The Minds of Magnox

"Am I doing the right thing?'

Writer: Darren Jones

Format: Audio

Released: 03 December 2020

Series: Time Lord Victorious: BBC #1

Featuring: Tenth Doctor

Synopsis

The Doctor travels with Brian, the Ood assassin, to the planet Magnox, one of the greatest receptacles of knowledge the universe will ever know. The Doctor needs to ask a vital question, but the answer is Grade 1 Classified! In order to gain an audience with the Minds of Magnox themselves he must take a dangerous test. Is he smart enough to get through?

Meanwhile, Brian gets involved with the criminal fraternity and is given a job: to assassinate the Minds of Magnox. However, others also have the planet within their sights...

Verdict

The Minds of Magnox was a really good audio to serve as BBC Audio's contribution to the Time Lord Victorious range! It was a great way to use the talents of an original audio and there aren't many performers better suited than Jacob Dudman. He was hugely impressive in his narration but even more so in his impression of the Tenth Doctor. His likeness of David Tennant was uncanny and that was even evident in the mannerisms and expression as well as the dialogue. It honestly did feel like a genuine Tenth Doctor tale which is a huge compliment to the talents of Dudman. The story itself was fantastic and I thought the setting of Magnox was really interesting and did a good job of representing the Dark Times. The Doctor's continued journey in this unchartered period is terrific and I liked how this seemingly followed the events of The Knight, the Fool and the Dead with the Doctor and Brian on the run from an impending war, whilst also having sent the Kotturuh into a frenzy and on the brink of extinction. That was brilliant to hear and I loved the uncharacteristic nature of the Doctor in taking matters into his own hands and not quite following the rules. It shows just how different and a state of mind he was in following the events of The Waters of Mars. I loved Brian in this audio and getting the backstory on how he came to be an assassin was magnificent. It was quite an emotional little story and also presented the overall Ood life and expectation in a very good way. I liked the continued mentions of Mr Ball and how he was a brain. It helping with the data dump was very good. The concept of the Minds of Magnox themselves was very good and I loved how the Doctor knew of them and the legend during this period. His wanting an answer to a question he was keeping hidden from Brian was intriguing and I liked how the traits of the Doctor we know were there as he was seeking knowledge on whether his actions in his current predicament were right. His reaction to realising that the Minds did have the knowledge he desired but was classified was brilliant. I enjoyed that a lot. I thought some of the characters were terrific with Wim a particular favourite. His relationship with Brian was very good and I liked how Brian was bored and so took on assassination task of taking out the Minds of Magnox themselves. There was hardly a more difficult challenge! The planet itself was a great setting and the society there was presented in a really good and detailed way. I felt I knew a lot about the surroundings which was definitely a positive. I thought the role of the Kotturuh in the audio was excellent and their return to Magnox and offering to provide immortality and rescind their judgement in return for knowledge on how to get rid of the Doctor. I thought that sold just how much of an impact the Doctor made with Brian and the Time Lord really has seemed victorious. At least so far! The Tenth Doctor concluding things after Magnox was destroyed and emphatically stating how the Time Lord Victorious would win by any means necessary was very powerful and just an excellent way to set up the final novel. However, the highlight of the audio for me was Peschell's story. I really liked her relationship with the Doctor throughout but her ending and becoming the Oracle of Islos was delightful. Coupling that with a surprise cameo from the Eleventh Doctor running from his end on Trenzalore and making amends was magnificent. Dudman was great in his impression of Matt Smith and I just loved the story of him coming back and providing her with the knowledge and history of Magnox he had extracted from the planet before its demise. Her realisation that he was the Doctor by the end was lovely. Overall, a great little listen!

Rating: 8/10