The Edge

"Remember who you are."

Writer: Simon Guerrier
Format: Audio
Released: June 2013
Series: Graceless 3.01

Featuring: Abby, Zara

Synopsis

"It tore you up, everything you were..."

There's a hotel on a cliff overlooking the sea. All sorts of people wash up there. The retired policeman, the faded star of the music hall and a girl who doesn't know who she is...

Abby arrives at the hotel searching for her sister Zara – but after all they've been through and fought over, will she want to be found?

But they're not the only ones with secrets, running away from their pasts. And someone else in the hotel wants to see them all dead...

Verdict

The Edge was an excellent start to the third series of Graceless! This was definitely my favourite audio from the spinoff series yet and if it is just going to get better, then I am very excited for what's in store following the adventures of Abby and Zara. With the way The Dark left things at the end of series two, I was quite surprised by how quickly Abby found Zara at the hotel. She was just enjoying the sea which I thought was nice, although Dennis was indicated that she may be jumping in. What that foreshadowed I was only able to realise as the story went on which was fantastic. Zara having lost her memory was a good development and I was very intrigued when Abby looked into her sister's head and found that there was nothing there. She had been taken apart and reformed after going into the Vortex, but why would Abby have retained her memories after going through the same experience? The moment where Abby was able to help Zara retrieve her memories was fantastic with Joy heard and also the mention of the triceratops atop a tricycle. I liked the continuity there. Abby seeing that Zara wanted to forget her memories was also a very powerful moment. The moment where Abby and Zara stalled on how they were going to pay for the hotel was fun, especially when the former pushed Dennis when he thought he might get a bit lucky when it came to a service in place of monetary payment. Them discovering that Zara had signed into the hotel with her name was good as that meant her memory loss was unrelated to the Vortex and occurred at the hotel. The introductions of Miss Simone and Albert were handled very well and I thought Abby setting Zara and Kurt on a sort of date was wonderful. Her showing the obviously nervous waiter the truth about space and her memories travelling was terrific. I thought the post-war setting of the story, at least the portrayal of that, was good and I expected more to be made of that. Of course, it ended up actually just relating to Simone and Albert. Simone prying on the sisters was very good and she was a stereotypical nasty and nosy elderly woman. She pushed Abby into feeling envious of her sister and clearly knew more than she was letting on. Abby then losing her memories was an excellent development and it was clear that the sisters were trying to be broken apart. The accusation that Simone and Albert were feasting on memories was great, but things didn't go where I expected them to which was good. The relationship between Albert and Simone getting explored a little was fun, especially with the former pretending to be gay to avoid the latter's advances. The murder of Kurt was sudden but presented a brilliant threat and something that needed answering with the sisters on the verge of being set up. The fire then breaking out in the hotel was superb and the tension that went along with the action-packed scenes here was outstanding. Zara going back for Albert was desperate and the wind helping the fire spread was superb. Abby then going in for Zara, only for her to come out, was fantastic and I liked them playing on the fact that they couldn't die together. The emergence of the killer inside was good and he was quite enigmatic and energetic which worked well. He had a twisted mind and was hiding in the shadows. The description of him being as light as smoke and intangible was really good. I really wasn't expecting the moment where Simone stood up and scared the killer off! It was sublime. Albert not making it out alive was a shame, and I do think Simone should have been sadder. The confrontation between her and Dennis and how they threw insults about being a coward or leaving the real world behind was great stuff. The idea of the sea actually being what had the sisters under control was intriguing and I loved that they were being almost drawn in. Everyone else getting taken away by the sea was quick with the girls frozen also being a good threat. Simone giving her life for the sisters was excellent, and from there I liked how there was almost a reset at the hotel. Zara knew things were still wrong, and wanted to put them right as she felt she owed Simone that. I admired that. Kurt returning from the dead as the essence of the hotel and explaining that this place was essentially the waiting room at the end of time and space for those already dead was terrific. I thought that concept worked really well and I liked it a lot. They were on the cliff overlooking oblivion, and Kurt basically gave them the reason to complete the job of killing themselves. The description of the sisters washing up from the other side and being the first to do so was really good and after seeing into Zara's head, Kurt saw where the sisters were vulnerable. He'd learned of the deal with the Grace and that they would choose when they died. Zara fought back wondering why anyone needed to be pushed off the edge. Did they need to die? Abby and Zara joining together to put things right and bring back Simone and Albert was great and I liked how the returning pair got into Kurt's head and sent him on his way. They would run the hotel now and wouldn't be pushing anyone off the edge into confirmed death. I thought that was nice. The ending was also good leading into the next story, I presume, as they recalled the memory of Marek recorded in the tapestry and they realised that it might have been something that hadn't happened yet. Might they be reunited? Overall, a brilliant audio!

Rating: 9/10

The Keep

"These are the dying days."

Writer: Alan Barnes

Format: Comic Strip

Released: January-February 1997

Printed in: DWM 248-49

Featuring: Eighth Doctor, Izzy

Synopsis

Shortly after arriving on Earth in the 51st century, the Doctor and Izzy are greeted by Marquez, the android servant of Crivello, an aged scientist only kept alive by his complete immersion in a nutrient tank. His quest is to build an artificial sun to give humanity a new home, and a time traveller is required to make it happen...

Verdict

The Keep was a terrific combination of the Endgame graphic novel! I thought this was brilliant from start to finish and serves as a great little first outing in the TARDIS for Izzy as the new companion of the Eighth Doctor. It's a little easy to forget that this is so early on in the run for the Eighth Doctor in any format, but the writing of his incarnation really is very good here. I was reading a lot of the lines in the voice and personality of Paul McGann which is certainly a positive. I liked how his incarnation was portrayed as heading for the action and quite energetic as we saw a lot of that during The Movie, so continuing that here was very good indeed. At two parts, this was quite a short little adventure but it did a wonderful job in telling a fast-paced and just fantastic story! Judging by how the epilogue ended and Crivello's untimely death once his goals were achieved, I get the feeling that there might be more to come from this particular adventure as I make my way through the graphic novel. Izzy's reaction to being in the 51st century was a very fun one because it wasn't exactly how she imagined the far future would be! She was expecting cities made of gold and silver but what she got was far from it. She seemed to react pretty well to being trapped after the lights went off and her wanting to wake the Doctor up during their tangle was terrific. Uber-Marshall Leng made for a decent villain whilst he was threatening the Doctor and Izzy and I found his connections to Magnus Greel very interesting! I thought that was a really nice addition to the story and something so simple adds a lot to a monster, especially in such a short comic strip. Marquez saving the Doctor and Izzy with a scoop was good and I thought Izzy's reaction to experiencing that was excellent as it was steeped in realism which I think is very important. The cliffhanger was superb and something that came out of nowhere! The Doctor was inundated with praise for what he was looking at as the nucleus of an artificial sun, but I wasn't expecting him to be sacrificed and thrown in by Marquez! The imagery there, along with the first page of part two, was brilliant. Izzy's thoughts of being stranded three thousand years from home were great and I loved how understandably joyous she was when the Doctor emerged from the artificial sun. It was in fact alive and as Crivello anticipated, the Doctor being a time traveller allowed him to control it. The sun emerging and standing up seemed to resemble a large Groot from the Marvel universe which was good on a personal note. The Doctor and Crivello's brief synaptic encounter was fantastic and although it wasn't much, there seemed to be so much coming from it. The Doctor was enthralled with the pure knowledge installed within the scientist. His desire to form a home world for humanity whilst Earth was ravaged by its sun was admirable and he was only trying to help. So to find him brutally killed at the end was a big surprise and something I am sure we will come back to in a future adventure. Things ending up well with the artificial sun going off to the Crab Nebula on the Doctor's instruction to pave way for a temporary home whilst Earth was busy being destroyed was fantastic and I liked how quickly the group of brutes turned into being positive now that they had somewhere they could live. Overall, a fantastic comic strip story!

Rating: 9/10

The Blame Game

"How desperate could you get if stranded for the rest of your lives?"

Writer: Ian Atkins
Format: Audio
Released: July 2016
Series: Short Trips 6.07

Featuring: Third Doctor, Liz

Synopsis

To escape his Earth exile, the Doctor is prepared to make any bargain, come to any arrangement, or to do any deal with any devil – even if in this case the Devil wears a monk's robes. But when past misdeeds start catching up with both the Doctor and the Monk, who can Liz Shaw trust when time is running out and death is rapidly approaching?

Verdict

The Blame Game was a really good and enjoyable audio adventure! The Short Trips range throws up some quite unique stories and this one wonderfully saw the Third Doctor and the Monk in an adventure together for the first time which is just terrific. I think the nature and personality of the Third Doctor as a whole would be a great match for the Monk regardless, but having his old enemy come and gloat relatively early into his exile on Earth was tremendous. The Doctor was clearly not doing well with being stuck on Earth and his excitement when the familiar noise of a TARDIS materialising was heard was testament to that. I also thought it was really interesting how the Doctor knew of the imminent arrival prior to Liz with it likened to being like a dog whistle noise that was not able to be heard by humans. Liz getting to see a TARDIS in working order was really good and even though she wasn't around for very long as a companion, which in of itself is a damn shame, it's sometimes easy to forget that she didn't get a trip into time and space. She was interested that the Monk was a fellow Time Lord of the Doctor's and ended up sneaking into his TARDIS! The arrogance, pomposity and general smugness of the Monk when he was in conversation with the Doctor was outstanding and to be honest, I could have just had a whole 40 minutes of just that. I loved it. Rufus Hound makes a brilliant Monk and he also provided terrific narration here. The references to The War Games and how the Monk thought the Doctor had been done over, especially with the forced regeneration, was magnificent. The Doctor referencing The Daleks' Master Plan when it came to the intentions of the Monk in potentially helping the Doctor with his exile was good and I liked how sights were set for the 51st century with the Monk aiding the Doctor in his search for time travel. The use of time agencies and vortex manipulators as potential ways out for the Doctor was really good. The blockage in the Doctor's head regarding dematerialisation and access codes telepathically impacting the Monk's TARDIS was tremendous and something I didn't expect. It was even having an effect on the Monk's knowledge! I liked that a lot. There was a lot of continuity in this one which I'm a sucker for and I loved the reference to The Time Meddler along with the links and foreshadowing of Vengeance on Varos and Metebelis III. Liz getting to see an alien planet and travelling for the first time was wonderful and the least she deserved. The planet, as claimed, being Delphon was good with the Doctor having a past there and I liked its linkage with the TARDIS translation circuits. Liz wondering if it should ask permission to get in your head was unexpected as well! When the robot claiming piracy action on the planet emerged, the moment where the Monk also adhered to the Doctor's "stay behind me" line to Liz was pure magic. A real highlight. The Monk's scheme gradually getting unveiled was very good and I liked how he wanted to trap the Doctor somewhere else. Things turning out to be Earth seemed a little weird and more clarity was needed there, but I liked the premise a lot. I was surprised that the Monk took Liz back home and his comment about humanity being likened to cats and dogs as far as Time Lords were concerned was very powerful. But not as powerful as Liz's reply about the Doctor offering hope which resulted her in getting the Monk to bring him back. I was surprised by that development, but it was a feel good moment which was really nice. You could tell the Doctor was pleased to be back, but not too thrilled. Overall, a fine audio story.

Rating: 8/10

Shining Darkness

"Nothing made of circuits and cogs and metal could really feel, could it?"

Writer: Mark Michalowski
Format: Novel
Released: September 2008
Series: NSA 27

Featuring: Tenth Doctor, Donna

Synopsis

For Donna Noble, the Andromeda galaxy is a long, long way from home. But even two and a half million light years from Earth, danger lurks around every corner...

A visit to an art gallery turns into a race across space to uncover the secret behind a shadowy organisation.

From the desert world of Karris to the interplanetary scrapyard of Junk, the Doctor and Donna discover that appearances can be deceptive, that enemies are lurking around every corner – and that the centuries-long peace between humans and machines may be about to come to an end.

Because waiting in the wings to bring chaos in the galaxy is The Cult of Shining Darkness.

Verdict

Shining Darkness was an excellent novel to continue my reading of the New Series Adventures! I thought this one started well and never really let the quality drop. The writing of both the Tenth Doctor and Donna was terrific, but they were separated pretty much from the start which allowed for very different situations throughout the book for our two lead characters. The humour that came with the difference between being two and a half million light years from Earth instead of billion was great and I loved the early feeling of this story being somewhat representative of The Chase. Donna being kidnapped along with the art piece was good and from there the Doctor was joined up with a team after the Cult of Shining Darkness to save her. I really liked the action and the pace was fantastic. There was always a lot going on and the jumping around from locations in the search of different segments of the black hole device was really good. It was in danger of being too resemblant to the Key to Time or The Keys of Marinus, but with the novel format there was more than enough time between the retrieval of each segment. The different species we met along the way with a number of the characters was brilliant and the standout for me were the Jaftee. The concept behind their entire being was just magnificent and so strange and unique that I adored it. The idea of them only believing in something if there was no proof of it because of the power that showed was just extraordinary. I have never considered that so I loved it. It was really fun and pretty humorous on a number of occasions. Mother made for a really great character and the whole battle between organics and machine was really intriguing. The idea of some machines being sentient was good and I liked Donna's reaction to her being accused of essentially being racists against robots because of how she was judging by appearance. Mother's moment where she also tapped her head and revealed how she knew as well that she was real was fantastic and very powerful. Garaman made for a good villain and I liked how the moment he was going to reveal the extent of the plan to the Doctor was constantly delayed. I also really liked the switch just over halfway into the book with Donna and the Doctor swapping ships and the crews they were with. That freshened things up really well. Mesanth was another very good character and his trepidation about killing organic life when it came to the activation was understandable. Garaman wanting to do more than just turn all of machine life off in the Andromeda galaxy was a terrific plan as he wanted to utilise the resource and control them. The Doctor's speech that was indirectly appealing to Mesanth about the galaxy ending up with just a species of Garamans was outstanding. The characterisation of David Tennant's Tenth Doctor was superb in this one. The moment where he was shot dead by Li'ian was extremely sudden and her turn was something I really didn't anticipate. The way things ended for the Cult of Shining Darkness and her was also sublime and something I never anticipated as it turned out that the bomb within Mother had actually been removed by the Doctor as the object that couldn't be got into quite some time earlier in the novel and obviously in the wrong hands as far as the Cult were concerned. I thought that was really clever. The moment where Donna and company had their ship struck and they headed for the TARDIS, only for it to have been at the point of impact and lost was fantastic as well. There was a lot of greatness in this one. Donna getting to reference The Runaway Bride and The Doctor Trap when it came to her robotic experiences was fantastic and I also loved the Doctor harkening back to Sick Building with Barbara the vending machine getting a mention. Despite all that had gone on, I liked how the story finished with something of a feel good factor. Overall, a tremendous read!

Rating: 9/10

The Magic Mousetrap

"You can't play blind man's buff on your own."

Writer: Matthew Sweet

Format: Audio

Released: April 2009

Series: Monthly Adventures 120

Featuring: Seventh Doctor, Ace, Hex

Synopsis

Switzerland, 1926: the Doctor finds himself halfway up an Alpine mountainside, on his way to an exclusive sanatorium for the rich and famous run by the Viennese alienist Ludovic 'Ludo' Comfort. In between bouts of electric shock therapy, Ludo's patients – including faded music hall turn Harry Randall, chess grandmaster Swapnil Khan and Lola Luna, darling of the Weimar cabaret scene – fill their time with endless rounds of Snap!, among other diversions.

But the Doctor soon suspects that someone's playing an altogether more sinister game. Someone with a score to settle...

Verdict

The Magic Mousetrap was a great audio adventure to continue my long journey of catch up for Big Finish's Monthly Adventures! I thought the atmosphere from the start was very good and eery and I was quite surprised that neither of Ace or Hex appeared at all in part one. That made for an interesting dynamic as I knew they were featured so I was constantly thinking of when they might show up. The use of games throughout, even before the reveal of the Celestial Toymaker, was really good and definitely a concept I enjoy. I've said it before and I'll say it again, I think the potential on offer with an enemy like the Toymaker is endless and it worked well in audio as well. It's obviously difficult to play a number of games with the audio format, but the more intellectual games and the use of the players narrating and commenting as the games went on was very good. I loved the start with the game of what was basically Scrabble and Harry spelling TARDIS as his word, much to the chagrin of his fellow players. But I loved how that foreshadowed that the TARDIS was literally in his head for the entirety of the audio. Of course, I only came to realise that later but I was very much a fan. I was intrigued by the Doctor, in his seventh incarnation, seemingly using the sonic screwdriver but his amnesiac state meant it was not referred to by name. Perhaps a consequence of it all being a construct within the Toyroom? One element of the story I absolutely loved was the rhyming song about the Doctor and how they rhymed his liking of a girl in a frock with him defeating the Gods of Ragnarok. Tremendous! The part one cliffhanger with Bobo and Bunty, who we later learned were a disguised Ace and Hex, was decent and I was very intrigued by the whole concept of the Doctor being the one manipulated by his companions. The Seventh Doctor is synonymous with his scheming and keeping his cards to his chest, so I liked how much Ace seemed to be enjoying being the one in control. That was a nice dynamic and more probably should have been made of it. Maybe we'll come back to it in the next adventure. The relationship between the Doctor and Queenie was really good and their initial meeting within the moving cart in Switzerland 1926 was great. Swapnil and Luna also made for enjoyable characters and the setting was very much in conjunction with the characters. The idea of the Toymaker having previously been broken up into pieces by a group of humans who defeated him was intriguing as parts of him were confined into the unconscious minds of the victors. His appearance and being as a doll made of wood and paper mache along with the voice was very different to his televised appearance in The Celestial Toymaker which made for an interesting take. The questioning of baseball not being a game and instead a sport was very good, especially when her famed bat showed up! That was a brilliant moment. The revelation that everything was actually occurring within the Toyroom was excellent and I liked how gradually throughout the story, the Toymaker's grip increased. The concept of him wanting to feel what it was like to lose was good, although didn't the First Doctor hand him that during their initial encounter? The ending was a bit quick and easy for my liking with Swapnil having the power of the Toymaker and removing the Doctor, Ace and Hex from the Toyroom back to Earth. The idea of an eternal checkmate and the use of chess was good in saving the Doctor and co, but it hardly seemed like the Toymaker was defeated. I guess that's a good thing in leaving him open to return though. As a whole though, I still very much enjoyed the audio!

Rating: 8/10

The Dark

"You learned your mum was a monster."

Writer: Simon Guerrier
Format: Audio
Released: December 2011
Series: Graceless 2.03

Featuring: Abby, Zara

Synopsis

"When you're together, you two can do anything."

Wherever Abby and Zara have ended up this time, their powers no longer work.

It's dark and cold and there are no stars. Frequent sand storms threaten to cut the girls to pieces. But they are not alone...

On a planet at the end of the universe, someone they never thought they would see again has been patiently waiting.

Verdict

The Dark was a very good conclusion to the second series of Graceless! Following on from the excellent cliffhanger at the end of The Flood, I thought this one served as a great finale. It was intriguing to learn so much about who we thought was Joy and I liked the idea of her inheriting the ability to teleport. The references to The Prisoner's Dilemma, The Judgement of Isskar and The Sphere were fantastic and quite strong use against what happens when the sisters are around. They try to do good and help people, but they just can't seem to get the knack. Joy telling how Marek died and she ran away to survive was a heartfelt story, but Zara didn't seem too thrilled with the actions of her daughter. We soon met Moldon who was a decent character and I was surprised to find that he was Joy's daughter. The story about him having two fathers was quite something! Abby's questioning about sex with two men at once and how everything fits was a lot of fun as well. She really is quite raunchy. The concept of there being something in the wind was very good and a planet where the dust cut you to bleed was obviously a deadly one. There was a spaceship found and it was needed to try and find some way off this planet. Playing with the abilities of the sisters not working was terrific and put them in a unique predicament which I liked. Joy claiming to not remember the Vortex when she faded away was interesting, especially given that she could still hear it within. I loved the idea of Joy becoming a toddler once escaping the Vortex. It was nice to hear how she had travelled time and space with Marek and on their travels they had heard of the wicked sisters and the bad that it depicted them in. The suggestion that there was some sexual feeling between Moldon and Abby was very off-putting. She embraced that and seemed to be rather sexual with her water. The threat of dying with water and food running out was brilliant as it was a natural one. Discovering that Joy had a feeling that the sisters were always going to get her was good and she blamed them for the trap that was obviously around them. Zara's reaction to finding that Marek didn't know she loved him was really good and she has certainly been going through a lot this series! The story of the two fathers being depicted as Joy sleeping with them for food was quite humorous. I also really liked the story of how she came up with Moldon's name and the history they ventured and how the last remains of Marek were within the Tapestry. Abby's suggestion of that being a curtain was superb. The revelation that Moldon was actually an android and not the son of Joy was very sudden and she just told the sisters that he was because she didn't want to lose him. The confusion of the program and honing in on family was good and Abby was certainly utilising that! She really liked Mondol and just seems to be perpetually horny which is fun to play around with. The relationship between Zara and Abby being tested here was very good and I liked how it seemed Zara was unhappy that she had shared Marek. She also very much didn't give blessing to the sexual exploits with Mondol. Joy was growing old and close to death, so she gave her blessing as she wanted to have a night with her mother which seemed logical. But then that's where things developed in a big way and the truth was revealed. Joy led Zara into seeing the Vortex and letting it engulf her. Abby was more boastful when Joy tried it on her and she laughed that Joy had spent her whole life with this desire of revenge against the sisters because she had only trapped herself. The replication of revenue was good, but this woman was not Joy. She was someone else's daughter. The connection between Abby and Zara was growing as the former heard the latter's screams and she didn't make the mistake of looking into the Vortex. Abby learned of those within being the dead from The Line and then we discovered that Joy was actually Persephone! It was great continuity stemming from The End and she had devised quite the scheme! We were actually on the planet of rain that she had bought and turned into a faraday cage. The parallels were terrific. Persephone ending up in her own eternal prison was quite harsh but she didn't understand that the powers weren't quelled, and quite frankly nether did I! Was it belief? Abby refused to accept that Zara was torn apart and vowed to find her as we set up for Series 3. Overall, a great finale!

Rating: 8/10

The Flood

"It's the quiet that scares me."

Writer: Simon Guerrier

Format: Audio

Released: December 2011

Series: Graceless 2.02

Featuring: Abby, Zara

Synopsis

"There goes the neighbourhood."

The rain hasn't stopped in three days and the floodwaters are rising. A small group of townspeople are determined to stop their town from being dragged into the sea.

Abby and Zara are keen to help – anything to keep themselves busy after what they've both just been through. Maybe, finally, they've found somewhere they might settle down...

But there's something causing the flood. And it can't let anything stand in its way.

Verdict

The Flood was a decent continuation of the second series of Graceless and it definitely advanced the story along nicely whilst setting up the finale with a sensational cliffhanger! It started right where The Line left off with the boating disaster and I enjoyed Abby and Zara ordering passengers off the boat. Abby's suggestion of trying to find the Doctor to potentially find Marek and Joy was intriguing and it's nice to know that he's still being thought of. The introduction of Brondle was great and he was a lovely chap and a very good character. The sister helping him with sandbagging was fun, especially when they used their powers to carry out the task far faster and more efficiently than their appearance would lead you believe. Abby's comment about thinking congress meant sex made me laugh out loud and I've been surprised by her cheekiness and wanting to explore and engage in sexual activity. Zara was clearly impacted by recent events and losing her lover and child and she wanted to keep busy which was more than understandable. Nina was another good character whilst she was around and her efforts to gain a signature to back up the disaster as a miracle for insurance purposes was pretty good whilst being shocking as it showed what really mattered, even on this world in the far future. The sea monsters, which I loved them being referred to like that, made for an interesting terror and them eating Nina came very suddenly. The planet not having a precedent of floods and it actually being chosen as a location because of its weather was intriguing as current events contradicted that in a big way. It was pondered later that something was controlling the weather which tied in nicely, although I do think that could have been more of a focus. Abby describing the voices of the sea monsters as dreamy and pulling them in was good and I liked that both she and Zara didn't want to lose the town in which they had arrived as it was going to be their home. Brondle was devastated with the town's destruction as the museum archives were ruined which was something I really sympathised with. Zara was distraught at this development and argued that everywhere they went, something precious was lost. It was hard to argue against that on the evidence of the first five Graceless adventures. Zara's apparent death was a big shock and it really did seem like she was gone as Abby no longer had a connection with her. Her referencing the end of Series 1 and how the Grace granted the sisters power to choose when they die was good and given what she had been through, now seemed an apt time for Zara. Abby deciding to stay in the town was decent, but from here all I really cared about was getting Zara back. The sea monsters wanted Abby, but Brondle sacrificed himself which was quite surprising but an admirable action. Abby offering herself to the monsters if it meant saving Brondle was nice, but he was already dragged down. It turned out that the creatures were elemental in nature and teleporting people away rather than killing them. The sequences where the voices of Zara and Brondle spoke as echoes and the last of what remained was excellent. They were inside a sun and it was too bright to see which was an intriguing concept. It turned out that the sea monsters were actually pan-dimensional beings too big for space and time, but they had been interacting within it and were receptive to psychic powers. They wanted to help the boat when disaster came, but they had to destroy the town to free up the beaches for their offspring. It got a little confusing and nonsensical here which was a slight shame. They absorbed everyone within it and everything those on the boat ever were lay within them now. The idea of rebuilding Abby from memories alone was interesting and something I liked, but then seemingly out of nowhere everyone was rebuilt and it had just taken a bit of time. A few weeks later and everyone was alive again. That was a nice touch, but a bit more clarity was perhaps needed there. The cliffhanger ending was sublime though as the sisters were at a location neither had brought them to. Their powers didn't work, they were at the end of the universe and Joy was waiting for them. I am now very excited or the finale!

Rating: 7/10

The Line

"You can't save them. They're already dead."

Writer: Simon Guerrier
Format: Audio
Released: December 2011
Series: Graceless 2.01

Featuring: Abby, Zara

Synopsis

"The moment we stop, the moment we let the past catch up with us... We're done for."

Marek has brought Abby and Zara home to the city where he grew up. They're wary at first – they're meant to keep a low profile. But Marek assures them that everyone he knows is dead.

There's a Rune Festival approaching, an excuse for a wild party – and it's like there's something in the air. Abby and Zara are soon swept up in the crowd, but Marek hasn't told them the whole truth.

Why has he brought them here? What can they do to help? And why is everyone so terrified of Manchu Golding?

Verdict

The Line was a very good way to start the second series of Graceless! The first series was very consistent and I was glad that the second started at a similar standard. The initial overview recap of who Abby and Zara are was terrific and a nice reminder of their desire to help people. I still think their relationship with Marek is weird as he doesn't come across as the nicest kind of guy. His ability to somehow utilise the power of his, I guess, girlfriends was intriguing and he brought them back to his home city which was good. This story was noticeable as being markedly more adult with a number of sexual references which brought a good sense of realism to the series, even if there were probably a couple too many instances. The suggestion that Marek might want to settle down was good and the sisters still being on the run since the events of Series 1 and their referencing Persephone was really good. I do wonder if there's anything more to that. Abby also wanting a look around the city was nice as she wanted to do so for Joy's sake. Both Abby and Zara getting control of Marek and him only doing what they wanted was fun and probably could have been utilised more to be honest. I was surprised that they seemed to get bored of that! The suggestion of Abby to use sex to get all of the answers they wanted was intriguing and it shows that there has been some serious character development and growing up for the former Tracers. It is certainly a good weapon! Marek bringing them to a time in his home before a big disaster was very good and I liked how the Graceless series got to do its take on changing history. Abby knew from her days in the Academy on Gallifrey that history could not be changed and that was a sentiment echoed by Marek. Everyone he knew died, but they were alive at this point in time but it couldn't be changed. He genuinely didn't want to be here as it was just a thought that had been in his head. Nobody found out what happened so now was the chance to discover some answers. Abby and Zara trying to search for the cause and finding bad thoughts amongst the population was good and it does appear that their abilities are almost infinite! Manchu Golding made for an excellent villain for the audio and he was the thought inside everyone's head. The moment where everyone spoke as one and claimed to know the sisters was quite chilling, but the big moment came when we found out that Golding was actually Marek's father. I didn't see that coming and changed the dynamic of the story instantly. The possibility then being played around that the very presence of the sisters from the future resulting in the disaster was great and I was impressed with how Manchu deduced that something did indeed go wrong here during the Festival. Zara's efforts to use sex against Manchu to free herself was pretty unexpected considering she knew of the relation to her daughter's father! Manchu trying to convince Marek to stop the disaster and face the consequences to come was very good. We learned a lot about Marek's past and how he grew up as an orphan following the family death associated with the imminent disaster. The sisters found a way to save Manchu because that's what they did. Marek would remain an orphan until now, but his father would be safe. Except, somewhat surprisingly, Manchu declined the offer of survival as he couldn't live with himself knowing that the rest of the city would be dead. He wouldn't abandon his home. Marek and Abby then joining him and wanting to stay was an unexpected move and Zara's frustration was clear to hear. Abby and Zara wanting everyone to focus their thoughts on them was good and the idea of Marek being kept and saved was decent, but then Abby came up with some dark sexual thoughts about the idea of two Marek's going around. After the disaster was stopped and new consequences emerged, the disappearance of Marek and Joy into ghosts was fantastic as the past was changed. It almost seemed like it was Manchu's plan all along which played well into his subtle villainous nature. From there, I was surprised that Zara didn't fight the departure from the city but then we emerged into a great cliffhanger with the boat setting that turned into another disaster with the front being torn off and water moving in. Overall, a great start to the series!

Rating: 8/10

Regeneration Impossible

"Perhaps I don't have to be alone anymore."

Writer: Alfie Shaw

Format: Audio

Released: May 2020

Series: Short Trips 10.05

Featuring: Eleventh Doctor, Twelfth Doctor

Synopsis

The Doctor is in his TARDIS atop a cloud above Victorian London. He's retired, no longer interfering in the affairs of others. There's nothing that could make him help anyone else. Except, perhaps, the lure of another Time Lord...

The Doctor is locked in a mortuary in Victorian London, dying. He can't escape and doesn't know how to keep himself alive. Just when he thinks it can't get any worse, he finds himself locked in with the one person he hates most in the entire universe.

Himself.

Verdict

Regeneration Impossible was a fantastic little Short Trips audio! This has been one that I have been excited about for a long time and it definitely didn't let me down. I am not surprised in the slightest to find that this is Big Finish's best-selling Short Trips adventure as the prospect of the Eleventh and Twelfth Doctors meeting is just magnificent. Whilst neither of Matt Smith or Peter Capaldi appear, Jacob Dudman does an incredible job with the narration and the fact that it is performed as a drama rather than from the third person is just testament to the talents of the man. He did a stellar job. Placing the story prior to the events of The Snowmen for the Eleventh Doctor and when he was 'retired' worked well and it's fun to get more insight into what went on his life at that point. He rejects a call to help from Vastra and the Paternoster Gang, but is soon lured in by the presence of both artron and regeneration energy in Victorian London. He thinks there's another Time Lord for him to be around and be rid of his loneliness. Of course, that didn't turn out to be the case and he was introduced to a future self he didn't know was possible. That initial meeting was terrific and I thought the characterisation of both incarnations of the Doctor was excellent. The Twelfth Doctor recalling sentiments of Donna in The Fires of Pompeii and how you just had to save someone was really nice and similar sentiments to what we saw with his debut in Deep Breath. The Eleventh Doctor not believing he had any future regenerations was fun to play with and I also loved the reference to The Movie with him mentioning that you only regenerate once in a mortuary! The Twelfth Doctor making contact with his predecessor was really good and it was great for him to show his previous self that Gallifrey was saved, whilst also showing a moment of his regeneration. It still seems he remembers when the Doctor was him. Of course, this story was a great deal more than just a meeting between two incarnations of the Doctor. There was a scheme at work from a Vampire which involved a Time Lord assassination box and the desire to drain regeneration energy. That was quite unexpected to be honest but it worked well. The idea of the Twelfth Doctor continuously regenerating and a corpse taking the energy and turning into faces of his students was really interesting. The threatening voice on the phone also having the voice of the Twelfth Doctor just added to the intrigue. It was most definitely the Twelfth Doctor's death trap. Except that the presence of the Eleventh Doctor provided a paradox. Gregory Chapman, the first one killed of heart failure, was the form taken by the Vampire and he was able to take advantage of the Twelfth Doctor's staying at St Luke's University. He was a Time Lord with remaining regenerations and a working TARDIS that stayed in one point and place in time. He was a sitting Time Lord target. I liked that a lot and I also enjoyed how the Eleventh Doctor shone in the face of the Vampire. Despite the threat of him wanting the Time Lord to know that no matter how he gained the extra regenerations, he wanted him to know that everything led to this point and death. Except, the Doctor does his thinking while his enemy was talking and he led him straight into the solution with ease. The Doctor had seen himself die before which was a brilliant reference to The Impossible Astronaut, and he lured Gregory in to plug himself in to the regeneration charging machine and give those regeneration back to his future self. It all worked out quite nicely in the end and the effects on the Eleventh Doctor were good to provide a reason as to how the Twelfth had no memories of these events. I loved that he got to go into the TARDIS during an earlier version and confirm that she wouldn't be stagnant and still for too much longer. It would all be over by Christmas. Overall, a brilliant audio!

Rating: 9/10

Endgame

"Don't you want to play my games?"

Writer: Alan Barnes

Format: Comic Strip

Released: September-December 1996

Printed in: DWM 244-247

Featuring: Eighth Doctor, Izzy

Synopsis

The Doctor returns to Stockbridge, but despite correct coordinates this is not the village he remembers. Games are afoot, and when reunited with old friend Maxwell Edison and introduced to a new companion in Izzy Sinclair, the Doctor is soon pitting his wits against an old enemy and his box of toys...

Verdict

Endgame was a terrific start to the graphic novel of the same name! I am delighted to be kicking off the Eighth Doctor's first collection of DWM comic strips and it has been quite some time since I blogged the contents of Oblivion, so I'm looking very forward to rounding things out by starting here. For a first adventure to feature the eighth incarnation following on from The Movie, this was certainly a brilliant way to start! I love that the Doctor was reunited with an old enemy and whilst it might have discounted the likes of Divided Loyalties and The Nightmare Fair with incarnations earlier than the eighth encountering the returning Toymaker, that's not an issue in the slightest as with a show as widespread as Doctor Who it's almost impossible for the continuity to run smooth. I like to think of each format as its own sort of interpretation of sorts. Placing the new Doctor in familiar surroundings of the comic strip with Stockbridge and also alongside Max was great and it was just fantastic to have him back again. He's a very good little character. His connection with Izzy was really good and I thought she had a solid introduction as the new companion. I thought her unimpressed reaction to the TARDIS interior and how she thought it would be bigger was wonderful! The stories she'd heard from Max about the Doctor brought a certain reputation and it seemed to be one that he initially wasn't living up to. However, by the end she was eager to go travelling with him as we learned that she had been adopted and never knew her parents. She was clearly longing for more so the Doctor would be perfect for her there. The way the Celestial Toymaker returned was brilliant and for the Doctor, this seemed to be a rematch based on the events of The Celestial Toymaker where the First Doctor bested him. I'm a huge fan of this villain as I think the potential is just endless. The use of the comic strip for his return was great and the imagery was just fantastic! I loved the use of crosswords and the game of hangman with Izzy and Max on the noose was superb stuff. The rhymes throughout were also really good and I thought the anecdote quote that accompanied the titular page of each part was great stuff. It just added a little to the story each time which is always good. The focus, no pun intended, on the Focus was good and I liked how the Toymaker had a motive in revenge. He was going to use the Imagineum which needed the Focus to complete it and provide him with the Doctor's challenger. Of course, that turned out to be himself which was fantastic and the illustration of the darker side of the Eighth Doctor was really well done. The Doctor appealing to the goodnatured side of his darker personality was terrific and I loved how the Toymaker's destruction of Marwood, which was done in brilliantly brutal fashion, was the final piece needed to convince the darker Doctor that he would never be free of the Celestial Toymaker. The links the story had with the Templars was very interesting and it was nice how everything tied together around Stockbridge. The Doctor realising that it wasn't the Stockbridge he knew was fun and he was looked on with trepidation from the start. But by the end, he had won again and used the Imagineum against the Toymaker to give him an eternal opponent back in his own dominion. The Toymaker doing battle against himself in an eternal stalemate was a fantastic end to the story and the delight and satisfaction the Doctor seemed to have regarding this was really good to see. The game of mouse trap and even some Sontaran entertainment might go down a treat! Max having picked up the true village of Stockbridge in typically clumsy but useful fashion was really lovely and I liked how the Doctor offered him a quick trip. He declined, but Izzy was very eager to join him! Overall, a really strong start to the Eighth Doctor's comic strip run!

Rating: 9/10

The Faceless Ones

"Your personnel are being systematically replaced."

Writers: David Ellis & Malcolm Hulke
Format: TV (Animation)
Released: March 2020
Season: 4.08

Featuring: Second Doctor, Polly, Ben, Jamie

Synopsis

The Doctor and his friends Ben, Polly and Jamie arrive at Gatwick Airport. They quickly stumble upon an alien plot, centring upon the mysterious "Chameleon Tours' – a low-price holiday company, whose young passengers have been vanishing in unexplained circumstances.

With the help of Scotland Yard and the airport staff, the Doctor investigates further, but it isn't long before his own friends start disappearing too.

What is happening to the passengers of Chameleon Tours? Where are the company's planes really going? Can the Doctor unravel the mystery of Chameleon Tours before it's too late?

Verdict

The Faceless Ones was a great story that has been fantastically restored will full colour animation! Prior to my watching of the animation of The Macra Terror on BritBox a couple of months ago, I would have chose to watch this one in the black and white version and I almost certainly would have watched episodes one and three in their original versions as they are the ones which luckily survived. However, when BritBox didn't give me choice to watch the Macra in black and white, I found myself actually thoroughly enjoying so I went with the colour option for the DVD here. I must admit that I find myself scratching my head a little when it comes to the fact that episodes one and three exist in animation when there's really no need for them to, but I watched the complete set in colour animation and I have to say I was thoroughly impressed. I think I have come to understand that animation works much better in colour and it gives a very different feeling than the monochrome colours the story was initially broadcast in. After reading a relatively recent The Fact of Fiction article on this adventure in DWM, I found many of the elements of the adventure familiar which actually surprised me given that it's been some six years since I blogged the original with the reconstructions available. Alas, I have yet to purchase the Target novelisation so I thought my memory was doing wonders! This story is obviously synonymous with being the farewell adventure for Polly and Ben as companions and whilst their moment at the end with the Doctor and Jamie and how they get to goodbye and leave right back where they started in The War Machines is touching, it's criminal that this scene is their only one of the last half of their final story. Polly goes down as one of my very favourite companions and I love that the animations thus far have given me more of her – we've even named our kitten after her! – and she is clearly quite emotional at leaving, but the pair can't resist going home. Samantha fills the companion role for that second half well and I really did love her relationship with Jamie. It's surprising given the way companions were picked up during this era that she didn't stay along with the Doctor and Jamie. I think she'd have been a lot of fun and having the potential of a romantic pairing in the TARDIS would have been a different dynamic. I thought the Chameleons were drawn very well in the animation and they certainly looked different to what we got on screen in the original. The plot is a very good one and I loved the airport setting. It really works well and I have to commend those behind the project for their little Easter eggs in including wanted posters for two versions of the Master that are synonymous with the Third and Thirteenth Doctors. That was subtly really well done and something I very much appreciated. Seeing the opening titles in colour for this era will still take some getting used to, but I thought all four main characters were depicted tremendously well. It was such a weird feeling to be seeing Jamie talking without his Scottish accent towards the end when he had been taken over by the Chameleons. That just felt off in so many ways which was very good. I like the plot as a whole and the moment where the Inspector reveals himself as the Director is a brilliant moment, even if he is overruled by his own people far too easily at the end as they agree to the Doctor's terms of continued existence after the doubles are found. The concept of the doubles is a lot of fun to play with and works very well. One other thing I want to mention about the animation is the humour that came with Jamie holding the upside down newspaper! That was marvellous. As a whole, this is a story I very much enjoy and getting to see it in colour animation and right the way through was a wonderful treat. Overall, a terrific animated story!

Rating: 8/10

The Twin Dilemma

"Subjection to evil creates and feeds further evil."

Writer: Eric Saward
Format: Novel
Released: March 1986
Series: Target 103

Featuring: Sixth Doctor, Peri

Synopsis

The Doctor has regenerated, having scarified his fifth persona to save Peri's life. But things are not going well...

On this occasion the process of regeneration is by no means smooth, for the even-tempered, good-humoured fifth Doctor has given way to a rather disturbed and unsettled successor.

In a particularly irascible moment the new Doctor comes dangerously close to committing a shocking crime. Overwhelmed with guilt for his violent behaviour, the repentant Time Lord decides to become a hermit...

Verdict

The Twin Dilemma was a pretty decent novelisation of the televised story of the same name, but I don't think this was the best transfer into prose. Now, this story is famed for being the worst Doctor Who story amongst fandom, but as my blogging of the televised version a few years back shows, that is not an opinion I share. I think it's quite a good story to be fair and serves as a unique way to introduce the Sixth Doctor. I thought that aspect was presented well here, but I was surprised that given this is the first story for an incarnation of the Doctor, the first chapter was absolutely nothing to do with him! The backstory of the Sylvest family was intriguing and some good development, but I think that set a trend throughout the book of unnecessary padding out and going off on tangents. When my girlfriend asked me how the book was, that was my frustration and as she is a writer she was keen to tell me that divergence is a good storytelling technique, but there was just too much that meant little here. There was almost too much to take in with everything that was being explained by backstory with actually not a huge amount going on with the main plot. As the story goes on, the prominence of the twins dwindles and they aren't really needed by the end. I liked the idea of parents being afraid of their children because of the intelligence they possessed though. That could be quite fun to explore further. The explanation of regeneration and the mentioning of lindos was intriguing and I do question how that may be contradicted in future Doctor Who stories following the revelations of The Timeless Children. The star of the book for me was Peri and we were able to clearly see what kind of a predicament she had been thrown into here. Her reaction to the regeneration was a lot of fun and it's quite surprising to see how quickly she forgives the Doctor for almost killing her! That moment of snapping was so impactful in the televised version, but it was difficult to achieve the same feeling in prose. A lot of it was down to Colin Baker's performance. The Doctor being troubled by his post-regeneration settling was good and it was very humorous to have him jumping around different personalities. The frustration in Peri was clear to see. Azmael was a very good character and I liked his background as a Time Lord and everything new we learned about his time on Gallifrey in this novelisation. His relationship with the Doctor was good and I'd love for that night by the fountain to be depicted at some point. Azmael's relationship with Mestor was great to explore and I thought the giant gastropod made for a pretty darn good villain. His scheme was brilliant, but it probably gets revealed in its true nature a little too late. He doesn't take any messing and shows power over Time Lords which is quite rare. I do think it's questionable to have him as a slug though, even if the plan was to send the eggs of his species around the universe to conquer it by exploding a star. I thought Azmael not seeing the plan was a little bit too convenient, as was the Doctor just forgetting he had the second packet of acid. Regardless, I liked the threat that Mestor provided. His transference into Azmael's body was interesting, but I think there needed to be a bit more clarity on the whole regeneration at the end even though he had used up his allotted cycle. Hugo was a fun little character and I enjoyed the action packed chase through space and time with him and Azmael. The Doctor's shock at Peri wanting him to save Hugo's life after he had, from the Doctor's perspective, attempted to terminate his own life was terrific. There was already a lot of evidence of the incarnation the Sixth Doctor would become in this book and he was certainly well characterised. The moment where the Doctor declines allowing Hugo to stay in the TARDIS with he and Peri could have been written a little better as the Doctor comes off a bit rude. Overall though, this really isn't a bad story but I just wasn't too much of a fan of the writing style of Saward which was a bit of a shame as this is actually a much better story than popular opinion would have you believe.

Rating: 6/10

The End

"I don't want to just fade away."

Writer: Simon Guerrier
Format: Audio
Released: November 2010
Series: Graceless 1.03

Featuring: Abby, Zara

Synopsis

"The Grace don't know everything. We have to do what's right!"

Abby and Zara's past is catching up with them. A man they did wrong by has hunted them down across all of time and space, just to sell them out.

The space pirate Kreekpolt knows the sisters can save his daughter's life – even if it burns Abby and Zara completely away.

After that, ten thousand dead souls – hungry and empty and furious – want whatever is left...

Verdict

The End was a very good conclusion to what has been a great first series of Graceless! This tied things up nicely for the first volume of the spinoff and I liked how it followed straight on from The Fog. The continuous narrative of the series has definitely worked well and there were a lot of familiar elements during this adventure. We had Abby and Zara trapped in a faraday cage after Marek essentially kidnapped them after we discovered he'd made a bargain with a time-travelling pirate. I loved the reference to The Prisoner's Dilemma with Zara recalling Ace, albeit not by name, as the woman who could open any lock. I thoroughly enjoyed the fast-paced background music at the start of the story as it really pumped me up for what I was about to listen to. Marek blaming the sisters for the events of The Sphere was not too surprising, and Abby wanting to hear of the damage she'd caused accompanying the little flashback sequence was very good. The whole world being annihilated with just 19 of 100,000 surviving was incredible damage. I was intrigued with how differently the sisters reacted to that revelation. Kreekpolt knowing of Abby and Zara was interesting and he knew of their power and had bargained with Marek to attain their services. There was a frantic action packed sequence as Marek tried to get out of the deal. We had a quick birth of Zara's baby who Marek took off with in an escape pod, leaving the sisters to Kreekpolt's mercy. It turned out that he was a desperate man and wanted nothing more than to save his daughter's life who had been terribly burned. She looked horrific by all accounts. Abby was prepared to die to save Persephone and didn't want anything for it. She gave her life freely. I thought that was a really nice touch. Their powers were waining though and Abby and Zara were unable to reach Persephone and in their efforts they lost the time rings! As if they weren't stranded enough. Zara recalling Zink giving that to her was excellent. Their idea of going to the planet of rain to feel something of the Grace and restore some of their powers was terrific and very exciting. Kreekpolt was willing to do anything to save his daughter. The issues of trying to actually get onto the planet were fantastic and I liked how it was protected through both space and time. Then the series as a whole all came together unexpectedly as we were taken back to Daniel and the mysterious fog. The pub had 19 customers, those that survived the Sphere, and the sisters could only drink tasteless beer whilst being looked on sternly by the fellow customers. Lindsey then showing up was very good and I thought it was admirable of Abby to willingly offer her life to save Persephone and those she had killed on the Sphere. Marek thinking he was dreaming and it being his guilty conscience was quite fun and I liked finding out that they'd had a baby girl. That just seemed right. Marek wanting Zara to want him was a good element to throw in and show that he's not quite as boisterous as he makes out. But he couldn't choose between the sisters which quite surprised me! Daniel merging in with the conversation and claiming that Marek was terrified was also quite intriguing. Zara experiencing all of the places she has been and caused wreckage whilst accepting that she couldn't put anything right was a very good development and it was good to acknowledge that she knew her wrongdoing. She has definitely developed as a character considerably since The Judgement of Isskar. Zara thinking that Daniel was a way of him helping them passover into death was great and the connection there with Marek as an anchor to hold onto was also very good. Finding out that everything was just part of the disruption field of the planet of rain was terrific. It had overloaded their senses and everyone was seeing nightmares. But the rain would help free up the thoughts. Abby and Zara were back at the Chaos Pool which I thought was fantastic to bring full circle. They had restored some of their powers, but they could only ask the Grace when it came to saving Persephone. They denied saving her outright as they'd learned that everything came at a price. Kreekpolt had to give up his life to save his daughter's which was a powerful moment. He gave it willingly though which was admirable! The Grace talking through Daniel was good and foreshadowing future events with the pain that was to come for the sisters was excellent and I'm excited to hear where things move from here. Zara having a child had upset the balance and there was now a powerful connection between them and Marek. They were granted life eternal and would only die when they wished it which I would be extremely envious of! I somehow think one of them will wish it without the other in the future. I suspect Persephone will play a role in the future after the warning of the more they helped her, the more they might suffer. The Grace saw how things ended and it didn't seem good! Zara getting to see her baby as the story finished was wonderful and I liked how she was named Joy. I'm still not a huge fan of Marek and his reaction when he thought he might get a threesome was pretty funny. But now for Abby and Zara, it was time to do the right thing. They couldn't undo what they'd done, but they could start helping others. Overall, a great end to a very good first series!

Rating: 8/10

The Fog

"What happened to the town of Compton?"

Writer: Simon Guerrier

Format: Audio

Released: November 2010

Series: Graceless 1.02

Featuring: Abby, Zara

Synopsis

"There's no such thing as witches."

Abby and Zara find themselves in the small town of Compton in October, 1912. In the local pub they meet Nan, who offers them the local beer and then has them arrested.

Something is killing the town's children, something that hides in the fog, something that prevents Abby and Zara from leaving. But Abby knows something worse is coming to the town – something that will kill them all.

Can Abby and Zara prove their innocence and help solve the mystery? Or is it sometimes better not to know?

Verdict

The Fog was a very good continuation of the first series of Graceless! I am really enjoying this spinoff series so far and I really enjoyed this adventure. It followed on right where The Sphere left off which was good and the idea of Abby and Zara being mistaken as witches was a lot of fun. The crowds that accompanied their initial arrest seemed violent and out for blood, but that was soon dying down as we learned more about what was going on in the town of Compton. The idea of the fog surrounding the village was excellent and very mysterious. I loved the atmosphere throughout. I really liked Abby's mentioning of the Fifth Doctor when it came to cricket getting mentioned in the 1912 setting. There were serious goings on in Compton with 46 woman dead with the bodies vanishing before one's very eyes. That was quite the predicament to throw Abby and Zara into and it worked really well. I like how they continue to use their telepathic powers and the moments they used their abilities to see into the mind of Daniel was terrific. They're a lot of fun together and very likeable characters. Their arrest resulted in them being imprisoned in a cell and their reaction to getting food was quite spectacular! They got to have green things! Playing with the idea of the Tracers losing their abilities was intriguing and I liked the fear Zara had when her teleporting abilities seemed to have vanished, with Abby's still intact. During her sister's absence, Zara was accused again of being a witch and was taken to be hanged. Daniel was annoyed as he knew they hadn't been responsible for the vanishings and locking them up was his way of proving that. He was going to sight their talk of being created by the Grace as madness though which I thought was great. Nan saving Zara from the noose was a nice moment after Daniel gave the decision on her fate to the people. Thing seemed different in the daylight than they did at night. Abby returning with a newspaper from the future regarding Compton's fate and how it was obliterated by a meteor was unexpected, but the problem that provided was brilliant. I was a big fan of the idea of animal fear and how even Abby and Zara were getting infected. The concept of the fear being chosen and getting infected by numbers worked really well. Nan's pub serving as the centre of the village was fantastic and definitely what is the case in a number of the villages I have lived in or visited. Zara's research through the 24,000+ books in the library at speed with her mind was really good and it was nice to hear how much she was enjoying learning. The idea of there being a connection between the Tracers and the smog was intriguing to play with, but the fog was something you couldn't get away from. They were already a part of it. The possibility of the fog being alive was brilliant and the connection with the meteor was unexpected but very good. The fog was even taking time which resulted in Abby and Zara advancing to the day of the meteor strike. Daniel realising the truth about the fog was a terrific moment. The meteor hit had already happened and once he'd stopped believing, he was taken. You couldn't show fear. The realisation that the fog was the memory of the people of Compton and Nan was all that remained at the end was quite the moment. The alien nature of the dust from the meteor combining with the fog made for quite the connection. Abby and Zara possibly facing the prospect of dying without the Grace is something that I'm sure will be made more of in the finale, but the added peril with Zara's pregnancy is very good indeed. The sudden nature of the meteor moment was unexpected with the noise literals just cutting out. The impact had been eaten up by the alien energy and everything heard in the audio were simply echoes. Abby and Zara were drawn to the centre of the meteor crash. It was a nice way to bring the story full circle. The cliffhanger with the return of Marek didn't exactly fill me with excitement, but him zapping Abby and Zara sure set things up for a good finale. Overall, a very good audio story!

Rating: 8/10

The Sphere

"Money makes the world go round."

Writer: Steven Guerrier

Format: Audio

Released: November 2010

Series: Graceless 1.01

Featuring: Abby, Zara

Synopsis

"It's great here. You can get anything!"

The Sphere is a private satellite complex and offers every kind of entertainment. It doubles in size every week. They lash new hotels and casinos to the outer skin, pinning them in place with huge girders.

Zara came here by mistake and was quickly caught up in the noise and excitement. It's got into her head. When her sister Abby comes to the rescue, Zara insists that she can't leave.

What is the secret that Zara is carrying with her? Why is Abby so ill? And how long can she resist the Sphere getting into her head as well?

Verdict

The Sphere was a great start to the Graceless spinoff series following on from the Key 2 Time trilogy from the Monthly Adventures of Big Finish! After a sale from Big Finish a couple of months ago for this series, I purchased it in its entirety knowing I was so close to being introduced to them in The Judgement of Isskar. I thought the name change of Amy to Abby, presumably given the 2010 release date and the introduction of Amy Pond in The Eleventh Hour, was handled well and done quite quickly without making too much of it. I liked that she arrived on the Sphere to get Zara at the request of Pargrave which was some nice continuity from The Chaos Pool. The Sphere made for a very good setting and I liked how it was a place where they couldn't leave. It was essentially a faraday cage and the time rings were non-functional which created a tricky little predicament. Marek made for an intriguing character and I can't say I was a huge fan of his. The relationship he had with Zara was interesting and she certainly seem to find her way from man to man, but his efforts to assert control and just his general demeanour made him a quite unlikeable character. I do think that may be the intention. The moment he announced he was going to a 'dump' was just weird. Abby and Zara's powers waining because they were cut off from the rest of the universe worked well and added to the situation nicely. I thought the noise of the Sphere, particularly the Core, was very good in establishing just what kind of place it was and the casino theme that dominated things was terrific. I also liked the concept of it doubling in size every week and the issues that brought. It was uncontrollable. Marek's shift in character once Zara went to bed towards Amy was very sudden and uncomfortable, especially with what he wanted as rent payment. He was not a nice man and I kind of hope he befalls the same fate as Zink. Abby being able to get into his head to prevent her payment was great. The revelation that Zara was pregnant was unexpected but it was something I liked and I'm very intrigued to see where that goes for the rest of the series and beyond! The pregnancy being what Abby had been feeling in her stomach was a good moment too. Their efforts to get expelled from the Sphere by cheating the casino system seemed logical, but then once they were caught it seemed that their punishment would be execution! Uncle Lindsey made for a good villain as the casino chain owner and an example was made of Zara in quite uncomfortable circumstances, especially considering she was pregnant. The flashback moment to Erratoon during The Prisoner's Dilemma was intriguing and I liked how Abby knew what had happened and told her sister that everyone was saved from the planet's security measures. The same could not be said of Mars though. I thought the idea of Abby working for Lindsey was very good and it was a refreshing dynamic to have her acting as something other than the good sister. It was interesting to explore the possibility of Abby feeling envious of Zara because of the excitement she got for being the bad sister and doing things she ought not to. She got to enjoy some of that bad sister element when she was working for Lindsey and ripping people of all they owned at the casino. She was even given ownership of Marek which was interesting, but all she did there was have physical relations! Zara could feel that and I was hoping she'd have been a bit more annoyed about that instead of not caring in the slightest. The Sphere being a place where the longer you were there, the more you got buried within was brilliant and I was a big fan of it throughout. The conclusion was pretty decent with Abby using her mind to remove the pins from the Sphere and enable the time rings to work again in order for her and Zara to escape. They landed somewhere with a pub, but were soon under arrest for murder in a good cliffhanger! Overall, a fine start to the spinoff series. 

Rating: 8/10

River of Time

"The universe is full of questions to which I may never get the answers."

Writer: Andrew Lane

Format: Short Story

Released: February 2016

Printed in: The Legends of River Song 05

Featuring: River Song

Synopsis

"Hello, sweetie!"

Melody Pond, Melody Malone, River Song... She has had many names. Whoever she really is, this archaeologist and time traveller has had more adventures (and got into more trouble) than most people in the universe.

And she's written a lot of it down. Well, when you're married to a Time Lord (or possibly not), you have to keep track of what you did and when. Especially as it may not actually have happened to both of you yet.

These are just a few of River Song's exploits, extracted from her journals. Sometimes, she is with the Doctor. Sometimes she's on her own. But wherever and whenever she may be, she is never far from danger and excitement.

This is just a tiny portion of her impossible life. But it will reveal more than you've ever known about the legend that is River Song.

Verdict

River of Time was a terrific way to conclude The Legends of River Song! It's taken me quite a while to complete this collection of short stories depicting a number of new adventures for River Song, but definitely not as long as it took me to get started as I somehow managed to purchase the book for £1 on eBay back around the time it was released (including postage!). It was certainly worth the money and this was a very fun way to finish things. I really liked the way this one was told and even though it was with River narrating and in the first person, something I am not usually much of a fan of, it really did feel like a story was happening rather than just being told. I liked that a lot and it was quite refreshing. The humour that came at the start with River Song and the Governor when it came to their relationship was wonderful. That was River at her best and it was fun to realise that there was an understanding between the pair when it came to River being able to just leave Stormcage as and when she pleased. I mean, she had a packed bag ready to go outside of her cage! That was brilliant. Just the general setting of Stormcage for the first few pages was good and I liked how she was planning on escaping for a bit when she was summoned to Professor Forcade. He was an interesting character and his knowledge of River Song and being a fellow archeologist was great. They got on well enough and their shared enthusiasm for the Precursors species in the universe was excellent. I found that really fascinating and would love for a more in-depth look at them. I liked River's theory on why those races from the dawn of time were a lot larger than the current species average. It was also fantastic to re-explore Time Lord history and River's knowledge on the subject and how they went around and defeated the likes of the Racnoss and the Great Vampires to name a couple was just brilliant! The Qwern having been part of the Gallifreyan alliance was intriguing and I thought their appearance as essentially giant crabs was very good. Their role in Forcade's archeological team literally becoming head lice, as in lice with human heads, was terrific. That was quite the image! Her discovery of the TARDIS with a note detailing it as the property of River Song was excellent and I just found myself fascinated by everything that was going on which is obviously a positive. The revelation that it wasn't in fact the Doctor's TARDIS was very much a surprised, but the marbled description of its interior was excellent and the white mushroom shape that served as the console was so different to the TARDISes we know from the Doctor's time. It turned out that this was a very early TARDIS from the early times. It was a Qwerm trap and they had millions ready to hatch having been locked away behind a time field for only a few weeks from their perspective, but millions of years from the outside. That was great! The introduction of Rocinate was superb and I thought she was a fantastic character given she was stuck between bodies and regenerations. That must have been quite something. The concept of the TARDISes of this time having a Vortex Web and essentially being connected was very good and I liked how that was used to lure River Song and disguise itself as the Doctor's TARDIS. Of course, River was able to trap the Qwerm for good with a little help from Rocinate thanks to utilising the TARDIS backdoor and making anything that went through it come straight back in through the front. It was a loop that was inescapable which I liked. It was also powerful for River to be prepared to stay trapped if it meant saving the universe. That was great. Overall, a fantastic short story to finish the book!

Rating: 9/10

The Prisoner's Dilemma

"We're already prisoners, what's the worst they can do?"

Writer: Simon Guerrier

Format: Audio

Released: February 2009

Series: Companion Chronicles 3.08

Featuring: Seventh Doctor, Ace, Zara

Synopsis

Two prisoners meet in a prison cell. Zara is searching for the segments of the Key to Time; she was only born yesterday but already she's killed hundreds of people. Ace is more ambitious: she was going to kill everyone on the planet.

What have they got against the people of Erratoon? They go peaceably about their simple assignments, beneath their artificial sky. They share their meals and leisure time and they never ask questions. Are they even real?

Ace and Zara will only survive if they can trust each other. Or perhaps if they sell each other out... If not their awful punishment is to become just like everyone else.

Verdict

The Prisoner's Dilemma was a very good little story and a great addition to the Key 2 Time story arc! It serves well as an addition to that Main Range trilogy and depicts the adventure in which Zara obtained her first segment of the Key to Time. The little pre-titles sequence worked well in giving us the threat that Ace would die. The story did well to reintroduce the audience to Zara and we had talk of Amy as well which set the tone and foreshadowed the events of the Key 2 Time trilogy whilst also kicking it off. Zara and Ace being in prison together was fantastic and a really interesting dynamic. I thought it was interesting how Zara had killed hundreds of people so early in her life which was something we came to hear later in the audio. The little explanation of the Grace and the Key to Time was good and would have been beneficial to any listeners not acquainted with the Monthly Adventures. Where we saw Amy basically from the start of her life in The Judgement of Isskar, we had that here with Zara as she described the memory of her creation and how she remembered the Grace fearing reality falling apart. It was very powerful to think of one's first moment and she talked us through her first breath. I liked how this served as Zara's first meeting with Zinc and gave more detail on why she was so distraught of his death. Her realisation that the nose tingle meant she was close to the segment of the Key to Time was good and I loved the reference from Ace that came with her mentioning the Kandyman, albeit not by name. When we meet Zara in the Key 2 Time, it's intriguing to see just how much she is in control of Zinc. However, that really isn't the case here and this audio serves as a big growth period for Zara. She really comes into her own which was terrific to hear. The Erratoon setting was very good and I liked the concept of everyone on the planet having an assignment. I also liked the mystery of something more being below the surface which I think more could have been made of and come back to regarding that. The protocol error that Ace tried to use to escape was good and clever thinking, but something that really fascinated me in the story was the idea of the lake being the segment. Zara sharing a look from the Seventh Doctor was really good and whilst it was beneficial to not have the Doctor in the story much at all, it was nice knowing that he was pretty helpless to stop the events that would unfold as he knew from his fifth incarnation everything that had happened. The moment Zara converted the segment from the water was very powerful and I was surprised that she showed a complete lack of remorse. The riverbed was dry, fish were dead and people were in hysteria and Zara couldn't care less! The moment where Ace and Zara were escaping and then caught, with the latter then ratting out the former and ensuring her memories would go on to be erased was quite the moment! Zara certainly got devious very quickly. I'm intrigued to see her in the long run when it comes to Graceless. The cliffhanger was good, and then we shifted to what Ace was doing on Erratoon. Somehow, it wasn't as interesting or exciting but still worked well because through her we got to hear more of the real Zinc. That was really good. He had his wife Magda and the pair made quite the couple! Ace's mission was to stop them both which was good and I liked how much she enjoyed getting to play dumb. The plan to use the time ring and go back to Erratoon's past and be the first to lay claim to the planet's mineral rights was excellent and it served as Zara's backup plan should the hunt to obtain all of the Key to Time's segments went wrong. Ace arriving on the planet after the lake had gone was good, but if that wasn't enough then she knew of the rocket that was threatening the entire planet! Poor old Erratoon. Zinc being interested in Zara was really good and I liked how quickly that became a thing. Ace actually having her memories wiped was a bit of a surprise and from there on in, Zara assumed command. The shift in her character there was brilliant. The rocket going off and breaking the sky of Erratoon was unexpected as the damage the planet went through was extortionate here! Zara's jealousy towards Magda and how she wanted Zinc all to himself was very good and set things up for the Key 2 Time adventures really well. Ace having an instinctive trust of the Doctor despite not knowing him was great, but I was quite surprised by the Doctor's claim that the TARDIS would restore her memories. That seemed a tad easy. Overall though, this was a fine story and some excellent character development for Zara.

Rating: 8/10