Doctor Who: Mother Russia

On the face of it, the First Doctor arriving just outside Moscow in 1812 ought to be the basis of a pretty good story. And, indeed, this is by no means a complete flop, and has some elements that work quite well.

However, there are a few things that let it down. One is admittedly a bias of mine, which is that I feel that First Doctor stories ought to feel like First Doctor stories and that, specifically, those set in the past ought to be straight historicals. This isn't; it has aliens in it, and, for me, that dilutes the setting.

If that sort of thing doesn't worry you, you may like this more than I did, although it doesn't help that the listener will have worked out what's going on long, long, before Steven does, giving the impression that he's a bit dim. (In fairness, his interpretation of events isn't unreasonable in context, but it certainly feels that way).

As a good Companion Chronicle should, the story does at least take advantage of the fact that we see everything through Steven's eyes, and don't know exactly what the Doctor is up to at any given point. He's reasonably well written, too, and, for all the presence of aliens, in every other respect, there are plenty of homages to the First Doctor's style.

It could have been quite a bit better, but overall, it's not a bad story.