Flux: The Halloween Apocalypse

"Trick or treat, Doctor!"

Writer: Chris Chibnall

Format: TV

Broadcast: 31 October 2021

Series: 13.01

Featuring: Thirteenth Doctor, Yaz, Dan

Synopsis

On Halloween, all across the universe, terrifying forces are stirring. From the Arctic Circle to deep space, an ancient evil is breaking free. And in present-day Liverpool, the life of Dan Lewis is about to change forever. Why is the Doctor on the trail of the fearsome Karvanista? And what is the Flux?

Verdict

The Halloween Apocalypse was a great start to the brand new thirteenth series of Doctor Who! I'm very excited to see what Flux brings and I thought this was a very solid start. There were so many moving parts, probably a few too many if I'm being brutally honest, but there is so much set up here for the remaining five episodes to come that I'm looking forward to seeing how it all ties back. This was a superb introduction for Dan Lewis as the new companion and I must admit that I initially had caution about John Bishop playing a Doctor Who companion, but I thought he was magnificent. The Liverpool-centric episode was so much fun and as a Liverpool football supporter, seeing the TARDIS materialise with Anfield in the background was quite wonderful. Two of my favourite things in one! It's so good to know that Dan is a Liverpool fan, something I'm sure Bishop himself pushed. The continuity with the Division and the Doctor on the hunt to discover her lost past was brilliant and I didn't expect Karvanista to be the last living operative of that Time Lord mystery. I'm certainly intrigued to see where things move there. The Doctor not letting Yaz in on her mission is a little surprising given how close they are and it's clear that they've been on plenty of adventures between Series 12 and 13, and I love that we got to read one in Black Powder! The image of the pair on the bed led Gemma to a humorous comment about their potential relationship, and honestly that's something I think I'd enjoy. But the Doctor has more pressing matters. The TARDIS malfunctioning is really intriguing and having to deal with it potentially dying is rather frightening as a concept! I think that puts the Doctor in so much danger though and it's something I'm well on board with. The way the entrance didn't match with the console and surrounding areas after being twisted was a startling image. Dan's arrival onto the TARDIS was humorous and his claim of having a mate who had one bigger was really amusing. It was a solid debut as companion. The genetic pact of the Lupari was a brilliant concept and Karvanista rescuing Dan from what was to come was not a revelation I expected. I thought the cinematography in this episode was perhaps the best it's ever been with the image of the Doctor, Yaz and Dan in the TARDIS doorway in space being mesmerising, along with the Flux itself which looked really cool. I always maintain that natural threats are the most dangerous in Doctor Who and having the Doctor try to tackle something on that scale that defies the laws of physics is very exciting. And it seems to be bringing a lot of friends, old and new, to town. The glimpse of Claire and her involvement with the Weeping Angels was an outstanding hint at what's to come, and the Sontarans revelling in the destruction the Flux is bringing was magnificent. This redesign is absolutely outstanding and I'm just so happy they are back in all their glory. They look incredible. How they will tie in with the Liverpool tunnel building of 1820 really interests me. The Swarm escaping from imprisonment and seemingly rejuvenating was great stuff and the two Division operatives peaked my interest. The Swarm claiming of doing battle with the Doctor before but she having no memory is excellent and fascinating because we know now that there are many lives the Doctor doesn't know she has led. I'm sure we'll be seeing the Fugitive Doctor once again before the Thirteenth Doctor says goodbye. As a whole, this was a very strong opener and set up a lot of moving parts whilst being thoroughly entertaining. The Doctor's line about synchronising watches when she didn't have one was just hilarious. Overall, a great episode!

Rating: 8/10

The Uncertainty Principle

"We're intruding on other people's grief."

Writer: Simon Guerrier

Format: Audio

Released: August 2012

Series: Companion Chronicles 7.02

Featuring: Second Doctor, Jamie, Zoe

Synopsis

In the future, Zoe Herriot is a prisoner of the mysterious Company, which has evidence that she travelled through space and time with the Doctor. Zoe's memories have been blocked by the Time Lords, but the Company is determined to break through her conditioning...

And so Zoe recalls a journey to Earth in the past, to the funeral of a young woman called Meg, who was involved in scientific experiments that are bringing forth sinister alien creatures. Only the Doctor, Jamie and Zoe can stop them...

Verdict

The Uncertainty Principle was a decent Companion Chronicle adventure to continue the ongoing story arc concerning Zoe and the Company! I really like this idea and starting things with Zoe at the mercy of the Company was intriguing and showed that there was a past to her current circumstances, namely being the events of Echoes of Grey and The Memory Cheats. I liked the development in Zoe's mind with her not being able to deny that there was evidence of her travelling in time, but still as far as she was concerned she turned down that opportunity with the Doctor back during The Wheel in Space. When Zoe got into retelling this story, I liked that it was presented as being in the early days of her time aboard the TARDIS not long having left the Wheel. The Doctor, Jamie and she arriving at the funeral of a women called Meg was not the usual destination and it felt a little eery and uncomfortable which set the atmosphere for what was to come. They met Archie who was a pretty good character and I liked that Meg had been working on something to do with physics, something that could have been the reason for the TARDIS going out of control and being drawn off course. Zoe's moment where she recalled that she had travelled int the TARDIS was a good eureka moment and her description of its interior was terrific. Was this the lead the Company were after? Jen wanting to help Zoe was a nice touch and she genuinely seemed interested in preventing her sentence of atomisation. Archie hearing Meg as a ghost from beyond was a little strange and the use of connections getting established as a theme throughout was decent. The insinuation that he had dreamt it was a little misleading though. The pending arrival of the creatures didn't do a massive amount for me and whilst they were obviously important as the physics element of Meg's work, I preferred the human characters and interaction. The fleshy arms cliffhanger was pretty naff if we're being honest! The Company looking for a computer link within Zoe's memories is interesting and I'm really looking forward to hearing this arc play out. Archie wanting revenge on the creatures and causing them pain by means of water was a fascinating development, and the creatures seemingly being connected by the pain was very good. I thought it was right that Zoe was angered by the fact he'd caused them pain because she just wanted to know who they were. The creatures having a connection with the computers was good and Zoe having knowledge of the Fineman computer and trying to explain its quantum capabilities to the likes of Jamie was amusing. Water being the cause of pain to the creatures after a spill was good and somewhat logical, and Zoe suggesting that there was something within her memories that wasn't safe to know was wonderful. But the more she uncovered the more her brain was stopping her as the Time Lords' mind lock took hold once again. Jen revealing that her children were part of the Elite programme was a great development and sets us up for another adventure in the arc! The Programme was in full swing and Jen now wants to help Zoe bring the Company down, but what is it that Zoe has seen that the Company cannot let slip? I look forward to finding out! Overall, a good audio.

Rating: 7/10

Last Chance

"History fights back."

Writer: Guy Adams

Format: Audio

Released: April 2018

Series: Tenth Doctor Chronicles 1.04

Featuring: Tenth Doctor, Lady Christina

Synopsis

Trying to spare a few creatures from extinction, the Doctor bumps into an old acquaintance on the African plains – Lady Christna de Souza. They are about to find themselves on the endangered list...

Verdict

Last Chance was a fantastic adventure to conclude the first volume of the Tenth Doctor Chronicles! This really was a fine finale and saw us get a long awaited reunion between the Doctor and Lady Christina de Souza! She really did make an impression back in Planet of the Dead and even now has her own Big Finish spinoff series, and having her alongside the Doctor once again during his final holiday as we head towards The End of Time was terrific. I thought the setting of Kenya in the African plains was excellent and I was intrigued how we initially started in 1844 off the coast of Iceland, but that all came around full circle in a very nice way. The talk of beginnings and endings was poignant as far as the Doctor was concerned considering where in his timeline this was placed, but the double meaning it would have with the focus on endangered species was brilliant. That was a clever theme. Christina was up to her old tricks in robbing Ivanov on his hunt and from his hotel rum which was good, and I loved how the Doctor made an entrance on a rhino to pick up his old thief-friend! That was classy and well in with the setting. The Doctor talking of how he, and in turn his species, were close to extinction was superb and the writing really did nail the characterisation of the Tenth Doctor during that run of 2009 Specials. Christina reflecting on being told no when she wanted to travel with the Doctor was nice and I liked that it was clear she still wanted to see the universe. The escape from the spaceship into the TARDIS, rhino and all, through the doors and Christina not thinking they'd all fit was lovely and I really like that she got to go inside the TARDIS! That was a really nice touch. She was definitely impressed. The Doctor being on a mission to collect endangered species and house them in the TARDIS was intriguing and I liked how the Deagle, the spaceship owner, was doing the same as part of his latest ruthless hobby. A current theme across his pastimes was that he dreamt of destroying the Doctor which was good. They had an unseen history with the Doctor always stopping Deagle's fun. The ravager's final stop and species on his checklist being the Great Auk took us back to Iceland but Deagle had blocked the TARDIS from entering the island, so there was some ingenuity used to have the TARDIS on its side and get there by more contemporary water-based means! That provided some fun humour. Christina showing some emotion and being saddened by all the endangered species was nice to include and develop her character a little. Deagle's plan once paying for what he thought was the final Great Auks being to catalogue, freeze, stuff and then display them at his holiday home was despicable so it was marvellous when the Doctor revealed they were fakes and holograms! The Doctor going to Deagle's ship, which was interestingly sentient, was good and I was intrigued that despite having no morals Deagle always wanted to stay on the right side of law. The Deagle getting a big incentive when the Doctor revealed he was the last of his species was nicely done, but the Deagle's own ship turned on him after revealing it hated its owner which was pretty amusing if not a little silly! They were going to leave to fate and have nature take its natural course which saw the Deagle become lion food in a pretty gruesome ravaging! The poignant ending with the Doctor not wanting Christina to ask to travel with him again was a firm reminder of what was to come for the Doctor, so I'm glad he got to have another outing with Christina before it was his time to go! Overall, a fantastic listen!

Rating: 9/10

Two Monks, One Mistress

"Is it wrong to start having romantic feelings towards yourself?"

Writer: James Kettle

Format: Audio

Released: September 2021

Series: Missy 3.03

Featuring: Missy, The Monk

Synopsis

On the trail of some weapons-grade plutonium, Missy and the Mink visit Renaissance Italy and the house of an elderly Borgia. But some else is en route to the Tuscan villa with designs on the old man's treasures. Someone the Monk will soon know very well...

Verdict

Two Monks, One Mistress was a very fun conclusion to the Missy and the Monk third series of Missy! This has been a really terrific boxset full of humour and comedy as I expected from the first two outings between Missy and the Monk in each of the first two series. And now this finale may have set up an entirely new spinoff series! This one started in magnificent form with Missy calling the Monk her companion and really asserting her authority and getting him to carry the bags, using the Doctor's companions of an example of their usefulness and the redundant questions they asked. The Monk of course obliged which was great stuff. The setting of Tuscany in 1506 was excellent and I always enjoy the potential when the Monk visits Earth's history. Missy was en route to pick up some plutonium from who she thought was Guvnax but there was actually Francesca, an accomplice of the Nun, masquerading in a terrible disguise. She was hardly a believable man! And yet the Monk didn't see through it which was marvellous. The Nun's return after her emphatic battle with the Tenth Doctor in The Wrong Woman was brilliant and the prospect of two different incarnations of the meddling Time Lord who can't decide on his/her name was wonderful. The pair meeting was so much fun with the psychic scroll revealing all. Missy describing herself as a master criminal and describing events such as Logopolis and The End of Time was excellent, but the mention of Time-Flight and the magician disguise was presented with fantastic humour. Even the Monk was questioning the logic! Missy knowing that the Nun was the future incarnation of her current companion was good and I liked that she actually had a deal with her to split the plutonium in return for the coordinates of her Master TARDIS. At least she thought. The Nun claimed she was going to torture her previous self to the point of regeneration, albeit vaguely, and ensure that she was the author of her own destiny. That sounded whacky and meddling, so I was actually a little surprised when the Nun was actually trying to rescue her past self from Missy's clutches! The flirting between each meddling incarnation was humorous and I liked how they planned to work together against Missy, and got caught trying to steal away the plutonium. Missy was onto them in a flash which I loved. Her continuing with the charade of marrying the Duke was amusing, especially when Francesca revealed she was a woman as if Missy was clueless! Missy showing the wrong scroll to Borgia and him thinking she was in love was great and I loved Missy's reply when he stated they would have several children. Would they steal them? Great stuff. I loved that the Monk gave Missy the wrong scroll at the end and sent her on her way back to the Master TARDIS, whilst potentially setting up future adventures between the Monk and the Nun! They looked to sell plutonium to the Aztecs. What could possibly go wrong? Overall, a terrific audio!

Rating: 8/10

Body and Soulless

"We're going into battle against the corpses of our families."

Writer: James Goss

Format: Audio 

Released: September 2021

Series: Missy 3.01

Featuring: Missy, The Monk

Synopsis

Stuck with a co-pilot, Missy has taken extreme measures. After all, she only needs the Monk's brain to fly his TARDIS. But when Missy and the bodiless Monk end up on different sides of a planetary war, they may need one another to survive...

Verdict

Body and Soulless was a decent start to the third series of the Missy spinoff, which is wonderfully titled Missy and the Monk! I think in my blog entry of Too Many Masters which concluded the second series earlier this year, I was hoping for a whole series of adventures with Missy and the Monk, and as luck would have it that's exactly what I got! I'm delighted by the prospect of further stories with this glorious Time Lord pairing, especially given how things were left last time out. The Monk's TARDIS could only be piloted with both Missy and the Monk present, and the idea of the Monk being bodiless and just a brain was delightful. Missy had fun with that and was able to have him in her own handbag which was a fun image. I do think the story perhaps didn't capitalise on the potential of these two characters as I felt that more interaction was required throughout, but what we did get was terrific. I wasn't a huge fan of the setting and the background of the war between the VAD and Kalvor, but having Missy and the Monk on opposite sides was fun and pitting them against each other would provide a lot of humour. Despite the Monk always appearing in control or to have a scheme up his sleeve and it playing out to perfection, there is never that air of confidence around him. That's testament to Rufus Hound's performance who I think is a great incarnation, and it's also a strength of Missy's character and her outright superiority. We never feel that the Monk seriously threatens the Doctor, but the same cannot be said for Missy. She's on top form here and having her contemplating helping and being a hero was nicely balanced with her reaction of thinking it was heavenly for soldiers to be fighting the corpses of their dead families. That was just a horrifying concept, but one I thoroughly enjoyed. Gasher was a somewhat good character and I liked Missy's appreciation of his name given the field he was involved in, but the choice of voice/the way the creature boomed didn't work for me. It felt a bit off for whatever reason. The Monk managing to get his TARDIS back and also revert back into his body was fun and I'm glad we're not going to have the whole series with the Monk bodiless! However, the highlight had to be the revelation at the end where Missy subtly revealed her plans all along and the realisation hit the Monk that once again he had been played. Everything with the VAD, the Monk becoming bodiless and their very presence was all a plan. And it had worked to perfection! That really was terrific. I loved the lines at the end where the Monk and Missy seemed to accept that they would now be travelling partners, and the prospect ahead for the next two episodes in the series really excites me. Whilst I thought the setting and overall plot here was perhaps slightly dull, it was brightened by the interaction of Missy and the Monk. Give me more! Overall, a decent adventure. 

Rating: 7/10

War Seed

"We all need a little regeneration."

Writer: Johnny Candon

Format: Audio

Released: September 2021

Series: Missy 3.02

Featuring: Missy, The Monk

Synopsis

Missy takes the Monk to Earth to make a point – she can be nice if she wants. In fact, she can save the planet! While the Monk tries to charm the corporate sharks, Missy makes them a better offer. To supply the ultimate warrior, created in the ultimate war...

Verdict

War Seed was an excellent audio adventure to continue the Missy and the Monk third series of Missy! This was a terrific story from start to finish and really allowed both Missy and the Monk to shine in their respective roles whilst showcasing their reputation and stature in the Doctor Who universe. The Monk was instantly appalled by the idea of Richard Temple selling off regeneration, whilst Missy was all about sharing is caring and didn't see the trouble. I thought it was great that she had brought the Monk to Earth and she was going to save the planet just to prove that she could, and having that subtle exploration of her good side is great and well in line with the character we saw on screen towards the end of Series 10. The Monk suspecting the involvement of the Master or the Rani as the Time Lord that was obviously aiding Temple was terrific, and his efforts at hypnosis control was simply delightful. He was trying so hard! Anastasia was a good and quite brutal character and her acceptance of the instructions to shoot the Monk in the panic room were fantastic. She really was ruthless. The way it was revealed that Temple's associate, an unwilling one at that, was Missy's son came from out of nowhere but it was a line dropped so simply that I loved it! Complete matter of fact. It made sense for the Seed to be talking of his father coming, and took us back to a time where the Master was involved in the Time War. The links with that conflict were unexpected but I liked firmly establishing that we were post-Time War, with the Monk not at all ashamed that he ran away and hid. Missy's description of the Time Lords venturing into non-ethical weapons was good and we soon learned that her son was a war seed. Missy, when she was the Master, took from herself and created them in a way I imagine was similar to how Jenny was created in The Doctor's Daughter. Except these seeds were an amalgamation of all sorts of evil to go with it. These seeds were sent to a planet with an aptitude for war so I liked that this brought it to Earth 1985 with the threat of nuclear war imminent given the conflict between the USA and Soviets. They took a whole year to blossom and then through pheromones control the entire population would become a weapon. That was a superb concept! Richard needing Missy for his army was good with them only answerable to a Time Lord and I thought it was really fun for her to actually show him an example of the seeds being successful. Murphy's panic and potential regenerating after sneaking some of the sample was good and realistic and the plan to suck him out into the Vortex was full throttle! It was a good sense of excitement. The Teatle world was intriguing with an army frozen and waiting for orders, a fine example for Richard to see. Anastasia becoming beastly was an unexpected development and I liked that she wanted to inherit the Temple dynasty but was merely made an employee. Not quite the same position! Once all was well, I thought it was a nice moment at the end with the Seed wanting to be decommissioned, but Missy sent him on his way to live a life and now that he had left, his influence on the planet would dissipate and things would soon return to normal. Overall, this was a tremendous story with some comical interaction between the Monk and Missy! A fantastic listen.

Rating: 9/10

The Memory Cheats

"They're dreams. They never happened."

Writer: Simon Guerrier

Format: Audio

Released: September 2011

Series: Companion Chronicles 6.03

Featuring: Second Doctor, Jamie, Zoe

Synopsis

Zoe Heriot remembers everything. But she remembers nothing.

A genius with instant recall, Zoe's mind has been purged of her memories of travelling with the Doctor and Jamie in the TARDIS. And years later she is in deep trouble, prosecuted by a mysterious company that has evidence that she has travelled in Space and Time.

Except Zoe knows they're wrong. Aren't they?

But if that's the case, why is there proof that Zoe was in Uzbekistan in 1919.

Can the memory cheat?

Verdict

The Memory Cheats was a great audio adventure to continue this story arc for Zoe in the Companion Chronicles! I think it's a brilliant idea to have a continuous adventure flowing through the series for a specific companion and Zoe is a superb choice given her total recall ability with memory combined with her memory of her travels with the Doctor and Jamie in the TARDIS being wiped from her mind by the Time Lords in The War Games. We start strong with Zoe once again on the end of an apparent interrogation, this time by Jen, a colleague of Ali's from Echoes of Grey. Her mentioning of healing on Zoe's and not lasting because her memories were somehow locked was fantastic and I liked knowing that the Time Lords had power over Zoe's mind despite tampering. We were then taken on another adventure recalled by Zoe and as she told the story, her memory became clear. The setting of Uzbekistan in 1919 was about as unique as its gets for Earthbound stories so I really liked that and the parallels it had with Russia of the time and the two revolutions were fantastic. Tashkent was undergoing something mysterious and horrifying with children being taken one by one, each night. The fear factor that must have induced was quite something and the fact it was a single child every night somehow made it creepier than if it happened en masse. Again, I think I was more interested in Zoe and Jen's conversation than the former's actual recollection of the adventure, but one highlight for me of the story being told was that Jamie was playing football with the locals! That sounds right up his alley and his pride of winning for Scotland was a joy to hear. The report of the Lancings proving that Zoe was in Uzbekistan in 1919 was good as the later revelation that Zoe claimed to have made the story up by connecting all of the dots she had glimpsed from the paperwork was terrific! It was creating such a dilemma for Zoe given her total recall and adamant that she declined to travel in the TARDIS in The Wheel in Space. She dreamt of the journeys she could have had in the TARDIS which actually made me quite sad because she did have these adventures! And here she was on hand to help with missing children. The air of grief over the city was good atmosphere and I liked the description of how the family homes were devoid of family pictures. That was awful. The description of the creature that was taking the children as being a deformed man with a cry like an animal and twice the size of normal men painted quite the picture, and I liked the the Doctor and co rallied the troops to scare it off. Chebrokov was an excellent character and Zoe painting a different picture of him to what was on file was magnificent. The cliffhanger with Zoe claiming to have been the one to kill the Lancings and not him certainly took me by surprise! The second part felt different with the hunt for the creature and children and once we got there the description of the webbing was rather disturbing. Describing the children as being a part of an irrigation system was terrifying. Zoe waking the creature and this being the action that caused it to lash out and kill the Lancings was not quite what I expected with her claim, but it was still shocking to hear her lack of remorse. Of course, Zoe claimed the entire story wasn't true and that she thought the children were better off with the creature and that's what happened, but hey, the memory cheats. The creature that the children were in danger in a country of war, famine and sickness and Zoe agreed they'd be better off with the creature. A very fun concept and I liked the ambiguity. Overall, a great audio!

Rating: 8/10

The Evolving Dead

"There's nothing natural about any of this."

Writer: Doris V Sutherland

Format: Audio

Released: September 2021

Series: Eleventh Doctor Chronicles 2.01

Featuring: Eleventh Doctor

Synopsis

The dead stalk the corridors of research station Romeo. For a technician (dead) and her ex-boyfriend (also dead), the Doctor's their only chance to escape. For the rest of the crew, he's their only chance to feed.

Verdict

The Evolving Dead was an excellent start to the second series of the Eleventh Doctor Chronicles! I really enjoyed this opening gambit and I thought the shift in format by eliminating the narration is a massively positive step. I'm absolutely in favour of this new approach and after reading the preview in a recent issue of DWM, the recommendation from the man at the BBC to take this direction is absolutely the right way to go. Jacob Dudman's impression of Matt Smith as the Eleventh Doctor is stellar so there is no need for the linking narration that can hurt the flow of things on times. Of course, that eliminates the potential for a companion but there's plenty of wiggle room in the Eleventh Doctor's run for solo adventures. His arrival here was humorous as he looked to find his old chum Alfred on hs coronation day, but instead he was greeted by a deserted ship full of 45th century technology. Quite the way out time-wise then! The Doctor did have something to interact with though in the form of Evo which turned out to be a very fun computer intelligence. It failed to recognise that there were any lifeforms present, and I guess technically there weren't, as the emergence of Babs and Maxwell was a shocking one as they were dead. Yep, the Doctor was interacting with the dead! His reaction was wonderful at finally meeting what he assumed were zombies and his mentioning of the likes of vampires and mummies was a delight. It was great writing for the Eleventh Doctor. The relationship between Babs and Maxwell was an intriguing one and was actually how we started the episode with their breakup. The latter initially seeming like he wanted to eliminate the former for what she did in breaking up with him via comms was shocking, and his use of Headshot, the former George, was horrific. He was out for vengeance and you could hear that in his voice throughout which I thought was impressive. Babs soon came around to the Doctor, posing as an inspector for the gazilionth time, and he was keen to solve the mystery of the evolving dead. The use of nanobots was fun and things hadn't quite gone to plan, and there were a lot of familiar strands that tied together very nicely. The eery feel of the setting was also brilliant and well contained in the audio format. It was a fantastic use of the medium. Babs having to do the difficult thing at the end with Maxwell was an emotional listen, but she was soon stunned by the magic of the TARDIS which I thought was a lovely moment. I did feel sorry for her with how blunt the Doctor was though when saying he wouldn't be sticking around to help with the consequences. The Doctor's line earlier about the sonic screwdriver and how it started out with minimal features was tremendous though and something fun to think about. It was quite the medical marvel here! Overall, a fantastic way to start the second volume of Eleventh Doctor Chronicles! 

Rating: 9/10

The Destructive Quality of Life

"The Machine has done its work."

Writer: Nicholas Briggs

Format: Audio

Released: March 2017

Series: Charlotte Pollard 2.01

Featuring: Charley

Synopsis

Charlotte Pollard. Space-time traveller. Former emissary of the mysterious and terrifying Viyrans.

Now she's cast adrift and finds herself and unlikely adventurer Robert Buchan brought right down to Earth – but an Earth which is changing rapidly.

Why and how have they crash-landed in the London Underground? Who are the Identical Men? And why is human behaviour starting to change in starling and unexpected ways?

Charley, Robert and their friend the Rogue Viyran must find out if they are the solution or the cause.

Deep underground, something is stirring. Fragments of an alien design are coalescing...

Marooned on an alien world, a 'concentration camp' in Slough, messaging through space and time.

Verdict

The Destructive Quality of Life was a very good adventure to round out the second series of Charlotte Pollard! As it stands, I believe this is the final chronological appearance of Charley within the Doctor Who Universe and what a journey she has had! I'm a firm fan of hers and I don't think that has changed since I listened to Storm Warning many years ago. Two Doctors and now two series in her own spinoff, it's been quite the run for our Edwardian Adventuress! This one followed on from Seed of Chaos in a good way and really shifted the feel of the series as we were in a mysterious web-like domain for the most part, at least as far as Charley and Rob were concerned. They had a disconcerting arrival after narrowly escaping the Identical Men on Earth and travelling through the Prolixity was good, even if it meant they were literally stuck above a planet. Bertram was going through same changes in the new environment which was interesting and he was reverting to become the creatures within the domain. The shift back to present day with the Prime Minister and Woking was good and the former really wasn't happy with the latter after a number of soldiers didn't make it out alive. Bertram joining them was unexpected and I liked the mystery of the claim that Charley and Rob were dead. The death toll on Earth stemming from the seed of chaos implanted was over a million now which was a frightening concept and said a lot about the scale of the series! The Machine had done its work now and would only cause continuing problems from those already impacted from Embankment Station. Charley retelling her memoirs as heard at the start of Embankment Station was a nice way to circle things around and Naomi picking up the message was terrific. Sadly, I don't think she had enough of a role in the finale as her character warranted. I'd like to hear more from her. NATO having a plan in action to bomb London, be that a normal or nuclear style, was brilliant and such a good real life threat. The Viyrans being in the domain with Charley and Rob was intriguing and I liked the revelation that they were Viyrans from a time before civilised life. They were enacting a cull of the unhealthy and the substance that Charley and Rob had spent a decade helping extract from the sea was the raw material needed for organic machines, one such that was later located in Embankment Station in the future, that could enact subtle changes in life after assessing the best course of action. The objective was to minimalist the destructive qualities of life and the Earth population would be slowly reduced, not destroyed, by careless mistakes. A great concept! I just didn't fully enjoy Bertram playing a part, even though the time factor was accounted for. Charley sending messages from the past was good and I liked the potential of a paradox. The ending came quite abruptly and left me wanting more and even though it's been a good few years now, I would like a third series as the PM approving the bombing of London and then the Prolixity apparently saving Charley, whilst it being ambiguous of whether Rob was saved, is slightly irking! Overall thought, a great story in isolation.

Rating: 8/10

Seed of Chaos

"A virus that makes people make mistakes."

Writer: Nicholas Briggs

Format: Audio

Released: March 2017

Series: Charlotte Pollard 2.01

Featuring: Charley

Synopsis

Charlotte Pollard. Space-time traveller. Former emissary of the mysterious and terrifying Viyrans.

Now she's cast adrift and finds herself and unlikely adventurer Robert Buchan brought right down to Earth – but an Earth which is changing rapidly.

Why and how have they crash-landed in the London Underground? Who are the Identical Men? And why is human behaviour starting to change in starling and unexpected ways?

Charley, Robert and their friend the Rogue Viyran must find out if they are the solution or the cause.

Deep underground, something is stirring. Fragments of an alien design are coalescing...

Tube train trouble, the chaos begins, the Prime Minister arrives.

Verdict

Seed of Chaos was another very good episode to continue the second series of the Charlotte Pollard spinoff! I definitely got the sense that this was one where we were setting up events of the finale which I'm fully anticipating to be an epic after a strong build in the three stories so far. The immediate follow on from the cliffhanger was good with Woking in audibly bad shape and in need of getting to a hospital, an admiral decision given that he cornered the group with a gun! The presence of the Identical Men was great and their apparent controlling of the soldiers was intriguing. I'm fascinated by the idea of the virus causing strange events to occur in the UK and beyond as I'm looking forward to knowing why they want chaos. The action that came with the escape from the Underground was good and I loved Naomi's conversation with who she dubbed a dickhead train driver when he didn't take too kindly to them all being on the tracks. Bertram being identified as a threat by the Identical Men was fun and I really liked how his logical replies were met. His storing of the electrical power from the train tracks was really nice and clever! It was good for him to get an upper hand, even if he reiterated that the Identical Men couldn't be killed which remains a big dilemma! Naomi continuing to be after a story and thinking of work whilst these events were happening showed she was dedicated to her craft, and all indicators pointed towards events being caused from passengers on two specific trains that went through Embankment station. Well, that is just way too much of a coincidence! Namoi taking the story to her editor and getting a reply that she thought everything was faked was excellent, and I liked the little details of Charley not understanding the concept of CGI. Rab had another strong showing from afar in deducing that the likes of food shortages and distribution workers were all linked. Bertram pointed out that it wasn't a virus, but something analogous to one that was rewriting neural pathways on a small scale, but the consequences were enormous. One small seeded was planted and it was beginning to cause devastation. Naomi and Rab already appearing infected was a fantastic development as they forgot key details with the latter failing to call an ambulance for Woking. Empathy was lost. Charley and Rob being picked up along with Bertram as suspected enemy agents was fun and I was surprised by the development that Bertram didn't have the ruffling or ability to save lives before the Prolixity, which he realised was within him! I'm sure that will bring about the means to defeat the Identical Men. The arrival of the Prime Minister into events was very good and I liked how she understood what was happening despite its unbelievability. There were health crashes, more planes falling out of the sky and nobody wanted to have sex, and this was all linked! All stemming from the UK. But it seems Charley and Rob are immune which is terrific. Their exploration of an evacuated London was good and I loved that for Charley it was recognisable enough for her to think of it as home. The pair also shared an intimate moment when they found themselves holding hands which was really nice. The cliffhanger was decent as the Identical Men closed in but Bertram had a plan to disappear, which resulted in the threats being no longer present. But just where were Charley and Rob now? Overall, a great episode!

Rating: 8/10

Ruffling

"Isn't this the life of adventure you were after?"

Writer: Nicholas Briggs

Format: Audio

Released: March 2017

Series: Charlotte Pollard 2.01

Featuring: Charley

Synopsis

Charlotte Pollard. Space-time traveller. Former emissary of the mysterious and terrifying Viyrans.

Now she's cast adrift and finds herself and unlikely adventurer Robert Buchan brought right down to Earth – but an Earth which is changing rapidly.

Why and how have they crash-landed in the London Underground? Who are the Identical Men? And why is human behaviour starting to change in starling and unexpected ways?

Charley, Robert and their friend the Rogue Viyran must find out if they are the solution or the cause.

Deep underground, something is stirring. Fragments of an alien design are coalescing...

Hiding in a bank, on the run, trapped underground.

Verdict

Ruffling was another very good episode to continue the second series of Charlotte Pollard! I thought this carried on where Embankment Station left off decent well with the Rogue Viyran who was humorously later dubbed as Bertram warning off the Identical Men who apparently could not be killed. It appears that they're the enemy for the series so if that is true then they are going to be pretty darn difficult to defeat. Namoi going off grid was fun and I continued to really enjoy her character. Having her alongside Rab was a lot of fun as he casually hacked into government files without much more than the blink of an eye. The political nature continued in a strong way which I enjoyed as we heard the mysterious Minister informing the Prime Minister that they should label recent events as a terrorist attack when the truth was this was something much more. When a terrorist attack is the cover up you know things are bad! Charley and Rob being the ones to get blamed for the killings in Embankment Station was a good development and it eventually allowed for some good interaction between all of the characters we got to know in the first episode. Having Naomi and Rab inadvertently find their way into a secured cordon was good and I just really enjoyed their chemistry. The news bulletins were fun little inserts and they reminded me a lot of the Sarah Jane Smith audio series. They felt contemporary and the continued theme of the NHS restricting along with the popularity of the Royal Family has me thinking that they will end up playing a key role in the events of the last two episodes, although I am yet to work out the connection. The 15 patients that were left for dead featuring on the bulletin was a disturbing item and that was a common occurrence across London and beyond as it appears that whatever the Identical Men are testing and infiltrating, it's causing freak events to become commonplace. That's rather fun! Bertram thinking that there was something within Charley and Rab that aided the Ever and Ever Prolixity in bringing them to this time and place, something that was similar for the Identical Men onto the Viyrans. There was something resembling a virus here and it needed to be stopped. Woking had a strong episode within the discussion with the Minister about Charley being born in 1912 and then hs playing around with Bertrand and thinking he might be responsible for events given that he wasn't human. His admiration of Rab was also a highlight. Bertram's calm nature when being interrogated was delightful and really brought some humour. The Identical Men planning a third sustained propulsion wave is intriguing if it continues to make strange events occur, and speaking of strange the emergence of Captain Warwick was quite something! Warwick wasn't thrilled that he was present or even knew of his location, but his physical exploits on the Minister showed he was not to be messed with. Bertram's escape at the end and knocking the power out was good, as the others headed for the exit only for Woking to cover them and threaten to shoot in a very stereotypical Doctor Who cliffhanger. Still, it was a good episode to continue the series in a bright way! 

Rating: 8/10

Embankment Station

"There is an even bigger threat than the people with guns."

Writer: Nicholas Briggs

Format: Audio

Released: March 2017

Series: Charlotte Pollard 2.01

Featuring: Charley

Synopsis

Charlotte Pollard. Space-time traveller. Former emissary of the mysterious and terrifying Viyrans.

Now she's cast adrift and finds herself and unlikely adventurer Robert Buchan brought right down to Earth – but an Earth which is changing rapidly.

Why and how have they crash-landed in the London Underground? Who are the Identical Men? And why is human behaviour starting to change in starling and unexpected ways?

Charley, Robert and their friend the Rogue Viyran must find out if they are the solution or the cause.

Deep underground, something is stirring. Fragments of an alien design are coalescing...

A bumpy arrival, journalism, politics and a security crisis.

Verdict

Embankment Station was a fantastic audio adventure to kickstart the second series of Charlotte Pollard! I'm so glad that Charley got a second series following on from how things finished at the end of the first and we don't take long to carry on where things left off with Charley and Rob coming through the Ever and Ever Prolixity and finding their way to somewhat familiar surroundings, at least as far as the listener was concerned. Pre-titles though, we had a startling warning from Charley herself with some terrific effects to reveal that we were listening to the Memoirs of an Edwardian Adventuress which I thought was just great. It seems that Charley has died and these memoirs were left as a warning, something I hope doesn't quite turn out to be the case as she's such a good character! I'm hopeful of more adventures to come for Charley. The presence of the Rogue Viyran was good and hearing how it had adapted and even sounded different with no helmet at the heart of the Ever and Ever Prolixity was very good. I liked how he came back into the fold later in the episode to be revealed as the source of the wall ruffling that was causing so much confusion. I thought this was a good showing for Robert in filling that companion role to Charley in the series, and learning that the two seemed to have got a bit frisky together when they thought all was going to end presented a fun dynamic and awkward conversation. Charley made it known that whilst she was worrying about him when they were separated, she didn't love him. Charley deducing that they had been brought to 21st century London was good and I like that both characters are displaced in time. Charley owned her interrogation and she revelled in telling how she was from the early twentieth century, and the interrogator was intrigued. The bomb threat that the government were quickly coming up introduced us to an incredible character in the form of Naomi, a journalist for Night News who I can already tell I'm going to love. I thought she was magnificent and I look forward to hearing her search for the truth as the series goes on. The link to the bomb site with six simultaneous deaths from people walking out on the road, who all turned out to be the only passengers on a previous tube ride, was mightily interesting and the seeds were set of something bigger to come. The booming voices of what I can assume were the Identical Men were good and I liked how Charley and Rob's arrival was unexpected for them. Their plan to integrate into human society and remove a threat was brilliant and I'm looking forward to learning more. There really is a lot going on! The mystery of the naked bodies being found and the different two strangers emerging, as killers, is also good and I can't wait for everything to tie back together. The political nature of the episode was also excellent and I loved that we had Woking recalling events and the mystery of Charley and her environment to the Minster, who it seems had disappeared to the back benches and been promoted to something top secret. That excites me. The cliffhanger coming with the Identical Men supposedly neutralising their threat and the danger that posed to Charley and Rob was very good, and a fantastic way to end what was quite then opener! A brilliant listen.

Rating: 9/10

The Power of Kroll

"There must be fresh blood on the stone."

Writer: Robert Holmes

Format: TV

Broadcast: 23 December 1978 - 13 January 1979

Season: 16.05

Featuring: Fourth Doctor, Romana I

Synopsis

Searching for the fifth segment of the Key to Time, the tracer brings the TARDIS to treacherous swamps on the third moon of the planet Delta Magna. The Doctor and Romana soon uncover a plot to wipe out the Swampies, the local inhabitants, by the duplicitous crew of a gas refinery.

Meanwhile, a massive creature is stirring beneath the waters, and the primitive Swampies believe the only way to calm the powerful monster is human sacrifice...

Verdict

The Power of Kroll was a somewhat average serial to continue my sporadic rewatch of the Key to Time Season 16. This season is definitely one that doesn't rank too highly when I think of my favourites across the 39 we have been lucky enough to have over two different eras, and this just felt a bit weak from the start. The image of the Doctor and Romana trawling through a swamp was fun but it just felt a bit unnecessary. I get why it was done in order to establish the terrain of Kroll and also give some sort of habitat to the Swampies who would play a prominent role, but it didn't exactly grab us from the off. I have to admit that I'm not a massive fan of Romana in her first incarnation as she just doesn't seem to fit this incarnation of the Doctor. She's a bit too playing by the rules and doesn't have a huge amount of charisma or humour with the Doctor, something that ought to have been established by this point of her run. Some of the costumes for this one were a bit questionable and I really couldn't get on board with the look of the Swampies. I know they were meant to be inferior with them having had their planet taken over and weren't even counted in the numbers of people present, but they just looked a bit ridiculous and downright poor if I'm being honest. I quite liked the history behind Kroll and the religious order that was present, but the actual creature was pretty darn terrible. I fully appreciate that this serial was broadcast over forty years ago, but the way the creature's apparent booming nature was presented with the clear split screen was a huge turn off. I just couldn't take it seriously which is a big shame. I do wonder how this would have been perceived back in contemporary times, but it just looked a bit too recycled from the likes of the Axons or Krynoids just on a larger scale. It worked better in a confined setting with the part two cliffhanger where it just grabbed a crew member out was fantastic. More of that would definitely have aided things in my opinion. I thought the moment where Romana explained to the Doctor that she'd dropped the tracer and the potential damage that would do was marvellous as the Doctor quickly produced it from his pocket. Tom Baker at his finest as the Fourth Doctor there! However, one moment that instantly knocked off at least one mark from the rating all on its own was the way the Doctor used his own high pitch screech to save them from severe pressure and burst open the opening that was keeping them enclosed. Well, that was just terrible. It didn't even look or sound real! The segment turning out to be part of the Kroll creature was good and I thought it was fun that the Doctor had a big hunch all along that this would be the case. The subtle smugness was delightful, but as a whole I thought this serial had some good ideas but fell short in certain design elements. Still, not bad at all.

Rating: 6/10

Echoes of Grey

"I remember that I don't remember."

Writer: John Dorney

Format: Audio

Released: August 2010

Series: Companion Chronicles 5.02

Featuring: Second Doctor, Jamie, Zoe

Synopsis

Zoe Herriot has a photographic memory. Total recall. But when it comes to the years she spent travelling in time and space, all she can remember is that she has forgotten.

Years after she was returned to the Wheel in Space by the Time Lords, Zoe meets Ali, a young woman who claims to have met Zoe before, when she was with the Doctor and Jamie. Suddenly, part of the hidden past is exposed, as memories return of a visit to the Whitaker Institute in Central Australia. Secrets are uncovered. And the mystery of the Achromatics is about to be unleashed...

Verdict

Echoes of Grey was a decent Companion Chronicle! I was intrigued from the synopsis regarding what would happen in this one for Zoe and with her having a photographic memory, I was excited by the concept of having that combined with her memories of her time travelling with the Doctor and Jamie being wiped by the Time Lords. That's where Ali stepped in and her claim of having met Zoe during her time in the TARDIS was great and it really opened up a can of worms for Zoe. Toying with the idea of memory was fantastic and I loved that Zoe was aware that she couldn't remember something and it all stemmed back to her encounter with the Doctor in The Wheel in Space. Remembering she couldn't remember was a tongue twister and something fun to try and get your head around, and I'm looking forward to this continuing in future Chronicles featuring Zoe. I thought the actual adventure that was being retold wasn't as interesting as Zoe and Abi in the 'present' day, but that's not at all to say it was bad! I think my rating is as high as it is because of what was going on with Abi and what she knew about Zoe, but the creature at the heart of the plot was good. I like the concept of a creature that could literally suck out disease and injury, and the potential that had for being weaponised was understandably a worry for the Doctor and company. The Whitaker Institute made for a very good setting and I thought Zoe would be right at home there. I wasn't a huge fan of Wendy Padbury's take on the Second Doctor or Jamie, but at the end of the day that wasn't a massive issue as this was all about Zoe. Ali wanting to utilise Zoe's photographic memory to get the research from Cadden that would bring back the Achromatics after four decades was superb and I thought it was great that she was never actually there to meet Zoe all those years ago. She was trying to gain her confidence in order to obtain her memory but Zoe was horrified by this. I really liked how Ali ended up being the enemy from afar and wanting to continue what happened quite some time ago for Zoe. The Doctor taking matters into his own hands to solve the issue of the Achromatics was quite terrific though! It was a big risk from him to infect himself and hope that they would be more attracted to injury than health, but luckily for him it paid off in a big way as not only did they then take the deadly disease from the Doctor, they then passed it on from one to the other until the last one remaining was then killed by the disease! Talk about efficiency. That was a brilliant resolution and really did make the story a lot better for me, which I thought was a little slow in places. Cadden was a good character as the scientist and complimented Zoe and the Doctor well, but Jamie really did get lost in the shuffle without any expertise. Overall, I thought the format worked well and whilst things could have been aided with some pace, this was a very solid adventure and I'm looking forward for more to come from Ali and Zoe! 

Rating: 7/10

The Dollhouse

"Young when are going missing from downtown Hollywood."

Writer: Juno Dawson

Format: Audio

Released: April 2017

Series: Torchwood Monthly #14

Featuring: Marlow, Charley, Gabi

Synopsis

1970s Los Angeles – the city of angels and broken dreams. Three remarkable women keep the West Coast safe from alien attacks – they are Torchwood Los Angeles. 

So many young girls come to this city hoping for something better. For some, luck is just around the corner. For others that golden ticket never arrives and they just fade away.

But it's not that simple. Everyone has a value to someone, and Torchwood are about to discover Hollywood's darkest secret.

Verdict

The Dollhouse was a decent audio adventure to continue the Monthly Adventures of Torchwood from Big Finish! This is a really intriguing story and the idea of going off course when it comes to the Torchwood we are used to is good and it's interesting to get a look into the Torchwood Los Angeles team of the 1970s. I like that it's headed by three females and the way things started with their quick introductions was beneficial, although I do think we needed perhaps a little more fleshing out of the characters before we got into the grips of the story. However, if they're not going to be returning then there is only so much time that can be spent on introducing them so it can be something of a double edged sword! I liked the continuity that was provided from the familiar Torchwood music accompanying some of the scene transitions, and the funky take on the intro theme was quite terrific. It really did set the tone for the adventure ahead and was well suited to what followed. The setting of the 1970s was utilised well and having been to Los Angeles a few years ago, I appreciated the use of that unique setting with the ventures to Downtown LA (a place I didn't find to my liking), Santa Monica, and to Hollywood itself. I think the city and its vicinity sounds more glamorous than it actually is, but having that utilised in this audio was fantastic. I liked the description that Torchwood Los Angeles was the last outpost of the British Empire and it made sense to explain it giving the USA setting. It did seem a random location for Torchwood institute. I liked that the three Torchwood team members were sent on a missing women case and Donoghue running an empire of capturing showgirls, essentially, was an intriguing development. He was a good villain and I liked the indication at the start that it could be a brothel. Donoghue seemingly being in league with a beastly creature was interesting but provided the alien element that required Torchwood's involvement nicely. The Torchwood team using their assets, to put it lightly, to wangle their way on the inside of Donoghue's institution was great and I liked that they didn't anticipate getting gassed, but were able to be warned about the tracker. I wasn't sure how Donoghue didn't hear that warning even though he was conversing from afar. The idea of human doll collectors and an auction for actual human women was horrific, but it was a concept that worked very well and could only occur in Torchwood in the Doctor Who universe. The idea of rarities being redheads was amusing and them injecting living plastic to prevent their artefacts as such from ageing was again ghastly! The auction itself was good and a little unbelievable but that made it work. Gabby was the funnest of the Torchwood Los Angeles team and having her flying away to safety and even crashing into the Hollywood sign with a dent was excellent. I thought it was a shame that Charley didn't make it past the adventure, and I felt their should have been more emphasis and impact on that. It should have been monumental! Overall though, this was still a strong adventure and a fun diversion for Torchwood to take.

Rating: 7/10

A Heart on Both Sides

"We offer our services wherever we go."

Writer: Rob Nisbet

Format: Audio

Released: September 2017

Series: Short Trips 7.09

Featuring: Eighth Doctor, Nyssa

Synopsis

After her medical work on Terminus, Nyssa is now the controller of a hospital ship, the Traken. As the universe burns in the crossfire of the Time War, she and her assistant travel to a planet close to Gallifrey where they are needed more than ever. A long time ago, Nyssa knew a Time Lord and understood his people. But it seems they can change...

Verdict

A Heart on Both Sides was a great Short Trips audio adventure! I must admit that when I purchased nearly every Short Trips story in the sale they had last year, this was one that intrigued me most given the permutations surrounding it. On paper, it's just so exciting to have the prospect of the Eighth Doctor and Nyssa meeting. Even without Paul McGann present, just hearing the description of their encounter was something I was longing for and I think they would have really gelled well together. I certainly wasn't expecting them to be so close as was the case in this story! As if the prospect of a Classic companion meeting a future Doctor wasn't enough, we also had the Time War involved which is fantastic to play around with. I love the idea of incorporating Nyssa into events given her medical aid knowledge and purpose in helping with her hospital ship. Naming it after her home planet is so lovely and Nyssa is just such a nice person. That definitely shone through in the half an hour or so, even here in old age and with all the dangers of the Time War she still wanted to help. I really like that from her experiences travelling in the TARDIS, Nyssa has knowledge of the Time Lords through the Doctor so seeing the side of them that takes arms in the Time War must be quite difficult for her to comprehend. Especially considering the one she was so close to is so far removed from what the War stands for. The setting of Reeve was excellent and it being close to Gallifrey geographically meant that the Time Lords wanted exclusive rights to their aid, and threatened in a dark way if they didn't get that. Nyssa using the Doctor as her baseline for the Time Lords was not going to work well here as the Time War was something else entirely. I thought the emergence of the Doctor into the story was a lot of fun with it turning out that he was actually incognito as Dr Foster and had been travelling with Nyssa for quite some time now! I imagine he had some fun watching her as a more mature woman and just helping people in need. Her reaction to finding out that he was a Time Lord was terrific and I think it's both a shame and so much fun that she never knew that he was the Doctor. I mean, he kissed her at the end and the Doctor would never do that! Isherwood was a fine character and I have to give props to Sarah Sutton's narration. She was on top form and I was impressed with how different she sounded when taking on this role. It genuinely sounded like another actress which is a huge compliment and really helped with the ease of listening. The threat of the praxis gas to Time Lords was superb and the Doctor inevitably ended up infected. Everything seemed to resolve itself fairly quickly which you need in a format this short, but it all tied up well and very neatly! Overall, a really good idea and a great use of the Time War without it taking full focus. A great listen!

Rating: 8/10

Wild Pastures

"And to think you just throw them away."

Writer: James Goss

Format: Audio

Released: April 2018

Series: Tenth Doctor Chronicles 1.03

Featuring: Tenth Doctor

Synopsis

Strange things are happening at the Wild Pastures Rest Home. When the Doctor calls on the Nobles to investigate, he doesn't expect Sylvia to be the one to step up. Soon, they're in too deep, and the Doctor and Sylvia will need all their faculties to get out alive.

Verdict

Wild Pastures was a pretty average way to continue the Tenth Doctor Chronicles! The idea of an adventure featuring the Tenth Doctor alongside Sylvia Noble is really good on paper, but I don't think it worked overly well in practice which was a bit of a shame. I'm not sure what it was, but I just found myself waiting for this one to end which is strange because there certainly were good elements. I think my main issue was just with the character of Sylvia and I found myself completely disinterested in her. I wasn't fussed on hearing her complaining at the care home and I found the whole opening sequence a little odd with nurse Smith investigating, who was of course the Doctor. If it was a time jump, it wasn't well established in my opinion. The humour that came with the Doctor turning up on the Noble footstep with a care home brochure was excellent though and it's a shame that Donna was off on holiday! Somehow during the events of Midnight perhaps? Sylvia's reaction to the Doctor bringing that was superb though with her comment about whisking Wilf off to Venus. It wasn't happening on her book! The mystery of the care home experiencing patents going missing and it only being the ones that nobody would notice was good, but it felt a little recycled. Sylvia getting herself entrapped at the Wild Pastures home was fun and the only way out was a release form from her next of kin, which in this case turned out to be Donna. And there was no sign of her! The Doctor working out that Sylvia's body clock had been fiddled with was really intriguing and more emphasis should have been centred on that. The idea of a Sarga plant and its similarities to the Varga plant is good, and suggesting it was developed on a Dalek outer colony was great, but it didn't seem the best fit in a care home. The Doctor getting infected with it was exciting though and that resulted in some memory gaps as we learned the blue fluid was leftover residue of memory extraction! That was a good concept. Sylvia lugging the Doctor around in a wheelchair was a fun image. The Doctor's memory being impacted and having him call Sylvia both Dodo and Rose was good and quite the range of memories in terms of timeframe! The Doctor's anger at Laticia being reduced to soup was probably the episode highlight and Dudman's most impressive moment. His take on the Tenth Doctor was decent throughout. The nursing staff turning out to all be clones was unexpected and their role in the end was a nice touch from Sylvia, in turning the essence into the clones and giving them full life. I didn't see that coming. It was good to follow on from them sneaking some of the extract from their employers. The main enemies of the episode weren't great to be honest and Sylvia casually dropping their name as the Joyed at the end seemed like the writer wanted to throw it in to ensure they did get a name! Overall, some very good elements but not the most memorable of adventures.

Rating: 6/10

The Androids of Tara

"You can't crown a dead prince."

Writer: David Fisher

Format: TV

Broadcast: 25 November-16 December 1978

Season: 16.04

Featuring: Fourth Doctor, Romana I, K9

Synopsis

It seems that the search for the fourth segment of the Key to Time will prove simple when Romana locates it on the planet Tara. But in a land where nothing is as it first appears, the Doctor and his companion quickly find themselves embroiled in a deadly game of kidnap, deceit and counterplot. 

It is not long before the Doctor himself is locking swords with the dastardly Count Grendel of Gracht, the finest beadsman in the kingdom, who has sinister plans for Romana...

Verdict

The Androids of Tara was a great serial! I really enjoyed this story to continue my sporadic way through the Key to Time season from the Classic era and I actually enjoyed this a lot more than I expected to. I don't think it's wrong to say that this doesn't have the greatest reputation among fans and can be something close to being forgettable, but I thoroughly enjoyed what was presented here. Starting any story with the Fourth Doctor and K9 playing chess is always a great thing from where I'm standing and the humour that comes with it is magnificent. Hearing how K9 and Romana were discussing how long it was until mate for the Doctor was terrific. K9 brings such a fun dynamic to the Doctor and Romana, even if I'm not a huge fan of her first incarnation. I liked how much she was on the ball here with the hunt for the fourth segment of the Key to Time whilst the Doctor was content with chilling for a bit as they already had half! It was nice and refreshing to have Romana locate the segment almost immediately after the TARDIS arrived on Tara, and then have the segment get taken away from her for a questionable registration. It was good that the whole serial wasn't all about that search. The society of Tara was something I really enjoyed and the political scheming that was occurring was fantastic. How that mixed with the number of androids on the planet was really intriguing and I just really liked the setting. It looked historical as far as Earth was concerned and I just thought it was fashionable. Romana I fitted in perfectly and she certainly dressed for the part. I'm not sure what to make of Romana being a lookalike to the Princess Strella. I did like how she was examined at the start and almost lost her head because of a swollen ankle when it was assumed she was an android, but that of course turned out to be far from the case. The image of the android inner workings is freaky and much the same to the famous Sarah Jane cliffhanger in The Android Invasion. It really is quite the image. K9 had such a fun role in the story and just the idea of him on a canoe is wonderful. The comedic way to finish with him just floating around after all was resolved was excellent. The power struggle between Reynart and Grendel was brilliant and I really liked the technicalities of law and the Doctor and co rushing to get the android prince on to ensure that the Kinghood would not be passed on. The sword fight that came in part four was really impressive and I liked the challenge of the Doctor taking on Tara's most famed swordsman. He relished the challenge! I thought Tom Baker was actually on top form throughout. The Taran Wood Beast at the start of the first episode is something left to be desired as it really did look laughably bad! I really was waiting for someone to unmask as it didn't look like it could be taken seriously as a creature. Thankfully, what followed was a really enjoyable serial and a great continuation of the season!

Rating: 8/10

Black Powder

"This was the best Bonfire Night ever, arresting Guy Fawkes.

Writer: Joy Wilkinson

Format: Short Story

Released: August-September 2021

Printed in: DWM 568-569

Featuring: Thirteenth Doctor, Yaz

Synopsis

Verdict

Black Powder was a great little adventure to finally give us some long overdue new content for the Thirteenth Doctor within the pages of Doctor Who Magazine! One of the biggest setbacks of the pandemic has been the temporary suspension of the comic strip within the pages of the show's magazine, and even when we were lucky enough for it to come back temporarily with Monstrous Beauty, that was a Ninth Doctor story as part of the Time Lord Victorious epic. Thankfully, we've managed to find a way around the restraints that come with the costs of a comic strip with a brand new text story! It seems an awfully long time since I have blogged a text story, but it was just terrific to get new content from the current era of the show. That does seem to have been lacking, and I'd even argue that the magazine's coverage of the current era could have been a lot more. I do hope that will change going forward as we look forward to Series 13! However, before we get there we seem to have an adventure here set after the events of Revolution of the Daleks given that there was no Graham or Ryan featured. I thought that it was very exciting for an adventure within the pages of DWM to be the most recent chronological story. Joy Wilkinson as writer is a solid choice given that she wrote The Witchfinders as well as its novelisation. She followed her theme in this story by taking the Doctor and Yaz to the past and encountering the Gunpowder Plot and Guy Fawkes! Of course, Doctor Who has tackled this before, notably with The Plotters, but having history go wrong before they'd even arrived was fun. It was a good historical setting and having the whole story from Yaz's perspective was a nice touch and something I don't think has happened in the Thirteenth Doctor era. I don't think we've had enough of Yaz from her first two series so getting an insight to her thoughts here was fantastic. I really enjoyed how she has clearly developed on her travels with the Doctor and she seemed really mature here. Bookending the story with an encounter she experienced when faced with a gun was great and the Doctor emerging at the end to reveal she had passed the test was a nice touch. The entire focus on the first and last gun was intriguing and I really felt for Schwarz with him just wanting to die. His efforts to try and concoct the Gunpowder Plot and make it successful was fantastic. Yaz getting to experience hisory was good and I liked how she still thought it was fun. The cliffhanger was good, but considering Yaz actually did get shot I thought that should have been established at the end. It was quite a shocking way to start the second part though, but the Doctor managing to fix Yaz up was nice. I thought Schwarz's older self being the one to prevent his younger self from altering the timeline and causing chaos was a good way to bring things to a close. I have to say as well, the illustrations that accompanied this adventure were sublime! They really added a lot to the story and were just great to be honest. Overall, a really good and welcomed adventure!

Rating: 8/10

Cyber-Reality: Master of Worlds

"A whole population queueing for slavery."

Writer: Matt Fitton

Format: Audio

Released: May 2018

Series: UNIT 6.04

Featuring: Kate, Osgood

Synopsis

The Cybermen are close to victory. A world under Cyber control. A new paradigm to expand the Cyber-race.

Fresh from the Time War, the Master arrives at the hour of Earth's greatest need. But he really doesn't care...

Verdict

Master of Worlds was a great story to conclude the sixth series of UNIT and the Cyber-Reality anthology! This boxset had a lot going for it with the premise of UNIT encountering both the Cybermen and the War Master, and it's fair to say that it didn't disappoint! This was such a strong series and I'm glad we concluded in strong fashion here. After an incredible set up in Code Silver, the arrival of the War Master was revealed and it didn't take Kate long to realise which Time Lord had come to help during their moment of need. The very idea of having the Master alongside the modern UNIT team was wonderful and the parallels to what we saw for much of the Third Doctor era really were delightful. We had the Master toying with Sam and Josh in a way that resembled his actions towards Yates and Benton. It was nicely done. The idea of him taking over Osgood's position as Scientific Advisor given her virtual conversion to a Cyberman was excellent and just hearing him say the words was so much fun. I'd have liked some exploration as to the reasons why the Master was in a parallel universe as it seems he still has a Time War to fight, but I do have a suspicion this may get picked up in the War Master's own series so I look forward to (hopefully) hearing that in the future. The Master mentioning that the Doctor was nowhere to be found was a nice comment as well and established the timeline for the rogue Time Lord. The subtle foreshadowing for the Master (or rather Missy) and her involvement with UNIT was good, and I also loved that we had the first use of Cyber-Master here, much before The Timeless Children. The Master discussing Kate's father, the Brigadier of course, with her was lovely and despite his history he seemed to talk of him with something akin to admiration. Having the Master actually aid UNIT in their bid to defeat the Cybermen was interesting and I liked how that highlighted just how desperate they had become. The Cybermen were en route to upgrading the multiverse so UNIT were taking any help they could get. His efforts in bringing Shindi and Sam back to normality were good and his feigning control over the Cybermen was brilliant. I thought Derek Jacobi got to be a bit more fun in the darkest Master incarnation which was nice to hear. The Cybermen, despite their superiority, took a slight back seat in this adventure with the Master present and he always seemed confident in being able to defeat them. Osgood maintaining that she was more useful and important in organic form was good and I liked how she continued to challenge the Controller. The apparent swap between her and the Master was fun and I just loved her reaction to knowing she had met the Master. Could there be a more pivotal villain to the organisation? His use of using every multiverse, including those where the Cybermen were defeated and pulverised, against them was good and a logical way to end proceedings and avert a crisis on such a big scale. Overall, a fine adventure to finish!

Rating: 8/10

Cyber-Reality: Code Silver

"You are slaved to the Cyber ideal."

Writer: Guy Adams

Format: Audio

Released: May 2018

Series: UNIT 6.03

Featuring: Kate, Osgood

Synopsis

The Cybermen are coming. Across the barriers between universes, conquering all before them. Conquering and converting.

As her troops fight a relentless enemy, Kate battles to lock down the threat. But how long can UNIT resist?

Verdict

Code Silver was an outstanding story to continue the Cyber-Reality anthology sixth series of UNIT! This really was a sensational adventure and may rank as my favourite UNIT story yet from the spinoff range. After a brilliant set up in Game Theory and Telepresence, this really did have all of the ingredients for a great episode and it certainly didn't let us down! The Cybermen arrived in emphatic style and I loved the parallels with Army of Ghosts, particularly with this episode then very much having a Doomsday feel. There was a huge amount going on and Kate acting quickly to lock down the fort showed just how seriously she took the threat of the Cybermen. Her alluding to the events of The Invasion and Silver Nemesis for past experience UNIT had against the silver foes was excellent and I loved that UNIT had a designated Code Silver for their presence and threat. I thought that was wonderful and was such a great name for the story. Kate's knowledge of the Cybermen was extensive which I really enjoyed and her mentioning of all of the different origins such as The Tenth Planet and Rise of the Cybermen/The Age of Steel as well as everything they were susceptible to from gold to acetone was a lovely throwback to several Classic adventures. Consistency is definitely not applicable to the Cybermen and the fun gag of depending on the type of Cybermen was lovely between Kate and Josh. His Auton elements initially getting him past being converted was good and I like the continuity there going back to the first UNIT series. He had a strong adventure. Osgood was magnificent in this episode where she was in the mainframe and mentally converted, and her challenging of the Cyber Controller was an absolute delight. If anyone could take on the Cybermen with logic then it was her, and she did so in incredible style. She always seemed in total control. The prospect of pitting Kate and Osgood against each other was brilliant and the frustration the latter had at the former causing the blackout was great. From the artwork, I was expecting the Cybermen we were introduced to in Nightmare in Silver, but it was clear that wasn't the case as soon as they spoke. These Cybermen were from a completely different universe which was so fun to concept and added to the enigma of different types of Cybermen. It was fun to have Shindi and Sam converted only mentally and hearing them talk in a semi-Cyber voice was terrific. It was good to have them still featured in a prominent role. Osgood trying to increase the efficiency of the Cyber invasion was marvellous and her efforts in using the Auctioneers' app was very good. I loved how she challenged the Controller on how her local knowledge and lack of being converted was useful. She almost relished that. With all going to hell and the Cybermen wreaking havoc with the fort in lockdown and blacked out, the arrival of a TARDIS was just delightful, especially when it wasn't the Doctor's! Kate's reaction to that was superb. What a way to set up the finale!

Rating: 10/10