Doctor Who Companion Chronicles 3-07 The Transit of Venus

"The year is 1770, and daring explorer Captain James Cook and his crew on the Endeavour are navigating the Pacific Ocean."

I am a huge fan of Ian Chesterton. The first great hero in Doctor Who.

It's brilliant to get new adventures with the first Doctor. I wish there was more "companion chronicles" stories featuring him. It's a shame that the actress who played Barbara passed away so young, because I would have loved to hear her alongside Ian in some audio dramas.

So, the first Doctor runs into Captain James Cook in the year 1770, whilst he is on his journey to discover Australia. I really liked the other crew members, and how Ian helped Banks, the scientist, since Ian himself was a Science teacher back in 1963. And I enjoyed Ian's speech, when he said "Banks didn't realise that there's no infinite amount of creatures in this world." Since Banks did tests without care of the creatures.

The Doctor should run into more time travellers. It's a good concept, and I don't think it's been used enough. The only time travellers I can think have met the doctor whilst traveling solo, with no relation to him- has been the brilliant Captain Jack Harkness. But the Doctor at first insists that Banks isn't a time traveler, and the poem he quoted may have been made by Banks during Cooks' journey.

This is the second time the First Doctor has joined a famous traveler and went along with them. The first being in one of my favourite first Doctor stories- "Marco Polo", and the second being this journey alongside Captain James Cook.

Ian really does take on the role of the Doctor, in the first Doctors era. He stands up for what is right, and his actions are wise, and time-lord-like. He also has great banter with the crew, like when Cook asked Ian: "What are men compared to knowledge?" and Ian replied with: "What's the use of knowledge if there are no men to share it?"

Banks really surprised me when he pushed Ian overboard. I didn't see it coming. But if this was a new series adventure, with the eleventh Doctor, Amy and Rory, then it would have been the Doctor who was pushed overboard. It's strange how much can change over fifty years...

I didn't know of Joseph Banks before this audio, did he really recommend that prisoners were to be transported to Botany Bay, in Australia? I don't know. But if he did, then it looks like Doctor Who has returned to its educational objectives, just like in 1963!

The result that Barbara and Susan were speaking through Banks was a brilliant conclusion, and I really enjoyed this story. I'd recommend it to any Classic Whovian.

7/10

Doctor Who Subscriber-Only Stories-06 Return of the Krotons

"The dead planet Onyakis is being plundered by the last survivors of the human race, and their leader, Commander Cobden, will stop at nothing to get what he wants. Already there are rumours of those who stand against him mysteriously disappearing. But when the Sixth Doctor and Charley find themselves on the side of those trying to expose Cobden, they discover something far more sinister."

Charley and the Sixth Doctor are so great together. The more audios I listen to them in, the more I enjoy Charley. I didn't like the bits of her I've seen in the eighth Doctor audios. But I do know she's from the 1930's, and she's with the Doctor much earlier on in his timeline.

Charley has some fantastic lines, such as- "I don't think I've ever been to the moon." But it turns out not to be the moon, because it's too purple.

I recently watched "The Krotons" because my friends and fellow Whovians [Keith Miles, Shaun Collins and Glenn Bartlett, hosts of the Traveling the Vortex podcast on itunes] were reviewing it. So I was ready and excited to see the Krotons again. The reference of "The Teaching Scene" brought me back to the televised story. It's good to see things with more detail.

All life on earth was destroyed centuries ago, apparently. So the solar flares have devastated earth, and people have hopped onto colony ships. The government had quite a good idea going with the "Nerva colony ship", they put everyone to sleep, planning to wake them up again when earth was safe. But it turns out, Nerva wasn't the only colony ship that held "the future generations of humanity." It turns out that this "Euro" company was doing it for economic reasons.

I loved the image I had in my head of the Doctor and Charley talking to the leader of the colony ships. I could just see the Sixth Doctor waving and shouting. This is a great quality to have in an audio, and it proves that Big Finish have done well.

The Krotons are great villains, and Big Finish have done a good job of bringing them back. I would have loved this to have been a Doctor Who televised story. But only if it was made now, instead of in the 1980's... Just with a younger Colin Baker...

I'm glad the Doctor recognised the Kroton teaching machines. It was also a nice touch how the Doctor even recognised the look in the Captains eyes, but he wasn't able to identify the species.

It also seems like the Doctor has went back to his old coat. He is much more colourful according to the story cover. I think its good how he still switches between the blue coat and the "clown" coat.

I really liked it when the Doctor and Charley were made to sit at the teaching machine, because they were "The class swots"- according to the Doctor. They soon realised that there was one Kroton that was different to the others, because it was a recently developed crew member.

The thing is with Doctor Who- no matter what they do, I enjoy it. [Well, within reason.] I enjoy it when the Doctor rides a giant flying alien around, so he can save Charley. But I also love it when he just drives a security car across a space station. No matter what the Doctor does, it's fantastic. I just wish that the class television series had a bigger budget, so they could achieve some of the things used in the audios.

But when this story came to a close, my opinion hadn't changed since the start. This is quite a good story. The sixth doctor and Charley were great, it was good to see a return of the Krotons, and the pacing of the story was great. Definitely worth a listen.

7/10

Doctor Who Fourth Doctor Adventures S01E02- The Renaissance Man

"To continue Leela’s education, the Doctor promises to take her to the famous Morovanian Museum. But the TARDIS lands instead in a quiet English village, where they meet the enigmatic collector Harcourt and his family."

The Doctor talks to a dog. This bit was so funny, and such a Fourth Doctor thing to do! His brilliant line "Who's calling me scruffy?" shortly after that scene was also hilarious. In the first scene, I just knew this story was better that Destination: Nerva.

This story has many good points. Someone who steals the knowledge of others is bound to make a good Doctor Who story. The fourth doctor was written perfectly in everything he did, and Leela was fierce, yet ready to learn. Qualities taken directly from the television series.

When the Doctor was talking about one person in human creation who they had no record of, and described him as "Churchill's best man", etc. I was sat there thinking "Ok, I've studied world war two my whole life. Surely I would have come across at least one mention of him?" But I eventually put it down to my own ignorance, and continued listening. When it was revealed that that guy never existed, faith restored itself regarding my knowledge.

Leela seems very trained in the weapons. It sounds like she is loading a revolver. But where would she learn how to load a revolver? They didn't have them in "The Face of Evil."

I enjoyed the Cluedo elements to this story, and the fact that no one could see the cameras in every room. And I liked how "Knowledge had no sense of perspective." Another thing I enjoyed was how Leela referred to the police as "The Blue Guards."

I was a bit confused about how all the facts and artefacts were appearing about the place. I knew it was related to the Doctor, but I couldn't put my finger onto the exact details. But of course, I was satisfied with the conclusion.

I wasn't a huge fan of "Destination: Nerva." But I preferred it to this episode. This a good listen, but I'm still hoping that the Fourth Doctor adventures will get better.

7/10

Doctor Who BF-156 The Curse of Davros

“It's been a year since Philippa 'Flip' Jackson found herself transported by Tube train to battle robot mosquitoes on a bizarre alien planet in the company of a Time Lord known only as 'the Doctor'."

A great story, and a brilliant addition to the sixth doctors big finish range. I went into this knowing that the sixth doctor was “my” doctor, and that it would be entertaining no matter how the story was. My hopes for this story was fulfilled. I had my suspicions that something was up with the Doctor from the first episode, when he didn’t recognise Flip. But I quickly put it down to the fact that he’s lived for a long time, so he may have just forgotten about her. The cliff hanger of episode 2 really did take me by surprise, when it was revealed that the Doctor and Davros had switched minds.

Was Napoleon really THAT good a leader? Why did Davros choose Napoleon, when he had the choice of Churchill, maybe Hitler- or even a Sontaran strategist? I’ll put this down to big finish wanting an episode with Napoleon in it, and the writer (Jonathan Morris) just accommodated to their wishes.

There was some things that I was shocked at, in this story. Just small things- such as how the upper-half of Davros’ casing was light enough for Flip to lift. What exactly is it made of? I would have thought that it would have been thick, heavy, bullet proof casing. But Flip didn’t sound like she was struggling with it at all. I suppose it could just be light-weight dalektanium…

I’m not a big fan of flip. I barely remember her from her first appearance (The Crimes of Thomas Brewster) the only scene I remember her from is when she is stuck on a train, with her boyfriend and the wonderful Evelyn Smythe. But she seems to be too young. The sixth Doctor now officially has had the oldest human companion the doctor has ever travelled with (Evelyn Smythe) and the youngest companion. (Flip)

I’ll do a review of the sixth doctors big finish run, soon, and take a look at why the sixth doctor is used an experiment for different companions.  I only hope that “The Fourth Wall” is good, which would mean the sixth doctor had had yet another successful year of big finish. Fingers crossed!

In conclusion, “The Curse of Davros” is a decent story, but Flip brings it down. But it’s slightly better than average, in all fairness.

7/10