‘THE LAST DAYS’

Please feel free to comment on my review.

The Siege of Masada in Judaea with the First Doctor, Susan, Ian and Barbara

This story called ‘The Last Days’ is by Evan Pritchard. It features the First Doctor, Susan, Ian and Barbara. Evan Pritchard is a pseudonym for Rebecca Levine. Not sure why she credited this story under a pseudonym, but she was an editor on the ‘Virgin New Adventures’ books of ‘Doctor Who’. 🙂

She’s also written several ‘Doctor Who’ stories in prose form under her actual name: Rebecca Levine. ‘The Last Day’ is a pure historical adventure, matching to the atmosphere and tone of the First Doctor era, since the only sci-fi elements in this story are the First Doctor team and the TARDIS.

The story depicts Ian and Barbara separated from the Doctor and Susan, as they become involved in the Siege of Masada, which happened in 74 CE. There are two armies battling each other in this story, including the Jews, led by Eleazar ben Jair, as well as the Romans, led by Lucius Flavius Silva. 😐

As is often the case with certain ‘Doctor Who’ stories, I didn’t know anything about the Siege of Masada before reading this short story. It was intriguing to learn some of the details of what happened and how Ian and Barbara ended up witnessing some devastating events during this siege.

Mind you, I think the story should have included the First Doctor, Ian, Barbara and Vicki instead of the First Doctor, Ian, Barbara and Susan, as there’s a continuity error when Barbara states she was once a slave of the Romans. That occurred in ‘The Romans’, a story set after ‘The Last Days’. Whoops!

‘The Last Days’ rating – 8/10