The third part of Big Finish‘s The Havoc of Empires, by Andy Lane, continues with the Doctor being arrested as the guilty saboteur.  Jo and Mike try to assuage the accusation that they’re involved as well.

THE THIRD DOCTOR ADVENTURES, VOL. 1

The Chalnoth see the sabotage as a direct attack against their Regent and want the Doctor executing, but the Teklarn don’t support that as a method of punishment.  The pre-nuptial agreement for the upcoming wedding allows a crime against one side to be the jurisdiction of that side, which leads to heated arguments as the Teklarn purport that they could also have been the target of the sabotage.

The Doctor is tied to a chair, under armed guard, under the watch of an Entropy Clock.  The clock will stop at a random point within the next hour, at which point the guards must execute the Doctor.  Jo has that long to prove his innocence, but she has nowhere to find evidence.

A fleet of Delphon ships enters the sector and approaches the station.  A strange face of many eyes appears on the scanner, but no audio.  No one can communicate with them and, due to the explosive containing Delphon elements, the arrival of the fleet causes much concern.  Are they under attack?

Fortunately, the Doctor has encountered them before and he has a stay of execution whilst he “talks” with them via facial gestures and careful use of eyebrow manoeuvres.  The Delphon claims to be there for peaceful means in support of the upcoming marriage, and the size of the fleet is simply a sign of respect.

During the Doctor’s stay of execution, the Doctor and Jo talk.  The Doctor points out that there must have been something that he touched, that the others didn’t, that accounts for the Delphon chemicals on his hands.  The only thing they can think of is Alex Filton, the real security consultant who they left tied up in the docking bay annex.  Mike is despatched to him, to find out what he may have on his person that the Doctor picked up.

Mike arrives in the annex, but Alex has vanished.  In a locker, however, is another bomb and it explodes, rocking the station and compromising life support.  Panic ensues, and everyone rushes to the escape capsules.

Jo, however, needs to find out if Mike survived.  Her route takes her through the cargo bay where, amongst other things, there’s a cage containing several Atto-Eels – carnivorous creatures with little intelligence.  Further explosions around the station weakens the cage, and the eels break free!

Following on from The Havoc of Empires, part 2, the third episode continues at the same level.  It tries hard to keep the interest up, but it’s a struggle.  As before, this version of Jo Grant isn’t a particularly effective leading lady, and the further side-lining of the Doctor really doesn’t help the episode.  It’s good that the story uses the Delphon (first mentioned in Spearhead from Space on TV), and the explosions builds to a hectic climax, with the eels being the story’s “Chekhov’s gun” to provide an effective cliff-hanger.  However, these elements can’t escape the trappings of the legalese arguing that would work better in a visual medium that would allow the actors to stomp around in melodramatic style to enhance the rather dreary scenes and uninteresting dialogue about endless clauses in the “pre-nuptial agreement”.

Nevertheless, parts 2 and 3 have moved the pawns around the board such that the final episode should be a pretty good finale.  Explosions everywhere, carnivorous eels escaping, Delphon fleets outside, duplicitousness on the side of the aliens (possibly – they do keep trying to lay everything at the feet of the Delphon), the missing saboteur, the bride & groom trapped, and the Doctor still under impending execution when the Entropy Clock restarts.  All the elements are in place, so the ending should be good.