How do you even review a story that can only be experienced as a raw, agonisingly beautiful punch to the heart, that covers not only the nature of the doctor's relationships with all his companions but the nature of love itself?

Scherzo might seem quite unassuming coming after the 4 hour epic that was Zagreus just before it, the big flashy finale to what can vaguely be considered a series. But to me personally, Zagreus flopped in every manner, only managing to go on and on, it was a slog and I can hardly tell you what happened because the plot was so convoluted and had so many elements that didn't come together in a cohesive way. It was an incoherent mess that only stood on it's laurels of being an 'epic' in length and having a large, star studded (bloated) cast. Why have all of the 5th, 6th and 7th doctor appear if they aren’t even going to play the doctor after forgetting who they are for practically the entire script?

Anyway, what follows in Scherzo is what I would truly consider the emotional finale, not Zagreus. It produces the greatest character piece doctor who has ever seen about what is in my mind the first time the doctor has ever been in love, or at least since Romana, but they never seemed as devoted to each other as the Doctor and Charley are here. But describing the relationship that is explored as a romantic love not only doesn’t do it justice, it’s a bit of a disservice to the muddy yet heart wrenching relationship that entails a complete devotion to one another.

Whether the time lords were right in their theory that said devotion comes from a need for momento mori, a reminder of death that is usually so far away from a time lord, is something that the Doctor himself constantly goes back and forth on in the story. The theory makes Charley the ultimate prize because she was already supposed to be dead when they met and should have been dead had the doctor not meddled with time to save her. It places Charley in a position as not much more than just a trophy on a shelf

But really I believe he only gives that idea so much credence because he’s struggling to process truly being in love so deeply with Charley and sacrificing himself for her at the end of Zagreus only for her to end up practically dead with him. Because in reality the Doctor didn’t really sacrifice himself for the universe. Most importantly it was for Charley. Love is not something that comes naturally to a practically eternal alien like the Doctor. He does not see or experience it in the same way that Charley does towards him or that we do as humans. But now Charley’s there with him and going to die in this empty dimension with him, his sacrifice was all for nothing. And all of a sudden the way the Doctor understands and experiences love comes to the limelight and at times seems almost human. It is not a love that cares much directly for the feelings that Charley has, not one with a tender touch, because after all he is a time lord and she is just a human. But regardless, the two different loves contrast in a way that make us question the very nature of love.

The act of love and dedication in Charley’s mind of taking the leap of faith to be with the Doctor in this dimension is in his mind the ultimate betrayal of him. So does being in love mean a complete devotion to creating the best outcome for the recipient of your love, even if that means you can no longer be together? Or is Charley right that it’s a complete devotion to always remain at the side of your lover whatever happens, even if this dooms the both of you?

At the end of the story the Doctor chooses to sacrifice himself again for not only her, but a creature that to the Doctor, represents Charley and all his companions abstractedly. Because of course he did, because he always would die so that any version of her could live every time. And in the end when the Doctor and Charley have merged to the point of being one being, they both choose to die on the condition that the other shall live, because of course they do :') Beautiful

As for everything else that surrounds this most harrowing of love stories, the story of the king is a beautiful one and is a perfect addition to the abstract setting and the exploration of the nature of beauty through sound. It sets the tone perfectly. The deeply unnerving jumpscares definitely make sure that you’re on your toes as a listener, the perfect place to be to take in such a conceptual story. They punctuate perfect moments that emphasise the psychological horror aspects of this story, because it is a story that will sit with you in horror and awe and however many other emotions for a while.

The very idea to have utilise the format of audio to the max, to take away every other sense from our characters and to have sound itself pursue and imitate and toy with the Doctor and Charley is absolute genius. It puts us right there in the story, in the same position as out characters in the endless nothingness and truly delivers on the horror that entails. And the sound design is fittingly at it’s absolute best too. I think different aspects of this story stick out to different people. Because it is multi faceted and genre defying, but always horrifying, thoughtful and crazy. As a character piece it is unrivalled and it stands among giants in terms of the best doctor who stories to exist.

FUCKING TERRIFYING?????

I thought the body horror I heard about would be the scariest bit but that sound creature was something else I turned down the volume like halfway because of that first “HELP ME” genuinely the most I’ve been scared of Doctor Who in like a decade.

I wasn’t too big on Eight & Charley until about Neverland where their relationship really got interesting and then some in Zagerus and now here they are just electric making me feel for both characters, it especially went into The Doctor into a really interesting way with how he looks at his companions in a bleak but captivating idea as Momento Mori’s, reminders of death and I can see how maybe after a certain point like Adric that’s how he saw them and it’s interesting to think about if The Doctor saw any of their later companions like that especially post-time war.

The way this audio uses sound too is quite creative not just using it in the practical sense but also in the narrative too like with the little tales of the king that throw away music and how the sound creature was used weaving the two together to create something unique (which could also tie into the body fusion and evolution stuff but I might be stretching it a bit).

Another Robert Shearman banger as always, that man is cursed to always write an absolutely amazing Doctor Who story I don’t know if the series deserved him.

An incredible character piece featuring just the Doctor and Charley in a situation that can only be described a purgatory. There's nothing left on the table between them, and things get seriously weird and f**ked up. Truly one of the best enemies ever, which could only happen on audio. A masterpiece indeed.

We have a story that if it were most other Doctors would be an easy number 1 favourite for them, but thanks to some worthy competition, from the same writer no less, it humbly takes the second place spot. But believe me, if The Chimes of Midnight is my all time favourite Doctor Who story and A Death in the Family is my second favourite, then you can consider this my third favourite Doctor Who story of all time!

The closest comparison I can make between this and the show would be Heaven Sent, Scherzo is very far outside the Doctor Who comfort zone, arguably the farthest I’ve, never experienced anything quite like this. The setup follows on from Big Finish’s 40^th anniversary story for Doctor Who in Zagreus where the Doctor carries a deadly substance called anti-time that makes him a danger to the universe, and so to protect it and Charley, he exiles himself to another universe, one where time doesn’t exist and he has no means of returning, little knowing that Charley has stowed away. This was the beginning of a new story arc for the Eighth Doctor being trapped in a universe where time doesn’t exist, one that was certainly ambitious but got ahead of itself way too quickly to the point where the stories settled into a bit of a traditional format. The story arc was also cut short by a year as 2004 was quite the significant year for Doctor Who what with the announcement of the show’s revival scheduled for the following year. This meant Paul McGann would no longer be the incumbent Doctor and Big Finish would no longer be the banner bearer for Doctor Who, so the story arc was wrapped up by the end of 2004 with the Doctor returning to the normal universe so that listeners wouldn’t feel alienated by the show’s relaunch. This resulted in the Divergent Universe story arc becoming very muddled and disappointing, personally it didn’t matter that much to me as it peaked literally from the first episode.

The Doctor and Charley find themselves in this new universe where nothing behaves as it did in their old universe, the TARDIS is seemingly destroyed and they’re left with no one but each other and having to hold on to their sense of selves as they’re trapped by a malevolent presence in the nothingness.

Scherzo is a prime example of why the idea of putting visuals to Big Finish sounds all well and good on the surface but isn’t entirely practical for stories such as this. There are whole sequences where it’s utterly impossible to take place in a visual format and that it can only ever function as an audio. The real beauty of this story is how it gets you to mentally process this new world the Doctor and Charley find themselves in, it’s honestly the most trying ordeal the Doctor and a companion have ever gone through together. Alone you can make separate arguments such as Midnight, Heaven Sent or 73 Yards, but paired together it really shows just how powerful the bond the Doctor and Charley is. Rob Shearman’s true talent lies in introspection and exploring Doctor Who on a very meta level, here he fashions an environment that asks what it truly means to be the Doctor’s companion under the surface, which leads to my favourite Doctor Who scene of all time! McGann and India Fisher are just phenomenal as the Doctor reaches his breaking point and really opens up about how he feels about Charley, but not in a way that’s conventional for humans. This is how you do a romance between the Doctor and a companion, the Doctor comes from a world where love is unorthodox, the Doctor believes that he does love Charley but he doesn’t quite understand what that means because he doesn’t love the same way that humans do.

I can’t really go into further detail as Shearman’s stories are best left going in blind but I promise you, no years of experience being a fan of Doctor Who can really prepare you for what Scherzo gives

I do think this is the best piece of art, in any medium, ever.