‘FIELD TRIP’
Please feel free to comment on my review.
Stopping an Alien Invasion of an Alien Planet with the Twelfth Doctor and Osgood
The final story of ‘The Twelfth Doctor Chronicles’ by Big Finish is ‘Field Trip’ by Una McCormack. It features the Twelfth Doctor, performed by Jacob Dudman, with Ingrid Oliver as one of the Osgoods.
I enjoyed this audio adventure. It was nice to hear the interaction between the Twelfth Doctor and Osgood after seeing them both in ‘The Zygon Invasion’/’The Zygon Inversion’ as they work as a team.
Una McCormack is no stranger to ‘Doctor Who’, having written countless tales including ‘The Window on the Moor’ with the Ninth Doctor. She has written a number of ‘Star Trek’ novels as well.
A recent ‘Star Trek’ novel she did was for the ‘Picard’ series called ‘The Last Best Hope’. Una has also written a Twelfth Doctor novel called ‘Royal Blood’ in ‘The Glamour Chronicles’ series. Thus this tale!
I sense a pattern that writers for ‘The Twelfth Doctor Chronicles’ box set have to be writers who’ve done for the Twelfth Doctor in other mediums like books, comics and short stories. It makes sense! 🙂
‘Field Trip’ was quite easy to get into, especially since Osgood’s interaction with the Twelfth Doctor was refreshing. The Twelfth Doctor also takes Osgood seriously compared to some other characters.
In the story, Osgood receives a visit from the Doctor in her U.N.I.T. lab. She gets an offer she can’t refuse. She gets to have her first trip in the TARDIS. I’m sure so many of us would like that chance. 🙂
The Doctor needs Osgood’s expertise in order to stop an invasion of an alien planet. It starts as a fact-finding mission before it becomes pretty dangerous. Will Osgood get more than bargained for?!
Osgood was created as a character to represent the ‘Doctor Who’ fan in all of us. This is exemplified in the Doctor cosplays that she wears from Tom Baker scarves to question mark shifts to bow ties. 🙂
I like Osgood fine as a character. I wouldn’t say I was over-the-moon about her but I do have a soft spot. It’s nice that she gets to have her own adventure with the Doctor and Ingrid Oliver’s very good.
Ingrid Oliver has played Osgood in more adventures compared to the TV series. This is in the new ‘U.N.I.T.’ spin-off series produced by Big Finish and I heard her in an episode of ‘The Legacy of Time’.
I like how it doesn’t get established whether the Osgood in this audio adventure is the human one or the Zygon one. It could have easily been Bonnie who went with the Doctor to the alien planet or not.
Whichever one it was, Osgood is true to her character and assists the Doctor in everything they can to do stop the alien invasion of this alien planet. Osgood does find herself pushed to her limits here.
It was amusing when Osgood got to wear an evening dress at a casino whilst the Doctor wore his tuxedo. Actually, that’s peculiar. I don’t think I’ve seen the Twelfth Doctor in a tuxedo on TV before.
The Doctor get to wear his sonic shades in this episode (I’d rather he use the sonic screwdriver) as well as his psychic paper. It’s also intriguing he gives Osgood some ‘glasses’ with readouts and such.
Throughout ‘The Twelfth Doctor Chronicles’ box set, I find Jacob Dudman’s Twelfth Doctor voice gets better and better. He matches Peter Capaldi’s tones superbly, especially as he interacts with Osgood.
I also like how the Doctor and Osgood interact with other characters such as a spy who becomes their ally as well as another spy who becomes their enemy. The tension does escalate in this story. 🙂
There is a point during the story where Osgood and the Doctor split up. Osgood chases after a woman whilst the Doctor chases after a man. Osgood gets knocked out being saved by the Doctor. 🙂
I like how the Doctor points out that the defeat of their enemies was handled pretty fast as he expected more resistance than that. But Osgood reminds him that their enemies are pretty smart. 😀
The episode concludes with the Doctor returning Osgood back to her U.N.I.T. lab. There they meet the other Osgood who brought in coffee. The Doctor and his Osgood don’t tell where they’ve been.
Overall, ‘Field Trip’ was a fun adventure to listen to. I enjoyed the interaction between the Twelfth Doctor and Osgood together in this story and Ingrid Oliver delivers a great performance as Osgood. 🙂
The CD extras are as follows. There are behind-the-scenes interviews with Jacob Dudman, Ingrid Oliver, director Helen Goldwyn and script editor Matt Fitton on ‘Field Trip’ which I enjoyed hearing.
‘The Twelfth Doctor Chronicles’ have been an enjoyable set of audio adventures to listen to by Big Finish. I’m saddened there aren’t any Clara or Bill adventures to enjoy with the Twelfth Doctor. Hopefully we’ll get them soon in future. The stories I have heard in this box set are decent enough. 🙂
Overall, ‘The Doctor Chronicles’ range of ‘Doctor Who’ audio adventures have been enjoyable, featuring narrators like Nicholas Briggs and Jacob Dudman to provide the voices for the new series Doctors when the actual actors aren’t available for them. Hopefully that’ll change in the years to come.
The signs are promising with Christopher Eccleston coming back to play the Ninth Doctor in ‘Doctor Who’ for Big Finish. Maybe Matt Smith and Peter Capaldi can be persuaded to return for some ‘Doctor Who’ audios by Big Finish. Are ‘The Doctor Chronicles’ over though? Let’s hope they aren’t. 🙂
‘Field Trip’ rating – 8/10
‘The Twelfth Doctor Chronicles’ CD rating – 8/10
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Another fantastic review Tim, you pour your heart & soul into each & every review, I’m exhausted by the amount of time & effort you add in your review’s it show me up that i become very lazy in reviewing lately. Ingrid Oliver performances as Osgood are fantastic, it would be very easy to have written this character to be a annoying geek but thankfully Osgood is written well helping the Doctor than being a hindrance who needs rescuing every 5 minutes.
A good story, great performances from Jacob & Ingrid which concludes these Twelfth Doctor Chronicles on a high note.
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Hi Simon.
Very pleased you enjoyed my review on ‘Field Trip’. I can’t deny these reviews are a challenge to write when you have to write them to a certain page length like one or two. But I do enjoy sharing my thoughts about these ‘Doctor Who’ stories and I try to share as much detail as I can on them.
I did enjoyed Ingrid Oliver’s performance as Osgood in this adventure. I can’t say I’m a huge fan of Osgood, but I like how she’s written and like you said, I’m glad she’s not written too geeky as you would expect and she becomes resourceful and helpful to the Doctor.
Many thanks for your comments, Simon. Glad you enjoyed my reviews on ‘The Twelfth Doctor Chronicles’.
Tim. 🙂
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