Daniel Mansfield reviews the debut of a new companion for the Eighth Doctor!

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The last two months have seen a whole host of Eighth Doctor content released by Big Finish, from Doom’s Day and The Paternoster Gang to The Union and the boxset rerelease of his adventures with Lucie Miller. After all that, you’d be forgiven for thinking that’s it for Paul McGann in 2023, but that’s far from the case. Released today is Audacity, the first of two boxsets which chronicle the Eighth Doctor’s first adventures with a brand new companion: Lady Audacity Montague (Jaye Griffiths).

The Doctor and Audacity meet in Lisa McMullin‘s The Devouring, a period piece set in the Regency era which explores themes of entitlement, feminism and class. The story itself is nothing to write home about- there are some thematic parallels between Audacity’s plight and the titular villain that I thought could have been pulled out a bit more, to make things feel more cohesive- but it’s an entertaining listen and brought to life well by both the guest cast and Howard Carter‘s impressive sound design and music.

The main attraction here, however, is Jaye Griffiths as Audacity, who immediately proves herself as more than a match for the Doctor. While McMullin’s writing is a little in-your-face at times, painting Audacity with broad brush strokes rather than getting to the core of who she is as a character, Griffiths’ performance is note-perfect throughout: fierce, brave and with an appetite for adventure that all the best companions have. She also shares a great rapport with Paul McGann‘s Doctor, challenging him in ways other companions haven’t and really feeling like an equal to him from the off. A solid introduction to this new TARDIS team.

Audacity’s first trip in the TARDIS takes her to the middle of The Great Cyber War in a two-part adventure by Tim Foley. Set in the same world as the 1975 serial Revenge of the Cybermen, this story really cements Audacity as a proper companion, showing her resourcefulness when split up from the Doctor and pitting her against one of his oldest foes.

Unfortunately, the Cybermen don’t feature until the very end of Part One, which mostly focuses on the humans opposing them in the titular war. This means that the first hour of the story feels a little dull, with us waiting for the silver villains to actually show up. When they do turn up, however, they’re are undeniably on top form; Nicholas Briggs does a great approximation of the very unique voices given to them in Revenge of the Cybermen, while Foley gives us some interesting and important additions to their lore, explaining the origins of their allergy to gold, and just why the Cybermen in Revenge acted the way they did.

There’s also a really great moral dilemma that crops up in Part Two that I wish had been explored more- as a philosophy graduate I love it when Doctor Who asks big, challenging questions like Foley does here, and equally hate it when they aren’t given enough attention. That’s the thing about this story: when it’s good, it’s really good, but the plot is just far too thin to sustain two hours, so all of the great moments just kind of disappear in a sea of meh. Of course, this is Tim Foley we’re talking about, so this was never going to be a truly terrible story- this is a perfectly entertaining way to spend two hours, it’s just not up there with his best.

The Doctor and Audacity return next month, and I have to say I’m looking forward to hearing more from them (especially after the very exciting place we leave them in at the end of this boxset). Jaye Griffiths and Paul McGann are a revelation together, forming a unique but compelling Doctor/companion team who, it can be hoped, will have many more adventures to come.