Reviews

Without the lost memory hook, I’m afraid this adventure would be left feeling a little weak and standard, and since that hook becomes less relevant as the story goes on, so my interest declines slowly. I will say though, it is a very intriguing story at first, and the Doctor and her fam are all written great by Jody Houser yet again

This was a fun! It was very light and easy, but that’s no reason to discredit it. That ending is really weird though, huh? It very clearly sets up a third novel which never released, but for about a page, after questioning himself for most of the book, Graham admits something might be seriously wrong with him. The Doctor puts up her guard and examines him, and Ryan is almost ready to throw hands with the Doctor if she steps out of line and hurts his granddad. Graham is after all nothing if not sympathetic, and not one of her companions ever truly believes she’s fully trustworthy, and neither do we. For about a page we see a completely new dynamic within the group, and it’s pages like that which are the reason why I’m going through 13’s expanded media. Because every so often, something like that happens. And if you’re not paying attention you miss it.

I really love the Graham-bots, and I’m personally a huge Audrey Hepburn fan so this whole story really worked for me

At the start i found everything mostly annoying. Especially the side characters, gosh they were getting on my nerves. But as the plot moved on, it started getting more interesting. I liked Peri doing things. And Six doing things. Once the annoyance had lessened, an intriguing story, and probably a good dosis of Sixth Doctor bias as well, had taken over. When the story flips on its head and goes from a tale in a mysterious forest to modern social commentary i was -sudden, random but still predictable as the twist might be- still really getting into liking this one.  And after the halfway through, it manages to keep that steady quality of a pretty good story for the rest of the thing. For me at least.

It was also nice hearing the behind the scenes, about how the original writer was a fan of Doctor Who and was seriously disappointed to hear that his script wouldn’t be used. His son tells the story behind it very pleasantly. Absolutely do not skip the BtS on this one!

This is part of a series of reviews of Doctor Who in chronological timeline order.

Previous Story: The Bookshop at the End of the World

And now the end to the first Shadow of the Daleks anthology. This particular story doesn't clear much up, but I expect that will be done in the next one anyway. This one's fairly simple and yet end up being the most confusing by the end. I do enjoy the dynamics of the characters, something I've said for basically every adventure in this anthology so far but it really is something that stands out.

I enjoy the way this story takes the form of a play, Peter Davison plays a fed-up Doctor really well. Overall this was pretty good but an unremarkable end to this first set of stories.

Next Story: Echo Chamber

This is part of a series of reviews of Doctor Who in chronological timeline order.

Previous Story: Lightspeed

What a story, you really don't expect anything like this from something that has "_______ of the Daleks" on the cover. If I had to compare this to another story, it would be Midnight, it's a very claustrophobic character-based thriller. I know an amnesiac Doctor is an overdone trope but man is it done well here.

The dynamics between the characters are all fantastic, you really don't know whether to feel uneasy or safe, much like the characters themselves. The resolution is not exactly what I expected but I can't complain as it was definitely well set up. Overall, this is the strongest story of the anthology by lightyears and I love how ambiguous it's all left.

Next Story: Interlude

This is part of a series of reviews of Doctor Who in chronological timeline order.

Previous Story: Aimed at the Body

After the fairly strange opener, we get a more traditional Doctor Who story. The overarching mystery is still very prominent in this story and it's still got the excellent character dynamics of the last one, it's just that it follows a much simpler premise of an intergalactic mob-boss out to get the Doctor. This is a pretty fun story, the only part I found particularly strange was the resolution, in which the Doctor has to kiss everyone on board the ship to save them.

Other than that, it's a decent story but easily the weakest of this anthology. It is good to have atleast one traditional adventure in such a surreal and strange set of stories though

Next Story: The Bookshop at the End of the World

I felt that this story had a very interesting idea which was pulled off well. The narration is also excellent and I felt that the sound design was above average for a Short Trip.

This story is alright but really nothing special.

Did you know that according to the Doctor, flossing is the most well known dance in the universe across all of time?

This is part of a series of reviews of Doctor Who in chronological timeline order.

Previous Story: The Dancing Plague

This one is tricky to review, it's very much set-up for the overarching plot of this anthology and that leaves it quite difficult to review as a disconnected story. I'll give it a try though anyway. It's a very tense story despite having no clear antagonist. You are just as clueless as the Doctor, which makes for an interesting listening experience.

There's a bit of cricket history here aswell, something I knew nothing about beforehand. I find it really cool how they've made this real-world history such a key part of this story. Overall this is a great little character-based drama and I think it sets up what's to come fairly well.

Next Story: Lightspeed

⭐7.67 

⭐Good! → Cautious recommendation!

THWORPING THROUGH TIME AND SPACE, ONE ADVENTURE AT A TIME!

World War II usually makes for a fantastic setting for a Doctor Who adventure (The Forsaken, Operation Werewolf, The Empty Child), and when you add in the manipulative Seventh Doctor, we get even more intriguing stories (The Curse of Fenric, Timewyrm: Exodus). Colditz, penned by Steve Lyons, is no exception.

We are transported to Colditz Castle, used by the Germans to hold prisoners of war during WWII, where Seven and Ace get entangled in war politics. Believed to be British spies, the Nazis soon learn about the TARDIS and want to use its secret to secure a victory in the war. Lyons kicks the plot into high gear right away, as the Doctor seemingly plays into the Nazis' hands while Ace spends time with other prisoners, trying to convince them to attempt an escape.

Colditz is most notable for introducing the inimitable Tracey Childs as German science doctor Elizabeth Klein, who’ll later become a companion for Seven. Even more intriguing is the Doctor Who debut of one Scottish actor named David Tennant, in a rather colourful and fierce (and, arguably, exaggerated) role as a sadistic German officer named Kurtz. He’d move up the ranks to become the Doctor themselves merely four years later.

Sophie Aldred is wonderful in this one, as she constantly rubs the Nazi characters the wrong way. Sylvester McCoy excels, particularly when confronting Childs and revealing his cunning aspects. Peter Raye is excellent in the role of sympathetic Wilkins.

Colditz is a straightforward adventure, relying on its characters and the natural tension of the era to carry the narrative. Part 2 ends with an intriguing revelation, as the Doctor realises that there is more to Klein than meets the eye; she has travelled to 1944 in the Doctor’s TARDIS.

At its most basic level, this is a Doctor Who take on a very simple paradox story. The problem is that Steve Lyons does very little with the story beyond the initial premise, so the four parts float around a bit until it's time to wrap things up. Ace, in particular, doesn’t get anything useful to do.

The story ends with an intriguing spin, as a piece of late 20th-century technology left behind in 1944 creates an alternate future where Germany has won the war, making it possible for Klein to travel back to 1944 and later become the Doctor’s companion.

The sound quality (editing and mixing) is occasionally very poor, which means that some of the dialogue has a strange echo to it. This ruins many scenes because they are difficult to listen to. The soundtrack is also pretty intrusive in some places, which makes the experience worse.

This is part of a series of reviews of Doctor Who in chronological timeline order.

Previous Story: What Lurks Down Under

I'm surprised Doctor Who hasn't visited the Dancing Plague of 1518 more often, it's one of those weird historical oddities that's perfect for a strange sci-fi explanation. As it stands this is a fairly good story explaining it away through mass hysteria. I would have liked some evil alien plot though, but this isn't too bad either. The characters are entertaining and Margareta has a great dynamic with the Doctor in just these 35 minutes. I think the premise could have worked wonders with a slightly longer story though, but that's down to personal opinion.

Next Story: Aimed at the Body

This is part of a series of reviews of Doctor Who in chronological timeline order.

Previous Story: The Bridge Master

This one's probably my favourite of the anthology so far. It uses it's time effectively and actually feels like a full story. It's a fairly simple premise that works as an excellent backdrop to explore the characters. Mary Wade stands out in particular, instantly feeling like a lifelong companion of the Doctor's.

I enjoy the trope of the Doctor letting his companions negotiate with aliens, rather than himself, even if it fairly overdone. It's just a fun little story that wastes no time and, if I understood it correctly, gives a sci-fi explanation for why deep-sea creatures look so, well, alien.

Next Story: The Dancing Plague

This is part of a series of reviews of Doctor Who in chronological timeline order.

Previous Story: Ghost Station

Another decently enjoyable story but once again suffers from being too short. This one has a much weaker atmosphere and generally duller premise. It really feels like this came from an idea for a story that just couldn't fill out a standard two-part or four-part adventure, a lot of things are left unexplained and the one that bugs me in particular is how the villager got ahold of alien technology. It's still fun and the Doctor's interactions with Agatha make it worthwhile but I'm of the opinion that these shorter-style stories don't translate to full-cast audio very well.

Next Story: What Lurks Down Under

Virgin New Adventures #19 - "Blood Heat" by Jim Mortimore

I have, completely unintentionally, been reading a lot of Jim Mortimore recently. A writer infamous for his use of unconventional narratives and balls-to-the-wall philosophical ideas, Blood Heat is by far his most “normal” book. The first of the much revered Alternative Timeline Cycle in the VNAs, spanning from here to No Future, Blood Heat is a look into what would’ve been if Doctor Who and the Silurians had ended worse for the Doctor.

When an attack on the TARDIS leaves Benny thrown through the vortex and the Doctor and Ace stranded on what seems to be prehistoric Earth, things seemingly can’t get worse. However, the introduction of strange anachronisms, familiar faces living in the primaeval jungle and reptilian men ruling the Earth only exacerbate the situation, which all began when the Doctor died.

(CONTAINS SPOILERS)

Like I said before, Mortimore hasn’t really written anything as simple as this. It’s got some wibbly-wobbly stuff in the whole alternate timeline concept but that’s only there because of the arc it’s a part of, really the rest is just a very simple, political story. I’ll follow up on why I think the politics here fall flat but I think that there are a couple elements Mortimore nails. By far the most interesting characters are the Brigadier and Morka: the two leaders of the warring factions. The Brigadier has grown into a bitter and jaded old man who’s utterly content with killing for his cause under the excuse of it “all being for the children”, a mantra which started off poetic but was repeated so many times it became dull and Morka, the antagonist of Doctor Who and the Silurians, has had the opposite arc as the Brigadier, growing softer over the years, racked by the guilt of murdering the Doctor in the original story. It’s a really interesting heel turn for both characters and is frankly some stellar character work. As for the story itself, it can get quite tense when Mortimore wants it to, his prose has the capability for war epics, it’s just a little spotty throughout Blood Heat. I’d say the opening, set in a TARDIS falling apart with Benny being sucked into the vortex, and the ending, where Ace and the Doctor have a classic moral argument and the Doctor has to essentially kill the whole universe to put time back on it’s natural course, are easily the best bits of the whole book. I’d also like to highlight the setting - the post-apocalyptic England covered in inexplicable jungles is great and the little insights into what’s left of the world are a nice, somewhat depressing touch.

However, Blood Heat is an incredibly flawed book in my opinion, and most of that stems from politics. Whilst the original Doctor Who and the Silurians was about political equilibrium and peaceful negotiations over war, Blood Heat is exactly the same, just a lot worse. The world of Blood Heat is binary, either you’re a staunch advocate for peace or you’re a bloodthirsty maniac; it’s missing a lot of nuance that would improve the plot. Beyond that, the whole book feels massively unpolished, like it was a few drafts off completion. There are so many bits of the book where problems will just… resolve. Benny’s kidnapped by Silurians? Just reintroduce into the plot when you need to. She gets shot? It wasn’t fatal, let’s just not worry about that. It’ll take weeks for the human resistance to prepare weapons, but they only have eight hours? Just skip eight hours later to when they’ve already gotten past this problem with absolutely no hiccups. It just jumps resolutions when it deems it necessary and ignores blatant problems so it can just continue as normal, which in my eyes makes the whole thing feel incredibly rough around the edges. And the plot eventually just ends, the two sides go from being in all out war, ready to bomb each other to absolutely willing to negotiate peace with absolutely no hard feelings. Despite wanting to kill each other five pages earlier, they are now just chums and it feels entirely unnatural. As for our TARDIS team, I don’t particularly like any of them. Ace feels too cocky and she’s missing a lot of the baggage she gained in Deceit, Benny’s barely in the book and she feels too similar to Ace, both disarming tension with wise cracks and a grin. As for the Doctor, he’s stuck with one Silurian for most of the book and doesn’t get all that involved, which is a shame because he’s probably the best voice for political discussion here. Also Ace has another romantic subplot, but it’s so underdeveloped and badly written that I just don’t care.

All in all, Blood Heat disappointed me, especially since I’ve heard such good things about it. Where it gets things right, it gets things really right and a lot of Mortimore’s strengths are in full form here; plus, there’s no overly complicated material for him to mess up. But, on the other hand, the whole book feels unfinished and like it’s missing a lot of material, which is weird because it’s already pretty long at 307 pages. It could’ve been a lot better, which is very unfortunate.

6/10

Pros:

+ Great setting with some really nice, vivid description carrying it

+ The Brigadier is wonderfully characterised throughout and easily my favourite aspect of the book

+ Can do tension really well in certain places

+ Morka is an good exception to the bloodthirsty Silurians

+ Brilliant opening section in a disintegrating TARDIS

+ Nice little epilogue that brings the characters together in a satisfying way

Cons:

- Falls short trying to write politics, everything’s far too cut and dry

- Feels very much like an early draft, with a lot of shortcuts and cut corners

- Ace and Benny are both a lot less nuanced than in previous books

- Really didn’t jive with the relationship between Ace and Alan, certainly the worst of Ace’s eclectic VNA boyfriends

- Has an ending that just stops the story abruptly and resolves an entire war in a few pages

a four parter that didnt drag in the slightest! heard this before but was a nice refresher now that i'm gonna get to hear more of evelyn. her character is phenomenal i love her and her dynamic with sixie immediately, and throughout. a really interesting pure historical, proving yet again pure historicals can work and be entertaining (come on rtd you coward). i really am so excited to hear more of them together!

⭐80% 

⭐Good! → Recommended!

THWORPING THROUGH TIME AND SPACE, ONE ADVENTURE AT A TIME!

This year's first of two Lost Stories is a scrapped six-part Season 6 story with Two, Jamie, and Zoe that would have occurred in Normandy right before D-Day in 1944. This is an ambitious story with a big cast, plenty of action, and an evocative wartime setting. Even though the Hartnell era abolished the practice, the adaptation features six individual episode titles.

The audio captures the WWII atmosphere well through sound design, performances, and writing. The Doctor and his friends are believed to be spies by the Germans occupying France. As the Doctor gets involved with the Germans and their secret projects (matter transmission and brainwashing technology), Jamie and Zoe ally themselves with the French resistance.

This is a historical adventure with no aliens and only minor sci-fi elements. The title may lead you to believe in the existence of actual werewolves in the story, but this is not the case. The name refers to the Nazi plan to use brainwashing technology to turn British and French soldiers into German wolf troops. It’s another crazy project undertaken by the Nazis during the war in a long line of them, as frequently explored in various pieces of media.

Jonathan Morris has adapted the original scripts by Douglas Camfield and Robert Kitts. The spirit of the era is very much present (the constant capture and escape; the mistaken identity plot strand; the Doctor having to help the baddies; the Nazis working with a high-ranking British official who backstabs everyone and turns out to be the main baddie; brainwashed companions), and the wonderful chemistry of my favourite TARDIS team is infectious, even without Patrick Troughton around. Michael Troughton is magically close to his late father in tone and mannerisms, and while Frazer Hines and Wendy Padbury don't exactly sound like their 60-years younger selves, they find that youthful tone nonetheless.

Probably my favourite aspect of the story is the little detail about the British doctor sent to France, named Fergus McCrimmon, who is revealed to be Jamie's descendant. The story dips in and out of their relationship occasionally, but ends on a positive note. This would have been an intriguing piece of characterization for Jamie.

It's a bit difficult to distinguish between the French and German characters, and the accents don't help. However, I generally enjoy Sir Aubrey and Bruckner, as they are quite clever and adept at uncovering details about the Doctor. Fergus also emerges as a remarkable character, particularly upon discovering his familial ties to Jamie.

As expected, the six-parter includes some typical padding and back-and-forth. If you listen to all six episodes at once, it can be challenging to keep track of everything, but if you know the era, you should be fine.

I love how the story ends the moment the D-Day invasion begins, and how the story goes full circle by finishing the same way it began.

Other stuff to mention:

• Funnily enough, the Doctor tried to land in 1066, which he last visited in The Time Meddler; isn’t he worried about running into his earlier self?
• This could have been the very first Doctor Who story set in WWII. In reality, we had to wait until the McCoy years to visit the period, during The Curse of Fenric.
• The Second Doctor and Jamie previously visited WWII with Ben and Polly during the Japanese invasion of Singapore (in the Companion Chronicles release The Forsaken). Funnily enough, it’s another story where one of the companions meets their family member.
• The Nazis' development of matter transmission cabinets bears a striking resemblance to Maxtible and Waterfield's creations in The Evil of the Daleks.

Revisiting past (and future) Doctors! Breaking the fourth wall! Fun, fun, fun

Can I just say f**k Kerblam? The original episode is not this impressive feat of filmmaking, and the incredibly frustrating third act, including a speech from the Doctor that is infamously out of character, is just another frustration to pile on top of an already middling episode from a middling season of television (for the most part).

I was SURE the novelization would improve things, and in a lot of ways it does. McTighe’s prose is very good. It’s a quick, engaging read that builds upon key details from the original episode, primarily adding backstory for both Judy and Charlie. Which is precisely what makes it so enraging for me personally whenever the third act, once again, portrays the Doctor as ignorant to the flaws of capitalism and the “heroes” are completely amoral while Charlie, the antagonist, becomes the only sympathetic character.

Judy especially, who is sort of just this hapless administrative person in the original episode, is such a strange character in the novelization. Her backstory as someone who grew up in poverty due to mass layoffs portrays her as a “f**k you I got mine” figure as she tells us that only ten percent of the staff of Kerblam are organic. Despite this, the Doctor repeatedly congratulates her for having humanity’s back, and her decision at the end to hire more human workers comes out of nowhere. Charlie, on the other hand, is shown to be much more sympathetic. His relationship with Kira is a lot sweeter in prose than the actor was able to portray on TV. The backstory with years and years of fighting for basic human rights is treated by the novel as immoral, simply because he and his parents would lie to police. His decision to use violence to harm Kerblam is completely justified, although his plan makes no sense and is stupid as can be. The Doctor of course makes the exact same speech about how individuals are the problem, not the system, and I’m left feeling angry and disappointed that the Doctor would do such a thing (let alone the implication that the 7th would as well, which happens on the final page). This is easily the most angry I’ve been reading Doctor Who. I know McTighe isn’t a bad writer, but this is an abomination

Fun adventure exploring generational trauma. Colin Baker is, as always, excellent as the Doctor, and Evelyn (played by Maggie Stables) is quickly becoming one of my favourite companions! Definetly reccomend, although the ending may seem a little too bleak for some listeners

This is part of a series of reviews of Doctor Who in chronological timeline order.

Previous Story: Conversion

I have very mixed feelings on these short 30-minute stories. Usually, unless they're short stories that form a larger narrative, they suffer from lacking the time to flesh out the characters and the overall setting. This story suffers from that quite a bit. There's no real narrative here, it's just essentially showing off a sci-fi concept with no larger plot.

I will say though, it's a very good sci-fi concept with a genuinely excellent atmosphere performed well by the cast. This might be the right story for someone else but for me it's just too short to get anything meaningful out of.

Next Story: The Bridge Master

This is a solid adventure, this time putting the Doctor alone with Graham. It’s an episode that actually explores who Graham is, why he’s here, and the grief he’s experiencing, all of which we get little bits of throughout the show, but is explored better in spinoff media, such as this and the novel, ‘The Maze of Doom.’ The alien threat isn’t super memorable, but the interaction at the end more than makes up for their interaction at the end of ‘Can You Hear Me?’

After the somewhat lacklustre ending to the Fifth Doctor’s comic strip run, this story - despite being a continuation of what has gone before - feels like a breath of fresh air.

I think this can be attributed to two things. The first thing is the debut of John Ridgeway as artist. For me Ridgeway is synonymous with the Sixth Doctor’s comic strip adventures as he illustrated virtually all of ‘Ol’ Sixie’s’ DWM stories. It’s a personal thing but I much prefer his art style to that of Mick Austin.

Secondly, this story introduces the character of Frobisher, the shape-changing private eye who ends up tagging along with the Doctor at the end of the story. To a certain section of fandom Frobisher is a truly iconic character. He’s a lot of fun here and, in the short time they spend together, he and the Doctor have excellent chemistry.

And what of the Doctor himself? Considering that this was written before the Sixth Doctor’s on-screen debut, I think that Steve Parkhouse manages to get the Doctor’s character pretty much spot-on. Possibly I’m projecting slightly but I can definitely hear the Sixth Doctor’s voice in my head when I read his part. There seems to be an air of tetchiness to his dialogue that I didn’t get from the Fifth Doctor.

All in all an enjoyable, if somewhat slight story. It ties up the previous era quite neatly and nicely sets up what’s to come.

An odd one, for sure. The start is quite fun, because the Doctor doesn't actually show up for ages, and the world created is pretty interesting. Then you start thinking about it a bit more and find yourself thinking "...sometimes this serial veers very close to saying Democracy Bad"