REVIEW: Doctor Who Companion Chronicles 6.01 - Tales From The Vault

Steven, Zoe, Jo Grant, and Romana I

Cast:

Captain Ruth Matheson - Daphne Ashbrook
Warrant Officer Charlie Sato - Yee Jee Tso
Steven Taylor - Peter Purves
Zoe Heriot - Wendy Padbury
Jo Grant - Katy Manning
Romana - Mary Tamm

Synopsis:

Welcome to The Vault - jokingly known as 'The Museum of Terrors' - a high security establishment where UNIT keeps all of its alien artifacts.

New recruit Warrant Officer Charlie Sato is given a guided tour by Captain Ruth Matheson, and the archive reveals some dark secrets. An army jacket, a painting, crystal and a wax cylinder all hold a grave significance, and their stories are told by the Doctor's companions: Steven Taylor, Zoe Heriot, Jo Grant and Romana...

REVIEW: Doctor Who Lost Stories 2.5: Animal

Seveth Doctor, Ace, & Raine

Cast

Seventh Doctor - Sylvester McCoy
Ace - Sophie Aldred
Raine Creevy - Beth Chalmers
Winifred Bambera - Angela Bruce
Scobie - Anthony Lewis
Henrick/Metatraxi - John Banks
Willa - Dannielle Brent
Percy - Alex Mallinson
Juno - Clare Fraenkel






Synopsis

Margrave University in 2001, and Raine Creevy is enjoying her first trip into the future.

For the Doctor, there are mysteries to solve: what are the alien creatures imprisoned in the science labs? And what are the true motives of the student Scobie and his followers?

With enemies on all sides, the Doctor teams up with his old friend Brigadier Bambera and the forces of UNIT in a battle for the future of the whole world.

REVIEW: Torchwood: The Lost Files 3 - The House Of The Dead

CAST:

Captain Jack Harkness - John Barrowman
Gwen Cooper - Eve Myles
Ianto Jones - Gareth David-Lloyd
Mrs Wintergreen - Rosalind Ayres
Barry - Bradley Freegard
Mr Jones/Tony - John Francis Harries
Helen - Lucy Davis
Ness - Moira Quirk
Late Arrival - Shelley Rees

SYNPOSIS:

The brewery have called 'time' and it's the last night at The House of the Dead - the most haunted pub in Wales. Barry the barman has invited renowned psychic, Mrs Wintergreen, to hold a special seance to mark the occasion, and there's a big crowd hoping for the chance of seeing their deceased loved ones for one last time. But when Jack arrives on the scene, he's determined to stop them. Ianto is puzzled by Jack's behaviour, and Gwen is suspicious. Why is Jack acting so strangely? Then the ghosts start arriving - and all hell breaks loose.

WARNING: Review contains spoilers.

REVIEW: Torchwood: The Lost Files 2 - Submission

CAST:

Captain Jack Harkness - John Barrowman
Gwen Cooper - Eve Myles
Ianto Jones - Gareth David-Lloyd
Carlie Roberts - Erin Bennett
Sam Doyle - Angelo Tiffe
Captain Cudlow - John Francis Harries
Henry Goddard - John Lee


SYNPOSIS:

Torchwood are chasing aliens down the M4, when Jack accidentally blows a hole in the Severn Bridge, and the SUV hits the water. Whilst submerged John, Gwen and Ianto hear a strange noise, which, back at the Hub they realise is a cry for help. They track the cry to its source which turns out to be the deepest part of the Ocean - the Mariana Trench. Ianto rings old Torchwood flame, Carlie Roberts, who's an expert in marine geology, and Jack pulls strings with the US government to get them all on board the USS Calvin, an Arleigh Burke class destroyer, which is heading for the Trench. From there they board the Octopus Rock, the only submarine built to withstand the pressure at that depth, and follow the signal. But when the Submarine crashes, the team are left at the mercy of a hungry alien.

REVIEW: Torchwood: The Lost Files 1 - The Devil And Miss Carew

CAST

Captain Jack Harkness - John Barrowman
Gwen Cooper - Eve Myles
Ianto Jones - Gareth David-Lloyd
Rhys Williams - Kai Owen
Fitzroy - Martin Jarvis
Miss Carew - Juliet Mills
Sian - Hayley J Williams
Uncle Bryn - James Walsh
Old Lady - Shelley Rees

Set before Children Of Earth, this is a decent enough story but did however have its problems. There are moments where I can't decide whether it's really poor acting and you can tell they're just reading, or it's really poor character scripting and I can't imagine them saying it so it sounds fake. But in particular, I just don't think John Barrowman can act well for audio. Jack interacting with Ianto is particularly excruciating... couldn't Ianto have stayed dead? Or just not interact with Jack because at times Gareth David-Lloyd wasn't much better... and it wasn't like their characters actually contributed to the story. Thankfully, most of the story centered around Gwen.

Oh, the music and sound design was quite good, so there's that too.

Score: 4/7

Writer: Rupert Laight
Director: Kate McAll
Publisher: BBC
Released: 11th July 2011

REVIEW: Doctor Who 148: Rat Trap

 Fifth Doctor, Nyssa, Tegan, & Turlough

NOTE: This review contains spoilers for the first two parts.

A fairly eventful first chapter sets a nice pace that's full of good old Doctor Who tropes like The TARDIS not w--king correctly and the team getting split up immediately. Nyssa's character is further explored in this, appearing to be at the centre of the current Fifth Doctor's story arc. Some telepathic creatures also show up to provide running commentary as they monitor what's happening and the cliffhanger has Turlough seemingly get blown up by a grenade as he takes the time out to describe to the audience other characters that there's a grenade about to blow up. Despite the creatures seemingly wanting to talk over each other all the time in strange voices with weird alien sound effect music playing in the background making you miss the occasional word, it was an interesting start to the story.

REVIEW: Doctor Who Companion Chronicles 5.11 - Ferril's Folly

Fourth Doctor and Romana I

Cast
Mary Tamm
Madeline Potter


I found it a little disconcerting at times as most of it was told, not from Romanadvoratrelundar's point of view but, from someone else's. Not that it was a bad thing per se, I just kept subconsciously imposing her into the Companion role before realising it didn't make sense and had to remember she wasn't.