Yipes.

Look, I think a lot of my issues with this are just those of generational context and humour. That and my lack of enjoyment of viscerally real vomit sound effects direct to my earlobes.

Ultimately I feel like this exemplifies the kind of insular bubble stories that fortysomething fans would have continued writing for the amusement of other fortysomething fans had the program not been revived only a couple of years later and forced Big Finish to shift away from parody and homage, instead moving into storytelling.

Thanks heavens. ( )

AU: The Doctor commits suicide at the end of The War Games, changes sex on regeneration, and goes off to hide on Earth -- where she gets a job in a supermarket and spends her free time getting drunk.

The two Time Lords sent out to find the Doctor, one of which is played by David Tennant, are at least chuckleworthy and I even laughed once, but most of the comedy revolves around the Doctor boozing it up, belching, and puking. Although the actors are excellent, the story is not really my kind of humour. As far as Doctor Who played as a comedy goes, I rate this a bit above Slipback but way below Bang-Bang-a-Boom!. ( )

It's not this audio's fault that it isn't the story I wanted it to be. The Whoniverse's lone attempt (officially) at writing a female Doctor could have explored any number of fascinating areas. We might have seen how the Doctor's conception of himself as a man was or wasn't affected by his regeneration into a woman. We could have explored Gallifreyan society in light of the fact that its members can change genders under some circumstances. Perhaps most interestingly, we might have glimpsed how some of the Doctor's established habits (e.g. barging into a crisis, taking charge, dealing with protestations mainly by ignoring them) might have been upended.

But what we get is a lark. It's a very *funny* lark, with some outstanding bits. The two befuddled Time Lords (Toby Longworth and David Tennant (yes, THAT David Tennant)) not only provide a hilarious string of gags but also subtly establish Time Lord society as snobbish and insular in the extreme--completely ignorant of the larger universe, and faintly contemptuous of the notion that they shouldn't be.

And I suppose this fluffy audio will have to do, until the next time someone wants to have a go at a female Doctor. ( )

I understand fan reaction to "Exile" was pretty negative, but I really enjoyed it as well; after three depressing stories (the two Doctor-as-villain ones, and "Deadline" which is discussed below), I was really relieved to hear one which was a bit more light-hearted. Apparently Time Lords change sex if they commit suicide (this may not be canonical), and so Arabella Weir's Doctor is hiding from them on Earth, staking shelves in Sainsbury's and getting smashed down the pub, having fled Gallifreyan justice. There is much chasing around the countryside by a comedy duo of Time Lord agents. Fun, though with a darker edge. ( )