Doctor Who: The Boy That Time Forgot

Big Finish: Monthly Range #110

by Paul Magrs

A lost world. A prehistoric civilization. A dark secret.

The Doctor and Nyssa find themselves transported from Victorian London back to the dawn of time, accompanied by debonair adventurer Rupert Von Thal and no-nonsense novelist Beatrice Mapp. Together these unlikely heroes must brave primitive jungles and battle ravening insects as they make their way to the city of the giant scorpions, ruled over by... The Boy That Time Forgot.

Genres: Doctor Who, Science Fiction, Audiobook

Audio CD

First published July 1, 2008

Reviews

[Frank Davis · Rating 3 out of 5]

In this story, "everything is [the Doctor's] fault."

Part One is intriguing and seems to be setting up a great story. It ends with a big surprise reveal and the return of someone we've long forgotten about.

Part two takes that surprise and ruins it, giving our returned character a horrible, horrible role.

Part three tries to make up for it, but after part two, the way it does so is a bit predictable. I must admit that I still wasn't satisfied with the direction chosen.

Part four runs with the attempted recovery but, also predictably, fails to get far.

I think it's a shame the storyline drags an old friend through the mud because it could have been epic and this was one of the finest performances from Davison as Five in the Big Finish run so far.

[Michael · Rating 3 out of 5]

Following up on the events of "The Haunting of Thomas Brewster," Big Finish's "The Boy that Time Forgot" plays with expectations for an epsiode before dropping a big bomb.

Trapped in Victorian London, the Doctor holds a seance using block transfer computation in an attempt to find his TARDIS. The experiment goes wrong and a group of people end up transported back to prehistoric times where giant spiders and scorpions rule the Earth and not dinosuars. Clearly something has gone wrong with history and at the center of it is a person, waiting for the Doctor and Nyssa to arrive.

The assumption is that it's Brewster, who stole the TARDIS at the end of the last story. However, author Paul Magrs does something even bolder and more brash with who is behind history gone awry. The ruler of these people is none other than Adric, the companion who was killed during Davison's tenure as Doctor.

Once you get over the initial shock and deciding if you do or don't like the twist (I liked it), the story examines the consequences of being a companion to the Doctor, the Doctor's guilt over Adric's death and several other intersting themes. The story is decent enough, though I found myself not really as concerned with the political drama of the scorpions and spiders over which Adric rules and the plotline of Adric wanting vengeance on the Doctor and to marry Nyssa.

[Rick · Rating 2 out of 5]

Well, I’m both pleased that I predicted this and disappointed that this was handled as poorly as it was.

Episode 1 - Picks up a bit after the conclusion of the events seen in Doctor Who: The Haunting of Thomas Brewster. With the (Fifth) Doctor and Nyssa stranded in Victorian London, they go about trying to use Block Transfer Computation to return them to the TARDIS. The process transports them pack to a prehistoric period of earth’s history. And then it’s revealed that they were drawn to this period for a reason and by someone. Someone that both the Doctor and Nyssa know very well. Things are all pretty good up to this point. Even the big reveal that closes this episode (even if I predicted it, from the title and the Star on the cover it seems pretty obvious). All pretty good (4/5).

Episode 2 - What the hell!? I get that this character’s personality would deteriorate having been left alone for decades, but this is a one-dimensional farcical parody of the Doctor’s former companion. This is difficult to swallow (1/5).

Episode 3 - Clearly this is just a silly and trivialized sequel to the events of Doctor Who: Earthshock, as it just picks up the ripped and shredded threads of those events and attempts to reweave them into … something. Unfortunately the whole thing is nothing more than a mean-spirited parody. And the ending of THIS episode? Seriously?! (1/5).

Episode 4 - This is like all those terrible retroactive-continuity revisions that are so prevalent in comic book series. Tedious. Uninspired. And usually only make things worse than they were before. The story arc from the original Doctor Who series which inspired this story is a classic. This … poorly conceived epilogue only emasculates the power and pathos of that ending. There is an attempt at redemption, but it hardly makes up for the comical mishaps of the previous episodes (2/5).

I think this is the first Big Finish release that I’m pretty much throughly disappointed with. There is just enough from the first episode that saves it from being a complete disaster (2/5).

[Alison · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is one of the worst things I’ve ever heard. Generally even the lesser BF audios are enjoyable and Magrs is a writer who’s done some good stuff, but this is just horrible and deeply offensive.

[David Layton · Rating 2 out of 5]

I have yet to figure out why Paul Magrs is considered such "noteworthy" writer. This story is not fully rubbish, but it is not all that brilliant either. The Doctor attempts to create block transfer computation by seance so that he can find his TARDIS, which Brewster has stolen. Instead, he contacts the mind of Adric, not dead, and he, Nyssa, and two Victorian cliches get transported to prehistoric Earth. There, Adric has set up a kingdom in which he rules a colony of giant, intelligent scorpions. Say what? Adric not dead? No, he is now a 500 year old dottering fool with a Nyssa fixation. How did he become king of the scorpions? He connected his mind to the alien computer the Cybermen had installed on board the freighter? Say what? He's not played by Matthew Waterhouse, but by Andrew Sachs? Say what? What the ... is going on here? Apart from the weird casting of Adric, the problem in this story is that Magrs is trying to do Bidmead and simply cannot pull off the imitation. Bidmead is well-read in the extremes of modern physics, and so bases his ideas on this background to explore the theoretical limits. Magrs, on the other hand, either is not so well read on these matters or cannot convert the ideas well. Judging by his "Hornets' Nest" series and this script, I would say that his imagination is primarily Victorian. That would be fine, and the Victorian "lost world" and H. Rider Haggard parts of the script work reasonably well. It is the quasi-scientific gobbledygook explanations for it all that just do not hold together.

[Mel · Rating 5 out of 5]

I bought this in the Big finish sale today and I really enjoyed it. Paul Margs is a writer who understands Nyssa. She had some wonderful lines, particularly about the Victorians! As someone who is not a fan of Adric I really enjoyed this interpratation of him. He did kinda redeem himself in the end. But what a pillock he was for most of it. Rather like he was on the show! The Scorpion people were neat, and the Victorians amusing. And hey more than one woman charcter! It passed the Bechdel test and everything, when Nyssa used her scientific brain to figure out a plan to get them all back to the present! Go Nyssa!

[Charles Mitchell · Rating 3 out of 5]

Adric is annoying (and I'm in the minority that kind of liked him in the show! Lol). That's about it. Otherwise a very run of the mill story. Nyssa is in it. And the 5th Doctor. And a little bit of a story.
Okay way to kill a couple hours, but I doubt I will re-listen to this one.

[Josh · Rating 4 out of 5]

The second story in the first Thomas Brewster trilogy. Surprisingly I actually managed to finish this one unlike the last one.

Ah yes the infamous incel Adric story... its... not terrible, I have no idea why this is so hated? It, honestly, was really funny.

[John Smith · Rating 2 out of 5]

Aggressively average story with a disappointing role for a classic companion, probably should skip this one unless you're a completionist who wants to hear everything.

[Lucy · Rating 2 out of 5]

I think maybe 2 1/2 but I didn't feel generous enough to round up to 3

[Steven Shinder · Rating 2 out of 5]

I guess the “Forgot” part is apt.

[Tabitha · Rating 3 out of 5]

Although I'm always excited to see long lost characters, this feels like it cheapened the original ending.

[Jamie Revell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Yes, this is the infamous one in which Adric turns out not to be dead! What you think of it, is I suspect, likely to be heavily influenced by just what you think of that particular twist. Certainly, one can't help but imagine that it would put a lot of people off, but let's try and put it to one side for the moment.

The story follows on directly from The Haunting of Thomas Brewster, and both the beginning and the end are likely to be rather confusing if you haven't listened to that. The bulk of the story, however, is nothing to do with it, and would have worked perfectly well on its own. (Presumably, it was originally written as a stand-alone).

The intended flavour of the story is that of Victorian derring-do in a lost jungle city, in the style of, say, H. Rider Haggard. To be honest, that doesn't quite work, largely because of the repercussions of the main twist, which necessarily take centre-stage after the 30-minute mark where it occurs.

For my money, those repercussions are handled quite well, and Andrew Sachs is also very good as the title character, slowly regaining what passes for his humanity as the story progresses. The story doesn't quite win a star for excellence, but I found it rather more fun, and more sympathetic, than its reputation might suggest.

[Nicholas Whyte]

Peter Davison is cruel in the extra tracks of The Boy That Time Forgot: 'So imagine my surprise when I saw that they had brought Adric back, only this time he is being played by ... an actor!!!' Indeed, Adric survived the crash of Earthshock, and is now in charge of a prehistoric kingdom of intelligent scorpions. But don't worry, Nyssa, he has decided that you shall be his queen. The Doctor, however, is to be eaten. The story treads on uncertain ground but does it pretty confidently, helped immensely by Andrew 'Manuel/prank phone calls' Sachs as the aged and crazed Adric. Unfortunately John Pickard returns as Brewster at the end, but you can't have everything.

[Debra Cook · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Doctor and Nyssa try to travel to find the tardis that was stolen by Tom Brewster. Unfortunately they end up in beginning of time. They get taken prisoner by crab like creatures ruled by Adric. Can they get back?

[Kate Sherrod · Rating 4 out of 5]

However one feels about the retconning of a famous Fifth Doctor tragedy or the surprise return of [REDACTED] this play rules because EMPIRE OF THE GIANT SENTIENT SCORPIONS YOU GUYS. The incidental characters, especially a Victorian lady novelist, are pretty kickass too.

[Wendy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good fun, with some surprising plot twists, some fun fannish in-jokes, and clever dialog from Paul Magrs, but I don't think it's going to go down as one of my all-time favorites.

[Ritchie · Rating 3 out of 5]

the TARDIS IS still missing so Five and Nyssa find , another way to travel. an old, long thought to be dead friend reappears. Giant scorpions want to eat the Doctor.