On a remote alien planet, a couple are trying to escape from a father who is not happy about the marriage. Brian the Ood has been sent to get them, or rather one, of them back.

I’ve been wanting this for a while, even though I didn’t really know anything about it. All the Time Lord Victorious stuff passed me by. Like the more recent Doomsday multi media story; to be honest I’d rather something more self contained and accessible - but that’s just me. I gather you don’t need all the various elements to enjoy it though (however I will say, that to get the most out of the audios, you need to read the two novels).

The Doctor is out to see one the the wonders of the universe but what he finds is far from what should be. This aspect of the plot doesn’t get resolve here, its something that carries on the the next adventure, so its just sowing the seeds. The setting itself is something akin to a town in the wild west. We know this because of the American accents: Why the accents? I’ve no idea, its an alien planet, and it didn’t really make sense. All it achieved is to confuse things - its possible its part of the things not being right theme (it isn't).

I’m not familar with Brian the Ood, but he didn’t come across as an Ood, at least not judging by the ones encountered in the TV series and I kept forgetting that that’s what he was. Apart form a few mentions of the hindbrain it could have been anyone.

As for the plot, its much of a run around, really its just your standard Doctor Who story. There’s nothing particularly oustanding, unique about or different about it.

Overall I was somewhat unimpressed by this. I had expected something more epic, grander, but it felt more run of the mill. I’m not entirely blaming the story, I had listened to the start but when I came back to carry on I just wasn’t taking it in and had to go and re listen. So it is an audio that I need to give a proper go to another time.

Its Ok, an underwhelming start to the series - though even saying that I’m not entirely sure where to start. Aside from all the other media there were two Big Finish short trips that came before this. (In retrospect, and taking in as much of the TLV as I could, it isn't necessarily the best place to start. I suspect my opinion would change a little, knowing how it fits in in the bigger series).

Doesn’t make a lot of logical sense (lots of talking about killing without actually doing it) but enjoyable nonetheless. A Western queer romance with an assassin Ood… can’t complain.

Oh I've loved Brian in other stories, and this was great to hear him in a full cast audio drama. I'd love them to bring him back into something BF related someday. Really interesting start to the 8th Doctor TLV arc on audio!

What an absolute, unadulterated delight!

It has an evil Ood, a lesbian couple fighting for their love (but not against homophobia!), a nicely foreshadowed B-plot, absolutely sparkling dialogue, and of course over-the-top pseudo-Western accents and settings. It's the campest Western I've ever met, and I love that journey for me.

📝6/10 = SLIGHTLY ENJOYABLE!

Time Lording through time and space, one victory at a time!

VICTORY XII

Carrie Thompson’s Big Finish story finally gives a voice to everybody’s favourite Ood assassin, as Silas Carson goes up against Paul McGann. We finally learn how Eight gets dragged into the Time Lord Victorious event when he arrives on a desert planet looking for a wonder of the universe that is missing and bumps into Felicity the fugitive and Brian the Ood, an assassin sent after her.

This story quickly turns into a sort of intimate mystery of Brian’s true nature as well as the nature of the Wild West-like setting the Doctor has arrived in. The twist of Brian being a killer isn’t very surprising, though, if you've already read The Knight, The Fool, and the Dead (Victory VI). 

Later on, the story turns into a sort of relationship drama when we learn the true nature of Felicity and Sophie and why Brian is after them. Brian is biding his time, holding Felicity hostage, while the Doctor frantically works to find a way to defeat him. And that’s the gist of this fairly flat adventure.

Silas Carson is the one standout here, and he plays out the sinister split personality of the character to perfection, but Misha Malcolm and Melanie Stevens are pretty good as well. The locals with American accents sound typically overdone, and Paul McGann sounds somewhat bored.

The story builds up to the conclusion, which explains how Brian ends up in the Dark Times and how exactly Eight appears together with the Daleks at the end of The Knight, The Fool, and the Dead—a story further explored in the next audio, The Enemy of My Enemy (Victory XIII).