The Doctor, Romana and newly elected President Sheridan Moorkurk take on the all-consuming powers of business tycoon Cuthbert and his vast Conglomerate. But the situation goes beyond a struggle for political power. Cuthbert is intent on revenge on creatures he feels have attacked his interests. But when his revenge looks like leading to inter-species war, the Doctor knows the stakes couldn't be higher.

In “The Sands of Life”, The Doctor and Romana found themselves in the middle of an impending war between humanity and aliens called the Laan.  While the Laan were arriving on Earth in the belief that they were returning to their breeding grounds, the unique nature of their connection to the time-space continuum made it very clear that they were in the wrong place.  Unfortunately, the Laan are less than willing to listen to reason, as they are more concerned with the hostile actions of the Conglomerate, driven by Cuthbert, the company’s mysterious CEO.

As one would expect of the action-packed conclusion to this mini-arc, the balance between conversation and strategy with the need to portray the conflict is just as hard to find as it was in the previous installment.  I think they did a better job of it in this production, however, as the vast majority of the focus is on The Doctor’s efforts to coordinate some kind of semi-diplomatic solution.

The plot elements related to the Laan and this particular crisis are well-constructed, and everything comes together sensibly.  This is very much a classic Doctor Who story, in which some very big science-fiction concepts are handled with a relatively limited set of resources, yet it never seems to matter.  Yet the drama ultimately comes down to the power struggle between the corporate power of the Conglomerate and the upstart President Moorkurk.

There’s no small amount of paternalism on the part of Cuthbert and his open lack of respect for Moorkurk.  He doesn’t just make it about the people voting for a President that led a platform against his interests; it’s also about an older, powerful male challenging a young woman on her authority.  This presents an interesting contrast to the more subtle power exchanges between The Doctor and Romana.  In the end, the problem can only be resolved by Romana and Moorkurk, which is a very nice touch.

It also serves to set up, rather convincingly, any future tensions between Cuthbert and Moorkurk that will arise in the remainder of this “season” of the Fourth Doctor Adventures.  That sort of continuity is always welcome, especially given that there is a massive amount of meta-continuity between the novels and the Big Finish audiodrama material as it is.  I’m often shocked by how so much “non-canon” material is fashioned to be internally consistent, even as it labors to integrate into the ever-evolving narrative of the television series.  It makes the efforts towards internal consistency in the Star Trek novels seem simple by comparison!

Another question is raised in the grander scheme of things: just who is Cuthbert?  It’s strongly hinted that he is someone unusual, if not someone already known within the Who mythos, so I’m hoping that one of the intentions of this “season arc” is to answer that question.  Having an ongoing mystery is a boon for several reasons, not the least of which is the ability to bring back guest cast on the order of David Warner and Hayley Atwell.

Released: March 2013
Price: $8.99 (download version)
Acquisition method: Big Finish website