The Forest Bride

"The trees that sustain us all."

Writer: Jacqueline Rayner

Format: Comic Strip

Released: October-November 2021

Printed in: DWM 570-571

Featuring: Thirteenth Doctor, Yaz

Synopsis

While the Doctor tries to fix the TARDIS biscuit dispenser, Yaz explores a mysterious forest on an Earth colony world. A strange bard tells tales of those taken by the forest to be wed, but it's not always by choice...

Verdict

The Forest Bride was a pretty decent comic strip adventure to see the much anticipated return of the format to the pages of Doctor Who Magazine! I'm a DWM subscriber and I have to say that during lockdown I have really missed the comic strip feature and I think it's a great shame that by the time the BBC Centenary Special airs next year, the Thirteenth Doctor won't have amassed a huge comic strip content. Regardless, it's good to have it back and I was excited to see that Jacqueline Rayner was at the helm. She's a favoured writer of mine but this wasn't one of my favourite of her works unfortunately! I thought it was fine without doing an awful lot which was a little strange. I think the first part only being six pages long had something to do with that because it really isn't a lot of time to set things up, especially when there is only one part to come. It's excellent to have a story set between Series 12 and 13 here with just the Thirteenth Doctor and Yaz as was the case with Black Powder. It's good to have that and I think it's the only logical move given the serialised nature of Flux and the departure of Dan. I thought it was good characterisation of the Doctor at the start with the fixing of the biscuit dispenser in the TARDIS because a fig roll was stuck! Yaz going off to explore on her own was good signs of character development and definitely in line with her during Series 13. I like that she has that confidence and experience now, and it didn't take her long to get involved! The whole idea of the forest bride was intriguing and it would have worked better with some more time to develop. Trying to force marriage is no strange concept in history or Doctor Who, but when that pact is between a woman and the forest then things change in a big way. It got uncomfortably quickly as Yaz tried to save the would-be bride and I thought it was fun for her to claim she was from the Sheff Field. The reaction of the Doctor upon arrival into the forest and hearing screams was fun because she knew it was Yaz. Who else? The cliffhanger was actually really impressive with Yaz becoming at one with the forest and the image of her deep within the tree was terrific. However, that cliffhanger never really seemed to be taken further and the second part was just a bit slow for me. The Doctor was on hand and there never really seemed any danger. I liked the Bard and how it was apparently telling of the thoughts of those taken as brides, but when the Doctor revealed that it was all a sham, very easily I might add, everything just ended quickly. The Doctor was in full control and found that the trees had been delivered by Earth colonists, and quickly delivered the signal to enable those brides to be released from their forestry prisons. It was all so fast and didn't really have a sense of build and excitement, which was a shame as I thought the idea at the heart of the story was good. Overall, great to have the comic strip back but I hope we can improve! 

Rating: 6/10

Suburban Hell

"Breath in her cruelty."

Writer: Alan Barnes

Format: Audio

Released: May 2015

Series: FDA 4.05

Featuring: Fourth Doctor, Leela

Synopsis

Somewhere in a suburb of North London, there's a crisis. More than a crisis, a positive disaster: Belinda and Ralph are expecting four for supper, and there's no Marie Rose sauce for the Prawns Marie Rose. All in all, the evening couldn't possibly get any worse...

Until the doorbell rings, bringing the Doctor and Leela to the dinner party. They've got a crisis, too – temporal ruckage has sent the TARDIS to another time zone entirely. Meaning they might have to endure a whole evening in Belinda's company.

But the Doctor and Leela aren't the only uninvited guests tonight. There's a strange fog falling, out in the road. And in that fog: savage blue-skinned monsters, with dinner party plans of their own. Because it's not Prawns Marie Rose on their menu – it's people!

Verdict

Suburban Hell was a decent Fourth Doctor Adventures audio! The synopsis intrigued me right from the off because it sounded quite barmy and would work well for this pairing of the Fourth Doctor and Leela. Starting out with Belinda being unhappy that Ralph didn't bring her mayonnaise for the Marie Rose sauce was amusing and then having the Doctor and Leela at the door was an expected but fun development. Thelma coming round as the neighbour with some salad cream to help with the sauce was equally comic and then learning about the temporal ruckage that had seen the Doctor and Leela separated in time from the TARDIS was great. I always like the jeopardy presented from the Doctor and his trusty time and space machine being apart as it creates a lot of vulnerability from our hero, but I never really felt that worry here. The mystery of what happened to the Hopkins family was good and I liked that they had gone missing and left their entire belongings and house. Mike, the estate agent that Ralph had invited round to the dinner which didn't please Belinda, was very quiet and hush hush about the family and just wanted to facilitate the quick sale to the pair who were now hosting the party. Belinda mistaking the pleas she was getting on the telephone as prank calls was a shock, especially given the revelation later in the episode that they were actually the calls from the past of themselves! I didn't see that coming but it worked nicely. The twist that it was the TARDIS that was in the 1970s and the Doctor and Leela that were in the 2010s was fun with the decor of the Hopkins house having been untouched for four decades. Thelma insinuating that the house had rejected several other would-be owners for decades was good and I liked how Leela wasn't against the house having feelings. The fog being how humanity could perceive the temporal instability wasn't something I overly liked and it seemed a little like forcing the atmosphere, but Mike's disappearance being the result of a creature and not a crash was vert good. He was dragged from within. The journey back through time for the Doctor was fun but a little unclear of exactly what was happening, but it did work well to have him encounter the creatures at the Hopkins residence in the 1970s. Thelma also being in that decade and not being a day younger was fun and from there, I wasn't a huge fan of the truth and how the Monosarans were searching for a vessel. They were a decent enemy and the idea of mutant essence in a painting was certainly unique, and they wanted Belinda to host. Their acolytes arriving was very good and Thelma being against them was good. Her casting a spell on the mirror to allow the Doctor to communicate to Leela and co through time was fantastic and the whole basis of the seven humours to absorb the essence was intriguing but probably a little overkill. Peter being in league with the creatures was good but not exactly surprising, and suggesting the Doctor was eaten was great! If only it lasted longer. The discovery that the temporal ruckage was the Doctor's doing from the past with his echoing rather than tracking the leak was terrific. The Doctor could simply turn off the contraption and rewrite the future with Leela at the modern day party with Belinda and Penny, but they weren't aware of what had happened! Overall, a good audio that was certainly fun despite some little flaws.

Rating: 7/10

Before the Fall: Uprising

"You have lost your authority."

Writer: Matt Fitton

Format: Audio

Released: January 2017

Series: Torchwood One 1.03

Featuring: Yvonne, Ianto

Synopsis

Torchwood. It's taken the best part of a month, but I've finally got things running how they should be. How they should have been all along."

Torchwood has experienced some radical changes, but things are finally settling down. Everyone has pulled together and is trying to put the past behind them. Well, except for Yvonne Hartman – she's out to win the future.

There's one problem. Someone seems to have started an interstellar war. Someone who knows Torchwood from the inside out.

Verdict

Uprising was a very good conclusion to Before the Fall which served as a great opening series of Torchwood One! I've loved exploring Torchwood of 2005 prior to our formal introduction during Army of Ghosts, and it was just great to hear Yvonne Hartman shine and Ianto before the Torchwood spinoff started firmly on her side. They make a fine a team and I'm excited for two more boxsets in the future. Starting things with Rachel promoting Ianto to junior field agent was good and it really looked like she was trying to bribe him after the events of Through the Ruins and the horrendous away day he'd been put through. The word of Pippa's death filtering through Torchwood was quite sad with it being down to meds with only Ianto knowing the awful truth. Rachel was firmly in control at Torchwood now which was good to hear and I liked how her spin had well and truly been put on the place. It had been a month, but Torchwood was very much hers now. Yvonne being tracked by Julius who was an alpha level assassin was good but I loved that she had hired her own freelancer to deal with him. Yvonne was always one step ahead of the game which was terrific. XXX becoming a priority target for Torchwood was good and it was interesting for Rachel to demand updates and information on anything regarding the planet. I thought it was brilliant that there were rumours regarding the away day and that everyone had been retconned, but G knew Ianto hadn't. That was a good dynamic. Yvonne being engaged with the Korvax and putting in a plea that they were always her guests at Torchwood in return for their weaponry, but now Rachel had turned them into hostages. Yvonne once again appealing to Ianto for comfort was good and I liked how he helped her retrieve money from a cashpoint. The story of Rachel's father Howard and his involvement with the natives of XXX and how he got caught in Torchwood crossfire as they took out a cybernetic warrior was fantastic. She wanted revenge on anyone from the planet as she blamed them for the death of her beloved dad, but Ianto didn't agree with that and had already neutralised the retcon he was forced to take. The action-packed ending with the Korvax coming for Torchwood was great stuff and I also liked how Kieran headed the mission to find Yvonne and track her patterns. Rachel wasn't pleased when she showed up unannounced! Rachel issuing a code red was good and her encouragement to use all weaponry from testing showed she was vulnerable. The swagger that oozed when Yvonne returned to Torchwood was marvellous and the emergency codes let her in and she soon reasserted control. The staff enjoyed her in charge which wasn't the case with Rachel. Ianto having played a role all along and been working with Yvonne was a lovely revelation and I'm glad that was kept from the listener. Everyone was happy with the First Family wiped out and Torchwood getting their tech. The final meeting with Yvonne and Rachel was fun and the latter was retconned into becoming an orphan. Ending the series how we started with Rachel's first day at Torchwood was great continuity and a terrific way to round things out. Overall, a really strong finale!

Rating: 8/10

Before the Fall: Through the Ruins

"Is it fun being a spy?"

Writer: Jenny T Colgan

Format: Audio

Released: January 2017

Series: Torchwood One 1.02

Featuring: Yvonne, Ianto

Synopsis

"Ianto, please. It's all... it's all gone wrong. I don't know what to think any more."

Away Days at Torchwood aren't what you'd expect. Yes, there's the forced camaraderie, the team-building exercises, and the chance for long-held rivalries to boil over. But Torchwood Away Days also have the potential to get very lethal very quickly.

Yvonne Hartman's extremely worried by this year's Away Day. But she's got other things on her mind – something's very wrong with Torchwood.

Verdict

Through the Ruins was a great story to continue the Before the Fall first series of Torchwood One! After a very bright and eventful start with New Girl, this was a really good way for the series to move on and set us up for an exciting finale. Yvonne was in unchartered waters here as she was on the run following the way she was set up by Rachel last time out, and she tried to seek comfort and shelter with Ianto who was struggling on whether to believe she was set up or not. That was some good internal conflict. It was a humorous introduction for Soren as Ianto's flatmate when he stumbled upon Yvonne but she didn't stick around for too long as she headed to the House of Lords to seek comfort in Torchwood's COBRA contact on the inside in the form of Lord Jacobin. I love the connections Torchwood have in the running of the country and its political system, but she was now on the flag list after all that happened. The mentions of the planet XXX and dark stirrings happening the universe intrigued me as that didn't seem in line with the direction of the series, but it all tied back together nicely. Finding out that they were a tribal species and had come to the planet a decade ago was very interesting. Ianto and Pippa being on a Torchwood Away Day was a fun development and Ziggy was an annoying leader of that training, which was exactly what that character should be. Yvonne heading to New Cavendish Library for information on XXX was good and Kieran arriving to take her out after what he perceived she did to Dean was excellent. Jacobin being found dead was a good development and put Yvonne in the dirt even more. Rachel showing Torchwood that she was with him just two hours before he was dead was terrific. Yvonne realising that she needed to go and help Soren because Kieran and Torchwood would be in contact with everyone that Yvonne had encountered to kill them. His brutal beat up of Soren sounded horrendous on audio. The psychological surveillance on Yvonne with her name being all over the radio was fantastic and something I really enjoyed. The combat at the Away Day seemed more than simple training and that was confirmed with the surrender and Rachel wanting to see what her new team were made of. Pippa being hit fatally and dying but Ziggy and Rachel refusing an ambulance highlighted their intentions and trying to disguise it as a message of bonding through adversity was reaching. Yvonne capturing the envoy from XXX and finding out that Earth had been sending out war messages for months was good to set up the finale, especially when Rachel's family were involved. She was out for revenge, and now Yvonne knew it all. The death of the envoy with the wrench was further brutality, but for Ianto it was emotional torment as he refused the retcon and wanted to remember Pippa and her death. Overall, a great audio!

Rating: 8/10

Before the Fall: New Girl

"What if the adventures comes to find us first?"

Writer: Joseph Lidster

Format: Audio

Released: January 2017

Series: Torchwood One 1.01

Featuring: Yvonne, Ianto

Synopsis

"They've been coming to us for years. And we've been kept in the dark. My name's Rachel Allan. And I'm Torchwood."

It's Rachel Allan's first day at Torcwood. Torchwood only takes the brightest and the best – and Rachel's wondering if Yvonne Hartman's made a terrible mistake in picking her.

Plunged into a world of alien invasions and office politics, Rachel's desperate to fit in. For one thing, she really wants this job. And, for another, she knows what happens at Torchwood if you fail.

Verdict

New Girl was an excellent start to Before the Fall and the first volume of Torchwood One! I have been so looking forward to this release for a very long time and I'm so glad to finally have kickstarted it. I think it's such a good idea for a series because there's so much potential but also it's something we know a lot about. There were so many references to the first couple of series of Doctor Who with the likes of Henrik's mentioned and Rachel being bought a Bad Wolf pint, and having a little flashback sequence to Rose and also the explanation of Torchwood's establishment in Tooth and Claw really opened up the series in a strong way. Introducing us to Torchwood one prior to what we saw it in Army of Ghosts/Doomsday through Rachel Allan and her first day on the job was terrific and just hearing her arrive on the tube to Canary Wharf was fun. Torchwood was embracing the alien tech and even had a sentient lift to take Rachel to Torchwood Tower which was interesting. Ianto playing a role here is tremendous and him being Yvonne's PA is a great dynamic and a role we're not quite used to for him at Torchwood. He was having family troubles in Wales which was why he came to London, and I liked how he'd been on dates with Lisa that didn't work out. Of course, we know that won't stay that way but here he got intimate with Rachel was a good development I didn't actually see coming. Rachel talking to Yvonne on her arrival without realising who she was made for great fun and I liked how she was hired because she believed in aliens, but showed proof that recent events such as Rose were indeed terrorists as the cover story was despite her knowing otherwise because she didn't think humanity was ready for aliens. Kieran was a good character as the security man and his later relationship with Dean would prove crucial to the direction of the series. I liked that the sphere was being examined and Raj and Gareth got mentions, with Yvonne keen to emphasise that what they were doing was for the good of Britain, not the world. They were also on the hunt for the Doctor which was brilliant to throw in there. Rachel ending up as Tommy's PA was a shock for her given his sexist nature as he was part of the old Torchwood where more often than not they just shot the aliens. Their relationship developed nicely once the time jump of a few weeks occurred though which I liked a lot. The analysis of the matter transport device found at Royal Hope hospital was very good, but I was hugely surprised when Rachel suggested testing it on the Corvax alien they had earlier bargained with! I guess with the cliffhanger ending that was less of a surprise in hindsight, but it certainly took me by surprise. Her starting the rummers of Kieran taking over from Tommy was excellent and the mystery of the Friday night retcon was brilliantly done once all was revealed. The suggestion of a slow invasion was terrific and I loved how Rachel framed Yvonne into making it look like she set the coordinates on the matter transporter the resulted in Dean being killed. With all the chaos, Rachel was appointed Director of Torchwood and got exactly what she wanted all along! She was Torchwood now and was ready to hunt Yvonne down and relaunch Torchwood. A great way to set up the rest of the series! Overall, a brilliant audio.

Rating: 9/10

Flux: The Vanquishers

"Life must win."

Writer: Chris Chibnall

Format: TV

Broadcast: 05 December 2021

Series: 13.06

Featuring: Thirteenth Doctor, Yaz, Dan

Synopsis

The forces of darkness are in control: but when the monsters have won, there seems to be no one who can be counted upon to save the universe.

Verdict

The Vanquishers was a very good episode to conclude Flux and Series 13! There's still more to come and I think the overall arc regarding the Division and the Doctor's lost memories is far from finished, but for the Flux element that kickstarted the final chapter of the Thirteenth Doctor this was a good conclusion. Now, whilst I thoroughly enjoyed the episode and everything it entailed, I think there was probably a little too much going on for the average fan. I already know I'm going to have to rewatch it when I'm more awake and perhaps when less daddy duties have taken place, as this required concentration because if you blinked you missed something. Given the previous five episodes that led up to this point, there were a lot of threads that needed tying up. There was so much happening and I think frantic is the perfect description. I loved that the Sontarans were taken more seriously than they ever have been before, something that also happened in War of the Sontarans, but I felt they were ridiculed a bit with the chocolate corner shop moment. I thought that was a cheap gag, but it was soon forgotten when their plan to claim dominion over the universe thanks to the Flux was proclaimed. The idea of them offering protection to the Daleks and the Cybermen from the Flux was amusing but having their armies essentially absorbed by the Flux was incredible. I thought the idea was excellent and I just wish there was more time to explore the negotiations between the three parties, but I suspect that may be a consequence of the series being condensed. The interactions between Dan and Karvanista were magnificent and I loved how Dan teased the dog-creature when unlocking him from his cell about not getting a biscuit. Learning more about his past with the Division and particularly the Doctor, where it seemed he was her companion, was intriguing and I really hope we haven't seen the last of him. His brain containing a poison prevention from discussing his days in the Division was good. I thought the use of three split versions of the Doctor was nothing more than cheating, but it was fun and the interaction between two different versions of the Thirteenth Doctor was marvellous. Jodie Whittaker was on form and I loved that she had a crush on herself. Speaking of crushes on the Doctor, I think Yaz's feelings towards the Doctor are clear and I honestly thought they were going to share a physical moment in the TARDIS when the Doctor opened up to her companion. She cares so much for Yaz and she has a great deal going on, and her memories of the Division could wait with the TARDIS protecting them deep within. I enjoyed Claire returning alongside Jericho and utilising their psychic abilities with the Sontarans to find the final Flux event, and the moment where the latter's transport ring was destroyed as the Flux enveloped him was incredibly emotional. Quite the adventure indeed! I loved that Kate got to meet the Thirteenth Doctor and her story concluding with the Grand Serpent was quite fitting alongside Vinder. The suggestion from Kate that she hoped to meet this incarnation again was something I absolutely echo. The way Azure and Swarm were dealt with felt a little quick and convenient as their saviour, mirroring Swarm, was unhappy that the Flux had been contained within Passenger and eradicated the Ravagers. The suggestion that the Doctor's days were coming to an end was terrific and I loved the foreshadowing warning of forces to come and their Master. He just has to return to see off the Thirteenth Doctor! The reunion between Bel and Vinder was nice but I did think they would have more of a connection to wider events. It's nice to have them depart with Karvanista in a Lupari ship though! That was really fun and I hope they can help him through dealing with being the last of his species now. Overall, this was definitely a strong finale but not the strongest episode within the series purely because there was just too much going on. Still, a great watch! 

Rating: 8/10

Dead Woman Walking

"Ace must not die."

Writer: Roland Moore

Format: Audio

Released: April 2020

Series: Short Trips 10.04

Featuring: Seventh Doctor, Ace

Synopsis

The Doctor's meddling has taken a tremendous emotional toll on Ace over their many adventures. However, this time, it may just cost her life.

Landing in the middle of a civil war, the Doctor hoped to discreetly meddle and then slip away unnoticed. Instead, he's managed to infect Ace with an organic bomb. A bomb with a most unusual trigger.

If Ace dies, so does the planet.

Verdict

Dead Woman Walking was a great little Short Trips audio! It seems an eternity since I’ve done anything featuring the pairing of the Seventh Doctor and Ace, and this certainly didn’t disappoint! It felt like it could fit in perfectly in the latter part of the Seventh Doctor era on television and it could just as easily slot into the Monthly Adventures audios or New Adventures books, at least up to the point where I am in each of those ranges and continuities. Having a little pre-titles scene is slightly unusual for the Classic era but it worked really well here with Ace apparently dead! That’s quite a bold way to start a story, especially a short one like this. She was found in a crater and I was stunned to hear that the Doctor expected her not to make it out alive. But she did! Ace describing how she could hear the air of fatality in the Doctor’s voice was terrific because he’s experienced grief on more than one occasion by this point in his life. Their arrival on Gathrosa was good and nice to have a little time jump backwards establishing that the planet was engaged in a civil war. That seemed a good situation for the Seventh Doctor to play some games with his companion and that’s exactly what ended up happening. Ace’s glee at the Doctor wanting her to blow something up was a brilliant moment because he’s so often against that. But the civil war had got to such a stage here that one side were on the verge of deploying a psychic resonator weapon that could influence the thoughts of the opposition. Whilst that’s not exactly an original idea, it’s one I appreciate and think works well despite us not actually hearing it in action here. It was just the threat of it being deployed which was good and the Doctor realising the long term cost if it was unleashed was more than enough to sell its danger. I enjoyed the Doctor’s encouragement of Ace using the nitro-9 and he knew that it would take them years to recreate something like the resonator and by that point he would have a more solid plan on his return to bring peace to the planet. Why he couldn’t just arrive earlier in time and do the same was left unanswered and seems a bit of an error, but that didn’t take away too much from my liking of this adventure. The suggestion that there was blood on Ace’s neck once we caught up with events was good and we got the full scale explosion and missile chase after it had done its work, but it turned out to be purple fluid and that was a whole lot worse. The revelation that Ace had a tail embedded into her skin was an unexpected development but the entire concept of the companion worm and its link with the trigger worm was very good indeed. The worm had been on the planet for a considerable time and had been busy multiplying since its arrival centuries ago, and the problem of severing the psychic link if it died was great stuff. It would spit out billions and repeat the process, but what was happening here would have huge implications for Ace. If she died, then the planet would end up destroyed due to the link severing and that placed Ace in a tricky situation indeed. Tovar made a decent character as the head scientist, but it was all about the Doctor and Ace for me. The moment where the Doctor reveals to her companion that she can never leave is really impactful and there wasn’t even the usual safety net of going into the TARDIS as due to it being in a different dimension, it would also sever the link and cause destruction on a planetary scale. I was very surprised that Ace was left alone and I felt quite sorry for her when she was wondering if the Doctor had been taken by an old enemy or something to explain his absence. He was gone for four weeks which must have been an eternity for Ace, but he arrived back with some kind of answer. Knowing Ace’s importance to the survival of the planet, all of the Gathrosans were praying for Ace so the Doctor wanted to try and harness that power. If the population all thought to destroy what was inside the planet linked to Ace and the worm, then there might be a way out! That turned out to be the case, but in keeping with the era I thought it was great to discover that the Doctor waited four weeks in order to test Ace and hope that she would work it out for herself. That didn’t go down too well! Overall, a great little audio!

Rating: 8/10

Fields of Terror

"The enemies of France are everywhere."

Writer: John Pritchard

Format: Audio

Released: June 2017

Series: Companion Chronicles: First Doctor 2.01

Featuring: First Doctor, Vicki, Steven

Synopsis

The TARDIS has brought the Doctor back to Revolutionary France, a place that's always fascinated him. But this time he, along with Steven and Vicki, are drawn into a devastated land, caught between the soldiers who are burning all before them and a monstrous shape that follows in their wake.

Verdict

Fields of Terror was a good start to the second volume of Companion Chronicles for the First Doctor! I'm a big fan of a collection of stories for an incarnation of the Doctor and I'd be very much in favour of it also happening for later incarnations. But what we have so far is decent and I really enjoyed the continuity of having the First Doctor back in Revolutionary France. It was lovely for the TARDIS to display some sort of memory of landing in the time period and location on a previous occasion and the Doctor describing the events of The Reign of Terror was terrific, with him really explaining how deadly it could be and how close he came to losing Susan, Ian and Barbara. That really set the scene well and provided the required knowledge to Vicki and Steven for what they might be in for. I thought it was a good approach to enter France at a location that was more at the heart of the war instead of Paris last time around, and the Doctor was very much at home when confronted by some locals. He wasn't brash as that wouldn't end well and it soon became clear that was something more going on with the Terror. The French we met in this story were living in fear and I liked the idea of a phantom monk very much. Having connections with mythology and The Rhyme of the Ancient Mariner was terrific and that was a poem I remember studying extensively at school and writing a mammoth essay about. That does seem to crop up quite a lot in Doctor Who and I always get a good kick out of it as it's a timely reminder of days gone by. I enjoyed Maureen O'Brien's narration and whilst her Steven impression was pretty poor, she had a fun take on William Hartnell's first incarnation which I appreciated. I think it was beneficial that Steven didn't feature a huge amount because of that. Nicole was a really nice character to compliment the TARDIS trio and I was really fascinated by the fact the Doctor offered her a place on board the TARDIS at the story's conclusion. How things could have been different! I thought she was good and definitely worthy of the offer and it was a nice way for her to reject. She wanted to stay and help in her own time. The fear of the hooded man following throughout could have been clearer, but I have to say I was really impressed with the atmosphere and feel of this audio. It felt dark and gritty which was exactly what you want of a story set during this era. The cliffhanger with Lagrange ordering Vicki's execution was great and even though it was inevitable and clear the direction that would be taken before it happened, that anticipation was exciting. The element of the column was also a good touch and Vicki comparing it to the Daleks and Mechanoids was good continuity. As a whole, I thought this was slow in parts but never dull and really utilised the setting well. It felt of its era and did a great job of opening the series! Overall, a good listen.

Rating: 7/10

Driving Miss Wells

"I'd stopped believing in the news."

Writer: James Goss

Format: Audio

Released: June 2019

Series: Lives of Captain Jack 2.03

Featuring: Captain Jack

Synopsis

Captain Jack Harkness – time-travelling con-man, saviour of the Earth, and intergalactic adventurer. He has lived many lives.

Alien inasions, stolen planets and burning skies – Newsreader Trinity Wells used to tell everyone the world was ending. One day she stopped believing it. Will her new chauffeur change her mind?

Verdict

Driving Miss Wells was a good story to conclude the second series of The Lives of Captain Jack! This was a solid second series and I'm glad that there's a third to come which I already have downloaded after purchasing the lot as a bundle. Big Finish is renowned for expanding upon the Doctor Who universe and there aren't too many serials and stories where some element, be that setting or the monster or other supporting characters, haven't made some sort of return. There's spinoffs for the likes of Lady Christina and even New Earth, but having an entire story dedicated to Trinity Wells is right up there with whacky ideas! The news reporter was a common feature on our screens during the Russell T Davies era and referencing her reporting on the events such as The Christmas Invasion, Army of Ghosts and The Sound of Drums was fantastic. It was so fascinating to have her star in her own episode and be the focus. She had written a book about her reports on alien invasions and the world ending every week and despite being on a book tour, the publication hadn't gone down well. The insinuation that the events she reported on were actually mass hallucinations was very fun and it was good to have Jack turn up as her new driver and be there due to the death threats she had received. The idea of her getting appointed to the Board of Directors at Pisco Tech was intriguing and I liked that this company was attempting to revolutionise the broadcast media and create the Real News Network. That appealed to Trinity. The story focusing on smart surveillance was interesting and having this represented by buzzing flies really took me back to the wasp cameras of The Simpsons Hit and Run video game! That was a nostalgic blast from the past. Trinity getting angry that the news she was reporting was being debated was good and she couldn't even believe what she was reporting anymore. I liked that a lot. Trinity meeting with the CEO of the Board, Robert, was intriguing with the concept of him not knowing what his own company was doing in acquiring so many other firms. Trinity poisoning him was a shocking moment though that provided some humour with Jack. Trinity starting to think she was going made with her trying to convince everyone the planet had been invaded by alien flies was fun and the chase with Robert in the back of the car was some good action. Trinity's mum suffering from a stroke provided some good emotion to the episode. Jack starting to believe her about the flies almost before it was too late worked well and the efforts to have her sign a NDA and statement and receive a big settlement from Pisco Tech to avoid having her on tv spilling alien conspiracies was amusing and not entirely logical, but before we could expand upon it Operation Fox ensued with the flies quickly wiped out with some industrial insecticide. It was a slightly anticlimactic finish with Trinity knowing Jack was Torchwood all along and UNIT coming to deal with because of his presence alongside her. It was a little convenient and rushed, but finishing things with Trinity as caretaker CEO of the company was a nice touch. Overall, a decent listen! 

Rating: 7/10

Timejacked!: The Weight of History

"Blood is the prime of my betrayal."

Writer: Lou Morgan

Format: Audio

Released: November 2021

Series: Twelfth Doctor Chronicles 2.03

Featuring: Twelfth Doctor

Synopsis

The Doctor's been timejacked!

Rookie Time Agent Keira Sanstrom needs the Doctor's help, and she's prepared to go to extreme measures to get it. Unwillingly whisked away from St Luke's University, the Doctor quickly discovers that being forced off Earth is only the start of his problems...

The Founder built their planet and their people from nothing. Their lives, and their very world, are dependent on the whims of the Founder. All praise the Founder.

Verdict

The Weight of History was a great conclusion to Timejacked! I've really enjoyed this second series of Twelfth Doctor Chronicles and I really like the approach to make it a linked arc across the series, something that hasn't happened before across any of the Chronicles series with the new series Doctors. It works well and opens up the continuity well and just expands upon the era in a good way. It's also a good way to potentially add more companions like Kiera here, although unless she returns I wouldn't consider her a companion. She did timejack the Doctor after all! Following on from the cliffhanger of Split Second with another Kiera inside the TARDIS, I loved how the Doctor wanted them both outside of the TARDIS to fix things and get base. The new Kiera claiming to be from the future and coming to put right a mistake on Calandra was intriguing and I liked how where they'd materialised saw the city being all wrong, with all roads leading to a black cube at the centre of town. The fracture should have stabilised, but yet it remained which was fun. The Doctor and the Kieras encountering the guard was a lot of fun as I adored the Doctor's response to being threatened by a gun. He wasn't frightened! The Founder was a terrific character and I liked how she was expecting the Doctor. Her turning out to be Havilland wasn't a great surprise to me as I suspected straight away last time out that there was more to her character, but the Doctor's reaction made it a lot of fun. Attis was a terrific character and I loved how he thought he was being tested as a cleaner of the palace. The palace being built around the vortex fracture was marvellous and I thought the concept of the Rearrangement was excellent. It provided some good action scenes and was marvellous with the idea of bringing the past and future to displace the present through harnessing the fracture. Havilland being the person Kiera saw in the split wasn't surprising but I liked how that was her method of time travel and explained her lack of vortex manipulator. Her being the most wanted Time Agent was fantastic and she used her position to create quite the world on Calandra! And she was still doing it which made the inhabitants think she was immortal because technically she had always been there. The moment the Kieras touched in the TARDIS was fun because we knew that they weren't the same person, but the 'future' version was actually a copy which took things back to Flight to Calandra brilliantly and brought the series full circle in a nice way. Finding out that Havilland lost her vortex manipulator playing cards in Bath was amusing, and she wouldn't have much to laugh about once the Kieras were instructed by the Doctor to hotwire time. Quite the task! The Doctor gaining control of the fracture and repairing and ensuring everything was reset was slightly too easy for my liking, but it was nice that everyone worked together to bring it about. Havilland having the option of staying on the wrong side of the split and feeling both the history of Earth and Calandra collapse on her was daunting, so she had to go through back to nineteenth century Bath to seal the fracture. Vetch's brief cameo return to prove that everything was back in order was nice and I liked the emotion of the copy Kiera vanishing once the fracture was closed. The Doctor returning Kiera back to the Time Agency was nice and I get the feeling we may not have seen the last of her. But if we have then she's had a great run alongside the Twelfth Doctor! Overall, a great conclusion to what's been a fun little series. 

Rating: 8/10

Timejacked!: Split Second

"History is colliding all over the place."

Writer: Lou Morgan

Format: Audio

Released: November 2021

Series: Twelfth Doctor Chronicles 2.02

Featuring: Twelfth Doctor

Synopsis

The Doctor's been timejacked!

Rookie Time Agent Keira Sanstrom needs the Doctor's help, and she's prepared to go to extreme measures to get it. Unwillingly whisked away from St Luke's University, the Doctor quickly discovers that being forced off Earth is only the start of his problems...

Oh dear. That wasn't meant to happen.

Verdict

Split Second was another good little episode to continue the Timejacked! second volume of Twelfth Doctor Chronicles! After a fantastic cliffhanger at the end of Flight to Calandra, and a quite incredible synopsis given its simplicity, this was actually a bit of a complicated jaunt. It was fun to develop the relationship between the Doctor and Kiera further and the surroundings of what should have been 21st century Bristol were very much of the unknown. A wall was built around the city and there was a mix of steam transport, Calandran space stations and even mammoths! Time was very broken thanks to the actions of Kiera's meddling. She had actually resulted in the vortex being fractured and now there were a number of splinters coming off the main crack which was a fun concept. The idea of the vortex being impacted like this was exciting because of the potential calamity it could cause, and the basis for the episode was soon set with the hunt for anomalies. I like this approach on paper but when it comes to a 55-minute audio, I think seven anomalies was way too many and really limited how high I could rate this story. It was certainly fun, but there was just too much going on or not enough time staying in one location. I would have loved to have the Doctor and Kiera exploring France in 1346 but instead we were barely there five minutes. I think the approach would have worked well as an entire boxset instead of a single episode. The description of time being represented as colours was fascinating and looking at the splits and needing to close them provided the incentive for the rest of the audio. The second anomaly took us to the V&A intergalactic spaceport in Dundee which was a unique location to say the least, but again we just didn't explore it for one enough. Kiera objecting to the Doctor's plan of sealing the small splits first was good and a great way for him to extort his authority as the Time Lord versus the Time Agent. The North Ice Station was a good location for the third anomaly and the issue of Kiera dropping the locator in misty surroundings was great, but given the nature of the story and time constraints it was fixed too soon to have a big impact. I loved the idea of visiting prehistoric Ethiopia for the next anomaly and having the threat of a mammoth directly here was excellent. The Doctor feeling vibrations of tremors in time itself was brilliant and I liked how he knew there were bigger ones yet to come. New Ground was the best location for sure and I liked the character of Pennou as the tour guide. There were so many things dotted around that were out of their time, but the focus on the statue that the Doctor had sene before and it depicting the destruction that was coming today was superb and a great introduction of action. It had vibes of The Fires of Pompeii with Kiera wanting to save Pennou, but that just couldn't happen. We were soon taken to Bath in 1830 at the height of the Season which is something I would love to have seen given I spent three years in the city for university and fell in love with the place. The focus on Bath Abbey was excellent and I loved being able to fully picture the scene given my knowledge of the square where it is located. Kiera being tasked with saving the world was good and I liked how the split was located around the side of the Abbey, which was falling apart. Havilland was an intriguing character for her brief appearance and I get a strong sense that there's more to come from her as she seemed more than she appeared. The Doctor advocating the use of grenades was a fun shift from the norm, and Kiera going to the future of Earth where there weren't even ruins must have been daunting. But there was someone or something alive and moving in the split, which I'm looking very forward to exploring in the finale! They headed back to Calandra at the origin point of all going wrong, but now nobody remembered Vetch. Just what had changed? A decent cliffhanger! Overall, another fun listen!

Rating: 7/10

Timejacked!: Flight to Calandra

"You're only hurting yourselves."

Writer: Matt Fitton

Format: Audio

Released: November 2021

Series: Twelfth Doctor Chronicles 2.01

Featuring: Twelfth Doctor

Synopsis

The Doctor's been timejacked!

Rookie Time Agent Keira Sanstrom needs the Doctor's help, and she's prepared to go to extreme measures to get it. Unwillingly whisked away from St Luke's University, the Doctor quickly discovers that being forced off Earth is only the start of his problems...

The Doctor wants a peaceful afternoon playing guitar in his study. Keira wants the Doctor to take her from Earth to the planet Calandra. Reluctantly, the Doctor agrees. But when they arrive, Calandra isn't how Keira remembers. Something's gone very wrong...

Verdict

Flight to Calandra was a very good and fun start to Timejacked! which is serving as the second series of Twelfth Doctor Chronicles! I think this is going to be a fun release and I was excited from the off by the idea of the Doctor being kidnapped and used for his TARDIS as a taxi service. Of all the incarnations, the Twelfth Doctor is the one I imagine not reacting well to that occurrence. There was no messing around as the story started with Kiera arriving to hijack the Doctor and make use of his TARDIS and I liked the later revelation that she was a Time Agent, something that didn't surprise the Doctor. Her intended destination of Calandra was intriguing and the civilisation that we arrived at was quite interesting. The Confused were a pretty sad story as we learned more about them and the nature of the name of the Sweepers just added to that. We were introduced to Vetch and Milla who were fun characters and completed the main cast of the story, and I was fascinated that Kiera's apparent aim was to bring the Doctor here to help fix what had gone wrong. I remain unconvinced that this wasnt some clever improvisation. Kiera caused a lot of trouble last time she was on Calandra by impersonating an academic student and went so far as to improve their transportation system. As a Time Agent, she broke the primary rule of interference and it ended up in quite the catastrophe. Doubles upon doubles of the inhabitants were being created and this was the result of Kiera utilising her vortex manipulator as she took it apart to try and bypass the limiters imposed on it. Calandra had perfected the ability of matter transfer so combining these elements ended in disaster. The more people were copied, the more zombified the resulting doppelgänger was. I thought that was a very fun concept. The fact they tried to occupy the space of the original person was amusing. Milla changing gears and attempting to shoot Kiera was a fun occurrence but the Time Agent was quick with her abilities and reversed well. I think she's a good character to compliment the Twelfth Doctor and it's nice for him to be travelling when he's supposed to be cooped up at the university. She dealt with Nardole in quick fashion too! The comment about the film Metropolis and the Doctor mentioning it actually being a Cyberman really intrigued me as I believe that's the basis of an upcoming audio in the second series of the Jenny series. Was the Doctor there too? Something fun to think about. Finding out that Milla was actually a doppelgänger wasn't too surprising to be honest, but it worked well and I liked how she was the first one to be replicated. Her original was dead and that caused issues, but the Doctor had worked it all out already and was quick to deal with the situation which I enjoyed. The way the next episode and the rest of the series was set up was fantastic as Kiera just wanted to get home, but a rogue Time Agent was on the loose and the timelines were disrupted on a scale of 90%. The TARDIS was stuck in a time fissure between Earth and Calandra, except when they arrived back in Bristol the cloisters were ringing loud and the city was gone. Everything was gone. A great cliffhanger to lead us into the next adventure and I really like how this series is a big story arc. An excellent approach for the Chronicles range. Overall, a terrific listen! 

Rating: 8/10

Flux: Survivors of the Flux

"My friends are never lost."

Writer: Chris Chibnall

Format: TV

Broadcast: 28 November 2021

Series: 13.05

Featuring: Thirteenth Doctor, Yaz, Dan

Synopsis

As the forces of evil mass, the Doctor, Yaz and Dan face perilous journeys and seemingly insurmountable obstacles in their quest for survival.

Verdict

Survivors of the Flux was an excellent episode to continue Flux and I can't quite believe we're already at the penultimate instalment! It has absolutely flown by but I'm very excited for the finale now after what happened here. The incredible cliffhanger at the end of Village of the Angels was presented once again here which was brilliant and I'm still in adoration of the way the Doctor was turned into Weeping Angel form. It looked tremendous and having her surrounded by a farm of Angels was a startling image. She was recalled to Division and learning more about this mysterious organisation was magnificent. I loved the idea of it being outside of the Universe and the Doctor's reaction to discovering that fact was tremendous. The Flux being engineered to wipe out the Universe is a startling idea but now finding out its true intentions and place of origin was great. Taking the Doctor out of the Universe to prevent her from saving it was brilliant but I loved that she still had confidence of being able to fix it. Tecteun made quite the return and having her encounter the Doctor was sensational. The idea of the Doctor meeting someone she would know as a mother was exciting and there was so much potential there for emotion and just information! Her description of the Doctor being a virus that was let out into the Universe was outstanding and I loved how she challenged the Doctor about her companions being her own experiments. I was a little surprised by the Doctor's anger regarding the life she could have had, but the potential now with the fob watch and the Doctor's lost memories is incredibly exciting. It looks set to be quite the finale! The episode was an incredibly fun one for Yaz, Dan and Jericho and seeing them globetrot in 1904 to try and decipher when the world would end was marvellous. The date being when next week's episode will broadcast was a nice touch too. Their help coming from Williamson came in humorous fashion and I thought he had a stellar showing. His reaction when Yaz explained what they were looking for was great. I thought the return of the Grand Serpent was very good indeed and the little journey down memory lane and the history of UNIT was just lovely. Seeing its formation, the appointment of Lethbridge-Stewart as Corporal after they missed the Post Office incident (an incredible reference to The War Machines), and then coming full circle to Kate in 2017 was terrific. It was fantastic and I really liked Kate standing up to the Serpent. His plan all being to open up the planet to the Sontarans wasn't something I expected, but I really liked it! I'm all for the Sontarans gaining credibility and out for revenge and all out war. Their boarding of the Lupari ships was good and I really liked that Karvanista and Bel met in unceremonious circumstances. The cliffhanger was stellar once again with Swarm and Azure arriving at Divison as it prepared to transfer from one universe to the next, this one containing the other end of the wormhole that the Doctor apparently came from, but Tecteun was laid to rest and it seemed the Doctor was next. Overall, a very good episode indeed! 

Rating: 9/10

A Tragical History

"When I notice things, they do tend to be something."

Writer: Tessa North

Format: Audio

Released: September 2021

Series: Eleventh Doctor Chronicles 2.04

Featuring: Eleventh Doctor

Synopsis

To most of the inmates in Hythe Prison, life is miserable. However, some are living out their idealised lives within its walls. Amongst the dank conditions, the Doctor is about to uncover the key to everything he could ever desire.

Verdict

A Tragical History was a pretty good story that sadly felt like a slightly underwhelming conclusion to the second volume of Eleventh Doctor Chronicles! It's good to get more stories with this incarnation of the Doctor and Jacob Dudman does a great job of filling in for Matt Smith in the role. However, I think after two boxsets of single standalone episodes, it's time for some continuity and series arcs to take place as there is so much potential with the gaps available for the Eleventh Doctor between series and episodes. Titan Comics did a stellar job with that and I think Big Finish could as well. It would help to have a companion as it doesn't feel right that the Doctor is just turning up alone but his arrival to the eighteenth century here was fun with him quickly deducing that he was in 1770-something from a quick lick of his finger and feel of the air. That's always a fun quirk. I thought the basis on the prison was decent and I liked how everyone within was there because they hadn't paid their debts. Oh how times have changed! The mysterious and whispering voices were good but I think they went unidentified for a bit too long. Their wanting Eliza was interesting and she was a fun character as an older woman that was a thief with a reputation in London. The Doctor meeting Wainwright was fun and him posing as a prison reformer was terrific. That was right up the Doctor's alley. I thought his meeting with Dora was good as well but there was a bit of an overload of new characters in quick succession. The whispers continuing through Eliza were eery and having her want to enlist Wainwright was intriguing, but she was soon dead after a connection and wrote something in the dirt. The escape from the whispers worked well for audio and hearing the three blind mice song was a really creepy option that worked very well. The Doctor realising that the symbol was ancient and a distress call for home was interesting and I enjoyed the concept of the voices making the prisoners think they were living dreams, although that wasn't obvious from the start. Sarah was a nice character to compliment the Doctor and the banter that came from her stealing the sonic and his TARDIS key when showcasing her thievery abilities was fun. The Ilyani being revealed as the whispering species was good and I liked how they were beings of pure consciousness attempting to take life force. They just wanted to go home and they needed power, but humanity wasn't enough for them. They needed the Doctor to amplify that power which was a decent development. Hearing Dora being offered her dreams was good and I really enjoyed the Doctor seeing his desires and being in the TARDIS for that. Getting a glimpse of his darker side and contemplating leaving the humans to themselves for once was good and intriguing, I'd have liked more of that. I thought the ending was very weak though with the way the Doctor and co was able to send the Ilyani back from where they came with seemingly nothing more than magic words. That was too convenient and easy for my liking. Overall, an interesting and pretty decent audio to conclude the series.

Rating: 6/10

The Office of Never Was

"The building is ignoring me."

Writer: James Goss

Format: Audio

Released: July 2017

Series: Torchwood Monthly #17

Featuring: Ianto

Synopsis

There's an empty office block in Cardiff. That's nothing special – plenty of businesses go under, clear out, cease to exist. All that's left behind is an empty building. But there's one office block that refuses to be forgotten about.

There have been stories about that building – strange lights, funny goings on, faces pressed up against the glass. Enough to get the locals worried. Enough to ask Torchwood to get involved.

It's Friday night. Ianto Jones has better things to do with his time than look round a haunted building. But he goes anyway, and it turns out that The Office has been waiting for him.

Verdict

The Office of Never Was was an excellent audio adventure to continue the monthly adventures of Torchwood from Big Finish! I liked the feel of this one right from the off and having a deserted office is a fantastic setting for a Torchwood story. It wouldn't come as any surprise to have a deserted building in Cardiff given the rough and tumble of business life, but when Ianto was investigating the office space he must have been freaked when a voice was calling his name! I know I would be. He soon got trapped in which set us up nicely for the episode and it was a fun addition to have no phone service for him to call upon the rest of Torchwood. The little girl's voice accompany the lift was excellent horror and I liked how Ianto was almost being taunted by another man's voice when an unanswerable phone kept ringing. The guardian of the building arriving was unexpected as I thought it was going to be a house of horrors kind of adventure for Ianto, but it was good to have him able to bounce off another character. The motion sensor lights working for her but not Ianto was brilliant and I liked how causally Ianto asked to leave. The only issue was the building guardians didn't know the way out. She didn't even know her name and she wasn't hearing the voices that Ianto heard. Everything was adding up nicely for Ianto to enjoy some misery. Ianto finding the discarded lanyard and gym bag to go with it sparked him into an amusing story of the type of man who would let you know all shift that he was going to the gym, and after working in an office before the pandemic I can safely say I also know the type! That was fun. What wasn't fun was the swarm of rats on the ceiling as I honestly couldn't think of anything worse. The thought of the rats being above me like that was horrifying and adding in the detail that they were hungry was chilling. The situation worsened as Ianto came across numerous dead bodies in the cupboard that were reduced to skeletons, with one bearing a name tag with Ianto's name on it. Talk about a horror show! The girl revealing that she had a brother who died in the building was an interesting detail and her talking as if someone was listening was great as we neared finding out who was behind this. Her decision to leave them both to it and exit the building to her death was very sudden and it was a brutal introduction of Oliver Milne, founder of Milne Futures. He blamed Ianto for everything he suffered with the closing down and I loved that Ianto couldn't remember because he took a retcon pill. He was the only one from the staff that didn't die which wasn't a surprise considering they worked in brain augmentation! The suggestion of him getting help from the Committee was nice continuity and they really never seem to be going away! They helped implant alien tech in the staff to make a more productive workforce, but Torchwood put a stop to that. Getting the flashback scene with Ianto offering Oliver his own retcon was great and I liked that the entrepreneur wanted to remember. That was the influence for this revenge and wanted to make him remember, but Ianto was in control as he faked begging and took the elevator key to leave Oliver behind before taking retcon again. I thought that was a fitting end! Overall, a fantastic listen.

Rating: 9/10

The Ingenious Gentleman Adric of Alzarius

"Of course dragons are real!"

Writer: Julian Richards

Format: Audio

Released: November 2017

Series: Short Trips 7.11

Featuring: Fifth Doctor, Adric, Nyssa, Tegan

Synopsis

Sir Keeyoht of la Koura, and his loyal squire Adric, are on a quest. A great and noble quest to stop the most vile of Enchanters, the Doctor, from claiming the greatest treasure in the land. Along with way they intend to battle giants (or possibly windmills), inspire adventurers, rescue and princess and ultimately come face to face with that most terrifying of all monsters, the Dragon.

Except Adric knows there are no such things as Dragons...

Verdict

The Ingenious Gentleman Adric of Alzarius was an absolutely brilliant Short Trips audio adventure! I must admit that I didn't know what quite to expect before listening to this story on the train home after a belting afternoon at the football, and the synopsis really intrigued me, but what we got was so much better than I could have imagined! Now, I'm far from being the biggest Adric fan but I thought the use of his character here was perfect and the narration from Matthew Waterhouse was absolutely superb. It was exactly the right actor for this kind of story and even though it might sound obvious given the focal character of the story, I don't think this would have worked if we had Janet Fielding, Sarah Sutton or even Peter Davison in that narrator role. Waterhouse owned the stage in a big way and he really helped with my enjoyment of the story. We started strong with the Doctor seemingly setting fire to a village which didn't go down too well with Adric and I loved his mentions of the old Doctor, meaning the Fourth Doctor, and how he wouldn't have done such a thing without telling Adric why. But since regenerating, the new Doctor was rash and callous and Adric certainly had his favourites which was fun. Things then certainly took a mystical shift as we heard the roars of a beast which led Adric to get hit in the head with a rock, and from there things got whacky! Adric was suddenly the squire of Sir Keeyohyt and he had no memory of being granted such a position, except it did seem familiar which I thought was amusing. The quest that ensued was just tremendous and the positioning of the TARDIS crew into the events with Nyssa claimed to be the evil sorceress whilst the Doctor was the evil Enchanter who had stolen her from her father, a man that was supposedly a match for the Doctor. That was nice and a nice way to give credit to Tremas. The Doctor and Nyssa supposedly having kidnapped the fair princes Tegan was wonderful and the idea of her being trapped in the blue tower that was the TARDIS was just marvellous. It was such a fun way to bring these characters into a totally different world. The fun romp background music really added a lot to the feel and atmosphere for the story which just became a perfect compliment for the narration. It was just fun. Adric fighting for the honour of Romana was also magnificent and a nice view into his inner thinking and feelings of life before regeneration. Adric running into the real Doctor and us getting the explanation that events were all down to the Sachopan machine was good and despite the terrible Tegan impression, the adventure ended on an impressive not. It was a machine that actualised people's projections into space and literally made anything you wanted real. I'd love one of those myself! But these machines were too good and went as far as recognising subconscious desires which happened here with Adric. The machine had its memory banks erased and wasnt sure what to do so Keeyoht actually became an amalgamation of Adric wanting the Fourth Doctor back and the local villages wanting protection. I thought that was really nice. Overall, a superb audio! 

Rating: 10/10

What Have I Done?

"Who is it you talk to?"

Writer: Guy Adams

Format: Audio

Released: June 2019

Series: Lives of Captain Jack 2.02

Featuring: Captain Jack

Synopsis

Captain Jack Harkness – time-travelling con-man, saviour of the Earth, and intergalactic adventurer. He has lived many lives.

On the battlefields of World War I, something is hunting in the trenches. Jack must try and save the life of a wounded soldier.

Verdict

What Have I Done? was another great audio adventure to continue the second series of The Lives of Captain Jack! This was essentially a two-hander between Jack and Ata which I thought was a fantastic approach and really did a stellar job in establishing the atmosphere of the setting. Placing an adventure during World War One for Captain Jack is going to have a profound impact on him because in all likelihood, he is going to lose a lot of friends and loved ones whilst probably suffering death on more than one occasion itself. And as was made clear towards the end of this particular story, death has its toll on Jack! I thought Ata was a good character for Jack to play opposite and the fact he was a deserter on the enemy lines was a really fun dynamic. It's not a surprise that Ata thought Jack was his enemy given his appearance an accent and it was just good to hear the struggle between the pair accepting they were saving each other. Well, at least that's how it ended up. Ata initially shot Jack dead, or so he thought (rightfully), so it says a lot about Jack's character that he still wanted to help him back to the safety of his trenches. Ata was afraid and talking to someone and finding out that this was his brother was quite emotional and simple. I was honestly expecting something a bit more complicated! He thought he was being slowly killed by the wound suffered in the combat that led him to defect and Jack inferring that it was the fever was good. The enigmatic feel of the audio was definitely the strong point and highlight for me as the actual plot was simple and straightforward. I loved that there was something out on the battlefield that could feed on fear and hearing Ata try and deal with that as a concept was excellent stuff. Unfortunately, he was attracting it because he was full of fear and talking to his brother about the regret he had for deserting and the potential consequences provided a link with the creature. A creature Jack knew all about. Ata was giving it power and needed to be calm, but that was proving difficult which was interesting to listen to. Things definitely got tense as the story reached its conclusion and the ending with Jack defeating the creature with an almighty speech was sensational. John Barrowman was on top form and this was a much improved and more serious performance than we got in Piece of Mind. He unloaded his feelings of fear to the creature and admitted to being scared, to feeling pain and being afraid of love and death despite his immortality. He saw the blackness every single time and he had died on so many occasions now, but it never got easier. Most people only had to tackle that once and briefly, but for him it was a common thing and that must be tough to deal with. Hearing him unleash that emotion and feeling was extraordinary and I liked the audible effect it had on the creature. The link was gone now. Overall, a fantastic audio and a great use of Jack's character and setting as he waits for the Doctor. Plenty of room to fill yet!

Rating: 8/10

All Hands on Deck

"Gallifrey needs you to fight the Daleks."

Writer: Eddie Robson

Format: Audio

Released: October 2017

Series: Short Trips 7.10

Featuring: Eighth Doctor, Susan

Synopsis

Everyone Susan Campbell cared about has gone. Most of them died in the second Dalek invasion, and her grandfather never visits. She's living in what used to be Coal Hill School, helping Earth rebuild again. 

Then, one night, she's called away to help with an emergency. A piece of appropriated Dalek technology is malfunctioning, and everyone's afraid of what it might do...

This is just the first in a sequence of predicaments facing Susan – and the connection between them will shape the rest of her life.

Verdict

All Hands on Deck was an excellent Short Trips adventure! I find it quite incredible that a story as important and monumental as this one was for Susan took place in this range, as you don't really associate big moments with the series despite it being a very consistent testing ground for a number of adventures. I love The Dalek Invasion of Earth so any continuation from that story is marvellous in my eyes. I really enjoyed After the Daleks which was released earlier this year set post-Dalek invasion and of course then there's An Earthly Child and the incredible final of the fourth series of Eighth Doctor Adventures. They all tie in nicely here with Susan alone and actually now moved into flats at what used to be Coal Hill School which was a really fun occurrence. For her needing a new place, that was a prime location. Her mentioning of an oak tree that was planted in memory Ian and Barbara was a lovely touch as well and more than fitting. The Daleks having their presence still felt through the form of salvaged technology was great and a timely reminder of how long the Daleks were in control of the planet. The synthesiser was seemingly making something bad with dormant data and Susan had tampered to get it into action which was very good. The hatch being the perfect shape for a Dalek provided some suspense, and I was laughing on the train that the yellow fluid emerging was no chemical weapon but was actually custard! Some light humour. Susan believing she was being tested or distracted was terrific and it was so much fun to have her deal with an asteroid and launch missiles even though nothing was actually coming. Except the spiders came then and their description was fantastic with them being black and orange, fast, and part organic and part mechanical. It was quite the image! Susan comments about her names and neither actually being hers was marvellous and a reminder that Susan was only a name she took on Earth which fascinated me. What's she really called? I would love to know! Susan questioning the purpose of the spiders who just scuttled everywhere was fun and that led for a wonderful arrival of the Doctor! Susan was less than happy and pushed the Doctor to trace the signal back with the sonic to find who was in control of the spiders, and it was the Doctor! He had been hiding a Tesseract containing a message from Gallifrey that urgently required Susan's attention, but the Doctor didn't want her to open it as all became clear. Susan was seeing a vision of the biggest threat to Gallifrey being the Daleks and the beginning of the Time War. The Doctor had denied the request to go himself which shocked Susan who felt like a coward if she didn't go, so she tricked the Doctor into thinking she'd travel with hi again only to go and fight the Daleks for her people! She'd seen the damage the Daleks had done and I loved how it was linked back to her departure from Gallifrey and how they hadn't heard of them when she and the Doctor departed! That was excellent. Bringing everything full circle with Susan now making the decision to leave Earth unlike her predicament when initially departing the TARDIS was magnificent. Hearing her enter a TARDIS that came to pick her up felt like a final goodbye, but now I guess I'll have to get purchasing Susan's War! Overall, a brilliant listen!

Rating: 9/10

The Haunting of Malkin Place

"What's the point of a ghost story?"

Writer: Phil Mulryne

Format: Audio

Released: May 2017

Series: FDA 6.05

Featuring: Fourth Doctor, Romana II

Synopsis

Whilst on the way to visit the town where Henry James lived, a chance encounter with a spiritualist on a train sends the Doctor and Romana on the trail of a ghost. It's the most convincing case of haunting he's ever heard of, he tells them. And so, on their arrival, does it appear to be.

Things go bump in the night at Malkin Place. The voice of a crying child. Birds bursting into flight. Strange movements in a seance.

The Doctor is determined there must be a rational explanation. But is science always the answer to everything?

Verdict

The Haunting of Malkin Place was a good Fourth Doctor Adventure! I picked this up following the mini sale after the broadcast of The Halloween Apocalypse and it definitely continued that spooky theme in a good way. It was far from unique and had an atmosphere that has been experienced before in the several ghostly tales within the Doctor Who universe, but the pairing of the Fourth Doctor and Romana II definitely provided some added fun. Their initial bickering over the plausibility of ghosts was delightful and a perfect way to capture their relationship on audio. I loved how the Doctor was trying to convince Romana that ghosts could be real and that there might be more than science to them, but when meeting the locals of 1922 he was very much back in the good books of science! That was so much fun. Having the Doctor and Romana based on Baker Street was a fun element and I loved how things came full circle with the banging about in the attic actually being a future version of the Doctor who was forced to wait around for five years. That was tremendous. I thought as a whole this was a decent story but it certainly started a little slowly for my liking once we exited the presence of the Doctor and Romana. The guest cast took a little whole to get going and things didn't really pick up until the cliffhanger which I thought was excellent. It had the feel of a horror movie for a good few minutes as temporal business picked up and the idea of spirits interfering and making contact was fun. The voices being those of children always seems to spark more fear which is fun and it was cool to learn that the voices were played by Nicholas Briggs' child! I thought the resolution of the cliffhanger was pretty poor as it was actually great to have the Doctor missing and something from the physical realm being taken by the spiritual was a terrific concept. I was fully expect Romana tracking the residual to be left disappointed, but we soon found the Doctor in a ditch which was a shame. The image of him sinking in mud up to his chest was amusing though! The ghostly occurrences being the result of a vortex vacuum was a good concept and fun to explore, and I liked how the Doctor and Romana had knowledge of the phenomena and it fit their rationale for explanation. The idea of ghosts from the future trying to suck Maurice back to 1917 was good and something I didn't expect, but it worked out well. Beatrice was a good character and her attempts to break the circle provided some good excitement. Talbot was another decent character as the head of the household and I enjoyed his introduction to the Doctor and Romana when they arrived. His spiritual tendencies were met with dismay which I liked. Mrs Mountford was an intriguingly creepy character and her fate at the end of the audio with her sticking around was nicely done. Overall, a decent listen!

Rating: 7/10

Flux: Village of the Angels

"The Angel has the TARDIS."

Writers: Chris Chibnall & Maxine Alderton

Format: TV

Broadcast: 21 November 2021

Series: 13.04

Featuring: Thirteenth Doctor, Yaz, Dan

Synopsis

Devon, November 1967. A little girl has gone missing. Professor Eustacius Jericho is conducting psychic experiments. And in the village graveyard, there is one gravestone too many. Who is Medderton known as "The Cursed Village"? And what do the Weeping Angels want?

Verdict

Village of the Angels was an excellent episode to continue the Flux thirteenth series of Doctor Who! I thought this was a hugely impressive episode and a welcomed return of the Weeping Angels in a full story for the first time on television in over nine years. Following on from another outstanding cliffhanger at the end of Once, Upon Time, I thought the resolution was slightly naff with the Doctor utilising the TARDIS systems to eject a quantum life form, but the directing for those scenes with the Angel controlling the TARDIS and coming towards the trio of the Doctor, Yaz and Ryan was outstanding. It was a tremendous use of the Angels and watching this one with Gemma, that was constant throughout as she jumped on more than one occasion much to my amusement. Getting a full introduction to Claire was good and I liked how there was a similar feel to Hide with her getting mind readings before she became possessed by the voice of a Weeping Angel. That was right out of a horror film in wonderful fashion. I think the concept of the image of an Angel can become an Angel has been taken a little too far in some previous episodes, and this was also the case here with the drawing in the fire that the Doctor ripped up putting itself back together again, but the idea of Claire having a premonition of the future and seeing an Angel, and that image embedding itself in Claire's mind was brilliant. I was really impressed with the originality and the Doctor going inside her mind to talk with the rogue Angel was fantastic. I thought the moment where it was revealed that the Division had enlisted Weeping Angels was incredible and the look on the Doctor's face spoke volumes. It was a tremendous scene. The idea of an extraction squad of Angels coming to get the rogue one was marvellous and the way that shifted at the end was sublime. I thought the cliffhanger was absolutely outstanding and honestly right up there with the best the show has ever delivered. The transformation of the Doctor into a Weeping Angel was sensational and the very idea of the Doctor being recalled to the Division sets us up for a very exciting next two episodes. Jericho was a very fun character to compliment the Doctor and Claire and his fascination with the unknown and the mind was great stuff. I loved how he used his power of observation over the Weeping Angels when they demeaned him in a big way. He showed good courage and I look forward to him continuing to feature for the rest of Flux. The story of Peggy and how she was in 1901 and turning out to be Mrs Hayward as her future self in 1967 was superb. That was a twist I didn't see coming. The whole extraction of time element was very good and provided some good cinematography. The escape through the tunnels and the walls containing Angels was fun and scary, but again perhaps taking the whole image of an Angel element slightly too far. As a whole though, that's a very minor criticism for what was a fantastic episode! The elements of Bel and Vinder seemed slightly misplaced in this episode, along with the mid-closing credits sequence, but I'm intrigued to see where things go from here as they search for each other. Overall though, an excellent episode! 

Rating: 9/10