, but fairly run of the mill. It's not the first time I've noticed but Colin Baker's voice has a very Attenborough quality to it in some of these audio dramas. Six unexpectedly bumps into Charly (Eight's companion) which was a surprising scenario and added quite a bit of intrigue to the plot. Charly plays detective very well (as usual) and it was fun to have this type of interaction with Six instead of Eight.
March 25, 2025
2024 52 Book Challenge - April Mini Challenge - 2) Never Gonna Let You Down
I've never been a massive fan of the Sixth Doctor, and I only listened to this audiobook because I wanted to know what happened with Charley after the events of the Eighth Doctor's audio, "The Girl Who Never Was" and ohhhh, I have to eat my words about the Sixth Doctor, because he was really good in this audio.
Plot wise, it's nothing new, in fact, I'd say that it's a fairly standard Doctor Who novel, but I liked the interaction between the detective and the Doctor, I thought they were pretty funny together. I also really liked that it was set outside of London. I mean, it doesn't really make any difference with audio dramas like this because you can't see where they are, but I did really like the feel that being in Manchester, or even somewhere up north (Midlands girl here, so anything higher than Birmingham is considered North) gave the episode.
Character wise, I do feel like Charley fell flat in this. The audio picks up the cliffhanger that the previous story ended on, and I was really excited to read this book, and then the Doctor and Charley are split up almost immediately and don't reunite until about 80% through the book, so the whole thing just feels pointless because it wasn't progressing any of the overarching plots (I presume that this will change as I listen to later audios and I can see where the future plots are moving in this audio).
I've never been a massive fan of the Sixth Doctor, and I only listened to this audiobook because I wanted to know what happened with Charley after the events of the Eighth Doctor's audio, "The Girl Who Never Was" and ohhhh, I have to eat my words about the Sixth Doctor, because he was really good in this audio.
Plot wise, it's nothing new, in fact, I'd say that it's a fairly standard Doctor Who novel, but I liked the interaction between the detective and the Doctor, I thought they were pretty funny together. I also really liked that it was set outside of London. I mean, it doesn't really make any difference with audio dramas like this because you can't see where they are, but I did really like the feel that being in Manchester, or even somewhere up north (Midlands girl here, so anything higher than Birmingham is considered North) gave the episode.
Character wise, I do feel like Charley fell flat in this. The audio picks up the cliffhanger that the previous story ended on, and I was really excited to read this book, and then the Doctor and Charley are split up almost immediately and don't reunite until about 80% through the book, so the whole thing just feels pointless because it wasn't progressing any of the overarching plots (I presume that this will change as I listen to later audios and I can see where the future plots are moving in this audio).
October 22, 2008
Believing the Doctor has died, Charlie is relieved when the TARDIS shows up. She runs inside, only to find the sixth Doctor inside. Unsure of how much of who she is she should reveal and its potential impact on the Doctor's timeline, the two begin an uneasy new friendship.
This leads to the TARDIS materializing inside an apartment with a dead body outside. The Doctor rushes to investigate and before long, he's suspected of the crime and Charlie is being held prisoner for some reason.
As far as "Who" stories go, this one is fairly standard--Doctor and companion show up at the scene of a crime, are cast as suspects and spend the rest of the story figuring out what's really going on. Not bad, really, but a bit familiar.
It doesn't help that Charlie and the sixth Doctor's initial dance about how much Charlie is willing to reveal of who she is and that tension is quickly put on the backburner as the two characters are separated. While I don't want to see a whole story of the two sitting around debating the situation, the mistrust between them could have made for better charater dynamics and more interesting drama. Instead, we have the Doctor as an alien expert and Charlie in the role of typical companion--being locked up and separated from the Doctor for long periods of time.
As always, Colin Baker does superb work as the sixth Doctor, showing just how criminally mishandled his Doctor was on television.
This leads to the TARDIS materializing inside an apartment with a dead body outside. The Doctor rushes to investigate and before long, he's suspected of the crime and Charlie is being held prisoner for some reason.
As far as "Who" stories go, this one is fairly standard--Doctor and companion show up at the scene of a crime, are cast as suspects and spend the rest of the story figuring out what's really going on. Not bad, really, but a bit familiar.
It doesn't help that Charlie and the sixth Doctor's initial dance about how much Charlie is willing to reveal of who she is and that tension is quickly put on the backburner as the two characters are separated. While I don't want to see a whole story of the two sitting around debating the situation, the mistrust between them could have made for better charater dynamics and more interesting drama. Instead, we have the Doctor as an alien expert and Charlie in the role of typical companion--being locked up and separated from the Doctor for long periods of time.
As always, Colin Baker does superb work as the sixth Doctor, showing just how criminally mishandled his Doctor was on television.
June 27, 2017
The standard saying about the 6th Doctor that "he's a lot better in the audios" has rarely been more true than here. The basic story is a locked-room murder mystery, with the Doctor himself initially being accused of the killing... something that always feels more of a threat in a modern setting than some futuristic SF one. (It helps that the reasons for this accusation are actually pretty sound, given the evidence available).
The 6th Doc is well written here, his arrogance recognisable, yet muted by his circumstances. In particular, this is achieved by pairing him with a no-nonsense female cop, who clearly has the upper hand for much of the story. For all that the story has shape-changing aliens in it, it's also very down-to-earth, making it feel unusually real and believable. As, oddly, does the fact that we're in Manchester for a change, instead of London.
Of course, there is also the companion. She's kept separate from the Doctor for much of the story, although the initial scenes before they part are actually quite funny as she lies through her teeth about her background (for reasons the listener knows, but the Doctor doesn't). She has rather more to do than one might expect, given how long she's kept prisoner by the bad guys. There are also some great character moments that make more use of her background than usual - most notably trying to get to grips with the concept of an Indian takeaway.
In a sense, there's a feeling of Clara here (although six years too early for it to be a homage), with the Doctor apparently taking her along largely so that he can solve her mystery. Unlike Clara, of course, we start off knowing what the answer is, so it doesn't end up consuming things, and it already looks a promising partnership.
If there's a downside, it's that each episode of the play uses the "reprise" concept of the TV series, something that had been abandoned in recent releases. This is a bit irritating. We're not listening to these episodes a week apart, we're listening to them back-to-back, so don't pretend that we aren't: it's just annoying. (Except, of course, for the unusual addition of a reprise at the beginning of episode #1, which is justified and appreciated for exactly the same reason that the others aren't).
The 6th Doc is well written here, his arrogance recognisable, yet muted by his circumstances. In particular, this is achieved by pairing him with a no-nonsense female cop, who clearly has the upper hand for much of the story. For all that the story has shape-changing aliens in it, it's also very down-to-earth, making it feel unusually real and believable. As, oddly, does the fact that we're in Manchester for a change, instead of London.
Of course, there is also the companion. She's kept separate from the Doctor for much of the story, although the initial scenes before they part are actually quite funny as she lies through her teeth about her background (for reasons the listener knows, but the Doctor doesn't). She has rather more to do than one might expect, given how long she's kept prisoner by the bad guys. There are also some great character moments that make more use of her background than usual - most notably trying to get to grips with the concept of an Indian takeaway.
In a sense, there's a feeling of Clara here (although six years too early for it to be a homage), with the Doctor apparently taking her along largely so that he can solve her mystery. Unlike Clara, of course, we start off knowing what the answer is, so it doesn't end up consuming things, and it already looks a promising partnership.
If there's a downside, it's that each episode of the play uses the "reprise" concept of the TV series, something that had been abandoned in recent releases. This is a bit irritating. We're not listening to these episodes a week apart, we're listening to them back-to-back, so don't pretend that we aren't: it's just annoying. (Except, of course, for the unusual addition of a reprise at the beginning of episode #1, which is justified and appreciated for exactly the same reason that the others aren't).
August 31, 2025
Following the decision to retire the Eighth Doctor from the main range, BF realised India Fisher's Charlotte Pollard was too brilliant of a character to let go. Thus, she was separated from the Eighth Doctor in "The Girl Who Never Was" and moved over to the Sixth Doctor's run of stories here.
As the audience, we're in rather quite a fun position with this story, so far as the companion is more of the protagonist and the Doctor is more of the deuteragonist, thanks to the dramatic irony of us and Charley knowing more than the Doctor does about her true identity.
Additionally, this story introduces us to semi-recurring BF character, DI Patricia Menzies. Since I had already listened to the Thomas Brewster saga before this, it's fun to know that throughout this whole story the Doctor is pretending not to know who she is -- Honestly, I have to say, Colin Baker and Anna Hope have some really funny moments together in Part One, including:
1) "You're under arrest." "Ty-pi-cal."
2) "And the woman?" "Charlotte Smith..." "Related are you?" "(John Smith) ...Oh, uh, no. We only just met."
I'm paraphrasing, but those moments were still funny and the actors had great chemistry here, just as they did/will do in "The Crimes of Thomas Brewster."
The Doctor also gets arrested for murder in one of the cliff-hangers, which is unironically funny for no reason at all other than it just is.
So yeah, overall, this is a pretty fun crime mystery story set on present day Earth which bridges Charley's adventures from her first Doctor to her second.
As the audience, we're in rather quite a fun position with this story, so far as the companion is more of the protagonist and the Doctor is more of the deuteragonist, thanks to the dramatic irony of us and Charley knowing more than the Doctor does about her true identity.
Additionally, this story introduces us to semi-recurring BF character, DI Patricia Menzies. Since I had already listened to the Thomas Brewster saga before this, it's fun to know that throughout this whole story the Doctor is pretending not to know who she is -- Honestly, I have to say, Colin Baker and Anna Hope have some really funny moments together in Part One, including:
1) "You're under arrest." "Ty-pi-cal."
2) "And the woman?" "Charlotte Smith..." "Related are you?" "(John Smith) ...Oh, uh, no. We only just met."
I'm paraphrasing, but those moments were still funny and the actors had great chemistry here, just as they did/will do in "The Crimes of Thomas Brewster."
The Doctor also gets arrested for murder in one of the cliff-hangers, which is unironically funny for no reason at all other than it just is.
So yeah, overall, this is a pretty fun crime mystery story set on present day Earth which bridges Charley's adventures from her first Doctor to her second.
July 2, 2023
We’re one story in but the character dynamics between Charley and Six are looking like they’re gonna be totally crazy. Really excited to see how this unfolds.
Generally I thought this story was fun and I absolutely loved all the elements of Sam and the phone pre reveal. We’ve certainly seen one major element this story relies on before in a certain Shearman classic, but I really enjoyed how they played with the concept here.
I wish the whodunnit part of this story was better, and I don’t love DI Mendez as much as others seem to. That said, generally this thing holds its ground and stays entertaining. It was an interesting choice to split Six and Charley on their first adventure, but I was into it.
Eddie Robson has a certain panache when it comes to defining a setting. I’m never disappointed by his sets!
Generally I thought this story was fun and I absolutely loved all the elements of Sam and the phone pre reveal. We’ve certainly seen one major element this story relies on before in a certain Shearman classic, but I really enjoyed how they played with the concept here.
I wish the whodunnit part of this story was better, and I don’t love DI Mendez as much as others seem to. That said, generally this thing holds its ground and stays entertaining. It was an interesting choice to split Six and Charley on their first adventure, but I was into it.
Eddie Robson has a certain panache when it comes to defining a setting. I’m never disappointed by his sets!
November 5, 2024
Rewarding Premise for long time listeners and interesting play with genre. Robson keeps the soul of the best Doctor Who playground games, while the work is mature and restrained, it delights in getting to be Doctor Who and putting it's characters in situations. Seems basic, but is absent in a lot of franchise and genre media. Still, that contentedness which brings Robson's work to four stars, stops the work from being five stars. It is confident and thriving Doctor Who, with no wish to change lives.
Unfortunately, I don't know if I'll be able to justify returning to it often, with the rest of the adventure's this one spends so much time setting up being so low in quality.
Unfortunately, I don't know if I'll be able to justify returning to it often, with the rest of the adventure's this one spends so much time setting up being so low in quality.
July 25, 2019
Eddie Robson delivers yet another astonishing and amazing story. So much fun with the plot. Unfortunately, the return of Charlie to our audio ears falls flat, as she isn't given much to do. At least yet. But it's early. For our full review, visit http://travelingthevortex.com/?p=8797
September 14, 2021
This was a delicious first adventure with Charley Pollard and the Sixth Doctor together. I like how they try solving the mystery together, and the way she tries dancing around knowing more around him than she lets on.
June 22, 2018
Fun adventure. Interesting mix of crime drama and Men in Black .
The 6th Doctor and Charley work great together.
Recommended.
The 6th Doctor and Charley work great together.
Recommended.
November 8, 2024
Enjoyable enough, but it felt like a bit of a trick to get her back in the story
July 7, 2025
not outstanding, if not for Charlie getting a new Doctor to travel with
October 8, 2025
omg so happy to have Charlie back- oh, she got kidnapped, ah. so nothings changed huh.
December 12, 2025
4.5 Stars - this is a great introductory story for 6 and Charlie. They are not together much but the story keeps me very interested just about the whole time.
June 14, 2010
Originally posted here at Anime Radius.
Charley Pollard, self-proclaimed Edwardian adventuress, is back and with the Doctor – except the Doctor is two regenerations too early to meet her. This wibbley-wobbley timey-wimey scenario kicks off a murder mystery of spooky proportions in The Condemned, the first in a series of audio plays concerning Charley and Six. For people expecting them to get on like white on rice . . . consider your hopes dashed. The Doctor is extremely suspicious of “Charlotte Smith” and suspects the girl is lying about a lot, which only raises his interests in the girl. As for Charley, it’s looking like the Doctor is her only way home, even if it’s the wrong one, and she’s doing everything she can to make sure she doesn’t screw up her past and his future – although, to be honest, Charley is a terrible liar, probably because she finds it hard to outright tell falsehoods to the man that will become her own respective Doctor.
Entering the scene for the first (but not last) time is DI Menzies, no-nonsense policewoman who, as the Doctor finds out the hard way, is hard to shake in the face of alien technology – although to be fair, her reaction at seeing the murder victim’s “transformation” is fair enough for just about anybody who isn’t the Doctor. She acts as the perfect foil against the Sixth Doctor – who is in excellent form in this audio. Seriously, Colin Baker should have gotten a pay raise after his performance in this. Meeting Charley for the first time, finding the dead body as well as the abandoned kitty in the room, the interrogation scene with Menzies and later showing her how he landed in the locked room to begin with, not to mention his short stint as a red-skinned alien risen from the dead, the Doctor is pretty much the most quotable and most fun character to listen to in the entire audio.
The story itself, once it gets going, really gets full marks for being creepy and haunting. Charley, separated from the Doctor, takes it upon herself in natural companion fashion to explore what is going on in Ackley House, guided by a chap named Ben who contacts her through the phone. It soon becomes clear that the inhabitants of Ackley House are off their rockers and that it’s all connected to the dead alien in the locked room. India Fisher does a wonderful job at playing out Charley’s reactions to the things she finds in the House, especially in the basement scene.
A combination of top voice acting skills and a subtle yet effective soundtrack optimizes every ominous scene to the maximum; this is certainly an audio worth listening to in the dark, when every gasp and bump is another chill across the viewer’s heart. It’s a shame, however, that these wonderfully creepy scenes require on occasion a scene in which characters are forced to explain to others what exactly is going on so the story can move forward on all fronts; once the Doctor and Charley meet up again, these scenes pretty much peter out into nothing. Putting these minor flaws aside, The Condemned is a great intro into a series of audios about Charley and an earlier Doctor, filled with both humor and suspense and some wonderful original characters like the pragmatically candid DI Menzies and the mysterious Sam. It will certainly have listeners looking forward to seeing how the Doctor will unravel the mystery of the girl who calls herself Charlotte Smith.
Charley Pollard, self-proclaimed Edwardian adventuress, is back and with the Doctor – except the Doctor is two regenerations too early to meet her. This wibbley-wobbley timey-wimey scenario kicks off a murder mystery of spooky proportions in The Condemned, the first in a series of audio plays concerning Charley and Six. For people expecting them to get on like white on rice . . . consider your hopes dashed. The Doctor is extremely suspicious of “Charlotte Smith” and suspects the girl is lying about a lot, which only raises his interests in the girl. As for Charley, it’s looking like the Doctor is her only way home, even if it’s the wrong one, and she’s doing everything she can to make sure she doesn’t screw up her past and his future – although, to be honest, Charley is a terrible liar, probably because she finds it hard to outright tell falsehoods to the man that will become her own respective Doctor.
Entering the scene for the first (but not last) time is DI Menzies, no-nonsense policewoman who, as the Doctor finds out the hard way, is hard to shake in the face of alien technology – although to be fair, her reaction at seeing the murder victim’s “transformation” is fair enough for just about anybody who isn’t the Doctor. She acts as the perfect foil against the Sixth Doctor – who is in excellent form in this audio. Seriously, Colin Baker should have gotten a pay raise after his performance in this. Meeting Charley for the first time, finding the dead body as well as the abandoned kitty in the room, the interrogation scene with Menzies and later showing her how he landed in the locked room to begin with, not to mention his short stint as a red-skinned alien risen from the dead, the Doctor is pretty much the most quotable and most fun character to listen to in the entire audio.
The story itself, once it gets going, really gets full marks for being creepy and haunting. Charley, separated from the Doctor, takes it upon herself in natural companion fashion to explore what is going on in Ackley House, guided by a chap named Ben who contacts her through the phone. It soon becomes clear that the inhabitants of Ackley House are off their rockers and that it’s all connected to the dead alien in the locked room. India Fisher does a wonderful job at playing out Charley’s reactions to the things she finds in the House, especially in the basement scene.
A combination of top voice acting skills and a subtle yet effective soundtrack optimizes every ominous scene to the maximum; this is certainly an audio worth listening to in the dark, when every gasp and bump is another chill across the viewer’s heart. It’s a shame, however, that these wonderfully creepy scenes require on occasion a scene in which characters are forced to explain to others what exactly is going on so the story can move forward on all fronts; once the Doctor and Charley meet up again, these scenes pretty much peter out into nothing. Putting these minor flaws aside, The Condemned is a great intro into a series of audios about Charley and an earlier Doctor, filled with both humor and suspense and some wonderful original characters like the pragmatically candid DI Menzies and the mysterious Sam. It will certainly have listeners looking forward to seeing how the Doctor will unravel the mystery of the girl who calls herself Charlotte Smith.
December 18, 2013
This really is an excellent audio. There's a LOT of humour as Charlie tries to pretend that she's never met the doctor or travelled in time. He is naturally a little suspicious of her but it's great to see Colin on edge. I also loved all the Charley in the 21st century humour. The "what's a balti?" part was particularly good. This was also a very spooky episode. Phones with voices from nowhere. There was social commentary about housing estates in Manchester. Women police detectives who were hard and brilliant and took everything in their stride. It was a mix that worked really well. Definitely one I'd recommend.
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April 8, 2009Charley Pollard returns to the Tardis in The Condemned, but with the Sixth Doctor rather than the Eighth. They end up in contemporary Manchester, tangling with Anna Hope's D.I. Patricia Menzies who discovers that her beat appears to be a combination of Torchwood and Men in Black. She is great, and the plot had some good chilly horror moments, but I felt the story was just a little contrived and depending on coincidences.
January 21, 2016
This takes over from The Girl That Never Was. Charley walks into the Tardis but discovers a different Doctor. A past self who doesn't know of her. He takes her to Earth where he gets charged with murder, and Charley gets kidnapped. It turns out a ghost is causing problems. Can the Doctor solve the mystery and will he figure out who charley is.
August 30, 2014
In Manchester, 2008, the Doctor and his new companion Charley become embroiled in a murder mystery at Ackley House.
May 28, 2015
Charley Pollard, long time Companion to the Eighth Doctor hears the TARDIS coming to respond to her distress signal after being stranded in the year 500,002 but it's not Eight in the TARDIS...
September 27, 2015
Law & Order: Special Alien Unit. Charley and Six make a neat pair in this false accusation/whodunnit story.
Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews