The Fearless Part 4

"We're losing the war with the Daleks and we need a miracle."

Writer: Nicholas Briggs

Format: Audio

Released: January 2008

Series: Dalek Empire 4.04

Featuring: Kade, Landen

Synopsis

The Daleks have devised a plan that will deliver a decisive victory. General Landen and her fleet are all that stand in their way. And then there's Kade...

Verdict

The Fearless conclude in decent style with a really good fourth and final part of what has been a terrific fourth series of Dalek Empire! It was quite different to what I was expecting after the cliffhanger from the previous part, but that didn’t mean it wasn’t good. It was far from it. The story starting with the President of the Earth Alliance expecting an imminent Dalek victory was good and there was definitely an atmosphere of desperation. Landen needing to come up with a bit of magic to defeat the Daleks was good and she quickly came up with the answer which I actually wasn’t expecting. Rather than detailing her tactics in traditional storytelling fashion, the use of the news report explaining how Landen had come up with a temporary victory was excellent. It helped with the pace of the adventure which is always beneficial. She’d hit hard and hit fast which is probably the only way to gain any kind of advantage over the Daleks. The scale of the report was intriguing considering that all the defeat had accomplished was a little time. The arrival of a tran-solar disk seemed like there was going to be a great deal of action right away, but it turned out to be Kade using it as help to get back to Landen. From there, I was expecting him to be ruthless but he was clearly impacted by the duration and extent of his journey. Using the spacer on minimal power was not ideal and finding out that he was the last remaining Fearless was really good. He was the last man standing and that led me to think that would just add to his anger. It an extent it did, but he still wasn’t himself. Mezeran as his doctor and reporting on his endless jogging was intriguing. He was tying to get back up to pace which was admirable so soon after all he’d been through. The plan of the Daleks to bring an artificial asteroid storm to the Solar System and take out the birthplace of all humanity was superb. I really liked that audacity of that. This was the Daleks at their best. They’d take out some of the outer planets in the system and that would be that. With how the previous part ended, I certainly wasn’t expecting to hear him acting as the commander of the Flagship Herald! The cheers he had when appointed showed how much he was appreciated and how well the news of his resurrection of sorts was welcomed. I was amazed that Kade conducted his duties and I was hoping that he was playing a patient game but I really wasn’t sure if that would be the case. His joy at finding Fisk was terrific but I was still frustrated that he wasn’t confronting Landen about what she had done. It honestly had me questioning whether the transmission we heard in part three was actually a dummy and plant by the Daleks to break apart the core of the Earth Alliance. The truth being that Fisk was in a coma set Kade off into what I was hoping for from the start and he had quite an outburst at Landen which was delightful to hear. It was an outpouring and that’s exactly what it should have been. He thought Fisk had been tampered and hearing the echoes of Lajitta was quite sad again. I did hope that some sort of truth regarding this would have been confirmed. The Earth Alliance attempting to clear a path to the central gravity generator of the asteroid storm and turn it off was good and obviously logical and the action that stemmed from that was really good to listen to. Landen being forced into a suit and coming with him on what he’d deemed a suicide mission was sublime. Instead of killing her point blank, he was going to make her suffer and show her what she was commanding her troops into. The drift off course was good and I liked how Kade even knew he should’ve been aborted the mission but just wanted Landen to experience what it was like on the ground. They’d have to improvise and Landen was begging for safety. The scenes at this moment at the centre of the gravity control were immense and full of excitement. Landen surrendering to the Daleks was an interesting move and it was good to highlight just how in control the Daleks were. I was also interested to find that Landen had no answer for what she had done to recruit Kade to the Fearless. That was quite extraordinary. Kade using Susan Mendes and the knowledge he had of her true plan was fantastic and he wasn’t holding back in calling Landen stupid for her mission that called to assassinate the Angel of Mercy. It was a duplicate. The Daleks exterminating all of the survivors apart from Kade and Landen was good and set up a really great dynamic for the rest of the audio. Kade talking to the Dalek Emperor was terrific and I loved Landen’s reaction when he showed up on the hyperlink. I wasn’t expecting Kade to tell the real plan of Suz and Kalendorf but the Emperor knew it anyway. The use of explosives to take out the gravitational centre seemed to come out of nowhere but that doesn’t mean it wasn’t good. Kade saving Landen was a hugely significant moment but I didn’t like that she was challenging him about not being able to shoot her. That was quite out of order. Him ejecting her from the suit was fantastic and she soon had different thoughts. Kade wanted her to say she was sorry and whilst she was aware that what she did to Kade wasn’t pretty, she seemed to have no remorse which was despicable. The suit distress beacon coming to Landen’s safety was good whilst Kade had been restrained because it was thought that he was mad. From the outside, that wasn’t too much of a surprise to expect. Landen allowed Kade to resign as she finally seemed to realise the torment she had made him endure. He didn’t kill her because he wasn’t a Dalek which was a brilliant line. Hearing the speech of Susan Mendes as the rebellion came into fruition from “Death to the Daleks!” was a really nice moment in the story. That tied things in very nicely. Finding out that Talis Minor was where Kade had gone to get the feel of everything being gone rather than just knowing was somewhat harrowing and emotional. Things ended quite definitively with that but Landen still seemed to think that Kade will realise there is a war to fight. I’m not so sure myself. Overall, a really great audio to conclude what has been a hugely impressive series!

Rating: 8/10

The Fearless Part 3

"They've got Susan Mendes on board and she's our target."

Writer: Nicholas Briggs

Format: Audio

Released: December 2007

Series: Dalek Empire 4.03

Featuring: Kade, Landen, Susan Mendes

Synopsis

On board the star cruiser Amorist, the outcome of the war with the Daleks hangs in the balance.

Kade knows what he has to do, but has he been told the truth?

Verdict

The Fearless continued in superb fashion with this terrific third part! I am really enjoying the fourth series of Dalek Empire thus far and it might just be my favourite yet. It’s a really good tale and very emotional and it’s fair to say that I am invested in the events. The start of this audio was quite intriguing with the Dalek Supreme reporting to what I can only assume was the Dalek Emperor about the scheduled events on the Amorist. I would love for the Emperor to have a big role in the series finale, but I’m not entirely sure that will be the case. The plot for the adventure was brilliant and full of action with the mission regarding the Amorist. The idea of 25 spacers being split across 3 systems and slowly planning to close in on their target was good and well paced. The continuity from the second part with Avers now meeting Ollander was really good and it was great that she was questioning why he was acting in the way he was after she was adoring the Angel of Mercy. Avers and Kenzie were after a hiding spot from the Daleks and it was nice for Suz to actually hide them and powerfully convince the Daleks that they weren’t in her facility. That spoke a lot of volumes and she didn’t seem to be bothered by the control she had over the lowly orders of the Dalek race. The attack of the maniac squad for the Dalek ship being retaliated with an engine strike was good as it took out a significant portion of the squad with just nine remaining. The Daleks shutting down their ship was interesting and I loved that they sent just one out to investigate. Kade clearly being impacted by the strike was good and it was quite hard to listen to him hearing echoes of his wife. He’s missing her incredibly and that’s quite tough. He was then in charge of the attack and wanted to take out the four humans on board because he assumed they were working for the Daleks. That was understandable and provided some interesting thought. The Daleks questioning the presence of the spacers was good and it was terrific to know that they had knowledge of the Fearless. Why wouldn’t they? The Daleks predicting that the maniac squad would target Suz was good and it had me thinking about what whacky plan they were carrying out on this occasion. Fisk discovering some transmission data was really interesting and I loved that it included accounts from Kade and Landen. Avers being killed was quite unexpected as he was a good character, but when the Daleks wanted to exterminate Kenzie and Ollander as well Suz was easily able to convince them not to carry out the death. Kennedy locating the humans was interesting as he had quite a quiet story. Suz realising that she was the target of an assassination squad was an excellent moment. I was hugely surprised when she just left Kenzie to die though despite Ollander’s pleas. There was clearly something different about her. The maniac squad capturing Ollander was a very good story development and they’d carried out quite a successful mission with just one of six Daleks remaining and even that wasn’t in a good way. Kade coming face to face with Susan Mendes was outstanding and I loved how he showed absolutely no remorse. The continuing mentions of Kalendorf are interesting and I have a feeling he might pop up in the finale which would be fantastic. Ollander suggesting that Suz was carrying out a true plan that would involve the Knight of Velyshaa’s telepathic abilities and rising up against the Daleks when the time was right was really interesting. Kade still wasn’t having any of it despite his questions and admitting the possibilities. Fisk refusing to eject Ollander from the ship was good and his challenging of Kade regarding nothing being able to bring his wife back was incredibly powerful. Kade’s reaction was completely warranted! Kade also recalling the Dalek that was captured in part one was superb and I liked how he enjoyed the fact that a lot of useful information had been retrieved from it. Fisk continuing to defy orders and suggest that everything would remain accomplished if they just took Suz and extracted information from her about the Dalek plans and strategies. There was logic to that but he was just enraged about Lajitta and his daughter. Kade knew there was something about Suz which was good and I really liked that he continued to have no sentiment about her situation. He was pretty much putting her on trial and wanting justification for why she was a traitor and on the side of the Daleks. I liked that a lot. He admitted she would be useful, but he was also incredibly clever and knew that the Daleks would also know how useful she would be to the Alliance. So why wouldn’t the lone Dalek kill her if she had the ability to reveal all of their plans? That was a magnificent development! The conclusion of the adventure was sublime and opened up a whole lot of questions whilst answering some others. Fisk retrieved some Dalek data and they had been receiving transmissions from the Earth Alliance. Suz turned out to be a robot copy which I admittedly was a little disappointed by but I could see how it worked logically without impacting the first series. She turned out to be the source of the signal that was being emitted and it all turned out to be a Dalek plan the whole time. They wanted to feed false information to the Alliance whilst knowing their operations was superb with the Daleks now knowing that their plan had failed. But that wasn’t the story, that was all about Landen and Kade. The truth coming out about how Landen had planned everything to recruit Kade for the spacers which was very shocking and something I didn’t see coming. It was an outstanding development and has set things up perfectly for the finale. Not only had she brought the Daleks to Talis Minor to show Kade what he should be fighting for, but she’d also planned for him to lose everything he loved. That was quite phenomenal to be honest and just cruel. He would be prepared to risk everything then, but goodness what he has planned for Landen now. Overall, a fantastic audio!

Rating: 9/10

The Fearless Part 2

"Daddy's up there protecting us from the Daleks."

Writer: Nicholas Briggs
Format: Audio
Released: November 2007
Series: Dalek Empire 4.02

Featuring: Kade, Landen, Susan Mendes

Synopsis

The Earth Alliance is on the brink of victory in the Kedru System. But at what cost?

Meanwhile, deep within the Dalek Empire, Susan Mendes prepares for her latest mission...

Verdict

The Fearless continued in very good fashion with this great second instalment of Dalek Empire’s fourth series! I really liked the continuity with the first episode but with there being an umbrella title for the series, I can’t say that was a big surprise. It’s obviously serving as one big adventure and it was nice to immediately follow on with Kade’s ship losing all of its power. It turned out that the Daleks hadn’t actually destroyed the Alliance ship and I don’t think that was much of a surprise at all. In fact, the Dead Hand was actually being attacked which was a very good twist. I wasn’t expecting them to actually go as far as boarding the Dalek ship and take over! That was really good and a great action-packed way to kick off the audio! I’m really liking the maniac squad and I would like to hear that dubbing continue with where the third part seems to be going. The Alliance keeping one Dalek alive was intriguing and the way they were toying with it was excellent, but despite clearly being in disarray and on the brink of destruction, that singular Dalek still emitted fear. That tells you everything about the Daleks. Even with its gun pulled out! Kennedy having his leg injured reminded me a little of Ian’s fate in The Daleks. His injury wasn’t quite to those extremes though! The destination being Kedru 7 was good with Kade’s wife and daughter being there. His personal investment in events was obviously a big one from there on in. The lone Dalek proving its worth by transmitting a signal was really good and showed that the only good Dalek was definitely a dead one. Kade wanted to kill it, but he was unconvincingly convinced of its worth with efforts to get it back to the Alliance and hack its database enabling the Dalek strategy to be unravelled. The tran-solar disks were a very good element of the story with them heading for Kedru 7 and overloading. Fisk was unable to stop their signal and the desperation in Kade’s voice was incredibly clear. He refused a direct order and the moment Kedru 7 was incinerated was incredibly moving. Noel Clarke’s performance was sublime and it made perfect sense that he wouldn’t care about anything anymore. His family was gone because of a war that wasn’t his. You couldn’t help but feel sorry for Kade. Landed wanting to talk to Kade and provide a debriefing was quite a shocking turn of events. Give him some space! The story then seemed to split off from there and we had an unexpected major appearance from Susan Mendes which took me right back to the beginnings of the Dalek Empire spin-off which I remember rather fondly. Vega VI getting a mention also brought back some good memories. It was fantastic to get another insight into just how important Suz was as the Angel of Mercy and that’s why Landen was using her to show Kade how she was responsible for the success of the Daleks. Hope made the Dalek slaves better and that aided their Empire. The comment by Landen regarding Kade’s family dying for no reason because of Suz was incredible, so much so that I was shocked and I’m not sure if that was in a good way. If I was in Kade’s shoes, I think I would have gone absolutely mad with rage. The arrival of Ollander into the episode was good and the effect of Suz’s inspiration was clear to see in quite shocking circumstances. It was because of the Angel of Mercy that Ollander was able to have a funeral for her father because of her and it was also really interesting to hear how much authority she had over the Daleks whilst being under their enslavement. The emotion that came with Ollander not being able to remember her name was quite sad and it showed just how mentally unstable she was with everything that must have happened to her because of the Daleks. I do feel that she featured perhaps a little too heavily given we already know her story, but I do understand why it was done and how Kade could now be included. Kenzie snd Avers were good characters and the latter understanding the threat the Daleks possessed and their grim prospects of survival were excellent. I liked that a lot. Suz seemed pretty chilling with Ollander which didn’t quite feel right and I liked how she was clearly hit by Kalendorf’s mention. It would be great if he featured at some point during this series! She didn’t seem too happy that he was also seen as a beacon of hope. She didn’t like that and it was clear that she was using Ollander from the start injecting her with falsities regarding friendship which was quite sad. The ending with the dinner and Landen introducing the new commander in the form of Kade was good, but I do wonder why he was making a joke after all he went through in a war he so often reminds wasn’t his. Susan Mendes was a legend and now she was the target. I’m intrigued to see how Kenzie and Avers might have involvement with them having nothing to lose. All signs are positive moving forward and for now, this was a great episode to continue!

Rating: 8/10

The Fearless Part 1

"We're becoming part of the Dalek Empire."

Writer: Nicholas Briggs
Format: Audio
Released: October 2007
Series: Dalek Empire 4.01

Featuring: Kade, Landen

Synopsis

The Daleks are conquering our galaxy. Nothing can stop them. But Commander Agnes Landen has an idea.

On the outer planet Talis Minor, Salus Kade is struggling to keep his colony alive. The last thing he needs is a war to fight.

Verdict

The Fearless kicked off the fourth series of Dalek Empire in superb style! I didn’t really know what to expect from this opening and how it would tie in with the first series, but I was absolutely delighted with what I listened to and I already can’t wait to continue! The cast was star studded as far as Doctor Who is concerned with Maureen O’Brien and Noel Clarke in starring roles which is just marvellous. I mean, this wasn’t a case of Vicki meeting Mickey which is just an incredible thought and I can’t really imagine how that would go, but it was just really good to have them working together. Placing this series during the first series of the spin-off was intriguing and I was very glad that the connection was quite loose whilst being obvious. That’s a magical element to have with continuity in an adventure and the little mention of Susan Mendes and how she was a traitor was very good. Agnes Landen kicking off the story with the idea of the spacers was great and I liked how despite it taking five years to manufacture a sufficient supply to do any damage to the Daleks, she was more than happy with that because they were being defeated slowly. The patience of the Daleks is quite chilling at times and that was fully on display here. The spacers having the ability to propel across the solar system was obviously useful, but not quite as much as the ability to attack and damage Dalek casing. The little line about the spacers being formed from ‘new ores’ was quite naff, but everything after that made me almost forget that terrible line! Landen wanting to seek out the remarkable humans that could be at one with their suits was very good and I loved the plan for a regiment of heroes. The introduction of Salus Kade into the story was brilliant and I liked his relationship with Fisk very much. It was also nice to know how much of a family man he was whilst not knowing what the Daleks were. That heightened the emotion in the audio because Talis Minor became an unwilling battleground in the war between the Daleks and Earth Alliance. The arrival of the Earth Alliance to the planet was quite disheartening with the recruitment drive. Salus stood right up to Sergeant Kennedy and defending his people was just superb and so passionate. A really fantastic speech by Noel Clarke. The Dalek attack during this drive was really exciting and I was a big fan of all of the action that took place during the story. Lajitta was a lovely character as Kade’s wife and the humour when Kade had come back to her about him being a fighter now was really good. Finding out from Kennedy that the spacer suits were all for show and were pretty much useless in a basic condition was unexpected and Kade’s reaction to that spoke volumes. The patience of the Daleks when the humans hid into the cave system was sublime and I love how they just waited to get what they wanted. More than that, they had been strategising and planned a detonation. The use of narration from events later in the audio with Kade was good and I was quite surprised to discover that he felt he’d let his family down. That wasn’t a nice thing to hear. The advancement of events with Kade having his own maniac squad was very good. The arrival of Landen to save her troops from Dalek attack was decent and I liked how Kade realised how important her role was. Despite time clearly having passed, Kade’s passion for his people still being there was mesmerising. I loved that with him not caring about anything other than his family. The comment from Landed about her not being in favour of forced recruitment seemed sarcastic at first but the prospect of her not forcing Kade to have his people conscripted was tremendous! She offered shields and supplies from the Daleks for the people of Talis Minor, but she saw a hero in Kade and she wanted him in her team. Croft being forced to allow Kade to see his family was a wonderful moment and the way in which he was clearly revered by those at the top of the Earth Alliance was excellent. Agnes having a mothering instinct with Kade was good and I’ll be very keen to hear that develop as the series continues. The conclusion was good and interesting with the arrival of the Dead Hand, a huge Dalek fleet, and then Kade shutting down the ship as the Daleks fire. A tactical decision? Agnes was certainly looking forward to seeing how he does. Overall, a superb audio adventure!

Rating: 9/10

Ferril's Folly

"It was a single statute, with a dead body within it."

Writer: Peter Angheledis

Format: Audio

Released: May 2011

Series: Companion Chronicles 5.11

Featuring: Fourth Doctor, Romana I

Synopsis

The search for the fourth segment of the Key to Time brings the Doctor and Romana back to Earth in the present day.

In a small village in Norfolk, former astronaut Lady Millicent Ferril has established an observatory, tracking a meteorite from the Cronquist System. It is a meteorite that almost killed her years before – and perhaps left her not entirely human.

As Ferris's power grows, so does her influence. She can control metal. And anything metal – from a suit of armour to a bicycle – is now lethal...

Verdict

Ferril’s Folly was a very good little audio adventure! I think was definitely one of Mary Tamm’s finest performances in a lead role as Romana I and I have to admit that probably because she is probably my least favourite Classic companion, I didn’t have high expectations going in and I was quite trepidatious about actually purchasing the Companion Chronicle when it was on sale as part of the televised broadcast of the fourth episode of Series 12. I am now very happy that I did! It started very well with the TARDIS tipping over facedown which is such a simple but brilliant problem! I really enjoyed that. Capturing the setting of mid-Season 16 and the search for the Key to Time segments was excellent and it felt like it fitted in effortlessly with the storytelling of that season. I was very impressed with that. I particularly enjoyed the characterisation of the Fourth Doctor with Tamm’s impression pretty decent as far as Companion Chronicles go. Lady Ferril was a really good character and the comedy coming at the end with how her folly was brought down by her own personal folly was terrific. I was quite surprised to find that Ferril was an astronaut and the whole story concerning the crash was really good. Everything was just rather intriguing which is great to have in an adventure because my interest was peaked throughout the story. That’s exactly what you want. Ferril being able to control iron or anything that was an iron alloy was excellent and it worked well that it would only be for one specific metal. That made her powerful but not almighty and unable to be defeated which I think is an important aspect in a villainess. The little spiders were a nice inclusion and just reminded me of Lady Cassandra’s little minions which was a nice thought and image in my head. The use of the statues was very good, particularly with them twisting around the TARDIS. I really enjoyed the Doctor and Romania’s arrival to the observatory and the latter giving away her extraterrestrial nature was hilarious. She couldn’t help but blurt out that she was on a level 4 civilisation despite the Doctor trying to shush her. That was a lot of fun. Their splitting up in search for answers and the segment worked very well for the format of the audio. The Doctor playing darts in the pub with the villagers whilst he was looking for equipment to lift the TARDIS was just magnificent. As a darts player myself, I found that just superb. Professor Erkip was a fun character and it was nice for him to know some things and then have Romana arrive and know all of the calculations surrounding the telescope was brilliant. I liked that a lot and it allowed Romana to shine in a way that perhaps her first incarnation wasn’t always able to do on television. The reveal concerning the Cronquist System was interesting and it was good to have the alien involvement come relatively late in the audio as that allowed for character development and investment. That race being pretty brutal was good and that definitely came around in the story once Ferril was fully under the influence. The scene with Stanford the postman being attacked in horrific fashion by the bicycle he was riding was quite something! It was a little disturbing during my early morning commute I have to say. The villagers disliking Ferril was very good and I loved the emergence of the Historical Reenactment Society. Ferril shutting that down seemed quite harsh but it explained the animated suits of armour so that was good. Their collapse towards the end of the audio worked very well and I also enjoyed the way the Cronquist were dealt with as Romana used the tracer to disperse the segment and repel them back into space and taking Ferril with them. K9 using the tracer to revert the TARDIS back to its upright position was good and I was just dying to hear the robot dog’s voice but it didn’t quite arrive sadly. The humour concerning the Doctor’s initial and hasty plan to convert the segment was brilliant because Romana pointed out that it would actually have provided the perfect pathway for them to take over. Overall, a great little audio adventure!

Rating: 8/10

Fugitive of the Judoon

"Follow the light. Break the glass."

Writers: Vinay Patel & Chris Chibnall
Format: TV
Broadcast: 26th January 2020
Series: 12.05

Featuring: Thirteenth Doctor, Yaz, Ryan, Graham, Captain Jack

Synopsis

Ko Sho Blo! Trigger-happy space police the Judoon are targeting 21st-century Gloucester. The Doctor, Yaz, Ryan and Graham race back to Earth in order to prevent them doing too much damage to the cathedral city. But who are they looking for, and what did they do to incur the wrath of the Judoon?

Verdict

Fugitive of the Judoon was an excellent episode of Doctor Who! It really did continue things along in Series 12 very nicely and I certainly wasn't expecting that. There was so much continuity which was just great and everything tied in nicely whilst opening up so many more questions. When Ruth kicked off the episode, I really wasn't expecting her to be revealed as the Doctor. Yep, that happened. Now, I'm going to go on record and guess that she is a Doctor from a parallel universe and that the Master's trip to another dimension has something to do with it. It's quite clear now that with the Doctor admitting that she is searching for the Master that he will return and I do expect that to happen in the finale, but how this all ties in with the lone Cyberman and the Timeless Child is yet to be answered. The fate of the universe is at stake, at least that's according to a returning Captain Jack! I have to say, I am thrilled that they managed to keep this a secret as his arrival in the episode was just wonderful. Kidnapping Graham aboard his stolen spaceship was just magnificent and I thought it was hilarious that he thought he was the Doctor! That kiss was quite something. John Barrowman was sublime in recapturing the magic of his character and I am certain that he'll be back to meet the Thirteenth Doctor at some point. I will be quite gutted if he isn't! Jack getting to meet Ryan and Yaz as well was terrific and it was nice to see that the companions also enjoyed him as he was a good cheesy. The Doctor's reaction to discovering that her companions had encountered Jack was brilliant and she remembered him very fondly. Lee knowing the truth about what the Judoon were after was interesting and the twist that it was actually Ruth who they were after was fantastic. Twists upon twists occurred though as she had used the chameleon arch to hide her true identity from even herself. I loved that! The Doctor taking her to the lighthouse was intriguing and her digging up the ground beneath what wasn't a gravestone was sublime because it revealed the TARDIS! The slight change in the exterior with the white information background and the thinner structure mirroring that of the Classic era was so delicately fantastic. The interior also looked incredible and seemed like a modern version of the Classic design. Could this be the First Doctor from a parallel universe? There are so many questions! Just what was it that this Doctor was running from? Gat was a really great villain and I would have liked to have learnt more about her before she was essentially killed by the Doctor. The confirmation that she was a Time Lord was brilliant and her contact with the Thirteenth Doctor to show her what Gallifrey had become at the hands of the Master was very good. The use of the Judoon in the episode was very good and the Doctor's reaction to their presence was terrific. Jodie Whittaker was outstanding in this episode it has to be said. Her slumped and shocked reaction as she was walking back to the fam after encountering her other self was outstanding. This story was so close to full marks and I think when everything is revealed, it may increase with hindsight on second viewing, but for now there just needed to be slightly more clarity, specifically regarding Lee. Overall though, a superb episode!

Rating: 9/10

Brotherhood of the Daleks

"This is Spiridon, not a walk in the Petrified Forest."

Writer: Alan Barnes

Format: Audio

Released: October 2008

Series: Main Range 114

Featuring: Sixth Doctor, Charley

Synopsis

The TARDIS makes a return trip to the jungle planet of Spiridon, when the Sixth Doctor and Charley fall in with a lost platoon of shellshocked Thal soldiers – victims of a sneak attack by their blood enemies, the Daleks.

Besieged by deadly flora, surrounded by invisible monsters, and with all hope of rescue gone, the Thals are the victims of a grim experiment in psychological warfare.

With the very nature of reality under threat, the Doctor and Charley need each other more than ever. But dark forces are conspiring to tear them apart...

Verdict

Brotherhood of the Daleks was a very good audio adventure to continue my slightly sporadic listening of Big Finish's Main Range! I am very keen for as many stories as possible with the Sixth Doctor and Charley given what's going on between the pair and this developed things nicely. The Doctor is obviously no idiot and he knows that Charley isn't all she seems whilst she is desperately trying to avoid giving the truth away. She's not doing too great of a job to be honest and it's really impacting her character which is very good to listen to. She's not quite the loving and selfless Charley Pollard of her travels with the Eighth Doctor and is instead looking out for herself and trying to maintain her secret. That was so evident in this adventure. I loved the prospect of a return to Spiridon and whilst that didn't quite turn out to be the case, I appreciated the references and the Doctor's reaction to thinking where he was. This was a very unique audio, firstly in that it was split into five part instead of the usual four, but also because it did something completely different with the Daleks which I thought was incredibly intriguing. The Daleks didn't really come into the story with their true intentions and appearing on mass until part four which is very late in the day! I usually don't expect them to pop up until at least the end of part one, but they were very late to the party this time around and that was absolutely fine because there was a lot going on elsewhere. The whole experiment within an experiment is never something I'm usually a big fan of, but the whole thing being a Dalek facility in order to harness the comradeship of Thals on the battlefield was excellent. I enjoyed the thought of the Daleks wanting to be a little more like their mortal enemies. Things did get a tad confusing in parts with everything that was going on and I felt that the replication was probably overdone. Nyaiad dying on countless occasions actually got a little boring to be honest despite the emotion attached with each one. I really enjoyed the sound of the Thaleks, a name I physically laughed out loud at when Charley dubbed it because it's just outrageous, as they were so different to the traditional Daleks. I thought the cliffhanger at the end of part three worked well with the delivery of Charley claiming to be a Dalek replicant of the future. It would have explained a lot, but to put it as a cliffhanger when us listeners already know that isn't true was a bit questionable in my estimation. It was a nice effort on her part though. I do wonder how long she will be able to keep up her facade though as every time she revealed knowledge of something she shouldn't have, the Doctor was there to pounce. I thought it was really good that it was actually her that was being remembered from the events of Terror Firma. Some nice continuity there. The use of a consciousness loop seems incredibly harsh but fresh and I also really liked the prospect of the Daleks pollinating a planet with their ideas. The reference to the Robomen and the Mechanoid Wars was really good, but I thought the ending could have been improved. Part five seemed a bit rushed with the Doctor arriving in similar fashion to what we heard in part one with Jesic. He didn't even solve things! That was left to an emotional outburst with Murgat not wanting the word spoken about. That word was exterminate and the concept of that bonding the Daleks in brotherhood was outstanding. That should have been the focus all along. Overall though, a really good audio adventure!

Rating: 8/10

The Stranger

"The Daleks have been on Gallifrey since day one."

Writer: Gary Russell

Format: Short Story

Released: August 2015

Printed in: Heroes and Monsters Collection 01

Featuring: War Doctor

Synopsis

The War Doctor travels back in time to the early period of the Time War. He does so to save Gallifreyan children from being killed by Daleks who have managed to hide away under the surface of Gallifrey itself.

Verdict

The Stranger was a very good start to the Heroes and Monsters Collection of short stories! I’m not entirely sure how I’m going to proceed with my blogging of this collection as I have a number of the TARDIS Files that make up the bulk of the reprints from childhood. I’m sure I would have read the stories long ago, but of course they have never been blogged by myself so I’ll have to proceed with the original adventures like this one and then go with those ones that I wasn’t able to add to my collection back when the Tenth Doctor was gracing our screens. Anyway, this one was a great start and I am always glad to get anything more with the War Doctor. There have been a decent amount of stories with this mysterious and lost incarnation of the Doctor, but there’s still so much more to be explored! This was quite a harrowing little tale with the Daleks being on Gallifrey and targeting children. It seemed a horrible plan that they were executing but that perfectly fitted the Daleks during the Time War. As if that wasn’t bad enough, they had actually come back in time to prevent these children becoming adults and going on to become Time Lords. They were attempting to reduce the numbers of Time Lord sources at the source. That’s quite despicable! The idea of time travel within the Time War itself was really interesting and I don’t think that’s been done before so I found myself really intrigued. It transgressed all rules of time, but this was war. Senior Tahl was a really great character and his love for the children he had been entrusted to protect was clear. He was a very good man. His working out of who the stranger was provided a lovely moment, but the Doctor was maintaining that he no longer had a name. If it was, it would be Warrior based on past events. A nod to The Night of the Doctor there was very much welcomed. I thought the continuity in this story was excellent and suggesting that the Time Lords brought the Time War upon themselves isn’t actually too far from the truth! The references to Genesis of the Daleks, The Apocalypse Element and Remembrance of the Daleks were all superb and I am all for the middle adventure being referred to. That needs to come up more in my view! Rojan was a fantastic character and the courage he showed when the Daleks arrived was commendable. I really was quite astonished to find that the Daleks were on Gallifrey during any part of the Time War. This was just the First Segment, it wouldn’t be until the Fifth that the Doctor revoked his name which really fascinated me and was again good continuity. The Doctor had come a long way into his past, would he be feeling he could have done more in his eighth incarnation? Whatever he had done in all of his past lives, it had resonated on Gallifrey because the Doctor was the subject of his very own heroic tale which was incredibly fitting and somewhat emotional. Tahl suggesting that the Doctor was defending Gallifrey and hiding in plain sight after so many regenerations was a nice way to comfort the children and I loved that Rojan knew from thereon in that this stranger was in fact the Doctor. And he even acknowledged his name ever so slightly which was a nice touch. One little negative for me in the book was trying to sell that the Daleks wouldn’t have been able to get over a bridge that had collapsed. That hardly seems a difficult task for beings that can literally elevate? I was dreading that the story was going to end with the Doctor getting the children to safety simply by being on the other side of the bridge, but thankfully that wasn’t the case and I could breath a huge sigh of relief! In fact, Tahl took his chance now to save the Doctor after all he had done for his home planet and blew himself and the Daleks into smithereens. If the Daleks weren’t dead, then they were entombed. What Tahl had done was save the children and now Rojan would go on and look after the children. The Daleks would continue to attack remote weapons outposts like the one here, so the dreaded cities was where had become safest now. A harrowing thought, but they’d gotten a taste of the Time War now and they’d also known the Doctor had been there to help save them. Just like he had with Sontarans in The Invasion of Time, and with space chickens apparently? Now that would be a fun adventure!  Doctor Who and the Space Chickens is a story just waiting to happen. The Doctor showing something resembling a lack of reaction after Tahl died showed how bad things had gotten in the Time War. Who knew what segment he had been fighting in by now, but he was back off in the TARDIS to continue the fight. Overall, a very good start to the collection.

Rating: 8/10

The Belly of the Beast

"We don't need to kidnap workers. We grow our own."

Writer: Jonathan Morris
Format: Audio
Released: February 2019
Series: Missy 1.04

Featuring: Missy

Synopsis

Missy's scheme nears completion. All she must do is subjugate one little planet and bend the inhabitants to her will.

But slaves will keep rebelling. It's almost as if they don't want to unearth an ancient artefact to fulfil Missy's plans for universal domination.

She'll have to do something about that.

Verdict

The Belly of the Beast was a great little audio to conclude what has been a sublime first series of Missy! I had high expectations going into this series, but I have to admit that they even exceeded my hopes. It was absolutely brilliant from start to finish and whilst this one didn’t quite live up to the first three stories, that’s just testament to the quality of the series because this was still a brilliant adventure! One thing I will say is that I think the format of this audio had been done before so that may be why it was slightly down on the others as it became a tad predictable, but I fully appreciate how difficult it is to come up with completely original stories! The actual setting was of course new and we had Missy orchestrating an expedition inside a giant stone alien creature. That pretty much suits her down to the ground and it was a lot of fun having Missy in charge. She obviously embraced that with all the brilliance that is Michelle Gomez and it was terrific to have her giving orders here, there and everywhere. Her frustration at having to think of everything when being contacted about certain problems was wonderful, but it was quite ironic given the fact that she was the one that was in charge of the cloning operations. I was quite surprised by that revelation in the factories but it made a lot of practical sense. Missy wouldn’t exactly be one to care about morals or ethics! She needed a workforce and she didn’t have the time to recruit so she just grew her own which was just horrific to think about! That’s a horrible prospect and the moment they were found was really good. The moment that Aleyna, Cort and Sath  realised that they were also clones was quite harrowing, but I do question how it had never cropped up that they had the same memories. I guess it’s unknown how long they had known each other prior to the start of the audio, but it was very harrowing so I didn’t give it a great deal of thought. Aleyna was particularly good as a guest character and her development of free will and standing up to Missy was fantastic to hear. She wasn’t too accepting of her situation and who could blame her! Missy claiming to be a god over the clones was really intriguing because she didn’t quite seem to want that position which seems slightly against her character of the past. More influence from the Twelfth Doctor perhaps? In typical Missy style she was being quite barmy and that actually involved standing a rebellion against herself! Only Missy would do that and it was just ridiculous, but fantastic at the same time. I didn’t expect Missy’s actual future self to be the true nature of her arch nemesis. Nothing should surprise me when it comes to Missy though! The use of the cobalts was decent and Missy’s reaction to all of the death around her was just terrific. When Mr Brice died, her complete lack of reaction and just wanting a new one created was superb stuff. Missy is so great. Missy contemplating Aleyna as her companion was really interesting, and she would soon have the means to take her travelling. Her hunt for the TARDIS was a nice reveal and I liked how things came together with Divorce, Beheaded, Regenerated and The Broken Clock and the Monk’s TARDIS component and the use of Mark being thrown into the Eye of Harmony to provide a new power source. Missy hadn’t just located any TARDIS though, this was the Master TARDIS. The ability to potentially have a TARDIS that ruled over all other TARDISes was very interesting and the prospect of Missy being in control of that is hugely exciting! It was a sublime way to end things and I really hope it’s set up Series 2. One other thing I should mention is the three blind mice performance from Missy on the piano. Glorious stuff. Overall, a very good finale to what has been a sensational series of adventures for Missy!

Rating: 8/10

The Broken Clock

"Hell in a purple peacoat."

Writer: Nev Fountain
Format: Audio
Released: February 2019
Series: Missy 1.03

Featuring: Missy

Synopsis

Tonight, on Dick Zodiac's America's Most Impossible Killers, Detective Joe Lynwood hunts the most impossible killer of his career.

There's a trail of bodies. Impossible bodies. And Joe has one long night to solve the case.

Luckily, DI Missy Masters from Scotland Yard in England, London, England is here to help...

Verdict

The Broken Clock was yet another brilliant audio adventure to continue Missy's own spinoff series! This is turning into quite the boxset and I loved how this was totally different to a traditional Doctor Who universe adventure. The format of a television show worked tremendously well because it wasn't quite what it seemed. Missy took a little while to enter the story but the use of the spiral scratch to mark her appearance was just magnificent. She couldn't understand why Joe didn't comprehend that meant that she was in control. I loved that. Just what Missy was up was unknown, but her disguise as DI Missy Masters was pushing the subtly to the limit, but I adored the audacity. Michelle Gomez was once again sublime in the story and her speech to Roy goes down as one of my all time favourite moments from Missy/The Master. It was incredible stuff and lasted about four minutes with her actually being quite angry with how he kept needing confirmation that he was going to die. Her likening it to being told you had dropped a pen and then simply pick it up was magnificent. I could listen to that one scene all day, it was phenomenal. Amanda Freylove's maid being interviewed was terrific stuff and the use of an Asian accent and speech was just perfect. It didn't step over the boundary of being stereotypical which is obviously important. The prospect of the murders that were being committed by the man with the pointed beard being time travel murders was very exciting and I think that concept worked very well with a televised show format. I must admit that I initially thought the murderer was going to be a specific past incarnation of the Master, but that would sadly not prove to be the case. What I certainly wasn't expecting it to be was the Master's TARDIS from the Time War! I thought that was incredibly audacious, but it was a mark-212 and had developed sentience. Honestly, I wasn't a big fan of that revelation and it is what prevented this audio from getting full marks. Mark. Ahh, that was very naff to be fair. Thankfully the rest of the story was so good that it didn't have much of an impact with how late it came in the story. It was interesting that it wanted to find a new pilot after all of the torment from the Time War, but it didn't find suitable candidates and kept returning them to where it picked them. Or shortly after. And dead. That was the reasoning behind the time travel murders. The use of Dick Zodiac's narration was fantastic throughout and it basically knowing what would happen was superb. Missy got really angered by it which was really good to see with her own little scheme going slightly south. Mark basically committing suicide and taking Missy with it seemed like a definitive end, but of course it's quite impossible to kill the Master as she acknowledged. Of course, she'd found the factory reset of her former TARDIS – perhaps the one that developed into what we saw in Spyfall? A nice thought. One thing I should mention is how good the music was in this audio and it definitely helped with the pace and enjoyment of things. It just fitted the television show format brilliantly which was brilliantly unique. Missy debating whether she was good or evil was an interesting note to have in the story and it definitely seems that the Twelfth Doctor is having an impact on her in a good way. Overall, another excellent audio!

Rating: 9/10

Divorce, Beheaded, Regenerated

"I've had better engagement parties."

Writer: John Dorney

Format: Audio

Released: February 2019

Series: Missy 1.02

Featuring: Missy

Synopsis

Missy arrives in Tudor England, throwing the plans of another renegade Time Lord into chaos.

King Henry VIII is on the throne, and aliens are stomping through the countryside. Missy just wants to be Queen.

And the Monk? Once he knows who else is on the scene, he'll be glad just to stay alive...

Verdict

Divorce, Beheaded, Regenerated was an outstanding audio adventure and certainly one of my very favourite stories of all time. It was honestly that good. It was sublime from start to finish and I wouldn’t really expect anything less! The combination of Missy and the Monk was something I was incredibly excited by and the meeting definitely didn’t disappoint. Throwing them together in Tudor England was always going to be great, but I certainly wasn’t expecting the Monk to be impersonating King Henry VIII himself! That in itself was just magnificent, but then the prospect of him marrying Missy was just wonderful. Her disguising herself as Foxcroft’s daughter was just barmy and brilliant to see a female disguise for Missy to sink her teeth into, something she was famous for in past incarnations. The Monk’s reaction when seeing who he might be marrying was hilarious and from there on in we had some incredible interaction between the pair. The conversations were just superb and I really liked the reference to The Time Meddler and how the Monk knew of Gallifrey’s fate at the Time War and its return. The Monk having a continued connection to the Matrix was great and I liked how he had settled himself in Earth’s history where he could get up to all sorts of mischief. Here he was changing history in terms of King Henry’s wives and Missy was next in line! She embraced that fantastically. The pace of the adventure was thrilling and I am struggling to think of a more fun adventure. I adored it. The emergence of Catherine Parr into the story was an unexpected moment and it was nice to hear how much she was devoted to King Henry whilst noticing his recent change. Missy joking with the Monk about his name and how he was a meddler was just glorious and his annoyance that the ‘Meddling Monk’ name was the one that stuck was marvellous. There was just so much greatness going on in this audio. The pair needing each other was nice despite there seeming to be a clear hierarchal difference regarding which Time Lord was perhaps most evil. It was clear that the Monk was not a killer whilst the same certainly could not be said of Missy as the Monk was quick to acknowledge. Missy needed a TARDIS component from the Monk’s inactive model, whilst he needed the means to escape the time period he had become accustomed to. Missy wasn’t hiding the fact that she thought the Monk was stupid and that’s because the vortex manipulator had been on her wrist the whole time. Her initial disguise as being sent by the Time Lords was great, but clearly not believable, and the Monk worked that out pretty quickly and took command by imprisoning her! That was a good little twist. His meddling in getting her out of jail to see where she’d go was another very unexpected element. The Gramoryans arriving and following the Monk’s trail after his meddling in the timeline with King Henry VIII’s wives was good and I thought the one we met was quite comical with the ferocious accent. His desire to shoot anything that was insignificant worked well and how he was a collector of paradoxical specimens was terrific. A very good little concept there and I think they could definitely work in bulk in a future story. The conclusion was a lot of fun with the wedding and it was pretty much a game of who would blink first. The wedding was underway and of course the Gramoryan arrived and that set in action a quick defence of revealing that he wasn’t in fact the real King Henry, who was actually in the zero room in the Monk’s TARDIS. It became a very fun finish with Missy escaping and the Monk being left trapped in Tudor England inside his own TARDIS! Overall, a quite phenomenal audio. 

Rating: 10/10

A Spoonful of Mayhem

"Missy showed us there was magic to be found."

Writer: Roy Gill

Format: Audio

Released: February 2019

Series: Missy 1.01

Featuring: Missy

Synopsis

In a spot of bother in Victorian London. Missy is forced to take on governess duties.

But she has another scheme in mind, and her charges are simply in the way. She's going to have to teach the children some rather harsh lessons about getting what you want.

And there will be tears before bedtime.

Verdict

A Spoonful of Mayhem was an excellent start to the first series of Missy’s own series! I have been anticipating this release for quite some time so I was delighted to receive the boxset as a Christmas present. I’m honestly quite surprised it’s taken until now for me to start listening to it! Michelle Gomez really is an extraordinary talent and she cane across wonderfully well on audio and starring as the lead character. The Missy incarnation of the Master is right up there as one of the very best and getting to learn more of what she gets up to when the Doctor isn’t around is just so much fun! I had already gained a taste of that from The Missy Chronicles which was a brilliant book of short stories, but there’s nothing quite like a performed adventure! The setting of Victorian England was fantastic and I loved how Missy was exiled in a very similar way to that of the Third Doctor way back when. This wasn’t the doing of the Time Lords though, but was instead enacted by the Wardens. I thought they were quite fun but that was largely down to Missy’s interaction with them. I adored how she always seemed, and firmly believed that she was, in control despite being sanctioned for her wrongdoings. The opening scene where she was reprimand for ‘just’ throwing one person off of a cliff was brilliant. Michelle Gomez was at her very best there. The idea of Missy having a job interview to be a nanny was just perfect, especially in the era that the story was set, and her listing of patience as one of her key qualities made the sublime reference to The Keeper of Traken even better. I really enjoyed that one. Just waiting in the Melkur must have been painstakingly long, especially in an emaciated form! Great stuff. When she of course got the job, her interaction with Oliver and Lucy was just superb. I loved how she was teaching them totally different things to Victorian etiquette and went out and showed them that there was so much more to see in the world. Of course, she had an ulterior motive and when it became clear that Lucy wasn’t too keen on what Missy was up to, she just left her behind! Oliver and Lucy themselves were good and seemed like typical brother and sister with the relationship that was provided. Oliver was written very well as the elder sibling. I thought the use of the 19th century as a whole worked well and I liked how it limited Missy to some extent, but she was in the age of the Industrial Revolution and trains would provide her with the power she needed. The after hours trip to Crystal Palace was terrific and I loved that she quickly found an alien Gatekeeper which would end up providing her power source. The Veriform was an intriguing little element in the story and its likening to a genie was marvellous. I really liked how it seemed to be part of the basis for the mythological gods of the likes of the Greeks and Egyptians. I really enjoyed that. It was good to think of steam being intelligent! Lucy and Oliver trying to understand that was fun. The former’s suspicions about Missy’s intentions were very good and I liked how she didn’t believe that her new nanny was filling the train and going fast for the joy of the passengers. Missy connecting up the ancient lay line of notable landmarks through the rail tracks was very interesting and it worked well. It was throughly enjoyable. Speaking of which, I need to track back a little and mention the enjoyment Missy had in sliding down the stairs on the bannister! Marvellous moment. The ruby being the basis for the power was good and Lucy threatening to throw it because of her suspicions was very good. It ended up with Missy once again being taken in by the Wardens. But that is what she wanted all along which was a nice little twist. Mr Cosmo, the lead Warden, getting trapped in a battle was a nice touch as far as an evil conclusion goes and was a lot of fun for Missy to get her way. I also loved how she came back and saved the children from imminent disaster, but she refused to admit that she did so for that very reason. Missy was getting good ever so slightly. Was the Twelfth Doctor getting through to her? Overall, a wonderful audio adventure! 

Rating: 9/10

Nikola Tesla's Night of Terror

"Changing the world takes time."

Writer: Nina Metivier

Format: TV

Broadcast: 19th January 2020

Series: 12.04

Featuring: Thirteenth Doctor, Yaz, Ryan, Graham

Synopsis

1903. On the edge of Niagara Falls, something is wrong at Nikola Tesla's generator plant. Who or what is sabotaging the maverick inventor's work? Has he really received a message from Mars? And where does his great rival Thomas Edison fit into these events? The Doctor, Yaz, Ryan and Graham must join forces with one of history's great minds to save both him and planet Earth

Verdict

Nikola Tesla's Night of Terror was a very good episode to continue Series 12! I was a big fan of the historical setting in this story and it was nice for me personally to get to know Nikola Tesla. His name was something that was familiar to me, but I will admit that before reading the episode preview in DWM, I couldn't quite pinpoint where I knew his name from. I am sure it must have come up in a science lesson at school so getting to know all about him here was a real treat. I thought he was a terrific historical figure and it was so good to see how excited the Doctor was at the prospect of meeting the great mind. With Tesla also came his great inventor rival in the form of Thomas Edison. Now, he's a name that pretty much everybody knows and it was nice to see some of their rivalry in action. It worked well knowing that Tesla used to be in the employ of Edison and using the newspapers and protests against his alternating current experiments was very good. The 1903 setting of New York looked wonderful and it was a brilliant move to have the companions looking splendent in their early twentieth century attire. They all seemed to suit it in quite different ways, with Graham particularly seeming to enjoy himself. His knowledge on Tesla was rather the same as mine which was humorous when prompted by Yaz. The use of a Silurian gun in the episode was really great and I was hoping for a second that we were going to get a return of potentially an older Madame Vastra. Alas, it wasn't to be but that was absolutely fine. It was just nice to have some more continuity, something there has definitely been more of during this series. Dorothy was a very good little character as Tesla's assistant and it was nice to learn how much her boss had opened up her eyes. That as a really nice moment. Her relationship with Ryan was very good throughout but I was a little surprised to see him getting quite comfortable with another woman after what he went through in Orphan 55. Yaz's relationship with Tesla was excellent throughout and I liked how she was getting on with things by herself. The Skithra made for a pretty decent enemy, particularly the Queen, but I will say that I wasn't a huge fan of their appearance. Honestly, I wasn't a huge fan of them either. I honestly don't know what's wrong with a pure historical! There is so much in a story containing Tesla and Edison that you don't need alien involvement. Or maybe just the sphere, but not a whole race. I did love that the Skithra wanting Tesla instead of Edison was eating up the latter though. That was a really nice touch. I was a big fan of both inventors getting to go in the TARDIS and the irony of Tesla being the one to grasp the dimensions was terrific. I thought the sets in this one as a whole were magnificent with all of the labs and where Tesla received the message from Mars. It being revealed that he'd actually sent a signal back to the Skithra was an unexpected moment that worked very well. Ryan likening his idea for a wireless global system to WiFi was very good as well. The ending was well done and with pace which was exciting, whilst also being a very serious conversation. Just when it looked like the Skithra Queen had turned things on their head, the Doctor brilliantly tricks her back into being on her ship and subjected to the lightning bolt. Without their Queen, the Skithra fell in typical hive fashion. The moment at the end with the Doctor telling Tesla to never give up was a wonderful little line. Speaking of lines, the little eluding to the Doctor seeing a dead planet was fantastic. Overall, a very solid episode!

Rating: 8/10

Mistress of Chaos Part 5

"Two fates... I honestly don't know which is worse."

Writer: Scott Gray

Format: Comic Strip

Released: 9th January 2020

Printed in: DWM 547

Featuring: Thirteenth Doctor, Yaz, Ryan, Graham

Synopsis

The Doctor, Graham and Dogbolter are still stuck in the Catastrophia, and the fate of the Time Lord as the Herald gets worse. The Sanity is an alternative fate. Can the Doctor face her possible future selves in a world of chaos? A world that intends to invade reality...

Verdict

Mistress of Chaos continued in impressive fashion with an action-packed fifth part! I will get to the comic strip story shortly, but before that I will preview what looks to be another excellent edition of Doctor Who Magazine. The magazine is always better when Doctor Who is actually on our screens and following on from Spyfall being broadcast should be great. I can't wait for the Master of Disguise segment detailing some of the top disguises that the Master has taken on over the years with yet another brilliant one revealed in the first story of Series 12. Anything relating to the Master is a positive in my book! I'm a little behind with my blogging of the comic strip story this month, so I have already read the preview of Orphan 55 before last week's broadcast, and I have just read the sneak peak at Nicola Tesla's Night of Terror ahead of tomorrow's new episode! It looks to be a really good historical tale and I'm very excited for it. I am delighted to find that The Daleks' Master Plan is the subject of the Fact of Fiction this month which should just be brilliant to get the insight of and I am very much looking forward to (hopefully) this being the feature for the next three issues. The Anyone for Denis? feature looks quite intriguing and combining merchandise and Tom Baker should be a good read! This issue of course features previews of episodes 5 and 6 of the new series and with the Judoon returning in one, I am very much looking forward to what's in store there. Bradley Walsh taking on the TARDIS Tin for this month's interview should be a really good and fun read as I'm sure he'l embrace the format. An interview with Chris Chibnall is also always welcomed seeing that he runs the show! Quite literally. He's always good when it comes to just giving enough away as well. I do hope he gets asked about the Master's return and how it was kept hidden. Now, back to the comic strip story and I thought this was a really good continuation. I was kind of hoping it would, but that's purely because it's a bit long and waiting six months for a story to pan out and conclude is quite long. The concept of the Doctor having two possible future fates was intriguing, especially considering neither was particularly appetising! The emergence of the Sanity was good and the image of her alongside the Doctor and the Herald was a little bit mind-boggling to be honest. So much Jodie Whittaker! But in such different scenarios and fates. The Doctor wanting to help the Herald despite knowing it may be her fate was testament to the person she is, and the desperation attached to her plea to the Sanity to remember who she once was made for an emotional moment. The Doctor couldn't believe she would become that. Yaz, Ryan and co using the TARDIS, through unconventional methods, to get to the Catastrophia was good and I like how the method the Doctor and Graham will escape is now known. The TARDIS wasn't quite as safe as it would be in reality though! That's an exciting prospect as it's usually a safe haven. It's a nice dynamic. The cliffhanger was slow but good with the potential of chaos emerging throughout the universe and taking over reality. It was coming through every possible entryway, how can that be stopped? I look forward to finding out! Overall, a solid continuation. 

The Mind Robber

"We've reached nowhere... it's as simple as that."

Writer: Peter Ling
Format: Novel
Released: April 1987
Series: Target 115

Featuring: Second Doctor, Jamie, Zoe

Synopsis

To escape a catastrophic volcanic eruption, the Doctor takes the TARDIS out of space and time – and into a void he can only describe as 'nowhere'.

But the crisis is far from over and when the time-machine's circuits overload, the TARDIS explodes.

The Doctor, Jamie and Zoe come to in a dark unearthly forest. There they encounter a host of characters who seem somehow familiar: a beautiful princess with long flaxen hair, a sea traveller dressed in eighteenth-century clothes, and a white rabbit frantically consulting his pocket watch...

What is happening to the three time-travellers? What strange power guides their actions? In the Land of Fiction, who can really tell?

Verdict

The Mind Robber was a fantastic novelisation of the televised story of the same name! I always knew this was going to be a good read because the adventure from which it was based upon has always been one I've loved and things did not disappoint! This was a joy from start to finish and I thoroughly enjoyed some of the deviations from what occurred on television. I definitely think they aided the story as a whole. This adventure quickly became a standalone story as there was no mention of Dulkis and no continuity from The Dominators as the TARDIS was escaping the eruption of Mount Vesuvius instead! That was unexpected, but it worked really well and must have been beneficial for those readers who would not have been reading in chronological order. It still had the same effect and saw the TARDIS enter the Land of Fiction. I think that concept is just tremendous and it worked even better in the novelised format because things weren't limited by the resources and technology of 1968. I loved the little moments with Zoe as Alice in Wonderland and I also thought the Karkus was brilliant with the idea of him speaking in comic strip special effect format. The Doctor initially mistaking that for a language that he didn't recognise was really great. The characterisation of the Second Doctor throughout was wonderful and I have always adored how he puts Jamie's face together wrong. Of course, you don't actually need that in the book because Frazer Hines is not required, but it just has too much comedic value to be taken out! I love it. I didn't realise just how long it takes for the trio to depart the TARDIS and they do it at quite different paces. Zoe gets tempted out and Jamie quickly follows, but the Doctor is less willing to journey into nothingness. Trying to comprehend 'nothing' really is mind-blowing but I thought the presentation worked very well here. The only slight qualm I have with this adventure is that once the Doctor convinces his companions to say that fictionalised terror isn't real, it then become very obvious what the direction will be for the rest of the story. However, it didn't fully stay that way which was terrific because the moments where the Doctor and the Master, who was firmly addressed as just sharing the same name as the Time Lord villain, were writing fiction to suit their gains. The Doctor nearly fictionalising himself has always been one of my favourite moments in the story and I enjoyed waiting for it to happen again here. The pace with which the fictionalised characters appear almost on a spinning wheel was really good and made for an exciting read. We went from Gulliver to Rapunzel to Madusa in quick succession which was very exciting. The use of words was also wonderful throughout and the idea of a forest made up of them is brilliant. I'm sure that could work in a story set in the real world as well. The Doctor enjoying his surroundings because of the challenge it posed was very enjoyable and quite ironic given how trepidatious he was about leaving the TARDIS in the first place. Zoe's overcoming of the Karkus was great and another excellent moment was when Rapunzel's attitude towards Jamie instantly changed when she found he wasn't a prince. The ending was very action-packed with the battle of fictions against the Great Brain and the Doctor disconnecting the Master from it and reverting him back to his true 19th century self was good and he even took him with them in the TARDIS! Would he be able to get him home? Who knows. The ambiguity there is nice and something you could only get away with in the Target novelisations. Overall, a tremendous little read.

Rating: 9/10

The Last Post

"I know the end is coming."

Writer: James Goss

Format: Audio

Released: October 2012

Series: Companion Chronicles 7.04

Featuring: Third Doctor, Liz

Synopsis

People are dying. Just a few, over a period of months... but the strange thing is that each person received a letter predicting the date and time of their death.

Throughout her time as the Doctor's assistant, Liz Shaw has been documenting these passings.

Her investigation ultimately uncovers a threat that could lead to the end of the world, but this time Liz has someone to help her.

Her mother.

Verdict

The Last Post was an outstanding audio adventure and may rank as my all time favourite Companion Chronicle! This was a joy from start to finish and I was delighted to purchase the story as part of the Third Doctor offers to go alongside the broadcast of episode three of Series 12. I didn’t really have many expectations going in but I absolutely adored what I listened to. Liz was a wonderful lead character and I really enjoyed that we got to meet her mother and just have some good interaction between them. Their relationship seemed close with an air of privacy and it was nice to get to know Liz in a different light from UNIT. Her mother’s attitude towards UNIT was quite intriguing and I really liked what she thought of the Doctor. She admitted he was clever, but only close to her levels which was a nice little addition. The way the story was formatted was brilliant and I loved how it spanned most of Season 7 of the Classic series. We had numerous references to the likes of Spearhead From Space and Doctor Who and the Silurians which was great. The predominant setting then takin place between The Ambassadors of Death and Inferno was excellent and just worked really well. It was clear to see how Liz developed throughout the early parts of the adventure and her relationship with the Doctor definitely got closer as the minutes went by. The concept of certain political members getting killed was intriguing, but what was really interesting was the fact that they got letters telling them exactly when they died! Imagine receiving that letter? I don’t really know how I’d react to that. But it makes for fantastic Doctor Who and I really enjoyed what I listened to. Liz was getting frustrated with the lack of action the Doctor and the Brigadier were taking in her raising of the issue, but once the former realised the severity of what was happening, he wanted to know why Liz hadn’t mentioned anything earlier. That was really good stuff and great characterisation of the Third Doctor which impressed throughout. The idea of the apocalypse clock worked very well and I liked how it was obvious that Prestaigne was putting things together how he wanted. It was no coincidence that those being eliminated contributed to the extension of the apocalypse clock. It was terrific that he was just absolutely mad. That much was clear. The Death Watch Committee was an idea that fascinated me greatly and his position was of huge interest. It was inevitable that Emily would get her letter sooner or later, and when that came it was an emotional moment. That was quite a phone call. The use of letters to tell the audio worked fantastically well as well and was quite a unique way of storytelling. As if this audio didn’t have enough continuity as it was with being told across Season 7, the links to The War Machines were an unexpected treat. I love that story so for some of the computer banks to be salvaged from the fateful Post Office Tower lit my face up. I adored it and it just made so much sense! The Doctor recognising its familiarity was wonderful and I was overjoyed that ‘Doctor Who’ was required. Marvellous. The apocalypse clock having some semblance of sentience was very good and conversing with it made for some interesting comments. Liz was going to do more than just converse though, she was going to argue. The way she made the clock realise that it was the reason for the supposed apocalypse was magnificent and a real story highlight. The use of the scorpions in the audio was quite intriguing and their being there to just observe was something I didn’t expect to be the case. The apocalypse clock fixing the death of Prestaigne and realising what needed to be done to save the planet was really great. The Doctor getting his own letter and several death dates was magnificent, with a harrowing foreshadowing of Planet of the Spiders. Overall, a fitting end to what was a sublime audio adventure!

Rating: 10/10

Mission of the KaaDok

"You can't be going around shooting movie stars."

Writer: Mike Tucker
Format: Short Story
Released: December 2019
Printed in: Star Tales 06

Featuring: Thirteenth Doctor, Yaz, Ryan, Graham

Synopsis

"Even though they're gone from the world, they're never gone from me."

The Doctor is many things – curious, funny, brave, protective of her friends... and a shameless namedropper. While she and her companions battled aliens and travelled across the universe, the Doctor hinted at a host of previous, untold adventures with the great and the good: we discovered she got her sunglasses from Pythagoras (or was it Audrey Hepburn?); lent a mobile phone to Elvis; had an encounter with Amelia Earhart where she discovered that a pencil-thick spider web can stop a plane; had a 'wet weekend' with Harry Houdini, learning how to escape from chains underwater; and more.

In this collection of new stories, Star Tales takes you on a rip-roaring ride through history, from 500BC to the swinging 60s, going deeper into the Doctor's notorious name-dropping and revealing the truth behind these anecdotes.

Verdict

Mission of the KaaDok was a great little adventure and a good way to conclude Star Tales! This has been a terrific little collection of stories accounting for a number of those namedrop moments throughout Series 11, and I liked how each of the stories was very current with the TARDIS team we see now on our screens in Series 12. It's always good to be in line with what's on TV and this week for blogging has been very much focused on the Thirteenth Doctor and her fam. I liked the continuity from The Pythagoras Problem as it was just enough to acknowledge its predecessor whilst being wholly its own story. That was important. There was also a nice little mention of That's All Right, Mama from Graham who got an unusual opportunity to fangirl about meeting Audrey Hepburn. He really was overjoyed and that was fantastic to see. It actually reminded me a little of how excited he was at the start of Orphan 55 at the prospect of having a holiday. Here, he was meeting an acting hero of his from one of his all time favourite films. The little nod to Grace and Ryan remembering some of the recent fateful Christmases watching some of Hepburn's films was excellent. The whole story taking place during the filming of Breakfast at Tiffany's was fantastic and I think it's a bit of a shame from a personal standpoint that I haven't seen that film! I have to admit, I don't really know who Audrey Hepburn is other than an early famous actress, but that didn't matter at all which was also important for enjoying the adventure. Yaz and Ryan didn't have a lot to do in this story but the impact wasn't felt much at all which is obviously a positive. PhiLit was an intriguing little character and I must admit I was fully expecting him to be an assassin rather than just looking to gather some information to create a waxwork robot replica! That is pretty barmy, isn't it? The KaaDok hoping to gain Madame Tussaud's in space was just ridiculous but in a perfectly good Doctor Who way. There's just nowhere else you would get that. Audrey Hepburn gaining a reputation amongst the stars was a nice thought and I liked how Earth was gaining a reputation – and ratings! – because of the television entertainment it was beaming into space for all sorts of alien races to pick up and watch. Might they view them as advertisements of the human race? Who knows what opinions there may be! The little notion that the Ninth Doctor may actually have been in place as the director of the famed film was very interesting and I liked the idea of the Thirteenth Doctor looking back on her past with fondness. A long time ago. Speaking of the past, the Doctor posing as Sarah Jane Smith to find Audrey Hepburn was a wonderful moment. The use of the psychic paper throughout was decent and probably in higher volumes than any other Doctor Who adventure! The celebrity robots, mostly from the wrong time period, all roaming around aimlessly waiting for orders on the set of Breakfast at Tiffany's was a very fun image in my head on the train home. They were just bundling around! The mention of child slavery soon turned the Doctor around to putting things to a stop despite what she knew of the KaaDok and the way she did that was very good and a logical end to proceedings. As a whole, this was a thoroughly enjoyable tale and I even found myself drawing similarities to The Feast of Steven. Overall, a great end to what has been a brilliant little book!

Rating: 8/10

The Pythagoras Problem

"All souls are immortal."

Writer: Trevor Baxendale
Format: Short Story
Released: December 2019
Printed in: Star Tales 05

Featuring: Thirteenth Doctor, Yaz, Ryan, Graham

Synopsis

"Even though they're gone from the world, they're never gone from me."

The Doctor is many things – curious, funny, brave, protective of her friends... and a shameless namedropper. While she and her companions battled aliens and travelled across the universe, the Doctor hinted at a host of previous, untold adventures with the great and the good: we discovered she got her sunglasses from Pythagoras (or was it Audrey Hepburn?); lent a mobile phone to Elvis; had an encounter with Amelia Earhart where she discovered that a pencil-thick spider web can stop a plane; had a 'wet weekend' with Harry Houdini, learning how to escape from chains underwater; and more.

In this collection of new stories, Star Tales takes you on a rip-roaring ride through history, from 500BC to the swinging 60s, going deeper into the Doctor's notorious name-dropping and revealing the truth behind these anecdotes.

Verdict

The Pythagoras Problem was another good continuation of the Star Tales collection of stories where the Doctor encounters famed figures from Earth's history. This one saw us going way back into the history books with a trip to around 500BC and a meeting with Pythagoras. I liked that we got a visit to Ancient History as I think it's a period that should be explored more in Doctor Who and this one was a decent example. The arrival of Pythagoras himself into the story was very unexpected with the team finding him in a slightly beaten and drunk-looking way. Before that, we had some terrific humour with Graham and what he was being forced to wear to fit into the period. The image I had in my head of his knobbly knees in his tunic whilst Yaz and Ryan looked resplendent certainly made me laugh on the train into work this morning. His being effected by the local change in the time-space continuum was interesting and I was immediately interested in what was going as things went awry as soon as the TARDIS was departed. There was no messing around and I guess there isn't much time for that in a short story like this. The pace was really good, a common theme of most of the book, and made for an exciting little tale. Myia was a great little character and it was nice to meet some of Pythagoras's family. I think it's always positive when dealing with a historical figure that we also meet some of their familial relationships and get to know them. It definitely helps when you have a TARDIS team as big as this one as well otherwise things could get quite crowded and clumsy. Thankfully that was not the case here. I found Pythagoras's belief in metempsychosis really interesting and the Doctor's thoughts on the subject, apparently knowing exactly what happens to a human when they die, were most intriguing. I really loved how Pythagoras believed the Doctor was living proof of his belief because of how she regenerated from body to body from time to time that they encountered one another. His belief of his old friend's soul being in a dog seemed a little weird and it was a little sad to see the Doctor try to tell him that his beliefs were wrong despite how much it obviously meant to him. The soul within then inhabiting Myia seemed a natural development, but when it was described what actually happened to the dog after the inhabitant parted was horrific. That couldn't be allowed to happen to Myia. The use of the tetractys was really good and it obviously fitted in perfectly with Pythagoras. The explanation was perfect and we even got a little diagram amongst the text which I'm sure would have been beneficial for a number of readers. I was pretty darn good at maths at school though so I knew what it was all about. It representing dimensions was something I didn't know a huge deal about, obviously, but the idea of zero dimensions really fascinated me. I'd like for that to be explored in future. Milo was another decent character as Myia's boyfriend and his fear that his beloved would befall the same fate as the dog was quiet expected! The Doctor had other ideas though and wanted to make the transference through the tectractys easier which would keep Myia safe from withering away. The use of the students Pythagoras taught was really good and things just came to a logical ending with pretty good timing. As a whole, this was another terrific little story and the presumed lead in for the next and final story in the collection with Audrey Hepburn and some borrowed sunglasses was fantastic. I'm a big fan of that continuity! Overall, another very good adventure.

Rating: 8/10