2 episodes Running Time: Approx. 64 minutes. Written by: Cavan Scott, Mark Wright. Directed by: Lisa Bowerman. Produced by: David Richardson. Performed by: Katy Manning, Nicholas Asbury.
THE PLOT:
The Doctor has taken his newly unlocked TARDIS out for a quick spin, leaving a note for Jo. Naturally, his trip goes badly wrong. Instead of being back that afternoon, it takes days for him to return. When he does come back, he brings along Vorlan, an injured alien from the Xoanthrax Empire, and a prominent rebel against its tyranny.
A Xoanthrax warship has followed him to Earth, and an attack force descends on UNIT HQ. A private named Rowe (Nicholas Asbury) tries to escort the Doctor, Jo, and Vorlan to safety. They don't get far. A Xoanthrax stormtrooper stands in their way, raising his gun to shoot the Doctor. Without a thought, Jo jumps in front of the fatal blast...
...And finds herself again with the Doctor, this time on a colony world. All of her memories line up with this trip - at least, until they meet the colony's paranoid leader, Rowe, and she begins experiencing flashes of déjà vu. When this misadventure also ends in Jo's death, she finds herself in another adventure with the Doctor, again with no conscious memory of her previous deaths.
These times and places share only three things in common: the presence of a different version of Rowe; a mysterious, space suited figure; and a scenario that invariably ends in death...
CHARACTERS:
The Doctor: His freedom is still new to him, and, like a child with a new toy, he can't wait to take his TARDIS out into the universe with no Time Lord mission constraining him. He retains a strong sense of justice. When he sees what's being done to Vorlan, he cannot stand by and let it happen. He also remains protective of Jo, doing all that he can in every one of the scenarios to try to keep her safe.
Jo Grant: She's every bit as protective of the Doctor as he is of her. Her first "death" occurs when she literally throws herself into the line of fire to save him. Her devotion to the Doctor is beyond question. Even so, when he is exultant at landing on a desert planet, she is far less appreciative of the hostile surroundings - a feeling not helped by how inappropriate her high heeled boots are to the environment she's in.
Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart: He's annoyed when the Doctor takes the TARDIS for a quick spin. He's also concerned that, now that his exile is lifted, he might just leave them. He's keenly aware, as he reminds Jo, that Earth isn't actually the Doctor's home, and that the end of his exile means that he no longer actually needs UNIT. He is (understandably) less than pleased that the Doctor has led hostile aliens back to Earth, but he doesn't hesitate to put himself in harm's way to allow him and Jo a chance to escape.
THOUGHTS:
Big Finish places this story after Carnival of Monsters, but I'd argue that it fits better right after The Three Doctors. The Doctor is still reveling in his new freedom, while the Brigadier voices concern that now that he no longer needs UNIT, he might just leave and not come back.
Wherever you place it, The Many Deaths of Jo Grant is an entertaining story. Since its structure results in a new "mini-story" every 15 minutes or so, it is very fast paced by necessity. As the interview section on the CD observes, each of these sub stories falls into a different template: UNIT fending off an alien invasion; the Doctor and Jo investigating problems on a colony; and a crisis on a spaceship. These are Doctor Who standards, which allows for writers Cavan Scott and Mark Wright to employ a certain shorthand; because most listeners will have seen, read, and heard many stories along these lines, the adjustment from one to the next is relatively easy.
There's a consistent theme of compassion and self-sacrifice. The Doctor kicks off the story by rescuing Vorlan, simply because leaving her to her fate is unthinkable. The Brigadier puts himself in harm's way to buy the Doctor and Jo time to escape. Jo sacrifices herself for the Doctor in one scenario, and makes a dangerous attempt to rescue him in another. Throughout the story, we see both the Doctor and Jo willing to risk harm to save each other and even strangers. This, and links between the mini stories and the final, overarching plot, stave off the danger in a story like this of everything feeling pointless.
The story is fast-paced and entertaining, but it falls into one trap that's common among reality-bending stories: Eventually, it's time to stop hopping among mini stories and instead resolve the overarching one, and that can be hard to do in a completely satisfying way. In the last ten minutes, we get a villain who monologues to us so that we know what's actually been happening. Then there are heavy-handed speeches by both the Doctor and Jo, just to make sure that no one misses the moral of the story. If I wanted a Picard speech, I'd have rewatched Star Trek: The Next Generation.
Another problem I had with the story is that Jo doesn't actually do much to resolve the situation. This is entirely her story, and much of the overall build-up centers on her growing recognition of repeated elements, Rowe and the space suited figure in particular. Despite this, she never works anything out for herself. It would have been nice for her to at least consciously recognize that what she's experiencing isn't, strictly speaking, "real." For all the actions she takes within the scenarios, she ends up being a disappointingly passive heroine, something that could never really be said of the television Jo.
OVERALL:
I enjoyed The Many Deaths of Jo Grant. It moves quickly, with no real wasted time, and the script artfully builds a consistent theme even as pieces of the mini stories provide hints of the final plot. Some heavy handedness both in exposition and theme weaken it in the final stretch, and I wasn't satisfied with how little Jo herself does to resolve her situation.
Even so, this is a story that goes by extremely quickly. The Companion Chronicles range is very strong on average, and I can't rate this among the better entries... but I still found it to be a fun ride, even if I was a little underwhelmed by the destination.
Overall Rating: 6/10.
Previous Television Story: Carnival of Monsters (not yet reviewed)
Next Television Story: Frontier in Space (not yet reviewed)
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