Doctor Who‘s ongoing multi-media crossover event, Doom’s Day, continues with Big Finish Productions’ Dying Hours – an audio anthology bringing Doom’s journey to its inevitable end. As Death continues to follow Doom (Sooz Kempner) everywhere she goes, Doom continues to look for the Doctor – her only hope in avoiding her imminent demise. Thus far, Doom’s Day has been a bit of a mixed bag. A collection of interesting ideas plagued by uneven execution and surprisingly two-dimensional characters. And while Big Finish’s entry certainly gives Doom a bit more depth, it doesn’t fully buck the trend of uneven execution. Two stories easily rank among the best of the entire event while the other two struggle to make much of an impression. A mixed bag, to be sure. But ultimately a relatively enjoyable one.

Dawn of Everlasting Peace by Jacqueline Rayner

Doom’s ongoing search for the Doctor leads her to 3975 Venus. There, she uncovers a plot to undermine the signing of a vital peace treaty. But is Doom’s mission to save the treaty or to prevent it? And what of the mysterious Space Security Service? Why are they here, and what’s their ultimate endgame? For what it is, Dawn of Everlasting Peace a fun romp. Very Classic Who in a way; a bit political, a bit campy. But as the opening of a box set, it’s a weird choice. There’s very little in the way of exposition; instead, you’re just thrust into the middle of Doom’s ongoing adventures. Which, to be fair, isn’t an unreasonable ask as this is the last entry in an ongoing multimedia storyline. But as it’s also the meatiest entry in the Doom’s Day series, you’d want this to be a better starting point.

That being said, once the plot fully kicks into gear, it’s a lot of fun. The disparate elements never fully coalesce into a real whole, but each individual plot is enjoyable enough. The peace treaty plotline has a lot of callbacks to Classic Doctor Who, and the way Doom’s mission brings her into the orbit of this strange, mysterious family proves surprisingly emotional. Put simply, Doom has never felt more alive than she does here. Sooz Kempner breathes such life into the character that it almost makes up for the character’s near-complete lack of development thus far. Kempner’s performance is easily the best thing about this story, and it makes you wish more of Doom’s Day had been audio-only.

Ultimately, Dawn of Everlasting Peace offers a fun, if somewhat unremarkable beginning to this box set. It’s light in advancing Doom’s overarching story, but what it brings to the table is a lot of fun. (7 out of 10)

A Date with Destiny by Robert Valentine

In A Date with Destiny, Doom takes a job in 21st Century England. A job with connections to the Doctor. Her target? Jackie Tyler (Camille Coduri). But there’s a catch, for Jackie Tyler has a date with Destiny (Yasmin Bannerman), and it’s a date she’s not likely to forget. It’s a race against time as Doom and Destiny chase after Jackie. And while Jackie’s longed to be chased after, perhaps this isn’t exactly what she had in mind. A Date with Destiny is pure and simple Doctor Who fluff. It feels very quintessentially 2005 Doctor Who. It’s one of those stories where everything works immensely well. The plot itself is nothing to write home about, but everything clicks into place so well that it’s hard to complain.

By far the best part of this story is the chemistry between Kempner, Coduri, and Bannerman. The three of them deliver such electric performances, full of wit, danger, and charm. Kempner and Banner, especially, throw the kind of zingers at one another that would make the Doctor and the Master quiver with jealousy. Coduri stands her own, though, delivering a really vulnerable performance as Jackie. Big Finish has been doing a lot lately to explore the idea of Jackie’s all-encompassing loneliness during Rose’s travels with the Doctor, and it’s used to great effect here. It just would’ve been nice to see Doom get the kind of character development Jackie gets.

Overall, A Date With Destiny may not be the most substantial entry thus far, but it’s a whole lot of fun. A delightful romp from start to finish, packed with tons of actions, plenty of quips, and a trio of superb performances. It’s easily a highlight of the box set and the Doom’s Day series overall. (8.5 out of 10)

The Howling Wolves of Xan-Phear by Simon Clark

By contrast, The Howling Wolves of Xan-Phear might just be the weakest entry in the box set. Doom arrives on a war-torn planet in search of a Silent. But how can you assassinate your target when you can’t remember anything about them – or if you’ve already killed them? And what role is the Silent playing in this ages-old conflict? It’s up to Doom to unravel the strands of the Silent’s machinations in this society before her time runs out. For Death has nearly caught up to Doom, and she’s got mere hours left to find the Doctor. On the whole, The Howling Wolves of Xan-Phear is just fine. There’s nothing necessarily wrong with it, but there’s nothing all that exciting about it either. In a way, it feels like series 10’s The Eaters of Light – caught between being a character-driven, quasi-historical tale and a more traditionally Doctor Who sci-fi romp.

On the bright side, Clark makes great use of the Silence, really leaning into their more manipulative sides. It’s nice seeing the way they’re willing to manipulate any and all species to get their desires. But on the flip side, the Silent’s plan feels really vague here. They’re a part of the Kovarian chapter and are trying to do something to lure the Doctor to them. But other than that, it’s all just a bit vague. And the same is true for the war, too. It’s all just a bit generic and hard to follow. A statement that could easily be applied to the story as a whole. It’s very ho-hum, and not even Kemplar’s charisma can fully save things. It’s not bad, necessarily; just kind of forgettable.

For what it is, there’s some fun to be had with The Howling Wolves or Xan-Phear. It’s nice to see the Silence in a new setting, but it’s a shame the story does so little with them. (6 out of 10)

The Crowd by Lizzie Hopley

In The Crowd, Doom finds herself in medieval England, hot on the tail of the Doctor (Paul McGann). But once again, he’s not the incarnation she’s looking for. And worse yet, the target she’s been sent to assassinate might be better described as an entire crowd. A force that feeds on tragedy and suffering; a force intrinsically drawn toward Doom. Can she team up with the Doctor and Charley (India Fisher) to take down the Crowd before it’s too late? And can this Doctor finally give her the answers she’s been looking for? It’s Doom’s final hour, and it’s all come down to this. The Crowd is easily the best story of the bunch. It’s as though Doom teleported herself in the middle of a very old-school Eight Doctor/Charley Pollard story – in the best way possible.

Hopley makes great use of Doom in this story, properly contrasting her morals with the Doctor’s. After all, both Doom and the Doctor are trying to stop the Crowd. But the way they go about it clashes in such dramatically delightful ways – and Hopley mines that convergence brilliantly. Kempner and McGann play off of each other wonderfully, too. McGann’s barely-concealed contempt for Doom gives the story a lot of oomph. Why should the Doctor help this character who’s so fundamentally against everything he stands for? It’s the first story where Doom’s felt properly dangerous, too. Doom’s Day has been full of these little moments that keep insisting that Doom is this horrifying, deadly assassin. But this is really the first time any of her stories actually does something with that idea. It’s just a shame Doom still doesn’t have much of a character arc.

Still, The Crowd is a classic Eighth Doctor story in the very best of ways. McGann delivers exactly the kind of performance you’d expect, and his scenes with Kempner give the story a ton of dramatic weight. As the big finale to this box set, it’s hard to ask for anything more. (9.5 out of 10)

Final Thoughts

At the end of the day, Doom’s Day ends exactly the way it began. Like the previous entries, Dying Hours offers a collection of intriguing premises with uneven execution. A Date With Destiny and The Crowd are among the best stories in the entire Doom’s Day event, with Doom feeling more alive than ever before. But Dawn of Everlasting Peace and The Howling Wolves of Xan-Phear are regretfully forgettable. Sooz Kempner is genuinely impressive as Doom, and she easily holds her own against such Doctor Who stalwarts like Coduri and McGann. The problem is that none of these stories, nor the entire Doom’s Day event, give her much to do. She’s just a mystery box, constantly running away from her own death, rather than a true character in her own right. And that makes these stories ring rather hollow.

Still, they’re enjoyable enough as Doctor Who-adjacent tales. A suitable celebration of the show’s 60th anniversary, packed with a ton of easter eggs, cameos, and world-building. It just would’ve been nice if Doom’s Day had remembered to properly prioritize its namesake too.

Doctor Who: Doom’s Day: Dying Hours is available now from Big Finish Productions.