Review by Daniel Mansfield

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Can lightning strike twice? That was the question on everybody’s lips when, last year, Big Finish announced this new series of Eleventh Doctor Adventures starring Miles Taylor in the title role.

Big Finish‘s previous Eleventh Doctor recast, Jacob Dudman, defied all the odds and gave us one of the best series of Doctor Who ever with the so-called Series 7V. Surely nobody (bar, of course, Matt Smith himself) could follow up on that?

Think again.

Miles Taylor is the perfect man for the job, stepping into the Eleventh Doctor’s shoes with a performance that, like Dudman’s before him, goes beyond just an impression. Throughout these three stories, we get to hear the Doctor from his most playful to his most serious, Taylor capturing each new facet of the character that the scripts bring to the fore with aplomb. The Eleventh Doctor is back, and in a big way.

Joining Taylor on this new set of adventures is Jamine Bayes as new companion Eleanor Fong. Hailing from the 90s, she’s the CEO of a Hong Kong tech company, and gives us a more mature companion than we’re used to for the Eleventh Doctor, unafraid to challenge him, but equally thrilled by all of the amazing things she comes up against – a worthy traveller through time and space.

Eleanor makes her debut in The Final Cut which, despite being the weakest of the three stories in this boxset, is still a solid introduction to her character. The core concept of the episode – what if you could delete your worst memories?- is a strong one, but sadly underused, being little more than a vehicle to get the Doctor and Eleanor together. That said, the idea of monsters made of TV static is a great bit of imagery, and the Hong Kong setting feels novel, while it’s interesting to have a companion whose initial relationship with the Doctor is an antagonistic one.

The Tourist Trap by Beth Axford is pretty much a three-hander between the Doctor, Eleanor and the Adams-esque AI running the intergalactic resort Space Florida, and works far better than its predecessor. Drawing on concepts introduced in TV story The Beast Below, this is the episode that feels most of a piece with the Eleventh Doctor’s era, while also being fresh and full of new ideas. There’s also some lovely character work for the Doctor and Eleanor, as Axford explores their budding relationship and the Doctor’s feelings about faking his own death at the end of Series 6, in the immediate aftermath of which this boxset takes place. A fantastic debut for Axford, and a solid second adventure for the Doctor and Eleanor.

The best of the bunch, and of Big Finish‘s output in 2026 so far, is A Delusion of Witches by Lisa McMullin, a courtroom drama taking place during the Salem witch trials. The Eleventh Doctor is at his heroic best here as he defends an innocent woman accused of witchcraft, Taylor’s performance perfectly echoing some of Matt Smith‘s iconic moments of grandstanding, while Eleanor brings much-needed humanity to proceedings, railing against the injustice of the situation.

Meanwhile, Barnaby Edwards impresses as villainous judge Crowling, and Becky Wright delivers an utterly gut-wrenching performance as the wrongly-accused Mary Morton, whose tragic story forms the backbone of this episode. With this script, McMullin really sells the horrific nature of the Salem witch trials, with a touching epilogue that tugs at the heartstrings.

Overall, The First Question looks to be the beginning of an exciting new era for the Eleventh Doctor on audio, and I can’t wait to hear where Big Finish take him and Eleanor next. Geronimo!

The Final Question is available as a download from http://www.bigfinish.com