The Singer Not the Song Part 2

"This might be my only song - my final song."

Writer: Nick Abadzis 

Format: Comic Strip

Released: 7th April 2016

Printed in: DWC: Tales from the TARDIS 05

Featuring: Tenth Doctor, Gabby

Synopsis 

The Doctor and Gabby have walked straight into a war. Something has corrupted the song of the Shan'tee - a mysterious signal of unknown origin - and now the Doctor has gone to investigate. With a plan for a three-way genocide in full fruition, can Gabby help maintain order while the Doctor stops the signal at its source?

Verdict 

The Singer Not the Song concluded in brilliant fashion here with this superb second part and the story really has kicked off the second year of Tenth Doctor comic strip adventures in an excellent way! I like the idea of Titan Comics going with different years as the televised format would with a series but at least with these comics we don't have to wait months and months for new adventures! That's the beauty of the comic strips because whilst the TV series is having an extended leave of absence from our screens, Doctor Who Comic is there to help fill the void with stories for the current and two previous Doctors. I'm very surprised to find that the original Doctor Who Comic has been discontinued and although I prefer the Tales from the TARDIS format as it actually is a comic, I would have thought that considering we are six months behind the USA in terms of release date, and the fact we don't have the Fourth, Eighth or regular Ninth Doctor comic series currently available that the content to fulfill both issues would have been more than satisfactory! Ahh well, it's not to be but I guess I'll just have to save £3.99 a month. After rereading part one prior to concluding the story, something that for some reason seemed an absolute age ago, I remembered how much of a new feel this story seemed to have which went well with it kicking off the second year of adventures and that same feeling was present once again here which I thought was very good. Gabby is just wonderful as companion and I really hope these comics go on for years to come with her as companion because she really is just terrific. Ever since Revolutions of Terror, she has grown with each story and here the way she took charge when the Doctor was elsewhere was magnificent. I thought Allegra was really good here following on from the fantastic cliffhanger with the virus affecting her after jumping species. She reacted to the infection very well and I admired how in her final moments all she cared about was saving the others. What was to come of her would not be Allegra D'Angelo but it would be a monster. She knew that and wanted to be quarantined. Smokey gave us quite the revelation in this story as he was literally in two places at once! That ability of the Shan'tee was quite remarkable and I liked how the two rejoined as one at the end but retained both sets of memories. Imagine having that ability! Harris was a very good character once again and I liked his relationship with Allegra and his unwillingness to kill her despite her begging. I thought the characterisation of David Tennant's Tenth Doctor was very solid which pleased me because I've watched four episodes featuring him on television recently so I'm glad they captured his likeness pretty well. His attempts to kill the virus at its source were good and the humour in the TARDIS with Smokey and the reconfiguring of the dimensional orientation was brilliant. The return to the scene we saw at the beginning of part one was done superbly well and I loved how just when Gabby seemed to have given up on the Doctor arriving, her face lightened up by the familiar sound of the TARDIS dematerialising. The Doctor had found the cure thanks to the very first version of the song that housed the virus and used a megaphone to send it through the Nocturnes and defeating them. I'm not so sure why the Doctor's 3D glasses were worn by the Time Lord but I do like how they're cropping up from time to time after also showing up in The Fractures. The climax was full of action was good and I liked how humans and Shan'tee alike were extremely grateful to Gabby and the Doctor for saving Wutpaki. The ending involving an appearance from Anubis was unexpected but it's good that The Fountains of Forever/Spiral Staircase/Sins of the Father is not being forgotten. Anubis still wants a home. But for now, the Doctor was still looking. Overall, a fantastic story and a great start to year two! 

Rating: 9/10

Hexagora

"Nothing can ever be perfect."

Writer: Paul Finch 

Format: Audio 

Released: November 2011

Series: Lost Stories 3.02

Featuring: Fifth Doctor, Nyssa, Tegan

Synopsis 

When a newspaper reporter goes missing, the Doctor, Tegan and Nyssa uncover a case of alien abduction. The trail leads them to the planet Luparis, and a city that appears to be a replica of Tudor London. 

What are the monsters that lurk in the shadows? And what is the terrible secret at the heart of Luparis? To save a world, the Doctor must try and defeat the evil plans of Queen Zafira.

And one of her plans is to marry him...

Verdict 

Hexagora was an excellent audio adventure! I listened to this on the train back to university ahead of my final term of first year and I was delighted with what I listened to. It was fantastic from start to finish and it was worth every penny of the mere £2.99 that I paid for it. I'm not sure why Big Finish were offering the story for that little of a price but I am certainly not complaining! It looks like they are going to be offering a story for this price every month which I sure hope to take advantage of and also this month I received a free audio adventure simply by being a subscriber to the Big Finish newsletter! The audio I received was the first in the Cyberman audio series so I'm intrigued to see how the series ranks alongside Dalek Empire. But for now I was doing a Fifth Doctor audio and I was actually surprised that this was a Lost Story as it certainly seemed more suited to an audio landscape rather than the televised format. The cliffhangers though were easily realised from the television version that this story was based upon and they all worked really well. I liked how there wasn't really a main threat but the story still provided excellent cliffhangers. That can be quite difficult on times but there were no such worries with this audio adventure. The guest cast were very impressive with some brilliant actors playing some of the roles. After listening to the impressive Only the Monstrous boxset, it was great to hear Jacqueline Pearce playing Queen Zafira here as I thought she was fantastic. Her character was rather impatient and grew tired of husbands quickly which provided considerable humour when she decided she wanted to marry the Doctor! I thought the chemistry between Pearce and Peter Davison was superb and a real highlight of the story. The Doctor also had a good relationship with Astorius in the audio and that came good towards the end and in the climax. I really liked both companions in the story with them having two very different roles. Nyssa was played wonderfully well by Sarah Sutton as per usual and I liked her relationship with Jezzavar with him wanting to plan a revolution and sit Nyssa on the throne as queen in place of Zafira! It wax rather bonkers on her behalf but I liked the action that sparked as a result of him putting his ludicrous plan into action. Tegan was focal to the story and the reason for the TARDIS landing on Luparis as her longtime friend Mike Bretherton had uncharacteristically gone missing. Upon arrival and some investigation, it turned out that his body had been taken over by someone else and he was an insect known only as a Sleeper. The Hexagora were an intriguing species and seemed to be a bit of mix between Zygons and Krillitane mashed into one. They took over the bodies of the inhabitants of planets they conquered but they had to almost do a body swap. It was interesting and the concept was quite disturbing but it did all make sense which was good. Dan Starkey played the role of Zellenger magnificently and I loved how he brought out the jealousy of the character. It was interesting to hear him not playing the role of a Sontaran but he really was excellent. The plot was very solid and the setting of a Tudor London replica on an alien planet was quite remarkable and I absolutely loved it! The action that came in the climax was very good with the Doctor just about getting the upper hand thanks to some timely help from Astorius. The references to The Keeper of Traken and Logopolis were marvellous and this story didn't really have any negatives about it. Davison was again fantastic as the Fifth Doctor and although I think this story is better suited to an audio format, it's a shame we never saw it on television. Overall, an excellent story! 

Rating: 9/10

Doctor Who and the Loch Ness Monster

"All resistance will be crushed. We shall change the destiny of Earth!" 

Writer: Terrance Dicks

Format: Novel

Released: January 1976

Series: Target 40

Featuring: Fourth Doctor, Sarah, Harry

Synopsis 

Why is Doctor Who suddenly summoned to the shores of Loch Ness? Terror and panic spread as the third oil rig is smashed into the sea by a mysterious force... the monster? The controlling power must be the Zygons - alien creatures who have lived hidden on Earth for thousands of years, and now feel strong enough to take over the planet... the Doctor, Sarah and UNIT have different ideas - but can they outwit the supreme cunning of the ruthless Zygons?

Verdict 

Doctor Who and the Loch Ness Monster was an excellent novelisation and one I enjoyed reading on the usual train journey home from mid Wales to South Wales. I'm not sure if my reading has quickened (it certainly doesn't feel like it) or whether the last two particular Targets I have read have been shorter than average, but just like with my reading of Death to the Daleks I seemed to absolutely whizz through this novel and had it finished nearly an hour before my journey ended. That left me with a bit of time to read some DWM which was nice but I honestly expected this novelisation to last the duration of my time on the train. I was very surprised I must admit. The fact I'm reading Targets quicker will hopefully convince me to read more of them when I'm not travelling but it probably isn't helped by the fact that I've just purchased the new UNIT: Extinction audio boxset along with the Prisoners of Time comic strip collection that celebrated the fiftieth anniversary. It's fair to say I'm putting my student finance money to good use! Who needs food when you can buy things like that? Terror of the Zygons is a very good television adventure but despite my liking of it (it gets the same rating on tv as the novelisation does here) I think it is probably the most overrated story to date. The Zygons seem to be why the story is so immensely popular but they don't really do anything and that was captured once again in print here. I thought the Zygons were much better in Sting of the Zygons and The Zygon Invasion/The Zygon Inversion because they were more active. The concept behind them is tremendous and one I once again enjoyed on display in this novel but I don't understand why it received the reputation that it has. Don't get me wrong, I really enjoy it and I think that after a successful run alongside the Third Doctor, the Brigadier and co at UNIT being reunited with the Fourth Doctor was something that always should have happened soon after Robot and I'm glad that it did occur just a season later. The characterisation of Tom Baker's Fourth Doctor was very good and the style of writing by Terrance Dicks was impeccable as always. He really is the master at Doctor Who novelisations and I always seem to favour the books written by him when it comes to picking my next story. He really is magnificent. He does a stellar job in characterising Sarah here and I liked how easily he seemed to portray that she was a journalist. You got the impression that she was keen to learn and that's exactly what she was with her journalistic instincts still very active despite having been travelling with the Doctor since The Time Warrior, some time ago by this story's placement. Harry's role seemed to be less than what it was on television which was intriguing because it really didn't feel like he had done much until around the halfway point of the story. He was characterised very well indeed and his decision to stay on Earth and depart the TARDIS was done with class at the conclusion of the novel. I loved how the Doctor seemed disappointed by Sarah having to think about whether she wanted to stay travelling in the TARDIS or not. There was a humorous reference to The Three Doctors from the Brigadier and I love how he gets characterised pretty much perfectly every time. He's a marvellous character and I really must push on with the Lethbridge-Stewart novels as I'm yet to start. Naming the novelisation after the Loch Ness Monster seems surprising because the Skarasen doesn't do a great deal but I think in terms of selling points it's a wonderful title for a story. I guess the plot does focus around the creature because it's vital to the Zygons in order to stay alive but it just seems to swim for most of the story! The plot was decent and we had some good guest characters like Huckle and the Duke, but the Zygons get remembered from this story and I'm glad they shone on their post revival returns. They are brilliant and this story introduces us to them in a decent way. Overall, a very good novelisation! 

Rating: 8/10

The Real Hereward

"We're peaceful Saxons - not the murdering savages the Normans call us."

Writer: Unknown 

Format: Short Story

Released: September 1984

Printed in: Doctor Who Annual 1985

Featuring: Sixth Doctor, Peri

Synopsis 

The Sixth Doctor and Peri arrive in England shortly after the Battle of Hastings and meet up with Hereward the Great and his men. With the TARDIS lost and the Normans closing in, will the true identity of Hereward be enough to save them?

Verdict 

The Real Hereward was a very good short story from the 1985 Doctor Who Annual but I must say that in terms of historical accuracy, it was completely and utterly bonkers. The claim that King Harold and Hereward the Great is just unfathomable but I think because it was so ludicrous, I liked it. To be honest, I really shouldn't have seeing as I'm a History student! Granted, my studies currently don't go further back than the Tudors and based on my module choices for second year, that isn't going to change, but I know a great deal about periods of history that I'm yet to study in real depth thanks to my own research and to claim that these two people are the same person is just brilliantly bonkers. It works very well for a Doctor Who story and I'm glad that a short story from an Annual has sparked this much debate from myself but also from others online. The Wikipedia page for Hereward the Great actually mentions this story which I think is just wonderful because I would bet good money that most Doctor Who fans wouldn't have even heard of this story, let alone read it and far less have gone as far as me to blog my verdict on it. I'm just glad that I have a lot to talk about when it comes to a short story because sometimes these blog entries can be difficult to write sufficient amounts about when it comes to Doctor Who Annual stories but in all honesty that's more with the modern ones. The Classic ones are wonderful and I'm lucky enough to own three of them now but thanks to Scribd again, which helped me read Castaway yesterday, I have been able to read my third short story from this 21st anniversary Annual. Battle Planet and Day of the Dragon were very good and I'm glad that the high standard continued here. Even though there weren't many pages, I thought the characterisation of the Sixth Doctor was excellent with Colin Baker's likeness captured very quickly which impressed me because this story only had The Twin Dilemma to base this incarnation's portrayal on. Nicola Bryant's likeness as Peri was also captured in print excellently which pleased me because she also hadn't been companion too long at this point after arriving in Planet of Fire. The English Fenlands setting was good and I liked how the Doctor and Peri were embroiled in the aftermath of the Battle of Hastings. It was quite the battle and the description of it with the Normans pretending to run away was marvellous. However, I keep coming back to the revelation in the Doctor Who universe at least that King Harold and Hereward are the same person and that's rightly why this story will be remembered. I am yet to come to a Doctor Who Annual as ludicrous or controversial as that and whilst I still have a lot of catching up to do, I doubt it'll be seriously challenged. I thought the artwork that accompanied the text was very impressive and having just a bit of colour alongside blocks of text really does make the story a lot more readable and enjoyable. It was fantastic and despite the completely bonkers historical accuracy, I liked it. The casual reader probably wouldn't question the information given but it wasn't getting past me! However, I think it just added to the story which was great and I liked how the Doctor advised Harold, or Hereward, to stay quiet and give the Saxons something to fight for. Overall, ludicrous brilliance. 

Rating: 8/10

Castaway

"It's nice to have a few weeks away from UNIT."

Writer: Unknown

Format: Comic Strip

Released: September 1970

Printed in: TV Comic Annual 1971

Featuring: Third Doctor, Brigadier

Synopsis 

A desert island castaway is using high-pitched sound to make a giant squid attack passing ships. The Doctor and the Brigadier are holidaying on the Brigadier's private yacht when it is attacked by the squid. Taken as prisoners, the Doctor and the Brigadier are imprisoned by the castaway in the cave.

Verdict 

Castaway was not a bad comic strip adventure at all but it did have its poor moments. In saying that, I was pleasantly surprised as even though I massively favour the Classic era Annuals, it can still be quite a struggle to deliver a very good story over just four pages as is the case here. However, this was not a normal Doctor Who Annual which usually have six pages to spare for comic strip stories and was actually the TV Comic Annual. I'd love to own a copy of this but I have no problem making do with the digital copy available on Scribd. It's a fantastic app and has actually contributed to a number of my blog entries on here. Doctor Who Verdict is very grateful! As well as this Third Doctor comic strip adventure, Scribd has been responsible for numerous comic strip stories from the later Doctor Who Annuals with stories like The Time Thief and Dead on Arrival being real highlights of the collected Third Doctor comic stories available on the app. The app has also been responsible for a number of Fourth Doctor Annual comic strip and text stories with a couple springing up on the app as well as a Sixth Doctor Annual also partly getting the blogging treatment on here. I've also been extremely grateful for the app saving me from buying The Cruel Sea graphic novel as they had the DWM Special Edition magazine in which the collected Ninth Doctor comic strip stories were all printed alongside each other. I even ended up reading the Tenth Doctor collection as well! The app really has helped so much with money and availability and for that I am extremely grateful. Without it, there is no way I'd have been able to read this comic strip some forty-five years after its release as I highly doubt the Annual is going to crop up in a charity shop anytime soon, although you never know. I sure hope so because although I have said that the rating I have given means it's not that good, I did enjoy this comic strip. I think it's a real shame that the writer is unknown and I really did try hard and dig deep with research to discover who penned this story but sadly I could not find it. I'm amazed that the writer didn't receive credit in the pages of the story itself but in saying that, the story wasn't even given a name initially! It's only through fandom and reference lists that this story has its name but I must say that it does suit it perfectly. A very good choice I must say. The idea of the Third Doctor and the Brigadier on a yacht together seemed unlikely in my opinion just because they always seemed to be bickering at one another! There have been countless stories in which they haven't gotten along and in some instances there was a hint of it here. It was prominent when the squid attacked the ship with the Doctor uncharacteristically calling for the Brigadier to brandish his rifle and shoot the giant attacker. Simba was an intriguing character although I would have liked a bit more information about how he came to have some sort of power over the sea creatures rather than them just saying that he had gained it. I can understand that there was not a lot of room to play with at just four pages but there needed to be a little bit more explanation for my liking. Simba capturing the Doctor and Brigadier was quite humorous but the Doctor added to that comedic value by pulling out a flute and eventually mastering the tune that Simba controlled the sea creatures with. The Doctor was soon their master and ordered their freeing from the cave. Simba was duly captured and would be dealt with back on shore but for now the Doctor and the Brigadier were safe and could return to their excitement at UNIT. Overall, too short to score a great rating really but some humour and a decent enough story. 

Rating: 7/10

Timeslip

"!Time in backwards move will we continues this if! Master ,affirmative."

Writers: Dez Skinn & Paul Neary

Format: Comic Strip

Released: 6th-13th February 1980

Printed in: DWM 17-18

Featuring: Fourth Doctor, K9, First Doctor

Synopsis 

The Fourth Doctor and K9 drift into contact with a deep space entity which feeds on time itself. As time begins to move backwards, K9 reverts to the components from which he was made whilst the Doctor experiences retro-regeneration for the first time...

Verdict 

Timeslip was a phenomenally good comic strip adventure! I must say I didn't know what to expect with it being just eight pages split into two parts but I must say I was absolutely overjoyed with what I read! This novel actually kicked off my reading of The Tides of Time graphic novel that I purchased for the steal of a price £2.99 (including postage!) on eBay a few months ago and as I had a brief browse at the story information on the contents page, I noticed that this particular story was included as a bonus strip and after I noticed the DWM issue numbers in which this story was printed I knew it did not feature the Fifth Doctor like the rest of the collection. With that, I thought it made sense to read this first because it featured the Fourth Doctor. I always like to read a graphic novel in chronological order as sometimes the pages aren't presented that way, something I don't really understand. It happened in The Good Soldier and it happened here. It doesn't really matter but I just wish they were printed in release order! The relationship between the Fourth Doctor and K9 was magnificent throughout the robot dog's tenure as companion and when thinking about it and reading this comic strip, my memory of the Australian K9 spinoff series was sparked and after some further investigating I was thrilled to see that I could get the entire series one for less than a tenner including postage over the two DVDs. I'll certainly be purchasing that once I get back to university next week so watch out for some K9 blogging! I have a feeling I'll be critical because the intended audience is 11-15 year olds and I am now 19 now, but I will watch any television spinoff and I'm looking very forward to Class later this year in place of a regular season. K9 constantly besting the Doctor in board games is a wonderful recurring theme and it was realised excellently once again here. The referencing to the Key to Time series was very good with the Doctor mentioning the randomiser being used to evade the Black Guardian. However, things took a quick turn for the worse when the TARDIS encountered an enigmatic space entity. Action soon kicked into gear and we had time reverting backwards! You would think that I'd be able to wrap my head around that concept considering this is a time travel show but it still confuses. Can time really move backwards? I'm not sure. I can see how travelling to the past may be possible but time actually moving backwards? I'm not so sure. K9 reverting back to nuts and bolts was quite a sight but that was nothing compared to the cliffhanger! The Doctor retro-regenerated for the very first time and reverted back to his first incarnation! It was just magical and it actually exceeded the retro-regeneration of the Tenth Doctor back to the Ninth Doctor in The Fountains of Forever/Spiral Staircase/Sins of the Father because we actually had dialogue with the First Doctor which was superb. It was fantastic that we were seeing the First Doctor but he had retained the memories of his future selves. The idea of the entity overeating on time was similar to what Mondas had done in The Tenth Planet and this was not the first time the Doctor had a lucky escape. The scenes between re-regenerations were good with each inbetween incarnation getting a small piece of dialogue. It was just magnificent. The characterisation of Tom Baker's Fourth Doctor was superb and overall this was simply brilliant. A real joy to read and even though this is at the back of the graphic novel, it's started excellently! 

Rating: 10/10

Witch Hunt Part 2

"You should know that where my friends are concerned, all bets are off."

Writer: Jacqueline Rayner

Format: Comic Strip

Released: 31st March 2016

Printed in: DWM 498

Featuring: Twelfth Doctor, Clara 

Synopsis 

With Clara trapped in the past with the witch hunter general Matthew Hopkins, who believes she's a witch and has forced to take the swim test, the Doctor's limits are pushed to the extreme by Miss Chief who holds the cards to Clara's survival. Will he cooperate or will Clara die?

Verdict 

Witch Hunt continued in tremendous style with this magnificent second part of the story! Jacqueline Rayner really is a superb writer and even though this part doesn't see the story finish, I can just tell that as a whole it is going to be outstanding. I really love what she brings to the table and after the high quality that she brought us with Blood and Ice and the excellent quality already shown from the first two parts of this story here, I'd love her to take over as head comic strip writer! She could even do something similar to what Jonathan Morris did with The Child of Time graphic novel and just pen a series of stories. I don't think anybody would be unhappy with that! She's truly brilliant and no matter the format, I seem to have enjoyed all of her works ranging from The Transit of Venus to The Last Dodo. As is usual for my blogging of the DWM comic strip, I like to preview the magazine itself and the cover puts a smile on my face immediately as after eight long years since Series 4 came to a close, we're going to have brand new Tenth Doctor and Donna audio adventures! I can't wait to read the previews of this boxset and although the price is pretty steep at £30, I'm hoping to purchase it quite quickly and at the £20 mark on eBay if I'm lucky enough. It's just wonderful that we're getting more stories with this popular pairing and I'm sure it's going to spearhead a brand new audience for Big Finish but it should also pave the way for future appearances by David Tennant alongside other companions as well, but also it should see Matt Smith and co from the Eleventh Doctor era make their mark on the audio format. I think it's inevitable that we get more from the revival era actually featuring the Doctors. The magazine also has a nice feature with the daughter of Elisabeth Sladen who is talking about the new Lethbridge-Stewart novel that she has written. I do own the first novel in that series but I'm yet to get into it sadly. I will eventually get there though! The 'Missing in Action' piece on The Evil of the Daleks sounds tremendous. The DWM Review and Coming Soon features always catch my eye and I hope that something appeals to me and makes me want to go out and buy it. However, I will be avoiding the review of Infernal Devices to avoid spoilers on the upcoming War Doctor boxset. Galaxy Forum and Relative Dimensions are always excellent reads and probably my favourite regular parts of the magazine. Now, back to the story itself and after the excellent cliffhanger of part one I thought the resolution was superb. The Doctor and Miss Chief were having a verbal quarrel, and did so for pretty much the whole of this part, and the more that the Doctor talked and didn't play along with her games, the longer it meant Clara was stuck in the past with Matthew Hopkins thinking she was a witch. Her claims at not being one weren't helped by the fact she had survived the swim. The artwork was very good in this story and for me to mention that it certainly must have caught my eye with its quality. The time-space scavenger hunt game between the Doctor and Miss Chief was sublime and I really loved everything that came with it. She was pushing the Doctor to his limits and I just loved it. The Doctor seemed to be behind all the way but then from out of nowhere he pulled a genius move and won the game thanks to some great knowledge of geography and history. That meant Miss Chief had to give the Doctor Clara's location and whenabouts, but that just sparked the cliffhanger almost immediately as Clara was confessing to being a witch and named the Doctor as an accomplice! I'm sure him arriving out of nowhere won't do anything to help his disagreement but I guess we'll see in the next part and if the story concludes there, then that's where the rating will appear. 

The Claws of Axos

"You cannot defy the laws of time! Give me a chance and I'll prove it to you."

Writer: Bob Baker & Dave Martin

Format: TV

Broadcast: 13th March - 3rd April 1971

Season: 8.03

Featuring: Third Doctor, Jo

Synopsis 

A mysterious object approaches Earth, alerting the Doctor and UNIT that they face another possible threat from outer space. Are the gold-skinned aliens who claim to bring great gifts to humanity as peaceful and benevolent as they first appear? And why is the Doctor's arch-enemy the Master on board their spaceship?

Verdict 

The Claws of Axos was an excellent serial of Doctor Who and another watch with my young cousin that I throughly enjoyed. Following on from our watching of Love and Monsters last night, we spent the afternoon watching this popular story and it was certainly different to what we had yesterday. As I mentioned in my blog entry yesterday for the aforementioned Tenth Doctor story, I was pleasantly surprised that my cousin named the Third Doctor as his second favorite incarnation of our heroic Time Lord as he has been watching numerous Classic stories on the Horror channel and he's taken a liking to ol' Jon Pertwee so it wasn't a tough choice for him to make between this and City of Death in deciding what story we would watch. He seemed to enjoy from the get go even if I thought that things started a little slowly. I think this serial certainly improves as it goes on which I don't think is a bad thing at all as that means the story advancement is going at a good pace and that my interest in what is going on is on the increase. There's nothing at all wrong with that, in fact it's something that I would like to see more of. I hope some of the numerous Classic stories I'm yet to blog, but have watched, follow suit when it comes to it. I'm sure it will. The arrival of Axos was very good and considering this story is over four decades old I thought the special effects were very impressive. The design of the Axons, in both forms, was really good in my opinion and I particularly liked them when they were golden and humanoid. They looked superb to be fair. Their role as enemies in the story was good and I liked how despite working with the Master, they would take no nonsense from him and kept his TARDIS as insurance on his return and maintaining his side of the deal they had struck. I liked how the Master's arrival in this serial was quite subtle and it's good that in each of the five stories this season, all of which the Master appears in, his arrival is always different yet somehow unexpected as well. To be honest though, I thought this was Roger Delgado's weakest performance as the Master that I can remember which was a huge shame and something I did not expect to be writing. I'm not sure the Master works all that well when he's not the main villain and he did kind of get overshadowed by the Axons in that role. That was highlighted by the fact that he actually ended up joining forces with the Doctor but that was a part of the story I actually loved. With a nice reference to The War Games, the Doctor expressed his desire to get off Earth and be gone with his exile and if that meant joining forces with the Master then he was prepared to do it. I loved that and his hastily goodbyes were quite funny, as was his unintended return to UNIT. Chinn was quite a humorous character and I loved his relationship with the Brigadier and the rest of UNIT. There was a lot of back and forth over who was in charge and it was a nice little subplot surrounding the distribution of the Axonite. The Doctor's comment about his selfishness actually working out well was sublime. Filer was an excellent character as well and I loved how he just seemed to be there to cause a nuisance to those in authority! He was really good. Jo didn't really have much to do in this story which was a shame for her so early on in her run as companion. I thought her attire was pretty awful as well and not necessary at all. The Doctor managing to send Axos and the Axons into a time loop was an excellent ending and I also liked the ambiguity surrounding the Master and whether he would be returning. I think we all knew he would be. Overall though, a very good story with a decent plot, some great characters and also some satisfactory cliffhangers! Another one ticked off the list for my cousin and some good time spent together. 

Rating: 8/10

Love and Monsters

 

"Perfectly normal life... and then it all went mad."

Writer: Russell T Davies

Format: TV

Broadcast: 17th June 2006

Series: 2.10

Featuring: Tenth Doctor, Rose

Synopsis 

An ordinary man becomes obsessed with the Doctor and Rose, and uncovers a world of living nightmares. As the group known as LINDA track the whereabouts of the Doctor and his mysterious police box, their world gets turned upside down when a sinister Victor Kennedy arrives...

Verdict 

Love and Monsters is far from being a great episode of Doctor Who but to my pleasant surprise, I actually found myself slightly enjoying what I was watching! I watched this with my cousin which was our first watch in quite some time with Planet of Fire being the last story I think we watched together. This was excellent use of my Easter holidays as there's nothing I enjoy more than family time and Doctor Who. I was quite surprised that he had never seen this episode before as he's an avid watcher on Watch and I was sure that they would have shown this episode in the time between I last saw him and now. However, it meant that I could blog another TV story, of which there have been quite a lot lately actually, and I could further expand his Doctor Who knowledge. It also seemed to make sense as the Tenth Doctor is his favourite incarnation and I can't say I was shocked by that but I was quite pleasantly surprised that the Third Doctor comes in at second place in his ranking of favourite Doctors. He seemed to really enjoy this episode and watching him watch the episode really opened up my eyes as to how the story would appeal to the younger viewer. As the enemy was actually quite laughable, it really appealed to the younger viewers and I could really see that here for the first time. I always thought the concept and appearance of the Abzorbaloff was pretty laughable but here my thoughts changed dramatically to my absolute surprise. I thought Victor Kennedy was actually rather good and I loved his sheer determination to locate the Doctor. His reasoning was rather absurd with him hoping to enjoy a great feast at the Doctor's expense and return to Clom victorious and be able to boast about his great meal. With this being the first Doctor-lite story, I thought it was actually very good that with the Doctor only appearing at the start and end, the episode was still all about him. I really wasn't struck on the whole home video thing with Elton but as a lead character for the episode he wasn't bad at all. His relationship with Ursula was pretty good even if I did think the ending was a little bit ridiculous with her face being retrieved and Elton claiming to be in love with a bit of concrete. Despite my enjoyment, don't get me wrong there is a lot wrong with this episode. LINDA were a good little bunch even if the acronym was pretty poor but the togetherness they had was nice to see and they really did seem to be enjoying themselves. At first, they had started by trying to locate the Doctor but they had grown to enjoy each other's company very much and even began forming their own little band. Bliss being the first victim of the Abzorbaloff was interesting and that just left two obvious couples who didn't quite have the nerve to get together in Elton & Ursula and Mr Skinner and Bridget. Sadly, neither would end up together. Well, the former pair sort of did but they could hardly have a love life now could they. There's not really much you can do with a slab of concrete. The new material set during the events of Rose, Aliens of London/World War Three and The Christmas Invasion was magnificent and was absolutely the highlight of the story. But the scenes with the Hoix were pretty humorous and Jackie shined in a more prominent role here. Rose's displeasure at Elton using her mother to get to her was fantastic and I also enjoyed how quickly the Doctor talked the Abzorbaloff into being ripped apart. It was so simple but it seemed like only the Doctor would have been capable. The story of the Doctor was very good and because it was all about him and the mark he leaves on people, it didn't really seem like he was gone. Overall, plenty of room for improvement but a much more enjoyable watch than the last time. 

Rating: 7/10 

Survival

"Survival of the fittest..."

Writer: Rona Munro

Format: TV

Broadcast: 22nd November - 6th December 1989

Season: 26.04

Featuring: Seventh Doctor, Ace

Synopsis

The Doctor takes Ace back to her home town of Perivale, only to find that something is very, very wrong. Many of Ace's old friends and neighbours have disappeared, whilst domestic pets become victims of unseen killers. Will the hunger become the hunted when only the fittest survive?

Verdict 

Survival was a great story of Doctor Who and sees the Classic era come to a consistent end on a positive note. With the production team and everybody involved with the series, when this story was made nobody knew that it would be Doctor Who's last for seven years and the last to be apart of a television series for sixteen years. As chance would have it, the story was still very strong and serves as a fantastic way to draw the series to a close. It's a shame that a twenty-seventh season was not commissioned and I'm sure if they were given the opportunity to finish how they would have liked, the writers and production team would have given us a truly memorable sendoff into the sunset. Instead, what we got was rather abrupt but in tying in with the novels and audios, it manages to work which is wonderful. I think this story now holds the record for being my latest ever story as I actually didn't start part one until around 5.15am, something that I am not really used to. As part of a barmy scheme I was doing an all nighter and there was of course going to be some Doctor Who along the way to fill in the time. I was keen to watch a Seventh Doctor and Ace story after my recent blogged adventures featuring them of Illegal Alien and The Harvest. There were no Cybermen this time and there was no Hex, but even in this very last story, excluding The Movie of course, we got to learn quite a lot about Ace and her past. For the first time I noticed just how different the McCoy era is to any other of the Classic eras in the series. The black and white stories have their own feel and atmosphere that neutrally comes with the picture but I would say that there was no real change in things between the eras of Jon Pertwee and Colin Baker but with Sylvester McCoy, it was noticeably different. I'm not saying that's a bad thing at all as if gives the era its own identity but I thought the accompanying music, direction and of course the Seventh Doctor himself certainly bring about a new era. The Doctor taking Ace back to Perivale was a nice gesture but as luck would have it something was going very seriously wrong. Nearly all of Ace's friends had vanished without barely a trace and there were strange cats in the area that were catching the Doctor's attention. The Kitlings were an interesting species and I was very intrigued by their ability to literally jump from world to world. I must say it is a rather envious trait to have but I guess I should just be happy that I'm not a cat! The Cheetah People were similar to their Kitlings but were far more intelligent as was obvious by just their appearance. Their arrival on Earth and kidnapping of humans was quite spectacular and quick which I really liked. I must admit I wasn't a fan of Paterson at all as he was just annoying and his inability to accept what was right in front of him was frustrating. However, I really loved Karra and I thought her relationship with Ace was excellent. I wasn't expecting her to revert to her human form when she died though so that was interesting touch. The return of the Master was from subtle as has been the case in previous stories featuring Anthony Ainley's incarnation, with Time-Flight and The King's Demons immediately coming to mind. He was shown on screen within the first few moments and whilst that made the part one cliffhanger a little redundant, I liked how they weren't hiding the return of the Master who hadn't actually appeared since The Trial of a Time Lord. I wasn't overly struck on his cooler and darker portrayal of the Master here but I can let that slide due to the infection of the Cheetah virus he was suffering from. His attempts to maintain control over his mind were very good. Ace getting possessed was excellent as it served as a superb part two cliffhanger but also as the resolution to getting off the dying planet. The climax was exciting which is always enjoyable and overall, this was a very good story. It does have its flaws, but the Classic era bows out on what is undoubtedly a positive note.

Rating: 8/10

 

The Roof of the World

"What kind of battles take place at night?"

Writer: Adrian Rigelsford

Format: Audio

Released: July 2004

Series: Main Range 59

Featuring: Fifth Doctor, Peri, Erimem

Synopsis 

Tibet, 1917.

It's a time of great exploration, with intrepid teams of adventurers heading blindly into uncharted territory, determined to beat inexplicable odds and overcome any challenge they encounter...

But some things are not necessarily that easy to defeat...

An ancient evil, perhaps older than time itself, is stirring deep within the heart of the Himalayas... It has always known it will return and finish off what it started so many centuries before...

But the time has to be right...

As the TARDIS materialises, with the Doctor determined to take full advantage of an invite to a cricket match, the catalyst that the dark forces need unwittingly arrives...

Verdict 

The Roof of the World was another very good audio from Big Finish's Main Range of adventures and I must say I've been very pleased with the quality of the latest audios I have been listening to. My audio listening has increased quite a bit lately and I do hope that I can catch up with the Main Range but with other Doctor Who commitments such as Doctor Who Comic, Doctor Who Magazine's own comic strips and numerous unblogged television, novelised and audio stories I realise that will be difficult. And I know the cost will start to hinder my progress once I get to audio number 107 as that's where my generous friend stopped collecting. However, he sent me the first 106 audios nearly three years ago now so I'm roughly catching up at a rate of doing five years' worth in three years. I'm sure that will increase though soon enough. This story was another good one along the way and I was pleased to be listening to another Fifth Doctor, Peri and Erimem story so quickly after the excellent The Axis of Insanity. I loved how this audio was all about Erimem and as well as the focus solely being on her for arguably the first time, she was also central to the plot and I really liked that. My opinions on Peter Davison in the audio format have quickly changed and I must say I thought he was superb once again reprising his role as the fantastic Fifth Doctor. His speech during the climax was outstanding and was probably the most memorable thing about the adventure. It was the standout moment and I think it's good that it came towards the end. It really did remind me of the Eleventh Doctor's speech in The Rings of Akhaten, that's how good it was. Focusing a story on Erimem was great but in saying that I think this particular adventure would have been better suited being released closer to when The Eye of the Scorpion, a story that was nicely referenced, took place. Of course in narrative terms it seemed that was the case but I like to think of the release order of Big Finish audios with new companions also being the narrative order. Part two was probably my favourite part of the story as Erimem was just wonderful as we learned so much about her past and her reasoning for joining the Doctor and Peri in the TARDIS. Her fears of the Great Old Ones seemed warranted and I loved the connection it brought to this audio. It was really clearly done and fitted with the theme and plot of the story perfectly. Peri seemed to be on the back burner a bit in this story but Nicola Bryant is always fabulous. Peri is one of my favourite companions and although I do prefer her alongside the Sixth Doctor, it's great seeing the relationship she has with Erimem. It was highlighted very well here which I liked. The reference to Black Orchid, a story I watched not too long ago, was really good and I liked how we had another cricket oriented story for the Fifth Doctor. I must admit, Tibet and cricket don't seem to add up to me but the explanation was good which I was glad about. I was surprised we didn't get a reference to The Abominable Snowmen though as that would have been something I'd have enjoyed. Lord Mortimer was good and obviously much better as a threat when possessed. He was toying with Erimem and I really liked seeing her out of her comfort zone, even when she was seeing her father once again. General Bruce was a good character as well. The cliffhangers were pretty strong throughout and the plot as whole was very good with a strong climax. Overall, another good audio!

Rating: 8/10

Midnight

"The history is fascinating, because there is no history..."

Writer: Russell T Davies

Format: TV

Broadcast: 14th June 2008

Series: 4.10

Featuring: Tenth Doctor, Donna

Synopsis 

The Tenth Doctor and Donna go to the leisure planet of Midnight for a simple, relaxing holiday. However, life with the Doctor can never be that simple, and things go horribly wrong for the Doctor when he decides to go off on a bus trip to see the Sapphire Waterfall, starting with the bus shutting down. When a mysterious entity infiltrates the shuttle bus, no one is to be trusted. Not even the Doctor himself... 

Verdict 

Midnight was a very good episode of Doctor Who and continued along the fourth series very nicely. Following on from the outstanding Silence in the Library/Forest of the Dead, this episode had quite a lot to live up to but with the showrunner at the helm penning the episode, it certainly didn't disappoint. My original plan was not to watch this story following on from the aforementioned two-parter but after finding myself really enjoying watching the Tenth Doctor on television again, I thought I may as well finish the DVD and that meant watching this episode today. Just like the two-parter, and any story that isn't yet blogged and was broadcast before the second half of Series 7, it has been around four years now since I watched this but I think having a break that long between watching, whilst doing countless other Doctor Who stories across numerous formats, is certainly beneficial and I found myself appreciating the episode a lot more. The idea was very good and I liked how it followed its previous story in having a monster that we didn't see, but whereas we have a perception of what the Vashta Nerada look like we have no idea what the entity's appearance was like, or if it even had one. The mystery surrounding it was excellent and it was definitely the right call not to reveal anything further about what appeared to be a brand new and unexplored life form. The Doctor's fascination in the brand new was clearly visible here and it was something I absolutely loved to see. The Doctor is always doing things for others whether it's showing his companion the universe or saving it, he very rarely does things where, by this time in his life, he gets excited and also gets to see something brand new. He was like a big child and in times like this I think that's exactly how the Doctor should be. David Tennant was excellent in showing that side of the Doctor and as a whole his performance was superb here once again. Sky was a great character and once the entity took over her consciousness, things got really interesting. I must admit that this episode took a little while to get going with the Doctor's last attempt to persuade Donna to join him on the trip to the Sapphire Waterfall, the shuttle occupants getting to know each other and the initial entertainment introduction. But once the detour inevitably went wrong and the shuttle stopped, the episode got really good. The captain and mechanic, as well as the front of the shuttle itself, were reduced to ash and dust and whatever this entity was, the threat it provided was clear. What it wanted seemed to be knowledge and the speed at which it acquired speech was frighteningly quick! First, through Sky, it repeated what everybody was saying and then it soon grew to somehow say exactly what everyone was saying as they were saying it! That's a scary prospect and it worked so very well. The actors did an excellent job in selling the threat and I imagine this must've taken some time in filming due to the precise timing that was needed. I thought Dee Dee and Professor Hobbes were great characters and Jethro was pretty good as well as he understood what was going on, but Val and Biff were poor characters in my opinion and you could tell they were just very unintelligent. They had no clue what was going on and would allow their fear and pride to take over. The hostess was good too and her realisation at the end that the entity had stolen the Doctor's voice was excellent. She sacrificed herself and nobody even knew her name. It was an emotional ending to a very character-based episode. A good plot, superb acting and even a nice reference to Army of Ghosts/Doomsday, a brief appearance of Rose and a foreshadowing of The Stolen Earth/Journey's End. Very good!

Rating: 8/10

Forest of the Dead

"Don't let your shadows cross..."

Writer: Steven Moffat 

Format: TV

Broadcast: 7th June 2008

Series: 4.09

Featuring: Tenth Doctor, Donna, River

Synopsis 

Donna is gone, the Vashta Nerada are out for fresh meat and the Tenth Doctor is running out of options. Can he trust the mysterious Professor River Song, a woman who claims to be from his future? Why would his future self have given her his sonic screwdriver, or tell her his real name? Even if they do work together, can anyone stop the shadows from claiming them all as their next meal?

Verdict 

Forest of the Dead was an excellent conclusion to the story already started in Silence in the Library. The story was already sublime and it just excelled here with a fantastic conclusion. This was more action packed than its opening episode and I thought the blend between the two was perfect. The story as a whole was pretty much perfect to be honest. Steven Moffat creates an enemy that we only see by them devouring a chicken drumstick and yet they are one of the most memorable monsters since the series was revived in 2005! I think that's testament to him as a writer and it's simply no secret that he is brilliant and that's exactly why he has been showrunner since 2010. Watching back for the first time in quite a while, I found that this story had a lot of similarities to Listen with the atmosphere and the invisibility of the monster really catching my eye and remind me of that Series 8 episode. This episode fitted perfectly with The Husbands of River Song and at the time we could be forgiven for thinking that the "new haircut" line was intended for the Eleventh Doctor, but over 7 years after it was broadcast that line became so significant as River met the unprecedented Twelfth Doctor, who was actually in his fourteenth incarnation. That line really put a smile on my face and it's quite amazing that with all the plot threads and timey wimey stuff over the Eleventh Doctor's tenure, especially that which involved River, nothing that occurred here was contradicted. And it really wasn't. This is the first time we meet River and she bloody dies! That's typical Steven Moffat but I absolutely love it. He's a genius. Everything just fitted across the entire out of sequence storyline and that takes some doing as a writer. The moment River gained the trust of the Doctor was phenomenal and I thought David Tennant was simply brilliant. I mean, he usually is but there was added emotion here and that's the fact that what River told him was his own name. The fact somebody else knew it must have been incredible to the Doctor and he immediately trusted his future self and trusted River without question. I think it's a shame we never saw River with the Tenth Doctor again but of course it's very possible that we could see it in an audio or a novel at some point. Although, I think sticking to Doctors she hasn't met as seen in The Rulers of the Universe is the way to go. It worked well with the Eighth Doctor and I think it will work equally as well with the Sixth and Seventh Doctors in the second series of The Diary of River Song. Donna was more prominent in this episode which I liked and the connection between Cal, Dr Moon and the saving of 4022 people was superb. Again, it was so typically Steven Moffat and it was simply brilliant. Donna was living a dream out and everything around her was virtual reality. The deaths of Other Dave and Anita were good with the latter particularly standing out as en example of the evil intentions of the Vashta Nerada and something that really annoyed the Doctor. This made him angry and kicked him right into action. The story advanced very well from that point and I loved that the Doctor was prepared to kill himself to save the 4022 people who were uploaded to the Library hard drive. River was not prepared to let that happen though as her past would be rewritten, and she couldn't allow that. Her sacrifice was courageous and we knew that when we saw her again she was an incredible character. The Doctor knowing how she died all along is quite a burden to live with but he dealt with it well. But he wasn't quite done with striking a deal with the Vashta Nerada, he wanted to save River after death and through the help of his future self he did just that due to the sonic screwdriver and used it to save and upload her consciousness to the hard drive. The Doctor not giving in to reading his future adventures was interesting but I think he was always going to go with that option. Overall, a brilliant episode to conclude an incredible story!

Rating: 10/10

Silence in the Library

"A million, million life forms. And silence in the Library."

Writer: Steven Moffat 

Format: TV

Broadcast: 31st May 2008

Series: 4.08

Featuring: Tenth Doctor, Donna, River

Synopsis 

The Tenth Doctor takes Donna Noble to a planet-sized library in the 51st century. They find it empty of human life, with countless other living beings. An information kiosk warns them to "count the shadows". An archaeological expedition arrives, lead by the mysterious Professor River Song, who brings the cryptic last message sent from the library. "4022 saved, no survivors".

Verdict 

Silence in the Library is a brilliant episode and an excellent start to this two parter story but it's also the beginning of something extraordinary. The relationship between the Doctor and River Song, for us as the viewer and the Doctor himself, begins here and what a wonderful adventure we were taken on over the seven years of stories that we had with River popping up. Of course, there's since been the release of The Diary of River Song boxset where the Eighth Doctor was actually aided by his future wife, but even here the Doctor is so young to River. Having watched every episode with her in, as well as listening to her audio spinoff series, and having the memory of The Husbands of River Song still fresh in my mind despite it airing over three months ago now, I thought it was about time I gave my blogged verdict on this story. And it starts brilliantly. I hadn't   watched this episode in roughly three years before today and I was pleasantly surprised by some of the elements I had forgotten about. It took a lot longer for River to enter the scene than I remembered and I thought that was really good in establishing the setting. I thought the girl, as she was credited, along with Dr Moon was superb and the connection between them and the Library was mightily intriguing. Getting to the moments we saw pre-titles didn't take long which was good and I loved what we saw take place. The Doctor and Donna arriving at the Library, which was a whole planet, had to be more than a little day trip and that certainly was the case as the Doctor had received a message on the psychic paper from what would turn out to be River. I loved how she tried to pinpoint where in their lives this meeting was but she would learn that this was the first time the Doctor had met her. The look in her eyes suggested that it may just kill her. The foreshadowing of The Time of Angels/Flesh and Stone was a sublime inclusion as well. David Tennant was outstanding as the Tenth Doctor here and I really do think this is one of his best performances as our heroic Time Lord. Catherine Tate seemed to be a bit overshadowed as Donna but that's more than okay as Alex Kingston's River shines in her debut story. She really is magical and immediately the chemistry she sparks with the Doctor is phenomenal. The whole 'pretty boy' thing was excellent and the start of what will become familiar 'spoilers' was wonderful. It doesn't matter which face the Doctor has, he's always magnificent around River. The pair are superb and despite the latest episode to feature River confirming the end to her run on television, I can't wait for her second batch of audio adventures next year. The Doctor's reaction to archaeologists was quite humorous although I thought the assembled team were really good. Lux and his family history with the Library is obviously going to play a big part in the second episode but the rest just seem to have been included to die at the hands of the Vashta Nerada. The concept of this enemy is another brilliant one by Steven Moffat and I still wouldn't rule out a return one day. Miss Evangelista's death was a sad one but she was merely the first. Proper Dave followed suit with a double shadow and the whole theme surrounding shadows was magnificent throughout. Moffat really knows how to play to the audience's fears. The Doctor's reaction to River having a screwdriver was even more superb having watched the Twelfth Doctor gift wrap it for her. The cliffhanger really was good as well with the Doctor thinking he was keeping Donna safe but just jeopardised her wellbeing. She became something she was horrified by and to add to that, the Vashta Nerada were looming. Overall, a fantastic first episode to what is sure to be a great story!

A Girl's Best Friend

"There hasn't been a human sacrifice since 1891!"

Writer: Terence Dudley

Format: TV

Broadcast: 28th December 1981

Series: K9 and Company Pilot

Featuring: Sarah Jane,K9

Synopsis 

Sarah is looking forward to spending a quiet Christmas with her Aunt Lavinia in the sleepy village of Morton Harewood. But when she arrives, she finds her aunt is missing, and a surprise present from an old friend is waiting to be opened. 

Sarah and her aunt's ward, Brendan, are soon caught up in the affairs of a mysterious cult who practice the black arts, and are preparing for a human sacrifice. But they have the Doctor's gift to aid them - a robot dog who answers to the name of K9...

Verdict 

A Girl's Best Friend was something I found very intriguing to be watching. It seems to be the forgotten story of Classic Doctor Who and I think that is immediately confirmed by the fact this was my first ever watch of the to be spinoff episode. I must admit, I'm not surprised that we didn't get a full series of K9 and Company because this story definitely had its problems but I think it should have been given a go because of the mass of potential it had. This is the closest we got to a Doctor Who spinoff during the Classic era but the thought of one just seems strange to me and I'm not sure why. There have been many spinoff audios and of course Torchwood and The Sarah Jane Adventures to accompany the revived series, with another in the form of Class joining the fray later this year, but this one just seemed out of place which was a shame. It was brilliant to see new material of Sarah Jane and K9 from the Classic era for the first time and there was a pretty good story to match the brand new pairing but it did have its problems. I thought the story of Sarah's aunt Lavinia was actually a good one with her quickly leaving the village and nobody being able to get ahold of her. She had ran off to America and said goodbye to nobody so there was a mass element of doubt and my expectation was that she was actually a part of the village cult. Instead the revelation was that she actually couldn't get ahold of Sarah. I thought that was a very poor ending and I really was disappointed with it because of the attention it had gotten throughout the episode. The village setting was pretty good and it was definitely established that was the intended location for the would be series by the opening titles. I must mention the titles because I thought they were absolutely ridiculous. They really were awful. I was actually laughing at how bad they were and immediately the tone and atmosphere set by them didn't make me expect anything too good and that's what I got. From the start, I just seemed to be waiting for something major to happen and I didn't really get anything as a reward. I had the anticipation which was good, but I didn't get an end result which was disappointing. That was a running occurrence in the story which was rather mixed. I wouldn't say my rating was generous though. Following on from The Invasion of Time and Warriors' Gate, Sarah seems to be the third former companion who has a model of K9 to keep her company! I like that idea and it's good to think that even after spending time with the Doctor, they have a souvenir of sorts from their ventures to remind them of the good they did and in some cases will continue to do. Brendan wasn't the best character in the world as the actor didn't seem suited to the age he was playing but his understanding of K9 was really great and something I very much liked. Lis Sladen reprised her role as Sarah Jane Smith wonderfully well after a lengthy time away and I must admit I did like The Hand of Fear getting a nice reference. I was expecting the Doctor to get mentioned more and with the mysterious events that were going around the village I almost expected him to turn up, even though I knew that wouldn't be happening. The Tracey characters along with Pollock and Wilson were good characters but the story was just lacking a spark to propel it to a higher rating. Overall though, a good little episode and I love the fact that Classic Doctor Who does have its own spinoff, even if it only got given the go ahead for its pilot and nothing more. It's not the best but it's still very good and deserves its place in the Classic era of Doctor Who. It shouldn't be forgotten as it paved the way for what we would later see in School Reunion. 

Rating: 7/10

The Harvest

"Once you've given them an order, they're very single-minded."

Writer: Dan Abnett

Format: Audio

Released: June 2004

Series: Main Range 58

Featuring: Seventh Doctor, Ace, Hex

Synopsis 

On the morning of 12 October 2021, Hex woke up. He was expecting to go to work at St. Gart's in London as. Kemal and, that evening, have a great time in the bar of the White Rabbit, celebrating his 23rd birthday. 

But after his ex-flatmate is wheeled into A&E following a bike accident, and the strange young woman from Human Resources tries to chat him up and an eight-foot-talk guy in a Merc tries to run him down, Hex realises things are not going quite as he expected. 

Then in a Shoreditch car park he meets the enigmatic Doctor, who explains that he's an extra-terrestrial investigator and something very strange is going on up on the thirty-first floor of St. Gart's.

Therefore, aided and abetted by the Doctor, and his other new friend, 'Just McShane', Hex decides to investigate. Trouble is, everything that goes on at the hospital is being observed and noted by the occupants of the thirty-first floor; occupants who are none too pleased that people are poking their noses into business that doesn't concern them; occupants who will go to extraordinary lengths to ensure that no one discovers the truth...

Verdict 

The Harvest was an excellent audio adventure and continues what is becoming a very good little run of Big Finish Main Range stories. I've been very impressed lately with The Axis of Insanity and Arrangements for War that have come as a breath of fresh air really following the very mixed standard of Eighth Doctor, Charley and C'rizz stories in the Divergent Universe. I don't mind story arcs in the televised format and to be honest I like them on audios when it comes in a boxset but I think I've enjoyed the recent stories because they're standalone and I think that's how Classic Doctor Who worked best. This story serves as being important for two reasons as we see the return of the Cybermen in a way we have never seen them before and we also saw another brand new companion! I think it's good that the Cybermen returned for another audio adventure as it seems a long time since their only other outing in Sword of Orion and with the Daleks having featured in five stories in the Main Range so far, a Cybermen return was certainly due. I really liked the fact that their part in the story was kept hidden from the audience with no mention of them in the story title, synopsis or even cast list. That's how a story with a returning villain works best. The Cybermen didn't get a mention until the very end of part two in a fantastic cliffhanger in which Ace confirmed their presence, but they were barely heard which just showed how much of a threat their presence carried. They didn't do much at all but yet they sparked a fear factor that I thought as magnificent. This served as a superb introduction story for Hex to join the Seventh Doctor and Ace as a second companion and I'm sure it will provide a freshness to a pairing I have been critical of in the past, although my opinions have recently been changing. The last Seventh Doctor and Ace story I blogged also featured the Cybermen in a more familiar role and I think this audio did have similarities to Illegal Alien which I enjoyed noticing. I loved the heavy referencing to Spare Parts and I love how previous Big Finish stories are becoming hugely important. A Cyberman origin story is right up there when it comes to important stories and the amount it was talked about here was superb. There was also a very good reference to The Tenth Planet which is one of my all time favourite stories so I enjoyed that very much. I thought Doctor Farrer was a very good character and I liked the pre-titles tease about him actually being the Seventh Doctor. Subject One as he was dubbed was also a great character and I was mightily intrigued by the idea he was a former Cyber Leader who wanted to head the Cybermen's return to being an organic race. That idea, even if it wasn't wholly true, is staggering and I commend Dan Abnett for including it. It was really good though I'm not sure the methods were feasible. The relationship between Ace and Hex was great and I'm now excited to see where the dynamic of the TARDIS team will go in the future with him now firmly on board. His reactions to everything that went on with the Cybermen and the TARDIS were great but he does genuinely seem like he's going to be a brilliant companion. The 2021 setting was good and I also liked the humour around the Doctor's hacking of System. The cliffhangers were all good but part two definitely stood out! Polk wasn't the best character in the world but Garnier and Mathias made up for him. Overall, an intriguing return for the Cybermen and a fantastic introduction for Hex as companion! 

Rating: 9/10

Arrangements for War

"Innocent news reports breed instant panic."

Writer: Paul Sutton 

Format: Audio

Released: May 2004

Series: Main Range 57

Featuring: Sixth Doctor, Evelyn

Synopsis 

Onboard the TARDIS, nerves are strained.

After escaping the Forge and the murderous clutches of Nimrod, the Doctor and Evelyn have things to talk about. The Doctor's attitude towards death is a subject that these days is too close to Evelyn's heart, and eventually she demands to be set down somewhere where she can be free of him for a while. 

And so they come to Világ, where the Doctor's meddling lands him in the middle of a truly dangerous liaison and Evelyn meets a man who wants to change the course of her life forever. 

Love is everywhere. But then war is too.

Is it time for Evelyn to leave the Doctor? Or is the choice about to be taken out of her hands?

And who is to say what is the beginning and what is the end of love?

Verdict 

Arrangements for War was a brilliant audio adventure and arguably one of the most significant of the 57 adventures that I have thus far listened to on my exploration through Big Finish's Main Range of stories. There's no big return of a past villain. There's no regeneration. There's no alteration to the TARDIS team. But I would argue that this story has the biggest exploration into a character in the entire Classic era, or at least what I've covered of it so far. Evelyn and the Sixth Doctor both have a huge amount of depth added to their characters here and after the emotion and horrors that occurred in Project: Lazarus, the pair finally realise that what they need more than anything is each other. The ending of this audio is really nice in establishing that and it was only at that point that I was convinced Evelyn would be remaining as companion. I did have more than one thought that this was her final adventure and I think one benefit of being this far behind in the Main Range run is that I am absolutely spoiler free and I really don't know when companions will come and depart. Just take the arrival of C'rizz in The Creed of the Kromon for example - I had no idea a new companion was joining the Eighth Doctor and Charley so that added a lot to the story. Had Evelyn departed here, I think it would have added a lot to the story and offered a different perspective in reflection on its events. This story was quite a long one (I mean in terms of the length over which it took place, not the two hours running time which is pretty much the norm for a full cast Main Range adventure) and I think it definitely allowed Evelyn the time away from the Doctor that she needed. In saying that though, it also allowed the Sixth Doctor some reflection on recent adventures such as Doctor Who and the Pirates and the aforementioned Project: Lazarus where people needlessly died. The Doctor could understand why Evelyn was upset with his actions and apparent lack of grief but as future incarnations have coined, the Doctor doesn't have time to stop and grieve. I must admit I was on the side of the Doctor in regards to that here as with all the death that he has seen in his lives, I wouldn't want to stop and think about. Moving on is his way of dealing with it and I think Evelyn should try and understand that. Evelyn though wasn't in her best condition after the revelation about her heart and I think it's extremely intriguing to have an elderly companion who is dying. It's going to be interesting to see how the Doctor deals with that because it will be new to him. Evelyn found a way to deal with everything that here though in Rossiter who she grew to be extremely fond of, and the feeling was definitely mutual. He was a really nice guy and the relationship he had with Evelyn was excellent and exactly what she needed. The setting of Világ was really good and it seemed the perfect place for relaxation, that was until the Doctor meddled and turned what was peace into a war and the needless deaths of two more young people. The relationship between Mortund and Krisztina was fantastic and it was clear from the start that the pair were immensely in love with each other. The Doctor and Pokol's relationship was much different though as they really did share many indifferences. I thought Suskind was pretty good and whilst it was very important to have a good plot around the development of both the Sixth Doctor and Evelyn, it was the relationship between the TARDIS pairing that this story was all about. I'd love to go into its many similarities with Game of Thrones but I'll spare that. The Doctor and Evelyn hugging at the end was a great end to what has been turbulent times for the pair and I think in future stories they will both be stronger characters as a result. 

Rating: 8/10

Cold Blood

"They occupied the planet before humans, now they want it back."

Writer: Chris Chibnall

Format: TV

Broadcast: 29th May 2010

Series: 5.09

Featuring: Eleventh Doctor, Amy, Rory

Synopsis 

Once more the Doctor meets members of the Silurian race. However, this time, can he prevent them from being destroyed by humanity out of an act of self-preservation, or can he broker peace between them and bring about a better future for both races of planet Earth?

Verdict 

Cold Blood was an excellent conclusion to the story already started in The Hungry Earth! The story is a fine example of a two parter episode and with it being by Chris Chibnall, I am now really excited for him to takeover as head writer and take the Doctor on his own personal adventure. But for now he was just taking the Eleventh Doctor on a little trip to beneath the surface of the planet and into an awakening civilisation of Silurians. With a very strong premise already created in the first episode, things really did get tense and there was a lot of action which is always positive. Whereas in the first part we only saw two Silurians, things quickly followed on from the cliffhanger and we were introduced to many more of the race. The most notable were Restac and Eldame who I both enjoyed but for very different reasons. Restac certainly represented the military branch of the Silurian race and was all in favour of hunting the "apes" for sport just as they used to. I've only recently finished watching the original set of 'Planet of the Apes' movies and I must say I was thinking about the first few in particular in this story and there are definitely similarities that can be drawn. Humanity's reaction to another intelligent species was much the same and instantly they were opposed to the idea of sharing the planet with the Silurians. However, where the films differ from this episode is that there was no mediator in the form of the Doctor. He was so excited in this story about the possibility of bringing in a new age on Earth with both man and Silurian sharing the surface. Restac wanted to wipe out humanity and bring about a war though but once Eldane was awoken by Malokeh, she was outranked. Eldane was in favour of trying to coexist on the surface with the humans and in the brilliantly organised peace talks between himself and Amy & Nasreen, he firmly put down on the table what the Silurians would offer in terms of science, medicine and technology. Humanity would hugely benefit and at that point it seemed that a planet share could be on the cards. But prior events already meant that it would not be possible. Ambrose killing Alaya was quite a shock as what the latter was doing by taunting was a laughable reason to murder really. Elliot's disappointment in his mother's actions was superb and I really have liked his character. The references to The Eleventh Hour and The Time of Angels/Flesh and Stone were really good and the Doctor expressing his anger about not knowing what the crack from Amy's bedroom meant was sublime. Matt Smith was once again wonderful as the Eleventh Doctor and absolutely remains my favourite televised Doctor to date. Rory's death was unexpected and I remember being really shocked and confused on the episode's broadcast as the finale was when things usually happened and Rory had only officially joined as companion in The Vampires of Venice so things didn't seem to add up. Everything was of course out right in The Pandorica Opens/The Big Bang and that story was foreshadowed here with the Doctor retrieving a piece of his broken TARDIS. The explosion that created the cracks was his TARDIS and he got an awful glimpse into his future. The acting between Matt Smith and Karen Gillan was magnificent in the TARDIS immediately after the light was catching up with Rory. Tony and Nasreen had decided to stay with the Silurians and would reawake with them in a thousand years but war was just about averted. The mining site was blown up and Rory had died in the process and an action packed story soon became extremely emotional. Overall, the two parts as a whole were excellent and this really was a great story! 

Rating: 9/10