‘QUANTUM OF AXOS’
Please feel free to comment on my review.
The Tenth Doctor, Ace and K-9 vs. Axos
Sophie Aldred in ‘Quantum of Axos’.
The last story of ‘Tenth Doctor, Classic Companions’ is ‘Quantum of Axos’ by Roy Gill. Roy Gill has written quite a few Tenth Doctor stories, including ‘The Creeping Death’ and ‘Cycle of Destruction’. 🙂
This was a fascinating audio story to check out, as it has Ace meeting the Tenth Doctor. Sophie Aldred and David Tennant have worked together before when they did the kids’ TV show ‘Tree Fu Tom’.
Before hearing this story, I saw Ace return to ‘Doctor Who’ in the TV adventure ‘The Power of the Doctor’. Ace mentions she has met a future version of the Doctor, before the Tenth Doctor interrupts her.
One can easily assume she’s referring to the Thirteenth Doctor in ‘The Power of the Doctor’. At the time of this story’s recording in 2020 though, it could easily be a reference to ‘At Childhood’s End’. 😐
Mind you, most of ‘At Childhood’s End’ where Ace meets the Thirteenth Doctor is considered to be in an alternative timeline, thanks to ‘The Power of the Doctor’ having Ace meet her for the first time.
Whether ‘Quantum of Axos’ refers to either ‘At Childhood’s End’ or ‘The Power of the Doctor’, this is clearly a story set after Ace meets the Thirteenth Doctor in order for her to meet the Tenth Doctor. 🙂
In this story, Ace is running A Charitable Earth on 21st century Earth. She’s invited to the launch of a new Quantum Computing system in Cambridge. Once there, the offer seems too good to be true. 😐
Interestingly, Ace has K-9 with her. When the Tenth Doctor is in Cambridge on 21st century Earth, he also has K-9 with him. I assumed the K-9 that Ace had with her was the Mark IV K-9 from Sarah Jane.
That would make sense, considering Ace had K-9 Mark IV joining her at the end of ‘Farewell, Sarah Jane’. But it turns out not to be the case here. Ace’s K-9 actually happens to be…an Axon in disguise.
I was disappointed Ace’s K-9 didn’t turn out to be the Mark IV one whilst the Tenth Doctor has the Mark II one. But it was a surprising twist when I heard the story. One I hadn’t expected upon listening to it. 🙂
At the end of the story, Ace is given K-9 Mark II by the Doctor. Or rather K-9 Mark II elects to stay behind with Ace and leaves the Doctor. This does makes things confusing regarding K-9 Mark IV’s placement. 😐
If K-9 Mark II stayed behind with Ace at the end of ‘Quantum of Axos’ and K-9 Mark IV joined Ace at the end of ‘Farewell, Sarah Jane’, does that mean she now owns two K-9s in the ‘Doctor Who’ universe? Hmm.
Sophie Aldred is great to listen to as Ace in this ‘Doctor Who’ audio episode and it’s lovely to hear her perform opposite David Tennant. It’s also nice to hear an older and experienced Ace in this story.
In this episode, there’s a moment where Sophie gets to play a younger version of Ace accompanying David Tennant’s Tenth Doctor. But it all turns out to be another Axon in disguise, which was quite a twist. 🙂
David Tennant continues to be excellent in the role of the Tenth Doctor. It’s nice how he interacts with Ace and how their friendship is touched upon compared to Ace being with the Seventh Doctor.
John Leeson is equally good as K-9 in this audio adventure. John Leeson also gets to be the voice of Axos in this audio adventure, which sounds quite different compared to how Axos sounded on TV. 😐
And yes, Axos makes a return in this ‘Doctor Who’ story. More reference is made to ‘The Claws of Axos’ rather than ‘The Feast of Axos’, which is a shame as I would have thought that would get a mention. 😦
It’s also interesting that this ‘Tenth Doctor, Classic Companions’ episode with Ace is the only one to feature a classic ‘Doctor Who’ monster in it. ‘Splinters’ and ‘The Stuntman’ didn’t have one in theirs.
The story also features Amaka Okafor as Aurora, who’s there at the demonstration for the Quantum Computing system in Cambridge and works for Axos. In fact, I believe she’s a part of Axos itself here.
There’s also Jamie Parker who plays Anthony, another part of Axos, and Ed, a colleague of Ace’s at A Charitable Earth. Jamie Parker has also appeared in Big Finish stories like ‘Leviathan’ and ‘Ravagers’.
And there’s Lucy Goldie as Kayla McGuire, an eager student in poetry, who doesn’t realise she’s submitted to Axos’ terms and conditions. The Tenth Doctor, Ace and K-9 form a connection with her.
David Tennant in ‘Quantum of Axos’.
‘Quantum of Axos’ is a good audio story where David Tennant’s Tenth Doctor reunites with Sophie Aldred’s Ace. You have to be on the alert regarding the episode’s complexities, but it’s enjoyable to listen to.
The CD extras are as follows. At the end of ‘Quantum of Axos’, there are behind-the-scenes interviews with the cast and crew including David Tennant, Sophie Aldred and John Leeson, director Helen Goldwyn, producer David Richardson, etc.
The ‘Tenth Doctors, Classic Companions’ box set of ‘Doctor Who’ has been a special one to listen to. I enjoyed all three episodes where David Tennant’s Tenth Doctor gets to reunite with K-9, voiced by John Leeson, Louise Jameson’s Leela, Sarah Sutton’s Nyssa and Sophie Aldred’s Ace. All five stars and characters are terrific. 🙂
‘Splinters’ is arguably the strongest of the three stories since John Dorney wrote it, but ‘The Stuntman’ and ‘Quantum of Axos’ are equally enjoyable. ‘The Stuntman’ turned out to be better than I expected, especially with Nyssa, my favourite ‘Doctor Who’ companion meeting one of my favourite Doctors. 🙂
I would like to get onto writing a future ‘Doctor Who’ series of stories someday where Nyssa and Billy meet the Tenth and Thirteenth Doctors, but I’m very pleased Big Finish did an audio episode where Nyssa meets the Tenth Doctor. The same thing applies to Leela and Ace’s audio episodes too.
‘Quantum of Axos’ rating – 7.5/10
‘Tenth Doctor, Classic Companions’ CD box set rating – 8/10
| The previous story
For the Tenth Doctor was For Ace was For K-9 MkII was |
The next story
For the Tenth Doctor is
For Ace is
|
| Return to The Tenth Doctor’s Timeline | |
| Return to Ace’s Timeline | |
| Return to The Timelines of K-9 | |
| Return to The Doctors’ Timelines Index | |
| Return to The Companions’ Timelines Index | |
| Return to Doctor Who Timelines | |
| Return to Doctor Who | |
| Return to Sci-Fi |
Bradley's Basement 