This was a really fun release - a fairly simple plot, but the novel of David Tennant and Peter Davison together again is handled really well, being both enjoyable and engaging.

When you've got a concept like Out Of Time, there's the chance to be stuck doing fanservice and have little else going on with plot elements - Thankfully, Llwellyn avoids that with a clever and fearsome threat which prevents the two Doctors from going too far down memory lane, having to deal with the current matter at hand first. I think they get the balance just right, with sillier moments such as the Tenth Doctor getting excited at the prospect of flying his old TARDIS, and darker, sadder moments when they reflect on Tina's sacrifice, but then realise it was all for nothing. Both characters get a range of material for the actors to get their teeth into, and as a result both Tennant and Davison are really thriving and are incredibly passionate about their role in the story. The Fifth Doctor's relationship with the Cybermen has always been a fascinating one to me, because in a way, they are extreme opposites, and that may be why the two come into contact with each other, and why it absolutely never ends well for either side, both having extreme defeats - Adric, Marc, Thomas Dodd - and now he is the one who suffers the consequences, getting trapped for 80 years. Because of this, I feel like he is a lot more wary and relies on his future incarnation to take the lead for this adventure, whereas in their first meeting, Time Crash, he was a lot more reluctant to let anyone get in his way. On the other hand, the Tenth Doctor has never had a particularly strong connection to the Cybermen for me; despite meeting them on numerous occasions, I've always felt like the Daleks were a far more important foe to him at that point in his life that every other monster - the Weeping Angels, the Master, the Sontarans - felt relatively tame. However, I just love the way that he interacts with the Cybermen - His declaration of the monster's appearance was brilliant, and his much more active methods of dealing with the threat, compared to his previous incarnation's reluctance and tentative nature, created a really strong contrast which accurately represents the difference of their eras. Naturally, their chemistry is on top form, you can tell that the actors are very close with each other, they have a very intimate relationship, and that allows them to work with each other in finding themselves - As I've already mentioned, the Fifth Doctor seems to be taking the back-pedal due to his trauma facing the Cybermen, but at the same time, there's a weariness of having to deal with these monsters over and over again, but he can find comfort in the company of himself, knowing that he can defeat them. With the Tenth Doctor, he doesn't want to step on his predecessor's toes, taking solace in the glory days, having lost so much recently, that this short time may be a nice break from the harsh reality of his current life.

I feel like it's very random for this version of the Cybermen to encounter the Doctors. I would've thought that the 80s Cybermen would've made the most sense, and I would've loved to have seen that version without a Cyber Leader, but I suppose that it was easier to just employ Nick Briggs. I really love how strategic and cunning the Cyberman is in this episode, they really work best when they're skulking in the shadows, scheming, but that's balanced fairly well with their power and strength being imposed on 1940s France, and the time periods really give them the advantage to explore both sides of these monsters. It's great how unstoppable they really are, surviving through decades of conflict, burning buildings, Nazi occupations, and the way it is eventually stopped I feel is incredibly tragic, repeating the same phrase over and over, never to get a response - I like the similarities that the resolution bear to Adric's death, both him and the Cyberman dying on pre-historic Earth.

I think that the duality of the setting, with the two time zones, worked really well in its favour, as I've already mentioned by seeing the apotheosis of the Cybermen's plan at the same time as the process, creating a very interesting structure, asking the question "How did the Cybermen take over so easily?" I really liked the way both settings were utilised, never feeling like they were there for plot convenience, playing an active role in the development of these characters, with the crypts and catacombs being a very Fifth-Doctor type setting, whereas the imagery of Cybermen invading Nazi-occupied France is something that would only be realised well in the New Series.

Tina made a very good "companion" to the Doctors - As a Time Agent, she's seen all sorts of things, and is never fazed by anything. I love her rather realistic reactions to things, often being quite selfish and aggressive, as not everyone in the Universe is as altruistic as the Doctor, and I like seeing how these personalities clash in a way. I do find it interesting that her willingness to escape when things get tough never get any retribution, though. Joseph Delon is also a very unqiue character, I do enjoy seeing humans get manipulated and twisted by the Cybermen, exploiting the emotions that they removed (I'm not a sadist, I promise). I liked the concept of the gradual augmentation, acting as a physical manifestation of the Cybermen's schemes, until his heightened emotions and pain prevent the alternate future from ever coming to fruition.

I always get chills when I hear the Tenth Doctor's Big Finish theme - There's something so nostalgic and hopeful whenever he shows up, and this recurring motif really works for Big Finish's much more positive interpretation of the character (whereas the RTD era was more focused on his decline towards the Time Lord Victorious). As well as this, I adore this story's Cyberman theme! It's very subtle and foreboding, perfectly representing their plan in general, and it's incredibly creepy. I really hope they use this for future releases for the 60s Cybermen because it works so well.

The dialogue for this story is fun - There is a decent mix between banter between the Doctors and plot-heavy exposition that it always feels naturally weaved in throughout the plot, but there are some really powerful emotionally-driven moments to ensure that it doesn't make a mockery of the Cybermen, as can often happen in the New Series.
Favourite Lines: "You survived. And where there's life..."

This was a really strong adventure - The plot can be quite simple at times, but that allows the writers to focus more on the characters and let them have fun, but it doesn't make light of the threat they encounter. The performances of the actors are really strong and they have such great chemistry with each other, and I love that the open ending allows for them to develop more on their adventures together.

Peter and David have a natural chemistry (which makes sense given their relationship) though its not quite as "sparky" as other multi-doctor relationships, the interactions feel richer and more genuine. If I was to pick any doctor duo to have multiple adventures together it would be these two - which is what it seems like they have planned.

The Gates of Hell - 6.5/10

The 5th Doctor, the 10th Doctor and the Cybermen. What's not to enjoy?

The second story from the Out of Time set delivers quite a different story from the first. Well I say different it is still all about messing with time but the Cybermen feel a lot more involved in this one I feel than the Daleks did in the previous, maybe its just because I prefer the Cybermen as monsters in general. Although I will say their stealth abilities are shown off nicely in this story which is always good to see.

The chemistry between 5 and 10 is wonderful to experience on audio, and reminded me of course of the minisode Time Crash from 2007. I really enjoyed how they bounced off each other each other in this story.

The setting of having different time zones is a familiar one for this set and here there's the use of France in the 18 and 19 hundreds. An interesting addition to this story though was a time agent who played a decently big role here and worked well with the plot. The actual plot itself suffices for the run time but it was just a little underwhelming for in the sense it didn't give me any wow factor like other stories have.

Overall The Gates of Hell gets a 6.5/10 because while it was definitely good it just didn't reach any spectacular heights through its run time for me personally, but 5 and 10 are still a delightful pairing.

This one has a more mysterious tone in comparison to the first Out Of Time CD, with the Fifth and Tenth Doctors teaming up to investigate the Cybermen's invasion of French history. There's not as much bickering as between the Fourth and Tenth Doctors but I don't mind that so much, because we got plenty of that with Time Crash.

What Gates of Hell offers is something new and different from Time Crash, with the Doctors operating more as sort of time investigators rather than bantering about forgetting to put the TARDIS shields on.

It does a good job with the Cybermen, using their stealth abilities remarkably well, and showing the way that they manipulate a human host to achieve their means (as they have done before with Tobias Vaughn and John Lumic).

The second story in the Out Of Time set

Like father, like son-in-law.

This is another audio in which I’ve given a second chance to as I didn’t take it in first time.

My first thought was that this featured Peri as the character Tina, as she sounds a lot like her. Tina herself being some kind of time agent.

Doctors five and ten both find themselves off course and  in the same place. Time has changed and the Cybermen have taken over Earth.

There are nods to the past meeting of the Doctors - Time Crash. To be honest they get on a little too well.

I found I had similar problems as to the I first tried this, in that it was all too easy to suddenly be confused as to what was happening. Suddenly they’re in a library researching information, and I’m trying to recall why, needing to go back and relisten.

This has all the right ideas, the two Doctors, a time agent, Cybermen, an alternative timeline but it just didn’t grip me. I think that the Cybermen just aren’t that interesting as antagonists. The historical setting for this does’t help either (for me at least). By the end I didn’t really care what the outcome was, well we know all will be put right again.

The weakest of the three