Second Chances

Zoe is still at the mercy of the Company. After Jen's failure to get what is needed from Zoe's memory, Ali returns, although her name is actually Kym, and she is more determined that before. She is aided by the fact that one of Zoe's past adventures on another space station similar to the Wheel is actually taking place *now* in this timeline, and she literally takes Zoe back into the past to get her to tell her what she wants. Zoe still does not remember her past fully, but now she is about to relive it and come face to face with the Doctor, Jamie... and herself.

So it turns out Zoe's story did not end with The Uncertainty Principle after all, which is good news for the Zoe fans out there. And it's a fun one now with her getting to see the Doctor and Jamie again and realize that yes, she did travel in time, yes her memory is blocked, and she has no idea why she would have willingly left that life behind at all. But all of this tinkering with her head is taking its toll; Zoe's retention is starting to wane now and she doesn't immediately remember Ali from the first time the Company attempted to coerce her into remembering her past. Previously I had expected Zoe to sink into depression or madness from this constant probing - previously the attempts to induce memory recall resulted in actual pain - but now it's actually starting to damage her.

The ruse of going back, sort of, to her past is an effective and credible one; Zoe is after all from the future so she could possibly exist twice over at some points as she travels with the Doctor. The same can be said of all the companions although it is not explored enough I find. Not that we need that to happen for everyone; there's the odd comment here and there in the series by contemporary companions that they haven't been born yet and there's a muse now and again about wondering what their current self is up to while they are battling great evils. But here is a chance for the Company to get something they want with minimal effort on the mind probing and, effectively, the torture. Because this is what it must be for Zoe: pure torture, inflicted on her by the Company but also indirectly, by the Time Lords for rendering her this vulnerable. I'd like to see at some point a future Doctor realize this and do something about it. Maybe one day it might happen.

But this is it now. The last Companion Chronicle to follow on from The War Games. Jamie is safe in his own time, and Zoe by the end of this one is... well, is she safe? Or is she still in danger. Time is going to tell on that one when we get more from Big Finish; it's safe to say that Zoe's after-TARDIS life has been the one with the most structured approach in it's telling, so it would be a shame to not invest in it further.

But in all of these adventures for the companions, what has become of the Doctor? He's been torn away from his friends and judged by his own people as a renegade and a liability. Last anyone saw him he was spinning away off into the void under threat of an induced regeneration - but is that really what happened to him...?

NEXT EPISODE: WORLD GAME