Following the events of The First Question, the Eleventh Doctor (played here by Miles Taylor) and Eleanor Fong (Jasmine Bayes) head into familiar ground as they encounter the Judoon (voiced by director Nicholas Briggs) in a two-parter, and later return to Lake Silencio. Also important to note that this is first chronological Eleventh Doctor two-parter since The Rebel Flesh/The Almost People, as there sadly weren’t any more televised ones after that. To see the creations of Steven Moffat and Russell T Davies being mixed into Lee Johnson’s cover artwork is nostalgically majestic. Mo Ho!
Released on 25th August, almost 15 years since Let’s Kill Hitler first aired, the anthology title appropriately quotes another portion of Dorium Maldovar’s line from The Wedding of River Song. It’s more arc-driven than the previous volume, and the stakes are higher than before for the Time Lord whose supposed “death” in Series 6 continues to haunt him, after the unexpected cliffhanger in A Delusion of Witches.
We begin with the two-part Tyranny of the Judoon/Gambit of the Judoon, by Ben Tedds, as the Doctor takes Eleanor on her first planet visit to Hefestis which has since come under occupation from the trigger-happy space rhino police. They both go undercover as operatives from the Shadow Proclamation, and investigative journalist Octavia Cain (Grace Darling) enlists them to help unravel corruption surrounding Ambassador Derrivan (Julie Teal) and Operation Perseus. Later on, the Doctor teams up with Judoon Captain Sydon to infiltrate the Shadow Proclamation and take down the real masterminds behind the conspiracy.
Cromarty (David Shaw-Parker) and Mrs Pelter (Agnes Laverton) only appear in the first half, while robotic Invigilator Kollo (Alan Cox) appears in the second.
It’s almost 20 years since the Judoon made their debut in the Series 3 opener Smith and Jones, with Briggs voicing them once again (despite it being a strain on the throat). After making televised cameos in The Pandorica Opens and A Good Man Goes to War, plus their most recent appearance in Fugitive of the Judoon, this is a fantastic opportunity for them to have their first ever two-parter on audio. The same goes for the Shadow Proclamation, which also recently played a significant part in Duty of Care (from Run Fast, Be Kind), after only appearing onscreen in The Stolen Earth and The Magician’s Apprentice, I love how it digs deep into corruption within the establishment, bringing vibes of AC-12 from Line of Duty.
There is a lot to process from this epic two-parter, and everything takes a series of twists and turns with outstanding results. A conspiracy thriller dealing with oppression and identity theft in the grittiest way possible. Not to mention the reveal of [That information is CLASSIFIED, so zip it!] during the cliffhanger in Tyranny, which had me literally gasping in shock upon my first listen. And Gambit pays off quite nicely without making the story a nostalgia overload. Ben Tedds has come a long way since his winning 2019 Paul Spragg Short Trip entry, The Best-Laid Plans, and Tyranny/Gambit is definitely one of the best and most complicated scripts he has written for Big Finish.
Directly continuing from the Judoon two-parter is Wanted Dead and Alive, by Beth Axford. The Doctor returns to Lake Silencio in Utah, just three days before the events of The Impossible Astronaut at 5:02pm on 22 April 2011, as he and Eleanor are joined by Captain Sydon and face traps that have been set. Simultaneously, Eleanor also ends up in a bizarre world populated by a mysterious “Man” and his clones (all voiced by Briggs in his normal voice), and acquaints herself with the Doctor’s old friend Malk (Peter Davison’s son Louis).
After writing The Tourist Trap, Beth Axford’s script brilliantly delves into lore by expanding on what The Wedding of River Song didn’t do, because of its rushed nature. Same goes for hilariously lampshading the fact that Briggs has a tendency (not in a mean way) to appear as multiple different minor characters in various Big Finish audios. I was initially unsure about how the story was going to turn out, with the Doctor’s “death” being a fixed point in time, but it went beyond my expectations as the non-linear narrative progressed. And the results provide an emotional, compelling conclusion to the run… at least for now.
Right from The Final Cut, I was immediately sold by the performances from Miles Taylor and Jasmine Bayes, who have really settled into their roles. I just adore how the chemistry and dynamics have strengthened the character arcs, adding more layers across the entire boxset.
Overall, Hidden in Plain Sight is the strongest volume yet in The Eleventh Doctor Adventures. Much like The Doctor’s Daughter immediately following The Sontaran Stratagem/The Poison Sky, the continuous serialised approach works perfectly well for the Doctor and Eleanor, whilst delivering a balance of familiarity and freshness. As their story arc doesn’t end there, I already have my fingers crossed for more two-parters in future Eleventh Doctor Adventures boxsets.
Hidden in Plain Sight is available now from Big Finish.
