Doctor Who: The Transit of Venus

A First Doctor story told from the perspective of Ian.

Although Big Finish have done straight historicals before, this is the first one in the Companion Chronicles series, and therefore, the first to feature the Doctor with whom the style is most associated. This makes a real effort to feel like a First Doctor story, despite the absence of Susan and Barbara for the great bulk of it. For instance, the story takes place over the course of several months, with a sense of the Doctor and Ian actually living in the past, in a way that later Doctors almost never do.

The historical setting in question is Captain Cook's first voyage, although the voiced guest character here is actually his chief scientist, Joseph Banks. Banks' behaviour forms the core of the plot, and it is fairly obvious what's really going on from quite an early stage.

That Ian fails to work it out himself does not detract from the story (as it does in, say, Mother Russia) as it does feel quite natural, given the circumstances. On the other hand, the Doctor being so dismissive of his theories is rather more of a weakness, if not entirely out of character for the era. (Okay, so Ian's theories are, in fact, wrong... but then, so are the Doctor's).

It's also perhaps worth noting that there is no framing narrative here - we have no idea who Ian is supposed to be recounting the story to. But you hardly notice, and I think that this something that became more common as the series progressed.

All in all, this is a good historical, if not without a few flaws and, as usual, somewhat limited by the format of the Companion Chronicles. It also earns its four stars by successfully evoking the atmosphere of the very early years of the show, when Verity Lambert was still showrunner/producer.