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Exotron and Urban Myths is one of those Big Finish double-features that feels like two entirely different species of Doctor Who story awkwardly handcuffed together for a weekend retreat. On one side you’ve got Exotron, a proper classic-style colony sci-fi with the Doctor and Peri in fine form, and on the other, Urban Myths, which is basically a dinner party full of CIA Time Lords playing Guess Who with genocide. It’s tonal whiplash, but let’s be polite and start with the one that actually works.
Exotron drops the Doctor and Peri into a human colony where the locals are all obsessed with these big robotic creatures called Exotrons — which, naturally, are being used for “defence” but actually exist to kick off an interspecies bloodbath. There’s an aggressive indigenous species that seems to lose its mind around the machines, and if you’ve seen literally any science fiction since the 1960s, you’ll know exactly where this is going. That said, predictability isn’t always fatal, and here it’s dressed up with surprisingly strong worldbuilding. The colonists feel real, ground-down by the bureaucracy of a sprawling Earth Empire that can’t even spell “empathy,” and the central married couple — the scientist and the commander — have enough emotional wreckage between them to keep things interesting.
It’s basically a space divorce drama featuring killer robots. You can feel the echoes of Avatar and Forbidden Planet humming in the background, but it works because everyone involved plays it completely straight. There’s even a few nice emotional beats toward the end that almost make you forget how painfully inevitable the “the monsters were right all along” twist is. It’s solid, if not revolutionary — a warm cup of mid-tier Who comfort soup.
Urban Myths, on the other hand, is more like being trapped in a restaurant with Time Lords who won’t stop talking about themselves. The whole thing is framed as a dinner conversation among Celestial Intervention Agency agents (the Gallifreyan equivalent of secret police with better robes) reminiscing about how the Doctor supposedly murdered an entire planet. Turns out, not so much — there was a rage virus, memory distortion, and everyone’s recollection of events is a little off, like a Rashomon experiment performed by people who’ve never been outside. It’s meant to be clever, but mostly it’s just talky and inert. There’s no bite to it, no real perspective beyond “oh, wasn’t that weird?” It’s the kind of story that’s technically fine but emotionally empty.
Final thoughts:
Exotron is a sturdy, slightly old-fashioned sci-fi morality tale done well enough to justify the listen. Urban Myths feels like an extended post-credits scene for people who really like Gallifrey politics.
Rating:
Exotron – 3.5 out of 5 angry space robots
Urban Myths – 2 out of 5 misremembered dinner parties.