This review contains plot spoilers and is based on the UK edition of the ebook. 

Puffin's series of short stories continues with something of a triumph for the sixth Doctor’s era. In Something Borrowed, US author Richelle Mead adopts the first person perspective of Ms Peri Brown, as well as having fun with the gaudiness of mid-80s Doctor Who (but not fun at its expense). Here, the Doctor and Peri visit the Koturians, a race who have been so inspired by their experience of Earth’s Las Vegas that they've modelled themselves on its culture. In place of the Strip there’s a “Swathe”, and even an Elvis impersonator turns up at one vital moment. But for all its energetic knowingness, Something Borrowed also refines its Who source material by setting out a coherent, well thought through storyline (not something that could always be said of the sixth Doctor’s TV outings, in my view).

Mead’s decision to use Peri as her viewpoint character means that the Doctor occasionally bursts in on proceedings and has to info-dump what he’s been up to, but on the whole it’s a gambit which further lends coherence and credibility to the tale. Peri’s American vantage point is (perhaps understandably) well realized, but there are also lovely little character moments such as her anxiety about being stared at by a crowd of wedding guests when she and the Doctor are about to intervene in one particular ceremony. Given the story’s title – and its Vegas-esque setting – it probably comes as little surprise to find that there’s a wedding at the heart of matters. But this isn’t Doctor Who-as-romance: nuptial themes are precisely and sharply integrated with a daring scheme that could transform the Doctor’s world (and even Doctor Who) as we know it.

The Doctor and Peri face a familiar nemesis, and though the identity of this villain is eminently guessable it is still a pleasure to encounter them, and in a well-written guise at that. The Doctor’s acerbic reworking of “something old, something new, something borrowed and something blue” may be rather mean, but it’s also very funny, and in keeping with this era’s focus on badinage. At one point the Doctor overcomes some henchman-type creatures (hench-creatures?), and you half expect him to toss out a Sawardian one-liner. But no, rather than caustically quipping, he pauses to express his regret (and I’d love to know if that moment emerged through an editorial note: it really does feel like a knowledgeable fan taking the time to ‘correct’ tonal worries rooted in long-term readings of the sixth Doctor).

The villain of the piece wants a Koturian groom as part of their capricious machinations to ‘borrow’ (OK, steal) something that’s lacking in “most” Time Lord’s capabilities (and the story fudges this by inserting “most” and “definitively” in its eventual explanation, thereby glossing over the debacle of a certain fourth Doctor Dalek story). But what’s most impressive is that while acknowledging details of fan knowledge here and there, the storyline still rockets along and everything dovetails neatly together in a logically and emotionally satisfying way. There are bits of dialogue you can almost hear Colin Baker’s voice saying, they fit so well into his Doctor’s character. And both Peri and the returning baddie are also well served. In light of what would happen later in the run of television stories, a casual threat about the possibility of the Doctor regenerating “sooner” than he might think also resonates rather smartly for the reader.

In terms of character, setting, alien culture, and its villain’s grandiose scheme, Something Borrowed hits all the right notes. Richelle Mead has lovingly borrowed a sometimes unloved period in Doctor Who’s rich tapestry, and not only restored its sense and sensibilities, but also stitched it back together in a new and somewhat improved pattern. Rarely has Peri been this three-dimensional a character. And although the TV programme had begun to recurrently plunder Time Lord lore by the mid-80s, it rarely did so in a particularly coherent manner (something brought home to me when rewatching The Two Doctors at the BFI recently). On this occasion, however, Mead’s handiwork makes judicious use of Time Lord capacities to power the overall storyline. “Impressive” really is the most apposite epithet for this month’s Puffin ebook.

This review is based on the CD release from AudioGo and may contain minor spoilers.

"I really need an Omni-Paradox. I need you to store its awesome energy within the TARDIS so I can use it later for a very important thing I’m doing. The existence of the universe is at stake..."

Whereas the first five instalments of the Destiny of the Doctor range have had a lot of common, albeit each boasting their own definitive tone based on the era they represent, from this point onwards it seems as if each of the final six releases will be far more distinct from one another. In the case of Trouble In Paradise, it’s time for Colin Baker’s Sixth Doctor to go under the radar, and it seems fair to say that this release will differ greatly from the McCoy, McGann, Eccleston, Tennant and Smith adventures still to come.

The premise here is simple enough- the Eleventh Doctor calls upon his former self to hunt down an Omni-Paradox, tracking such an element to a 15th Century sailing vessel containing none other than renowned explorer Christopher Columbus. This set-up allows us an intriguing interaction between the Doctor and a man he believes to be one of his greatest inspirations. Of course, as the old saying goes, you should never meet your childhood heroes- and just as Shakespeare and Van Gogh appeared to vastly contradict the Time Lord’s preconceptions, so too does Columbus bear a startling darkness in his heart.

Typically enough for an audio outing which is so intently focused on replicating the tone of its chosen era of Doctor Who, Nev Fountain elects to have the Doctor travel with his most faithful companion of this particular incarnation- Perpugilliam Brown. Nicola Bryant is our narrator of proceedings, then, seeming to inhabit her 1980s role again with breathtaking ease, while additionally managing to provide a fair reproduction of Baker’s protagonist. Nicola is joined by Cameron Stewart, who lends Columbus that aforementioned darkness and moral ambiguity, as we listeners discover that this ‘great’ explorer may not have been the hero that most would have expected.

The narrative of the adventure is helped in no small measure by being prompted by an appearance from the latest version of the Time Lord. In past instalments of the Destiny range, the 50th Anniversary links featuring the Eleventh Doctor worked to the stories’ detriment due to feeling somewhat misplaced, yet by having the Eleventh incarnation be the trigger of events to come, it lends his cameo a greater presence and dramatic impact. Once we’re down to business, though, this tale of ‘El Diablo’ (a supposed physical manifestation of the Devil) is a fairly well-worn adventure that fans will recognise as bearing strong similarities to previous televised and audio stories alike. Nostalgia isn’t necessarily always detrimental, yet it can have a profound negative impact if allowed to dominate a story’s structure and characterisations.

Did Fountain perhaps rest on his laurels somewhat, then? That could certainly be one interpretation of Trouble, a morally ambitious Sixth Doctor audio adventure that seems too intent on paying homage to the past. The problem, though, is that the drama’s writer was quite probably asked to adhere to certain tonal and narrative boundaries in order to properly fit the Colin Baker years without ever stepping too far away from the status quo. During isolated moments, the story does venture into interesting uncharted territory, but too often are these ventures painfully brief and regularly jarring with the ‘classic’ tone of the remainder of this release. This shortcoming doesn’t completely rob the audio drama of its dramatic impact, yet for long-time fans either of the classic era of the show and/or even simply since Doctor Who returned in 2005 (this reviewer falls in the latter category), this sense of déjà vu is something of a sore point. For many, it seems that an overdependence on nostalgia was what killed the programme at the climax of the ‘80s, so with Steven Moffat thankfully focused on ensuring that the 50th Anniversary Special introduces as many new elements as it does reference the past, it seems strange that AudioGo has kept its range so nostalgia-orientated.

Let’s not dwell too heavily on the negative aspects of Trouble In Paradise, however. Indeed, much like the Colin Baker era as a whole, to lament its flaws too heavily is to miss much of this audio release’s charm and wit. Nicola Bryant has slipped effortlessly back into the role of Peri and does wonders with the narration, the direction of the piece is accomplished and Nev Fountain’s script is accessible and empathetic despite its lack of innovation. If this latest entry in the Destiny range does herald a series of distinct concluding instalments, then, we can at least rest assured that AudioGo will maintain their focus on adhering to the tones of each era of the show, for better or for worse. Doctor Who’s past can often be just as much of a hindrance as a blessing, but in this case, it should be of great benefit as the last fifty years of the programme will define one of the most ambitious and innovative audio ranges that fans have yet had the opportunity to experience.

This review is based on the MP3 download from Big Finish, and contains minor spoilers.

All is not well at Tantane Spaceport. The massive structure – a network of departure gates, hydroponic gardens, passenger lounges and maintenance tunnels – has been sealed off centuries. Outside, an endless storm rages. Inside, the spaceport’s surviving inhabitants have split into two warring tribes, Business and Economy, whose members mouth litanies and obey traditions handed down over 19 generations. Into this hermetically sealed environment come the Sixth Doctor (Colin Baker) and Mel (Bonnie Langford), and trouble isn’t far behind them.

The Plot:

Having turned 20 years of age, novitiate Naysmith (Isabel Fay) comes to the place of tradition – Customs – to attest that she, like those who came before her, has learned the rites and rituals of Economy. "I travel light. I have learned to live on little liquids," she proclaims. Soon, however, Naysmith’s initiation – and the lives of her boyfriend, Pretty Swanson (Gwilym Lee) and his mother Beauty (Big Finish regular Beth Chalmers) are disrupted by an unexpected arrival.

Landing in Tantane Spaceport, the TARDIS activates the base’s sleeping computers, triggering mechanisms across the complex, including the lights – a process that the locals, used to near-permanent darkness, call ‘summer’. Part of the station’s rebooting process sees its walls rearrange themselves for no readily apparent reason, other than being a handy plot device to swiftly separate Mel and the Doctor from the TARDIS – a somewhat artificial means of engaging them with the adventure, it must be said, but an effective one.

Roaming the spaceport’s corridors, the travellers encounter Naysmith and her clan, as well as their sworn enemies from Business, the gruff Galpan (Chalmers again) and her subordinate, the trigger-happy Rogers (Adrian MacKinder). Then there’s Economy’s spiritual leader, Elder Bones (Ronald Pickup), who claims to have overseen the tribe’s welfare for almost 500 years – a task which includes warding off the Wailer, a savage beast normally confined in a remote section of the spaceport. Unfortunately, the arrival of summer, and the spaceport’s shifting walls, seem to have set the Wailer free.

The Doctor and Mel must now navigate the shifting corridors and make their way to the control tower in order to find and access the TARDIS, while avoiding the laser-blasts of Business and the claws of the Wailer. Simultaneously, they have to keep everyone else safe – and then there’s the small matter of the raging storm outside…

Observations:

Writer William Gallagher has woven together a number of well-established Doctor Who tropes in his third story for Big Finish (following the short Fifth Doctor story Doing Time on The Demons of Red Lodge and Other Stories and Sixth Doctor adventure Wirrin Isle). There’s a great deal of running down corridors here, as well as dramatic use of conduits and air-conditioning vents; a base under siege and a monster on the loose inside its confined spaces; but the most familiar motif in Gallagher’s script is of the devolved society, as seen in a number of televised stories including Season Three’s The Savages, Season Eight’s Colony in Space, Season 18’s State of Decay and Season 24’s Paradise Towers.

Perhaps the most famous example of devolution in Doctor Who is Season 14’s The Face of Evil, and it’s this story that most springs to mind when listening to Spaceport Fear – indeed, Gallagher himself references it in the interviews which appear as extras on disc two. But unlike Chris Boucher’s classic Fourth Doctor story, in which the warring tribes of Sevateem and Tesh and their backstory are integral to the story, the origins of Tantane Spaceport’s rival tribes are less a key plot point and more local colour – albeit local colour that serve as a striking metaphor for contemporary western society and the growing gap between the haves and the have-nots.

Spaceport Fear is something of a homage to Boucher’s story but quite different in tone and intent. His dialogue, and the evocation of the world in which the characters live, is detailed and engaging, while the mood is light – not comical, but certainly less than entirely serious.

Unfortunately the story, too, is a little lacking in substance, with the third episode in particular feeling somewhat padded, though as a whole the adventure definitely entertains. Other flaws are evident: in the final act, Gallagher’s characters grasp the uses of advanced technology such as mechanised transport a bit too quickly given what we have previously learned about their society, while the revelation concerning the perfidy of a major character is rather obviously foreshadowed. Such flaws may be due to the story being rushed into production to fill a gap in the Big Finish schedule (as revealed in the story’s bonus features); more time in development might have helped craft a stronger narrative.

Other faults occur in production – Beth Chalmers tries her best to differentiate her two characters, but the presence of an additional actor would have greatly assisted proceedings – though as a whole, the story sounds excellent, particularly the sound design, which gives a strong sense of the scale of Tantane Spaceport. The chemistry between Baker and Langford sparkles, and Gallagher earns extra points for ensuring that Mel’s eidetic memory and affinity with computers are integral to the story.

Conclusion:

Though a fairly slight story, and not without its flaws, Spaceport Fear is engaging, imaginative and entertaining. It successfully references the classic era of the series without being a mere pastiche, and admirably fleshes out the relationship between Mel and the Sixth Doctor – a relationship sadly cut short by the powers-that-be at the BBC. Most importantly, it feels like a Doctor Who adventure – and an enjoyable one at that.

This review is based on the MP3 download from Big Finish, and contains minor spoilers.

Chronologically speaking (the UNIT dating controversy aside) the majority of the Doctor’s companions from the television program’s classic era have a fairly straightforward relationship with the Time Lord. Dodo, Jamie, Sarah Jane – they all meet the Doctor, travel in the TARDIS for a limited time, and eventually depart. Not so Miss Melanie Bush, a computer programmer from the West Sussex village of Pease Pottage, who travels with the Doctor before she meets him – at least from his perspective.

When the Sixth Doctor first encounters Mel during The Trial of a Time Lord, she has been plucked from his future, during an adventure on the planet Oxyveguramosa – a future in which she has already been his companion for approximately three months (as detailed in Pip and Jane Baker’s Target novelisations, Terror of the Vervoids and The Ultimate Foe). Thereafter, once the trial has ended, the two depart together, despite the fact that their first proper meeting hasn’t actually happened yet. What happens next in the Sixth Doctor and Mel’s temporally complex relationship forms the basis of this new Big Finish adventure (and directly contradicts the ending of the Bakers’ The Ultimate Foe novelisation, which may frustrate some purists).

The Plot:

Travelling alone, having recently bidden farewell to his former companion, Evelyn Smythe, the Sixth Doctor (Colin Baker) decides it’s finally time to meet Mel (Bonnie Langford) for the first time. Unfortunately, the TARDIS materialises in Pease Pottage on the same day that the Doctor’s brasher younger self is dropping Mel home after the events of The Trial of a Time Lord – despite her protestations that he should be taking her back to the planet Oxyveguramosa.

In addition to the dangers of crossing his own time stream, the Doctor – or rather, Doctors – soon discover that all is not well in Pease Pottage. Former village postmistress Mrs Muriel Wilberforce (Patricia Leventon) appears remarkably spry for a woman who supposedly died in 1964; dinosaurs roam the streets, as do a gang of violent young ruffians clad in ragged Victorian costumes and led by one Jedediah Thurwell (James Joyce); and the younger version of Mel the two Doctors discover working at the Pease Pottage radar station seems distinctly not herself...

Observations:

Written by Matt Fitton and directed by Nicholas Briggs, The Wrong Doctors has the difficult job of filling in a missing piece of a story never told on television, while also trying to avoid any major conflict with alternative iterations of Mel’s story as told in other media (in particular, Gary Russell’s BBC Past Doctor Adventure, Business Unusual, in which Mel’s first encounter with the Sixth Doctor takes place in Brighton in 1989). From this perspective it’s a success; unfortunately as a stand-alone audio adventure, it doesn’t completely satisfy.

The story begins well; its tone is light, almost playful, and characters are swiftly and easily introduced, though unfortunately Fitton fails to develop them well – all are predominantly two-dimensional, more caricatures than well-rounded characters in their own right, save for the lead roles of Mel and the two Doctors, on whose dialogue Fitton seems to have focussed most of his energies, resulting in successful and well defined evocations of the characters at different points in their own timelines.

Performances from Joyce and Leventon as Mrs Wilberforce and Jeb are strong despite the characters’ flaws; less impressive are Beth Chalmers as Facilitator Vaneesh and John Banks as Captain Ksllak, two members of an economically aggressive alien race, the Mardaks, described by the Doctor as "an entire species dedicated to one of the most despicable occupations in the entire universe".

"Robbers? Arms dealers? Pirates?" Mel asks.

"No," the Doctor replies. "Business consultants!"

Joyce and Leventon struggle to convincingly portray the faux-American accents demanded of their characters; nor is Fitton’s satire of modern business-speak particularly compelling. With the Mardaks’ talk of ‘probjectives’ and ‘incentivisation’, there’s a sense that the writer is attempting a satire of the contemporary business world akin to Robert Holmes’ spin on the British tax system in The Sun Makers; unfortunately Fitton lacks Holmes’ wit and skill, resulting in blunt, unsatisfying dialogue and thinly written characters.

Nor is the villain of the piece especially memorable. As Stapleton Petherbridge, Tony Gardner does his best with the over the top dialogue he is given, but some of his line readings are particularly melodramatic, a fault which could have been muted by stronger direction. The revelation of Stapleton’s true nature is frankly silly, though the script nonetheless scores well on the continuity front at this point thanks to its references to "vortisaurs, chronovores, pantophagens; the creeping, swarming things of the vortex". Awkward dialogue aside, references like this are still bound to bring a smile to most fans’ faces.

Despite these flaws, The Wrong Doctors still entertains thanks to its central conceit of two Sixth Doctors and two Mels featuring in the same story. Baker is in magnificent form, clearly delighting in playing two versions of himself, and in her long awaited return to Big Finish, Langford charms. Her subtle differentiation between an older, wider Mel and the ditzy younger version is impressive, and the chemistry between her and Baker is immediate and obvious.

Conclusion:

This tale of cauterised time and pocket universes, temporal anomalies and characters meeting themselves starts strongly but ends poorly. A lacklustre villain, poorly developed characters, and a muddled and over-wrought climax detract from what could have been an engaging and memorable addition to the Big Finish range; nonetheless the adventure entertains thanks primarily to the verbal dexterity and charisma of its star performers and the well-written banter between them – and between different versions of themselves.

This review is based on the MP3 download from Big Finish, and contains minor spoilers.

Featuring the blustering, bombastic Sixth Doctor, as portrayed by Colin Baker, The Acheron Pulse is the second in a trilogy of recently released Big Finish audio adventures set in the Drashani Empire – a galaxy-spanning civilisation akin to a futuristic Rome, and like the Roman Empire, beset both by internal turmoil and external invaders.

In the first part of the trilogy, The Burning Prince, the Fifth Doctor found himself caught up in an interplanetary rescue mission to the swampy planetoid Sharnax, populated by marauding alien beasts known as the Igris – later revealed to be a rebellious, genetically engineered slave race.

Despite the Doctor’s involvement, the mission – intended to unite the Empire by ensuring a wedding between two warring noble houses – was not a success.

The Plot:

Following the deaths of Princess Aliona of House Gadarel and her fiancée Prince Kylo of House Sorsha, in the skies over Sharnax, Aliona's infant cousin, Cheni Gadarel (Kirsty Besterman) was crowned Empress of the Drashani. Thirty years later, the Doctor – once again travelling alone – returns to the Empire, though a little later than he’d intended, in order to visit Empress Cheni and fulfil a promise made to a dying man. Landing on the relatively primitive planet of Cawdor, he is quickly caught up in a drama involving bloodthirsty native tribesmen, arrogant aliens who think themselves better than the local populace, and a monomaniacal, vengeance-obsessed foe.

For many years, under Cheni's rule, peace reigned. Now that peace is threatened by the Wrath – a mysterious race led by the sepulchral Lord Deliverer, Tenebris (James Wilby).

Wielding a dreadful weapon capable of laying waste to worlds – the Acheron Pulse – the Wrath seem intent on destroying the Empire completely, and only the Doctor stands in their way – as long as he can get away from the barbarian warriors who have taken him prisoner on Cawdor…

Observations:

Compared to its predecessor, a tightly scripted and fast-paced adventure, The Acheron Pulse feels cumbersome and clumsy. Plot strands feel forced and predictable, and despite a technically proficient production overseen by director Ken Bentley, the story fails to generate tension and drama.

The script, by Rick Briggs, features characters so two dimensional that they’re virtually cartoonish, the most exaggerated of which is the barbarian warlord Athrid (Chook Sibtain), into whose hands the Doctor first falls when he lands on Cawdor. Reminiscent of King Yrcanos from The Trial of a Time Lord parts Five to Eight (aka Mindwarp) Athrid is quickly established as a violent buffoon; bloodthirsty and stupid but essentially decent, and certainly a potential ally for the Doctor – an impression which is jarringly contradicted by his sexual assault upon an incognito Empress Cheni in episode one.

Additional characters, including a minor Drashani envoy, Duhkin Stubbs (Joseph Kloska) and Cawdorian technician Teesha (Jane Slavin), as well as Tenebris himself, also lack definition and detail, though Jane Slavin does an excellent and engaging job as Teesha, Athrid’s strong-willed wife and battle-partner.

Uncomfortable sexual politics and thinly-written characters aside, the unlikely idea that an Empress would travel incognito to witness diplomatic negotiations between Cawdor and her Empire, when her Empire is under attack from a mysterious warlord, makes suspension of belief difficult, while at least one of the major plot threads – the defence of Cawdor by Teesha and Athrid’s barbarian horde – feels like filler. Even the main plot, involving the Doctor, Cheni and Tenebris (whose identity, when it is revealed, fails to surprise) elicits little in the way of suspense or narrative tension, while the lack of a regular companion means the listener needs to become emotionally invested in the lives and actions of the supporting cast – a challenge when the characters they play are so thinly drawn.

An additional subplot involving an alternate dimension, the Undervoid, and further revelations concerning the origins of the Wrath and the Igris, also fails to sustain interest, although it does provide Colin Baker with an excellent opportunity to demonstrate the Sixth Doctor’s intelligence and arrogance, via a decision that will no doubt have devastating results come the final part of the trilogy.

Conclusion:

While The Burning Prince was a well-written story marred by a key performer’s overacting (that same actor performs well here, suggesting the fault was primarily a directorial one) The Acheron Pulse is a disappointing story featuring strong performances. Its laboured and predictable plot, two dimensional characters, and an anti-climactic ending fail to sustain interest or narrative tension over its four episodes, resulting in a disappointing middle third to Big Finish's latest trilogy. Thankfully, the epilogue, though again featuring extremely clichéd characters, promises better things to come in the final part of the series, Jonathan Morris’s The Shadow Heart.

This review is based on the MP3 download from Big Finish, and contains spoilers.

For me, a spin-off series for Henry Gordon Jago and Professor George Litefoot was always going to be a winner, such is the strength of character from their first appearances in The Talons of Weng-Chiang. In many ways it is a shame that they didn't get their own television series back then, but this has been more than made up for with their continuing adventures from Big Finish. Now, after some seventeen adventures, it's finally time for the intrepid duo to have their first visit off-world, and here they are off to see the sights with the Sixth Doctor (encountered last season) in this special release, Voyage to Venus.

THE PLOT:

No prizes for guessing where the Victorian investigators end up, of course, though this is not the Venus that they or the Doctor expected to see. This is a planet some several hundred years earlier than a previous visit by Doctor with Jamie and Victoria (not that one, Jago!), and things are very different than he recalls as first they are captured by green-furred Venusians and then find themselves considered as animals and carted off to a menagerie!

In the early set-up we discover that these Venusians are a female-dominated society, they are ruled by Grand Empress Vulpina, and are served by the more primitive Thraskins. This is a Venus many years in the future, and though early on Jago thinks to claim the planet for the Empire it turns out the Earth they knew is a long-dead, barren place. As the story progresses, their society becomes more defined, living in large floating cities over a land that until recently was barren but had suddenly come to violent life with lush jungles and creatures such as thraskins and also herds of shanghorn - one of which apparently killed the chief scientist and was being hunted when the trio were encountered.

Intrigue ensues, as Litefoot and the Doctor uncover how the scientist was really killed, who is to blame, and how it all points to the "Forbidden Cave". Meanwhile, Jago becomes Vulpina's entertainer, learns more about the status of Venusian males than he really wants to know(!), but is also in the position to be able to warn the others of their impending capture once Vulpina decides they know too much - and there's no prize for guessing where we head to next!

Revelations continue during the latter half of the story as we discover that the dominant species from Venus and Earth have more in common than they realise, and that the original, unknown ancient race of Venusians (Sitherians) are not quite extinct after all ... and as Vulpina tries to erradicate all knowledge and witnesses to this, an all out war between the old and new inhabitants looms ...

OBSERVATIONS:

Venus hasn't featured directly in the television series (unless you count its status as a marker buoy in Enlightenment), but two of the third Doctor's traits hail from the planet, his penchant for their martial arts and lullabies. Unsurprisingly, both get name-checked in this adventure. The Doctor discusses learning martial arts during his previous visit early on, but the latter aspect of his third persona turns out to be a key factor in the resolution of the story, with the rampaging hordes of slanghorns brought to bear by a cheery rendition of God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen by Jago! As scientist-cum-musician Felina embraces the tune in their new appreciation of the art (Venusians had no concept of music before), you can quite quickly leap to where this is headed a few hundred years later!

Back in Jago and Litefoot's time of the 19th Century, it was still thought that Venus might have been a lush planet underneath those rolling clouds, so the duo would not have been surprised at the jungle they found outside the TARDIS on their journey ... though a little further afield than Borneo! I must admit I wasn't so enamoured of Venusians themselves in the story, however - this isn't so much a reflection on the actresses playing the Venusians (or the solitary male Sitherian), just that I think I wanted to hear more of the main three actors! One problem might have been how a 'race of women' is a quite familiar pulp-sci-fi concept (not to mention the attention to Galaxy 4 of late), and the ideas of an ancient race that put itself into suspension until a time it can return is also reminiscent of the "Earth Reptiles versus Man" theme that is another Pertweeism. So, with these 'same-o' ideas, ahem, 'floating' about I found my attention wandering a bit with those plot devices. Also, Vulpina's motivation is a little unclear, too - it seemed quite obvious that the ancient intelligence Vepaja was way too powerful to be stopped from continuing his reclaimation simply by making the cave 'forbidden', or later - in another action reminiscent of the Pertwee era - removing a problem by blowing it up!

On the other hand, Christopher Benjamin and Trevor Baxter excel as always; maintaining a convincing contemporary world view can be tricky, and writer Jonathan Morris does a good job of engaging their Victorian counterparts with the usual vigour, practical thought and ethics! Litefoot gets to show off his forensic credentials (though why wouldn't Venusians have such skills?), but the alliterative Jago steals the show with the best lines - even to the point where Vulpina comments: "you have the most extraordinarily expansive speech patterns!"

Colin Baker continues to endow his Doctor with both a sense of force and fun, and the mellower, post-Season 22 depiction that he has portrayed in his Big Finish adventures still fares well. Though not exactly in the background, the Doctor is perhaps a little less prominent in this story, but then I feel it is a Jago and Litefoot tale with the Doctor rather than the other way around, so in that case this would be expected. Nevertheless he does play the important role of filling in the details of the past, present and future that the other characters would otherwise be ignorant of (like the slanghorns' vegetarian nature, or surprise at the Thraskins being "willing" servants at this stage of their history).

The emphasis in the plot of the lemur-like race meant that it wasn't such a surprise that they turned out to be the 'real' Venusians after all, long-since forgotten. The idea of a racial bank being reactivated to repopulate a planet is another old tried-and-trusted staple, though to rebuild the planet's ecosystem in six years does seem a tad quick! (that's three re-s in one sentence, makes me ...) I mentioned parallels with the 'Silurians' earlier, but there are other comparisons between Earth and Venus made during the story. Both they and the Sitherians had to 'abandon' their way of life due to a disaster, later to be re-awoken by the outside influence by the new planet 'owners'. Humans turned the Earth into a lifeless barren world after excessive exploitation, and Vepaja explains that Venus had suffered a similar fate in the distant past, which led them to build their repository. And at the end of the story the Doctor's observation the two Venusian claimants living together in harmony in the future is something that was a cautiously optimistic outcome in Cold Blood.

CONCLUSION:

All-in-all, the story has nothing too complex to tax the brain, and the familiarity of plot elements mean that there are no sudden revelations to blow the listener away. This isn't a bad thing, however - the adventure is a bit of light-hearted fun, with sparkling dialogue for the main characters - which was what I was listening for, anyway!

The story ends on a cliffhanger, which leads neatly into the next special to feature the three compatriots, next month's Voyage to the New World.