Jago and Litefoot S01E02- The Bellova Doll

"A body is found on the Circle Line, wearing full dress uniform. It as identified as Reginald Colevile – a man who was certified dead some six weeks ago! In an attempt to solve the mystery Jago and Litefoot become unwilling bodysnatchers... And thus begins a chain of events that will pit them against killer Bulgars and the mysterious machinations of The Far-Off Travellers Club..."

I really liked this story, for many reasons. The ability to provide very vivid mental images is still with the Jago and Litefoot series, which makes me love this even more.

The concept of a "faraway-travellers club" was quite interesting. I had no idea that it was a suicide club

That Manchester Mangler kind of popped up from no where, and saved the day, in a way. I wish there had been more scenes with him skulking in the background, maybe ordering a drink at the bar, instead of just scenes of Jago in disguise, talking about him.

I am not an expert at music, since I have a failed GCSE in music. But I have a mutual friend, who goes by the name "Doctor Phil" who knows pretty much everything about musical scores possible. [Just a little plug for Doctor Phil.] But I really enjoyed the music in this episode, and the last.

One of my favourite scenes from this episode was when Jago went undercover to a dead mans house, and spoke to the house sitter. He pretended to be foreign, and ended up with all the information he needed. Well done, Henry Gordon Jago.

This story held up the series' great reputation, and I'm hoping to get a story which I can rate "10/10" by the end of the series.

9/10

Jago and Litefoot S01E01- The Bloodless Soldier

"A group of soldiers return from overseas service – but they have brought a terrible evil back with them. As death strikes on the streets of London, Sergeant Quick calls upon the help of Professor Litefoot, while an old enemy lurks in the shadows. Jago and Litefoot are on the trail of the Bloodless Soldier – and tragedy will hit close to them..."

I don't know how it was possible, but I felt so comfortable listening to Jago and Litefoot. It was if they were family, and despite Jagos occasional cowardice, I feel safe from any threat when Jago and Litefoot are around.

I love this story, as it was dark and mysterious, much like the fan favourite story "The Talons of Weing-Chiang." It came to my surprise at first that in the 70's, there were discussions in the BBC to make a Jago and Litefoot spin-off series. I really wish this had happened, because it would have been very enjoyable.

Ellie is quite a good character, and even though this was the first episode of the series, I felt like she was an old friend, because she is so close with the brilliant Henry Gordon Jago and George Litefoot.

It would have been nice to have seen Jago and Litefoot come return in the television series, back in the day. Maybe in the fifth Doctors era. Id I could have chosen, I would have chose the episode to go just before The Fifth Doctors regeneration, so Jago and Litefoot could meet Peri. I can just hear it now! Jago being a Gentleman to the gorgeous Peri, whilst she enjoyed the fashion of the Victorian Era. Meanwhile, the Fifth Doctor could be in the mortuary with Litefoot, studying the body of a man who died with mysterious circumstances...

Anyway, enough of my story pitches, and back to the review.

I could vividly see every single scene in this story. I listened to it by candlelight, which I found improved the story telling immensely. This episode was such a brilliant start to a fantastic series. Big Finish, I owe you my life!

9/10

Doctor Who BF-015 The Mutant Phase

"In the 22nd century, the Daleks have occupied planet Earth. By the 43rd century, only a handful of humans survive. Still further into the distant future, a Thal scientist must choose whether to betray his heritage, or see the universe destroyed."

This fifth Doctor episode featured the Daleks... In Kansas! The Wizard of Oz would have been much better of the wicked witch of the west was being egged on by Daleks.

We started off with a robo-fied Sheriff. I love it when the Doctor goes to America, because he's so incredibly British, for obvious reasons. Any Doctor Who episode set in America is worth a listen!

I really liked it how Nyssa commented on the wasps, when we saw the battle damaged Dalek, then it turned out that this one Dalek resulted in causing a mutation for the whole race. This is why Daleks have casing! I wouldn't have thought the Daleks had developed many antibodies, either. So I suppose one could inject a Dalek with the flu, and just watch it suffer, if one was that way inclined. I also liked the way that the Doctor had to go back in time with an anecdote, so he could prevent a paradox.

If the Doctor had killed a Dalek who killed a man, then that man would still be alive, and if he did something to change history, then it could upset the natural order of time... It's strange how I've been a dedicated Whovian for so long, that I understand all that wibbely wobbly, timey wimey... Stuff.

It's taken a while, but I think that I've slightly warmed up to Nyssa. I really liked her in this. But to be fair, I kind of drifted off during her scenes. I'm not a huge fan, which I think is a shame. I'd love to like her!

The fifth Doctor seems different in the closing scene. His speech sounds very "fourth doctor-ish", when he comments on how the problems in this story were solved by "It's a paradox... It's not meant to make sense."

So, for a fifth Doctor and Nyssa story, this was pretty good. I'd go so far to say that it's fantastic.

9/10

Doctor Who BF-136 Cobwebs

"In search of a cure for a sickness that’s so far claimed six billion lives, scientist Nyssa arrives at an abandoned gene-tech facility on the toxic planet Helheim. ‘Hellhole’, more like."

Cobwebs is a great story, and is most known for being the first new story to feature the fifth Doctor, Tegan, Turlough and Nyssa since 1983.

I liked many elements about "Cobwebs". My favourite where the bodies of the Doctor and his companion, in the mortuary. And most importantly, I loved the concept of EDGAR. EDGAR was the artificial intelligence intersect that was equipped to the station. And, it turns out to be the centre of the problem.

I also liked it how Nyssa asked to be took home, but as we all know, the fifth Doctor doesn't find it easy to take his companions to where they want to go. It took the fifth Doctor four televised attempts to get Tegan home, and this was matched by several attempts to get Nyssa home.

The Doctor claims that this story is set two days after the event of Enlightenment, but for Nyssa, fifty years have passed! I quite like the older Nyssa, she's much more mature, and confident. I'm hoping that I'm on my way to liking Nyssa.

One thing that Big Finish does well is describing actions around the characters, without any narration. How they put images into your mind is fantastic. I can clearly see part of the space station exploding, and the Space station covered in cobwebs. Coincidentally, my favourite line from this episode was when a slightly frightened Nyssa said "You know what Cobwebs mean. Spiders..." because this shows that despite Nyssas newly found confidence (which took her fifty years to obtain. Wibbily wobbily, timey wimey.)

This is certainly a good start to the 2010 Fifth Doctor trilogy. If only the televised adventures were this good...

9/10

Doctor Who- Shada Audio

"The Doctor has a spot of unfinished business. Reunited with his old friends Romana and K9, he answers a summons from Professor Chronotis, a retired Time Lord now living the academic life in a Cambridge college."

The best thing about Shada is that it had that "good classic who" feel to it. Some classic episodes are simple, and clear, with no surprises- such as "The Horns Of Nimon" or "The Gunfighters" but occasionally, you'll get a story that mixes several elements. I'm speaking of such stories like "The Face of Evil", or "City of Death." I always go into a classic who episode looking for these qualities, and with Shada- I was not disappointed. I am looking at it from the perspective that it was intended to be a televised episode, not an actual big finish audio drama.

I have been hopping round the idea of listening to this recreation of Shada for a long time, but I only got round to it recently. And going into it, I was shocked to find that professor Chronotis was actually a time lord! Professor Chronotis was highly entertaining, and he reminded me of my neighbour, who has a room full of old books, and every time you visit, he offers you a cup of tea every two minutes. Thinking about it, he only leaves his house to buy milk... Maybe he could be a time lord!

The only trouble I have with the Shada is that it was never finished production wise when it comes to the television story. All of the really good stuff never got made. Instead, we got the padding about tea, and the lack of milk. We want to see The Doctor on Shada! Or traveling through the vortex trying to get to his TARDIS! Or even the doctor trying to convince the ship that he's dead. It's a shame this was all left to the imagination, but it still resulted in a good audio story. I'm just dissapointed that the late, great Douglas Adams' story never made it to television.

Professor Chronotis, Chris Parsons and his beautiful friend Clare Keightley made really good secondary characters, who I enjoyed seeing aid the Doctor. Even if they did mess everything up by stealing that damn book!

I quite like the idea of the eighth Doctor going back to Gallifrey to get Romana and K9, and then going back to the incident at hand. It's just a shame that it was the only big ammendent to the script. It was a few minutes in the beginning, but we needed a scene of Gallifrey towards the end, of the Doctor and Romana discussing how time is back on track.

In conclusion, I haven't got many critisisms for this story, as Douglas Adams is a hero of mine, who's way with words was (thankfully) much better then his way he dealt with deadlines.

Douglas Adams- the Classic Who version of Steven Moffat. Rest in peace, Adams.

9/10

Doctor Who BF-104 Bride of Peladon

"A mysterious voice, a missing girl and a murdered queen. The Royal House of Peladon is once more plunged into intrigue, terror and death. The Doctor, Peri and Erimem must find their way through a treacherous labyrinth of lies if they are to distinguish friend from foe before it is too late."

I've always been a big fan of Peladon. Jon Pertwee was my Classic Doctor, so I followed in his footsteps by matching his love of Peladon.

This was my first introduction of Erimem as a companion, and it was also her leaving story. But it got me hooked onto the Erimem story line. I am currently working my way through it. But knowing what I know now, I'm glad Erimem finally got to rule over people, as their queen.

I'm glad to know that Peladon is still part of the galactic federation. Even if they believe that earth is only helping Peladon to get involved in their mining. To be honest, I probably wouldn't trust human beings with authority, either. And I'm human! [Well, half human- on my mothers side.]

I thank Big Finish for bringing Aggedor back. And I am so happy they did a reference to "My Doctor" by making the fifth Doctor hum the tune that settles Aggedor. Oh! And I loved the idea of baby Aggedors. They sounded nice enough, anyway. I'm sure we'll have a future story set on Peladon revolving around them. Hopefully involving the Sixth Doctor.

Peri was also fantastic in this story. Her final line was my favourite in the whole episode. It was "When I leave you, Doctor. I can promise you one thing- it won't be so I can marry some alien king." (Which, for those new Whovians- is exactly what happened. In the television story "The Trial of a Time Lord" Peri left to marry an alien king. A rather large one...) The power to foreshadow things is one of Big Finish's greatest qualities.

In conclusion, this episode was awesome. The king, Peri, Erimem, and the Doctor all played to their strengths, which made this storyline work.

9/10

Doctor Who BF-146 The Heroes of Sontar

"Planet Samur was once a peaceful haven. Pilgrims journeyed across the seven galaxies to meditate in the courtyards of the vast Citadel that spanned its equator. It was Samur’s misfortune, however, to find itself situated on the furthermost frontier in the eternal war between the amoeboid Rutan Host and the belligerent, troll-like Sontarans…"

Nyssa! Tegan! Turlough! The Fifth Doctor! SONTARANS!

This episode had too much awesome to be “just another” story.  I remember coming across it on the Big Finish website when I was purchasing “City of Spires” from the Big Finish website. I remember pre-ordering this story and waiting with excitement for it to arrive.

Not only is this the first time that the Fifth Doctor meets the Sontarans, but it’s also the first time the Sontarans have featured in a Big Finish production. The Sontarans have finally met their match with the Fifth Doctor, who confuses them with his precise knowledge of Military Law. I liked it how the Sontarans were still angry about the “Gallifrey incident” from the Invasion of Time.

I personally think that the Sontarans were underused in classic Who. The writers at Big Finish apparently agree with me, since they brought them back in such an epic way.

I think of myself as a very proud Whovian. But even from the television series, I never knew that Turlough was such a coward! And more importantly, why has Doctor Who never had another character like him? The concept is fantastic! We’ve already had the heroic Captain Jack Harkness from the new series, why can’t we have a new coward?

The revelation that Nyssa is now married, with children was an unexpected one. Her children are named Adric and Tegan, which was a nice touch. I think the older Nyssa is much better than the younger version. Mostly because she is more confident. I have been trying to give Nyssa a chance, since friends of mine, and fellow whovians (Keith Miles, Shaun Collins, Glenn Bartlett, hosts from the Traveling the Vortex podcast- on iTunes) are huge fans of Nyssa and the fifth Doctor. I’m not much of a fan of her younger self, to be completely honest. But I’m willing to give a few more of her episodes a listen, to see if she really is the brilliant companion that others see her as.

In conclusion, this story was fantastic. It’s very nearly the perfect big finish story, in my opinion. mine, and fellow whoviansveling the Vortex podcast- on itunes)ch was

9/10

Doctor Who BF-025 Colditz

"As World War Two draws towards its conclusion, a Nazi defeat begins to seem almost inevitable. But that might be about to change..."
Colditz is a great story. I am a huge fan of Nazi stories, as I’ve studied the Nazis from a young age, because I have always been fascinated by them. So as you’ve probably guessed, I love it when they are in Doctor Who. I think the thing I like most about Nazi stories is the fact that the Doctor has complete opposite views to them. And the contrast is enjoyable.

Similar to my review of “Eye of the Scorpion”, I’m going to get this part out of the way. But Ace… Is really hot. She’s awesome, strong willed, and attractive. Everything a companion of the Doctors should be. But I’ll admit, I never in my life time thought I’d hear David Tennant tell Ace to “Take off [her] clothes and put them in the bag.” Ok, the fan boy moment is over.

David Tennants performance was brilliant. I didn’t actually know it was David Tennant until episode two, where he turns a little bit too Scottish for a Nazi. The ending made me feel terribly sorry for Davids character, Kurtz. No one deserves to have the same fate he had.

Klein is also a fantastic character. After listening to “Colditz” I jumped ahead to “A thousand Tiny Wings”, “Survival of the fittest” and “The Architects of History” to hear the conclusion to this story. I’ll try not to give too much away, because I’ll review these three stories later. But let’s just say- I wasn’t disappointed.

My favourite moment from this episode is the ending, when Ace decides that after the events she witnessed at Colditz, that she will now be known as Dorothy Shane. This makes me want to listen to the next story in the Seventh Doctor and Ace big finish line (The Rapture) Which I hope I’ll enjoy.

In conclusion, this story may be a brilliant start to a change in dynamic of the seventh doctor and Ace. Only time will tell!

9/10