THE BIG PICTURE
- Jo Martin’s Fugitive Doctor returns in the upcoming Big Finish audio drama, Once and Future: Coda .
- The Fugitive Doctor’s addition to the Doctor Who franchise sparked the controversial Timeless Child arc.
- Martin’s performance was praised during Season 12.
As per Radio Times, fans of Jo Martin‘s Fugitive Doctor can rejoice, with official news stating that her character will return to the franchise as she makes her Big Finish audio debut in the upcoming “Once and Future: Coda – The Final Act”. Big Finish’s 60th Anniversary celebrations have been taken to new heights with this news, as their eighth and final chapter begins to take shape. Tim Foley‘s full-cast drama will pit two of Doctor Who‘s most intriguing Time Lord incarnations together, with Martin’s Fugitive Doctor and The War Doctor, voiced by Jonathon Carley. An official synopsis for the upcoming audio drama reads:
“Dealing with the repercussions of degeneration, the Doctor has a limited window of time to evade capture, recruit old allies, wage a war, and find out what’s really going on. A warrior is being hunted by a mysterious stranger in a TARDIS. A rogue agent has been assigned a mission to eliminate a dangerous foe. This is a fight between a war criminal and a fugitive. A fight between Doctors.”
The Fugitive Doctor’s Addition to the Franchise Began a Controversial Storyline
Martin officially made her debut on Doctor Who back in the Season 12 episode, “Fugitive of the Judoon.” However, at first, she was only known as Ruth and was seemingly just the unfortunate collateral of another dastardly alien attack. As the episode unfolded, her identity became more mysterious, with it slowly becoming apparent there was more to her than first thought. This exploded into life when The Doctor (Jodie Whittaker) discovered another TARDIS buried in the ground, with Ruth’s memories of her previous life coming flooding back. Alas, Ruth was actually a previous incarnation of The Doctor, altering the show’s canon in an instant.
This massive revelation would soon turn into the “Timeless Child” arc, a season-long plot thread that would eventually reveal that The Doctor is not actually a Time Lord, and was the single catalyst for the race’s entire existence. To make such a stark and shattering change to the canon upset many viewers, although with time has come acceptance for some. Nevertheless, whether viewers enjoyed the storyline or not, Martin’s performance was almost unanimously praised, with her upcoming reprisal of the role ready to top off Big Finish’s 60th Anniversary celebrations in style.
Jo Martin’s Fugitive Doctor has been confirmed to return to the franchise in the upcoming audio drama, “Once and Future: Coda – The Final Act”. You can catch up with the most recent season of Doctor Who right now on Disney+.
