4th Doctor Adventures 1.02: The Renaissance Man

Fourth Doctor & Leela



Cast:

* Fourth Doctor - Tom Baker
* Leela - Louise Jameson
* Reginald Harcourt - Ian McNeice
* Jephson - Gareth Armstrong
* Christopher Manners - Anthony Howell
* Lizzie Harcourt - Daisy Ashford
* Beryl / Professor Hilda Lutterthwaite - Laura Molyneux
* Dr. Henry Carnforth - John Dorney




Synopsis:


"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.


When people start to die, reality doesn't appear quite what it was. There's something sinister going on within the walls of Harcourt's manor, and the stakes are higher than they can imagine.


The Doctor is about to discover that a little knowledge can be a dangerous thing."

Review:

Leela was always one of my favourite companions and she really excells in this one for me. Tom Baker also does a fantastic job, he seems more settled than he did in the first one - though I've no idea in what order they were recorded. He has plenty of good lines and it's a complete pleasure listening to them both work together throughout this story. The other cast of characters also do good job and it's a shame that Scruffy didn't make it into the credits. The story is also quite interesting even though the ending was telegraphed right at the start and there wasn't much to it. The gradual reveals to The Doctor, and the audience, were told at a good pace that never slowed or got boring. It was just never epically climatic or tense or thought provoking. Really enjoyed this one.


Score:

0/7 - Non-existant
1/7 - As bad as you can get
2/7 - Poor
3/7 - Quite poor / too many poor points / didn't like it
3.5/7 - Neither good nor bad / undecided
4/7 - Quite good / plenty of good points / liked it
5/7 - Good
6/7 - As good as you can get
7/7 - Impossible perfection

Writer: Justin Richards
Director: Ken Bentley
Produced By: Big Finish
Released: February 2012

YouTube Trailer
Website Link

Doctor Who 157: The Fourth Wall

Sixth Doctor & Flip Jackson
Cast:

The Doctor - Colin Baker
Flip Jackson - Lisa Greenwood
Augustus Scullop - Julian Wadham
Dr Helen Shepherd - Yasmin Bannerman
Nick Kenton/Jack Laser - Hywel Morgan
Matthew Howland/Lord Krarn - Martin Hutson
Olivia Sayle/Jancey - Tilly Gaunt
Chimbly/Head Warmonger - Kim Wall
Junior/Warmonger - Henry Devas



Synopsis:

"Business is bad for intergalactic media mogul Augustus Scullop, whose Trans-Gal empire is on the rocks. But, having retreated to his own private planet, Transmission, Scullop is about to gamble his fortune on a new show, made with an entirely new technology. And the name of that show… is Laser.

Back in the real world, far from the realms of small screen sci-fi fantasies about monsters and aliens, the Doctor is interested only in watching Test Match cricket… but finds himself drawn into Scullop’s world when his new travelling companion, Flip, is snatched from inside the TARDIS.

So, while the Doctor uncovers the terrible secret of Trans-Gal’s new tech, Flip battles to survive in a barren wilderness ruled over by the indestructible Lord Krarn and his pig-like servants, the Warmongers. And the name of that wilderness… is ‘Stevenage’. "


Review:

When this started, I thought it was going to be another one of those stories that I hate where the main characters are put in a fictional world and they don't know who they were. As it progressed I quickly realised this wasn't exactly the case and the heroes find themselves in a fictional world but fully aware. That relief out of the way, I could start to enjoy it. Essentially, The Doctor and Flip are dumped in the middle of an ITV Drama brought to life, except this seems like one that might be worth watching. The story and characters they find themselves interracting with are pretty amusing in an over the top parody kind of way which makes for a very enjoyable listen.

Unfortuntely, Flip doesn't seem to have much to do in this one but she does seem to have settled down to life with The Doctor. She reminds me a lot of Lucie Miller in this, with a different accent. An accent I don't like mind you, but otherwise, I think she's proving to be a good addition to the series. The cliffhangers in this story are also pretty good. It's not quite good enough to get the magic 6, but a good solid entertaining story.
Score:

0/7 - Non-existant
1/7 - As bad as you can get
2/7 - Poor
3/7 - Quite poor / too many poor points / didn't like it
3.5/7 - Neither good nor bad / undecided
4/7 - Quite good / plenty of good points / liked it
5/7 - Good
6/7 - As good as you can get
7/7 - Impossible perfection

Writer: John Dorney
Director: Nicholas Briggs
Produced By: Big Finish
Released: February 2012

Doctor Who 156: The Curse Of Davros

Sixth Doctor & Flip Jackson

Cast:

The Doctor / Davros - Colin Baker
Flip Jackson - Lisa Greenwood
Davros / The Doctor - Terry Molloy
Jared - Ashley Kumar
Napoléon Bonaparte - Jonathan Owen
Captain Pascal - Rhys Jennings
The Duke of Wellington - Granville Saxton
Marshal Ney - Robert Portal
Captain Dickson - Christian Patterson
The Daleks - Nicholas Briggs


Synopsis:

"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'.

Lightning never strikes twice, they say. Only now there's a flying saucer whooshing over the top of the night bus taking her home. Inside: the Doctor, with another extraterrestrial menace on his tail – the Daleks, and their twisted creator Davros!

But while Flip and the fugitive Doctor struggle to beat back the Daleks' incursion into 21st century London, Davros's real plan is taking shape nearly 200 years in the past, on the other side of the English Channel. At the battle of Waterloo..."


Review:

Flip gets a promotion to fully-fledged companion in the first of the Sixth Doctor's latest trilogy. I think she makes a pleasant enough impression here but has a bit too much of being new to the time travel game to settle. There's a couple of moments where I can't make out whether it's the acting or the scripting that's at fault but I can't quite make out what she was actually doing in that scene. The delivery sounded like intentional whining to get her own way but wasn't made clear enough. Story wise though, is where this one shines. Flip and her boyfriend, discover The Doctor in a crashed escape pod fleeing from the Daleks, who under the leadership of Davros are looking to capture him for a re-union. There's plenty of story and action here with The Daleks taking them back to the Battle Of Waterloo. There's some good scenes with Napoleon and The Duke though I'd have liked to have heard more from them. There's also some good scenes with The Doctor and Davros and the cliffhanger to part 2 is fantastic. Overall, not only do we have a good storyline, but it's also a fast paced, exciting one with plenty happening. I want to give this a six but it just didn't quite reach the standard for that magical score.

Score:

0/7 - Non-existant
1/7 - As bad as you can get
2/7 - Poor
3/7 - Quite poor / too many poor points / didn't like it
3.5/7 - Neither good nor bad / undecided
4/7 - Quite good / plenty of good points / liked it
5/7 - Good
6/7 - As good as you can get
7/7 - Impossible perfection

Writer: Johnathan Morris
Director: Nicholas Briggs
Produced By: Big Finish
Released: January 2012

Doctor Who 155: Army Of Death

Eighth Doctor & Mary Shelley

Cast:

The Doctor - Paul McGann
Mary Shelley - Julie Cox
President Vallan - David Harewood
Lady Meera - Carolyn Pickles
Nia Brusk - Eva Pope
Commander Raynar/Karnex - Mitch Benn
Sherla/Baden/Tox - Joanna Christie
Captain Maddox/Stennan/Sentries - Trevor Cooper



Synopsis:

"The TARDIS brings the Doctor and Mary Shelley to the continent of Zelonia, on the frontier world Draxine – where, many moons ago, the twin citystates of Garrak and Stronghaven bore testament to mankind’s colonial spirit.

That was before the sinister death cult of Garrak’s President Harmon took hold – and Garrak annihilated itself, utterly, in an apocalyptic explosion. Before the bones of Garrak’s dead came back to life, and its skeletal citizens began marching, marching, marching on Stronghaven itself.

But what do they want, this army of death? And can anything stop them? In search of answers, the Doctor and Mary must journey into the dead heart of a dead city to face a terrifying adversary, whose ambitions transcend the stuff of life itself."


Review:

The last one of the Eighth Doctor's trilogy. Can it improve on the previous two? Well story wise at least, it was enjoyable. But that's about as excited as I can get. It was another one where The Doctor didn't really seem to be a part of the story and was just along for the ride offering the occasional observation. Mary Shelley was useless or absent for most of it. Apart from the last part, where they had a couple of decent scenes together, they didn't seem to offer much to this story. But the story was still enjoyable despite this with a relatively simple plot line to follow and some mildly interesting characters. There's nothing here that I disliked but also nothing I can really rave about either.

Score:

0/7 - Non-existant
1/7 - As bad as you can get
2/7 - Poor
3/7 - Quite poor / too many poor points / didn't like it
3.5/7 - Neither good nor bad / undecided
4/7 - Quite good / plenty of good points / liked it
5/7 - Good
6/7 - As good as you can get
7/7 - Impossible perfection

Writer: Jason Arnopp
Director: Barnaby Edwards
Produced By: Big Finish
Released: December 2011

Doctor Who 154: The Witch From The Well

Eighth Doctor & Mary Shelley



Cast:

The Doctor - Paul McGann
Mary Shelley - Julie Cox
Master John Kincaid - Simon Rouse
Aleister Portillon/Squire Claude Portillon - Andrew Havill
Agnes Bates - Serena Evans
Beatrix - Lisa Kay
Finicia - Alix Wilton Regan
Lucern/Cornet Swallow - Kevin Trainor




Synopsis:

"A shrieking, killing nightmare erupts from an overgrown well, hidden in the grounds of an old house, Tranchard’s Fell – and Mary Shelley, the Doctor’s latest travelling companion, rescues teenage twins Finicia and Lucern from the clutches of the monster.

But a TARDIS trip in search of the origin of the horror goes terribly wrong when the Doctor, Mary and their two new friends find themselves stuck in the middle of a seventeenth century witch scare.

While the Doctor investigates the strange lights at Vetter’s Tor, and the twins go in search of an artefact from the Hecatrix Dimension, Mary confronts the secrets of her past…and her future. The truth will out: Master Kincaid, the terrible Witch-Pricker himself, commands it!"

Review:

This story started out very average, an Alien lives in a well and the locals think it's a Witch, and I fully expected the rest of the story to play out this simply with the only hope of enjoyment coming from Paul McGann's and Julie Cox's characters and performances. Towards the end of the first episode though, it takes a slight interesting turn and makes it a pretty entertaining story. (Note: I didn't read any synopsis or blurb before listening to this so I didn't know what to expect from the story other than how it was presented as it happened).

Paul McGann as the Doctor is once again great and has some good moments and the growing relationship he has with Mary Shelley is also a great listen. They work well together. There's also a good cast of interesting support characters here.

I think I'll give this one a 4 but it could have been pushing for a 5 with a bit more work.

Score:

0/7 - Non-existant
1/7 - As bad as you can get
2/7 - Poor
3/7 - Quite poor / too many poor points / didn't like it
3.5/7 - Neither good nor bad / undecided
4/7 - Quite good / plenty of good points / liked it
5/7 - Good
6/7 - As good as you can get
7/7 - Impossible perfection

Writer: Rick Briggs
Director: Barnaby Edwards
Produced By: Big Finish
Released: November 2011

Doctor Who Special: The Five Companions

Ian Chesterton meets The Doctor and Other Companions

Fifth Doctor, Ian, Steven, Polly, Nyssa, & Sara Kingdom

 
Cast:

Fifth Doctor - Peter Davison
Ian Chesterton - William Russell
Steven Taylor - Peter Purves
Sara Kingdom - Jean Marsh
Polly Wright - Anneke Wills
Nyssa - Sarah Sutton
The Daleks - Nicholas Briggs
Sontarans - Dan Starkey

Synopsis:

"Inside a cluster of fused-together derelict spaceships, four of the Doctor's oldest friends - and one of his newest ones - are lost and confused. They don't know how they got there or what they're meant to be doing - but as the place is infested with Daleks, Sontarans and dinosaurs, their first priority is staying alive.
To their collective relief, the Doctor turns up and has a reasonable idea of what's going on. If the six of them work together, they can escape this place and get home. But, unexpectedly, others may be working together to ensure they all die here..."

Review:

I enjoyed this, but not so much because of the story. The story had plenty of action with The Daleks facing off against the Sontarans, a few dinosaurs thrown in too, and The Doctor and his companions trying to escape the situation. It was a good fun story I guess but not exactly going to win awards or make you think or anything. The best part about this audio was having the five companions and The Doctor meet and interact with each other throughout the story. I did like the return of Dwarf Star Alloy and the performances from Nicholas Briggs and Dan Starkey were good as the Daleks and Sontarans respectively. There's a nice moment where The Doctor's talking to Polly about the times they travelled together

So, the story is fun, but the real treat here is The Doctor catching up with the companions and the companions w--king together. The storyline itself wraps up rather poorly but that can forgiven.

And of course, Ian was the star of the show here, and The Doctor practically said it himself. Four regenerations on and he still recogninses Ian as the awesomeness that he is.

Score:

0/7 - Non-existant
1/7 - As bad as you can get
2/7 - Poor
3/7 - Quite poor / too many poor points / didn't like it
3.5/7 - Neither good nor bad / undecided
4/7 - Quite good / plenty of good points / liked it
5/7 - Good
6/7 - As good as you can get
7/7 - Impossible perfection


Written by: Eddie Robson
Produced by: Big Finish
Directed by: Ken Bentley
Released: December 2011

Doctor Who Companion Chronicles 6.03 - The Memory Cheats

Zoe Herriot

Cast:


Zoe Heriot - Wendy Padbury
Jen - Charlie Hayes


Synopsis:


"Zoe Heriot remembers everything. But she remembers nothing. 

A genius with instant recall, Zoe’s mind has been purged of her memories of travelling with the Doctor and Jamie in the TARDIS. And years later she is in deep trouble – prosecuted by the mysterious company that has evidence that she has travelled in Space and Time.

Except Zoe knows they’re wrong.

Aren’t they?

But if that’s the case, why is there proof that Zoe was in Uzbekistan in 1919.

Can the memory cheat?"


Review

It's a tricky one this. I really wanted to like it because Zoe is a great character with a lot of clever storytelling potential, and the set up of it with Zoe being questioned about her time with The Doctor is good. She can't remember this herself due to memory blocks placed by the Timelords but with the help of documents and things, her interrogator works with Zoe to regain her memories. This part of the story is great and has a fantastic conclusion, and it's generally these vehicles in which the companion stories are told which are the most interesting parts. Unfortunately in this case, the story told by Zoe and her interrogator isn't all that interesting and really drags at times. This would have worked much better as a shorter story focusing more on the interactions between the two characters rather than the story they're telling.


Score:

0/7 - Non-existant
1/7 - As bad as you can get
2/7 - Poor
3/7 - Quite poor / too many poor points / didn't like it
3.5/7 - Neither good nor bad / undecided
4/7 - Quite good / plenty of good points / liked it
5/7 - Good
6/7 - As good as you can get
7/7 - Impossible perfection


Written by: Simon Guerrier
Directed by: Lisa Bowerman
Produced by: Big Finish
Released: September 2011

REVIEW: Doctor Who 153 - The Silver Turk

Eighth Doctor & Mary Shelley




 SYNOPSIS:

"Roll up! Roll up! To the great Viennese Exposition, where showman Stahlbaum will show you his most wonderful creation, the Silver Turk – a mechanical marvel that will not only play for you the fortepiano, the spinet and the flute, it will play you at the gaming table too!

But when the Doctor brings his new travelling companion Mary Shelley to nineteenth-century Vienna, he soon identifies the incredible Turk as one of his deadliest enemies – a part-machine Cyberman.

And that’s not even the worst of the horrors at large in the city… "

CAST:

The Doctor - Paul McGann
Mary Shelley - Julie Cox
Dr Johan Drossel - Gareth Armstrong
Alfred Stahlbaum - Christian Brassington
Ernst Bratfisch - David Schneider
Count Rolf Wittenmeier - Gwilym Lee
Countess Mitzi Wittenmeier - Claire Wyatt
The Cybermen - Nicholas Briggs


REVIEW:

Here we are, the welcome return of the Eighth Doctor to the monthly range. Now we get full four part stories rather than just the two of the Eighth Doctor Adventues. What we don't have though is either Lucie Miller or Charlie Pollard. Instead, The Doctor has a brand new toy to play with, this new toy coming in the form of new regular companion Mary Shelly.

I love the first part of this with The Doctor excited to show his new companion the delights of travel through space and time and Mary Shelly not being quite as impressed as others would be. The first half of this story not only has the joy of getting to know a new companion relationship, but there's also a Cyberman who is performing for its human master - playing piano, challenging people to games - as he takes it on tour. Nothing much really happens in the first half but it all gels together into an interesting narrative.

Eventually The Doctor and his companion split up so we lose their chemistry from the story, but we do gain an interesting twist to the Cyberman's story. The writer, Marc Platt, does a great job of making you care for Cyberman. If you're looking for action, there's very little of it here but there are plently of great character pieces in this story.

Score:

0/7 - Non-existant
1/7 - As bad as you can get
2/7 - Poor
3/7 - Quite poor / too many poor points / didn't like it
3.5/7 - Neither good nor bad / undecided
4/7 - Quite good / plenty of good points / liked it
5/7 - Good
6/7 - As good as you can get
7/7 - Impossible perfection

Writer: Marc Platt
Director: Barnaby Edwards
Produced By: Big Finish
Released: October 2011

Doctor Who 152 - House Of Blue Fire

Seventh Doctor



Cast:

The Doctor - Sylvester McCoy
Dr Magnus Soames - Timothy West
No 18 - Amy Pemberton
No 5 - Miranda Keeling
No 16 - Ray Emmet Brown
No 12 - Howard Gossington
Eve Pritchard/Mi'en Kalarash - Lizzy Watts





Synopsis:

"aquaphobia n. An abnormal fear of water, or drowning.

blattodephobia n. The morbid fear of cockroaches.

catoptrophobia n. Fear of mirrors, or seeing one’s own reflection.

There’s a whole ABC of horrors at Bluefire House – as four young people, drawn together to this tumbledown hotel at the edge of nowhere, are about to discover. But whatever the ancient and foul thing that has emerged from the wilderness to drag them here, speaking of it will only strengthen it.

The Doctor alone knows what lurks at the heart of Bluefire House. But the monster of his childhood dreams is coming. The Mi’en Kalarash is coming…

Just this once, the Doctor’s afraid."

Review:


I don't know if it's the character I don't like, the over-acting I don't like, or the Cockney accent that makes it sound like over-acting that I don't like, but from the start, I didn't like (bet you didn't see that coming did you?) Number 18 so thankfully we weren't called upon to sit through an entire first episode of just her and another character... oh, wait. Her companion for the first part, Number 5, was pleasant though and just about held up a pretty non-eventful exploration of an almost abandoned hotel before finally bumping into the rest of the cast, including The Doctor.

The second part continues with the same pace set by the first. As everyone are becoming haunted by their own fears and people die, it still feels like nothing is happening story wise. Which would be okay if it was more of a character study or an analysis into the nature of fear, but it's not that either. It's still proving to be entertaining though but with a nagging sense in the background of waiting for something to happen.

Things are then spun on its head for the second half with a good cliffhanger and plenty happening as The Doctor tries to save the day. A good resolution to the threat and the two halves do compliment each other. Also, I'm really pleased with how the story ended and look forward to the next one.

I was going to be harsh but I think it deserves the following score.

Score:

0/7 - Non-existant
1/7 - As bad as you can get
2/7 - Poor
3/7 - Quite poor / too many poor points / didn't like it
3.5/7 - Neither good nor bad / undecided
4/7 - Quite good / plenty of good points / liked it
5/7 - Good
6/7 - As good as you can get
7/7 - Impossible perfection

Writer: Mark Morris
Director: Ken Bentley
Produced By: Big Finish
Released: September 2011

Doctor Who 151 - Doomsday Quatrain

Seventh Doctor

CAST:

Seventh Doctor - Sylvester McCoy
Nostradamus/Conclave Leader - David Schofield
Brors/Captain of the Guard/Bernardo - John Banks
Garilund/Computer Voice - Caroline Keiff
Kren/Second Nuncio - Derek Carlyle
Larrett/Milo/First Nuncio - Nicholas Chambers

SYNOPSIS:

"When the river is gone, ships shall sail in the sky, monsters bring fire from the heavens. All will fall into a grey and endless sea, and Doomsday has come.
Florence, the sixteenth century. No one thought to pay much attention to the prophecies of the so-called seer Michel de Nostradame, otherwise known as Nostradamus. Until the canals of Venice dried. Until the soothsayer's sayings started coming true…
Because Master Nostradamus is right, in all respects. The end of the world is nigh. The ships are coming. The monsters are coming. The fire is coming. There's only one thing he didn’t see coming, in fact: the sudden apparition of a certain strange Doctor, in his even stranger TARDIS. Today, the Earth dies screaming. And all the Doctor can do is watch."

REVIEW:



Before I start, I enjoyed this. It was a very entertaining story with some good acting and direction. It is not however, without a lot faults. Most of them pinned squarely down on the writers.

The writing was not exactly brilliantly designed for the audio medium with too much describing what what was happening to the point of it being obvious. The story starts out in Venice and almost immediately the twist is revealed which left me wondering why for two episodes, The Doctor seemed uncharacteristally ignorant of it. That is untill at the end of the second part, they revealed the twist that had already been practically spelled out in the first part. They seemed to go to great lengths to explain what was happening but holding back a tiny little part as if only that part reveals the twist.
I did like the inclusion of Nostradamus, though for a while it seemed like he was superfluous to the story and there to just help sell the 'cover story' before the 'twist', but he proved to play a vital role and set things up for the other episodes in the Seventh Doctor's run.

This story did have a lot of potential and could have examined some of the themes it introduced but were left pretty much untouched in favour of a pretty standard, if not entertaining, story.

Could this duo be my new Cavan Scott & Mark Wright?

SCORE:


0/7 - Non-existant
1/7 - As bad as you can get
2/7 - Poor
3/7 - Quite poor / too many poor points / didn't like it
3.5/7 - Neither good nor bad / undecided
4/7 - Quite good / plenty of good points / liked it
5/7 - Good
6/7 - As good as you can get
7/7 - Impossible perfection

Writer: Emma Beeby & Gordon Rennie
Director: Ken Bentley
Produced By: Big Finish
Released: September 2011

Doctor Who: Serpent Crest Part 1 - Tsar Wars

Fourth Doctor and Mrs Wibbsey

CAST:

The Doctor - Tom Baker
Mrs Wibbsey - Susan Jameson
Father Gregory - Tom Baker
Tsar - Michael Jayston
Tsarina - Suzy Aitchison
Boolin - Simon Shepherd
Lucius - Sam Hoare
Server Robot / Rebel - Paul Chequer
Server Robot / Rebel - Grant Gillespie
Server Robot / Rebel - Gabriel Vick

SYNOPSIS:

The Doctor and Mrs Wibbsey are catapulted from present day Earth to a futuristic civilisation in a distant galaxy. At the Robotov Palace they find the Tsar and Tsarina ruling over their empire whilst human workers toil on satellite moons. The Doctor is mistaken for an old ally of the Tsarina's, but then suspected of treason when the Palace comes under attack. Dark secrets are lurking in the shadows, and the mysterious Father Gregory will set off a chain of events which have long-lasting consequences for the Doctor and Mrs Wibbsey.

REVIEW:

Tom Baker returns for a third series in the AudioGo range, but this time it's got an all new improved format. It's now a fully fledged audio play rather than the halfway between an audiobook and an audio play the previous ones were. Gone is the narration, Mike Yates, and also unfortunately, my interest.

The Doctor and Mrs Wibbsey are whisked away through a wormhole to a distant world where the robots have overthrown their human creators and are in the middle of a civil war. The Tsar mistakes The Doctor for Father Gregory as the only one who can save his sickly son, meanwhile the rebel human forces are poised for attack. From here on in, it's very much like a Doctor-lite episode with him taking the background to what's happening. The trouble here though is, not that The Doctor doesn't appear to be in it much, but that what's happening is not very interesting. The ending was decent enough and set up the remaining parts but not showing much promise at the minute despite the improved format.

Trailer

SCORE:

0/7 - Non-existant
1/7 - As bad as you can get
2/7 - Poor
3/7 - Quite poor / too many poor points / didn't like it
3.5/7 - Neither good nor bad / undecided
4/7 - Quite good / plenty of good points / liked it
5/7 - Good
6/7 - As good as you can get
7/7 - Impossible perfection

Writer: Paul Magrs
Director: Kate Thomas
Publisher: AudioGO
Release Date: 8th September, 2011

REVIEW: Doctor Who 150 - Recorded Time And Other Stories

Sixth Doctor and Peri

A collection of four short stories featuring the Sixth Doctor and Peri.


Recorded Time

Synopsis

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…

Cast

Sixth Doctor - Colin Baker
Peri Brown - Nicola Bryant
Henry VIII - Paul Shearer
Anne Boleyn - Laura Molyneux
Scrivener - Philip Bretherton
Marjorie - Rosanna Miles

Review

The Doctor and Peri meet King Henry VIII and Ann Bolynn. Obviously getting mistaken for entertainment, they provide an amusing start to the story, possibly too long a start though because what is meant to be the main point of the story is not really introduced till near the end and is wrapped up very quickly in one scene. An interesting concept that could have been explored a bit more but a decent fun episode nonetheless.

Score: 4/7

Written by: Catherine Harvey
Directed by: Ken Bentley



Paradoxicide

Synopsis

On the legendary lost planet of Sendos, the Doctor and Peri find themselves caught up in the hunt for the cache of galaxy-busting super-weapons stored inside its fabled Armoury.

Cast

Sixth Doctor - Colin Baker
Peri Brown - Nicola Bryant
Inquisa - Raquel Cassidy
Centuria/Ship - Joan Walker
Barond - James George
Volsci - Laura Molyneux/Rosanna Miles


Review

Discovering a voice message from Peri herself, they go to the planet Sendos to discover its origins. What follows is a very entertaining and wibbly-wobbly-timey-wimey adventure that's crammed full of stuff it's almost hard to believe this was a single episode. The enemies appear quite formiddable and cunning at first but soon prove to be amongst the most inept and stupid encountered today and totally deserve whatever fate befalls them, so while the explanation and eventual conclusion of the story is good, the enemies never feel like a threat. A very entertaining and good episode.

Score: 5/7

Written by: Richard Dinnick
Directed by: Ken Bentley





A Most Excellent Match

Synopsis


It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single girl in possession of a mind of her own must be in want of a husband. But which of Miss Peri Brown's rival suitors will be the one to win her hand: handsome Mr Darcy, or the mysterious Doctor?

Cast

Sixth Doctor - Colin Baker
Peri Brown - Nicola Bryant
Tilly - Rosanna Miles
Darcy/D'Urberville/Heathcliff - Philip Bretherton
Cranton - Paul Shearer

Review

You know all those really good holonovel stories from Star Trek? No? Neither do I, but for some reason they thought it a good idea to have one in Doctor Who. Essentially, this story can be boiled down to 'A computer gets a virus and The Doctor tries to fix it' and it's about as interesting. Peri gets trapped in a holonovel, a virus entity traps her there, The Doctor has to go into the holonovel and defeat the virus in the story with logic and legal reasoning. Sometimes, The Doctor is good at talking his way out of situations, this time isn't one. One of the worst things I've heard from Doctor Who in a while. Ridiculous concept with only the barest hint of danger, set in a totally uninteresting Jane Eyre backround... just terrible..... Oh, you want something positive? The Doctor did have a few good lines.

Score: 2/7

Written by: Matt Fitton
Directed by: Ken Bentley



Question Marks

Synopsis


Five survivors of an unknown catastrophe wake to find themselves caught in an inescapable trap. But can the oddly-dressed man in the question-marked collar work out what's really going on before time runs out – for good?


Cast


Sixth Doctor - Colin Baker
Peri Brown - Nicola Bryant
Destiny Gray - Raquel Cassidy
Greg Stone - James George
Arnie McAllister - Joe Jameson


Review

Maybe one or two technical gripes, but none that detract from what was a fantastic story. The Doctor, Peri, and crew aboard a ship of some kind awaken with no memory of how they got there or who they are. A fast paced story follows as they try to discover what happened as dangers creeps up them every second. The story, playing more with the situation they are in rather than their memories, or lack thereoff, kept it flowing with tension building all the way till the rather clever, and possibly somewhat emotional, reveal and conclusion. W--ks very well on audio with some fantastic atmospheric directing and sound design.

Score: 6/7

Written by: Philip Lawrence
Directed by: Ken Bentley

REVIEW: Doctor Who Companion Chronicles 6.02 - The Rocket Men

Ian Chesterton (and Vicky, Barbara, and The First Doctor)

Cast:

Ian Chesterton - William Russell
Ashman - Gus Brown

Synopsis:

The TARDIS has landed on Platform Five, a floating city in the sky of the planet Jobis, and for a time the Doctor, Ian, Barbara and Vicki get the chance to enjoy this idyllic place.

And then the Rocket Men arrive, led by the sadistic Ashman.

When the only other option to certain death is suicide, Ian Chesterton takes the gamble of his life…

Review:

I like the idea of this particular non-linear narrative structure, but for me unfortunately, it doesn't fare too well in execution. There's very little payoff anywhere to warrant it - no big reveal, no shocking twist, and no plot points gradually falling into place. It might be that it jumps about too much for my liking but I still think It's just a very average story plot-wise.

The main point of the story being about Ian's emotions, which technically I don't have a problem with, it just doesn't seem to reflect the Ian I know as characterised through the TV show - but maybe I'm being biased here.

The second half developed a bit of pace after the dreadfully slow first half and they did seem to try to fit in some worthy plot reveals to reflect the narrative structure but it was like they didn't commit to it enough and it felta little flat. A similar problem befell the aspect of Ian's emotions of which the story is based around - not enough time or scripting was committed to it.



Score:
0/7 - Non-existant
1/7 - As bad as you can get
2/7 - Poor
3/7 - Quite poor / too many poor points / didn't like it
3.5/7 - Neither good nor bad / undecided
4/7 - Quite good / plenty of good points / liked it
5/7 - Good
6/7 - As good as you can get
7/7 - Impossible perfection


Written by: John Dorney
Directed by: Lisa Bowerman
Produced by: Big Finish
Released: August 2011

REVIEW: Doctor Who The Lost Stories 2.6 - Earth Aid

Seventh Doctor & Ace ; and Raine

Cast:

Seventh Doctor - Sylvester McCoy
Raine Creevy - Beth Chalmers
Ace - Sophie Aldred
Victor Espinosa - Paterson Joseph
Shepstay - Nadine Marshall
Yanikov - Basher Savage
Lt Baraki - Ingrid Oliver
Metatraxi - John Banks
Grub - Alex Mallinson

Synopsis:

Welcome aboard the space vessel Vancouver. Its mission: to guard a vast shipment of grain from Earth to the planet Safenesthome. Its medical officer is called simply ‘The Doctor’, and he’s perhaps not all he seems.

When mysterious ships target the Vancouver, the Doctor is pushed to the limit. Meanwhile, there’s something nasty in the grain containers. And it’s not very happy...

Review:

REVIEW: Doctor Who 149 - Robophobia

Seventh Doctor

Cast:

The Doctor - Sylvester McCoy
Liv Chenka/Elicien - Nicola Walker
Farel - Toby Hadoke
Bas Pellico - William Hazell
Selerat - Nicholas Pegg
Cravnet - Dan Starkey
Tal Karus/SV10 - Matt Addis
Leebar/Computer Voice - John Dorney
Robots - Matt Addis, Nicholas Briggs, John Dorney, Toby Hadoke, Dan Starkey




Synopsis:

Nothing has ever been officially confirmed, but there is a rumour that on a Sandminer, bound for Kaldor City, the robots somehow turned homicidal and nearly wiped out the entire crew. Can that really be true?

The robot transport ship Lorelei has a cargo of over 157,000 robots on board, all deactivated. So even if there were any truth in the rumour of that massacre, there'd still be no danger. Surely, there wouldn't...

But then, the Doctor witnesses a murder.

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: 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.

REVIEW: Doctor Who Lost Stories 2.4 - Crime Of The Century

7th Doctor, Ace, & Raine

The first part was just a pleasure to listen to from start to finish as they introduced Raine. Her interaction with The Doctor is enjoyable as he enjoys being so typically the Seventh Doctor. Meanwhile Ace is sent on a mission by The Doctor. It's just 25 minutes of listening to the Seventh Doctor, being the Seventh Doctor.

The story picks up after this, but seems to take a back seat to the building relationship between Raine and The Doctor - not that the main story wasn't interesting. The Doctor dragging Raine around as his grand plan slowly unfolds, as though he's also steadily introducing her to thrills of being a companion. They work well together here and Ace's side story was interesting enough too.