Doctor Who: Stranded 1 Review

Trying to fast track these reviews because I’m nearly up to date now so stay tuned for that. Meanwhile, let’s talk Stranded 1!

Much like previous series, this is once again broken up into four hour long episodes. The premise this time is that the Eighth Doctor and crew are literally Stranded on Earth as the TARDIS has taken a beating from their last adventure. As such, they now reside at Baker Street where it’s been previously established that the Doctor has bought a house there long ago. Only now it’s a series of flats in 2020, making the Doctor its legal landlord whilst he tries to heal the TARDIS.

Earth stranded Doctor stories isn’t alien, excuse the pun, for Doctor Who as the Third was banished there without a TARDIS for sometime. With that being said, he had U.N.I.T. then and now... now he has the cast of a soap opera. Not literally of course but it’s hard to deny the odd tone of this set.

A lot of that has to do with us joining them a little into their time on Earth meaning the tenants’ introductions are streamlined. It doesn’t make them unlikable but it does confuse the first episode a little. It doesn’t help that the first episode tries its hand at flashbacks without any audio cue making some scenes take a second to adjust.

The characters themselves are fine but when you know the end goal is for the Doctor and team to get away from them it makes the smaller interactions everyone has, which takes up the bulk of these stories, feel like filler. The Doctor has not tech with him and only his brain to help him out of this situation, and without an alien invasion there’s far less he can do other than slyly remark at everything and get depressed. Much like the Doctor, all I wanted was for something to progress with the TARDIS’s health so the interruptions of the soap opera style normal day takes a bit. Liv and Helen, from previous adventures, are back and, considering they have no Doctor level knowledge they’re in the spotlight.

My patience drew thin in the second episode due to this as its premise was about an ordinary mugging and the Doctor’s depression. It doesn’t end on a happy note either so the entire thing just made me want them off of this rock faster.

I’ll repeat what I said before, these new supporting characters aren’t bad and they’d fit in fine in a one-off but it doesn’t help that Liv and Helen are at the centre of most of this. The alien Doctor prodding things was half of the fun in previous ventures so instead we have two humans out of time doing it instead, and unfortunately they adapt rather well.

I don’t know if the idea was to make the pair attached to their new Earth lives, making it harder for them to leave when they can, but it instead makes listening to things like characters going on dates or getting jobs feel... well, feel like we’re just listening to things like characters going on dates or getting jobs. It’s not interesting, it’s mundane.

Fortunately we get the typical two part “end of the world” episodes which normalises things a little and gets the ball rolling with the TARDIS but the usual “adventure ho” attitude is replace with “that’s a bit odd”.

At the end of this set I felt ready to start the next but the usual filler episodes that haunt this has me daunted with the idea that an episode could contain nothing more than a kettle acting up as the big drama.

Judging this by itself I’ll say you’ll have fun with the first episode thanks to a great guest character but then you might find yourself a little anxious to get things moving. Bare in mind each of these four episodes take place in the same setting during the same time so even the excuse of a new scenario and backdrop is gone. Still, I found the occasional musing of the Doctor and the new ordinary life of his companions enough to engage me for the set’s duration.

6/10