Doctor Who BF123d - Doctor Who - Mary's Story

"Switzerland, 1816: at the Villa Diodati, Lord Byron's house guests tell each other tales to curdle the blood and quicken the beatings of the heart. With a monster on the loose outside, young Mary Shelley isn't short of inspiration."

Finally we get to see some Mary Shelly. At first, I was confused to why the Doctor had turned up at Mary Shelly's place of resident, in the state he was in.

It was nice to be as confused as a companion for once. I genuinely had no idea what the Doctor was talking about as fist. I was so confused at the start, because I had no idea why the Doctor looked the way he did. But I was satisfied with the explanation.

I thought that this was a prequel to the eighth Doctor and Mary Shelly adventures. For both of them. But this is the future eighth doctor, who's already experienced the "Cybermen, and Axons" with Shelly. This was an interesting thing to do, Big Finish. Very clever.

The "Frankenstein" story line was really good. If these events had happened, then I could see how Mary Shelly would base her book off it. Although, Shelly should have included the "Bigger on the inside" thing. Would have made the book tons times better.

When the present version of the Eighth Doctor arrived, I was very excited about it. "But this just means the Doctor becomes a monster, in the future... Destroyed beyond his ability to regenerate." But the TARDIS and the lightning restored him, because he landed there in a previous life.

The Doctor referred to Mary's husband, Percy as an "Idiot." And Mary told us all about her soap opera of a life. I would have thought that Mary Shelly would have had more of a comfortable life. But I guess this is before she wrote her books.

The Doctor reboots the TARDIS with a small green crystal. In my head, this was the same crystal as the one used in the new series adventure "The Rise of the Cybermen." Nothing suggests otherwise, so that's what it is.

The conversation between the two versions of the same Doctor was highly entertaining. The voices seemed different, for some reason. They bickered, and it made me think- there should be a time travel law that states: "If two versions of the same time lord bump into each other, then the older version will take the reigns, and be in charge."

The ending was fantastic. It was brilliant to hear the Doctor say "remember, Frankenstein is the name of the monster. NOT the name of the Doctor." Which in regards to the book, it's the other way round. It's an interesting twist on things.

A great story, worth a listen. Definitely listen to it if you're following the Eighth Doctor 2012 range. It's the start to what I hope will be a trilogy of great adventures. Here's hoping!

8/10