Exactly what it says on the tin, I Dare You to listen to this audio story with the Ninth Doctor (Christopher Eccleston) and Rose Tyler (Billie Piper), written by Lisa McMullin. This is the third and final part of a loose trilogy converging on the Powell Estate, which starts off funny but becomes increasingly emotional and terrifying along the way. Think of it as Girl, Deconstructed (from Respond to All Calls) but inverted… in a fantastic sense.
A sinister force taps into people’s minds and dares them into doing childish things and behaving inappropriately. Polly Pemberton (Beverley Klein) shoves her grandmother’s face into her birthday cake. Davey (Jack Ayres) does the conga during a maths lesson. Even Jackie Tyler (Camille Coduri) feels a compulsion, by knocking over a stack of tinned baked beans in the grocery store and getting caught by security guard Derek (Dan Starkey).
The Doctor returns Rose home to the present, and they investigate what is causing the Powell Estate residents to go bonkers by visiting a shady pawnbrokers with unearthly artefacts. Among them are a Mondasian watch and a ring made by the Headless Monks, but they’re merely harbingers for the main villain, the Hellion (Harry Myers, who also voices Baz) — a cosmic, Gollum-like mischief maker who, coincidentally, shares the same name as the species from The Interstellar Song Contest. Yes, the Doctor also mentions the iconic Middle-earth character, by mocking the creature’s appearance (that was hilarious!). Everything goes from bad to worse when the Hellion is brought on board the TARDIS, but I’ll leave it there as I dare not spoil.
I love how the script is grounded in its character-driven nature, from tackling mental health to testing relationships. It’s never easy to resist the temptation of expressing true feelings aloud and having intrusive thoughts, which is something that I find extremely relatable; not just amongst Jackie and her fellow neighbours, but also between her and Rose (who says some very nasty things to her mum over the phone). It adds further depth to how the characters were originally depicted in the Series 1 episodes — I strongly admire what Big Finish has done for the Ninth Doctor Adventures range.
The performances from Christopher Eccleston and Billie Piper remain outstanding. Definitely the most intense yet, in their third full-cast audio together, as they continue to channel the Doctor and Rose bearing the brunt of PTSD from Dalek and Father’s Day. But that’s not all. The story also brilliantly highlights the fact that Jackie has been renting out Rose’s bedroom during her travels, which wasn’t acknowledged in the TV episodes. It’s easy to understand why it has such a profound effect on Rose.
Overall, Dare You is as fantastic as the first two stories, Snare and The Last Days of the Powell Estate. Despite it being the last Ninth Doctor Adventures audio release of 2025, having all three focus on the Tyler home residence is a perfect way to celebrate the 20th anniversary of Doctor Who‘s revival. I’ve no doubt that we’ll revisit the Powell Estate again at some point, when the time is right.
This loose trilogy was entirely written by the same writers who penned Respond to All Calls (my favourite pre-Series 1 boxset). Come to think of it, if the opening three Ninth Doctor Adventures Series 4 episodes were released as a single volume, titled “Powell Estate Incursions” or something similar, I’d absolutely recommend it as the definitive starting point for fans and casual listeners alike. Go on, Big Finish: I dare you.
And coming in February: the Doctor and Rose visit Cloud Eight in the 47th Century, written by Lauren Mooney and Stewart Pringle. Make sure to check out this nostalgic “Next Time” style trailer!
Dare You is available now from Big Finish.
