If I could condense this story into just three letters, those letters would rightly be WTF!!! The strangeness levels in this story is off the scale and I love it! This is clearly James Goss adapting some repressed nightmares he clearly had as a kid about the Muppets, Sesame Street or any of these typical puppet kids shows, turning them into these frighteningly cheerful homicidal monsters!!! (but not bad singers)

The Scorchies sees Jo Grant captured in their studio during their final episode as they prepare to destroy the human race, and that’s really kind of the whole story. It’s just Jo and the Scorchies interacting with each other as she learns about their origins, what happened to the Doctor, tries to work out a way of stopping them and all while the Scorchies sing a couple of songs and Jo makes a thing with lights that go bing!

The Scorchies are an idea that would probably be too silly even for the show to attempt and yet thanks to Melvyn Hayes’s hilariously creepy performance as all the Scorchies (with Katy Manning lending a hand on a few of these sadistic puppets), they end up being one of the more entertaining villains Doctor Who has ever done.

There’s not much to really get into here as it’s one of the shorter Big Finish audios even at two parts long, but it is some of the most fun I’ve ever had listening to their audios, Melvyn Hayes and Katy Manning are a delight to listen to, the songs are hilarious, especially when they’re reincorporated in the second half, it’s just a blast to listen to and I highly recommend this one.

JO IS MAKING A THING

 I had heard that it was a silly and ridiculous story but still pretty great, so I thought it was time to check it out. After listening to it, I was amazed because the story was amazing. The story is about the Third Doctor and Jo encountering an alien species called the Scorchies, who are sentient puppets that have kidnapped Jo and want to kill the Doctor and take over the world. It's a ridiculous premise for a story, but it's also incredibly fun. Jo is the main character in this story and gets caught up in the Scorchies' madness. Katy Manning does a great job voicing Jo, and her impressions of the Third Doctor sound pretty great. The Scorchies themselves are a fun and entertaining threat, and the songs they sing are really enjoyable. If you're looking for a more fun, silly, and spontaneous audio adventure with Jo Grant, I recommend checking this audio out. 4.5 out of 5.

Add this to the line of bonkers Doctor Who stories. And a story that has musical numbers. And they say Doctor Who can’t be a musical.

One of the thing that really works about this story is that despite the out there concept of “Doctor Who and the Puppets of Death,” it plays it just straight enough to still see these comical puppets as an actual threat. And the Scorchies are little menaces to the universe indeed.

Also is one of the few Companion Chronicles that can technically be full cast. While yes there’s still narration from the legend herself, Katy Manning, it’s told within the story rather than have an older Jo recount the events. We even get a little cameo of 3, imitated by Katy. Not exactly the most accurate impression but it’s still distinct enough to know that that’s supposed to be the Doctor.

And having it be technically full cast, Jo gets a lot of great moments throughout. Her trust in the Doctor and UNIT, her anger and sadness of the Doctor’s supposed death, the nervous awkwardness of her predicament.

And the songs. So goofy and yet so catchy. Might just be the best implementation of musical numbers in Who.

I highly recommend this story. This is how you do bonkers, out there Who stories.