Doctor Who Reviews2021-11-12T16:52:14+00:00RSS Feed from Doctor Who Reviewshttps://reviews.doctorwhonews.net/News in Time and Space Ltdhttp://reviews.doctorwhonews.netreviews@doctorwhonews.netGalaxy 4 (2021 Animated Release)tag:doctorwhonews.net,1999:post-dwnRev212162021-11-12T16:52:14+00:002021-11-12T16:52:14+00:00<div class="reviewsidebox"><a href="//images.doctorwhonews.net/image.php?pid=28467"><img src="//images.doctorwhonews.net/image.php?pid=28467&w=300" alt="Galexy 4 (Credit: BBC Studios)" title="Galexy 4 (Credit: BBC Studios)" /><\/a>Galaxy 4<br />
Written By: William Emms<br />
Starring William Hartnell, Maureen O'Brien, Peter Purves<br />
Released November 2021 - BBC Studios</div>
<p>I was quite pleased when they announced an animation of Galaxy 4. Not because I think it is a particularly good story (it is not), or that I even have some guilty pleasure love for it (I do not), but after a few years of animations focused primarily on the Second Doctor, it was nice to see the First doctor get a look in. I can only hope that they are secretly working on "Marco Polo" and we can get the earliest missing story animated for the 60th Anniversary year. </p>
<p>First, the story of Galaxy 4 I find to be rather average. The Chumblies are really lame robots. While I like the idea of the more attractive aliens turning out to be alien, it has been done much better elsewhere (both in and out of Doctor Who). I also think for a four-parter there is a tremendous amount of filler in this story. </p>
<p>But as for the animation? I think it is pretty good. It is certainly on par with the other recent Troughton animations. Is it the greatest animation ever? Certainly not, but with the budgets they can have they really do a really nice job of bringing these lost stories back to life, flaws and all. For this review, the colour versions were made available. I prefer black and white, as they originally aired...but then again I'd prefer the stories exist, so really none of that matters. I do think, at least with past animations I have viewed, the color versions can be vibrant, but the black and white almost make me forgive the limited nature of the animations more. Maybe that is just a quirk of my brain. That said, I think having the animations in color is nice, as really having the stories revived with this much life is pretty amazing no matter what. </p>
<p>In this story, we do have one original version currently existing, and I did watch that for some comparison, just out of curiosity. At one point in this episode, The Doctor and Vicki must escape the Chumblies, and I actually think the animation is a lot clumsier with this. In the original, they sneak behind a table to avoid detection, in the animation they just sort of walk past them and the Chumblies just seem to ignore them. It makes it seem odd. That said, they then run out of the building and a door comes down to lock Vicki in...and in the original that door looks cheap and wobbly as hell, and the animation makes it seem like a genuine barrier. </p>
<p>In all, this is a fine addition to the animated line. Is it perfect? When compared to the existing episode it seems to fall short in some areas while excelling in others. As a story I think Galaxy 4 is pretty lame and feels oddly padded for a 4-part adventure...but honestly, any Hartnell or Troughton given the animated treatment does please me, so I will take it. </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p><a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B09FFPZY1C?tag=thdowhnepa-21&linkCode=ogi&th=1&psc=1">Order Galaxy 4 from Amazon<\/a></p>Doctor Who: Dalek Universe - The Dalek Protocol (Big Finish)tag:doctorwhonews.net,1999:post-dwnRev211312021-07-23T08:19:00+01:002021-07-23T00:19:45+01:00<div class="reviewsidebox"><a href="//images.doctorwhonews.net/image.php?pid=28347"><img src="//images.doctorwhonews.net/image.php?pid=28347&w=300" alt="Doctor Who: Dalek Universe - The Dalek Protocol (Credit: Big Finish)" title="Doctor Who: Dalek Universe - The Dalek Protocol (Credit: Big Finish)" /><\/a>
<p>StarringTom Baker, Louise Jameson, John Leeson, Jane Slavin, Joe Sims, Nicholas Briggs, Jez Fielder, Anna Mitcham</p>
<p>Written by Nicholas Briggs</p>
<p>Directed by Nicholas Briggs</p>
<p>Released by Big Finish - April 2021</p>
</div>
<p>The Fourth Doctor and Leela land on Exxilon (the setting of the Third Doctor TV adventure “Death to the Daleks”) and end up stuck when a power-draining beacon, long dormant, is suddenly back. The Doctor also has his first encounter with a Space Security Service top agent, the android Mark Seven. But Mark Seven is not his usual self. </p>
<p>Meanwhile, Anya Kingdom is also on the planet hoping to redeem herself in the Doctor’s eyes, but also not reveal herself to him because he has yet to meet her at all. And the Daleks are coming to take all the medicine mined on Exxilon because they also have the Space Plague! There is a lot going on!</p>
<p>There were some moving parts to this story I did feel like I was missing. I have not had a chance to listen to all the Fourth Doctor audios, and therefore the background between Anya Kingdom and the Doctor is not known to me. But it does set up some elements of the upcoming Tenth Doctor series “Dalek Universe,” namely Mark Seven. I did enjoy it even when I was unsure who Anya was or what her relationship was to the Doctor. </p>
<p>It may be more beneficial to have the Anya background known to you before going into this one, but it was still pretty good. </p>Doctor Who: Dalek Universe 1 (Big Finish)tag:doctorwhonews.net,1999:post-dwnRev211322021-07-06T15:49:57+01:002021-07-06T16:49:57+01:00<div class="reviewsidebox"><a href="//images.doctorwhonews.net/image.php?pid=28344"><img src="//images.doctorwhonews.net/image.php?pid=28344&w=300" alt="Doctor Who: Dalek Universe 1 (Credit: Big Finish)" title="Doctor Who: Dalek Universe 1 (Credit: Big Finish)" /><\/a>
<p>Starring David Tennant, Jane Slavin, Joe Sims, Juliet Aubrey, Nicholas Briggs, Maria Teresa Creasey, Mark Gatiss, Chris Jarman, Kevin McNally, Gemma Whelan</p>
<p>Written by John Dorney & Andrew Smith</p>
<p>Directed by Ken Bentley</p>
<p>Released by Big Finish - April 2021</p>
</div>
<p>***THIS REVIEW MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS***</p>
<p>The pandemic has made so many ripples in our lives, and it has certainly affected the entertainment industry. But Big Finish may not be able to have everyone in their recording studios, but producing audio adventures just needs the actors to set up a microphone on their computer and maybe put some blankets over themselves to make the sound better. It also means that former Doctors who are also in demand actors (like Eccleston and Tennant) are suddenly more available for paid audio work. </p>
<p>Tennant’s schedule opening up allowed Big Finish to plan and record big multi-boxset adventures for the Tenth Doctor. Tennant had obviously joined Big Finish before, but his busy schedule meant he could fit in a small 3-episode boxset with Billie Piper or Catherine Tate. At any rate, releases for the Tenth Doctor have been limited and sporadic. But now that Tennant is stuck at home and needs paying work? Big Finish is able to nab him for some big stuff. </p>
<p>So here, in Buying Time, The Tenth Doctor is picked out of time, away from the TARDIS, and is somehow pulled back to before the Time War. He is quickly teamed with Anya Kingdom and Mark Seven, as they try to avoid getting eaten by invisible monsters, and try and figure out the mystery of some odd time-shifting business. This leads then to a businessman trying to sell time travel to anyone with enough money. And in the end, the Doctor gets fatally hurt…and begins to regenerate? You know it can’t be real because we all know what really happened, but maybe the timeline is completely messed up! At least it is fun. </p>
<p>The story picks up just as we left off in The Wrong Woman, in which the Doctor regenerates into a new female form. Anya and Mark struggle to keep this new Doctor on track in investigating Sheldrake, the man selling time travel (who somehow has a TARDIS powering his business). The big reveal and I just need to again warn of Spoilers, is that this new Doctor is not really the Doctor at all, but a female incarnation of the Meddling Monk, who tied the Doctor up and pretended to be him, then faked a regeneration so she could look like herself. </p>
<p>I don’t know if casting Mark Gattis as Sheldrake was a good move or not. As a villain using a TARDIS for a time destroying scheme, I kept expecting him to be the Master. But that wasn’t the case, and then the casting began to annoy me. </p>
<p>The set comes to an end with The House of Kingdom, which has the trio looking for the inventor of the Space Security Service time machine, hoping it would give the Doctor a route back to his own time and TARDIS, but after a pirate attack, they flee in an escape pod and end up rescued by Merrick Kingdom, Anya’s estranged grandfather. This one focuses more on the interpersonal conflict between Anya and her grandfather, but also has Mechonoids and Varga Plants being used to create a sort of weapon which could maybe be used to take out Dalek helpers like Ogrons or Robomen. But as you expect things get sticky. After things get really haywire, Merrick sacrifices himself to save Anya, and the trio is once again heading off with at least more info into who they need to find. Will they make it? A cliffhanger means it will likely be difficult!</p>
<p>I really liked this set. I was concerned that it was just another big Dalek heavy boxset or story. We’ve barely wrapped up the Time Lord Victorious story, and we are already plunging the Tenth Doctor into another big-time shenanigan Dalek-filled adventure? But that isn’t the case, the Daleks barely feature at all. It is, as was stated in the Behind the Scenes, more of a tribute to the various worlds created by Terry Nation within the Doctor Who Universe…so really any story he wrote are getting a chance to shine, not just his most famous creation. And that really works. The set is exciting and fun, and I enjoy the dynamics of this new trio. I look forward to more. </p>The Tenth Doctor and River Song (Big Finish)tag:doctorwhonews.net,1999:post-dwnRev210862021-03-23T21:04:09+00:002021-03-23T21:04:09+00:00<div class="reviewsidebox"><a href="//images.doctorwhonews.net/image.php?pid=28265"><img src="//images.doctorwhonews.net/image.php?pid=28265&w=300" alt="The Tenth Doctor and River Song (Credit: Big Finish)" title="The Tenth Doctor and River Song (Credit: Big Finish)" /><\/a>
<p>Starring David Tennant, Alex Kingston, Peter Davison, Colin Baker, Mina Anwar, Sam Benjamin, Timothy Bentinck, Joe Jameson, Barnaby Kay, Glen McCready, Anjli Mohindra, Joe Sims, Emma Swan</p>
<p>Written by James Goss, Lizzie Hopley, and Jonathan Morris</p>
<p>Directed by Nicholas Briggs</p>
<p>Released by Big Finish - November 2020</p>
</div>
<p>River Song made her debut on TV alongside David Tennant’s Tenth Doctor, but the two-parter in which he first meets her (but as we all know is not when she first met him) would be their only adventure together. Tennant left the role not long after, and the bulk of her adventures under showrunner Steven Moffat would be with the Eleventh Doctor (and a single adventure with the Twelfth as well). Of course, her whirlwind timey-wimey adventures with the Doctor have now extended beyond TV and even without the Doctor, as she leads her own series on Big Finish. But the stars have finally aligned, and now we get a boxset exploring the Tenth Doctor and River together. This is basically the early days of the two having any sort of adventures together. She is very familiar with him, but he still has no idea who she is, or how he should feel about this alleged friend from his future. </p>
<p>This dynamic is perfectly explored in the opening adventure <b><i>Expiry Date</i></b>, in which the Doctor is basically trying like hell to avoid getting sucked into any of River’s misadventures. The bulk of this story is told via letters between the two, as she tries to coax him into some shady sound scheme, and he writes back continually declining. Unfortunately, some of her letters end up mixed up, and her plan to get the Doctor to be more interested backfires when the Fifth Doctor ends up slightly obsessed with her. This is a fun and light comedy to launch the set with, with both Kingston and Tennant chewing it up. They have few moments actually together here, but the idea that the Doctor is trying to avoid the friendship developing makes so much sense from his point of view. Hell even the first time she appeared alongside the Eleventh Doctor he initially tried to avoid falling into her plans. </p>
<p>The second story, <b><i>Precious Annihilation</i></b>, feels like the weak link of the set. It isn’t a total waste of time, but I did find myself less interested in the overall story. That said, Tennant and Kingston play well off each other, and I would happily listen to more adventures exploring this dynamic because even in this mediocre story, they are a fun pair together. </p>
<p>The set closes out with <b><i>Ghosts</i></b>. The Doctor is summoned by River to a planet full of ghosts, or are they just holograms...and there is a mist that is somehow killing everyone and turning them into ghosts. Although I don’t want to get too deep into it, as to not spoil the fun, I rather enjoyed the concepts in this one. I felt it built up nicely and had a satisfying end, with a lot of neat ideas scattered throughout. </p>
<p>I must say this is a part of River’s story I have long wanted to explore just a little bit. It is very clear that while <i>her </i>Doctor is very much the Eleventh when she saw the Tenth Doctor she had clearly spent time with him. Had Tennant stayed on for even a single year when Moffat took over and the River storyline could really unfold, we may have had a chance to see that. But as it was, we only had that one adventure between the two, and only seeing her ending with the Tenth Doctor feels like we are missing a crucial part of the story, his earliest encounters with her, her final encounters with him, and knowing that when she is saying goodbye to him, she knew that face well. I like getting a taste of it...here is hoping for more. </p>The War Master: Hearts of Darkness (Big Finish)tag:doctorwhonews.net,1999:post-dwnRev210842021-03-03T20:45:27+00:002021-03-03T20:45:27+00:00<div class="reviewsidebox"><a href="//images.doctorwhonews.net/image.php?pid=28257"><img src="//images.doctorwhonews.net/image.php?pid=28257&w=300" alt="Hearts of Darkness (Credit: Big Finish)" title="Hearts of Darkness (Credit: Big Finish)" /><\/a>
<p>Writer: David Llewellyn & Lisa McMullin</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Director: Scott Handcock</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Featuring: Derek Jacobi, Paul McGann, Seán Carlsen, George Fletcher, Sam Hallion, Sandra Huggett, Alex Jordan, Luyanda Unati Lewis-Nyawo, Colin McFarlane, Tanya Moodie, Henry Nott, Julia Sandiford, Amanda Shodeko</p>
<p>Big Finish Release (United Kingdom)</p>
<p>Released: October 2020</p>
<p>Running Time: 5 hours</p>
</div>
<p>I have found that when it comes to Big Finish, and maybe just anything Doctor Who related, the things I am looking forward to most are the next instalments for the Eighth Doctor and the War Master. I have long enjoyed McGann’s interpretation of the Doctor...but the evil machinations of Derek Jacobi’s War Master have been really great to listen to. Luckily, we get the two brought together again here in this latest <b><i>War Master </i></b>set. I can say I recommend the set, but if you want some more details I will have some SPOILERS AHEAD:</p>
<p>The set begins with the Master being tasked by the Celestial Intervention Agency with tracking down and capturing the Doctor, who is allegedly up to something the Time Lords are frowning upon. In the opener <b><i>The Edge of Redemption</i></b>, the Master begins his search by putting together a ragtag team to get to a remote planet and find the Doctor, but in order for the pilot to take the Master there, they must steal back his ship. This is essentially a simple heist story, but it is a great way to launch the story and introduce the new characters. </p>
<p>The Master and his pilot are on the way to the Doctor but are boarded by Space Pirates. The leader of the Pirates wants to kill the Master as he played a heavy role in her downfall. This episode, titled <b><i>The Scaramancer</i></b> after the lead pirate, ends in a great big twist. I had been thinking that usually in the War Master sets, he plays the good guy for a good chunk until it no longer serves his purpose, but even then you can usually tell he is scheming. I had this weird sense that he was seemingly being too good this time around and that maybe Big Finish was starting to make him seem too much like the Doctor, they were lacking that underlying sense of evil that usually comes with the character. And then they drop the bombshell...he isn’t the Master at all...but the Doctor. </p>
<p>The third episode, <b><i>The Castle of Kurnos 5</i></b>, goes back and explains how the Doctor ended up looking like the Master. In essence, the Master is planning to get some sort of grand weapon created by a long-dead crazy Time Lord scientist, so the Master resurrects his mind on a planet where the Time Lord once set up shop, but the Doctor is on his tail trying to figure out what he is up to. But the Doctor snooping around was all a part of the Master’s plan. He intended for the Doctor to find him, swap bodies with him, which while the Time Lords wouldn’t be fooled for long, would at least give the Master enough time to get away and make his way to the weapon. </p>
<p>The set closes with <b><i>The Cognition Shift </i></b>which has the Doctor (in the Master’s body) finally catching up to the Master (in the Doctor’s body) and finding a way to put a stop to the Master’s evil plan...which is one of his bigger and more mad ideas. The true joy of this finale is McGann having a go at playing the Master, while Jacobi gets a chance at the Doctor. Both are always so good in their usual roles, it is no real surprise that they can also nail swapping them for an episode. </p>
<p>Honestly, I don’t think a Big Finish series has been more consistently good than the <b><i>War Master</i></b>. I love McGann as the Doctor but even I can admit that his sets and ongoing stories aren’t always top-notch. I usually end up liking them for nothing more than his portrayal as the Doctor. But the stories in the War Master sets have been so fantastic. The evil of the Master showcases the horrors of the Time War far better than the Time War sets focused on the Doctor can. Even the John Hurt sets had to keep the Doctor firmly in the role of hero, but having an utterly evil bastard at the heart of the Time War makes the stories far more engaging than any other foray Big Finish has had into that era of the Doctor Who lore. I can’t recommend this enough. </p>Masterful (Big Finish)tag:doctorwhonews.net,1999:post-dwnRev210812021-02-19T10:10:00+00:002021-02-19T01:11:26+00:00<div class="reviewsidebox"><a href="//images.doctorwhonews.net/image.php?pid=28179"><img src="//images.doctorwhonews.net/image.php?pid=28179&w=300" alt="Masterful (Credit: Big Finish)" title="Masterful (Credit: Big Finish)" /><\/a>
<p>Writer: James Goss, Geoffrey Beevers, Simon Guerrier, Trevor Baxendale</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Director: Lisa Bowerman, Nicholas Briggs, Ken Bentley</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Featuring: Geoffrey Beevers, Mark Gatiss, Michelle Gomez, Derek Jacobi, Eric Roberts, John Simm, Alex Macqueen, Milo Parker, Jon Culshaw</p>
<p>Big Finish Release (United Kingdom)</p>
<p>Released: January 2021</p>
<p>Running Time: 4 Hours (Standard Edition)</p>
<p>8 Hours (Limited Edition)</p>
</div>
<p>It has been 50 years since the Master made his first appearance in <b><i>Terror of the Autons</i></b>, and as such, the character is being celebrated by Big Finish in a big way. Almost every incarnation of the Master still alive comes together in the story “<b><i>Masterful</i></b>.”</p>
<p>Before we begin, can we just discuss how difficult it can be to discuss multiple versions of the Master? With the Doctor, we have definitive numbers, but the Master never really got that. This issue is only complicated by the multiple Masters from spin-off media where their placement in the timeline is not always clear. Sure there is the “War Master” and “Missy” but do we call Simm “Saxon”? I will likely just use the actor’s name to help clarify which incarnation is being discussed, with the War Master and Missy being possible exceptions. </p>
<p>At any rate, this story involves the Simm Master bringing several of his past incarnations together, as he claims he has finally won and is the ruler of the universe. Missy shows up and is bent on exposing him to be just as big a failure as the rest of them, and scatters the Masters in time. But they all seem to land somewhere connected to the same planet and event. </p>
<p>All of the Masters together is really what this is all about. Almost all the TV Masters (up to Missy) are represented with Beevers, Simm, Jacobi, Gomez, and Roberts reprising their roles. The Ainley Master is brought to life (sort of) by Jon Culshaw. Delgado’s Master does not appear, as the Time Scoop meant for him has accidentally taken Jo Grant instead (well...he did PUSH her into it). In addition to those incarnations, we also get two Big Finish originals: the Alex Macqueen Master who appeared alongside McGann a few years ago and the Mark Gatiss Master from an Alternate Universe (from the Unbound series from even longer ago). Milo Parker also appears as the first incarnation of the Master, who is still a teen and hasn’t quite gone completely evil yet. </p>
<p>Having all these Masters bounce off of each other is the real joy. I must say I find the meta-humour that comes with Missy doesn’t always work for me. Too often the joke seems to be “boy I sure am an evil mustache twirler, huh?” and it feels like it is always undercutting the character’s impact. At least they tried to do something more with her in Series 10, but in general, this was her characterization. Too self-aware for my tastes. I could’ve used more Simm in the story, as I think he is a great incarnation. Give me a boxset with him battling Tennant or even a later incarnation! For my money, the best story for any Master once they are separated is the Beevers version. His tortured and decaying body, constantly in pain but somehow finding some form of possible happiness? That is interesting stuff. </p>
<p>As a standalone story celebrating the Master? This is good stuff. It showcases what a varied character he has been throughout his many portrayals over the years. It is a shame that Delgado and Ainley are both gone, it would be so nice if they could be better represented...but having Katy Manning there is a nice way to nod to Delgado, and Culshaw’s impression is pretty dead on. But I think this is a good story to celebrate 50 Years of Obeying the Master. </p>
<p>If you are considering opting for the Limited Edition version of this story, you get three bonus stories - two previously released Short Trips, and a new three-part enhanced audiobook that takes place in the UNIT years and features the Delgado Master. </p>
<p>The First Short Trip, titled <i><b>I</b></i><b><i> Am the Master</i></b> and is written and read by Geoffrey Beevers, as he details a bit about himself and one of his many schemes. Beevers is really good in the role, and it makes me wish we got a bit more of him on TV. I like Ainley and all...but Beevers could have been great with more time in the role. The Second Short Trip, <b><i>The Switching</i></b> is about the Delgado Master, still imprisoned by UNIT after the Daemons, managing to perform a body swap with the Doctor, hoping to escape Earth and leave the Doctor trapped in a prison cell to pay for the Master’s crimes. It’s a fun little story. The boxset comes to an end with the three-part <b><i>Terror of the Master</i></b> read by Jon Culshaw. It’s a solid adventure that feels very much in tone with the era in which the Master originated. I could easily picture this story as a TV story in that era. And as a tribute to Delgado and the era that invented the Master...I think it is fitting. </p>
<p>This is a big boxset with a lot of content to enjoy. If you enjoy the Master, Big Finish has given the character quite the tribute. I think if you are curious which version to get, I would say most fans would get plenty out of the standard edition version. The <b><i>Masterful</i></b> story is more than enough to satisfy the craving for a Master tribute. <b><i>Terror of the Master</i></b> is enjoyable enough, but if you want a fitting tribute to the original Master? It may honestly be just as well to just watch a classic serial featuring Delgado. His debut season is soon to be released on blu-ray, pick that up instead. The two Short Trips are both older releases and you can pick them both up now for about $5. But I do recommend fans of the Master give <b><i>Masterful</i></b> a shot...it is a nice way to celebrate the Master’s big milestone. </p>Time Lord Victorious: Genetics of the Daleks (Big Finish)tag:doctorwhonews.net,1999:post-dwnRev210752021-02-05T08:08:00+00:002021-01-31T21:08:33+00:00<div class="reviewsidebox"><a href="//images.doctorwhonews.net/image.php?pid=28235"><img src="//images.doctorwhonews.net/image.php?pid=28235&w=300" alt="Time Lord Victorious: Genetics of the Daleks (Credit: Big Finish)" title="Time Lord Victorious: Genetics of the Daleks (Credit: Big Finish)" /><\/a>
<p>Writer: Jonathan Morris</p>
<p>Director: Jamie Anderson</p>
<p>Featuring: Tom Baker, Nicholas Briggs, Pippa Haywood, Joseph Kloska, Clive Mantle, Andrew James Spooner, & Nina Toussaint-White</p>
<p> </p>
<p><b>Big Finish Release (United Kingdom)</b></p>
<p>Released December 2020</p>
Running Time: 1 hour</div>
<p>The Fourth Doctor gets in on the Time Lord Victorious action, sort of. This story does feature Daleks but in terms of the TLV business, that is mostly used as a warning of what the Doctor can become. This is not really an adventure where time is askew or involves some ancient creature from the Dark Times...but it does feature a Dalek telling the Fourth Doctor of what kind of person he may potentially come...the Time Lord Victorious. </p>
<p>Tom Baker is quite good here. I remember when he was first returning to the role on audio, I felt he still had it but you could tell he was so much older than when he was the Doctor on screen. I’ve not had the pleasure of listening to all of his output since he began reprising, but based on this? He has really settled back into the role perfectly...and sounds as if we were back in 1976.</p>
<p>In the end, there isn’t much to say about this one. It is yet another slick production from Big Finish, with a great performance from an all-time classic Doctor, and (of course) the Daleks. It feels very disconnected from the Time Lord Victorious series (despite actually name dropping Time Lord Victorious), and can easily be enjoyed as just another fun Tom Baker/Dalek adventure. </p>Time Lord Victorious: Mutually Assured Destruction (Big Finish)tag:doctorwhonews.net,1999:post-dwnRev210742021-02-02T08:05:00+00:002021-01-31T21:05:52+00:00<div class="reviewsidebox"><a href="//images.doctorwhonews.net/image.php?pid=28234"><img src="//images.doctorwhonews.net/image.php?pid=28234&w=300" alt="Time Lord Victorious: Mutually Assured Destruction (Credit: Big Finish)" title="Time Lord Victorious: Mutually Assured Destruction (Credit: Big Finish)" /><\/a>
<p>Writer: Lizzie Hopley</p>
<p>Director: Scott Handcock</p>
<p>Featuring: Paul McGann, Nicholas Briggs, Samantha Béart, and Wilf Scolding</p>
<p><b>Big Finish Release (United Kingdom)</b></p>
<p>Released December 2020</p>
Running Time: 1 hour</div>
<p>Big Finish closes out their “Eighth Doctor Trilogy” for the Time Lord Victorious event (though he will make one more audio appearance in “Echoes of Extinction” which will also feature the Tenth Doctor), and it is a decent story. The Eighth Doctor is still stuck with the Daleks, though they don’t initially seem aware he is on their ship. They are trying to connect the TARDIS to their time ship. </p>
<p>It is basically the Doctor trying to get the best of the Daleks in their own ship, trying to save a couple survivors of a planet they wiped out as well (who also allude to a “Dark One”)...and the Strategist is still trying to make deals with the Doctor while increasingly butting heads with the Time Commander. </p>
<p>I enjoyed this story. Not so much for being a part of a larger “event” but because it was a fun adventure with the Eighth Doctor and the Daleks. McGann is, as always, a fun Doctor to listen to. And while the Daleks have certainly had more than their fair share of stories with him in recent years (from the end of his Lucie Miller adventures through Dark Eyes, and more recently in the Time War series), Big Finish still knows how to execute a good Dalek story. </p>
<p>Granted it still feels like we are teetering on the edge of whatever the Time Lord Victorious story is all about...the bigger picture feels sort of lost on me at this point, with all stories I have thus far taken in feeling like they are hinting at or building to something else. It is now beginning to feel like everyone contributing is trying so hard to keep the audience from being alienated, trying to make it clear enough as to not need other material, that in the end, it is feeling less like a big interconnected story, and more like random adventures that may share some story elements. </p>
<p>Maybe at some point, I will be able to dive deep enough into all the TLV stuff that it will all make sense and feel very exciting. I look forward to that moment. </p>Time Lord Victorious: Short Trips: Master Thief / Lesser Evils (Big Finish)tag:doctorwhonews.net,1999:post-dwnRev210732021-02-01T08:03:00+00:002021-01-31T21:03:48+00:00<div class="reviewsidebox"><a href="//images.doctorwhonews.net/image.php?pid=28233"><img src="//images.doctorwhonews.net/image.php?pid=28233&w=300" alt="Master Thief / Lesser Evils (Credit: Big Finish)" title="Master Thief / Lesser Evils (Credit: Big Finish)" /><\/a>
<p>Written by Sophie Iles & Simon Guerrier </p>
<p>Directed by Lisa Bowerman</p>
<p>Narrated by Jon Culshaw</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Big Finish Release (United Kingdom)</p>
<p>Released: October 2020</p>
<p>Running Time: 80 Minutes</p>
</div>
<p>The Master, two incarnations actually, gets in on the Time Lord Victorious action via this Big Finish release featuring two Short Trips, both read by Jon Culshaw. The first features the Delgado version of the Master, while the second follows the Ainley version. </p>
<p>In the first tale, “Master Thief,” the Master has stolen the de-evolution weapon featured prominently in the second Eighth Doctor TLV story, “Enemy of My Enemy,” and now is inflicting it on several people on a planet, but as he does so he begins to lose his edge. Disintegrating his enemies into a pile of primitive ooze has somehow softened him, and it ultimately leads to his downfall. </p>
<p>The second story, “Lesser Evils” has less focus on action and the Master ripping through anyone in his way, and is a far smaller character piece. The Master is quietly defending a race from the Koturrah...but why? </p>
<p>I enjoyed both of these short little entries, though I am unsure how important they are to the overall Time Lord Victorious story. Then again with every entry trying hard to not rely too much on other media in the story, who is to say what is very important to the whole thing? Culshaw is a solid narrator, his versions of each Master is good (his Ainley is very good, and while his Delgado doesn’t sound perfect, he captures something of the essence). For quick bite-sized adventures in this big arc, they are worth your time. </p>Doctor Who Comic #2 (Titan Comics)tag:doctorwhonews.net,1999:post-dwnRev210582021-01-27T12:42:12+00:002021-01-27T12:42:12+00:00<div class="reviewsidebox"><a href="//images.doctorwhonews.net/image.php?pid=28231"><img src="//images.doctorwhonews.net/image.php?pid=28231&w=300" alt="Doctor Who Comic #2 (Credit: Titan)" title="Doctor Who Comic #2 (Credit: Titan)" /><\/a>
<p>Writer: Jody Houser</p>
<p>Artist: Roberta Ingranata</p>
<p>Colourist: Enrica Eren Angiolini</p>
<p>34 Pages</p>
<p>Published by Titan Comics - December 2020</p>
</div>
<p>The second instalment of Titan Comics’ latest Doctor Who comic picks up where we left off, with the Thirteenth Doctor still jailed with the Fam and (as well as) Pete and Jackie Tyler, and the Tenth Doctor arriving to this alternate version of Rose, who does not recognize him. He slowly gets on her good side and gets her to join him in the TARDIS so they can fix what has gone wrong with time. For example, Rose has a happy picture with her family, one that doesn’t even make sense in their current reality being dominated by Sea Devils. </p>
<p>For the Thirteenth, she tries to get within the good graces of Pete and Jackie, hoping to uncover some answers as to how this history has unfolded. They are rescued from the jail by a Skithra, one of the nasty bug alien people from the Tesla episode in Series 12, but this Skithra isn’t nearly as evil. They all pile into their respective TARDIS and take off to try and find the source of the time deviation. Sadly...both TARDIS begin to crash into each other or converge within the Vortex! </p>
<p>Cliffhanger time! Will they all survive? Well, yes. Obviously. But it should be fun to find out what happens next. </p>
<p>This is a definite “middle episode.” One that needs to build up to the conclusion, but doesn’t have a ton of interesting details. It is a solid read, but I look forward to having the full story. </p>Time Lord Victorious: The Enemy of My Enemy (Big Finish)tag:doctorwhonews.net,1999:post-dwnRev210632021-01-20T09:46:00+00:002021-01-19T23:46:19+00:00<div class="reviewsidebox"><a href="//images.doctorwhonews.net/image.php?pid=28222"><img src="//images.doctorwhonews.net/image.php?pid=28222&w=300" alt="The Enemy of My Enemy (Credit: Big Finish)" title="The Enemy of My Enemy (Credit: Big Finish)" /><\/a>
<p>Writer: Tracy Ann Baines</p>
<p>Director: Scott Handcock</p>
<p>Featuring: Paul McGann, Nicholas Briggs, Rachel Atkins, Samantha Béart, Jacob Dudman, Raj Ghatak</p>
<p> </p>
<p><b>Big Finish Release (United Kingdom)</b></p>
<p>Released November 2020</p>
Running Time: 1 hou</div>
<p>The second Big Finish instalment of Time Lord Victorious seems to play in that specific sandbox a little more than the first outing. This one has it all, Daleks trying to work with the Doctor, timelines all askew…and the Doctor caught in the middle. </p>
<p>The story has the Doctor held prisoner by the Daleks and forced to help them. This is essentially the same set up that the Titan Comics story had. This time the Daleks claim to want to go in peace with a race of aliens from a planet that is meant to be a barren wasteland. The people of this planet have a genocide weapon that wipes out a whole race by breaking them down into cells and letting them evolve from scratch. It is pretty clear that the Daleks plan of coming in peace is just a ruse to get at this ultimate weapon. </p>
<p>This is maybe the first time in my experience with the Victorious stories that I have felt it was losing me. Don’t get me wrong, it is a well-produced adventure, with plenty of good story elements...but I think despite the idea that the multi-media event is something new and grand...a lot of it feels fairly typical Doctor Who. Planets and Civilizations that shouldn’t be there, timeline shenanigans, crazy sci-fi weapons that need to be stopped and...Daleks. Big Finish is good at producing Dalek stories, but they’ve become a tad old hat. Not only have they had a constant presence on TV (they’ve not missed an appearance, even a brief one, in a single series since 2005), and on Big Finish they have faced off with the Eighth Doctor a lot. </p>
<p>This is a solid adventure, well-produced and acted, a decent entry in the overall Time Lord Victorious event. The only problem is that in general, I am seeing a trend with the Time Lord Victorious. It is starting to just feel like standard Doctor Who with a fancy label on the cover. I’m curious to see where they take it, but so far it doesn’t feel like it is going in any incredible new direction. I found myself not as invested this time around, but it isn’t bad by any standard. </p>Doctor Who Comic #1 (Titan Comics)tag:doctorwhonews.net,1999:post-dwnRev210352021-01-17T21:40:38+00:002021-01-17T21:40:38+00:00<div class="reviewsidebox"><a href="//images.doctorwhonews.net/image.php?pid=28220"><img src="//images.doctorwhonews.net/image.php?pid=28220&w=300" alt="Doctor Who Comic #1 (Credit: Titan)" title="Doctor Who Comic #1 (Credit: Titan)" /><\/a>
<p>Writer: Jody Houser</p>
<p>Artist: Roberta Ingranata</p>
<p>Colourist: Enrica Eren Angiolini</p>
<p>35 Pages</p>
<p>Published by Titan Comics - November 2020</p>
</div>
<p>It has been a while. The Thirteenth Doctor’s comic book kicked off it’s second year in January with a Tenth Doctor team-up also featuring Martha Jones and the Weeping Angels. This story lasted 4 issues and after it wrapped up...it ended on a cliffhanger. Then the pandemic was in full swing and I didn’t see another issue. In the meantime, the team behind the Thirteenth Doctor comics was tasked with the Titan entry for the Time Lord Victorious story. Hidden in there was also talk of this new line of comics, not labelled to a specific Doctor, but more generically as “Doctor Who Comic.” I saw that this seemed to be another Thirteenth and Tenth Doctor team-up...but I did not realize that this was basically a total rebrand for the series and that the Thirteenth Doctor comic, as it was previously known, is no more. And this was so badly reported, that I genuinely did not know that this was a rebrand and direct continuation. </p>
<p>But I am glad to see the continuation is here, as I wanted to see the follow up to that cliffhanger. As we left off, the Doctor has taken the fam back to their own time and place, but it is now an apocalyptic nightmare. Turns out that the Sea Devils are ruling the place, and have possibly done so for a long time...so time is all out of whack. Helping to resist the Sea Devils? Rose Tyler! And when the Doctor and co. get locked up, they find Jackie and Pete Tyler as well. The issue ends with the Tenth Doctor’s arrival, finding that Rose doesn’t even recognize him or the TARDIS. Time is really messed up. </p>
<p>It is a decent start to a new story, but it is really odd that they are still doing a team-up between the Thirteenth and Tenth Doctor. Titan now has not printed a solo Thirteenth Doctor adventure since Christmas 2019. This might be more fun if she could bounce off of different incarnations, but she is constantly paired with the Tenth. She even showed up in the Time Lord Victorious comic. These stories are fine, but it seems like they’ve decided that she can’t stand on her own?</p>
<p>Does the rebranding from being a specifically Thirteenth Doctor to just generically “Doctor Who Comic” mean that they can vary up which Doctors will star in an issue, or is this now the Thirteenth and Tenth team-up comic now? </p>
<p>This is a good start to the new story. Shame that the Thirteenth can’t have her own comic anymore (it seems), but I am interested to see where this goes.</p>The Eighth Doctor: The Time War Series 4 (Big Finish)tag:doctorwhonews.net,1999:post-dwnRev210342021-01-06T08:11:00+00:002021-01-06T19:10:57+00:00<div class="reviewsidebox"><a href="//images.doctorwhonews.net/image.php?pid=28204"><img src="//images.doctorwhonews.net/image.php?pid=28204&w=300" alt="The Time War - Series 4 (Credit: Big Finish)" title="The Time War - Series 4 (Credit: Big Finish)" /><\/a>
<p>Writer: John Dorney, Lisa McMullin, Matt Fitton</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Director: Helen Goldwyn</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Featuring: Paul McGann, Rakhee Thakrar, Terry Malloy, Adele Anderson, Isla Blair, and Nicholas Briggs</p>
<p>Big Finish Release (United Kingdom)</p>
<p>Released: September 2020</p>
<p>Running Time: 5 hours</p>
</div>
<p>In the fourth volume of the Eighth Doctor’s adventures hovering around the edge of the Time War, he ends up in an alternate universe, deals with multiple versions of Davros, has a total loss of memory of who the Daleks are, before getting caught up in the midst of a Dalek Civil War. It is, in short, another winner of a boxset from Big Finish, who have been really nailing the time War saga throughout their various sets and series. Ahead will likely be SPOILERS, but if you are wondering whether this instalment is worth your time if you have enjoyed the Time War series thus far, this is on par if not better than many of the instalments. </p>
<p>****POSSIBLE SPOILERS AHEAD****</p>
<p>The set begins with <b><i>Palindrome, Part 1</i></b> Davros living peacefully, married to a Thal, and working on his scientific endeavours, such as an interdimensional portal that can maybe let folks travel between other universes. But his happy little world is quickly disrupted when Daleks attack. He and his wife are killed...but he awakes anyhow, but it is a day earlier than it was. And he gets killed one way or another each day, only to awake another day earlier. The Doctor and Bliss are there, and they try their best to help this version of Davros, but that is difficult when they are travelling through time in opposite directions. And when Davros meets, well, Davros (a version who seems far closer to what we all know) he is convinced that it may be the Doctor and Bliss who are in the wrong. </p>
<p><b><i>Palindrome, Part 2</i></b> shows what happens when Davros is merged with all the alternate universe variations of himself, as planned out by the Dalek Time Strategist, and he begins moving forward in time again. The Time Strategist is plotting to restore the Daleks, who were nearly beaten in “our” universe...and his plan is to use this dimensional portal to merge all Daleks from every universe to supply Daleks with an endless supply of Daleks. Blow up one Dalek and a new one will pop in its place. Obviously not an ideal situation. </p>
<p>Beyond all that plot, that is honestly difficult to summarize with its wonky time mechanics, the heart of this episode is Terry Malloy’s latest performance as Davros. He starts off playing a perfectly innocent Davros from another universe, one that never grew up in an endless war, that never grew to despise Thals, one that was never injured and required the use of a travel machine, that never had hate that grew so deep, and certainly never had a need to create Daleks. This Davros is just a nice guy, married and happily working on his own, more peaceful scientific endeavours. But after he is merged with Davros from various alternate timelines, he struggles to maintain his peaceful nature. He wants the Daleks to not hate indiscriminately...but he is slowly losing his own sense of self. His merger leaves him just as disfigured and in need of a chair as the Davros we all know, and while he tries to remember who he was, his hate for Thals starts to shine through. By the end, he is utterly lost, ordering the death of his own alternate self and wife (again timey-wimey business is about here). Malloy plays it perfectly, from his innocent version, through his struggles losing his sense of self, until he is finally just the evil Davros we have always known.</p>
<p>After such a big epic opening, the set could lose some lustre going forward. How do you maintain that level? Luckily while the third story is certainly smaller and scale and intensity, it is still quite good, and leads directly into the big conclusion. In <b><i>Dreadshade</i></b> the Doctor and Bliss return to their own universe, but their memories are faulty. They don’t remember who each other are. They can remember their names and whether they are human or Time Lord...they have some basics, but there are huge swaths of their memory that are missing. Unfortunately, this is the case for almost everyone they meet. </p>
<p>Before the mass memory loss, the Twelve was placed inside a Time Lord weapon vault and is in stasis. In there with her was a Dreadshade, a creature that can be trained to fear a specific thing and then when it is confronted with enough of that very thing will wipe it all out. It was trained for Daleks, but when the Daleks were wiped out and forgotten, the Dreadshade forgot what it was afraid of...and the Twelve has trained it to fear Time Lords. While the Doctor and Time Lords slowly figure this out, they are also having the sense that the Time War has finally ended, whatever their enemy is...is finally gone. Then the Doctor and Bliss remember the warning they were coming with. The Daleks aren’t just coming back. They are coming back with a vengeance. </p>
<p>Everything closes up <b><i>Restoration of the Daleks</i></b>, as the Time Strategist schemes to use Davros to restore the Daleks and then eliminate him, restoring the Emperor as well. It basically leads to a sped-up version of Dalek history. Davros helps create them, some turn on him over his purity, the Emperor is created and the Daleks follow his word, but then Davros convinces some Daleks to follow him instead, it leads into civil war...it isn’t what the Strategist hoped for. The Doctor and gang are able to destroy the Dimensional Portal and stop the Strategist’s endless Dalek scheme. The Daleks lock up Davros on the order of the Emperor, who believes there is still some use to be had from Davros. This pleases the maniacal Davros. </p>
<p>While the Eighth Doctor is not nearly as front and centre during this set, the set does end with a cliffhanger that is very dear to that Doctor...from out of the multiverse came a stasis pod...and within that pod: his great-grandson Alex. For those struggling to remember in the long past continuity of the Eighth Doctor’s audio run, Alex was Susan’s son introduced during the Lucie Miller days, back in 2009. He first appeared in a one-off adventure in-between Eighth Doctor seasons, then played a pivotal role in the final season with Lucie Miller, being killed along with many of the Doctor’s friends. There has been a ton of material both following directly on from those losses, and the Doctor’s Time War stories are meant to be much further on in his history than any of those, but needless to say, this memory being brought back to life should bring up some very personal feelings for the Doctor going forward. </p>
<p><b><i>Time War 4</i></b> is great. Maybe the best entry for the series yet. Terry Malloy is such a key part of this boxset that it might as well have been called Davros: Time War as opposed to Eighth Doctor: Time War. If I had any complaint, it is an echo from a previous set: Bliss does not feel like a fully realized character. She just feels like “Generic Companion #342.” She is well performed but has been given no dimension by the writing, no clear characteristics that make her feel unique. She is just too blank. Four sets in? That is a shame. Beyond that? This is a hell of a set.</p>Time Lord Victorious #2 - Defender of the Daleks (Titan Comics)tag:doctorwhonews.net,1999:post-dwnRev210082020-12-23T07:56:00+00:002020-12-21T00:56:25+00:00<div class="reviewsidebox"><a href="//images.doctorwhonews.net/image.php?pid=28157"><img src="//images.doctorwhonews.net/image.php?pid=28157&w=300" alt="Time Lord Victorious #2 - Defender of the Daleks (Credit: Titan Comics)" title="Time Lord Victorious #2 - Defender of the Daleks (Credit: Titan Comics)" /><\/a>
<p>Writer: Jody Houser</p>
<p>Artist: Roberta Ingranata</p>
<p>Colourist: Enrica Eren Angiolini</p>
<p>46 Pages</p>
<p>Published by Titan Comics - October 2020</p>
</div>
<p><i><b>Defender of the Daleks</b></i> concludes here in the second part of the Titan <b><i>Time Lord Victorious</i></b> offering. The Doctor continues to work with the Daleks to stop the Hond from escaping and destroying everyone in the universe. Can the Doctor stop the Hond from destroying everything? Can he work WITH the Daleks? Even if he wins, can he still lose? It’s an entertaining story, and without getting too deep into any spoiler territory, I think this is one of writer Jody Houser’s stronger efforts. Much like the Thirteenth/Tenth Doctor team up that launched the seemingly now-dormant Thirteenth Doctor comic that she penned...this story feels far more complete and has better pacing, which was not a strength for the bulk of the Thirteenth Doctor’s “Year One” stories. </p>
<p>This is, ultimately, a fairly successful close to this segment of the cross-platform storyline that is the “Time Lord Victorious” thing. So far I have read these two Titan installments and begun listening to the Big Finish offerings...the connections between them seem loose. I understand that this is a story in which each installment needs to both fit into a larger puzzle AND stand entirely on it’s own...but as this story wrapped up, I didn’t feel like it was so much part of a larger ongoing story, as much as it was just a fairly entertaining one-off. </p>
<p>But as long as it is a good read, does that really matter much? Who cares if the larger multi-media story isn’t quite coming into view? If I was only going to read this comic, I would be satisfied as a one-off Tenth Doctor Adventure. It doesn’t leave you craving more or where it all might go next, but it is solid. In the end...that is enough. </p>Time Lord Victorious: He Kills Me, He Kills Me Not (Big Finish)tag:doctorwhonews.net,1999:post-dwnRev210092020-12-21T07:52:00+00:002020-12-21T00:52:57+00:00<div class="reviewsidebox"><img src="//images.doctorwhonews.net/image.php?pid=28156&w=300" alt="Time Lord Victorious: He Kills Me, He Kills Me Not (Credit: Big Finish)" title="Time Lord Victorious: He Kills Me, He Kills Me Not (Credit: Big Finish)" class="right" />
<div>
<p>Writer: Carrie Thompson</p>
<p>Director: Scott Handcock</p>
<p>Featuring: Paul McGann, Silas Carson, Jack DeVos, Pauline Eyre, Misha Malcolm, Martin McDougall, Melanie Stevens</p>
<p> </p>
<p><b>Big Finish Release (United Kingdom)</b></p>
<p>Released October 2020</p>
<p>Running Time: 1 hour</p>
</div>
<p> </p>
</div>
<p>Big Finish enters into the <b><i>Time Lord Victorious</i></b> game with <b><i>He Kills Me, He Kills Me Not</i></b>, which is a standard Eighth Doctor story involving heading for a vacation, stumbling into some trouble with the first people he meets, and trying to keep everyone safe from a murderous Ood, all while trying to sort out why the planet and time seem to be completely off-kilter.</p>
<p>The basic story of this feels like it has little to do with the overarching <b><i>Victorious</i></b> business, but it is more of a set up for things to come, this is mostly in the “planet where the society and art that should be there, is replaced with a wasteland and small population” background, and less to do with the main plot, which involves two young lovers trying to escape an Ood bent on murdering the lover of his employer’s daughter, because the daughter was genetically engineered to dote on the father, and not love anyone else. </p>
<p>This is, obviously, pretty standard but good ol’ fashioned Doctor Who plotting. Does it have anything to do with the Time Lord Victorious or the Daleks or any of that other stuff? Not really. But it is well-produced (I expect little else from Big Finish these days), with good performances and a decent little adventure for the always entertaining Paul McGann. </p>
<p>In the end, the Doctor saves the day and attempts to save the Ood if it promises not to kill the girl...but the TARDIS has other plans and begins to take off...the Doctor narrowly gets aboard but the Ood gets sucked into the Vortex...and then the Doctor ends up as a prisoner of the Daleks! Next adventure I presume! </p>Time Lord Victorious #1 - Defender of the Daleks (Titan Comics)tag:doctorwhonews.net,1999:post-dwnRev209142020-09-15T00:37:24+01:002020-09-15T01:37:24+01:00<div class="reviewsidebox">
<p><a href="//images.doctorwhonews.net/image.php?pid=27897"><img src="//images.doctorwhonews.net/image.php?pid=27897&w=300" alt="Time Lord Victorious #1 - Cover A (Credit: Titan )" title="Time Lord Victorious #1 - Cover A (Credit: Titan )" /><\/a><span style="font-family:sans-serif; font-size:1em">Writer: Jody Houser<br />
Artist: Roberta Ingranata</span></p>
<p>Colourist: Enrica Eren Angiolini</p>
<p>52 Pages</p>
<p>Published by Titan Comics - September 2020</p>
</div>
<p>The BBC and it’s various Doctor Who licensees have teamed up to create a multi-platform story arc, stories that span books, comics, audios and even an animated mini-series focusing on the Daleks. Beyond the usual spin-off media outlets, they are even doing more immersive entertainment adventures like Escape Rooms and Immersive Theater experiences. Allegedly, much of it is designed so you don’t need it all to enjoy the individual bits (so the comics should stand on their own without needing an audio or an Escape Room for it to all make sense). This is good, because as an American there was little chance of me getting a Dalek Awakes Escape Room anywhere near me. It seems the more immersive stuff is for UK folks only. </p>
<p>And that is fine. I could see some interest in the theater thing, but I am not terribly interested in an Escape Room. But I do love audios and comics. I wasn’t sure how much I would get into with this multimedia extravaganza. I wanted to listen to audio adventures because if it has the Eighth or Tenth Doctors, I am there. But I happened to see my digital library had a copy of Time Lord Victorious #1 (apparently subtitled “Defender of the Daleks” though I did not see that title anywhere on it), and I decided to give it a whirl. And it is so entertaining I ate it up. </p>
<p>The Tenth Doctor awakes in his TARDIS with some partial amnesia, confused as to where he has been and what he was up to, and not sure where he is going. When he lands he is surrounded by Daleks who wish to take him to the Emperor of the Daleks. He tried to escape, but no matter where he lands, the Daleks are waiting. He finally decides to see the Emperor. Turns out the Daleks want his help. It seems there is an ancient race, a race of myth, called the Hond. Like the Daleks they want to destroy all life in the universe...they even want to destroy themselves when they wipe out the rest. They intend to take out the Daleks first...and since the Doctor isn’t for all life in the universe being snuffed out he begrudgingly decides to help the Daleks. </p>
<p>I have found Jody Houser’s work on the Thirteenth Doctor to be a bit hit or miss. She has had interesting set ups but the endings have always felt rushed and unsatisfying to me. But this feels so well put together as a set-up...I just have a feeling it is going to have a solid follow-up. This is my first taste of the multi-platform story, but it has certainly captured my interest! I look forward to sampling a but more. </p>The Eighth Doctor - Stranded 1 (Big Finish)tag:doctorwhonews.net,1999:post-dwnRev208942020-08-23T09:18:00+01:002020-08-23T10:58:14+01:00<div class="reviewsidebox"><img src="//images.doctorwhonews.net/image.php?pid=27905&w=300" alt="Stranded 1 (Credit: Big Finish)" title="Stranded 1 (Credit: Big Finish)" class="right" />
<div>Writer: <b><a href="http://guide.doctorwhonews.net/person.php?name=MattFitton">Matt Fitton<\/a></b>, <b><a href="http://guide.doctorwhonews.net/person.php?name=JohnDorney">John Dorney, <\/a></b>Lisa McMullin, & David K Barnes<br />
Director: <b><a href="http://guide.doctorwhonews.net/person.php?code=14610">Ken Bentley<\/a></b></div>
<div> </div>
<div>Featuring: <b><a href="http://guide.doctorwhonews.net/person.php?name=PaulMcGann">Paul McGann<\/a></b><b><a href="http://guide.doctorwhonews.net/person.php?code=15433">, Nicola Walker<\/a></b>, <b><a href="http://guide.doctorwhonews.net/person.php?code=15662">Hattie Morahan<\/a></b>, Rebecca Root, Tom Price, & Tom Baker</div>
<p><b>Big Finish Release (United Kingdom)</b></p>
<p>Released June 2020</p>
<p>Running Time: 5 hours</p>
</div>
<p>Since at least 2007, the Eighth Doctor has been pretty much bouncing from one epic storyline to the next. His adventures with Lucie Miller began his epic journey, where he had four series styled closer in tone and style to the revived version of the series, often ending in big epic finales. This concluded with a big arc involving the Daleks and the Doctor facing great personal loss. This led directly into the 4-set series <b><i>Dark Eyes</i></b> in which the Doctor yet again battled the Daleks (and eventually the Master) across time and space. From there was the epics <b><i>Doom Coalition</i></b> and <b><i>Ravenous</i></b>. While those have been his regular ongoing adventures, he has also starred in a series of sets set later in his timeline, once again in big epic adventures during the <b><i>Time War.</i></b> Simply put, the Eighth Doctor has been put through the ringer. He has been bouncing from big giant arc to big giant arc, and now, finally...things have quieted down a bit. </p>
<p>The TARDIS has crash-landed on Earth in 2020 and has been depleted. Right now it is just a box.So the Doctor, Liv, and Helen decide to take up shelter in the Doctor’s house on Baker Street...only they have found that it has been turned into a series of flats. The Doctor being the owner has now become the Landlord. Liv and Helen have attempted to take up the main duties of maintaining the building and the financial aspects...while the Doctor becomes reclusive and obsessed with fixing up the TARDIS (currently a seemingly impossible task). Also featured is Tom Baker, who reprises his role as the mysterious Curator (from Day of the Doctor), who offers some mysterious warnings to Liv and Helen. <b><i>Lost Property</i></b> really sets the tone for this new series. It is smaller, quieter, and it is genuinely refreshing. I have enjoyed the big sets up to now, but you can only keep upping the ante so much before it becomes tiresome. This was definitely a necessary way to go at this point. </p>
<p>In the second episode,<b><i> Wild Animals</i></b>, Liv has taken up a job in a shop in order to help pay the bills why the TARDIS team is stranded on Earth. Sadly, she and her boss end up shot when a hold up goes awry. While Liv is recovering in hospital, her boss sadly doesn’t make it. The Doctor then tries to make good on not keeping his friend safe by catching the shooter. But it is something of a wake-up call for the team. They may not be in the midst of some big alien adventure with tons of explosions and lasers...but danger still lurks. And the Doctor, who has been losing hope in this environment, hopes that solving the crime will alleviate his boredom. But he doesn’t solve it. The police beat him to it. And he is finally forced to realize that he must start living...not just hiding away, wandering in the park moping. </p>
<p>The Doctor is finally put into his element in <b><i>Must-See TV</i></b> when some sort of Alien tech is attached to several TVs of his tenants that appear to be spying on them. There is also a mysterious new tenant called Mr. Bird, who is being very helpful with maintenance issues around the place...but also seems to be the cause of their alien spy tech. Also involved in this episode is Sgt Andy Davison (from Torchwood), who is acting as a sort of liaison between Torchwood and Tania. Tania is a resident of Baker Street who has begun a relationship with Liv, but also is working for Torchwood for some mysterious purpose. Torchwood seems to have her monitoring the Doctor, but she begins to suspect that who Torchwood is really after is Mr. Bird. </p>
<p>The set comes to conclusion with <b><i>Divine Intervention</i></b>, which features aliens from the future who blame the Doctor for their future plight at the hands of Earth. It is a decent conclusion, which sets up threads for where this new series may lead, and ends with both a glimmer of hope that the TARDIS will return to its former glory someday, but also makes it clear that for now, the gang are stuck where they are. </p>
<p><b><i>Stranded</i></b> is the beginning of a new chapter for the Eighth Doctor, one that is far from the universe shattering epics he has been so present in for so long. I definitely welcome this change of pace. Especially as the Eighth Doctor will continue to have his big epic adventures with Time War (which has at least one more installment coming next month). But either way, it is nice to strip things way back, and focus in on the character stuff. I really enjoyed this. It has a slower pace and less plot to keep track of...and in general it was just exactly what hte Eighth Doctor needed at this moment to keep from getting stale. </p>Doctor Who: The Thirteenth Doctor - Issue #2.4 (Titan Comics)tag:doctorwhonews.net,1999:post-dwnRev208442020-08-02T19:40:23+01:002020-08-02T20:40:23+01:00<div class="reviewsidebox"><a href="//images.doctorwhonews.net/image.php?pid=27883"><img src="//images.doctorwhonews.net/image.php?pid=27883&w=300" alt="The Thirteenth Doctor - Issue #2.4 (Credit: Titan Comics)" title="The Thirteenth Doctor - Issue #2.4 (Credit: Titan Comics)" /><\/a>
<p>Writer: Jody Houser<br />
Artist: Roberta Ingranata<br />
Colourist: Enrica Eren Angiolini</p>
<p>32 Pages</p>
<p>Published by Titan Comics - May 2020</p>
</div>
<p>The Tenth/Thirteenth Doctor team-up that has launched Year Two of the Thirteenth Doctor Titan run comes to it's big conclusion in part four...and for once Houser ends it on something of a high note instead of a wimper. The Autons and Weeping Angels stories don't really have any deeper meaning behind them, they don't seem to be working together or anything, but they do tie up things nicely. </p>
<p>The team is able to escape the Angels trying to break into the TARDIS, and trace the Nestene Consciousness to the tunnels under the Thames. They then lure the Angels into the tunnels and use the use the Angels power to send the Consciousness back in time, hopefully before plastics are around to feed off of. They then manage to trap the Angels of 1969 and trap them out in space. </p>
<p>From there they two TARDIS teams part ways, the Tenth Doctor and Martha forced back to 1969 to await their ride per Sally Sparrow's instructions...the newer team deciding to take a break from adventuring and return to Sheffield for a bit, as seeing Martha trapped in the 60s has given them a bit of pause about too much travelling. </p>
<p>But alas, a new cliffhanger! Arriving to modern day England doesn't go as planned...as their is a red sky and lightning about. Is this the work of something new, or will this tie in with the Nestene that was sent back by the Angel? </p>
<p>I had issues with the first year of the Thirteenth Doctor. Too many stories fizzled out too quickly. It seemed like just as things were beginning to get interesting, I'd get some quick fix ending that left me unsatisfied. Happily that is not the case with the first adventure of Year Two. The teaming of the Thirteenth and Tenth Doctors was fun, but the story was intriguing and for once had an ending that felt earned and not rushed. Here's hoping this momentum can continue.</p>The Monster of Peladon (BBC Audiobook)tag:doctorwhonews.net,1999:post-dwnRev208422020-07-24T02:20:00+01:002020-07-24T02:32:11+01:00<div class="reviewsidebox"><a href="//images.doctorwhonews.net/image.php?pid=27871"><img src="//images.doctorwhonews.net/image.php?pid=27871&w=300" alt="The Monster of Peladon (Credit: BBC Audio)" title="The Monster of Peladon (Credit: BBC Audio)" /><\/a><br />
Written by Terrance Dicks<br />
Read By Jon Culshaw<br />
Released by BBC Audio - March 2020<br />
Available from <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1787538052?SubscriptionId=AKIAJ6CGLNQOBRZIJCTQ&tag=thdowhnepa-21&linkCode=xm2&camp=2025&creative=165953&creativeASIN=1787538052">Amazon UK<\/a></div>
<p>Despite my love for the Third Doctor era of the show, I was never a big fan of the Peladon adventures. I found the stories underwhelming and Alpha Centauri to be an annoying shrieking character in a lame alien costume. Those were my main takeaways, and since I haven’t ever revisited since my initial viewing, it is really all I have to go on. Something of a vague memory. Someday, when the blu-ray collections get to the seasons that feature these adventures, I will give them another whirl and we will see how they hold up then. Until then, I have the audiobook of the Terrence Dick-penned Target Novelization to refresh my memory. </p>
<p>It is okay I guess. It isn’t as lame a story as I recall, but Alpha Centauri’s shrieking is definitely toned down by Jon Culshaw’s reading. Culshaw really sells the whole thing. He is a solid narrator, but it is his Pertwee that is just perfect. </p>
<p>I do think this story has too much pad, even in this fairly short novelization I found parts of it were dragging. But Culshaw’s reading elevates what I found to be mostly forgettable material.</p>Power of the Daleks (2020 Animated Release)tag:doctorwhonews.net,1999:post-dwnRev208582020-07-20T11:37:33+01:002020-08-31T17:35:28+01:00<div class="reviewsidebox"><a href="//images.doctorwhonews.net/image.php?pid=27744"><img src="//images.doctorwhonews.net/image.php?pid=27744&w=300" alt="The Power Of The Daleks - Special Edition (Credit: BBC Studios)" title="The Power Of The Daleks - Special Edition (Credit: BBC Studios)" /><\/a><br />
<br />
Power of the Daleks<br />
Written By: David Whitaker<br />
Starring Patrick Troughton, Anneke Wills, Michael Craze<br />
Released July 2020 - BBC Studios</div>
<p>In 2016, BBC Studios released an animated reconstruction of the first Second Doctor serial <b><i>Power of the Daleks</i></b>. This was not the first animated reconstruction of lost episodes, but it was the first time that an entirely lost story was animated. Previous stories had just been one or two lost episodes in an otherwise complete serial. It also marked the start of the project being overtaken by BBC Studios, as the earlier projects had been animated by various different studios. </p>
<p><b><i>Power</i></b> was animated on a limited budget and time constraints. As a result there were elements the creators wished they could improve. When they tackled <i><b>The Macra Terror</b></i>, they had more time and a slightly bigger budget. This made them want to go back and improve their first effort. And four years after the initial release, they have done just that. It is easy to wonder why they have decided to re-animate a story they’ve already done, especially when there are so many adventures left missing...but my guess is the cost to redo the animation here was minimal. I was struggling to see too many changes, so I went back to the first attempt to see where the changes were. </p>
<p>In the end it seems that there are a few cosmetic improvements, but it does seem like a minor spruce up at best. I would guess that they reused 90% of the elements from the first one, it is just all around more polished. It is certainly a story that deserves to be given a more polished effort. It is a very important story in the history of the show, so it doesn’t deserve a more shoddy animated reconstruction than, say, <b><i>The Faceless Ones</i></b>. I applaud the effort to improve this very important adventure, even if the end results aren’t shocking. </p>
<p>In terms of Special Features, having some more of the newly discovered footage of the original is certainly a bonus. It's nice that they use this release to add as much new content as they can. As a collector, I'd probably be just as inclined to wait until the inevitable Season 4 boxset for "The Collection" range that will no doubt contain everything on this release and more. </p>
<p>If you bought the 2016 version, I find it hard to recommend upgrading. This is certainly an improvement...but is it really that much of an improvement? Not really. If you missed it the first time around and aren’t sure which to get...the 2020 version is the better looking presentation. Beyond that it is just a collector’s game. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Power of the Daleks Special Edition can be ordered from<a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0851LJYCH?tag=thdowhnepa-21&linkCode=ogi&th=1&psc=1"> Amazon<\/a></p>Doctor Who: The Thirteenth Doctor - Issue #2.3 (Titan Comics)tag:doctorwhonews.net,1999:post-dwnRev208432020-07-16T18:09:23+01:002020-07-16T19:09:23+01:00<div class="reviewsidebox"><a href="//images.doctorwhonews.net/image.php?pid=27858"><img src="//images.doctorwhonews.net/image.php?pid=27858&w=300" alt="The Thirteenth Doctor - Issue #2.3 (Credit: Titan Comics)" title="The Thirteenth Doctor - Issue #2.3 (Credit: Titan Comics)" /><\/a>
<p>Writer: Jody Houser<br />
Artist: Roberta Ingranata<br />
Colourist: Enrica Eren Angiolini</p>
<p>32 Pages</p>
<p>Published by Titan Comics - March 2020</p>
</div>
<p>Titan Comics team-up of the Tenth and Thirteenth Doctor continues, and it adds another twist into the tale. While the Tenth Doctor with Graham, Yaz, and Ryan are able to escape into the TARDIS to avoid the Angels touch...the Thirteenth Doctor and Marhta discover that somehow the Autons are also mixed up in all of this. </p>
<p>In this issue the two Doctors also meet up for the first time. It leads to the usual bickering banter that tends to happen when two incarnations meet, but they also compare notes on what they’ve discovered thus far. Obviously it seems that the Angels are behind the disappearances, but just how does the appearance of the Autons fit into all of this? The mystery will have to wait to be solved until later, as the team find themselves surrounded by Angels...though they make it into the TARDIS, something is trying to break in!</p>
<p>This is another strong entry in this adventure, and one can only hope that writer Jody Houser can end this story on a high note. </p>Doctor Who - The Fourth Doctor Adventures - Series 9 - Volume 2tag:doctorwhonews.net,1999:post-dwnRev208382020-07-12T09:15:23+01:002020-07-14T23:34:43+01:00<div class="reviewsidebox"><a href="//images.doctorwhonews.net/image.php?pid=27851"><img src="//images.doctorwhonews.net/image.php?pid=27851&w=300" alt="Doctor Who - The Fourth Doctor Adventures - Series 9 - Volume 2 (Credit: Big Finish)" title="Doctor Who - The Fourth Doctor Adventures - Series 9 - Volume 2 (Credit: Big Finish)" /><\/a><br />
Directed by Nicholas Briggs<br />
Featuring: Tom Baker, lalla Ward, Matthew Waterhouse,<br />
John Leeson, Samuel Blenkin, Samuel Clamens <br />
Abigail McKern and Nicholas Woodeson<br />
<br />
Original release date: February - 2020<br />
Distributed by Big Finish<br />
</div>
<p><b>9.3 The Planet of Witches by Alan Barnes</b></p>
<p><i><b>"My turn for the brain scan is it? Izzy Whizzy let's get busy!"</b></i></p>
<p><i>Whilst attempting a detailed scan of E-Space, K9 detects the trail of a large spacecraft. Seeking a lead for their escape, the Doctor sets out on its trail towards a misty yellow planet.</i></p>
<p><i>Arriving just in time to witness a crash-landing in the planet’s swamps, the Doctor and his crew discover a number of escaping prisoners fleeing from someone claiming to be a Witch-finder... whilst terrifying ‘familiars’ float around them.</i></p>
<p><i>For this is the planet of the witches... and the witches may just know the way home</i>.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The search for the CVE resumes in this third story of the fourth Doctor's 9th series with Big Finish. The Doctor, Romana Adric and K9 find themselves on a very damp planet where witches and witch-finders exist.</p>
<p>The fantastical elements of the plot are very well handled, and for a while the listener is almost fooled into believing that this is a world where magic actually exists, despite the Doctor's reasoning that it can't.</p>
<p>K9 has quite a key role, with <a class="guidelink" href="https://guide.doctorwhonews.net/person.php?name=JohnLeeson">John Leeson</a> pretty much front and centre for the final quarter of the tale.</p>
<p>The supporting cast is excellent, with <a class="guidelink" href="https://guide.doctorwhonews.net/person.php?code=14818">Abigail McKern</a>'s duplicitous Crone being the standout, her never ending cackling did grate a little though.</p>
<p>Of course, there is no magic, and everything is explained away nicely by the time the final credits kick in, but The Planet of Witches is a very enjoyable listen.</p>
<p> </p>
<p><b>9.4 The Quest of the Engineer by Andrew Smith</b></p>
<p><i><b>"Beards!?!? Is that the only scientific qualification on this planet!?"</b></i></p>
<p><i>The TARDIS crew’s attempts to escape E-Space lead them to a strange planet with a surface that shifts and changes constantly.</i></p>
<p><i>Losing their ship down a fissure, they venture into the depths of this world and encounter the man who rules this place – a man known only as ‘the Engineer’. He tells them that he’s on a quest for illumination, and to find a rumored portal in space that may lead to another reality, with knowledge unknown in this universe.</i></p>
<p><i>It seems he may be on the same quest as the Doctor and his friends. But can he be trusted? And who is he really?</i></p>
<p> </p>
<p>The big finale to this series is The Quest of the Engineer, where we join the Doctor mid-adventure, rescuing Adric from a prison cell, that leads them to a shapeshifting planet, that can literally turn itself inside out.</p>
<p><a class="guidelink" href="https://guide.doctorwhonews.net/person.php?code=16238">Nicholas Woodeson</a> plays the titular Engineer with great relish, he makes for a perfect villain. I couldn't help though to think that his cyborg army The Enforcers could have easily been turned into E-Space's version of the Cybermen, which I think was a sadly missed opportunity.</p>
<p>It's a shame though that this grand finale was (for me) the weakest story of the four in this series, it just didn't quite gel with me.</p>
<p>Our four leads are all brilliant, and I'm happy to report that <a class="guidelink" href="https://guide.doctorwhonews.net/person.php?name=MatthewWaterhouse">Matthew Waterhouse</a>'s Adric is on top form after a bit of a wobbly start in the previous two episodes.</p>
<p>Series 9 on the whole though was very enjoyable, if somewhat frustratingly repetitive in some aspects of the plot. K9 is 'lost without hope' at least twice. The Doctor and companions seem to get split up when one of them 'suddenly' needs to go back to the TARDIS, but none of this detracted too much from my enjoyment of revisiting one of my favourite eras of the show's classic era.</p>
<p>Doctor Who - The Fourth Doctor Adventures - Series 9 Volume 2 is available from Big Finish <a href="https://www.bigfinish.com/releases/v/doctor-who-the-fourth-doctor-adventures-series-09-volume-2-1893">HERE<\/a>.</p>Doctor Who - The Fourth Doctor Adventures - Series 9 - Volume 1tag:doctorwhonews.net,1999:post-dwnRev208352020-06-29T22:50:28+01:002020-06-29T23:50:28+01:00<div class="reviewsidebox"><a href="//images.doctorwhonews.net/image.php?pid=27848"><img src="//images.doctorwhonews.net/image.php?pid=27848&w=300" alt="The Fourth Doctor Adventures - Series 9 - Volume 1 (Credit: Big Finish)" title="The Fourth Doctor Adventures - Series 9 - Volume 1 (Credit: Big Finish)" /><\/a><br />
CAST: Tom Baker (The Doctor) Lalla Ward (Romana)<br />
Matthew Waterhouse (Adric); John Leeson (K9)<br />
Jane Asher (Pilot Dena); Amy Downham (Scraya / Pips)<br />
Liam Fox (Mang / Wunshooz)<br />
William Gaminara (Engineer Terson); Lucy Heath (Moni)<br />
Nimmy March (Colonel Aesillor Zyre)<br />
Christopher Naylor (Bolan)<br />
Tania Rodrigues (Laker); George Watkins (Crimsson)<br />
CREW: Cover Artist - Anthony Lamb; Director Nicholas Briggs<br />
Executive Producer - Jason Haigh-Ellery & Nicholas Briggs<br />
Music & Sound Design - Jamie Robertson<br />
Producer David Richardson; Script Editor - John Dorney</div>
<p><b>9.1 Purgatory 12 by Marc Platt</b></p>
<p><i><b>"Well, it was nice knowing you Adric, bye-bye....good luck!"</b></i></p>
<p><i>Still searching for a way out of E-Space, the TARDIS crew land on an isolated space rock... and immediately find it drawn towards a nearby asteroid</i></p>
<p><i>The asteroid has air and gravity unequal to its size and is strewn with the wrecks of spaceships. Veins and pools of rust are everywhere.</i></p>
<p><i>Stuck on the asteroid away from his friends, Adric discovers that it's a penal colony housing a gang of alien convicts - but resources are low, and they’re starting to starve.</i></p>
<p><i>But escaping the prisoners is only the first part of the traveller’s troubles. Because there’s a sinister presence at the heart of the asteroid... and it won’t release them quite as easily.</i></p>
<p>Purgatory (and this whole of series 9) can only be set between <a class="guidelink" href="https://guide.doctorwhonews.net/story.php?story=StateofDecay">State Of Decay</a> and <a class="guidelink" href="https://guide.doctorwhonews.net/story.php?story=WarriorsGate">Warriors' Gate</a>. Which is quite a small window of opportunity to spend some precious time with these characters? I always did feel that Adric got rather a short shrift from a lot of fandom, so a chance to revisit the character was for me, very welcome. </p>
<p>A lot of the backstory in Purgatory 12 relies heavily on Adric, as he not only struggles to come to terms with the death of his brother Varsh but also having to acclimatise to travelling with the Doctor, Romana and K9. In fact, I felt the penal colony that the narration is centred around to be window dressing to explore the relationship between the three main leads. I was quite surprised at how maternal the character of Romana could become!</p>
<p>On the whole Purgatory 12 is a strong start to this new season.</p>
<p> </p>
<p><b>9.2 Chase the Night by Jonathan Morris</b></p>
<p><i><b>"Thats plenty of time! Theres lots you can do in half an hour, paint a picture, cook a curry.....sort out your sock drawer...."</b></i></p>
<p><i>The TARDIS lands in an alien tropical rainforest at night where the Doctor, Adric and Romana discover a set of rails stretching through the undergrowth. These tracks carry a long-crashed spaceship that’s been converted to run along them like a train.</i></p>
<p><i>The ship has to keep moving because only the night-side of the world is habitable. The sun on the day-side burns so hot that everything on the surface is turned to ash.</i></p>
<p><i>But the stress and strain of the constant movement is beginning to take its toll on the ship. Parts are starting to break down, and the relentless heat gets ever closer - but the greatest danger may be on the inside...</i></p>
<p>Chase the Night is a story of such huge scale, that it would never have been seen on television in 1980. It has a jungle planet that burns and regrows every day, and a huge vessel mounted on tracks, continuously travelling so that it can stay in the planet's shadow.</p>
<p>Adric (again) gets himself into trouble, this time through his overactive appetite for filling his stomach. </p>
<p><a class="guidelink" href="https://guide.doctorwhonews.net/person.php?name=JohnLeeson">John Leeson</a> as K9, has a lot more to do than in the previous story. I did chuckle when K9 asked for "Elevatory assistance". The supporting cast are all excellent, especially Jane Asher as the rather ruthless Pilot Dean.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Volume 1 of the Fourth Doctor's 9th dedicated series for Big Finish is a great addition to the adventures of what was originally a very short-lived TARDIS team but has always remained one of my favourites. The highs of these eight episodes would have to include <a class="guidelink" href="https://guide.doctorwhonews.net/person.php?name=TomBaker">Tom Baker</a>, who once again sounds pretty much identical to how he did during the show's original run, expanding on the foreshadowing of his last series as the shows lead. It is also great to hear <a class="guidelink" href="https://guide.doctorwhonews.net/person.php?name=LallaWard">Lalla Ward</a> back as Romana, the chemistry between the two characters still holds a lot of charm. </p>
<p>If I were to criticise anything, it would be that <a class="guidelink" href="https://guide.doctorwhonews.net/person.php?name=MatthewWaterhouse">Matthew Waterhouse's</a> performance. I appreciate it being hard for a man in his mid-fifties to pull off playing a petulant teen, in Purgatory 12, he sounds exactly like a man in his mid-fifties, failing to pull off playing a petulant teen. His internal monologues in that first story really did start to grate quite quickly. Thankfully though, his characterisation does improve vastly throughout the rest of this series.</p>
<p>If like me, you were a fan of this era of the show, you'll love these two new stories. You can buy The Fourth Doctor Adventures, Series 9, Volume 1 is available from Big Finish <a href="https://www.bigfinish.com/releases/v/doctor-who-the-fourth-doctor-adventures-series-09-volume-1-1892">HERE<\/a>.</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>The Lives of Captain Jack Volume 3 (Big Finish)tag:doctorwhonews.net,1999:post-dwnRev207952020-06-21T00:38:32+01:002020-06-21T01:38:32+01:00<div class="reviewsidebox"><a href="//images.doctorwhonews.net/image.php?pid=27831"><img src="//images.doctorwhonews.net/image.php?pid=27831&w=300" alt="The Lives of Captain Jack: Volume 3 (Credit: Big Finish)" title="The Lives of Captain Jack: Volume 3 (Credit: Big Finish)" /><\/a><br />
Written By: <a class="guidelink" href="https://guide.doctorwhonews.net/person.php?name=GuyAdams">Guy Adams</a>, <a class="guidelink" href="https://guide.doctorwhonews.net/person.php?code=16990">Tim Foley</a> and <a class="guidelink" href="https://guide.doctorwhonews.net/person.php?name=JamesGoss">James Goss</a><br />
Directed By: <a class="guidelink" href="https://guide.doctorwhonews.net/person.php?name=ScottHandcock">Scott Handcock</a><br />
Starring: <a class="guidelink" href="https://guide.doctorwhonews.net/person.php?name=JohnBarrowman">John Barrowman</a> (Captain Jack Harkness), <a class="guidelink" href="https://guide.doctorwhonews.net/person.php?name=AlexKingston">Alex Kingston</a> (River Song), <a class="guidelink" href="https://guide.doctorwhonews.net/person.php?name=CamilleCoduri">Camille Coduri</a> (Jackie Tyler), <a class="guidelink" href="https://guide.doctorwhonews.net/person.php?name=JacobDudman">Jacob Dudman</a> (Snorvlast), <a class="guidelink" href="https://guide.doctorwhonews.net/person.php?code=944">Paul Clayton</a> (Pilot), <a class="guidelink" href="https://guide.doctorwhonews.net/person.php?code=14835">Samantha Béart</a> (Passenger), <a class="guidelink" href="https://guide.doctorwhonews.net/person.php?code=16853">Jonny Green</a> (Passenger)<br />
<br />
Released by Big Finish Productions - March 2020<br />
Order from <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1838681892?SubscriptionId=AKIAJ6CGLNQOBRZIJCTQ&tag=thdowhnepa-21&linkCode=xm2&camp=2025&creative=165953&creativeASIN=1838681892">Amazon UK<\/a></div>
<p>Try as they might to mine all of Captain Jack Harkness’ infinite timeline across their various <i>Torchwood </i>ranges, Big Finish have in reality barely scratched his impeccably chiselled surface over the past five years since 2015's <a class="guidelink" href="https://guide.doctorwhonews.net/story.php?story=BFTheConspiracy">The Conspiracy</a>. Therein lies the thrill of their three-strong <i>The Lives of Captain Jack </i>range, though – shifting their focus away from his ongoing exploits (and surrounding cast ensemble) in Cardiff / Victorian London affords them ample opportunity to explore Jack’s other unseen life experience, be it during his early stint in the Time Agency, his centuries spent on Earth awaiting the Doctor’s return, or even his donning <i>another </i>Doctor’s rainbow coat instead. The possibilities for fresh stories are quite literally endless, albeit their frequency governed by John Barrowman’s ever-densifying work schedule.</p>
<p>This time around we’re privy to three delightfully eclectic adventures in the good Captain’s eternal lifespan, each of which showcases the fleeting but treasured friendships which he ignites with undervalued mothers, overexaggerated fiends of myth and an unlikely equal alike. True, there’s still plenty of ground for Big Finish to cover beyond what <i>Volume 3 </i>achieves in the space of three hours (and indeed what its two predecessors cumulatively managed in six); as will become apparent below, though, its riveting contents can surely offer copious escapist entertainment to while away some lockdown time – a welcome prospect indeed given how our global predicament has justifiably limited other means of escapism of late…</p>
<p><b>“Crush”:</b></p>
<p><i>“There are other people on the Estate, some of them call themselves friends. But you wanna know how to be really invisible? Be a widow, be single, be alone – people hate that.”</i></p>
<p>Amongst Big Finish’s greatest strengths as storytellers in the <i>Doctor Who </i>universe has always been their ability to transform lesser-seen characters from the TV shows into well-rounded protagonists (or antagonists) with every ounce as much psychological depth as the Doctor, his companions or most notorious rogues. Take Jackie Tyler: although Russell T. Davies wisely found time in Rose’s Earth-bound storylines to glimpse her mother’s loneliness sans Pete and growing fears over her daughter’s survival amongst the stars, the relatively fleeting nature of her screen-time meant that we as viewers only formed so much of a lasting attachment before zipping back into the TARDIS to other places and times.</p>
<p>Enter <a class="guidelink" href="https://guide.doctorwhonews.net/story.php?story=BFTheLivesofCaptainJack">Volume 1</a>’s more introspective entry “Wednesday for Beginners”, which simultaneously afforded us far greater insight into Jackie’s social isolation (now all the more topical for us as listeners, of course!) while revealing that she and Jack struck up something of an electric rapport in Rose’s absence from the Powell Estate. That storyline naturally opened the door for future NSFW romps between the pair, so it’s a wholly welcome development to see Guy Adams kicking off <i>Volume 3 </i>with one such reunion, albeit in a rather different setting. Whereas previously Jackie hosted Jack at her Estate, now she’s joined him for an intergalactic luxury cruise…only to instead find herself aboard a tightly-packed replacement bus, rife with murders and passengers who’ll glare down anyone making a single noise.</p>
<p>If this discomforting public transport experience sounds at all familiar, then the aptly-named “Crush” and its scathing (anti-)social satire should lie right up your metaphorical street. Presumably Adams himself must’ve stood in one too many claustrophobic, headphoneless-tablet-laden, kindness-devoid carriages prior to pitching his latest Big Finish script, since this often depressingly realistic outing perfectly captures the constrained huddling, torturous suspense as to who’ll emit the next sound and yearning for oft-absent human connection – all sensations felt by the passengers and drivers alike, in fact. Indeed, his script takes remarkable pains to ensure our empathy with each apathetic party aboard the vessel, forcing listeners to question their own assumptions regarding fellow travellers’ mindsets (e.g. their religious beliefs or mental welfare) in a way that many other less confident playwrights mightn’t dare broach.</p>
<p>Anyone who’s heard Paul Clayton’s work at Big Finish to date will already attest him as an ideal frontman for such a biting social commentary’s supporting cast. Better known to us as Mr. Colchester in the post-<a class="guidelink" href="https://guide.doctorwhonews.net/story.php?story=TheBloodLine">Miracle Day</a><i> Torchwood </i>audios, Clayton gets to put his trademark sardonic wit to altogether different use here as the bus’s altogether indifferent robot driver, pitching him as constantly a deadpan automaton to marvellous (or perhaps Marvin-lous for <i>Hitchhiker’s Guide</i> fans) effect whatever the character’s dialogue. Keep an eye (or ear in this case) out too for cameos from some other <i>Torchwood </i>audio regulars like Samantha Béart and Jonny Green, whose voices you might just hear among the passengers as they start to pipe up later on in the narrative.</p>
<p>But by far the most effective aspect of “Crush” – ironically for a <i>Lives of Captain Jack </i>yarn – is how effectively it validates Jackie’s return to the franchise. As ever, Camille Coduri effortlessly recaptures her character’s ludicrously inappropriate humour, brash ignorance of social etiquette and volatile temper 1.5 decades on from her TV debut.<b> </b>And more impressively still, she’s fully embracing of the more vulnerable direction in which Adams strives to take Jackie as the hour progresses – her charmingly bubby delivery seems in many ways a façade to mask the still-painful trauma wrought by losing Pete to death, her daughter to the Doctor and her friends to their inability to comprehend widowhood. By striking this extremely taut balance between her long-running construct’s brazen exterior and the all-too-familiar self-doubt lying just beneath the surface of his psyche, Coduri crafts a truly engrossing performance, one sure to impact the average socially-distancing commuter just as much as it does a listener struggling with their own personal challenges.</p>
<p>All of this isn’t to say that Adams’ instalment lacks any scope for improvement whatsoever; certain sound effects might’ve benefitted from more focus to ensure our full immersion – for instance, distinguishing a set of near-silent deadly projectiles regularly fired at passengers from the vessel’s general hubbub often proves easier said than done. Yet as is so often the case with Big Finish’s productions, those qualms seem borderline irrelevant when put into the wider context of a thoroughly compelling first instalment like “Crush”, hence it’s still earning our full endorsement.</p>
<p><b>“Mighty and Despair”:</b></p>
<p><i>“Okay Persis – if you’re not about to kill me…”</i></p>
<p><i>“Never, your majesty!”</i></p>
<p><i>“Then the stories better be true. Let’s find this hidden planet – let’s find this Captain Jack.”</i></p>
<p>A lot of our experiences with the aforementioned Captain to date have admittedly taken the form of 19th-21st century narratives – primarily since the Torchwood Institute only started life in Victorian times and its eponymous <i>Doctor Who </i>spin-off centred on his team’s present-day missions. But Tim Foley’s ambitious contribution to <i>Volume 3</i>, in stark contrast to its 2000s space bus-based predecessor and timeline-hopping successor, plunges headfirst into uncharted territory, instead jumping forward to confirm that Jack’s fears (as expressed in <a class="guidelink" href="https://guide.doctorwhonews.net/story.php?story=LastoftheTimeLords">“Last of the Time Lords”</a>) of someday exhibiting “the odd grey hair” were wholly warranted. There will come a moment when this aesthetic bastion’s age starts to show, his boisterously fun-loving lifestyle gives way to that of a reclusive hermit and his (literally) undying capacity for hope fades into bitter resentment after losing everyone dear to him. It’d take a miraculous series of events involving warring royal siblings, unrequited romance or festive hijinks to restore our hero to his former glory – and even then that mightn’t prove enough.</p>
<p>What better moment could there be, then, for a deposed vampiric queen and her faithful servant to crash-land near Jack’s extraterrestrial temple in the hope of finding salvation, not to mention for us to hit Play amidst our already-demoralising real-world challenges? Thankfully there’s much more in the way of inspiration and solace than moroseness here for lockdown listeners, Foley’s uplifting tale quickly demonstrating how our bonds with friends, family and strangers alike will ultimately give us the strength, compassion and determination to see out any challenge. This rather timely notion manifests with particular poignancy via a brilliantly-paced Christmas montage in Act 2; over the course of decades, we gradually see Jack (whose voice Barrowman imbues with touching self-pity, misplaced venom towards vampires and world-wearied wisdom), said monarch Carla (whose resounded defeat Jessica Hayles subtly transitions into long-forgotten warmth) and her aide-turned-admirer Persis (portrayed with earnest yet defiant aplomb by Joanna Van Kampen) ease their joint exile by rediscovering the joyful spirit, generosity and love inspired by December 25th. “Halfway out of the dark” indeed.</p>
<p>If anything, “Mighty and Despair” would’ve thus easily justified <i>Volume 3 </i>releasing around the festive season last year (rather than a mere two months ago), although its clear message of hope’s triumph over near-endless adversity equally couldn’t have come at a much better instance than the current global circumstances.</p>
<p><b>“R&J”:</b></p>
<p><i>“Dearly beloved, we are gathered together in front of the Holy Modem to witness the union of Captain Jack Harkness and River Song.”</i></p>
<p>So it’s finally time. Time for the titanic crossover which fans have demanded ever since both iconic characters made their debut in modern <i>Who</i>. Fighting in the left corner: the Boeshane Peninsula’s most renowned Time Agent recruit. In the right corner, newly resurrected: Klom’s most renowned entity-consumer, the Abzorbaloff hims-</p>
<p>What’s that? Only this reviewer craved such an epic confrontation, whilst everyone else yearned for Jack to cross paths with the Doctor’s wife instead? Fair enough, then – fortunately <i>Volume 3</i>’s final chapter centres on precisely that collision course, with James Goss doing justice to the long-awaited event in a manner only possible for a scribe of his immense calibre. Most crossovers are usually content to simply provide a zany caper for their subjects to blaze through, all the while carrying no lasting effects for their respective character arcs; Goss’ stupendous “R&J”, however, takes quite the opposite approach, exploring events from throughout the two near-eternals’ <i>Who </i>timelines where we’d never have previously guessed the pair would clash. From Jack’s earliest encounters with the Ninth Doctor to River’s regular dates with his successors, from the Torchwood Three leader’s darkest hours to Melody Pond’s desperate stabs at happiness and agency in a chaotic pre-determined timeline, virtually no stone is left unturned over the course of the hour.</p>
<p>Of course, as satisfying as these call-backs might be and as vividly as the various worlds (from lively markets to hauntingly silent wastelands) are rendered by the sound design team, a mere greatest hits tour would likely start growing old fast. Yet our assured playwright abundantly recognises that risk from the outset, hence his remarkable endeavour to turn each chance encounter between our (anti)heroes into a key cog in their joint character study. For every madcap prehistoric race atop dinosaurs, there’s a personal discussion of immortality’s shortcomings (as Jack espoused in “Mighty and Despair” too); for every war over the Doctor’s affections (or his survival amidst River’s attempted assassinations), a more grounded debate over whether his reckless lifestyle of “never looking back” is a healthier match for River than the (comparative) normality offered by a romance with someone living day-to-day-to-century like Mr. Harkness. Such is the profound emotional resonance and relatability struck up between these oft-outrageous constructs here that you might genuinely find repeat viewings of the “R&J” coupling’s respective TV outings informed, nay <i>enhanced</i> by the extra context; that’s something which can rarely be said of the more high-octane crossover events in comics or any medium, regardless of whether or not they’re “the most ambitious of all-time”.</p>
<p>As for our esteemed leading performers, from the outset you can tell that John Barrowman and Alex Kingston - effectively gifted a two-hander to do with as they so please a la <a class="guidelink" href="https://guide.doctorwhonews.net/story.php?story=HeavenSent">“Heaven Sent”</a> - must have had an absolute riot with this one in their respective recording studios (though goodness knows how Jacob Dudman kept a straight face on supporting duties, since the behind-the-scenes tracks reveal that he read Alex’s lines whilst working alongside Barrowman!). Bringing their undisputed charisma to hilarious standoffs with scorned lovers and each other alike, the pair equally evoke pathos aplenty in their honest deliveries of grief amidst loss (striking a chord all too poignant in these times), yearning for true requited love and contemplation of roads not taken as millennia pass them by<b>.</b> Doubtless both will continue to appear in their own Big Finish ranges going forward, as well as making cameos elsewhere on occasion, but were this to mark their final collaboration, then these two rightly-adored thespians – not to mention Goss – could still rest assured that it’s among their finest work to date, as indeed is <i>Volume 3 </i>for everyone involved with this spectacular audio trilogy.</p>Doctor Who: Shadow of the Sun - The Fourth Doctor Adventures - Big Finishtag:doctorwhonews.net,1999:post-dwnRev208212020-06-13T15:24:15+01:002020-06-13T16:24:15+01:00<div class="reviewsidebox"><img src="//images.doctorwhonews.net/image.php?pid=27745&w=300" alt="Doctor Who: Shadow of the Sun (Credit: Big Finish)" title="Doctor Who: Shadow of the Sun (Credit: Big Finish)" /><br />
Tom Baker - The Doctor; Louise Jameson - Leela<br />
John Leeson - K9<br />
Barnaby Edwards - First Officer Hix/ Autopilot<br />
Paul Herzberg - Dr Zorn; Glen McCready - Captain Brandis<br />
Fenella Woolgar - Lady Mailina Rigel-Smythe<br />
Cover Artist - Simon Holub; Director - Nicholas Briggs<br />
Music - Jamie Robertson; Sound - Toby Hrycel-Robinson<br />
Written by Robert Valentine</div>
<p><b>Danger, Mistress. Danger!</b></p>
<p> </p>
<p><i>After an accident, the TARDIS lands on a luxury star-liner. Leaving their ship to repair itself, the Doctor, Leela and K9 find themselves facing a great terror: mingling at a cocktail party.</i></p>
<p><i>Something seems awry behind the pleasantries, however. Guests are going missing, and equipment is breaking down. When the Doctor investigates further he discovers that the star-liner is literally on course for disaster.</i></p>
<p><i>But no-one seems surprised by this information, still less troubled. What’s going on? And can the Doctor and his friends save everyone... when nobody wants to be saved?</i></p>
<p> </p>
<p>Doctor Who: Shadow of the Sun is another little gem that has been born out of the nastiness that is Covid 19. The story was originally planned to be released in 2024, but was brought forward and recorded entirely in lockdown - which goes to show that even if you are working for Big Finish, you can still work from home. It also raises the question of exactly just how many <a href="https://guide.doctorwhonews.net/person.php?name=TomBaker">Tom Baker<\/a> recordings are in the can already? A fair few I'd wager.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The story is classic Who. The TARDIS is out of action, and we find the Doctor, Leela and K9 on a luxury star-liner, where everything is cocktails and civility, or at least that’s how things seem…..but scratch the surface and you will discover a cult with a death wish. Everyone onboard believes that at the heart of the sun is a tranquil paradise. The star-liner is on a course for our sun, and the passengers and crew are blindly hurtling towards certain death. It is of course, down to the Doctor, to try to talk some sense into them all.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>I'm delighted to say that although he may now be working in solitude for this, <a href="https://guide.doctorwhonews.net/person.php?name=TomBaker">Tom Baker <\/a>is on absolute top form. It never ceases to amaze me that after all of these years, he still owns this role. I'm always thankful to Big Finish for keeping this national treasure gainfully employed. <a href="https://guide.doctorwhonews.net/person.php?name=LouiseJameson">Louise Jameson<\/a> and <a href="https://guide.doctorwhonews.net/person.php?name=JohnLeeson">John Leeson<\/a> play the companions to perfection, and are both given plenty to do as the narrative unfolds. An honourable mention must go to the Dalek operator and voice actor <a href="https://guide.doctorwhonews.net/person.php?name=BarnabyEdwards">Barnaby Edwards<\/a>, who actually plays two roles in this story, the most memorable being the delightfully sinister, yet chirpy star-liner autopilot. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>As mentioned before, the story is classic Doctor Who. Writer Robert Valentine embraces the fourth Doctor's era with gusto, and has created a fast paced two part story, which, with its cult undertones would have fitted well in <a href="https://guide.doctorwhonews.net/person.php?name=PhilipHinchcliffe">Philip Hinchcliffe<\/a>'s tenure on the show. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>For me, Shadow of the Sun was an instant classic. go listen to it now. </p>
<p>Doctor Who: Shadow of the Sun is available from Big Finish <a href="https://www.bigfinish.com/releases/v/doctor-who-shadow-of-the-sun-2264">HERE<\/a>.</p>