Care is. Or, as it's written, C'rizz. He parts ways with The Doctor in this 2007 audio drama.

Some Dr Who audio dramas from Big Finish have easily-named ingredients; Absolution is very much tailored from whole cloth. There are no returning enemies, no familiar places, just a barely-televised Doctor and his travel machine. Like 'Edwardian adventuress' Charley Pollard, C'rizz the person was created within the Big Finish format – but his very species was also dreamt up here.

At its most basic, C'rizz is a misplaced member of a religious order. Across the stories, invisible ties are revealed that bind him to a way of life in his past that he never truly escapes. In this adventure we see the physical, the spiritual and the monstrous overlap in fantastic ways.

At the start we're shown a fortress beseiged by wretched, infernal forces outside its walls. Within, there exists an illusion of stability that immediately begins to dissolve. This is is mirrored in the conclusion to the personal journey that C'rizz has made.

I've been highly critical of C'rizz; so drawn was I into the story of Charley's unrequited love for the Doctor that this odd lizard/insect/whatever seemed to me a bit of a distraction. In this serial, it's suggested that The Doctor never really connected much with the colour-changing Eutermesan. It's perhaps a tribute to C'rizz that the story is so honest about that.

Maybe it couldn't have happened any other way. C'rizz suffered some rather serious trauma at the start of his travels with the Doctor and hardened his shell against everyone outside. He visited a number of worlds in time and space and let his light shine on many occasions. But he carried himself at a certain distance throughout. My apologies must go to Conrad Westmaas and co. that I never truly warmed to his character but perhaps also kudos – for bringing something truly original to my ears.  (play trailer)