Doctor Who: Scavenger

The Doctor and Flip arrive in 2071 just as an unmanned spacecraft is being launched to help clear up Earth's orbital space junk. Naturally, the mission soon goes wrong as a mysterious alien object becomes involved.

The action is divided between Earth orbit and Mission Control, with a lot of the events consisting of satellites and the like maneuvering about in space. This actually works rather better in audio than one might expect, forcing the focus of the actual story onto the conversations between the various characters, rather than on more traditional, visually-oriented, action.

One of the main sub-plots is based around the fact that this isn't a NASA mission, but an ISRO one, backed by British funding that causes evident strains with the Indian operators. There are some digs at Britain's colonialist past in here, as well as an indication that alien spaceships have just as much reason to materialise in the skies over New Delhi as they normally do over London. Notably, the play features Anjli Mohindra, formerly of The Sarah Jane Adventures, as a journalist - it's one of those moments where you think “that character would make a good companion”, although that's not the way the story goes.

Some of the orbital mechanics do seem rather dodgy, and perhaps some of the tensions in the operations team are a little overplayed. One of the main characters also has a somewhat implausible backstory, albeit one that's very relevant to what's going on. But I did like the fact that the main antagonist remains a disembodied voice (something that works better on audio than it would on TV) rather than just another odd-looking alien. And, while there are surely many countries that have received even less attention on Doctor Who, it's good to see India being in the spotlight for a change.

The supposed plot arc that kicked off a couple of releases back still doesn't properly materialise, although that fact doesn't impact this story, when taken on its own. Indeed, it would likely draw attention away from Flip, who received some good characterisation here, with her daredevil side particularly coming to the fore.

The story ends on a cliffhanger, but, as it's at the end of its loose trilogy, it's one that doesn't get resolved for quite a few releases to come.