"Oh, I’m much more than one man. I’m an eleven-man team, Doctors United!"

To paraphrase David Tennant’s incarnation of the Doctor, doesn’t that just sum a potent series up? You get through all of the presents, and at the bottom of the pile, there’s a Satsuma. In the case of Destiny of the Doctor, the aforementioned spherical orange fruit mentioned in The Christmas Invasion symbolises a decent yet ultimately underwhelming conclusion to a franchise of audio adventures which could have resulted in so much more with the correct denouement. There’ve been weaker instalments than The Time Machine, but boy, have there been stronger chapters in the saga by a considerable distance.

This isn’t a release that’s for want of an accomplished narrator, however. Quite why Jenna Coleman’s on-screen companion Clara hasn’t been included in proceedings this time around is beyond this reviewer, for the standalone assistant Amy Watson comes off as little more than a stand-in here. If anything, Watson seems to have been named as such primarily on the basis of the literary implications of her surname, which naturally serves as the source for more than one gag based around the Great Detective himself. All the same, Coleman’s dictation is constantly engaging and efficiently brings across the rapid, blockbuster-esque pace of the narrative, even in spite of its negating to include the Impossible Girl at the Doctor’s side for the ride.

Joining the piece’s leading lady are Nicholas Briggs and Michael Cochrane, the former portraying the drama’s antagonists, the Creevix, and the latter taking on the role of Doctor Chivers. It took some time for this reviewer to discern to which alien race from the revived series of Who Briggs’ Creevix bore an uncanny resemblance, but in the end, The Power of Three’s Shakri commander appears to have had a significant influence. This familiar vocal adaptation certainly doesn’t work in the piece’s favour in terms of innovation, and that Cochrane’s performance echoes past whimsical professors aplenty isn’t beneficial in the long run either. Perhaps the series’ producers had scarce choice for vocal contributors to this final instalment- either way; it’s a crying tragedy that their selections pale so immensely in comparison to their predecessors on the run.

As the Destiny run has developed over the course of 2013, it became evermore apparent that its resolution of the ongoing arc of the Eleventh Doctor’s visits to his past selves would be paramount to the series’ success in hindsight. The approach which writer Matt Fitton takes in creating both a standalone narrative and a satisfying conclusion for long-term fans is admirable; although overall the resolution in question feels rather rushed and haphazard. Partly, that’s due to the threat of the tale hardly being dangerous enough to warrant such a dangerous timeline-crossing excursion for the incumbent incarnation. Moreso, though, this plot arc connection is only re-established in the drama’s closing moments and is dealt with just as swiftly as the Eleventh’s cameos came and went in previous chapters.

In the scheme of Doctor Who’s 50th Anniversary, it’s fair to argue that a great degree of threat is required so as to have a grand celebratory impact on the viewer, or in this case the listener. The Day of the Doctor has an evil, apparently lost incarnation of everyone’s favourite Time Lord and The Light at the End resumes the seemingly undying threat of the Master, yet The Time Machine’s antagonist is neither iconic nor particularly original. The Five Doctors’ Borusa may not have gone down in the history books, but at least that anniversary special had enough in the way of returning companions and foes to compensate. Devoid of classic adversaries or allies beyond a few references and throwbacks, this is a member of the 50th ensemble which is remarkably hollow when judged alongside its ambitious cohorts. AudioGo’s Destiny range hasn’t lacked ambition in the past, so this sudden subversion of followers’ expectations is a bitter shock, an inadvertent betrayal of our hopes for what could have been a truly noteworthy outing.

This is a disheartening end, then, to a range of audio dramas which showed so much promise throughout its run. Though there were most certainly sore notes, Vengeance of the Stones and Enemy Aliens among them, Destiny of the Doctor has had its fair share of highlights, Babblesphere and Death’s Deal the most noteworthy by far. The Time Machine lies somewhere in the middle of the spectrum, and while as a finale it’s a worthy listen for series veterans, as a standalone instalment of Doctor Who it stumbles and veers close to falling flat on its face. Coleman’s narration is superb, yet her supporting stars are steeped in the framework of what’s come before when it comes to their character performances, and Matt Fitton’s script struggles under the weight of the series’ convoluted plot arcs.

Big Finish and AudioGo’s first major collaboration has been something of a mixed bag, but for those fans still craving further 50th Anniversary homages and stories, the overall experience of hearing Destiny of the Doctor in full is accomplished enough to warrant an investment. Hunters of Earth kicks proceedings off with a bang, and the momentum of the overarching storyline rarely lapses from that point onwards. Each narrator does a fine job of representing their respective era of Doctor Who, as do each of the eleven intricate scripts. Just be warned, though, that its finale is undoubtedly the Satsuma of the pile.

“I never doubted you. I knew you best of all, and you are so good with dangerous. After me, you’re the greatest!”

It’s only natural, as this momentous 50th Anniversary year races towards its triumphant climax, that fans’ hopes for the remaining releases destined to act as a spearhead for Doctor Who’s celebrations would be high, to say the least. Death’s Deal matches and surpasses these initial expectations with ease, its focus on one of the show’s most popular lead stars just one of several key assets which elevate it beyond many of the other entries in the Destiny of the Doctor range so far. The celebratory year in question may be nearing its end, but judging by this penultimate instalment, there’s plenty of life left in AudioGo’s Who offerings yet.

Most of all, it’s the return of Catherine Tate as both the piece’s narrator and the voice of the feisty and defiant Donna Noble that does this particular era of the programme proud. Tate accurately captures the voices of David Tennant’s Tenth Doctor, corrupt pirates, thrill-seeking tourists and plenty more visitors to the danger-laden planet of Death’s Deal, each construct possessing distinct qualities to separate from their cohorts thanks to her admirable vocal flexibility at the helm of proceedings. F. Scott Fitzgerald once described his Gatsby protagonist Nick Carraway as finding himself “simultaneously enchanted and repelled by the inexhaustible varieties of life”, and in this regard Tate (inadvertently) capably echoes the sense of enchantment or repulsion that a listener can simultaneously exhibit if a drama’s characters are presented so effectively as they are here.

Joining this month’s lead vocalist is Duncan Wisbey, taking on the roles of both the elusive Krux and the conflicted professor Erskine, the latter of whom may have further implications down the line if the Eleventh Doctor’s obligatory message to his predecessor is anything to go by. It’s a shame to admit that Wisbey’s contribution fails to attain the same level of dramatic prowess as that which Tate provides, perhaps due to the dialogue that writer Darren Jones affords his characters coming up short in comparison to that which he affords the likes of the Doctor and Donna. Whereas past secondary contributors to the range such as John Schwab, Evie Dawnay and Tam Williams have excelled with the content they’ve been offered by the various writers on hand, Wisbey’s dialogue often comes off as scarcely more than an after-thought, the necessity of a second cast member likely more of an irritating constraint than anything else for Jones in the course of drafting.

John Ainsworth’s direction, on the other hand, is nothing if not accomplished in every sense of the word. There’s a tangible sense of visual presence to the piece in spite of the nature of its medium, with the atmospheric soundtrack backing Tate’s narration offering up a sensory depiction of the drama’s setting in a more inspired manner than any of the previous Destiny releases. Not since Babblesphere in April has there been an instalment within this range which has exhibited quite so much assured confidence in its approach, be it thanks to its scribe, its central orator or its director, and with the ever-present knowledge of Who’s impending anniversary looming large on this particular release, to see it succeed with such unrestrained vigour is an enriching event for fans such at myself at this stage.

Matt Smith’s incarnation of the Doctor naturally gets his chance to place a mission before his tenth persona, albeit with his speech once again expressed through Tate rather than Smith himself. While the implementation of the current version of the Time Lord into the narrative doesn’t jar with its tone, in contrast to his appearances in Vengeance of the Stones, Smoke and Mirrors and Enemy Aliens, with only one episode remaining in the series, the lack of a greater development in the overall Destiny story arc is concerning. More than ever before, it seems that The Time Machine must resolve plot threads aplenty, while writer Matt Fitton simultaneously attempts to provide a standalone storyline for newcomers. Greater feats than this required balance have been achieved before in the show’s history, meaning that it’s not inconceivable that Fitton will succeed, yet there’s certainly an almighty challenge awaiting him next month thanks to the absence of any major narrative arc progression beforehand.

For now, though, there’s little need to focus too prominently on what Death’s Deal doesn’t offer its listeners in a wider context. In isolation, this is an exemplary addition to the Destiny range, Tate’s narration and Ainsworth’s direction both fine examples of what the most talented contributors to these releases have to offer. If this instalment and last month’s Night of the Whisper can be considered as setting a precedent for what’s to come from the studio in the remainder of 2013 and beyond, then the essential role which AudioGo can still play in expanding the Doctor Who universe has become crystal clear. There would be no greater injustice at this stage than for the studio to collapse under financial pressures. For in AudioGo’s survival could very well lie the show’s future. With their survival, the programme’s immortality can be assured, regardless of on-screen hiatuses or temporary cancellations, thanks to high-calibre releases such as these forever demonstrating the diverse range of layered adventures on which writers and actors can still take the world’s favourite Time Lord fifty years on.

The song of Destiny may be nearing its conclusion, but the story of the Doctor should never end…

Summer Falls is an oddity in Doctor Who’s expansive array of spin-off fiction – and not just because it is presented as an “in universe” book purportedly written by Amelia Williams in the 1950s (aka Amy Pond after her heartbreaking departure from the TARDIS). It is peculiar largely because while you would expect the story to be heavily influenced by Amy’s travels and adventures, it barely feels and reads like Doctor Who at all and is disappointingly small-scale in its breadth of imagination. And if this story is supposedly the same one that is referenced in the Doctor Who episode The Bells of Saint John, then I find it hard to believe it could ever have left an indelible mark on the lives of either Clara or the Maitland children!

The story by true author James Goss is homage to the works of Enid Blyton and CS Lewis, two legendary children’s authors who no doubt had some influence on his desire to write. The first half of the story is reminiscent of Blyton’s children’s mysteries such as The Famous Five, particularly as it focuses on a set of bored children in a country fishing village at the end of the school holidays. The second half very strongly evokes Lewis with its winter wonderland setting, vengeful spirits and talking animals – or more to the point, a talking grey cat. Even the wise and eccentric curator Barnabas channels Professor Digory Kirke in The Chronicles of Narnia as much as the Eleventh Doctor.

Goss handles this children’s tale faithfully but with little ambition or inventiveness. It would be interesting to invite a 10-year old or an adolescent to listen to this story to sum up their thoughts of it as a work in its own right (and not just as a very indirect Doctor Who tie-in) but to my mind Goss, at the bare minimum, recaptures many of the narrative devices that have made Lewis’ and Blyton’s works so enchanting to generations of readers. What he doesn’t do is perhaps drive home more of the actual Doctor Who connection for the fans – and let’s face it, who else is going to buy this release apart from Doctor Who fans?

Sure, there are some superficial similarities between the characters. The enigmatic curator is clearly based on the Doctor (albeit a much diluted, two-dimensional impersonation of the Time Lord’s eleventh incarnation!). The story’s juvenile heroine Kate Webster is modelled on young Amelia Pond herself. You could even put a case that Armand Dass could pass for a young Rory Williams. Perhaps young Kate’s mother, who is constantly having “naps” as an excuse to get out of real work, is loosely based on Amy’s aunt who was her only family after her parents were erased from the web of time. However, it is there that the similarities between the characters end. The story as a whole bears little resemblance to any of Amy and Rory’s adventures and experiences in the TV series. There are certainly no “Easter eggs” in this story that would appeal to the hard core Doctor Who fan, eg no allusions to Weeping Angels, Daleks or Silents. It really is just a generic, two-dimensional and run of the mill 1950s-style children’s fantasy adventure.

The audio reading of Summer Falls by Clare Corbett, however, does make the listening experience more enjoyable. I am not overly familiar with Ms Corbett’s CV (apart from a couple of readings of other Doctor Who and other AudioGO releases) but her narration is engaging and just the timbre of her voice is well suited to particularly the younger characters in Kate, Armand and Milo. She effortlessly changes the pitch of her voice between characters, from adults to children to the fantasy characters (her impression of the grey cat is my favourite!) – and vice versa. It really is as much a performance as a straight reading and Corbett acquits herself well.

But no matter how good a performer the narrator is, that will never disguise the intrinsic inadequacies of a story. As an “in universe” experiment, Summer Falls fails to appease the very audience it is directed at – Doctor Who fans who may have hoped to glean some insight into Amy Pond’s legacy. What they get is a fairly lame children’s story that is unlikely to be read by kids, unless of course they are themselves avid Doctor Who fans. (And again, as this audio book is being marketed under the Doctor Who logo, I cannot see it appealing to listeners who are not Doctor Who fans.) However, if you have young children of your own, Corbett’s entertaining rendition of the narrative may be enough to keep them entertained, if not exactly enthralled.

Which again begs the question: Why do Clara and Artie enjoy Summer Falls so much? Did it really enchant entire generations of children in the Whoniverse? And did Amy Pond really become the equal of Enid Blyton? Clearly, our real world version of Summer Falls is sadly not the same as the Whoniverse equivalent!

You have to envy Nicholas Briggs. Aside from living every young (and old) fan’s dream as a voice artist on the modern Doctor Who TV series – as the embodiment of the Daleks – he has also established himself as a prolific storyteller. Since the inception of Big Finish’s Doctor Who audio range, he has contributed countless serials for the medium, including numerous confrontations with Skaro’s infamous pepperpots (whom he has also voiced), as well as four seasons of the excellent spin-off Dalek Empire.

Given that he has spent over a decade virtually living and breathing Daleks, it’s a wonder Briggs did not exhaust every ounce of his creativity on the creatures long ago. His enthusiasm for the monsters has never waned and he has still been able to develop fresh angles for the Daleks in his stories, emphasising them as astute, rational and devious villains. The Dalek Generation, Briggs’ first official work of Doctor Who prose for BBC Books and AudioGO, also offers an unconventional take on the metal meanies. However, whereas Briggs’ Dalek tales are regularly epic, ambitious, action-packed and cleverly structured, The Dalek Generation is a mishmash of competitive elements and styles. The story is part urban noir, part urban thriller, part ancient mystery and part children’s drama. It is also more intimate and introspective, emphasising characterisation over action. Unfortunately, the presence of so many competing elements means it is hard to envisage exactly what kind of story Briggs is trying to tell as you listen to it.

The premise of The Dalek Generation is more implied than spelled out. The prosperous and harmonious Sunlight colony worlds are convinced the Daleks are saviours and philanthropists, not conquerors and devastators. The excellent prologue hints at a Dalek snake in an all too perfect Eden where people are happy and wealthy and (in typical fascist style) the bullet trains run on time! Like the classic Who serial The Happiness Patrol, doubters and dissidents are sought out and reconditioned – or “rehabilitated” - and the general populace are distracted by the joys of consumerism and reality television, oblivious to the true nature of their overlords. But as fascinating as this premise is - it certainly shows us another facet of the Daleks’ ingenuity and cunning - it is not as well developed as it ought to be and it is covered much too late in the story. Indeed, you are led to believe from the prologue that the book will focus strongly on the Doctor (as he so often does) arriving to “turn this mad upside down world up the right way again”. The book defies that expectation. Briggs at least convincingly portrays the Doctor’s failure to show the Sunlight colonists the deceit of their Dalek saviours. However, the underbelly of this so-called perfect world could have been so much more chilling, horrific and graphic. Past Dalek tales like Revelation of the Daleks and Bad Wolf/The Parting of the Ways have taken no prisoners when unveiling the horrors (both graphic and implied) that the Daleks hide behind a façade of civility.

The major strengths of this novel are actually in the characterisations of the story’s core juvenile characters which I suspect Briggs has based closely on his own young children. Like many fans, if you despised the presence of Clara’s “brat pack” Artie and Angie in the recent episode Nightmare in Silver, then brace yourself. In The Dalek Generation the Doctor, in the absence of a regular companion, befriends three orphans he rescues in the opening chapters. While the three children – Sabel, Jenibeth and Ollus Blakely – could have been extremely irritating, they are, through strong writing, sympathetic and endearing. Their innocence and straightforward attitudes, completely devoid of the pretentiousness of adults, also ably complement the madcap Eleventh Doctor, a man who is extremely hyperactive and who is (despite his great age) child-like and childish in equal measure!

Other themes in this story also resonate with the reader but again seem disjointed in the overall narrative. Not so long after the tragic conclusion of The Angels Take Manhattan, the ugliness of time travel rears its head again. We are reminded why, for all the good he does, the Doctor’s propensity for meddling, coupled with the Daleks’ machinations, can have an unintentionally tragic impact on the course of people’s lives. Briggs definitely knows how to tug at the heartstrings and convey the Time Lord’s anguish when the Doctor must explain to the Blakely orphans why he cannot go back in time and rescue their parents:

The Doctor could still hear Sabel’s crying and when a big sister cries, he thought, so would her little brother and sister. He was right. He could hear Ollus and Jenibeth start to sob. Here he was, thought the Doctor, the man who could bring empires to their knees, stand up to and defeat the most terrible creatures the universe had to offer, and when it came to children crying, his arsenal of rhetoric, ingenuity and witty ripostes was utterly bare. For a moment, all he wanted to do was run away. How could he tell the children he couldn’t go back and save their parents?

Indeed, the Blakely children’s full life story is very affecting and the book’s conclusion is bittersweet. The conclusion, however, would be more powerful if it is not so rushed. Briggs ties together all the distinct elements that make up the book so that you finally understand the scale and depth of the Daleks’ nefarious (and rather over-complex) plan. However, I feel the book’s deus ex machina – the so-called Cradle of Life – is both an unnecessary and clichéd SF staple. It fits in with Briggs’ penchant for giving the Daleks extremely overcomplicated, long term schemes of conquest but clashes with the more personal, intimate story that he has also been striving to write.

Briggs ably performs this audio reading of his own work. Naturally he brings out the voice modulator for the Daleks but he also performs the other voices for his characters, from the naive, bolshie Blakely children to the Peter Miles-like delivery of a colonial judge on the Sunlight world Carthedia (an unashamed nod to Miles’ classic performance as Nyder in Genesis of the Daleks). Briggs also reasonably apes Matt Smith’s performance as the Doctor. Smith’s Doctor has been described by many fans as the “shouty” Doctor and Briggs definitely conveys this trait in his portrayal of the Time Lord. You can literally visualise the exclamation marks whenever Briggs delivers some of the Doctor’s more excitable lines and his rants are a contrast to the Daleks’ calmer, rational, calculating and emotionless tones. This is particularly noticeable given the pepperpots are uncharacteristically on their best behaviour and at their most reasonable!

The Dalek Generation is an oddity from Nicholas Briggs. Its premise is interesting but underdeveloped and has also been recently bettered by Malorie Blackman’s Doctor Who e-short The Ripple Effect which offers its own superior vision of a benevolent Dalek society. The story is also teeming with too many other complex, interconnected ideas and themes for the reader to absorb in one sitting. Nevertheless, Briggs’ attempt to write a more personalised, intimate tale between the Doctor and the Blakely children is the highlight of the book and does show that the author is, despite his inner Dalek, capable of subtlety and empathy.

"Eh, Doctor lad, or something like that. Now, I haven't got long and before you have a go, yes, I know that this is breaking several laws of time, but this is extremely important..."

Such is the nature of the Ninth Doctor era in its brevity that we viewers can tend to reduce it to its most memorable tropes and lines of dialogue. For better or for worse, Christopher Eccleston’s incarnation of the character is generally recalled for his use of the phrase “Fantastic”, his darker portrayal after the increasingly more jovial and whimsical classic incarnations and ultimately the fact that we only spent thirteen forty-five minute instalments of time in his company. Not since 2005 have we received any fully-fledged new outings for the Ninth, a term of absence which inevitably places pressure on the latest entry in the Destiny of the Doctor series to deliver. Perhaps more so than in the case of any of the other releases in the range, the cast, writer and director of Night of the Whisper had an entourage of lofty expectations thrust upon them from the outset.

At the same time, though, from the outset it’s immensely reassuring to discover that the range’s writers have re-established an accurate interpretation of their designated era of Doctor Who. Whereas Alan Barnes’ take on the Eighth Doctor in Enemy Aliens last month was a little unsteady, this month’s representation of the Ninth by Cavan Scott, Mark Wright and reader Nicholas Briggs seems completely true to the televised version of that incarnation. Particularly, the representation of the Ninth Doctor’s post-Time War isolation and scarred psyche are handled with respect and dramatic power, as we get the sense once more of a tormented soul who has committed atrocities beyond depiction (until this November, at least). One instance where Police Chief McNeill confronts the Time Lord regarding his understanding of regret and the ramifications of omnipotence works magnificently, going far in terms of replicating the dark and raw emotion that Eccleston brought to the role eight years ago.

Another area in which Scott and Wright have managed to replicate past elements of Who is in the case of Night’s adversary, although this reviewer has to hope that this connection was unintentional. The scribes’ depiction of the antagonist menace, the cunning and manipulative Whisper, echoes beats of A Town Called Mercy's Gunslinger at times. Yet where Toby Whithouse produced a layered and emotionally complex villain in his Series Seven televised episode, the Whisper carries none of the same emotive gravitas or any memorable traits to allow for any enduring impact on the listener once the credits roll. This is one of the only arguable major setbacks in the piece, which is certainly a pleasing contrast to the legions of caveats to be found with its immediate predecessor.

Strangely enough for a release which does such a fine job of capturing the motifs and moral complexities of its era, one of Night's most memorable elements by far is its mandatory Eleventh Doctor cameo sequence. Though Nick Briggs (and arguably no other actor bar the man himself) can't quite fully capture the quick-witted and rapidly shifting portrayal that Matt Smith lends the Doctor, his attempt is valiant and both the soundtrack and the script work superbly in capturing the bold message the Time Lord's future self transmits in order to help avert a future crisis. Briggs can’t be faulted, however, in the midst of his other portrayals- replicating Chris’ Northern tones, Billie Piper’s grounded London accent and John Barrowman’s broad Scot-American quips all at once must have appeared a rather daunting challenge, yet the man behind the voices of the Daleks and Cybermen pulls off that feat with aplomb and this reviewer would be eager to see Briggs take up the roles of the TARDIS trio again in future audios.

On supporting duties this time around is John Schwab as the increasingly mysterious MacNeill, a figure whose relevance in the Doctor’s own future will only become clear in two months’ time come the final release of the range. Schwab isn’t given a wealth of content until the final sequences of the narrative, at which point the American voice actor comes into his own, presenting the listener with one of the most compelling and realistic portrayals of a secondary character yet in the Destiny series. Again, should Schwab be so inclined as to return beyond this isolated storyline, he’s sure to gain credits aplenty regardless of the role he is afforded by AudioGo and/or Big Finish in the future.

When all’s said and done, Night Of The Whisper isn’t completely devoid of blemishes. The momentum of Scott and Wright’s narrative falters at times during the action sequences, and in addition those characters Briggs is left to develop other than the TARDIS crew aren’t always as memorable as the main ensemble. This time, though, there’s such a plentiful amount of impressive content on offer for the listener that the experience can’t help but be a pleasure. The reprisal of the accuracy with which the production team are attempting to represent the various eras of Doctor Who is greatly refreshing, setting a high precedent for the final two Destiny Of The Doctor releases to match. With any luck, after the slight misstep of Enemy Aliens last month, Night Of The Whisper will have set us on a captivating path to be traversed in Death’s Deal and The Time Machine. Much as the Ninth Doctor era does tend to be reduced to its most memorable tropes and catchphrases, in this case it really is fair to say that the assembled hordes of Genghis Khan couldn’t stop this from being an utterly fantastic experience.

Amongst the greatest by-products of Doctor Who’s revived success since 2005 has been the re-emergence of the ‘Classic Novels’ range, with recent literary instalments such as The Wheel of Ice and Shada proving qualified hits for fans new and old alike. With Harvest of Time, author Alistair Reynolds returns to the Third Doctor era in the midst of the show’s 50th Anniversary for a nostalgic, intergalactic adventure. It’s a shame, then, that Harvest is a somewhat inadequate endeavour in audio form, only likely to inspire fans to return to Jon Pertwee’s televised adventures in order to reassure themselves of their superior quality.

That Reynolds’ characterisations of those firm fan favourite constructs from the Pertwee days aren’t wholly consistent with what we remember certainly doesn’t build a strong foundation for the piece. Much as recent entries in the Eleventh Doctor’s New Series Adventures novel range have appeared to struggle with clearly defining their portrayal of Matt’s take on the Time Lord as opposed to Chris’ or David’s incarnations, so too do some of the colloquialisms and speech mannerisms of Reynolds’ Third Doctor seem more befitting of more recent incarnations than the temporarily Earth-bound 1970s take on the alien hero.

Such notable representational inaccuracies are made all the more striking when we consider that Harvest is set in conditions purely indicative of the aforementioned era of the programme. Still working with UNIT and Jo Grant, the Doctor’s encounters with the Master and the sinister extraterrestrial Sild feel as if they have been ripped out of a ‘lost’ adventure at the time. Given that Harvest is coming to retail in audiobook form during the 50th Anniversary year, one can assert it to be only natural that Reynolds reprises the most memorable elements of the Pertwee era, yet his dedication to producing a tale accurate to its dramatic context is arguably the undoing of the piece in terms of the lingering sense that there’s a general lack of narrative innovation on offer here.

To its credit, one notable factor of the audiobook version of Harvest lends it an air of superiority over its published source material. Geoffrey Beevers does a sterling job as the narrator of this particular release, his relish at the opportunity of portraying both a classic Doctor and another version of the Master clear from the outset. At the very least, Beevers ensures that the interest of the listener is rarely lost in the midst of the rather predictable and linear narrative thanks to accomplished differentiation between his various character portrayals in terms of dialect and speech patterns, as well as plenty of confident and varied levels of emphasis even in the more mundane moments of description and depiction.

If only Beevers was able to be afforded more engaging content on a regular basis by this ever-so-slightly abridged aural rendition of Reynolds’ latest Who text, the resulting impact of the product as a whole would not likely be as dissatisfying. Instead, he’s simply offered a storyline which rarely has any highlight moments, the most notable sequences ultimately being those where the book’s scribe manages to effectively capture the intricate relationships between Pertwee’s Doctor with the likes of the Brigadier and Jo. Certainly, the seamless manner in which the plot segues between the situations on Earth, in the realms of the Red Queen and elsewhere keeps things fresh from time to time, but it’s hardly enough to compensate for the general lack of momentum present as the audiobook progresses over the course of five discs.

What we’re left with overall, then, is a mixed bag to say the least. Without a charismatic and engaging narrator such as Beevers on hand to carry the weight of its in-depth science-fiction narrative, Harvest of Time would likely suffer far worse as a result of its lacklustre storyline and unfulfilling characterisations. Thankfully, with the dedicated ex-Master lending his vocal talents to this production, Harvest is presented to listeners in a digestible form that makes for a far more compulsive experience than it has any right to be.