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 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 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-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 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 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