The Wrong Doctors (2013)

The Wrong Doctors is the first story of 2013 in the main range and it’s also the first story to feature Mel since 2007’s The Wishing Beast. So the announcement of Bonnie Langford reprising her role was met with excitement. The Wrong Doctors takes place after the Doctor has said goodbye to Evelyn, it also sees the Doctor dropping off Mel after the events of The Trial of a Timelord. For a brief moment I thought we would get a story which reintroduces the character to us but sadly those hopes were dashed. This story is not your normal straight forward story which is possibly where I went wrong with it.

The central performances are sound enough. Colin Baker seems to thrive in having to play two versions of himself and does a good job in making them sound different enough so that they sound like their the Doctor but not confusing.  Bonnie Langford has been badly treated by Doctor Who fans over the years. Admittedly sometimes it has been warranted but for Bonnie Langford she was given a dud role and tried her best to make it work. Due to the fact that it’s been six years since her last adventure there is something magical about her performance and despite not really understanding what was going on I always found Bonnie Langford’s performance to be very strong and its surprising just how well that the Doctor and Mel work together.

The problem that I had with this story that I never really understood what was happening. When I did think I had got a hold of the plot then something else happens and I just get lost again. Now I must say that it doesn’t take a lot to confuse me so I think that to be fair it’s more my fault that the writers that this story doesn’t make sense. The only scene that I found to grab my attention was the final scene with Mel and the Doctor. It was a very strong and emotional scene and I thought that both Baker and Langford deserve credit for making it seem to heartfelt. It shows us a side of both Mel and the Doctor that we very rarely get to see and it was great to listen to.

As said as it is to say this, I was disappointed with The Wrong Doctors. I found it difficult to follow and by the two-third mark I had pretty much given up with it and was waiting for it to end. I can see why people would like this story so in summarising I will say that this is a story that will find an audience with some but not everyone. I think that if I listen to this adventure in the future I might think differently of it but in February 2013 I must say that this isn’t the best start to a year that the main range has had.

5/10