Upstairs (2013)

The latest Companion Chronicle is the first to feature Vicki and Steven since ‘The Suffering’ which in 2010 won the Toms Tardis Award for the Best Companion Chronicle. It’s a double act that works well because there is always a bit of feistiness about them both and so when I heard that they were going to do another Companion Chronicle together I had high hopes. Upstairs is a story written by Mat Coward who as far as I am aware is making his Big Finish debut and it’s a story that sets its stall out quite quickly. It’s not your normal Earth story but has something to do with aliens affecting history. The alien is effecting the building which is going to effect the current Prime Minister which might explain David Cameron’s behaviour and that Photoshop look he has on his face all the time.

I found the first half to be very interesting. It started off with a seemingly normal arrival but as the story progressed it appeared that not everything was what it seemed. There seemed to be stuff about Downing Street which as I was hearing it I thought that whilst it was very interesting, it didn’t seem relevant to the story but that was the genius of the story because the cliffhanger was one that I didn’t see coming. The time fungus as its called in the second half seems to take on a new level of danger when its realised it might cause more damage if it reached the TARDIS.

As this features two companions, there is no need for a supporting cast member and this means that Maureen O’Brien and Peter Purves are given the full script to do their voices and I must admit that I found O’Brien’s impression of William Hartnell to be quite funny. I remember listening to the very first Companion Chronicle way back in 2007 (Frostfire) and she read that story with enthusiasm and you could believe that it was Vicki but slightly older. Both Purves and O’Brien play their roles brilliantly and I could easily see one of them being the Best Companion in the Companion Chronicle Awards at the end of the year.

What I like about this story is the claustrophobic feel that there is from the very beginning. The constant rooms that look the same help create the feel that there is no easy way of getting back to the TARDIS when they need to. The whole thing was a great deal of fun to listen to and the pacing that Coward has gone for is done just right. It’s slow when it needs to be and its speeded up when it needs to be. The ending felt like it was the right one and was done right. I still maintain that ‘The Libraray of Alexandria’ is the best First Doctor Companion Chronicle that we have had in 2013 but this is definetly a close second. It’s a good first story from Mat Coward and I would like to see him work on the main range or a full cast adventure because I think that he could do very well.