Manufacturer: Big Finish Productions

Written By: Jamie Anderson & Eddie Robson

RRP: £14.99 (CD) / £12.99 (Download)

Release Date: February 2019

Reviewed by: Nick Mellish for Doctor Who Online

Black Thursday - By Jamie Anderson

"1902. Deep beneath the Welsh village of Abertysswg, men have worked the black seam for generations. Until the day of the disaster. The day that a blue box from the future materialised inside the mine.... and things would never be the same again."

Power Game - By Eddie Robson

"Welcome to the Incredible Power Game, in which three brave Earthlings enter the Void Pit in search of strange gems to help return the alien Hostess to her home dimension. Today's contestants include Graham, Sadia... and Tegan, an air stewardess from Brisbane!"

It's funny how history can impact upon the present in unexpected ways. Despite an audibly older cast, stories which deal with concepts the 1980s run of TV episodes would never have done, and episode running times that often far outrun the original format’s restrictions, give me a Big Finish Peter Davison story which is but two episodes in length and I find myself nodding: “Yes. This feels right.”

The presence of two-episode-long stories in this era's original run lend the format here an air of authenticity that would be absent for, say, Patrick Troughton’s Doctor. Here though, it fits well and whilst I think the ‘pure historical’ label sometimes ascribed to Black Orchid is wildly misleading, its existence lends the opening story in this release, Black Thursday, extra weight.

Written by semi-regular Big Finish director and sometimes-writer Jamie Anderson, Black Thursday takes us to Wales in the early 20th Century where a mining disaster strikes and the TARDIS crew soon find themselves in the middle of it all, helping save lives where they can, comfort the grieving where they cannot, and, naturally, winding up in trouble.

Kamelion and human emotion are the main focus points in this story, leading to a masterclass performance by Jon Culshaw. This is a script which gives us a man having to perform as a robot speaking in a slightly-off Welsh accent that's still recognisably robotic. It's incredibly impressive: to make his accent here authentically Welsh enough while holding back a little but in a way that doesn't distract is one hell of a task but he pulls it off superbly.

Much of the rest of the cast bring a similar level of depth and skill to their performances, too, with Tim Treloar turning in his strongest outing for Big Finish yet and Lizzie Roper giving an equally impressive showing. Add to this the best script Anderson has written so far and you've a recipe for success.

Oddly enough, its weakest element is also its strongest: Kamelion. His plight is heartfelt and understandable and Anderson writes it well with sympathetic strokes, but it undoubtedly feels rather familiar, being yet another case of ‘Kamelion is overwhelmed by another's emotions / mind and changes as a result’. Coming so soon after the exact same plot point being a fairly big hunk of Devil In The Mist, it really does show up limitations with the robot's plot potential, even if it's executed well as is the case here.

That it pops up again in the very next story only further this sense of familiarity, though writer Eddie Robson keeps it on the back burner and lets the rest of his story do the talking.

If Black Thursday was an intelligent and weighty slice of education that effectively grabbed the heartstrings, then Power Game is an intelligent and light slice of adventure that effectively tickles the funnybone.

Set in York in the 1980s, Power Game tells of a television series that mysteriously appears in the middle of scheduled transmissions, much to the bemusement and confusion of the TV schedulers but the joy of a local Science Fiction and Fantasy group. Anyone who has watched television shows such as The Adventure Game or, to a certain extent, Knightmare will recognise this story's use of early computerised effects, contestant interaction and gameplay, and come away smiling. It uses nostalgia well, but better still it doesn't just rely on that to woo the audience but has a strong script with well-realised characters to back it up: Ready Player One this (thank god) is not.

As before, the cast are more than up to matching the high quality with Janet Fielding and Mark Strickson in particular turning in fantastic performances. Match this with a delightfully amusing script (Robson writes for the regular cast brilliantly) and you've one of the most enjoyable hours Big Finish have given us for a while now.

Kamelion may be at once the weak link and focal point / highlight of a good portion of this release (a contradiction I'm still wrapping my head around) but this release of two halves does not waiver in quality.

A story featuring the prominent use of early BBC Micro computer graphics? One about miners? This release has “The Eighties” tattooed upon its chest and it's only a surprise that Big Finish have not gone down this road before.

How utterly delightful that they have done now with such a strong release.

+ Black Thursday / Power Game is OUT NOW, priced £14.99 (CD) / £12.99 (Download).

+ ORDER this title on Amazon!

Publisher: World Castle Publishing

Written By: Colin Sinclair

RRP: £17.99 (Hardback) / £9.05 (Paperback) / £3.01 (Kindle)

Release Date: 23rd June 2018

Reviewed by: Sebastian J. Brook

Review Posted: 14th January 2019

Every month we get sent a large number of books to review - so many, in fact, that we can't get through them all. We've actually become a little guilty of judging a book by its cover, but in Colin Sinclair's case, we're glad we did... his book 'Elji And The Galrass' has a striking cover that instantly called to us, and what lay within was nothing short of a pure joy to read.

"Elji, a boy from a village outside the city of Mehem discovers a "Galrass" a tool usually wielded only by those who understand its power. Perhaps it was left for him to find or perhaps it was just a random happening?

The Galrass embroils him in a struggle he never expected to be part of or even imagined existed. Dregar, a being from a different planet and galaxy ‘feels’ the boys interruption of the universal essence and takes him under his wing and so his journey begins.

Friendships are made and lost and many lives must be put in danger to usher the civilization into its rightful place among the Universal essence. Will Elji fulfill his potential and help save his world or will it fall into darkness?"

Elji And The Galrass is epic fantasy adventure at its best, and really takes the reader on a breathtaking journey - not only through its richly detailed locations, but for the characters within. On top of all that, there are some important messages and morals for the reader to take home, and Sinclair seamlessly embroiders his good nature and true heart throughout this tale.

There is an incredible attention to detail, from floral fountains to fire pits, Sinclair evokes sights, sounds and smells in such clarity that he not only ensnares your imagination, but your senses too. In fact, I've never read a book that has been able to do this quite so effectively, before.

The topography of the book is also to be marvelled; one minute you are peering out the shutters of a room, overlooking bustling streets, and the next you are navigating a mountain range, or a desert. Again, this further adds to the feeling of having travelled far and wide, and when you're done reading, you almost feel out of breath.

Elji And The Galrass was easy to read thanks to its short chapters and attention-grabbing storyline. It never felt weary, and you almost always end up reading more than you planned to.

I eagerly await the sequel, and will be pestering the author until its release. Fantastic!

+  Elji And The Galrass is Out Now!
+  Buy this book from Amazon.co.uk!
+  Follow Colin Sinclair on Twitter.

Publisher: Self Published

Written By: Mark J.G. Fahey

RRP: £8.00 (Paperback) / £7.19 (Kindle) / $11.95 (Paperback) / $9.15 (Kindle)

Release Date: 25th January 2016

Reviewed by: Sebastian J. Brook

Review Posted: 11th January 2019

Imagine if Halley's Comet wasn't really a comet...but an intergalactic Casino! In that one sentence you get a taste of the bonkers but brilliant mind of Mark J.G. Fahey!

Set in 1986 (a time period experiencing renewed exposure in current pop culture) Halley's Casino follows the adventure of Nebula (Neb) Yorker; a 26-year old stargazer who's life is about to be turned upside down as the comet he has been waiting for turns out to be something very different indeed...

Thus heralds the beginning of a whirlwind adventure, with a clever use of time travel and well-researched historical side-steps.

If you're a fan of Douglas Adams' work, then Fahey is rooted very close to Adams' sense of humour and sheer inventiveness with rich, crazy storylines and characters. Humour is laced throughout the story, and it's better for it - not just the odd laugh, but well-paced, timed and intelligently placed humour.

There are some particularly long chapters in Halley's Casino - in most cases the reader would be flicking forward to see a suitable pause point, but such is Fahey's writing and momentum, that time seems to literally stand still whilst you're reading it.

With cult references a-plenty, including Star Trek and...yes...even Doctor Who, there are many, many moments within that will have you knowingly smiling or chuckling away at them.

Fahey has crafted a rich and vibrant story and we genuinely cannot wait to read the sequel!

+  Halley's Casino is Out Now!
+  Buy this book from Amazon.co.uk & Amazon.com!
+  Follow Mark J.G. Fahey on Twitter.

Manufacturer: Big Finish Productions

Written By: Matthew J. Elliott

RRP: £14.99 (CD) / £12.99 (Download)

Release Date: May 2018

Reviewed by: Nick Mellish for Doctor Who Online

"For thousands of years, it has drifted through space, unimpeded, forgotten, seemingly lifeless. Now, finally, it has been discovered.

Responding to a distress call from the mysterious hulk, the Doctor and his companion, space pilot Mathew Sharpe, walk into a desperate situation. The multi-tentacled semibionic Makara were tasked with renovating the abandoned craft, but now they’ve begun murdering their employers.

The Doctor soon realises that the Makara have been programmed to kill, but by whom, and for what reason? Finding out the truth will mean uncovering a secret that threatens the entire Universe."

The following review contains massive spoilers for this play from the very start. Please read NO FURTHER if you do not want twists and character / plot developments ruined. I cannot stress enough how from the off YOU WILL BE SPOILED should you choose to read any further.

Heard the one about the spaceship that’s about to crash with a sole occupant left behind, sending out a distress signal which is picked up at the last possible minute by a man in a Police Box, who materialises on board to save the otherwise doomed pilot? What’s that? You have and it featured the Eighth Doctor? How about you listen to it featuring the Sixth Doctor for Big Finish instead.

You like the Sixth Doctor you say? Then have you heard the one where we are introduced to his new companion after he’s been travelling with them for some time? You can pick or choose Mel or Constance here. Or perhaps the one where the Sixth Doctor has a brand new companion in spin-off media? (Hello, Grant or Flip or Evelyn or Frobisher, and so on and so forth.) 

No? Then maybe the Big Finish play where we are introduced to a new companion that turns out to be solely for this tale, as they’re secretly a baddie? Again, you can pick The Fifth Traveller or this one: it’s your call.

You catch my drift, I’m sure. The Lure Of The Nomad, written by Matthew J Elliott, is Big Finish’s 238th main range release and boy does it feel like it. Uninspired and riffing off past glories, it’s difficult to imagine that anyone genuinely read the script without a feeling of déjà vu hanging around. I simply cannot believe the CD extras where they express surprise at the ending. From the moment the story was announced with tiny fanfare for the supposed new companion, and no image of said companion on the cover art, I would have had money on them either dying or turning out to be a wrong’un by the end of the play had I been able to get decent odds anywhere, so when the twist comes that Mathew Sharpe is not the man we thought he was, it was less a surprise and more a case of “Well, obviously, yes. Can we hurry this up now please?” It’s a pity but not something that shocked me, and if anything that’s the saddest part of all.

Nicholas Briggs kicks off the play by announcing with funereal gravitas that you’re listening to a Big Finish production, but he needn’t have bothered. By the time we have references to Quarks, the very first Dalek serial and a joke about carrot juice and exercise bikes riffing on Terror Of The Vervoids, I could have guessed. Later nods to Terileptils, Harry Sullivan and Stattenheim remote controls only add to this sense of it being business as usual, where characters cannot go five minutes without making a nod to past adventures and winking unsubtly at the audience.

Done well, these sorts of kisses to the past can be fine and not derail the action, but done with the sledgehammer regularity as is the case here, they are not. Indeed, the one to Harry is the worst offender. It stems after Mathew makes a reference to the boxer John L. Sullivan, which makes no sense for the character. We’ve already had much said about how far into the future he is from and so he is unfamiliar with cultural touchstones such as Monty Python’s Flying Circus, so why would he then be able to namecheck a boxer dead since 1918CE?

I know this is a minor point, but it’s symptomatic of a script littered with clumsy dialogue. The opening scene is painfully bad with its on-the-nose exposition, for example: nobody in the world speaks how the two characters here do. It’s the sort of ham-fisted “Let us set up the backstory” chatter we mocked The Space Museum for many moons ago now, and it’s sad to see we haven’t moved on yet. Elsewhere, we’ve more than the usual quota of ‘say what you see’ descriptive lines and the conclusion features a self-sacrifice so out of the blue and out of character that it’s insulting to suggest it happens for any reason other than to wrap up the plot.

(Sadly, these are familiar issues with Elliot’s writing, similar and in some cases identical to ones in his last main range play, The Silurian Candidate, and also present in Backtrack, which he wrote for The Tenth Doctor Chronicles, which makes me suggest this clumsiness of his isn’t moving anywhere any time soon.)

The Lure Of The Nomad is not a good play. There are good aspects, but good aspects do not a good play make. For what it’s worth though, these good aspects include an amusing joke about the plural of ‘octopus’ and nice performances by Matthew Holness and Anna Barry in the guest cast. The final scene is relatively underplayed and memorable, too. It’s for these reasons and these alone that it gets 2 out of 10.

Three very good main range plays followed by two of the worst in recent memory? I really hope things pick up again soon. The Lure Of The Nomad is as forgettable as it gets.

Manufacturer: Big Finish Productions

Written By: Scott Handcock

RRP: £14.99 (CD) / £12.99 (Download)

Release Date: April 2018

Reviewed by: Nick Mellish for Doctor Who Online

"Daniel Hopkins thought he knew what he was letting himself in for when he joined the top-secret UNIT organisation as its latest Medical Officer.

Racing about the countryside, chasing strange lights in the sky? Check. Defending the realm against extraterrestrial incursion? Check. Frequent ear-bashings from UNIT’s UK CO, the famously no-nonsense Lt-Col Lewis Price? Check. Close encounters of the First, Second and even Third kind? Check, check, check.

But he had no idea what alien beings were really like. Until the day of the Fallen Kestrel. Until the day he met the Doctor."

The start of this year has been a joy when it comes to writing these reviews.  The main range has been well and truly riding high and each month has presented us with something funny, something well-constructed and something downright enjoyable.  It is far more fun to write a review praising something to high heavens than to write one explaining why a certain release has utterly failed to grip you.

But all good things must come to an end perhaps.

I want to state here that I have enjoyed Scott Handcock’s work elsewhere. His direction of The War Master was very strong, for example, as it was in The Worlds of Big Finish (a much underrated release) and a lot of Gallifrey. His first outing as a writer for the ‘main range’ of Big Finish plays, World Apart, was a triumph of character study and understatement. Handcock is a very capable and strong writer, producer and director, of that there is no doubt in my mind at all. It just wasn’t to be, here.

The play starts as follows: the Doctor lands on Earth, drawn there by a signal of extra-terrestrial origin. He is not alone though. UNIT are also on the scene, but this is a UNIT the likes of which the Doctor has not encountered before. Gone are Lethbridge-Stewart, Bell, Yates, Benton and the rest. In their stead is a far colder and harder military outfit headed by one Lieutenant-Colonel Lewis Price. Sometimes, it’s the lack of familiarity on your home soil that can be the biggest threat of them all…

There is a problem here. The problem is quite a big one because it goes on to undermine and underline everything that comes next. The problem is that this new version of UNIT are fully aware of who the Doctor is and his past with UNIT: and they still treat him as an alien hostile, threatening him with execution, giving him orders and acting as if he could be a traitor to the Earth and an enemy of humanity. Which makes no sense whatsoever. If they just thought he was another alien wandering around with significant intelligence, then so be it, but the Doctor? He of heroism and daring do? He who helped UNIT so often?

It doesn’t work and renders these soldiers utterly inept and stupid, thus making a huge aspect of the story just a bit… well, silly. UNIT has moved on, yes, but they know the Doctor of old and all he has done, so to try and make him out to be a threat to the planet just doesn’t wash or hang together at all.

This isn’t helped by the aforementioned Lieutenant-Colonel, who is as drab and one-note a character as the range has ever seen. There is no nuance or depth; no subtlety or, crucially, believability. He shouts, he snarls, and when the plot needs to wrap up he has a slight change of heart for no explicable reason. Everything about this character is painfully dull. It is utterly flat and this extends elsewhere sadly. The plot feels overfamiliar: aliens fall to Earth, humans experiment upon them. Aha, though! There is a twist!

Because of course there is, because you expect there to be, because nothing here feels new or exciting or fresh at all. It feels like we’ve been down this path many, many times. Misguided humans, the power of love, the Doctor poised against the authorities, a token ‘good’ character who is on the Doctor’s side against their commander’s wishes.

The same goes for the Morden Clinic and those who work there. They never convince as real people. They’re plot devices and twists. They’re there to try and make you think the story is going one way when in fact it’s going quite another: only you never believe it’s going just one way, because that sense of familiarity from the off means you never expect to be surprised.

In the end, it all makes for a rather boring play.  I don’t think I ever once failed to see what was round the corner, and even if I could not spot the specific incident about to unfold, I was certain that a twist or incident was incoming because it’s that sort of Big Finish play. The plot would be competent at least, but the UNIT element in the wider world of Doctor Who means it stumbles on that front as well. 

Across the past three releases, I’ve talked about how exciting and fresh the plays have felt; how new and interesting. This feels like a massive leap back, into predictability and stale writing; into characters poorly executed and an absence of shock. Lewis Price is the worst of them all, but he is by no means alone.

Perhaps this is just a blip; a small hiccough and no more. I hope so. Because as it is, this has been as disappointing a release from Big Finish as I think I’ve ever heard.

Publisher: BBC Books

Written By: Douglas Adams & James Goss

RRP: £16.99 (Hardback)

Release Date: 18th January 2018

Reviewed by: Richard Binnington

Rediscover the lost Doctor Who adventure by Douglas Adams. 

Intergalactic war? That’s just not cricket … or is it? 

The Doctor promised Romana the end of the universe, so she’s less than impressed when what she gets is a cricket match. But then the award ceremony is interrupted by eleven figures in white uniforms and peaked skull helmets, wielding bat-shaped weapons that fire lethal bolts of light into the screaming crowd. The Krikkitmen are back. 

Millions of years ago, the people of Krikkit learned they were not alone in the universe, and promptly launched a xenophobic crusade to wipe out all other life-forms. After a long and bloody conflict, the Time Lords imprisoned Krikkit within an envelope of Slow Time, a prison that could only be opened with the Wicket Gate key, a device that resembles – to human eyes, at least – an oversized set of cricket stumps…

From Earth to Gallifrey, from Bethselamin to Devalin, from Krikkit to Mareeve II to the far edge of infinity, the Doctor and Romana are tugged into a pan-galactic conga with fate as they rush to stop the Krikkitmen gaining all five pieces of the key. If they fail, the entire cosmos faces a fiery retribution that will leave nothing but ashes…

Romana thought she was having a bad day when The Doctor decided to take her to the cricket. But that was nothing when the most deadly robots in the universe turned up. The Doctor and Romana romp around the universe racing to collect all the pieces of the Wicket Gate key in order to stop the Krikkitmen freeing their home planet, Krikkit, enveloped in a slow time field by the Time Lords, after a devastating conflict. The entire universe is at stake, with the Krikkitmen aiming to destroy everything and everyone as they step up to the bat. Oh and did I mention the most incredibly dangerous weapon in the universe is rolling around looking very much like a Cricket ball from planet earth? With Time Lords, Tea and ‘regrettable acts between the swimming pool and the car park’, this adventure in time and space is magnificently crafted, which will no doubt fill you to the brim on a nostalgia hype.

The most tantalising part of the book is how evident the voice of the writer's is. I found it seamlessly Douglas Adams but with James Goss’ exceptional skill to tell the story through a combined humour and wit which permeates throughout. Whether it is detailing the quiet hobbies of Time Lords back on Gallifrey (including their favourite, ever-loving quest for a lovely cup of tea) or The Doctor checking if he's talking to the right K9 and not the one he left with Leela, who is running about on the planet somewhere.

Doctor Who And The Krikkitmen is a fantastic celebration of one of the best writers Doctor Who has ever had, and has brought his spirit back to life. It’s rooted full of mythology from the history of the series, which makes it even more enjoyable - particularly, The Doctor spending a large amount of time back in The Matrix.

Unusually, this book had its own set of ‘Special Features’ just like what we’re used to from the brilliant DVD range. Goss details how ‘The Krikkitmen’ came to be, alongside the original 32 page treatment written by Adams, which contains a version of the story with a different companion, Sarah Jane! Originally cited as ‘Jane’ within the treatment, Goss tried out a version with her and discovered that it would make more sense for Romana, as played by Lalla Ward, to feature, due to its connections with Shada. It includes these first few chapters, which is immensely interesting to see how much changed by swapping out the companion.

Overall, it's a fantastic romp in the style of, what some consider, the best era of Doctor Who. A thoroughly enjoyable read, full of attention to detail, and, quite simply, a lost classic on screen. On finishing, it left me wanting more and I immediately popped City of Death in my DVD player for a seamless experience. This addition to the range of Fourth Doctor novelisations (Shada By Gareth Roberts, City Of Death by James Goss, & The Pirate Planet by James Goss) continues to delve into the details of how magical a writer Douglas Adams was. Even the chapter titles have humorous elements to them, my favourite: Chapter 42: The Meaning of Life. If you’re in need of a new Fourth Doctor fix, get out there and read this now!

+  Doctor Who And The Krikkitmen is Out Now, priced £16.99.
+  BUY this title on Amazon.co.uk!
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Publisher: BBC Books

Written By: Cavan Scott, Jacqueline Rayner, Paul Magrs, James Goss, Peter Anghelides & Richard Dinnick

RRP: £9.99 (Hardback)

Release Date: 22nd February 2018

Reviewed by: Richard Binnington

Know your frenemy.

‘I’ve had adventures too. My whole life doesn’t revolve around you, you know.’

When she's not busy amassing armies of Cybermen, or manipulating the Doctor and his companions, Missy has plenty of time to kill (literally). In this all new collection of stories about the renegade Time Lord we all love to hate, you'll discover just some of the mad and malevolent activities Missy gets up to while she isn't distracted by the Doctor.

So please try to keep up.

Since her first appearance in the series, Missy has become one of the most anticipated and well loved characters from the Capaldi era. Piggybacking from friend to foe for The Doctor, you never know what to expect with her, and with these short stories, it continues to build that wonder. The Missy Chronicles combines a plethora of writing talent to give us more on her backstory and how she came to be the master, reborn.

This book consists of 6 short, but thrilling stories which open up the doors to various off-screen adventures. Set in the past, present and future, you don't know what to expect next from the loveable rogue. There's even the return of the Tissue Compression Eliminator in a couple of the stories, which I loved immensely.
 

Dismemberment By James Goss is a look into the psyche of Missy and how you should not cross her, or maybe you won't make it home in time for tea.
 

Lords and Masters By Cavan Scott is a wonderful parallel to say, The Key To Time, in which The Timelords have sent Missy out on a mission, much like The Doctor, but will she stick to the task, or does she have a more ruthless plan up her sleeve.
 

Teddy Sparkles Must Die! By Paul Magrs has Missy in place as a nanny to a set of children in the early 20’s. Seemingly looking out for the children, something more mysterious is in play and it involves a magical bear called Teddy Sparkles. Absolutely mad but superb.
 

The Liar, The Glitch And The Warzone By Peter Anghelides is a wonderfully written adventure featuring Missy trapped between two timezones and shows what lengths she is willing to go to in order to survive. This short really left me wanting more.
 

Girl Power! By Jacqueline Raynor is a perfect example of why we need more by Raynor in the Doctor Who Universe. Written from the perspective of Missy using the internet, this is the most experimental short story of the collection and is full of charm. If you have ever wondered what Missy, Jane Austen, Agatha Christie and Boudica in a online chat room would be like, wonder no more.
 

Alit In Underland By Richard Dinnick, was my favourite of all the stories. It returns to the events of World Enough And Time and follows Missy and The Master out on a reconnaissance task. I love the dialogue between these two and would happily read a mini-series based on the pair, alone.
 

This whole book is a triumph to the character and shows a clear example how characters from within the Doctor Who universe can stand on their own two feet. I would really enjoy getting some more off screen adventures of Missy / The Master in book form - hours of entertainment! Missy’s voice and mannerisms have been captured perfectly by all 6 writers who have grasped this complex character so easily.
 

A highly recommended read for anyone who loves the new series stories and could do with a little burst of evil in their life, every now and then. The Missy Chronicles is released just in time for International Women’s Day, so grab your copy as soon as you can. Make sure you “ say something nice…”

+  The Missy Chronicles is Out Now, priced £9.99.
+  PURCHASE this title on Amazon.co.uk!
+  Follow Doctor Who Online (@DrWhoOnline) on Twitter.

 

Publisher: BBC Books

Written By: Cavan Scott & Mark Wright

RRP: £14.99 (Paperback)

Release Date: 11th January 2018

Reviewed by: Richard Binnington

Test your knowledge of the last Time Lord and the worlds he’s visited in Who-ology, an unforgettable journey through over 50 years of Doctor Who.

Packed with facts, figures and stories from the show’s galactic run, this unique tour of space and time takes you from Totters Lane to Heaven itself, taking in guides to UNIT call signs, details of the inner workings of sonic screwdrivers, and a reliability chart covering every element of the TARDIS. 

Now fully updated to cover everything through to the 12th Doctor's final episode, and with tables, charts and illustrations dotted throughout, as well as fascinating lists and exhaustive detail, you won’t believe the wonders that await.

As Doctor Who fans, it's a fact that we spend 77% of our lives rewatching episodes of our favourite Time Lord. Well, actually, you’ve got me there - that’s a false fact. But this brand new, updated edition of WHO-OLOGY- The Official Miscellany is bursting with well-researched, fun and interesting facts, you may never have even thought of; I mean, it would be rude not to have it in your collection.

The book itself is broken up into eight main sections:

The 55 Year Diary: A Doctor Who Timeline. These 24 pages delve into key dates of the shows history, summarising it in short, interesting passages. It’s amazing to see how much really has happened in the past 55 years, a favourite of mine: 21 March 1970, The theme tune ‘sting’ to emphasise the cliffhanger ending to each episode is used for the first time at the suggestion of Michael Ferguson.

Everyone’s Favourite Timelord: The Many Lives and Changing Faces of The Doctor. Filled with Biographies of the actors to play The Doctor, our heroes height and even a collection of all the alternative names used throughout time - (There's 75, I counted!).

The Doctor’s Best Friends: Companions & Other Allies. With the actors birthdays, reasons for leaving The Doctor and a multitude of sections devoted to UNIT. For me, the section of this chapter that stands out the most is The Lives and Times of Nicholas Courtney. Similar to the 55 year diary, this details all the Doctor Who related events to our beloved Brigadier, who is still very much missed.

A Carnival Of Monsters. Have you ever wanted an A-Z of The Daleks? A Sontaran Roll Call? Or Even a list of familiar voices that helped to make the plethora of monsters send a chill down your spine? Well this part of the book is fantastic and dives into the history of, what I think, makes the show so special.

Lots of planets have a north: A rough guide to Earth and other worlds. How many countries has The Doctor actually visited on Earth? A wonderful infographic provides us with the answer of 32, but you will have to get the book to find out where. The detailed list of Planets attacked by The Daleks is brilliantly researched, there's 4 pages of them, who would have thought?!

A Kettle and a piece of string: Technology in Doctor Who. Whether you’re looking for 14 facts about the Whomobile or how many different things the Sonic Screwdriver has been used for, this section of the book has it. Scrambling Scribble Monsters, an essential reason of why we need the Sonic Screwdriver in the real world!

Relative Dimensions: Doctor Who & Pop Culture. Outside of the fandom, our beloved show has attracted a lot of attention and become a cult icon. This section delves into music, TV and connections to famous books such as The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy. A key section for random knowledge you can dispel at dinner parties.

And last but not least, The Matrix: Behind The Scenes. Ever wondered what stories name check themselves in the episode? Or how about a list of the most prolific directors in the show? A fun informative section that is a great addition to have all in one handy place.

Cavan Scott & Mark Wright have provided us with this wonderful series bible, full of fun facts and key moments in Doctor Who history. This book is the ultimate gift for any Doctor Who fan. Full to the brim of 55 years of information on our favourite Time Lord, organised perfectly into 355 pages. The ultimate guide to study before attending a Doctor Who Pub Quiz, ooh would you look at that, that timed nicely, I’m off to one tonight.

A real treat and a joy to see the 13th Doctor joining the historical line up. The beauty of this official miscellany is that it caters to all fans, whether you're an Eccleston-er, a Baker Boy or even a member of the Colin Club - each Doctor gets their fair share at the bat.



+  Who-ology - The Official Miscellany: Regenerated Edition is Out Now.
+  Buy this book from Amazon.co.uk for just £10.53!
+  Follow Cavan Scott (@CavanScott) on Twitter.
+  Follow Mark Wright (@MWrightWriter) on Twitter. 
+  Follow Doctor Who Online (@DrWhoOnline) on Twitter.

 

Publisher: Independently Published

Written By: Marc W. Johnson

RRP: £9.95 (Paperback) / £9.99 (Kindle) / $12.99 (Paperback) / $7.99 (Kindle)

Release Date: 14th October 2017

Reviewed by: Richard Binnington

Review Posted: 5th February 2018

Legacy follows the story of Rebecca ‘Rose’ Healy, whose life seems to all be falling perfectly into place. But little does she know it's about to take an incredibly dark, life-changing turn. When a secret is unearthed from deep within her family, she must take up the reigns left behind by her late father, who was killed in a vicious attack by a werewolf in front of her very eyes. Rose does not know who she can trust; rumours of a spy within the group of hunters kick her into action to track the traitor that has slowly destroyed her perfect little life. The book finished with an intense confrontation, that the less said of it, the better the ending.

This story really doesn't hold back in any department and is most definitely not for children. With tonnes of extreme violence, this gruesome tale deals its audience a very descriptive experience that puts a fantastic, adult twist onto a classic cult fairytale. Within the first chapter, its straight in with the blood, guts and gore - lovely!

The underlying tale comes across as a thoroughly enjoyable modern day retelling of Little Red Riding Hood. It’s an emotional rollercoaster from start to finish, pushing Rose to her limit, and for the audience, a real struggle to put down. This is the sort of book you would read by candlelight on a cold winter's night accompanied by a pot of tea - the ideal setting of course, but it also translates to being very readable on the morning tube, taking its reader into the world of the supernatural.

This is the second publication from Johnson, the first being a collection of dark short stories and poetry. But this first fiction feature is a triumph in incredibly visual storytelling. Each description detailed to give the audience a truly vivid image of the vicious scenes in question. One of the most engaging parts of this story is how it constantly throws twists and turns, leaving you to ponder for more. I found it an intense read and it left me squirming and, quiet literally, has the hairs on the back of my neck spiking up on several occasions; what a brilliant experience!

Legacy is a chilling and thrilling read which is sure to make you cringe in horror as the story unfolds. I highly recommend it for a multitude of audiences. Whether you enjoy a good old horror story or if you’re a fan of the more fantastical, this book will cater to your thrill-seeking needs.

I look forward to seeing more work emerge from Marc W. Johnson and I can only hope it is as exciting as this read. This review has been tough to write as I really don’t want to spoil the story for anyone. Just pick it up, get reading and get enthralled by it!

+  Legacy is Out Now.
+  Buy this book from Amazon.co.uk & Amazon.com!
+  Follow Marc W. Johnson on Twitter.

Publisher: MyIdentifiers.com

Written By: Gary C. Mele Jr

RRP: £7.64 (Paperback) / $9.99 (Paperback) / $1.38 (Kindle)

Release Date: 10th October 2017

Reviewed by: Richard Binnington

Review Posted: 2nd February 2018

Leadership, Heaven and hell; a Cybersentient hero is the story of how the human race must go to the most extreme methods in order to survive. The Earth, our home, has ceased to revolve causing half the planet to plunge into a devoid new ice age, with the other to burn in the scorching heat of the sun. Refugees of our planet stream out into the safety of the great unknown, space.

After 20 years, resources are depleting and a method is required to survive without the requirements of a human body, an upgrade. This is the story of Samuel, and his cousin Eve, as he approaches his segue into a Cybersentient, the next step for the human race. The process is not simple or safe and not everyone makes it through. The threat of being hijacked by ‘demons’ in the middle of the process is very high and a risk which they have lost many inhabitants too. With leader Byallanon seemingly up to something, anarchy begins to develop within the ranks and something must be done to stop the destruction of the Cybersentient race.

One of the most persistent themes within the book is that of the importance of family and the bond it holds. This story is driven by the relationship between Samuel and Eve and their closeness really ties the story together. The picturesque descriptions of the Cybersentients and their individual designs are incredibly vivid and provide a strong image for yourself whilst reading. Samuel’s journey shows him progress from an angst-filled young man to a confident individual, ready to take a stand. Eve’s charm and wit is a strong presence within creating a duo of characters in which you want to follow their adventure.

The first published book from Gary C.Mele Jr give us an insight to the human condition and what we are prepared to do for future generations to survive. With aspects feeling like a mirror being turned on ourselves, Mele has crafted a story that really engages the audience to think about what we are doing to our planet and what could inevitably come next. Mele has drawn on many current events and has called this “My Sci-Fi answer to Trump.” The tone of the story reminded me of so many various franchises rolled into one creating an exciting read. So if you’re interested in a story with the essence of Doctor Who / Pacific Rim / Star Trek / Transformers, this is the book for you.

This book flowed wonderfully and the pages flew past. Without realising, I was 330 pages in and it was sadly over. With a sequel in the works, this is a must read for any sci-fi fan especially at the bargain price of 99p on Amazon Kindle.

+  Leadership, Heaven And Hell is Out Now.
+  Buy this book from Amazon.co.uk & Amazon.com!
+  Follow Gary C. Mele Jr on Twitter.

Publisher: Amberley Books

Written By: Paul Berry

RRP: £14.99 (Paperback)

Release Date: May 2017

Reviewed by: Doctor Who Online

Review Posted: 9th June 2017

Part of being a Doctor Who fan is about collecting the merchandise associated with our favourite show; be it an action figure, a DVD, a CD, or a rare collectors piece. During the show’s rich 50+ year history, Doctor Who has created more pieces of merchandise than any other British TV programme, and the new ‘Doctor Who Memorabilia’ book by Paul Berry chronicles a surprising amount of it!

Since the show returned to our screens in 2005, the floodgates opened to a whole new wave of merchandise, but for this particular book, Berry has wisely focused on the classic series and everything right up to the 2005 series.

Split up into easy to navigate chapters, Berry kicks off with the various Doctor Who books that have been released over the years - as far back as 1964 with ‘The Dalek Book’ and as far ahed to the BBC Eighth Doctor and Past Doctor novels. It’s worth noting at this point how vibrant the pictures are (full colour of course), and it’s so good to come across a piece of merchandise that jogs a memory from your youth. Who could forget the Target books, or the annuals, and not forgetting The Doctor Who Monster Book!

+  Doctor Who Memorabilia is Out Now, priced £14.99.
+  Buy this book from Amberley Books for just £13.49!
+  Follow Amberley Books on Twitter.

Publisher: Amazon Media

Written By: Andrew Hastie

RRP: £9.99 (Paperback) / £2.99 (Kindle)

Release Date: January 2015

Reviewed by: Doctor Who Online

Review Posted: 12th May 2017

DWO regularly receives a wide range of products to review; some Doctor Who related and some indirectly related to the Doctor Who universe. Whilst Andrew Hastie's The Infinity Engines series isn't a Doctor Who title, we couldn't help but feel that there were several strands that connected to the whoniverse, and the first book in the series 'Anachronist' is one many who fans will love and find it hard to put down.

Anachronist is the perfect blend of History and Science Fiction with intelligent plot devices, rich characters and more time travel than you can shake a stick at. In fact, this is a story that will give any Doctor Who fan that warm, Mr Kipling-esque feeling of familiarity. The first chapter even feels like a pre-titles sequence set-up that literally launches you right into the action. There's a slight feeling of John Green in Hastie's style, and at its heart (and much like a John Green title) this is a coming of age story.

The time travel element is set up pretty quickly, and without giving to much away, Josh (the main character), quickly finds himself in the past in historical Prussia in 1944. Hastie's ability to weave in actual historical elements, whilst carving out his own unique story is seamless and refreshing, and you go to so many places and points in time that the book never tires or stagnates.

Anachronist has something for everyone, and for those of you who are a sucker for a romance, Hastie has that covered for you, too! Nothing is shoe-horned in for effect, everything has its place and a meaning and the reader genuinely cares for Josh and the people he meets along the way.

The book ends on a cliffhanger, and you will be climbing the walls desperate for a resolution. We just wish we could time travel into the future to read it!

+  Anachronist: A Time Travel Adventure is Out Now, priced £9.99 / $12.99.
+  Buy this book on Amazon!
+  Follow Infinity Engines on Twitter.

Manufacturer: Nintendo

Platform: Nintendo Switch

RRP: £49.99 / $59.99

Game Age Rating: PEGI 3+

Release Date: 28th April 2017

Reviewed by: Doctor Who Online & ToysWorld

Review Posted: 7th May 2017

Mario Kart has been a defining racer since its original release in 1992. Combining fun with skill and those all-important power-ups, the game has sold well over 100 million copies, worldwide.

It was the release of Mario Kart Wii, however, that redefined the game, allowing (for the first time on a full console) the ability to connect online and race with players across the world.

2017 sees the highly-anticipated release of Mario Kart 8 Deluxe on the new Nintendo Switch console, and it brings with it some cool new characters, karts and modes;

New Characters:

King Boo (Heavy)
Dry Bones (Light)
Bowser Jr. (Light)
Inkling Boy (Medium)
Inkling Girl (Medium)

If you manage to complete all the cups in 200cc mode, you will also get to unlock a special secret ‘Gold Mario (Heavy)’ character.

New Karts:

Splat Buggy
Ink Striker
Koopa Clown
Super Glider

New Battle Modes & Maps:

There are 8 new battle mode maps in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe:

Battle Stadium
Sweet Sweet Kingdom
Dragon Palace
Lunar Colony
3DS Wuhu Town
GNC Luigi’s Mansion
SNES Battle Course 1
Urchin Underpass

Within the new Battle Modes you get five different types;

Balloon Battle – each player starts off with 5 balloons, which other players have to pop.
Bob-omb Blast – similar to balloon battle, except the only items that players can find are Bob-ombs.
Renegade Roundup – players are split up into 2 teams, in a cops and robbers style pursuit. One group have piranha plants attached to the front of their vehicles and must capture players in the opposing group.
Coin Runners – players must battle to claim the most coins in the arena before the timer runs out.
Shine Thief – players have to battle over the control of a shine sprite in the style of capture the flag.

Other changes for the Nintendo Switch version of Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, include being able to play in 1080p resolution (compared to 720p on the Wii U), with 720p resolution in handheld mode. There are also updated Mii animations, as well as new menu graphics.

So that’s everything new compared to the standard Mario Kart 8 version, but how about the gameplay itself?

Any of you familiar with Mario Kart Wii, will feel right at home with the latest iteration. Rather than rebuilding the game from the ground up, Nintendo have taken the success of the Wii version, and improved on it immensely, whilst retaining the spirit and barebones of its predecessor.

One major improvement is the graphics, and being able to play Mario Kart in high definition really does make a huge difference to the overall enjoyment and immersive feel of the game. There are some lovely little in-game, on-screen FX, like water when it’s raining. The raindrops hit the screen in an incredibly realistic style that makes you second guess whether you need to rub the screen dry or not.

The Nintendo Switch brings with it the fantastic ability to play on your TV, but also in handheld mode on the go, and this is where Mario Kart 8 Deluxe really comes into its own. The ability to take the game with you in the car and race while you’re literally on the road (with a responsible driver in charge of the actual car, of course), is truly fantastic!

Online multiplayer mode is as entertaining as ever, and you really feel like you need to up your game to compete with other players from around the world. For the first time you can also bring a second local player online with you for two-player, online mode.

The previously mentioned battle modes really take the game up a notch too, and add a welcomed change to the gameplay if you fancy switching things up a bit. One of our favourite modes was Renegade Roundup, where you have to try and catch (or evade) the opposing team members with your piranha plant.

We cannot find fault in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe (except for that annoying thing where you’re in 1st place and know that the blue turtle shell is coming for you any second), everything we loved about the previous version has been improved, and with tracks that revisit some old favourites, you get a double hit of nostalgia with the game.

+  BUY Mario Kart 8 Deluxe from Amazon.co.uk from just £41.99!
+  BUY Mario Kart 8 Deluxe from Amazon.com from just $59.88!

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Manufacturer: Big Finish Productions

Writer: Matthew J. Elliott

RRP: £14.99 (CD) / £12.99 (Download)

Release Date: March 2017

Reviewed by: Steve Bartle for Doctor Who Online

"In the Vortex, the TARDIS comes under a form of psychic attack – resulting in the abductions of first Adric, then Tegan. Following their trail, the Doctor and Nyssa arrive under the lurid skies of the planet Zaltys, whose entire population has vanished in strange circumstances. Soon, they discover that Zaltys is now the target of treasure seekers, come to scavenge this so-called Planet of the Dead…

Meanwhile, deep below the planet’s surface, Adric learns the earth-shattering reason why the people of Zaltys disappeared... and why they were wise to do so. And Tegan is, quite literally, in the dark – enduring interrogation by the mysterious Clarimonde. Any friend of the Doctor’s is Clarimonde’s enemy... because theirs is a blood feud!"

It wasn’t until reading Peter Davison's recently released autobiography that I realised he has now been doing Big Finish for over fifteen years. It puts into perspective the challenges faced by the writers of Big Finish to continually come up with new ideas while also staying true to the time the stories are set within the series original run.

Although Davison's tenure with Big Finish is lengthy it wasn’t until 2014 when the original ‘Crowded Tardis’ team of the Doctor, Adric, Tegan and Nyssa were reunited once more. In 2017 they are now well into their stride and Zaltys writer Matthew J. Elliott has managed to recapture the sense of relationships that instantly transports you right back to that weekday tea time slot from the early eighties.

All the tropes of that particular era are here and affectionately conveyed. The story opens with a protracted Tardis scene with our four protagonists. Big sister Tegan and little brother Adric are bickering away just as they always did. Tegan is still incessantly going on about getting back to Heathrow and actually goads Adric into showing off his so called superior maths skills and putting them into practice when programming a flight course to her desired destination. The chance to impress naturally appeals to Adrics constant desire to prove his worth to The Doctor, but needles s to say  this goes disastrously wrong leading to the TARDIS crew disappearing one by one. And with that we are off into the heart of the story!

This might be one of the most jam-packed stories Big Finish has ever produced, with so many disparate elements. We have fish people, a wolfman with psychic abilities, and grave robbers - to name a few. And all the while our TARDIS team are encountering these colourful characters, there's the threat of a huge space meteorite heading towards Zaltys that will mean the ultimate destruction of everyone.

Of course Elliot’s real challenge is to serve all the main characters well, a feat the TV series failed at with regularity during this period. As well as getting all their characteristics spot on, Elliott manages to give them all a decent narrative strand too. Nyssa is paired with The Doctor as she frequently was in the original run; Adric forms an uneasy alliance with the custodians of Zaltys in a very similar vein to his questionable allegiances in Four To Doomsday and State Of Decay. Additionally Tegan gets plenty of time in a ventilation shaft. What could be more appropriate than that!!

Special mention should go to Rebecca Roots' portrayal of Sable who brings a deadpan style of delivery that makes you really warm to the character and want to see her on more adventures. Phillip Franks and Niamh Cusack are also effective as the questionable villains of the story.

Elliott also writes Davison's Fifth incarnation extremely well too. I always enjoy the breathless energy that he injects into every story but here we also get the acerbic wit that we know his portrayal was capable of but never truly had the opportunity to show consistently on TV. Perhaps only in Time Crash, so many years later, did we see what his potential for humour truly was.

At certain points in the story you wonder how Elliott is going to tie all these storylines together, as it seems all the strands are running parallel and yet so separate, but manage it he does, and with aplomb. It is almost a shame we don’t get to spend more time with all the fascinating characters that he has created for our enjoyment.

However the real gem of this story for me is some of the interaction between the regulars. There are a couple of standout scenes for me; at one point Tegan questions whether Adric was happier when it was just The Doctor and him onboard the TARDIS and when one thinks back to the opening scenes of The Keeper Of Traken and Logopolis it would be hard to argue that wasn’t the case. Additionally a scene towards the end between The Doctor and Adric which, knowing Adrics ultimate fate, is extremely emotive.

Overall a great showcase for one of my favourite TARDIS teams; once again and a very ambitious story that revels in seemingly pulling together various storyline strands into a satisfying conclusion.

+  ORDER this CD via Amazon.co.uk!

Manufacturer: Big Finish Productions

Written By: Cavan Scott & Mark Wright

RRP: £10.99 (CD) / £8.99 (Download)

Release Date: February 2017

Reviewed by: Steve Bartle for Doctor Who Online

"The TARDIS has landed in a war zone. The Doctor, Romana and K9 find themselves traipsing through an inhospitable battlefield. Strange lights flicker in the sky, and stranger creatures lurk in the darkness.

When rescued from an attack by a Sontaran tank, the time-travellers discover they’re facing a far more dangerous foe than the battle-hungry clones. This terrifying fight has been going on longer than anyone can remember… and shows no signs of stopping.

With the TARDIS missing and their luck running thin, the Doctor and his friends’ only hope of survival is to uncover the truth about what is happening on this planet. If they can discover the secret of the eternal battle they might just survive… but it might just mean the end of them all."

One of the aspects I have disliked intensely about the series since its return is its treatment of classic villains. The Cybermen have effectively become that “pathetic bunch of tin soldiers” that the Fourth Doctor chastised them about being so long, long ago. I was not particularly enamoured on the re-design of the Silurians or their overall return, either. Even the Daleks had a wobble in Victory Of The Daleks but the least said about that the better. 

I have a sense of trepidation about the Ice Warriors returning in the new series too as I felt the one monster threat in Cold Blood served them well but once they are an army? Who knows!

And then there are the Sontarans. One of my favourite villains from the classic series reduced to comedy foils time after time again. I didn’t mind Strax the first time around but the law of diminishing returns meant that the comedy wore thin and it just made me yearn for that particular race to return to their strangely honourable and war mongering selves of old. 

So in all honesty going into this one my hopes weren’t high. Could these be the Sontarans that waged a brutal war with the Rutans or will they reflect the more comedic variety of recent times?

Well the honest answer is neither really, here they are something a little different. Writers Mark Wright and Cavan Scott have been very clever in this story. In the midst of a very bleak environment, combatting an endless and futile war, they manage to humanise the Sontarans without weakening them from the original approach to this race in the seventies. 

Big Finish always manage to revisit a classic foe and put a different spin on them. The narrative tactic they adopt is to split up our TARDIS team, on this occasion the Fourth Doctor, Romana II and K-9, and pair them with two different Sontaran warriors who both are unusually open in reflecting on their respective roles in the ongoing battles. 

Which brings us to Dan Starkey. Dan of course is famous for playing the aforementioned Strax, the Paternoster Gang member who provides nearly all the light relief in the stories he has featured in. Here, with the exception of some vocal work by John Banks, Dan provides nearly all the Sontaran voices and in some scenes is actually talking to himself! Quite the feat!

Between them they manage to inject an impressive sense of pathos as we uncover what the Sontaran sense of honour truly means to them and it doesn’t necessarily translate to dying in battle as recent serials would have us believe. This race does not fear their ultimate end, but neither are they actively seeking it out. 

And what of the regulars? Well you would never expect nor receive less than a top notch performance from Lalla Ward and John Leeson and their on screen chemistry is easily replicated once again here. Tom Baker's’ love for doing these audios again shines through and he seems to be having enormous fun throughout, without going overboard. He gets the tone just right and is a shining beacon in what is, at times, a very bleak tale.

I am a big fan of what Jamie Robertson has done with the score of this one.  I adore the music of Season 18, and here he recaptures some of those synth infused moments perfectly. Interestingly The Beast of Kravenos was also set supposedly in Season 18 but the same approach to the music would have felt distinctly out of place in the Victorian setting. Here it is applied with careful consideration to enhance the right moments. 

Tales with a zombie theme have been done to death (ridiculously obvious gag) but here they are given an interesting spin. But although key to the story, as is the futility of war, these are merely the backdrop for the characterisation and interaction between the Sontarans, the humans (who are perhaps underserved within the relatively short running time) and the TARDIS team.

So essentially a character piece on a long established race, but one which has managed to make it so that, arguably the most one-dimensional of all the Doctor Who adversaries, can now be appreciated through new ears. 

+  ORDER this CD via Amazon.co.uk!

Manufacturer: Big Finish Productions

Writer: Justin Richards

RRP: £10.99 (CD) / £8.99 (Download)

Release Date: January 2017

Reviewed by: Steve Bartle for Doctor Who Online

"A stunning new star act is wowing the audiences of the New Regency Theatre. The modern mechanical marvel of canny canine charisma - the automated dog that can answer any question - the incomparable - the unbeatable - K9!

The Doctor and Romana have returned to Victorian London and been reunited with their old friends Professor George Litefoot and Henry Gordon Jago. However this is not merely a social visit. A terrifying crime spree is sweeping the capital, and the burglaries of 'The Knave' defy all logic.

Something impossibly dangerous is taking place amid the fog. Only the time travellers and their friends can stop it... but can they be sure they're all on the same side?

Cards on the table from the outset. I absolutely love Season 18; the complete shift in tone, the morose Doctor, the much discussed ‘funereal’ atmosphere that permeates throughout the season and the steady build to the demise of that most celebrated of Doctors. Plus I love the humour. Yes humour in Season 18! It is subtle for sure but a blessed relief after the over the top slapstick of the previous season which frequently flew wide of the mark with the notable exception of that wonderful escapade in Paris.

So I was somewhat surprised to hear this story supposedly takes place around Season 18, or perhaps just before JNT [1980's Producer, John Nathan-Turner] was handed the keys to the kingdom according to Director Nicholas Briggs on the CD extras. It definitely does not belong in Tom’s final season, his Doctor is far too jovial and having way too much fun for that. Nor does it belong in Season 17. Sure the Tardis team is the Fourth Doctor, Romana 2 and K-9 but with the exception of K9 becoming a comedic turn for Jagos’ New Regency Theatre there is none of the silliness of that season either. 

The plot is very simplistic but this is not a negative by any stretch. Not only is there danger roaming the street as a brutal murder by a savage creature has occurred but that cunningly criminal conniving cove The Knave is managing to obtain his quarry from inside locked rooms! There is a threat to defeat and a puzzle to solve. Doctor Holmes from Baker St is on the case!

For me this could be a direct sequel to The Talons of Weng-Chiang and the tone sits comfortably in that late Hinchcliffe and Holmes era albeit with different regulars. There are gothic undertones, body horror (the soundtrack conjuring up more imaginative pictures than television could ever be able to match) and a strong Jekyll and Hyde influence. There are also early hours visits to mortuary’s, travelling in black cabs, and trips to the theatre and opium dens. All that is missing is the great Li H’sen Chang himself!!

However the story stands on its own two feet perfectly well. To listen to the Doctor team with Jago and Litefoot is like lightening in a bottle has been captured once again. It is incredible to think that 40 years have passed since these gentleman helped create a classic and yet here are Messrs Baker, Benjamin and Baxter recreating the same repartee and genuine affection that ensured this ensemble captured our hearts so long ago. Justin Richards replicates Jago and Lightfoots language so perfectly and the interplay between them and the Tardis team further cements the lasting legacy of this greatest of Holmesian double acts. It is perhaps the fact that these two interact so well with the Fourth Doctor that leads me to feel Lalla Ward's Romana is a little side-lined in this tale. However her aloof and intellectual portrayal of the Time Lady gives an interesting contrast for Jago and Litefoot to interact with compared to the savage turned ladylike Eliza Doolittle character of Leela. 

John Leeson is superb as always as K-9 and the idea of him as one of Jagos acts is funny even if some of the gags fall a little flat. And the ‘electric current’ joke is so dreadful you have to laugh anyway.  The cast certainly do! The overall comedy however is a resounding success with laugh out loads moments such as a reference to K-9 and the butcher’s boy, Romana reading next week’s papers or Jago requesting a stiff drink at the end of the tale. Wonderful. 

The story is effectively two distinct parts with a whodunit style thriller framing the first instalment and a lengthy game of cat and mouse forming the second. For me the first half works better and there is much more of an aura of threat and mystery. The reveal of the Knave is not remotely surprising and the denouement of the whole story feels quite abrupt and a little anti-climactic- with effectively all the main cast sat around talking about it for a bit before we cut to the incidental sting. 

However these aspects cannot detract from a story which is such romping good fun. Tom Baker is absolutely throwing everything into this and his enjoyment of Big Finish shines through. To team him again with Jago and Litefoot is an absolute joy and everything you enjoyed about them the first time around is present once more. 

As Henry Gordon Jago himself might say; A delightful and disturbing dish of delectable drama for you to devour. 

+  ORDER this CD via Amazon.co.uk!

Manufacturer: Warner Bros. Games & LEGO

RRP: From £89.99

Release Date: 29th September 2015

Reviewed by: Doctor Who Online

Review Posted: 19th October 2015

Now and again, a video game comes along that refreshes, rejuvenates and revolutionises the gaming industry. Super Mario Bros, The Legend Of Zelda, Doom, Goldeneye & Call Of Duty are just some of those who have done just that. In September of this year, Warner Bros. Games and LEGO released LEGO Dimensions; an interactive adventure and freeplay game that masterfully combines real world play with the digital gaming world. Such is the success of the mastery, LEGO Dimensions not only carves itself deeply into the annals of video game history, but it opens up whole new worlds of possibilities for the industry.

The basic premise of the game is that Lord Vortech (the big bad) plans to dominate the LEGO multiverse by using the foundational elements. He uses vortexes to open rifts between worlds, and using some of the baddies from the respective worlds to do his bidding (i.e; 'The Joker', 'Saruman', 'The Cybermen' e.t.c.). Through the various levels, players have to collect the 5 keystones which, in turn, unlock special modes in gameplay [Scale, Chroma, Elemental, Shift & Locate].

There are 14 levels in total for the story mode, with 14 worlds in freeplay mode, which you can access via any of the level and team packs. As a default, because you already get 'Batman' (and his Batmobile), 'Wyldstyle' and 'Gandalf' minifigures with the Starter Pack, DC Comics, The LEGO Movie and The Lord Of The Rings portals are all unlocked and playable. The portals are fully explorable worlds connected to the relevant franchises, full of mini tasks and missions, and accompanied by a host of familiar characters and features. Each world is accompanied with stunning visuals and music to immerse you further in the environment.

Current portal worlds are: DC Comics, The Lord Of The Rings, The LEGO Movie, The Wizard Of Oz, The Simpsons, Ninjago, Doctor Who, Back To The Future, Portal 2, Ghostbusters, Midway Arcade, Scooby-Doo!, Jurassic World & Legends Of Chima.

Another huge appeal, (and where Warner Bros. Games & LEGO will no doubt see the pound / dollar signs), is the ability to purchase additional level, team and fun packs - each containing characters, vehicles and objects that unlock various elements within the game. For example 'Benny' from The LEGO Movie comes with a spaceship that allows you to fly around the levels and worlds, 'Scooby Doo' can dig in designated spots, and 'Gollum' can swim underwater. Level and Team packs retail at £29.99 each and Fun packs retail at £14.99. Arguably, it's a game that could end up costing you quite a bit, if you're a completist, but fortunately, in most cases, there is normally more than just 1 character that can unlock or perform a certain task. For example 'Gollum' isn't the only character that can swim - 'Aquaman', 'Slimer' and 'Superman' are just a few of the characters and vehicles that can also unlock the swimming ability. Also, £29.99 or £14.99 here and there for a Birthday or Christmas present can quickly unlock the majority of the portals you want to explore.

Gameplay itself is incredibly fun and immersive, and anyone who has played the LEGO Harry Potter, Star Wars or The Lord Of The Rings game, will feel right at home, here. The great thing is how simple it is to play; you need very little previous experience, as you can movie around in unlock things and upgrade vehicles. Switching between characters is easy, too; you can seamlessly change from Gandalf to Wyldstyle (or whoever you prefer) simply by pressing 'X'. This makes solving tasks much faster, as you can simply switch to the character that has the required skill set.

Particularly of interest to our followers, will be the Doctor Who level and portal world. During the seventh level of the game, as the 3 main characters travel through the portal's vortex, a familiar wheezing, groaning sound cranks up as The 12th Doctor emerges from the TARDIS doors mid-flight. It was fantastic to hear Peter Capaldi has voiced the linking segments, and seeing them in all their LEGOfication, was amazing - not to mention a long time coming! As you play out the level you are thrown into the cyber headquarters where you have to solve various tasks, and chase a detached cyber head through dark corridors, a graveyard filled with Weeping Angels, and onto a showdown with the Dalek Emperor himself. In some ways, it's the Doctor Who game we've always wanted, and throw in Murray Gold's score and the voice talents of Nicholas Briggs as The Cybermen and The Daleks, and you have a real winner!

As for the Doctor Who portal world, you won't actually be able to access this until the 6th November with the release of the Level Pack, which includes 'The 12th Doctor', 'The TARDIS' and 'K-9'. The pack also comes with a bonus Doctor Who level which you will have to play to unlock the build instructions for 'The TARDIS' & 'K-9'. On 22nd January 2016, the Doctor Who Fun Pack will be released, which includes as 'Cyberman' and a 'Dalek'. DWO will be reviewing each of these packs as and when they are released.

The real star of the game is the LEGO Toy Pad - a base plate comprised of 3 segments; 2 of which each hold up to 3 characters / vehicles / objects, and a central segment which holds just 1. Behind the main play areas of the Toy Pad is the main portal, which you build at the very start of the game. There are 5 clips, which, after completing various levels, allow you to place the 5 keystones. The Toy Pad is centric to your gameplay as it interacts with the action on screen, changing colours, and requiring you to swap characters around to complete tasks and unlock things. For parents worrying that all their kids do is sit in front of a computer, fear not, your child (or self) will be getting up quite regularly if they (or you) want to progress in the game :)

To say we were impressed with LEGO Dimensions would be a huge understatement. Not only has it delivered a thoroughly entertaining game to play either by yourself or with another family member or friend, but it has reignited a love for video games that we lost quite some time ago.

 

Watch DWO's Product Spotlight video for LEGO Dimensions in the player, below:

[youtube:CEDg3OWNw6k]

Watch the official trailer for Doctor Who LEGO Dimensions in the player, below:

[youtube:ywYHgLWRLoA]

+  Buy LEGO Dimensions now from just £89.99 at the LEGO Shop!
+  Buy a Gaming Console and games from our friends over at Grainger Games!

[Sources: DWO; LEGO Dimensions; Warner Bros.]

Manufacturer: Big Finish Productions

Written By: Mike Tucker

RRP: £14.99 (CD) / £12.99 (Download)

Release Date: August 2015

Reviewed by: Nick Mellish for Doctor Who Online

Review Posted: 12th September 2014

The Doctor and Mel land in what appears to be an orbiting warehouse, a delivery facility with a dangerously erratic computer.

Whilst Mel is helping with repairs, the Doctor begins to realise that not everything in the warehouse is as it seems. Why do no goods ever seem to leave the shelves? Why are the staff so obsessed with the stocktake? And who is the mysterious Supervisor?

On the planet below, the Doctor discovers that the computer might be the least of their problems – and that they should be more concerned with the spacestation's mould and vermin...

* * *
So, here’s my confession about Season 24: I was lucky.  I was lucky, because I watched it at exactly the right time, at the age of around ten-years-old when the stories from that season were being repeated on the satellite station UK Gold (yes, yes, I’m that young).  As a ten-year-old child, I absolutely loved those stories: bright, colourful, silly but with some great ideas, light in parts and sad at others, I thought it was great, and whilst I was not blind to the jolt to Season 25 being abrupt in tone and look, I honestly did not care. The stories made more sense than most of The Trial Of A Time Lord did to me, McCoy was arresting in the lead role, and I could relate to Mel in the same way I failed to with some other companions in the 1980s: she just wanted to be there and have fun.  She didn’t want to secretly kill the Doctor; she wasn’t part of a grander scheme; she lacked a tragic death in the family. She was just fun, and so was the Seventh Doctor, and at that time in my life, as a child, it was exactly what I wanted to see.

Now, as an adult, with greater critical faculties (or so some would argue), I can see the weaknesses of Season 24, and sure, I can understand why people were so aghast at the time (to an extent: Doctor Who is, so far as I’m concerned, a children’s TV show and always will be) but I still like that fresh, comic book feel and tone, despite its failings, and so I was dead excited when I started listening to The Warehouse, this month’s Big Finish offering from Mike Tucker.

Set in… well, a warehouse and using everyday language such as points, loyalty cards and aisles with a ting of cultism and religiosity, the set-up is perfectly in keeping with the on-screen adventures of the Seventh Doctor and Mel. Perhaps it’s the fact Tucker was there at the time which lends proceedings an air of genuine authenticity, or maybe it’s just a rollicking good script, but this could have been done at the time with few, if any, changes.

Where it would sadly have been changed is in the characterisation of Mel as she actually gets a lot to do that doesn’t resort to her getting captured, screaming or requiring rescuing. It did tickle me, though, to listen to the extras for this tale, and how everyone seems to be enthusing that Mel never gets to do much computer programming in these plays… straight after We are the Daleks and after stories such as The Juggernauts in the past, which made a great song and dance about her skills in this field!

Sadly, there is also an enormous sense of déjà-vu about proceedings as the set-up is incredibly similar to another Mel outing from Big Finish, the play Spaceport Fear: substitute an airport becoming the basis for a society for a warehouse doing that instead, and you have a pair so alike it’s a wonder no-one cries “Snap!” or that neither the Doctor nor Mel remark upon it, let alone the script editors at Big Finish. I think the type of story being told is a far better fit here with the specific Doctor/Companion pairing, but even so, it’s a pity in that it rather suggests that the well may be running dry.

It also diminishes this play’s status as the only one in this trilogy with wholly original elements, sandwiched as it is twixt Daleks and Sontarans.

It doesn’t stop this being highly enjoyable though, and it manages to make the sound of someone sipping water truly repugnant, which is an unusual achievement in its own right but a commendable one, too!

I know people are often mean to you, Season 24, but I love you all the same. It’s good to have you back.

Manufacturer: Big Finish Productions

Written By: Jonathan Morris

RRP: £14.99 (CD) / £12.99 (Download)

Release Date: July 2015

Reviewed by: Nick Mellish for Doctor Who Online

Review Posted: 12th September 2014

The year is 1987, and Britain is divided. In Bradford, strikers are picketing and clashing with the police. In the City of London, stockbrokers are drinking champagne and politicians are courting the super-rich. The mysterious media mogul Alek Zenos, head of the Zenos Corporation, is offering Britain an economic miracle. His partners wish to invest – and their terms are too good to refuse.

While the Doctor investigates Warfleet, a new computer game craze that is sweeping the nation, Mel goes undercover to find out the truth about Zenos’s partners.

The Daleks have a new paradigm. They intend to conquer the universe using economic power. The power of the free market!

* * *
The Seventh Doctor and Mel are back! Hurrah! If that’s not cause for celebration, then I don’t know what is. Often sadly poorly written for on screen, Mel has enjoyed a fantastic revamp akin to the Sixth Doctor’s here in the audio world. Bonnie Langford, forever brilliant whatever she is handed, has really stepped up to this and has continually proven how good she is and, indeed, how good Mel as a character is: enthusiastic and optimistic, someone smart and genuinely just wanting to have a good time.  I like that.  I like that in the end, she is someone who just enjoys travelling and exploring, and so she fits in wonderfully with those early, carefree days of the Seventh Doctor. Again, a lot of Season 24 never translates as well on-screen as it arguably should do, but in much the same way that Series 4 was so exhilarating to watch as it was all about the Doctor and his friend, Donna Noble, just having fun, so it should have been with the Doctor and his friend Mel, and so it has been at times thanks to Big Finish.

Of course, the Seventh Doctor’s era is well known for its sudden lurch from being light and more like a children’s show than we’d arguably ever had before, to something darker and more complex.  Whereas no attempt was really made to bridge that gap on TV, again some plays have tried to do it, and We Are the Daleks falls neatly in that slot. We have a recognizably human background (London), some nice iconography (a giant Dalek-shaped building), intelligent use of the current companion (Mel, the computer programmer, actually gets to do some computer programming!), and the slight reinvention of an old foe (the Daleks themselves) as well as a smattering of political commentary going on. It’s a neat-enough fit with the era of Doctor Who in which we find it, then, and provides some nice retroactive continuity creation to smooth over some elements of Remembrance Of The Daleks along the way.

(In addition to this, having recently criticized some of the CD covers for being very generic or lacking in risks, this one is pleasingly different and eye-catching and easily my favourite piece of work from Tom Webster for quite some time now.)

There is a lot to like in Jonathan Morris’s script, and the character of Celia Dunthorpe is superb: chillingly realistic and despite the awful things she says and does, you can see her justification and reasoning behind it all.  It makes what could be a simple caricature all the more effective and resonant.

Sadly though, despite all of these good points, there is something not quite 'there' with this play. On paper it all works, but in execution, I could never quite warm to it.

Was it the similarities to past Dalek stories? (We have a part where the Doctor explicitly compares a situation to the Dalek Civil War from The Evil Of The Daleks, and right on cue the Daleks start parroting dialogue from that tale.)

Was it the subplot with a computer game, that was very obvious from the off and felt very convenient to the plot than a natural off-shoot? (Maybe, though it does let Mel do something that her character excels at.)

Was it the sense that this sort of iconography, use of the Daleks in unfamiliar situations and liberal taking of continuity has been done before several times over now, and more often that not with the Seventh Doctor? I think perhaps that’s just it: this story is far from generic and has some great parts, but as a whole it’s in no way as fresh as perhaps it ought to be, and is perhaps a bit Remembrance-lite in parts? Last month’s play, The Secret History, had parts so shockingly like The Name Of The Doctor that I was surprised BBC Wales let it pass, but managed to feel different all the same. Perhaps it’s the use of the Seventh Doctor: he gets this sort of tale a lot, so similarities are all too easy to spot.

I know, whatever else, that many people will really enjoy We Are the Daleks, and I can’t blame them for that - there’s a lot to like.  For me though, its parts shine brighter than the whole piece.

Publisher: Race Point Publishing

Written By: Cameron K. McEwan

RRP: £12.99 / $21.99 US / $23.99 CAD

Release Date: 7th May 2015

Reviewed by: Doctor Who Online

Review Posted: 29th June 2015

Fans familiar with the Blogtor Who fan site will know that its editor, Cameron K McEwan has a penchant for lists. Lists are great, we love a good list! So when we found out that Cameron was putting together The Big Book Of Lists, we were rather excited to say the least!

First off, the title definitely lives up to its name - with over 255 pages jam-packed with facts, miscellany and trivia to test your own knowledge, you’re always going to find something new and informative about Doctor Who.

For example, we were rather surprised to find out that the first time The Doctor strangled a companion was in The Twin Dilemma! :) Ever wondered exactly how tall each of the Doctor’s were? Or how many hours of screen time each Doctor had? Or perhaps how many times the word ‘Time’ has actually appeared in a title? Needless to say, this book has answers to all those questions and many, many more.

The range of subjects, quotes and cross-referencing with other popular cult movies and TV shows is staggering, and is a testament to the sheer amount of effort and hard work, and love that has clearly gone into the book.

Look out for a special list from Doctor Who composer, Murray Gold, where he shares his memories and thoughts from seven of Blogtor Who’s favourite ‘MuGo’ scores.

As with Cameron's previous book (The Who’s Who Of Doctor Who) the content is supported by the beautiful artwork of Andrew Skilleter, and coupled with the striking pallete of colours and overall design of this title, it’s as visually appealing as it is factually.

One of our favourite illustrations is the double-page montage (p38-p39) featuring all of the Doctors in a nod to the curator scene from the 50th anniversary special; The Day Of The Doctor. There’s also a rather snazzy ‘Percentage Of the Daleks’ infographic (p81) which shows the popularity of The Daleks by Doctor.

They say good things come in three’s, so were very much looking forward to Cameron’s next offering, and if The Big Book Of Lists is anything to go by, it’s going to be a corker!

+  The Big Book Of Lists is Out Now, priced £12.99 / $21.99 US / $23.99 CAD.
+  Buy this book on Amazon.co.uk for just £10.39. 

+  Follow BlogtorWho on Twitter.
+  Follow DrWhoOnline on Twitter. 

Manufacturer: Big Finish Productions

Written By: Simon Guerrier

RRP: £8.99 (CD) / £7.99 (Download)

Release Date: April 2014

Reviewed by: Matthew Davis for Doctor Who Online

Review Posted: 23rd April 2014

Years after he gave up travelling in the TARDIS, Steven Taylor is the deposed king of a distant world.

From the confines of his cell, he shares his story with a young girl called Sida.

And one story in particular – a visit to a whole world at war, which will mark Steven for life…

* * *
Steven Taylor’s life after leaving The Doctor in The Savages has been explored very little in Doctor Who spin-off media. In this newest release of The Companion Chronicles, we not only get to see what has become of Steven but how a certain adventure in his past helped him to get there.

The War To End All Wars is an interesting story of a damaged society trapped in constant battle and though the twist of what is actually happening is not exactly original it is how it relates to the framing story of the older Steven that gives it more power. 

Things haven’t gone too well for Steven. Now a deposed ruler, he sits in his prison cell with his books pondering over the society that he stayed behind to help many years ago.

This older Steven is much wiser than his younger counterpart and his reflections on power and the use and abuse on it really do make up the heart of this story. 

Simon Guerrier’s script is very good and is given vivid life by the brilliance of Peter Purves. The Companion Chronicles have been a excellent showcase for this very talented actor who has over the course of many stories breathed new life into a character he first played in 1965. The Doctor appears very little in this release so it allows us to see more of Steven when not guided by him.

The main story despite some predictable elements is a cracking little yarn but I found myself being attracted much more to the framing narrative between Steven and his young companion Sida played very well by Alice Haig. As Steven tells us about what happened to him on Comfort, we get little hints from Sida that things are much worse in Steven’s present than they ever were in his past.

There is a new story just beginning as this one closes and knowing that The Companion Chronicles are soon to be at an end this is rather sad. I would certainly like to see where the threads started here would lead to as I am very much interested in hearing about the future of Steven Taylor.

Manufacturer: Big Finish Productions

Written By: Andrew Smith

RRP: £14.99 (CD) / £12.99 (Download)

Release Date: February 2013

Reviewed by: Nick Mellish for Doctor Who Online

Review Posted: 10th March 2014

“Space travellers are warned to keep away from the area of the planet Asphya and its unremarkable moon Erys. Not the best place to materialise the TARDIS, then – as the Doctor discovers when his ship is raided by the imp-like Drachee, and his companion Flip is carried away…

But the TARDIS isn’t the only stricken vessel in the region. Aboard a nearby space yacht, the Doctor encounters a woman who holds in her head the secret of Erys – a secret suppressed by amnesia, or worse.

Flip, too, is about to learn Erys’ secret. But once you know Erys’ secret, you can never escape.”

* * *
Andrew Smith and Big Finish are rapidly becoming closely associated with one another, and it is easy enough to see why with a play like The Brood of Erys.  It has a colourful cast with some pleasingly odd voices, a solid pace and ending which sets up things to come, a story which is at once nice and evocative of past stories whilst also being firmly grounded in ‘the now’, and lots of action set pieces which place the companion in the centre of things: DWM would have had a field day drawing Flip plummeting through space back when they used to paint previews of the monthly releases.

Despite all this though, the adventure lacked a certain spark for me.  It’s certainly a world away from the heights of The First Sontarans and the imagination of Vengeance of the Stones, Smith’s contributions to The Lost Stories and Destiny of the Doctors ranges respectively.  Perhaps oddly, given his first script for Big Finish was set in E-Space, this feels more like Full Circle than any of his post-TV scripts have so far.  Now, that’s not a bad thing at all: Full Circle is not a bad story or script at all, and if you ever get the chance to read Smith’s novelisation of it, then I recommend you do so: it’s lovingly written and oozes imagination, wonder at even getting to write it, and genuine enthusiasm.  I had that feeling when listening to The First Sontarans, too, but there was something about The Brood of Erys which missed the spot for me.  Perhaps it’s because a lot of it felt very... familiar.  Not just to other scripts Smith has written, but in general.  It doesn’t break any new ground, and whilst not every Doctor Who script has to of course, it would have been nice to see it done so here all the same.  It feels like there is a better story hidden in there somewhere.

It feels like I am being rather down on The Brood of Erys and I do not wish to be.  There are other stories out there which deserve that sort of derision, and this story most definitely is not one.  Let’s focus on positives instead, namely the leads.  Colin Baker is forever brilliant as The Doctor (twelve times now they’ve cast the lead role - well, thirteen if we want to throw in John Hurt, and seeing how great he was, I reckon we should– and twelve/thirteen times now they’ve got it so very, very right) and here is no exception.  He sounds like he’s having fun throughout, which in turn makes for a more enjoyable listen, even if the material isn’t the greatest he’s ever had.  Likewise, Lisa Greenwood as Flip is strong.  As a companion, I don’t think she’s ever going to make a real dent for me as Flip is a bit too... generic to really do much.  Greenwood, however, is a different story.  As with Baker, you get the sense that she really wants to be there, acting and playing along.  It makes a real difference and helps Flip stand a bit stronger.  She is a far better actor than her character, though.

All the signs are pointing to an end of an era though, not just for the trilogy but in a wider sense, so it’ll be interesting to see what the third main range release of 2014 has in store for The Sixth Doctor and Flip, and whilst this was definitely better than the rather tedious Antidote to Oblivion, which committed the cardinal sin for any Doctor Who story in that it was really rather boring, I hope that it ends with a tale a little less serviceable than The Brood of Erys was at times.  All that said though, a script by Andrew Smith is always well worth listening to, so I do genuinely look forward to what he comes up with next.

Reviewed by: Matthew Davis for Doctor Who Online

Review Posted: 10th March 2014

After last month’s slightly disappointing Antidote to Oblivion, The Sixth Doctor triliogy picks up with the rather enjoyable The Brood Of Erys.

Andrew Smith is a familiar name to Doctor Who fans having penned the first part of the E-Space Trilogy Full Circle. In The Brood of Erys, Smith deals with some very interesting science fiction ideas but the story towards the end does tend to delve somewhat into sentimentality.

The story deals with the concept of a sentient planet, breeding its own offspring to not only protect it but to follow it’s every command. This is very interesting and is one of the plot lines which keep your attention throughout. The story builds up its mysteries rather strongly throughout the first three episodes but it is only in the last half of episode four that it turns into more of a dysfunctional family drama. I will not give away what happens but for me it was too much of a sudden change of direction in what had been a fascinating and rather dark story.

The cast is one of the strongest aspects of this release with Colin Baker charging full steam ahead in a superb performance as The Doctor. Despite my misgivings about the sentimental ending of the story, Baker brings great subtlety to the dialogue. He truly is a masterful actor, and he has made his Doctor something very special over the years at Big Finish.

Lisa Greenwood gets a lot more to do as Flip in this story, and Greenwood goes for it with gusto. Flip is certainly one of the best foils The Sixth Doctor has had and it remains to be seen if the character’s recklessness in dangerous situations will have dire consequences in the future.

 With a brilliant supporting cast that includes Nicola Sian, better known to us as Clara’s mother and Brian Shelley as Erys, this play has a lot of great talent throughout.

At times comical and serious The Brood of Erys is a very interesting slice of Doctor Who and worth checking out.

Manufacturer: Big Finish Productions

Written By: Alan Barnes

RRP: £10.99 (CD) / £8.99 (Download)

Release Date: February 2014

Reviewed by: Matthew Davis for Doctor Who Online

Review Posted: 26th February 2014

A close encounter with a stray missile leads the Doctor to materialise his TARDIS on a planet that hangs in the dark at the edge of the known universe. A planet so dark that it exists in near-permanent night. A planet that enjoys just a single day’s light once every thousand years…

Exactly what happens on the planet in its rare daylight hours – that’s what a geographical survey headed by Senior Tutor Bengel is stationed here to establish. They, the Doctor and Leela are about to discover that when daylight comes, the White Ghosts rise…

* * *
At the conclusion of last month’s The King of Sontar, The Doctor and Leela had reached a crisis in their relationship. Shocked by her actions, The Doctor felt that it may be time he and Leela were to go their separate ways. Thankfully this does not happen and their adventures continue in this second release for the third season of The Fourth Doctor Adventures.

White Ghosts is that classic of Doctor Who scenarios; the base under siege story, and while there are lovely ideas throughout, it feels let down by its slightly rushed ending.

The main character in this particular story to me is more Leela than The Doctor. The falling out between The Doctor and Leela in The King of Sontar is resolved rather quickly, which is disappointing as I would’ve liked to have seen it continue a bit longer in future stories. Thankfully though the ramifications are not so quickly swept under the carpet and it does inform our two main characters throughout the story.

I like how writer Alan Barnes continues to show the development of Leela, as she has now taught herself to read and uses a book - in this case, one of English fairy tales to make comparisons between it and the events around her. It makes for some lovely metaphors when Leela assesses the danger of the situation the characters in the story are in.

Leela is at the centre of an inspired moment in the story, where we get to see inside her head as she goes into battle. The moment feels like it is from a Companion Chronicle but it helps the scene not only from an audio drama point of view but lets us more inside the character of Leela. It is a stand out moment and one I hope Big Finish use again in future stories.

The cast is very good, especially guest star Virginia Hey (of Farscape fame) putting in an excellent performance as Senior Tutor Bengal. Tom Baker is still as delightfully eccentric as The Doctor and there are some nice supporting characters played by Bethan Walker, James Joyce and Gbemisola Ikumelo respectively.

I like the idea of the Time Lords still using The Doctor to do their dirty work and his dilemma at the end of the story echoes Leela’s previous actions in The King of Sontar. This may prove to be one of the season’s running plot arcs and I hope we see it reappear again.

The story does have an excellent build up but the ending feels rushed especially with the sudden addition of another antagonist from out of nowhere. It makes sense as a creepy addition to the story, but with the constraints of two episodes it feels tacked on somewhat.

I put this down less to the writing but more to the constraints of the two part format, as this story could’ve used at least one more episode to make that conclusion more believable.

White Ghosts is still an entertaining story with some excellent development for our two heroes.

Manufacturer: Big Finish Productions

Written By: Ian Potter

RRP: £8.99 (CD) / £7.99 (Download)

Release Date: February 2014

Reviewed by: Matthew Davis for Doctor Who Online

Review Posted: 26th February 2014

After travelling with the Doctor through time and space, Ian Chesterton is back in his own time. But the mystery of how he and Barbara Wright disappeared in the year 1963 has alerted the authorities – and both are suspected of being enemy agents in the Cold War.

Ian protests his innocence. He has a story to tell about travelling through time and space.

And one adventure in particular – a visit to the city of Hisk…

* * *
A Companion Chronicle with William Russell is always going to be worth my attention but this time around I found the experience to be an underwhelming affair.

At first The Sleeping City feels like it is going to be an exclusively two hand piece performed by William Russell and guest star John Banks. Sadly it only turns out to be a framework for the main story narrated by Russell.

The strongest part of the audio is the framework element as I found the idea of Ian and Barbara being interrogated about their disappearance and the whereabouts of Susan to be far more interesting than the actual story. The audio then cuts at certain moments for the two main characters to comment upon what is happening, and once again these exchanges are by far the most interesting thing about it.

That is not to say main story is bad, not at all, The Sleeping City has some intriguing ideas and is certainly a nice piece of nostalgia for lovers of the Hartnell era. William Russell gives a very good reading but I found the tale personally not very engaging.

The Sleeping City is an intriguing premise but it ultimately feels let down by its ending. Understated though it is, it plays with the notion that John Banks' character Gerrard knows a lot more than he is letting on but the reveal is still a little disappointing.

It does have its moments but overall The Sleeping City is not one of the strongest stories in the Companion Chronicles range.

Publisher: Race Point Publishing

Written By: Cameron K. McEwan

RRP: £18.99

Release Date: 9th January 2014

Reviewed by: Doctor Who Online

Review Posted: 20th February 2014

Now, it’s no secret that we’re good buddies with Blogtor Who owner, Cameron K. McEwan, and when we heard he was coming out with a Doctor Who book that would act as "a whovian guide to friends, foes, villains, monsters and companions", we were very excited indeed - especially considering his vast knowledge and love for the show.

Once you finally get over adoring the beautifully embossed ‘Doctor Who’ lettering on the cover, which also features The 10th, 11th and 12th Doctors (yes that is the correct numbering), you are presented with the simple, yet effective contents page that typifies this straight-up, no-nonsense guide which does exactly what it says on the proverbial tin.

The various sections within the book (The Doctors, The Companions, Friends & Allies, Robots, Time Lords & Ladies, Villains and Aliens & Monsters) are laid out beautifully and clearly in alphabetical order to easily find who you want.

As you thumb through pages and pages of character breakdowns, coupled with pictures and illustrations gloriously brought to life by Andrew Skilleter, you realise just how concise the book is. With over 50 years to draw from you will find information about characters you have long since forgotten (Rita from The God Complex), or even facts about the ones you thought you knew everything about.

The Who's Who Of Doctor Who is essential reading for anyone wanting to know anything from 'Ace' to 'The Zygons', and with over 300 entries to explore, you’ll be reaching for it time and time again.

+  The Who's Who Of Doctor Who is Out Now, priced £18.99.
+  Buy this book on Amazon.co.uk for just £15.77. 

+  Follow BlogtorWho on Twitter.
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 Manufacturer: Big Finish Productions

Manufacturer: Big Finish Productions

Written By: Nicholas Briggs, Alan Barnes & Matt Fitton

RRP: £20.00 (CD) / £20.00 (Download)

Release Date: February 2014

Reviewed by: Matthew Davis for Doctor Who Online

Review Posted: 17th February 2014

When the Doctor defeated the Dalek Time Controller and its Time Lord ally, the timelines shifted and events changed... but the danger is far from over. And new threats to the continued safety of the universe are emerging.

Molly O'Sullivan carried on with her life as a nursing assistant in World War One. She probably thought she would never see the Doctor in his 'Tardy-box' again...

From the Dalek occupied planet Nixyce VII through Earth's history and to the very edge of the universe, the Doctor's footprints across eternity are being tracked by foes old and new. But when did it all begin and when will it end? Living his life through the complexities of time travel, the Doctor can never be quite sure if he's experiencing his life in the most helpful order. The only certainty appears to be the advance of the powers of evil and the oncoming threat of a fight to the death against forces that would destroy everything the Doctor holds dear.

* * *

This really is a great period for The Eighth Doctor. After the huge success of the first award winning Dark Eyes, Paul McGann returned to the role of The Doctor in the extremely well-received Night of the Doctor. His brief but perfect performance got many fans unfamiliar with his portrayal very curious. 

Who was this mysterious Doctor who had previously had only one television adventure? And just who were those companions he listed off before turning into John Hurt?

Interest in The Eighth Doctor was at an all time high and Big Finish must have been leaping for joy, for not only being made cannon but I’m sure an increased interest in their excellent output by new listeners.

So it makes me doubly happy to say that the joyous wave for Paul McGann gets even higher with the release of Dark Eyes 2, a brilliant collection of stories that continues to push The Eighth Doctor into new and exciting territory.

Following a non-linear narrative told over 4 parts, Dark Eyes 2 excels in great storytelling and excellent characterisation. Knowledge of the previous Dark Eyes is essential as in some aspects of the main narrative it explicitly harks back to that story. 

But Dark Eyes 2 thankfully does not bog itself down too much in continuity as these linked stories are cracking tales in their own right.

Nicholas Briggs, who held sole writing duties on the first Dark Eyes only takes the first part whilst handing over writing duties of the rest to Alan Barnes and Matt Fitton. 

I shall not to go too much in depth into the storyline as there is so much to enjoy here and far too many surprises. What I can talk about is the fascinating story thread of the character of The Doctor.

The writers have really taken on board the direction of The Eighth Doctor as being the reluctant warrior. Whilst his previous incarnation had been the grand manipulator who had made difficult choices for the greater good, The Eighth Doctor makes them out of reluctance. He has seen so much death, the aftermath of which was explored in the first Dark Eyes, and he just wants to help make a difference to the universe without having to sacrifice anymore of those he cares about. It is a fascinating direction for a character that started out as a more romantic type. In light of what happens to the character in Night of the Doctor, the course taken here in Dark Eyes 2 is perfectly in line with The Eighth’s Doctor’s eventual fate. 

The performances from the main cast are excellent. Paul McGann is fantastic once again in the role and he really develops his performance throughout the stories.

Ruth Bradley makes a very welcome return as Molly O’ Sullivan joined by the excellent Nicola Walker as Liv Chenka, a character first seen in Nicholas Briggs' sublime Robophobia. Both characters are brilliant foils for the Doctor in different ways, and both have their own different experiences of The Doctor in the Dark Eyes 2 which creates some excellent dramatic tension and a unique perspective throughout. Nicholas Briggs steps behind the microphone not only as The Daleks but the delightfully devious Dalek Time Controller making a return appearance after the dramatic conclusion to the first Dark Eyes.

In a series of stories with returning characters, one of the sheer highlights is Alex Macqueen returning as the Master, a role he made completely his own in the excellent UNIT: Dominion.

It is difficult to find any fault with Dark Eyes 2, as a lot of steps have been taken to ensure this has all the quality of its predecessor but pushing it in new and tantalizing directions. 

With a superb cliff-hanger to conclude it, this reviewer cannot wait for Dark Eyes 3.

Manufacturer: Big Finish Productions

Written By: Matt Fitton

RRP: £12.99 (CD) / £9.99 (Download)

Release Date: January 2014

Reviewed by: Matthew Davis for Doctor Who Online

Review Posted: 31st January 2014

The search for the final segment of the Key to Time takes the Doctor and the First Romana to Ancient Rome. The Time Lady is appalled when her companion prefers to watch the latest Plautus comedy rather than complete their mission, and is even less delighted to meet the playwright himself.

But all is not what it seems, either onstage or behind the scenes…

In the far, far future, the Second Romana is destined to have her own encounter with a legacy of Rome, but Stoyn has been waiting. And his actions will set Romana on a collision course with her own past.

Quadrigger Stoyn wants his final revenge on the Doctor, and only Romana stands in his way.

Both of her.

* * *

The Stoyn trilogy comes to a close in the first Companion Chronicle of the year, and despite great ambition the story doesn’t feel quite as strong a finale as perhaps it could’ve been.

Luna Romana was originally written to have included Mary Tamm, but in light of Tamm’s recent passing, the story was rewritten. Tamm’s part is taken by Juliet Landau who portrays a future incarnation of Romana who first appeared in the spin off series Gallifrey VI. Landau proceeds to tell her side of the story as a recollection of her time as the first Romana during the events of the Key to Time.

Landau’s performance is certainly lovely but not as full of gusto as Lalla Ward when she takes over narration during the second episode. Indeed Lalla’s narration is perhaps the strongest part of this release and although Landau does a fine job, you really do begin to miss Mary Tamm’s presence. It would have been lovely to see a more authentic comparison between both incarnations of the character would’ve been fascinating but sadly of course this was not to be.

The Stoyn trilogy has been of a mixed run of stories for me personally. I found overall The Beginning by Marc Platt to be the strongest of the trilogy. The character is still played wonderfully by Terry Molloy but he does seem an odd choice of antagonist for a run of stories set to celebrate the 50th anniversary. Indeed the character’s resolution is rather horrible considering that the poor man was taken out of time by the criminal actions of the Doctor. 

Four episodes seems rather too much for this story as there are moments which can be quite easily written off as padding. This is a shame as there are some great ideas in the story but I personally think that it would’ve benefitted as a two parter, with the narrative intercutting between both Romanas throughout.

Whatever the story‘s faults, what cannot be overlooked are the very touching moments when it pays tribute to the first Romana and the legacy of Mary Tamm. Her contribution to the character and her contribution to Big Finish before her were tremendous and it is good to see it recognised here, and Juliet Landau delivers the closing lines with real compassion.

Luna Romana is an interesting but not entirely satisfying conclusion to an unusual trilogy of stories. 

 Manufacturer: Big Finish Productions

Manufacturer: Big Finish Productions

Written By: Nicholas Briggs

RRP: £14.99 (CD) / £12.99 (Download)

Release Date: October 2013

Reviewed by: Matthew Davis for Doctor Who Online

Review Posted: 25th October 2013

November 23rd 1963 proves to be a significant day in the lives of all eight Doctors…

It's the day that Bob Dovie's life is ripped apart…

It's also a day that sets in motion a catastrophic chain of events which forces the first eight incarnations of the Doctor to fight for their very existence. As a mysterious, insidious chaos unfolds within the TARDIS, the barriers of time break apart…

From suburban England through war-torn alien landscapes and into a deadly, artificial dimension, all these Doctors and their companions must struggle against the power of an unfathomable, alien technology.

From the very beginning, it is clear that the Master is somehow involved. By the end, for the Doctors, there may only be darkness.

* * *

So here it is at last! The Light at the End is Big Finish’s tribute to the 50th anniversary of our favourite television show and was it worth the wait? The answer is a resounding YES!

The Light at the End is everything you could have hoped for from an anniversary story; multiple Doctors, many companions and a truly exciting story which celebrates the past fifty years with unashamed joy.

Unlike previous releases, Zagreus and The Four Doctors, we get to see all the Doctors interacting with each other throughout the whole story. 

As with past multi Doctor stories there are the inevitable moments such as criticism of taste in fashion , differences of opinion on TARDIS decor and some squabbling. Writer Nicholas Briggs chooses to pair Doctors together before everyone eventually gets together for the final part of the story. This makes for some rather interesting team ups, especially when the Fourth and Eighth Doctor get together. Tom Baker and Paul McGann make a wonderful pairing and they play off each other to great comic effect. Colin Baker and Sylvester McCoy also make a brilliant pairing that is somewhat reminiscent of Patrick Troughton and Jon Pertwee from The Three Doctors, which creates some more wonderful moments.

One of the biggest surprises about the story is that all the classic Doctors make an appearance and I do mean all of them. How this is achieved I wouldn’t dream of spoiling by telling you but Big Finish must be commended for taking on such a risky and delicate matter and achieving a lovely tribute to those wonderful actors no longer with us.

The Light at the End surely must feature the largest cast of guest stars in any single Big Finish release. The cast includes many Companions of the past from Carole Ann Ford to the very welcome return of India Fisher and many more lovely surprises. Wisely, unlike other anniversary specials of the past, Briggs uses them in small but wonderful moments and little flashes of memory - it pulls at the fans’ heart strings and no one outstays their welcome.

The Companions themselves have a really great part to play but ultimately this is a story about The Doctor. That is not to say the companions are wasted; they play a really important part in the story and Ace’s descriptions of each of the Doctor’s incarnations is worth the purchase price itself.

The cast are on exceptional form and an extraordinary script makes this a top notch audio drama.

Briggs must be singled out for great praise. The Light at the End in the hands of a lesser writer could have been a mess. The temptation of an anniversary story is to succumb to all our fan dreams and fill the story with so many references, characters and monsters that the story is crushed under its own weight (I’m looking at you Dimensions in Time!). I take my hat off to Briggs for not only creating a superb script which serves all the Doctors and their legacy but for writing a cracking story in its own right. 

Having The Master as the sole antagonist is a smart move on Brigg’s part, especially as he has been such an important part of The Doctor’s history. This choice of foe gives the story a clear sense of direction and enhances the impact of its message. We are reminded throughout just how important The Doctor is and the impact that he has on those around him and the Universe as a whole is inescapable.

Just as we are reminded that The Doctor has impacted on the lives of those he meets in his stories, so too are we reminded of the importance he has had to us as listeners. We wouldn’t be listening to this story if hehad not had an impact on us at some point in our lives. This is something that Briggs understands completely, as he is one of us; a true fan. He doesn’t just love the show, he truly understands what makes it important and it is this understanding that really shines through.

The Light at the End really is a wonderful tribute to the power of Doctor Who and its legacy and this is one release you really cannot be without.

Here’s to the next 50 years...

 Manufacturer: BBC Worldwide Consumer Products

Manufacturer: BBC Worldwide Consumer Products

Written By: Kit Pedler and Gerry Davis, Malcolm Hulke and Terrance Dicks, Robert Sloman, Christopher H. Bidmead, Robert Holmes, Pip and Jane Baker, Matthew Jacobs, Russell T. Davies

RRP: £61.27

Release Date: 24th June 2013

Reviewed By: Doctor Who Online

Review Posted: 18th July 2013

“The Time Lords have this little trick. It’s sort of a way of cheating death. Except, it means I’m gonna change.” - The Ninth Doctor, The Parting Of The Ways

This beautifully-packaged and limited edition coffee table book-styled collectors’ album is every Doctor Who fan’s dream possession.

Individually numbered and boasting six DVDs with over 1000 minutes of Doctor Who footage, it brings together every Doctor’s regeneration episode: from the first Doctor, exhausted from battling the Cyberman, to Jon Pertwee’s Third Doctor suffering from radiation unleashed by the Great One (a giant spider); and from the spectacular transformation of the Ninth Doctor to David Tennant’s emotional farewell as the Tenth.

The album is adorned with superb photography from across the era and features detailed and informative accounts of every regeneration. And if that wasn’t enough, new to DVD is The Tenth Planet featuring the Doctor’s first regeneration – beautifully restored with the missing fourth episode now brought to life with stunning animation. Utilising the original soundtrack, off-screen photographs and a short surviving sequence of the Doctor’s regeneration the episode has been now reconstructed in animated form, incorporating the restored version of the surviving sequence.

* * *
As a special release to celebrate Doctor Who’s 50th anniversary, the Regeneration Box-set may seem something of an odd choice. While it highlights the process which has allowed the show to survive for all this time, it also means that the Doctor’s aren’t all given a fair crack of the whip. Patrick Troughton’s Second Doctor bows out at the end of the 10-part epic The War Games, while Colin Baker and the Sixth Doctor are relegated to just two short scenes - hardly the best example of his Doctor - and Matt Smith only gets the final few minutes of The End of Time while we wait for his impending departure from the programme. 

Six of the nine stories presented here (The War Games, Planet Of The Spiders, Logopolis, The Caves of Androzani, Time and the Rani, and The TV Movie) have previously seen release as stand-alone DVDs, each packed with a bumper crop of special features, all of which have been removed for this release, allowing the stories to be spread across fewer discs. Bad Wolf / The Parting Of The Ways and The End of Time have also seen prior release in a couple of different forms.  

The versions of these stories used for the set are the same as those seen in their last DVD release, meaning that The Caves of Androzani and The TV Movie are both the higher-quality prints previously seen as part of the Revisitations box sets, as opposed to their earlier release.

For many fans whose interest has been raised by this release, though, it’s not those later regenerations that they’re keen to see again - it’s the very first one, in the form of The Tenth Planet, available here for the first time on DVD, complete with animated Episode Four, several months before it’s standalone release in November. The restoration of the three surviving episodes is up to the high standard that we’ve come to expect from the Restoration Team’s work, presenting the story in the best quality that could be hoped for.  

 Episode Four, newly animated to complete the story, builds on the success of the team’s earlier efforts on The Reign of Terror, and rectifies some of the complaints that the earlier release generated. Here, the shots chosen are far closer in style to the surviving episodes, and while there is still the occasional extreme close up of a character, it’s a device used far less on this occasion. The atmosphere of the story holds firm throughout this new version, and it’s a great way to experience this story as close to ‘complete’ as possible. You can see some examples from the animation in the sidebar to the right. 

With all nine stories spread across just six discs, there’s some unusual choices of how to split them, meaning that picture quality on the stories can be compromised in some instances. Disc One is home to the entirety of The Tenth Planet, alongside the first half of The War Games, with that story’s remaining episodes given Disc Two all to themselves. Planet of the Spiders occupies Disc Three while Disc Four holds Logopolis and The Caves of Androzani. Time and the Rani sits alongside The TV Movie for Disc Five, with the two new series stories - Bad Wolf / The Parting of the Ways and The End of Time filling up Disc Six. 

The discs are housed in a gorgeous presentation book, giving each of the Doctors their own double page spread, alongside information about both that specific incarnation and the story that represents them in the set. The book really is a work of art, and certainly one of the nicest pieces of 50th anniversary merchandise produced this year. It will no doubt take pride of place on many fan’s shelves before November hits. You can see some examples of pages for the First, Fourth, and Ninth Doctors throughout this review.

In all, the Regeneration Box-set achieves its aims - it provides a lovely collectable (each set is a numbered limited edition), and serves as a great introduction to the older Doctors on DVD. While many fans of the series are likely already own at least some of the stories contained within, this set would make a brilliant gift for a casual fan, or someone looking to take their first steps into the classic series.

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Manufacturer: Big Finish Productions

Written By: Jonathan Morris

RRP: £14.99 (CD) / £12.99 (Download)

Release Date: June 2013

Reviewed by: Matthew Davis for Doctor Who Online

Review Posted: 13th July 2013

Twenty-five years ago, with Richter's Syndrome running rampant throughout the galaxy, the brilliant biochemist Nyssa, formerly of Traken, bade a painful farewell to her young family... and set off into the space, in search of a cure for this deadly disease.

She never returned.

Now, her grown-up son continues her work on the penal colony of Valderon, still desperate to make the breakthrough that eluded his presumed-dead mother.

So when the TARDIS lands on Valderon, bringing the Doctor, Tegan, Turlough and Nyssa to its fortress prison, the scene is set for a painful reunion... but not only for Nyssa. The Doctor's past is about to catch up with him too...

* * *

This season of Fifth Doctor stories has focused primarily on the companions and for its closing chapter we have a very emotional and dramatic story about Nyssa. 

The great problem when trying to write a review of Prisoners of Fate is that there are so many revelations and surprises that to go into too much detail would be to spoil your enjoyment terribly. The great plot threads surrounding Nyssa that began in way back in Cobwebs finally come to their dramatic conclusion. 

This story feels very much like an extended version of a finale in the recent television episodes.

There is high emotion, paradoxes and great universal danger. Amidst all this Prisoners of Fate is a very personal story for Nyssa and her lost family, more specifically her son Adric. Their relationship and destiny are at the real heart of this story and it never feels over shadowed by the paradoxical nature of it all.

Jonathan Morris is a highly gifted writer, who not only knows his Doctor but can add such wonderful new things to the already existing mythology which enrich it further for long time fans. He offers tantalizing glimpses of the Doctor’s past and future, all of which is essential to one of the great plot twists in the story.

The entire cast is on incredibly fine form and Sarah Sutton’s performance is just wonderful. The story has a wide range of emotions for Nyssa which Sutton carries off beautifully. It is certainly the highlight of an already impressive audio adventure.

Prisoners of Fate certainly sets up the future for this TARDIS team on audio and it will be very interesting to see what happens next.

Do your best to avoid any spoilers and enjoy a brilliant conclusion to a highly enjoyable trilogy.