Jo Martin’s Fugitive Doctor finally makes her long-awaited Big Finish Doctor Who audio drama debut, with the task of hunting down one of her future incarnations in a multi-Doctor adventure. Martin’s Doctor made her television debut during season 12 in “Fugitive of the Judoon,” where Jodie Whitaker’s Thirteenth Doctor uncovers her long-lost incarnation hiding as a human in modern England. The Fugitive Doctor is an incarnation who existed before William Hartnell’s First Doctor as an operative of the clandestine Time Lord organization Division, conducting covert and secretive missions to ensure Gallifreyan dominance before her defection.
Over two years after Martin was confirmed to be reprising her Doctor Who role for Big Finish, the company has revealed her first audio drama as part of a conclusion to their 60th-anniversary storyline, Once and Future. While the younger War Doctor (Jonathon Carley) resolved the mystery surrounding his degeneration condition, Once and Future: Coda – The Final Act sees the Time Lord hunted by the Fugitive Doctor for unknown reasons. Martin will be joined in her Big Finish debut by not only Carley but also Lisa Bowerman and Chase Masterson as Big Finish regulars Bernice Summerfield and Vienna Salvatori.
Could Once and Future Set Up The Fugitive Doctor’s Big Finish Status Quo?
There Are Still A Lot Of Questions About The Fugitive Doctor.
With her coming face to face with her later militaristic incarnation, it is clear the Fugitive Doctor’s debut may become one of Big Finish’s most highly anticipated titles of 2024.
While much of the Fugitive Doctor’s life is wrapped in mystery, it brings delight to see Martin reprise her role and expand upon the few details that were given during the Thirteenth Doctor’s era. Currently, the Fugitive Doctor’s sole physical appearance has been her debut story, with her others either being memories or holographic/mental duplicates. Furthermore, her few expanded media appearances have been set closer to the events of “Fugitive of the Judoon,” leaving much of her time on Earth unexplored.
As such, Once and Future: Coda – The Final Act could establish the status quo for Martin’s long-awaited Doctor Who audio drama line. The description seemingly establishes her as under the Division’s command, suggesting her audio dramas will indeed be focused on her career as an agent in their earlier releases. Her latest adventure ahead of her appearance in “Fugitive of the Judoon” is the comic miniseries Origins, which tells the story of the assignment that would ultimately lead to her defection and self-imposed exile to Earth, meaning an audio drama series could explore the events leading to her disillusionment with the Time Lord’s ways.
While many elements of Chris Chibnall’s tenure as Doctor Who showrunner were met with controversy, further exploration of story beats, such as the cataclysmic Flux event and the Timeless Child prophecy, have been more warmly received. As such, there is anticipation to see Martin’s Doctor receive a similar expansion to fully flesh out her story. With her coming face to face with her later militaristic incarnation, it is clear the Fugitive Doctor’s debut may become one of Big Finish’s most highly anticipated titles of 2024.
Doctor Who: Once and Future: Coda – The Final Act releases on Big Finish’s website in November, while Martin’s Doctor Who television appearances can be found through Max’s Doctor Who collection.