The thing is that this is not a middling story. I just can’t decide if I love it or hate it.

The plot itself is all over the place and hard to follow. I don’t care much for Alice in Wonderland themes, or some of the implications of the story, or its treatment of Leela. Charley is cool but I have a few issues with her. And it relies heavily on recognizing voices, which is not my strong suit.

But oh my Rassilon, the lore. There is SO much here about Gallifrey’s history, and Rassilon, and that bit is great. It also has some fantastic Doctor moments and did give us Romana writing fanfiction.

So basically, this three stars is me giving it both 1 and 5 stars simultaneously.

I've had acid trips less weird than this.

I usually listen to these lying in bed with the lights off. I had to listen to this one twice in one day to make certain I hadn't dreamt it.

This audio has everything: in no particular order:

Vampires

Creatures from another plane of existence.

The old religion of Gallifrey.

The chesire cat from Alice in Wonderland.

Rassilon

Chopping wood

WW2

A priest

Creepy nursery rhymes

Charley's Mum

Carrots

Talking animatronics at war with each other.

Evil TARDIS

Multiple doctors only they're not playing The Doctor.

The Eighth Doctor trying to sacrifice himself yet again. 

Where to even begin with this one.  I've heard about Zagreus for years but only finally got around to listening to it for the first time in 2024.  It was a cool experience, but I'm glad I took my time to get to this point.  This is absolutely an audio that requires you to listen to Big Finish's Neverland, but I would argue it pays off the more you are familiar with the entirety Classic Doctor Who, the Eight Doctor Main Range audios up until this point, and even Big Finish's first 50 Main Range episodes.

This is a massive audio story with every single original Doctor Who cast member who had worked with Big Finish up until this point, an immense sense of pay-off for the entire run of stories featuring Charley and the Doctor in the Main Range leading into this audio drama, and had even been hinted at in other Main Range episodes thanks to the nature of the in-universe Zagreus Time Lord nursery rhyme you can catch the Doctor mumbling to himself from time to time in all sorts of stories.  It's so cool.  I don't know how people can't appreciate it.  I understand why it's a little frustrating that Big Finish hasn't quite ever topped something this experimental, weird, and cool again, at least not on such a large scale.

I have found the experimental stuff is there, if you know where to look for it.  It's just not in something like Once and Future, but rather a random Companion Chronicle like The Plague of Dreams.  Even then though, Zagreus is something special.  It has ambition like nothing else.  It does so many cool things with its cast and lets these performers, who have been playing the same characters for years, really get to show new sides of themselves.

I could analyze the crap out of Zagreus but don't really have the energy to really get into it.  Suffice to say, while, yes, it does kind of drag a bit near the end, and no, it is not perfect, it is unforgettable and cool as hell.  I'm so glad I listened to it and best of all I got to do so for free on Spotify, along with all those Eighth Doctor stories leading up to it.  How could I possibly dislike that experience?

it's just crazy, and it's beautiful.

The Following Review is as messy as said Audio that it reviews it, so keep it in mind!

Is it messy? Yes.
Is it flawed? Yes.
Is it one of my favorite Doctor Who Stories ever? Also Yes.

Zagreus is one of those Stories, where you either see somebody love it or loathe it (or the secret third thing, where they are just baffled by it). I fall under the Camp of love it.
Zagreus is in many ways the biggest fanservice ANY media of the Show has done in my mind (I am sure there are bigger examples, but this one always gets on my mind first) and yet it’s quite bold. While I understand the disappointment of not having a Multi Doctor Story for the 40th or at least not a more “regular” one, I absolutely adore the approach of giving our leads different Roles. Everybody here gives a great Performance and I love how much we travel through Time and Places, because what is more Who then travelling through Space and Time in the weirdest Way possible?
It not being what you expect is perfect especially fitting knowing that this is Big Finish first and only Time of making an Anniversary Special with an incumbent (yes Shalka, love you, my sweet darling but for all I know you are in a weird limbo of Unbound).

Having Wonderland Imagery is lovely and fits well, while this Imagery can get a bit tiring over time, this Story released in a Time when it wasn’t overused (and in general you can rarely get me not liking it in any way). Courtney being a jealous Personification of a Tardis is amazing!
Charley getting through all those time and places, seeing India interact with the 80s Doctor Actors was such a blast! And of course, Louise and Lalla are such a good pairing!
Also is it a hot take to say it but I think this was easily my favorite Use of Rassilon in Who?

Oh and of course McGann is a blast again and I love his Perfomance(s) here, dare I say his best one as of yet even?

Really if I am being honest the only real complain I got for this is how distorted they made Jon’s Voice here, seriously who made this Decision?
Besides that it’s a flawed perfect Masterpiece for me. The very best, the very worst and the very weird of Big Finish summarize in one Audio.