Review: Conflicts of Interest

    The Peter Davison era of Doctor Who is one I have a strong affection for and in my time as a Big Finish listener, I've particularly enjoyed what they've been doing with this era. The Marc arc and Forty saga are storylines I hold in high regard but now, rather than beginning a new story arc in 2023, the Fifth Doctor Adventures range seems to be taking a break from that with a pair of standalone box sets. After much self imposed delay I've decided to finally treat myself with them, the first of which is Conflicts of Interest.

The era-appropriate variant of the cover art, designed by Ryan Aplin

Friendly Fire

    The first story of the set is Friendly Fire by John Dorney, in which the Doctor and his friends find themselves visiting an unremarkable mining world to kill time while the TARDIS is out of action. The Doctor plans to meet up with an old friend on arrival but the group quickly finds the people of the planet suspiciously obstructive.

    Ultimately, the story is one big racism allegory, well trodden ground but as is often the case with this type of story, you're getting something mostly surface level even if well executed which make no mistake, in this case it is! What sets this story apart is that it chooses to deal specifically with the aftermath of a terrible situation, contributing to the uneasy atmosphere that runs throughout the story.

    This box set is fairly experimental in its format, traditionally on audio most stories are two or four parts long and a common format with the classic series releases of recent years has been to get one of each. Conflicts of Interest instead opts to split its six episodes equally between stories, the three part format will be familiar to fans of Sylvester McCoy's TV seasons but is relatively uncharted territory on audio and it unfortunately shows with Friendly Fire, the pacing of the first part felt particularly off, pedestrian even by the standards of classic Doctor Who and as though it thought it had three more episodes in front of it rather than just the two. 

    After the first part and an admittedly naff cliffhanger (an unseen/unheard character pulling a gun is a little passé isn't it?) it's much smoother sailing, the story moves along at a good pace and I found myself much more invested as the story developed. Community-wide conspiracies are something I love in media and the Hartnell era lover I am, I really enjoy a story where the objective becomes simply surviving long enough to return to the TARDIS.

    There's a particular moment I enjoyed where a character tries to shift blame onto the victim to soothe their own conscience and it's so immediately shot down, it's a strong moment for Peter Davison and certainly not the only one here, there's some great moments with him throughout that are able to make you feel for a character only mentioned in the story. Despite my voiced reservations this is one I can see myself coming back to from time to time.

The Edge of the War

    Moving on, the second story of the set is The Edge of the War by Jonathan Barnes, who was responsible for a personal favourite Fifth Doctor audio of mine: Echo Chamber, so I'm glad to see him writing a full story for the range.

     This story is another good one, set in a sleepy French village in the 1930s with World War II looming, it opens with a strong mystery as our heroes arrive at different, unclear intervals and you can't quite tell how much Tegan and Nyssa remember who they really are, or how aware each of them are about the nature of the town they've ended up in. The residents seem oddly insistent on their visitors staying long-term, and having them blend in with new lives, cast like characters in a play.

    The Doctor is a character initially conspicuous by his absence, arriving late into the first part as the plot is already well in motion, giving Tegan and Nyssa time to introduce the listener to this world through their perspective. The story is all the better for it, the two of them shine as does Matt Addis - playing the suspicious Jean-Baptiste - who is a standout in the guest cast.

    The story features a sort of romance between Tegan and a man from the village, something that pains my "Tyssa" shipping heart, subject to bias but I wasn't particularly fond of that element of the story. An unwanted distraction from the real core of the story even if a small one. Though I must admit, it ultimately pays off well.

    While it comes quite suddenly, the story features a real gut punch of an ending that does work quite well and the story really does satisfy. I do wish that it hung onto the idea of those in the village being cast in particular roles a little longer though, I particularly wish we got more of that with the central characters because that's what hooked me from the blurb.

Final Thoughts

    Overall, Conflicts of Interest successfully delivers two solid stories. Worthy of additional praise are the music cues used throughout the stories composed by Howard Carter, they present a consistent and electronic sound that really works with these stories and suits this era. The sound design in each of the stories is great, something that is (quite ironically given the medium) easily overlooked and taken for granted, this particularly applies to Friendly Fire. If this TARDIS team is your bread and butter you can't go wrong with this set.

If this review has sparked your interest, Conflicts of Interest is available at https://www.bigfinish.com/