2020’s season of Doctor Who: Short Trips debuted with The Infinite Today, a Sharon Bidwell-penned story featuring Jo Jones (née Grant) in her Sarah Jane Adventures-era world crusader phase. Jo is trying to fly on an aeroplane to Mexico — yet the flight keeps landing at Gatwick, and no-one other than her seems to think this is strange…
Katy Manning performs this of course, and Katy Manning is a delight of course. As is true of a number of companions, I wasn’t very much impressed by Jo on screen, but Jo’s Big Finish afterlife has made clear that I took for granted that a somewhat poorly written screen character was being fleshed out by a very talented performer. The Infinite Today is no exception; Manning’s reading is energetic and charming, and carries you right along. The story (following on from Death of the Doctor on screen) features the Eleventh Doctor, and Manning brings the warmth these two characters have for each other perfectly.
The plot, honestly, is a bit perfunctory. If you’ve heard a previous Groundhog Day-style time loop story, you’ve heard this one. But really it’s an excuse to hear Manning play a dotty companion and a dotty Doctor, and I for one had a good time.
The Infinite Today (by Sharon Bidwell; read by Katy Manning) was released by Big Finish Productions in January 2020.