Written by Alan Barnes
Format: MP3
Bitrate: Variable

This chapter in the story of Charlotte Pollard marks the end of her travels with the Eighth Doctor. (Notice that I specified the EIGHTH doctor.) It begins with Charley saying goodbye to him in Singapore harbor...or at least trying to. The two of them soon get caught up in another adventure. The TARDIS' defense systems strand Charley in the past on a mysterious ship, while the Doctor tries to sort out the mystery of her disappearance on the same ship in the future. This tangle in the web of time becomes more complex when the Cybermen show up...in both time periods.

India Fisher is at the top of her game in this adventure, playing her character to perfection as usual. Paul McGann is equally delightful as the Eighth Doctor, and his scenes with Anna Massey are not to be missed. The story is one of the most clever I've heard with McGann and Fisher. The Cybermen can often come across as one-dimensional characters, but they are used quite expertly in this tale. Unlike many science-fiction stories I've read and heard in my lifetime, this one kept me guessing, and the ending overturned many of the assumptions I had made at the beginning about where the story was going. The tone of this drama is light-hearted yet wistful, since we all know Charley's about to leave...or do we? The mysterious ending of "The Girl Who Never Was" leads right into Charley's first adventure with the SIXTH Doctor, The Condemned (Doctor Who). I highly recommend this volume of the Big Finish series for all Charley fans, as well as those who have never met her.