❉ Redacted is still as new and exciting as it was on the release of the first episode all those weeks ago, writes Andrew Creak.
“After a few weeks away from the writers’ chair we welcome back Juno Dawson, this time co-writing with Ajoké Ibironke. With the series being Dawson’s baby, it’s great to hear her writing style again after a few weeks, with the addition of Ibironke who is now the fourth writer to join the Redacted world.“
We are almost three quarters of the way through Redacted, can you believe it! After last weeks emotional ending, let’s see what Juno Dawson has in store for us listeners this episode.
After Abby left to join UNIT, Cleo and Shawna listen to an advert for a group called requiem, a group for people who are missing people who no one else remembers, leading Shawna to believe it’s connected to their investigations, the advert also mentions the Doctor, through Shawna still doesn’t know who this is, despite Cleo constantly telling her.
Abby and Cleo talk over the phone, Cleo is still angry at Abby for her choice to abandon them for UNIT. The call ends abruptly when Cleo demands changes and saying they can’t be friends if this is what she wants to do.
Cleo and Shawna attend a video call as part of the Requiem group, the host insists on being anonymous, the host mentions a she, though corrects the pronoun to it, could she be referring to the Doctor?
Several of the participants discuss their stories of the people they have lost, and are slowly forgetting. Something which has been a common theme throughout this series. We even hear a redaction during the call as a participant is redacted from the world as she tells of her son who she can’t remember at all.
Osgood and Abby listen to a disturbance that has been amplified, and sounds like screaming. The monitors say there is nothing there, by there is the shape of a person, Osgood suggests it’s a ghost. Abby wants Osgood to stop the tests as she fears whatever is this figure is is being hurt by these tests.
On the Requiem call, the time has come for Shawna to open up. She hasn’t lost anyone in the redacted sense, but she talks about Abby. She talks about how the “space cops” lied to them, and how Abby choosing UNIT over their friends hurts.
It’s Cleo’s turn but she wants to ask about the photo Mohammed’s wall, but Cleo is the only one who can see him, hazy, but still there. Shawna is worrying about Cleo, Shawna insist that there was no one in Mohammed’s room, so she lists down the names of those who are still there.
By the end of Cleo talking, all the other members have been redacted. The list of names that Cleo has written has disappeared too. Cleo believes the host is the cause of the disappearings, and declares she’s coming for them, there is a disturbance, when suddenly the doctor’s voice can be heard, warning Cleo not to touch the ghosts.
After a few weeks away from the writers’ chair we welcome back Juno Dawson, this time co-writing with Ajoké Ibironke. With the series being Dawson’s baby, it’s great to hear her writing style again after a few weeks, with the addition of Ibironke who is now the fourth writer to join the Redacted world.
With only three episodes left in this series, I did feel we would start to know more than we currently do, and having seen a review warning of spoilers due to major plot points, I was a tad disappointed with the revelations in last Sunday’s episode.
But, that being said, we did get to learn more about what’s going wrong. This Requiem organisation would seem to be behind the disappearances, or is this just a red herring to lead us listeners down the wrong path? That’s one thing that’s exciting about this series, we are given little nuggets of information and suggestions, allowing us (like The Blue Box Files gang) to piece together our own conspiracy theory about what is going on in the whoniverse.
And in regards to Requiem, I felt I had heard the voice before, it was both new and familiar, and then a friend suggested a theory to me, that would perfectly explain why their camera was turned off: could the host of the Requiem call be a certain lesbian lizard from the dawn of time?
And this description of a hazy, ghost-like being could lead us into thinking perhaps this is the Cybus Cybermen once again trying to break through from the void, but let’s be real this is very unlikely to be the case.. another red herring perhaps? Dawson knows that us Doctor Who fans like to grasp at straws when it comes to theories!
After some action-packed episodes with the Angels, being kidnapped, and learning about UNIT, this episode did feel less exciting, but was still a thrill to listen to, as has been the case with all seven episodes thus far.
Redacted is still as new and exciting as it was on the release of the first episode all those weeks ago, and it’s sad that we are slowly approaching it’s end.
My prediction is that next week’s episode will be the most exciting yet, with a cliffhanger that leads us into the start of the climax of the story. With only around an hour of content left to come, will this story lead us to a satisfying and outstanding conclusion? I truly believe it will, with such talents as Dawson and producer/director extraordinaire Ella Watts, how could we expect any less?
❉ ‘Doctor Who: Redacted’ is available to listen for free on BBC Sounds app and transcripts for those who are hard of hearing can be found on the ‘Doctor Who: Redacted’ webpage. Main cast: Cleo Proctor – Charlie Craggs, Abby McPhail – Lois Chimimba, Shawna Thompson – Holly Quin-Ankrah. Written by Juno Dawson. Produced by Ella Watts. Directed by Ella Watts and James Robinson. Executive Producer: James Robinson. A BBC Studios Production for BBC Sounds.
❉ Andrew Creak is a freelancer in TV and Film production based in South Wales. As well as this they are a producer director in their own right through their production company Third Time Lucky Productions. Follow them on Twitter: @AndrewCreak
