Audio Club: The One Doctor

It’s time to listen to and discuss The One Doctor

Buy it online using the link above, or listen for free - you’ll find links where to listen free on the story page!

Once you’ve listened, talk about it below! Even if you listened to it before and just want to discuss it - dive right in! Just please use spoiler tags where appropriate.

Everyone who participates will get a coveted Audio Club badge! :medal_military:

Just for fun, add your rating here:

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4 Likes

Made the mistake of listening to this while i was packing to move house. Lost so much time having to sit down and try and regain my composure bc i was laughing/wheezing so hard

12 Likes

Part one on the way to work. I know the real big belly laughs come later but so many random witty asides that make me chuckle from the opening scenes on.

Anything written by Gareth Roberts is going to always have a bit of a dark side to its discussion in regards to separation of art and artist. Especially in written or performed form where the biases and worldview are going to naturally to come out in the worldbuilding and dialogue.

11 Likes

I listened to this yesterday. While it was not bad it was not the best eather. Good but a bit forgettable. I like the fake Doctor for profit as a concept but I feelt that it dragged out a bit in the middle. I feel like this would have been better if it was a bit shorter. Mel was lovely as always. 7/10

7 Likes

This is a fun little novelty story and a light-hearted “Christmas special” to end 2001!

Big Finish doing a comedy is always fun, and this one’s silly and well-performed. Part 2 drags a bit for me, while Part 3 is one of the funniest single episodes BF has ever written (the fake Weakest Link thing is much better than the one RTD did 4 years later, and the challenges of assembling an impossible shelf are so easy to sympathise with!). The fake Doctor and his assistant are hilarious, and the Cylinder is such a bizarre villain that it’s instantly memorable.

The alien voice in Part 4 was occasionally difficult to understand. This story is so out there that I sometimes zone out.

Still, all things considered, this is a 9/10 for me. I’m a sucker for a DW comedy!

And yes, it is yet another narrative that I feel somewhat guilty for enjoying, given the individual responsible for it. However, I am unable to deny that he possesses a talent for captivating storytelling.

Did you notice the two secret tracks at the very end—a small Christmas card from the Doctor and Mel, and a scene where we hear all the questions Mentos faced during the Weakest Link game?

12 Likes

I almost want to re-listen to this. I listened to it last night when my daughter woke up in the middle of the night. Not the best time for comedy. I am usually a fan of Doctor Who comedy.

6 Likes

Unusually for me, I listened to this one all in one day—which goes to show just how much of a light and fluffy romp it is. I wrote a veritable essay on Primeval, so this time I’ll just say that as an affectionate parody of Who itself, the jokes are thick on the ground and the cast are excellent. I especially enjoyed MENTOS and his endless game of The Weakest Link.

The one thing I don’t like is the casual destruction of the eleventh planet in the Generios system. I really dislike death on that scale being treated so offhandedly in fiction—provided it was inhabited, of course. But that’s a small part of a very fun story. 8/10 all round.

Oh, and the extras are delightful!

10 Likes

I was laughing so hard while listening to this. Comedy Doctor Who stories are rare gems

5 Likes

And this has a bonus Roger Langridge which I adore!:

8 Likes

Yeah, this one’s a lot of fun! I love it when Colin Baker gets to really do his thing on audio, he really shines in this one, and so does Mel. Just a very good time! I actually relistened to this one and everything!

7 Likes

Just listened to the first part (first listen in a very long time) and yeah this was so fun! Looking forward to the rest!

5 Likes

This is my first listen to this story. With the name, Derbyshire theme and continuity announcer at the beginning, I’m starting to wonder if there’s some connection there…

The Doctor admitting he may have ‘heard something’ about himself is a little funny, and luckily it just gets better from there.

Psychic screwdriver? STARDIS? I’m getting a few Next Doctor vibes from this… Although on second thoughts, I think this is someone trying to pull a scam-type thing pretending to be the doctor. Kinda like that Star Trek: Voyager episode with the fake Janeway and Tuvok, if any Trekkies here have seen that.

Colin Baker is a delight, as he usually is, on audio, anyway.

It’s a portaloo! :rofl:

Oh, the dematerialisation noise!

This kind of stopped being a live reaction, but I am back to say that I was not expecting Delaware in part 3.

I’ve only listened up to part 3, track 3. I’ll have to finish the rest later. Very good story.

8 Likes

I enjoyed it! I must say I was surprised by it, I went in not knowing what to expect by that title, but I must say it’s pretty good, actually. It’s not a masterpiece by any mean but from the early plays I listened from BF they did have some struggle to remain memorable in my head, for example it’s been longer since I listened to Dust Breeding, but I can’t remember much of it, besides the aspects I liked, this one on the other hand? Memorable for sure! The Idea is one that I am surprised wasn’t done much before (referring to the Idea of a “Fraud Doctor”) and the Comedy in this story really gives Colin a lot to work with in his Performance. In many way this feels like a much better Execution of the Core Idea of the Next Doctor, even if both differ from each other with having one being aware of being not the real thing and the other doesnt.
Overall, I enjoyed it!

7 Likes

It’s good to see the love for this story but not one mention of Christopher Biggins!

I imagine that beyond UK shores, he isn’t really known but here he is a bit of an icon - particularly well known for his pantomime dames but it’s often forgotten that he is a ‘proper’ actor too. He plays Nero in the BBC’s I, Claudius for example.

He’s great as the fake Doctor in this. And Clare Buckfield is great too as his companion (and was all over UK TV at one point).

8 Likes

Finished! Very silly, funny story! Biggins and Baker are both just incredible here, though so is everyone! I love how it poked fun at DW clichés without ever being cruel about them. The ending was great too! Not a masterpiece story or one I’ll think about much after but just a generally great comedy! 8/10 I’d say, but a high 8

7 Likes

It was okay. It was funny, but not that funny. I barely laughed out loud to be honest. Lots of great Doctor Who concepts that border that line between parody and honest very well, and a good adventure plot. But for a comedy that didn’t, like, make me laugh much, i’d say it failed slightly. I more went: “that’s funny” in my head. 7/10

The Christmas thing at the end was sweet and all the nonsense questions were amazing. How many inconceivable questions is one able to write lol.

7 Likes

a fun listen for sure! i don’t have anything in particular to say about it that hasn’t been said already, though, haha

6th doctor once again getting a good story! an 8/10 for me

8 Likes

Finished this one today.

I was pleasantly surprised by it - an interesting concept (I’m surprised it hasn’t been done more often - I’ve created a trope of it), and a funny one episode. But not laugh-out-loud funny for me.

The Weakest Link segment is great, and perhaps this is where RTD got his idea? The shelves… not so good, that joke got old quickly.

I think RTD loves this story because it’s also very similar to The Next Doctor, as was said above too.

I think it could have been better if was a bit shorter - it suffers from being too all over the place, and when I resumed listening after starting earlier I was a bit lost. It’s all a bit “travelling serial”.

Thanks @MrColdStream for mentioning the bonus at the end - I would have missed that, just listened to it - cute!

9 Likes

Just finished this one.
A 4/5 :star: story for me.
Really funny, absolutely loved the Doctor going all “Rice Pudding” over a game of Monopoly :grin:

Slowly catching up with the Audio Club :slightly_smiling_face:

7 Likes

This is my second listen to this one. I just finished Part 1 and while the idea of an imposter Doctor is a good one, I’m not finding it all that funny. And I don’t remember it being all the funny the first time. It’s not terrible, but I think it tries to hard and is a bit overrated.

5 Likes