Doctor Who: Scavenger

Writer: William Gallagher
Director: Nicholas Briggs
Script Editor: Alan Barnes
Cover Illustration: Damien May
Music: Howard Carter
Sound Design: Neil Gardner
Producer: David Richardson

Starring Colin Baker & Lisa Greenwood
Released March 2014

A sense of finality hangs over Scavenger. The last in the second trilogy of releases starring Colin Baker and Lisa Greenwood, it appears to have been designed as the conclusion to a number of ongoing stories.

Principally, Scavenger foregrounds the sixth Doctor's latest accomplice Flip (Greenwood). They are separated early on, never to meet again thanks to the faith each has in the other, putting everyone else first before working their way back together. This is one of the deepest dives into Flip's character, and definitely the deepest since The Curse of Davros, her debut proper. We don't just learn about her family, but why it matters - and why it matters to her. I sense script editor Alan Barnes' guiding hand in these sections, but they are well-tempered such that they don't become an overload of information and remain relevant to the story's themes.

Scavenger is a very hardware-heavy story that begins in the near future with the launch of the Clean Up Space 2071 programme and various perspectives on it as a space craft, You Only Live Twice-style, swallows up junk lingering near Earth. This makes for an intriguing first episode and it's actually a bit of a disappointment when the titular craft shows up and the story seems to simplify with a common enemy to fight. The story also looks at the relationship between India and Britain in the near future, chiefly through the characters of mission controller Salim and obstructive bureaucrat Jessica Allaway. But India's inclusion isn't as throwaway as director Nick Briggs suggests in the interviews at the end of the story. It is embedded throughout and writer William Gallagher cleverly weaves the myth of Anarkali into the backstory of Scavenger, and uses it to drive the plot forward.

Briggs, sound designer Neil Gardner and composer Howard Carter combine to create a relentless story that, even split into four instalments, will leave you short of breath. This is well-cast, with Anjli Mohindra brilliant as Jyoti, and maintains the tension, if not always building on it, across its two hours; not an easy feat. And it seems The Widow's Assassin comes next for the sixth Doctor, a story I've been looking forward to for years.

Not unlike its namesake vessel, Scavenger demands your attention from start to finish. But it rewards in spades with easily the most competent and enjoyable story from this second Colin Baker/Lisa Greenwood trilogy. William Gallagher's sophomore story set in Earth's near future isn't as strong but his interest in the exploration of cultures and technology, and how they affect each other, remains true. A very solid script, well-realised. Can't ask for much more than that.