Doctor Who BF-011 The Apocalypse Element

"When the planet Archetryx is threatened by a Dalek assault squad, the Sixth Doctor and Evelyn become embroiled in an ever-deepening mystery. What has become of President Romana, missing for twenty years? What lurks in the vast gravity wells of Archetryx? What is the secret of the ancient element the Daleks are synthesising -- and how does Gallifrey feature in their plans?"

Romana trapped for over 20 years, on a planet disappeared from time... That was such an interesting  concept, and I looked forward to the Doctor and friends trying to find out where its gone... But suddenly it appears. I'll admit, I liked it how it was. It kept the pace going, and was entertaining.

I loved how the planet was a mix of several other invasion attempts. The planet was piloted from the core, it's mass was less, so it had been mined, etc. Great elements.

And, of course, I love the character of Evelyn. I felt like I didn't see enough of her in this story, after seeing so much of her in "The Marian Conspiracy." But I also would have been disappointed if we had any less of the Doctor or Romana. A brilliant cast, well done Big Finish!

Glad to have Romana back, she is such a great character. The banter between the sixth doctor and Romana was as good as it was with the Fourth Doctor. We also saw the return of the eye of harmony. It was on the Doctors TARDIS during the TV, my theory is that he took it from Gallifrey in his seventh incarnation, by order of a Time Lord who foreseen the Time War, or something.

I also like it how the rod and sash of Rassilon were used to aid the opening of the eye of Harmony. I chuckled when the Doctor said: "You'd need everything down to the poka-dot pyjamas of Rassilon!"

One thing I was confused about was- where's Leela? Leela is human, so she would have been able to open doors using the retinal scan! It would have been good to hear her alongside the Sixth Doctor, but we did get that again in Jago and Litefoot Series 4, so I suppose it's not too bad.

Yet another perfect Big Finish story.

10/10

[Oh, and as I'm writing this blogpost, I have just got off the phone to a friend who told me that Mary Tamm, who played Romana I has just passed away. Condolences to her family! Rest in Peace, Mary Tamm. A beautiful, talented actress. You will be missed.]

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 BF-150 Recorded Time (part 1)

"The TARDIS travellers find themselves at the court of Henry VIII, where the tragic Anne Boleyn will soon be discarded by her King in favour of the lovely Perpugilliam Brown. Or so it is written…"

Henry the Eighth! I remember learning about him during my primary school history classes. He is one of the first bits of history I ever learnt about. It was brilliant to see him finally characterised. The king was exactly how I imagined him. A bit of a pervert. He asked Peri to "sit on his lap" but in all honestly, what king wouldn't?

Peri was quite hot in this one, as well. She was forced to dance for King Henry, and it was hilarious to hear the Doctors reaction to it. Of course, the king enjoyed Peri's company, and the Doctor got sent to the stocks. This bit confused me, because in "The Marian Conspiracy", the Doctor told Evelyn that he was a very good friend of Henry the eighths.

It was amusing to see Peri give Queen Ann Boleyn relationship advice. This part was particularly amusing. She didn't take kindly to it, either.

I like this story personally, because I'm finally seeing Henry the Eighth in Doctor Who, something I have been waiting for, for a long time. And the writer (Catherine Harvey) has done a brilliant job characterising him.

And it turns out that Ann Bolyen was a lovely, beautiful woman. Who I had great sympathy for towards the end of this story.

In conclusion, it was a nice, well paced story, and Big Finish should release more of these "blah, blah, and other stories" audios once a year. It's just a nice break from the two hour stories. It's It's worth a listen, I'll review the other three stories in this audio as I get through them.

6/10

Doctor Who BF-133 City of Spires

"Arriving in a hail of musket fire, the Sixth Doctor unexpectedly finds himself in the highlands of Scotland, where the ruthless Black Donald and his band of rebels are fighting the Redcoats. But the highland warriors no longer fight for the Jacobite cause and the English officers answer only to the mysterious Overlord. What has happened to Scotland and why are its moors littered with advanced, oil-pumping technology?"

The Doctor reunites with Jamie!! I went into his story heavily excited. But at first I never guessed that he would be this "Black Donald" guy. When the story starts, the Doctor is sent to look after the injured, but one of the soldiers shoots a man, to save him the pain. The gun shot actually made me jump! But this made me wonder what Jamie had become, if he was part of this army.

Jamie sounds like he's in good health, even if it has been twenty or thirty years ago. I was sure that this would be complicated, because Jamie's and Zoe's memory's were wiped in the end of "The War Games." It's not only the Doctor who has changed since he and Jamie first met. Jamie, or "James Mcrimmon" has become much darker, because he has seen innocent men, women and children killed around him.

It was good to hear about "The Mcrimmon piper" again. Jamie always used to talk about it when traveling with the second Doctor. The sixth Doctor even mentioned the time when he thought a Cyberman was the Mcrimmon piper.

At first, I expected this story to be completely historical. And I'll be honest, I might have preferred it if it was. This story might have been better if instead of the alien intervention, we just had a political war between the Scottish and their enemies. Much like the Highlanders.

I found it amusing how Jamie saw oil as something that wasn't useful. It was a clever plan to get oil from the past, to use it in the future. But imagine the paradox it would cause! It took me twice as long to get through this story, because I got three unrelated phone calls from different friends. But by the time episode three came along, I was rearing to go, and see this story tithe end. The cliffhanger to episode two was quite good, with the execution of both the Doctor and Jamie at hand.

Back in the Second Doctors era, there were always plenty of hot girls, but Jamie was always the one wearing the shortest skirt (ok, a kilt. But the rule still stands.) So I found it quite funny how when Jamie asked for a lift up, he told the Sixth Doctor "don't look up!" Referring to his kilt.

In conclusion, this is a good story, and it is brilliant seeing Jamie again. I look forward to hearing his other adventures, but I also think that three adventures with Jamie and the Sixth Doctor won't be enough. A must-listen for all Whovians.

8/10

Doctor Who BF-058 The Harvest

"On the morning of 12 October 2021, Hex woke up. He was expecting to go to work at St. Gart's in London as normal and, that evening, have a great time in the bar of the White Rabbit, celebrating his 23rd birthday."

So, I finally met "Hex." He has a scouse accent, much like a few of my friends, so it didn't irritate me as much as it annoys other reviewers.

I quite liked the concept of the coffee machine. You didn't need change, because the price of your coffee could be deducted from your salary.

Ace just gets hotter and hotter. And she was flirting with Hex in this story! She did a brilliant job, as well. I like it how she made people call her 'McShane' as well. It was quite interesting. I need to get used to calling her Dorothy, since she's grown up. But she'll always be 'Ace' to me.

It was smart of Hex to mark Ace under "pretty, but mad." It summed her up quite well, I think.

When Hex first sees the TARDIS, he describes it as "A Portaloo" with made me chuckle. The Doctor traveling the universe... In a Portaloo!

But this story made me really like Hex as a character. He's really cool, and I look forward to the twenty-odd more audio dramas with him in. And as I'm writing this, this months story "Protect and Survive" has just been released. I'm going to purchase it now. I'm very excited!

I had no idea that this was a Cybermen story, going into it. I'm not sure if this is a good or a bad thing. I really enjoyed the surprise; but I probably would have listened to this audio earlier if I knew it had Cybermen...

There's many brilliant lines in this one. One of my favourites was between the Doctor and Hex, just as they were dematerialising for the first time in the TARDIS. The Doctor said  "Ok, hold onto your hat." A confused Hex replied with "I haven't got one!" And the Doctor said "Then hold onto mine..." This part was rather amusing, and very 'Seventh Doctor.'

It's difficult to find a Cybermen story that hasn't been done before. And I think one thing this does well is that it's completely different. The fact that the Cybermen wanted their humanity back shows that [in the doctors words] "there is hope for every species- even Cybermen"

So, in conclusion, I really like Hex as a companion. And this was a decent introduction story. Just above average, though, if I'm being honest.

6/10

Doctor Who BF013 - The Shadow of the Scourge

"The Pinehill Crest Hotel in Kent is host to three very different events: a cross-stitch convention, an experiment in time travel and... the summoning of the Scourge."

The first seven minutes of this are as boring as hell. It really put me off this story. But then I finally got the scene I look forward to most- the first scene of the Doctor in the TARDIS.

Now, I don't know if it's just me, but will Ace EVER stop being hot? And she's grown up, so she's wearing leather! I blame Doctor Who for the level of awesome I look for in women.

Only the seventh Doctor could act cheery, and forget to mention where the dead body was in this story. The only reference Ace and Benny get is when the Doctor says "We probably shouldn't stand too close to the lift..." and when asked why, he replies with "That's where the body is." And then the lift doors open, to reveal the dead body. This added a certain comedy element to a horrific thing. Extremely typical of the seventh doctor.

The Doctor books a room in the hotel under the name "Summerfield" because "John Smith" would attract attention. Channellings annoy me in general, but I thought it was just a human thing.

The extraterrestrial channeling thing annoyed me at first. But it gave me some chance to finally meet Bernice Summerfield. I knew that I'd love her character, it's just taken a long time to meet her. Doctor Summerfield was invented to be "the perfect companion" and that's exactly what she's become. Strong, confident, sexy and intelligent. I look forward to taking a listen to the Bernice Summerfield spin off. Despite how great Bernice was, whenever Ace had a scene, she completely stole the limelight. Ace of one of my favourite companions... And not just because she's REALLY hot.

Once twenty minutes had passed, I was really enjoying this story. One of my favourite lines was when someone said to the Doctor "How long have you been a cross stitcher?" and he replied with: "Oh, since I was born... For the seventh time."

As soon as the Doctor unconditionally surrendered the planet earth to these alien bug things, I just knew he had bigger plans at hand. I was also tricked by Ace, because I thought she had once again been deceived by the Doctor. But apparently, she's grown up since the television series.

I wish Benny had joined the seventh Doctor and Ace for some more audios, instead of this "Hex" fellow. I haven't yet listened to any stories with Hex, but I purchased "The Harvest" from the Big Finish website, and I'll get round to listening to it today.

The only objection I have about this story- is that I wish there was more Seventh Doctor, Ace and Benny. I had no interest whatsoever in the supporting cast. But I loved the main cast. Great chemistry, and great performances.

Ace was very brave to face being defeaned, even if she did know that the TARDIS could repair her. It was still an extremely brave thing to do. Is there anything that isn't awesome about Ace?

The scourge soldier feeds on doubt and guilt. I think this makes for a good villain, because the Doctor has more guilt then any other living being. I hope my friend Keith Miles doesn't come across this story, because he'd get upset that even when they've got Doctor Who in audio form, they still base aliens of human creatures.

I went through a phase of the seventh Doctor being my favourite. It was roughly last year, when my companion and I ran through several Classic Doctor Who episodes, and found the Seventh Doctor and Ace to be particularly appealing.

The scourge were terrifying! They made a man strangle himself, just because they could. I liked the explanation of how instincts normally kick in, so humans can't strangle themselves. But that part did scare me a bit.

I wasn't sure how I'd feel about this story, but it turned out to be fantastic. It was heart warming hearing the Seventh Doctor and Benny talking about all the good things in life. I think all of the listeners will agree that they got it right. Those are the best things in life, and it makes life worth living. We are human beings.

"Get out of our heads. Get out of our world." Sometimes I lose hope in human beings as a species. But every now and again, a story like this comes along and I remember that we have such great potential. Together, we are un-deafeatable.

This story was excellent, and because of all the things I've mentioned above, I'm proud to say that this is the perfect big finish story. More of these, please!

10/10

Doctor Who Fourth Doctor Adventures S01E01- Destination: Nerva

"After saying their goodbyes to Professor Litefoot and Henry Gordon Jago, the Doctor and Leela respond to an alien distress call beamed direct from Victorian England. It is the beginning of a journey that will take them to the newly built Space Dock Nerva… where a long overdue homecoming is expected."

This story continues straight from "The Talons of Weing-Chiang." There is a mention of Henry Gordon Jago and Professor Litefoot, and the Doctor states that they're best staying in their Victorian gear for this adventure. To start, this story seemed very gothic, which matches the Fourth Doctors season at the time, perfectly.

It's brilliant to hear the fourth doctors voice again. Big Finish have captured his Doctor perfectly. The BBC audios were more "Little Britain" Fourth Doctor, instead of the real one.

It was good to see the Doctor return to Nerva. I'll never forget "The Ark in Space", with Sarah and Harry transporting sound the space station. Those memories will stay with me forever.

Everything the fourth doctor says is brilliant. He has some fantastic lines, and doesn't sound "too silly" as he often could be in the television series. For once, though, I agree with Tom Baker- the fourth Doctor would probably work better without a companion. He's awesome enough to take on both roles, by just playing the Doctor. "My Doctor" was Jon Pertwee, but when I was first looking at Doctor Who, I had only two classic DVD's. "Spearhead in Space" and "Logopolis." I went with Spearhead, and ever since, I've been in love with everything "Doctor Who" related. I am a proud Whovian. But Tom Baker was very nearly "My Doctor."

At the first mention of Nerva, the Doctor chuckles. This reminds me of the previous memories of Nerva, and shows that the Doctor enjoyed his time with Sarah Jane as much as we enjoyed watching her.

Leela is extremely violent, throughout, and truly is a tribe member. When I was listening to the first episode, she attacked two people in the first twenty minutes!

I remember thinking when I purchased this episode "What will happen in Nerva, this time? Will everyone be in a frozen state? Will it be taken over by an alien race?" But I wasn't expecting everything to be fully operational. This marks a great end to the Nerva trilogy.

Already I'm excited to listen to season two of the fourth Doctor adventures! Romana, Daleks, and Jago and Litefoot to look forward to! I am so happy the Fourth Doctor signed up for Big Finish.

So, a ship that was stolen from 1985 was boarding Nerva, whilst a strange infected man asked people to shake his hand. Did anyone else imagine that he looked like one of those creatures from "Seeds of Doom"? Just a bit more impressive?

The one thing that annoyed me about this story is the fact that they didn't give a reason for the Doctor not to go to the TARDIS. He was cut off from it seconds later anyway, but he said "the chances of the TARDIS making a precise journey to earth is..." But he should have just taken the chance, and ran towards the TARDIS!

This story just didn't seem right. I loved pretty much everything about it (with the exception of the characters of the supporting cast) but it feels like something is missing. This is the start to a great series of adventures, and this is the only let-down of series one of the Fourth Doctor adventures. I shouldn't like it... But I do. Oh well, it's no harm done. It's still an entertaining listen.

8/10

Doctor Who BF-006 The Marian Conspiracy

"Tracking a nexus point in time, the Doctor meets Dr Evelyn Smythe, a history lecturer whose own history seems to be rapidly vanishing."

One of my favourite Big Finish stories. Purely historical, with no alien intervention [well, with the exception of the Doctor.]

The Sixth Doctor is nearly a completely different character to who he was in the television series. He is kind, caring, and thoughtful.  This is why the Sixth Doctor has become my favourite big finish Doctor.

I loved the interaction between the Doctor and the Queen. When he heard that she was pregnant, I could see the look on the sixth Doctors face! It was strange to find myself being so sympathetic towards "Bloody Mary." But when she told the Doctor that he could speak freely, I just knew that she was no where near as bad as the history books make her. I would like to see a Doctor Who episode that makes me have sympathy for Hitler. It would take a lot of effort, but it'd be so good if it worked. In the sixth Doctors own words, "Queen Mary is a remarkable woman."

The Doctors inspirational speech in episode 2 to Queen Mary- about her brother, and the faith of her country. I studied this era of history a few years back, and it was good to have Bloody Mary finally characterised for me.

During the same conversation, the Sixth Doctor says to Mary "I'm a Doctor. My job is to save lives, I can't approve of taking it." Which I thought was a brilliant line, and Colin Baker executed it perfectly.

The french bloke that visits the Queen asks for Elizabeth to be released from house arrest. Mary resists, as she believes he's asking for his own good, since Elizabeth's mother, Ann Boleyn had sympathy for the french, so she guessed Elizabeth may have as well. The Doctor seemed to be a little harsh to this French guy, which threw me off guard a bit. The guy was only trying to get history back on track!

Evelyn Smythe was great. I'm so happy that an older companion worked out! This paves way for older companions in the future. (No more "Flip" characters please, Big Finish.) It made me laugh when she asked one of the Londoners to unzip her bag, and he got really excited with it. I'd imagine that I'd be the same, if I was introduced to a zip for the first time!

George Crow played the part of a typical bloke, who didn't like change. He refused to drink hot chocolate because he saw it as a "children's drink." He was another character who annoyed me- along with the French bloke and the Reverend.

The paranoid queen stays in her tower, sick, with a phantom pregnancy. And for obvious reasons, she takes to the Doctor automatically.

The Sixth Doctor had some fantastic quotes, in this story.  Posing as Queen Mary's medical Doctor, he tells one of the Queens ladies "Doctors ought not to marry, they should adopt their time to the common good. Quite like priests." Which shows him not only as a medical Doctor, but as a character. He doesn't marry because he puts everyone else before himself. The Sixth Doctor seemed to have been traveling a lot since his televised adventures. He's much more experienced, and much calmer.

I'm slightly unclear when it comes to episode three, because I got a drunken text from my beautiful and very good friend Eleanor. After laughing at her texts for ten or so minutes, I realised that I'd missed something. The Doctor and Evelyn were now trying to pick the lock in the tower of London. I remember from my history course that Sir Thomas Blood escaped from the Tower of London, so I was sure that the Doctor could.

But why was the sixth doctor upset, and sheepish about hitting a guard over the head with a chair, but he didn't flinch when he pushed a bunch of guards into acid, in the televised adventures? His character really has developed completely.

I honestly do love it when Doctor Who does purely historical episodes, and it works. Historical episodes stopped being written in the first doctors era, because the alien ones were proven to be most popular. But the new series needs to try it! Just once, see if they can do a purely historical episode. Come on, Moffat! If anyone can do it, you can!

In conclusion, this is another one of my favourite Big Finish stories. Just comes to show how brilliant the Sixth Doctor has become.

10/10

Doctor Who BF-161 The Butcher of Brisbane

"Adopting the alias of Weng-Chiang, the 51st century war criminal Magnus Greel will one day arrive in Victorian London by Time Cabinet – only to meet his doom, his plans undone by the Time Lord known as the Doctor."

It feels like I've been waiting for this story forever. Not only is it more of my currently favourite TARDIS crew, but it's also the return of Magnus Greel, who hasn't been seen since another favourite of mine "The Talons of Weing-Chiang."

I like the idea that this is actually a prequel and a sequel to TTWC. But I can't remember if Magnus recognised the Doctor by name in the televised adventure. I'll have to rewatch the story again.

I really liked the idea of Nyssa pretending to love Magnus so she could find out what he was really up to. Creating sympathy for the character I've thought of as "A really evil being" for years, is a difficult task. And Big Finish did it incredibly well.

I had a very vivid image in my head of Mr Sin chasing people round with a knife, and I found it hilarious, even though I'm sure it was meant to be a serious scene. I guess there's no way for me to escape the low production values of classic who.

All the cast made brilliant performances, I knew that I recognised Magnus' voice, and it turned out that he portrayed Mister Dred in a Sarah Jane Adventures episode. As soon as I realised, all I could imagine was Magnus walking round wearing a suit and sunglasses.

I liked the idea of both groups having an intelligent person with them. Turlough and Nyssa went one way, and the Doctor and Tegan went the other. I still haven't warmed up to Nyssa, though. Maybe it's because two intelligent minds in the TARDIS isn't as fun? I don't know.

In conclusion, this is a fantastic story, and didn't let me down in the slightest. Brilliant mental imagery is created throughout. And it's always good to see the Fifth Doctor and Tegan bicker. Even if Miss Jovanka has always secretly annoyed me...

8/10

Doctor Who BF-041 Nekromanteia

"In the depths of space a little known district harbours a terrible secret. Long known as a place of death, it claims thousands more lives as a great corporate space-fleet goes to war. As the fleet screams out in fear and pain, an irresistible voice calls out to three travellers and a macabre mind sets a deadly trap."

Ok, girls. Look away for this first bit.
Guys, you NEED to listen to this story. The story line may not be fantastic, but at one point, Peri wakes up naked, and stumbles around looking for her clothes. That's all I'm saying! See (well, listen, unfortunately) for yourself. Its only taken Doctor Who twenty-odd years to get her from a bikini to completely naked in a Doctor Who story. Well done, Big Finish. We thank you.

Anyway, hello to the ladies, who hopefully skipped that first bit. Now, it's time to talk about cats. Drummed cat "Antranak" annoyed me completely. Peri and Erimem seemed to love him, but I was on the Fifth Doctors side for this one! But at least the cat saved the day. It's the least it could have done for annoying me.

This is the third story for Erimem (I think) And I'm enjoying her character. But I didn't have high hopes for this story. In fact, I had no hopes at all. And by the end of it, I was so glad I went into it with no hopes of listening to a good story. [Apart from the bit mentioned in the first paragraph]

I think Big Finish didn't like this story, either, because they didn't even bother with the cover. They threw the Fifth Doctor, Peri and Erimem over a photo of the moon, and made it all green... I hope it didn't bust them.

But I find that a good cover often makes up for a bad story, so this story had no chance. This is by far one of the worst big finish stories I've ever listened to. It's two hours of my life that I'll never get back, and a waste of a night in. It is probably worth a listen, though. For the Peri nude scene and the death of the cat... Sigh, why couldn't this have been an televised adventure, so we could see those two scenes?
So, in conclusion, I'm going to give this a low rating, but the points it has have only been achieved because this story had a naked Peri, and that damn cat finally got killed. Of you want to give this story a listen, I recommend that you start about halfway through.

3/10

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 Lost Stories-S2.01b The Fragile Yellow Arc of Fragrence

"Fragrance is a paradise world – a utopia that the travellers are loathe to leave after a relaxing stay. But the way of life is different here. And so is the way of love – as Barbara discovers when the Fragile Yellow Arc is broken..."

I listened to this story, expecting it to fill the two hours that I had to kill, in between meetings. A half hour later, I felt lost. A one episode story felt unusual, but according to Big Finish, the author only intended this story to be one episode. Mainly because this episode was written before the show had actually evolved its “standard” lengths.

I quite liked this story. It was part of the “lost stories” section. One of my favourite things about this story was the fact that the connection between Susan (Carole Ann-Ford) and Ian (William Russell) was as strong as ever. This was their first official professional engagement since 1964. It’s a shame this audio lacked the voice talents of Jacqueline Hill, due to her death in 1993. It’s an even greater shame that we didn’t get to hear William Hartnell (the First Doctor) discuss love to the inhabitants of the planet. Hartnell had a voice that could inspire, and is not easy to forget. I’ll never wipe the sound of the first Doctor saying to the third and second doctors “Oh, it’s you. The dandy and the clown” in the Three Doctors.

Since the first Doctor appeared much older than his future selves, he was much more willing to sit back, take a break, and stay on one planet for a bit, instead of hopping around in his TARDIS. The Doctor, Ian, Susan and Barbara have obviously been on the planet Fragrance for a while, since they’ve developed relationships with the inhabitants.

Some part of me wishes that this would have been an episode. Because watching Hartnell explain that there is such a thing as moving on from love was not only inspiring, [and quite helpful, personally] but it would have also been great television.

In conclusion, it’s a better than average story. But there are better places to start in the “Lost Stories” section of Big Finish. But more about that later.

6/10

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

Doctor Who BF-024 The Eye of the Scorpion

“Egypt is in mourning. Pharaoh, the great God-King, is dead. The future of the Two Kingdoms of Egypt is shrouded in uncertainty as the Council of Priests debates the claim to the throne of Pharaoh's only heir."

I know that I’m not the first to say it, and I definitely won’t be the last. But Peri (Nicola Bryant) is hot. Even in audio form, she is extremely attractive. Ok, that’s enough of that. I just thought that I’d get it out of the way.

I quite liked this story. The image of the Doctor riding a chariot through the desert is a very entertaining one. I often forget that the Doctor is wearing a cricket outfit, and a piece of celery on his lapel. This doesn’t seem to match his personality, since the fifth Doctor is quite laid back, relaxed, and finds it easy to blend into a crowd. But how does he do so wearing such ridiculous clothing?  

This isn’t the first time I’ve listened to a big finish story involving Erimem, (because I bought and stupidly listened to “The Bridge of Pelodon” which turned out to be Erimem’s leaving story.) But never the less, I really enjoyed seeing the change in companion dynamic. Throughout the fifth doctors run, the TARDIS seemed to become a home to the family which was the Doctor, Nyssa, Tegan and Turlough- even though they had their arguments, like any other family. The combination of The Doctor, Peri and Erimem creates a whole new dynamic then what we’re used to. Two women, against the sheepish Doctor. He has finally met his match.

There is a running theme in Doctor Who that religion usually ties into things. This story is not an exception. This is a shame, because their hasn’t been many Doctor Who stories set in Egypt, and I think it would have been interesting to play with the usual layout of a story.

I had foreknowledge that Erimem was going to become a companion. So it wasn’t a huge mystery to me as to why “Erimem never become pharaoh.” The Doctor knows the names of all the pharaohs of Egypt, and he’s certain that he would have remembered a female leader. I found it amusing when Peri tried to convince Erimem that women can be great leaders as well- and her first thought was of Margaret Thatcher. The Doctor would later meet Margaret Thatcher, in “The Ultimate Adventure” but more from that later.

In conclusion, this is a decent story, and it’s worth a listen. I’ll admit, though- it’s nothing to write home about.

6/10

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

Doctor Who BF-105 The Condemned

"Manchester, 2008. The TARDIS lands inside a run-down tower block, beside a dead body – which leads to some awkward questions when the Doctor is found there by the police. Made the prime suspect, how can the Doctor prove to the no-nonsense DI Patricia Menzies that this is not the open-and-shut case it seems, and that she’s actually investigating the death of an alien?"

The Condemned is my favourite sixth doctor story, and my favourite big finish story so far. The images created in this story are fantastic. I have listened to this story at least ten times over the past year, because it is still full of surprises.

Detective Inspector Patricia Menzies (Anna Hope) is brilliant. If the Jago and Litefoot series ever finishes, I would encourage Big Finish to give her a spin off. “DI Menzies- protecting the streets of Manchester from alien life.” It could happen, and I would preorder the series now, if I could. Even without a synopsis.

You may have noticed that I mentioned DI Menzies before Charley Pollard (India Fisher) but don’t take that as a suggestion that I’m not a Charely fan. I am quite a big Charley fan, as a matter of fact. I have only listened to one or two eighth doctor and charley episodes, but as soon as I listened to “The Condemned”, I quickly ran through all of the sixth doctor and Charley episodes, whilst in France. I am still not clear how the “Charley hasn’t met the Doctor yet” plotline, so I’ll have to take another listen to them before I write a review.

At first, I thought that I’d be disappointed by the Doctors blue coat, because it didn’t seem to fit. But by the time episode one had finished, I just knew that it worked. The blue coat matches the Doctors changed attitude. In the television series, he was arrogant, rude, and harsh. But like a good wine, the Sixth Doctor has mellowed with age.

Listening to this after listening to the big finish audio “The Crimes of Thomas Brewster”, I see how carefully (if not accidently) this story has been carved. It was revealed in TCOTB that the events in “The Condemned” was not the first meeting between the Doctor and DI Menzies. And upon their “supposingly ” first meeting, the Doctor mutters “Typical…” When DI Menzies bursts onto the scene.

So, in conclusion, “The Condemned” is a great story, and is a fantastic start for any listeners new to big finish. A PERFECT big finish story. This is how the sixth Doctor needs to be written.

10/10