Written By: Andrew Smith, Phil Mulryne, Simon Barnard,
Paul Morris, Guy Adams. Directed By: Nicholas Briggs

Cast

Tom Baker (The Doctor), Jane Slavin (Ann Kelso), John Leeson (K9), Frank Skinner (DCI Scott Neilson), Glynis Barber (Kathy Blake), Ewan Bailey (Hugo Blake), Nicholas Khan (Jimmy Lynch), Leon Williams (Tony Reynolds), Fenella Woolgar (Vanessa Seaborne), Jeremy Clyde (Lord Braye), Lizzie Roper (Trencher), Andrew Ryan (Titus Wayland), Finty Williams (Ada Lovelace), Andrew Havill (Colonel Wildman), Eve Webster (Hettie / Lady Cleverley), Barnaby Edwards (Mr Hobhouse), Glen McCready (Edvard Scheutz / Lord Byron / Harry), John Shrapnel (Nigel Colloon), Anna Acton (Brox), Blake Ritson (Elmore), Roger May(Mac Foley), Tracy Wiles (Drones).
Other parts played by members of the cast.

Producer David Richardson 
Script Editor John Dorney 
Executive Producers Jason Haigh-Ellery and Nicholas Briggs

The Sinestran Kill by Andrew Smith

"Oh...I see...you're THAT Doctor..."

When the Doctor decides to trace an anomalous energy signature on twentieth century Earth, he stumbles into an assassination attempt.

Gangland thugs are trying to murder a seemingly innocent shopkeeper, and it’s only the intervention of the Doctor and Ann Kelso – a WPC who happens to be on the scene – that prevents a tragedy. 

But why do the gangsters want the shopkeeper dead? And what does this have to do with alien technology?

The first stages of a grand conspiracy are about to be revealed. And finding the answers will take Ann Kelso on a journey like no other.

This new box set could almost be described as Series 15A. We find the Doctor travelling alone after leaving Leela on Galifrey. K9 Mark II isn't (quite) unpacked yet, and we are introduced to a brand new companion, WPC Ann Kelso, played by Jane Slavin. An actress  who is no stranger to Big Finish.

This first story is set in 1970's London, and written by Andrew Smith. After penning the classic episode Full Circle, Smith joined the police, and it is here that this knowledge is utilised well, as the Met feature heavily in what is essentially a plot about an interstellar, shapeshifting hit mob trying to kill a witness who has taken refuge on Earth. The action ends up as a wonderfully staged siege in New Scotland Yard.

Amongst the guest cast are Frank Skinner (DCI Scott Nelson), who is wary of the Doctor as in a previous role, the character had links with UNIT, and Glynis Barber who plays a classic East End gangsters moll.

The Sinestran Kill is a very strong opener, which ably introduces Ann Kelso as a new companion. The Alien threat is believable, and seemingly quite unstoppable. The mash up between classic East End villains and a professional alien hit squad is genius.

Andrew Smith has crafted a rather brilliant story, that positively romps along. Jane Slavin is great as the new companion, but the stand out performance for me was Frank Skinner as the world-weary DCI, who is surprised by nothing that might have the Doctor involved.

Planet of the Drashigs by Phil Mulryne

"Welcome's to Drashig World."

When the TARDIS lands on an alien planet, the Doctor’s intentions to show Ann Kelso an advanced future society are thrown into disarray.  Because they have arrived on DrashigWorld - a park where every known species of the terrifying predators has been gathered together to entertain and thrill the public. The familiar wetland Drashigs, the albino burrowing Drashigs of the desert, and deadliest of all, the tiny Emerald Drashigs of the rain forests.

And it’s not the best day to have arrived. The park has been shut down due to a visitor fatality. A Galactic Attractions inspector is on site meaning everyone is extremely tense and under pressure.

It’s exactly the right circumstances in which someone might make a mistake. And on Drashigworld, mistakes are deadly.

Ah! The Drashigs! Those memorable chompers from 1973's Carnival of Monsters - who would have thought they would ever get a whole story dedicated to them? 

Having just assembled the new K9, The Doctor and Liz land on a strange, marshy world. They soon find a Drashig on their tails and manage to escape via teleport to safety, only to find that they are in a theme park full of Drashigs, and the natives are getting VERY restless.

Planet of the Drashigs does fall in on itself a little by trying to be a bit too clever with its own theme. It is obviously a take on Michael Crichton's  Jurassic Park (the Doctor even stumbles across a pile of goat bones). Different breeds of Drashigs are in various enclosures for the amusement of the paying public. Oh - and of course there is the Emerald Drashig (read Tyrannosaurus Rex) which is extra fierce and intelligent. When these escape and run riot across the compound all hell really does breaks loose. 

The story should be so by the numbers, but it really is quite enjoyable. I loved it that the new K9 needs an overnight charge before proper use (his batteries kept failing because he only had a partial charge). There are some great set pieces, especially the Aliens homage where our heroes are trapped in a ventilation tunnels, being hunted down by ferocious Emerald Drashigs, all the while with K9 acting as a motion sensor in the dark.

The story is written by Phil Mulryne, who is obviously having a whale of the time with the source material. Vocal talent includes Fenella Woolgar (Call the Midwife), Jeremy Clyde and Lizzie Roper.

The Enchantress of Numbers by Simon Barnard and Paul Morris

"We’ll just have to make-do with my unerring sense of direction!"

The TARDIS lands in the grounds of Newstead Abbey, Nottinghamshire, in 1850. Mistaken for a medic and his maid, the Doctor and Ann are brought to meet Ada Lovelace - the mother of computing and daughter of Lord Byron - who has recently fallen ill. 

But the travellers are not here by chance. Something odd is happening on Earth, and they’ve determined that this place is the centre of it. 

Strange figures are walking the land. Strange figures wearing bird-like masks. What do they want with Ada? And how will it change the future of humanity?

I felt that The Enchantress of Numbers was the weakest story of this volume. It tries very hard, but I just didn’t find the story that involving. The whole idea of Bryon’s ghost, tied in with Block Transfer Computation, Ada Lovelace and mysterious figures shrouded in fog should really have been a perfect recipe for a Who story from this era. It just didn’t grab me, and felt rather run of the mill. I also felt that because of Lovelace’s larger than life characterisation (played with gusto by Finty Williams), it left Slavin’s Ann Kelso somewhat out in the cold.

The False Guardian by Guy Adams

"Maybe I left the HADS on!?"

Ann Kelso doesn’t like mysteries. Keen to investigate the trail of the Sinestrans, she sets the TARDIS on a new course... but flies into danger.

Arriving on a desolate world that the Doctor finds somehow familiar, the TARDIS crew discover that something is wrong with time. The inhabitants of an unusual complex are experimenting at the command of their enigmatic director... somebody who has quite a strong grudge against the Doctor.

Facing an old foe who was presumed dead, the travellers are soon trapped in a diabolical scheme. But is it just the tip of the iceberg?

Varga plants, HADS, Mavic Chen, Zephon, Kemble - The False Guardian is heavily steeped in Doctor Who history, and may at first seem like quite a daunting listen - but don’t worry - it isn’t. Guy Adams has crafted a fine story, dropping a few red herrings along the way that might just lead the listener to believe the story is heading one way, before it takes a sudden left turn in another direction. The cliff hanger at the end of part one of this story is brilliant, and so simply wrapped up at the start of part two…..and then there is the cliff hanger at the end of part two….

The False Guardian is of course essentially a means to set up parts three and four (which are coming in the next box set folks!), but is still an enjoyable ride, with a very rich guest cast, and brilliant sound design. Voice actors include John Shrapnel and Anna Acton.

I will never tire of Tom Baker in this role, and here we delve into a rather interesting, and so far unexplored time in the show’s history, that opens up new possibilities for this Big Finish range. I’m rather looking forward to volume two!

Doctor Who - The Fourth Doctor - Series 8 Volume 1 - The Syndicate Master Plan Volume 1 is available from Big Finish HERE.

Writer: Jody Houser
Artist: Rachel Stott
Colourist: Enrica Eren Angiolini

28 Pages

Published by Titan Comic 6 February 2019

The first storyline in the Titan Thirteenth Doctor comic line comes to a conclusion, bringing some closure to the story that began as far back as the "Road to the Thirteenth Doctor" mini-series.  As conclusions go, it is fairly straightforward and simple. I don't want to ruin it for anyone who may have yet to read it, so I will just say that it is a decent, if somewhat anti-climactic end, but should satisfy any fans who have been following the story thus far.  Spoilers from here on out!

Picking up where we left off, the Doctor and the gang fall down the tube and land in some kind of sewer or something, and find Perkins' time travel cohort. She explains that she trapped Perkins in the time vortex hoping to spare him the pain of their predicament.  They then release the prisoners of the hoarder, and the Doctor calls in some Time Agents and they go after the hoarder. He isn't down to give up so easily and attempts to escape using Perkins' Vortex Manipulator...and just as he did end up trapped in the vortex.  

As endings go, it is okay, but it felt like this story finally began to get somewhere interesting with the previous issue, and that is immediately solved here.  I can now evaluate the story on the whole, and I feel like it may have taken a tad too long to finally find an interesting path, and once it did, it closed up shop before really exploring that path.  

Still, it is a decent Doctor Who adventure and maybe reading it one go would be more entertaining than in briefer monthly instalments.  Overall I would say it seems the Titan Thirteenth line is in good hands. 

…Or six go on an adventure in Space and Time.

I was lucky enough to get an invite to the Bristol unveiling of the new BBC and Escape Hunt collaboration, When Worlds Collide. An escape game with a Doctor Who twist, where you and a group of friends are locked in a room, and must help the Doctor by solving a series of puzzles that will stop the Cybermen breaking through a tear in space and time, and into this reality. The arrival of this new, very immersive game is extremely welcome in a year where there is no more new Who on television, and no exhibition in Cardiff.

I gathered five colleagues who were also fellow Doctor Who fans (Rhona, Nikki, Sarah, Stacy and Jack) and headed to Escape Hunt, at Cabot Circus in Bristol, to battle the Cybermen, and help the Doctor.

The game area can only be accessed by a lift, that added to the mystery, we were greeted by a friendly member of staff, and ushered to a cosy waiting area, where the last lot of intrepid adventurers were having a group photo taken. All of them were grinning from ear to ear, and waving sonic screwdrivers triumphantly.

Axel was our host for the evening, he told us that everyone who had played that day had successfully escaped the game (no pressure at all then)! We were politely asked to wait for a few minutes while the team went about ‘resetting’ the room, then after locking away our mobile phones, and enjoying some welcome snacks and drinks, we are told by Axel that our time had come.

We were guided to an imposing looking door, where we gathered around and listened to Axel explain to us the rules of the game, he also reassured us that he would be watching remotely at all times, and would happily offer up hints and tips should we need them. He then gave an embarrassed and apologetic look as his mobile phone started to ring, pulling it out of his pocket, he glanced at the caller ID and, with an excited glint in his eye,  showed us who was calling...…and THIS is exactly when our adventure started.

I'm not going to give any spoilers, I think that would be a disservice to all of those who have have worked so hard to create the wonderful atmosphere of the game. If you have taken part in an escape room before, you will be familiar with the format. You are essentially ushered into a room full of clues, puzzles and red herrings, where you need to work together as a team to progress. The types of puzzles we had to solve covered all bases, from lateral-thinking through problem solving and a bit of physical agility. We rushed around manically, while a countdown on a large screen relentlessly ticked down from sixty minutes towards zero. 

But of course this escape room had a big theme Some of the puzzles had a Doctor Who feel, plus there were some  rather familiar looking props strewn around the room, some of which were an integral part of events. The game itself progressed through two rooms, each one strewn with Doctor Who easter eggs, some of the puzzles were really quite fiendish, some quite straight forward. If we were found to be really struggling, completely off track, or generally being thick, Axel's encouraging voice would come over the intercom and offer us a bit of gentle guidance, not exactly telling us how to solve a puzzle, but offering a hint such as "Hey guys, have you thought to look over there?” Then there were the times he’d chip in with the odd sarcastic quip like “I really don’t think waiving that sonic screwdriver at that plant will help”.

The last few minutes of the game were quite intense. I honestly thought that we were going to be the first losing team of the day, but fuelled on by clouds of dry ice, great audio effects, and some restless Cybermen, we scraped through by the skin of our teeth, and escaped through a set of very special doors with just two minutes to spare.

After our escape Axel took us back through the game, offering a commentary on where he thought we did well, congratulating us on our team dynamic, and praising how at one point we all split up to try to crack a puzzle independently, in order to save time.

Back in the lobby, we all posed for our celebratory photo, eagerly brandishing a thirteenth Doctor sonic screwdriver. We left on a wave of adrenaline, with a certificate declaring that we had completed the game in twenty-eight minutes, not fifty-eight (don't worry Axel - we won't tell)!

The gameplay itself is a very immersive and enjoyable experience, where you do really feel like characters in a Doctor-lite episode.  The lower age range for players is ten years old, and while there is nothing age inappropriate about the game for children around that age, I’m not sure what your average ten year old would get out of the experience. We had a team of six adults, who all agreed that we would have really struggled  without Axel’s gentle guidance. I would  say you need at least a team of four to get the full benefit, but with pricing ranging from £30 -  £33 per head, and no discount for children, that isn’t necessarily a cheap hour. But - we fans generally have very deep pockets and are faced with year with very little new Doctor Who. Plus it’s the nearest any of us will get to being a true companion.

Doctor Who Escape Hunt is open in Bristol now, bookings can be made HERE. The game will be coming to Escape Hunt venues in Leeds, Oxford, Manchester, Reading and Birmingham soon.

Writer: Jody Houser
Artist: Rachel Stott
Colourist: Enrica Eren Angiolini

33 Pages

Published by Titan Comics 19 December 2018

****These reviews may contain MINOR SPOILERS, Reader Beware****

The third installment of the Thirteenth Doctor ongoing comic from Titan Publishing fills in a bit more background for our guest character Perkins.  We begin with Perkins holding the gang hostage in the TARDIS, but he is easily thwarted by the state of grace nullifying his weapon.  He then fills them in on what he and Schultz had been up to, collecting all sorts of items for the alien being they called the Hoarder. It turns out part of what he wanted them to steal was alien children, to be held as hostages, and he at least claims to hold their own descendants hostage in order to keep them stealing for him.  

So the Doctor decides they have a new enemy to face off with, one that is not only stealing artifacts from all of history but has cages full of children as well.  They head out to try and find Dr. Schwartz and take on the hoarder, but are almost immediately caught in a trap with walls closing in on them.  Their only option of escape is to jump down a hole not knowing how far it actually goes down.  And that's our latest cliffhanger. 

I think despite a lack of action until the final pages (and even then the action was walls closing in on them), this was a solid installment.  I think the reason being that it helped develop the actual stakes our heroes are facing off with.  Bad guy has cages full of kids. Got it.  Before hand, it was vague energy beams and a shady guy who we didn't know much about making threats for reasons we didn't really know.  They weren't bad reads, but before now I can't say I was really invested in where the story was going.  Now I am.  That is probably the best praise I can give a single issue of a comic.  

Written By: James Goss, Guy Adams

Directed By: Scott Handcock

Cast

Derek Jacobi (The Master), Silas Carson (The Ood), Maeve Bluebell Wells (Cassandra King), Samantha Béart (Martine King), Simon Ludders (Elliot King), Pippa Haywood (Teremon), David Menkin (Herschel), Barnaby Edwards (Jaques), Richard Earl (Sassanby), Kai Owen (Porrit), Joe Shire (Calia), Angela Bruce (Mother), Wilf Scolding (First Soldier) and Tom Forrister (Second Soldier). Other parts played by members of the cast.

Producer Scott Handcock

Script Editor Nicholas Briggs

Executive Producers Jason Haigh-Ellery and Nicholas Briggs

Derek Jacobi returns to the role of the Master for the second set of stories, this time it is four episodes that follow a single storyline, as opposed to the slightly more episodic nature of the first box set.  The story takes place on a colony planet called Callous, in which a small group of artists attempted and sort of failed to make a home. Their livelihood depends upon a mine, and the story revolves around this mine, its contents, the people who give everything to make the mine viable, the planetary governor who wants to take everything she can from the inhabitants, and the Master who has his own secret plans and machinations.  In short...it is an excellent story. I recommend this box set, there will likely be SPOILERS ahead, so reader beware.

The opening episode, Call for the Dead follows Elliot King, the frustrated would-be leader of Callous, whose long attempts to make the mine worthwhile have yielded very few positive results, and the Governor bleeds him dry whenever she gets the chance.  He has spent so much time trying to make the mine earn just enough money to keep up with his payments that he has basically lost his family...his wife and daughter moved off-world, and while his wife is very ill, his daughter misses him daily. Meanwhile, he is being stalked by an odd with a ringing telephone, and when he finally answers the call, the Master is on the line.  Without getting too deep into it, Elliot decides to take his own life not long after his chat with the Master, and whatever plans the Master has are clearly set into motion.  Elliot's daughter Cassie and her wife Martine come to Callous to take over where her father left off.  Only Cassie is more adept with the mine than her father ever was.  He was an artist trying to make a living digging in a mine, as she went to school specifically to learn how to mine properly.  But when she too runs into trouble...another Ood phone call comes her way, only this time the Master offers his help.

The set continues with The Glittering Prize, and this time the Master is posing as Mr. Orman, a kindly gentleman helping Cassie to get the mine working.  They strike a substance that could make them all rich...but if the Governor finds out they have it, she is sure to come and attempt to skim even more profits off their hard work.  The Master offers his help yet again, helping them plot to sneak the substance off the planet and hide it from the governor until they can safely make their money off of it.  But the substance has a psychic side effect, as it slowly can drive people mad or hallucinate, and it seems to drive the Ood workers completely out of sorts.

The Persistence of Dreams focuses solely on Martine as she tries to keep her sanity guarding the substance.  She is accompanied only by an Ood bt finds herself hallucinating about her late mother, Cassie, Mr Orman and more...never knowing what is real and being driven to the brink of sanity by the awful substance. When the Ood seems to go mad as well and attempt to kill her, she launches herself into space, and hopes that hope can reach her in time...but of course, the Master has other plans.

The set is closed out by Sins of the Father which sees the Governor arrive on Callous and demand the substance because someone tipped her off that they had found it.  She has captured and is torturing the Master daily for answers, but no mere Governor can really get anything out of the Master! Cassie has been cast out by most of the inhabitants of Callous, who blame her of much of their current woes, particularly the homicidal Governor who intends to kill them all for answers.  But the Governor didn't count on her prisoner actually being someone of influence.  She didn't count on his control of the Ood, or his ability to escape his chains...and the Master's plan finally comes into focus. He just needed the substance. Callous just happened to be his best route of getting the rare stuff, and he has beaten everyone before they even knew he was a threat.

The story concludes with the Master meeting a Time Lord to sell off the substance so the Time Lords can build a new weapon against the Daleks.  It seemed almost odd to me that the Master would do all this for such a petty thing as money and helping the Time Lord cause. Just seemed off...but then a smaller item was thrown in for his payment. The Chameleon Arch.  It nicely tied in with the very item he was using when we first met this Doctor on TV (and actually used at the end of the previous box set, putting this one ahead of that timeline wise), and makes all his efforts in this story seem perfectly worth it for his character.  It may have been a mild hassle putting all those pieces into place, but he got what he truly wanted out of it. An eventual escape from the Time War.

This is an excellent set, that somehow managed to top the first War Master set. And that was a tall order, as that first set was wonderful. I am already excited for more, as Big Finish have clearly been chomping at the bit for years to tell Time War tales, and they are reveling in it with every chance they get. Whether they focus on the War Doctor, the War Master, or just seeing the seeds of the war in the Eighth Doctor or Gallifrey sets. In all attempts, they have made some exciting stuff.

Producer Ian Atkins; Script Editor Ian Atkins
Executive Producers Jason Haigh-Ellery and Nicholas Briggs

Written By: Penelope Faith; Directed By: Helen Goldwyn

Cast

Bonnie Langford (Narrator)

The Doctor's old friend, the reverend HT Ellacombe, has been out of touch for too long. But when the Doctor goes to find him, he and Mel discover something else entirely: unidentifiable footprints in the snow around the Victorian village where he lives.

The villagers are terrified that the very Devil walks their lands in the wintry nights, but with the Doctor distracted by finding his friend, it seems it’s up to Mel to do the snooping around in attempt to uncover the truth.....

The Devil's Footprints is the kind of story that Doctor Who does so very well. It takes a real event, and adds the Doctor into the mix. The actual event the story is based on happened in 1855, in Devon. Where after a heavy snowfall a trail of hoof-like imprints in the snow appeared, stretching up to 100 miles.

In this latest entry to the Short Trips range, writer Penelope Faith expertly weaves the Seventh Doctor, Mel and alien possession into the mix. The TARDIS materialises in Devon, in the year 1885, where the Doctor bumps into an old friend, who the Doctor discovers, might not be quite what he was the last time they met.

The story is read by Bonnie Langford, in it her character Mel takes the lions share of the action. The plot romps along at quite a pace, and Langford really throws herself into narrating duties, even providing us with a great take on the seventh Doctor. Rolling R's, bluster and all.

The story of a small town harbouring a possible devil bears inevitable comparison to 1971's The Daemons, but manages to be original enough not to totally clash with that classic.

The Devil's Footprints is a story that is well worth a listen, and is available HERE from Big Finish.