You hurt me...

Prerequisites: The previous 11DC audios, and Series 7 of New Who

Curiosity Shop is an excellent finale, and frankly the best 11DC yet. The concept is simple: the Doctor has lost his memory and Valerie tries to get him to remember before time runs out and the world is destroyed. The execution, however, is fantastic. Goss demonstrates an innate understanding of the Eleventh Doctor as a character, as his unconscious plan puts Valerie in harm's way and he seems to not quite understand why she's hurt by it. That last ten minutes is excellent, and really Dudman and Ingar act their hearts out (Dudman's impressions of previous Doctors are also pretty good). It's so refreshing to see genuine, well-written conflict between the Doctor and a companion, and have the build up to that conflict be so good. I can't wait to start the next audio here.

Wow. Just wow.

Every great companion should have a story where we see how they can do more on their own, Donna gets Turn Left, Martha gets Sound of Drums, Amy gets The Girl Who Waited, etc, and this is an *incredible* one of those.

Valarie's determination is put to the test, waiting and waiting for The Doctor even as there's a war about to start in the sky, as she's having to sell herself piece by piece, as she's scrounging for scraps of food. Despite everything, despite how much she loses, she still holds onto that hope that the doctor has given her.

And then I adore how her progression is mirrored with The Doctor. She's slowly breaking down, piece by piece, and all the while he's slowly building himself back up, Dudman's impressions of Eleven's takes on the previous doctors is just brilliant, and I love how they sound more like the actual doctors as time goes on. I love how with Nine we see some glimmer of hope, almost for it to be nearly fully dashed away with Ten.

Like I said the way our two lead's journeys mirror each other as the story goes on, one breaking down, one being built up, it's spectacular.

I also can't go without talking about the stories that Valarie tells about her travels with the doctor, each feeling so real even from the tiny glimpses we get. I love the tiny moments of Eleven coming back through as she tells the stories. I love all of it.

Easily my favourite of the range so far. This story is incredible.

And very much unsurprised it's written by Goss

Curiosity Shop: 8.9/10 - This was a very emotional and heavy story that succeeded extremely well while having a very unique approach to a Doctor Who story. Starting off, I think Jacob Dudman was absolutely amazing here and did great impressions of all of the Doctors here. Safiyya Ingar however gives one of her best performances in the range so far with such incredible emotion in this story. The plot was very good with some great dialogue from all three of the main characters. The main strength of this story is how it gives more depth to the Doctor/companion relationship that we don't see as often. The end of the story is incredibly bittersweet and a really interesting way to finish a boxset. I also really liked Gollas and found his relationship with Valerie very fascinating.

The Eleventh Doctor Chronicles #4.3 - "Curiosity Shop" by James Goss

Since Curiosity Shop matched the rating of last boxset's The End, and was written by one of Big Finish's most prominent writers, it was one of my most anticipated listens of this range. Now, having listened to it, I can certainly say it deserves the high rating, but my actual enjoyment of the thing wavered.

Mr. Foreman runs a junkyard on a ruined world, and nobody ever visits, nobody but Valarie. But all Valarie wants to see is Barbara; the big blue box tucked in the yard's corner. Valarie travelled the universe in it, and will tear herself apart to get it back.

(CONTAINS SPOILERS)

First and foremost, Dudman and Ingar are f**king flawless in this one. Dudman manages to pull off like seven different voices mixed with Matt Smith's inflictions and the whole story basically becomes a showcase for his acting talents but Ingar is no less brilliant here, heartbreakingly showing Valarie quite literally rip herself apart in a vain attempt at a reunion with the Doctor. These two are basically the primary reason the 11DAs work so well and this probably their finest moment. Though I have problems with the first half of this story, I will note how the conclusion to Curiosity Shop is pretty much perfect, Goss captures the chaotic do-gooder nature of Eleven so well with his speech to the warring factions and his reactions with Golas, a surprisingly deep character, is wonderful. I also really like the notion of the Doctor being a sort of fairy tale people tell themselves to make themselves feel better, a notion that will be used utterly brilliantly in the next audio.

However, I have to make it clear that the 9/10 rating is pretty objective here; in fact, I think I'd choose The Yearn (ironically the lowest rated story in Series 7V) as my personal favourite but Curiosity Shop is definitely the better story. The first half basically switches between two scenes over and over and, whilst beautifully written, the formula becomes old and it takes until the second half for the real heart-ripping stuff to come through. I also found the explanation for why the Doctor had weird, regressive amnesia confusing to non-existent. Maybe I missed something but there's no why to this mystery, it just is. And, although I loved Dudman's performance, a few of his impressions fell flat, his Three in particular.

Don't get me wrong, I liked Curiosity Shop, I really liked it but the first half was just far too slow and it felt like the story surrounding some nice character beats wasn't strong enough to sustain the latter. That being said, it's beautifully written and the final ten or so minutes are utterly flawless.

9/10

Pros:
+ Utterly fantastic performances from Dudman and Ingar, possibly their best
+ The final speeches and conversations were the result of complete and utter understanding of the Doctor and his character
+ Golas is a pretty compelling character and a nice addition to the story
+ The detail of the Doctor cycling through previous incarnations' personalities is really cool
+ The notions towards the Doctor and his presence as a man of myth is an interesting notion

Cons:
- The first half feels like it could be heavily cut for time with little hampering on the plot
- Goes through the motions a lot, I could tell exactly where the first 3/4 or so would go
- Some of Dudman's performances don't land
- Still unclear on why a lot of what was happening was happening

Series 7V | Ranked:
14.
13.
12.
11.
10.
9.
8.
7.
6. The House of Masks by Georgia Cook - 6/10
5. All of Time and Space by Ellery Quest (Tim Foley) - 7/10
4. The Yearn by Angus Dunican - 8/10
3. The Inheritance by Alfie Shaw - 8/10
2. Curiosity Shop by James Goss - 9/10
1. The End by Rochana Patel - 10/10

Overall - 8.0/10

A very good tale from the second Eleven & Valarie box set. This is the most serious story from the series so far. This story is written as a breakdown of who The Doctor is, and it leaves an impression. The butting heads of the Madman in a Box and The Lonely God plays out well in this one. Curiosity Shop is written for the audio format and takes advantage of it. Jacob Dudman is given the opportunity to show his ability to mimic other Doctor voices. The real standout though is Safiyya Ingar, who is give a lot to work with here, and doesn't disappoint. The pain and sadness they are able to portray just makes me love Valarie more. Both of them get a chance to show off their range as actors. The guest actor is great, and even sounds a little like Colin Baker. Overall, this is a great addition to the series.