Big Finish Doctor Who Audio Reviews - Doctor Who Unbound: Deadline by Rob Shearman
I'm not quite sure how I managed not to explode with squee over a Rob Shearman penned Big Finish audio starring Sir Derek Jacobi - I think I broke something in the process though !
So, Deadline is the fifth in the Unbound series - the one where writers say "What If" of a Doctor Who scenario (in this case, "What if Doctor Who had never made it to television?"). The story is about one Martin Bannister, a washed-up hack writer - and a somewhat washed-up human being too - who occasionally believes he is his own creation, Doctor Who or he is Doctor Who, and believes he is a washed up writer called Martin Bannister. Bannister has three failed marriages behind him; a failed writing career (he's best known for writing 14 episodes of Juliet Bravo (a real life TV police series from the 1980s); a son who hates him and believes his own failed marriage is the result of genetics, and a horrible grandson with whom he can't relate, although he thinks he can.
Bannister lives in a Nursing Home, either because of his age or because of an undisclosed nervous breakdown, and he mistakenly believes one of the nurses fancies him. He is bad-tempered, bitter and rather unlikeable, and yet he is so crushed and down-trodden that it's difficult not to sympathise with him at least a little (although I put this down to Sir Derek's portrayal as I've long had a soft spot for him - which is probably why I preferred Yana!Master to Simm!Master !).
There are some laugh aloud funny moments in this story - such as when Sydney, who's come to interview Bannister about his episodes for the official Juliet Bravo magazine reveals that all fourteen of them are the least liked by anyone in fandom, and that they come bottom of internet popularity polls.
But there is a great deal of pathos in the story too as Bannister struggles desperately to cope with the increasing confusion of whether he is Doctor Who, whether the women he speaks to are the nurse or Barbara Wright (his companion), and his wife or his granddaughter Susan. He confuses his son with Ian Chesterton, and he thinks his wardrobe is the TARDIS - all of which sounds laughable, but actually isn't...
This is a powerful and moving story and I cannot recommend it highly enough.