The first story of the third season of Bernice Summerfield audios from Big Finish, The Greatest Shop in the Galaxy, sees Benny go on archaeological dig to the gigamart. While her robots do the digging, Benny goes hunting shoes. This was just a fun story, totally bonkers, but a lot of light fun. Time loops, a ticking bomb, and so many shoes, this was a light-hearted fun story and a great palate-cleanser after the previous chronological story (the novel, Professor Bernice Summerfield and the Glass Prison).

(Taken from a review I submitted to the Traveling the Vortex podcast | Last Read: Spring 2019)

So, Minuet in Hell. I have a supreme dislike for this story. Really, it’s kinda hard to say why. As a concept, it’s not terrible and it has some good ideas. It’s necessary for completists, both from a collecting standpoint and an Eighth Doctor’s Big Finish run standpoint. I guess there’s just so much little stuff, that I really have a hard time overlooking and therefore enjoying this story. I guess the biggest complaint with this is the subject matter. I’m not a fan of supernatural stories. The Hellfire Club just rubs me the wrong way. Even though the “demons” turn out not to be “demons”, it’s getting there that I don’t like. There are the institute and brain experiments, I don’t mind that. If they’d focused solely on that, I might’ve found this more enjoyable.

The accents are questionable at best, downright offensive at worst. They sound like a cross between Deep South and Texas. The main villain, Brigham Elisha Dashwood III, is played by Robert Jezek (who is better known as the voice of Frobisher) and is a politician gunning for the governorship of the fifty-first state of the union and then hopefully President. While at the same time, feeling like an exaggerated caricature of a Televangelist who’s secretly a devil worshipper. Maybe that’s the most offensive.

The Eighth Doctor gets to meet the Brigadier. Yay! The Brig is really the only saving grace of this story. And it’s a shame that this is the only true meeting between the characters on audio. Yes, both actors will appear in Zagreus, but Nicholas Courtney isn’t really playing the Brig, and the Eighth Doctor is barely himself. Speaking of the Doctor. He spends most of his screentime whimpering with amnesia, a trope that had kinda been overdone with the Eighth Doctor by this point. Meanwhile, Nick Briggs plays Gideon Crane, an unfortunate man who happens to run afoul of the TARDIS and fall under Jackson Lake (see The Next Doctor) syndrome where he thinks he’s the Doctor.

I read the summary found in the Big Finish Companion Volume 1 for this story. It’s not that bad of an idea. The way the plot summary is written makes it sound like something interesting that I’d like to listen to. And yet, actually listening to it, I struggle to get into it. I think that the accents are the biggest offender here. They’re British people trying to be Texan, or southern, or something. The biggest offenders are Dashwood, Becky Lee and the worst being Senator Pickering/Marchosias.

I think this is a story that couldn’t decide what it wanted to be. A political story, a supernatural story, a scientific experiment story, an Eight meets Brig story. It just kinda throws them all into the pot and stirs. It's an adaptation of an old Audio Visuals script as well but majorly shifted in it's time frame (the original was set in 1600s or 1700s England). Oh, and they close out the Ramsey the Vortisaur storyline that’s been hanging around in the background of these first four Eighth Doctor plays and there are a few lines about Charley being dead to further the Web of Time arc. I’ll admit, I didn’t even finish the story this time around. I just couldn’t get into it. It tries so hard and then fails in so many ways.

(Taken primarily from my Goodreads Review | Last Read: August/September 2022)

The Time Travelers by Simon Guerrier was one of the first Doctor Who novels I ever read (I've read a lot more since then) and I loved it. Re-reading it now, with a lot more Who under my belt, I find it still a really good novel that while somewhat lore-heavy and complexly timey-wimey, is still a really good book. And, it's a debut novel (though, as best I can tell, the author had written some Big Finish print short trips prior to this).

The plot revolves around the First Doctor, Susan, Ian and Barbara arriving in a dystopian 2006 London where England is losing a war with South Africa and the scientific part of the army is working on a time machine. The novel is set between the TV Stories Planet of Giants and The Dalek Invasion of Earth for the TARDIS Crew, while the London they find themselves in is a direct result of what would have happened if the Doctor had not interferred in The War Machines in his personal future. There are also references to The Tenth Planet and Remembrance of the Daleks. But on the whole, it's very much a self-contained, character-driven story.

There are plenty of twists as it progresses, but it's never overly confusing and everything is worked out well. The regulars are all written superbly with each of them getting good moments and something to do. The way the novel deals with time, as well as the First Doctor/Susan and the vague threat of the Time Lords is done very well. With the benefit of hindsight, Guerrier is able work in the aftermath of the "You can't rewrite history" speech from The Aztecs, as well as foreshadow, and make a bit less abrupt, Susan's departure in the next chronological story The Dalek Invasion of Earth. So, this is an excellent novel for Who fans in general, but especially if you like the mechanics/philosophy of Time Travel, and/or the original Tardis Team or the First Doctor era.

Dalek is a triumphant return of the titular monster. Dalek takes a single Dalek and makes it scary. Is Jubilee, the Big Finish audio this shares its roots with the superior story? Yes... and no. While the two stories share the same author and do share a backbone, they're both telling very different stories. *Jubilee* is focused on the desensitization and celebration of evil and how that often leads to a worse evil. In the audio, the Dalek/Nazi correlation is especially highlighted.

Dalek has a much different purpose. Dalek's purpose is to introduce a new generation to the Daleks and make them a credible threat again. It's also the midpoint (-ish) of the season and thus has the job of revealing more about the Time War which has thus far been just barely floating around the perifery of the season. And, I think it succeeds. Robert Shearman is an excellent writer, but a lot of the success falls to both Eccleston who's excellent and in top form here, and to Nick Briggs who gives an excellent performance as the Dalek. The scene in the cage where the Doctor and the Dalek meet for the first time is rivetting and so well done. The stairs scene is brilliantly done, and the scene where the Dalek uses the sprinkler system to kill everyone is brilliant.

In the end, this is a great episode. It's fun, effective, a great Dalek story, a really effective powerhouse performance from Christopher Eccleston and just the boost the show needed to keep people watching. Is it over-hyped? Maybe. And maybe as fans, there're better Dalek episodes and stories out there. But this is a story that you could use to show new fans how good this show can be. And that's a good thing. Within the context of Series 1, it's nearly perfect and boosts the season immensely.

(Taken from my Goodreads Review | Last Read: January 2022)

Originally published in October 1981 and written by Terrance Dicks, this is the novelization for the first serial/first four episodes of Doctor Who. It’s good, not terribly meaty in greatly expanding the story, but it’s very readable. It follows the TV episodes quite faithfully (though there are slight variations when read along the televised first episode) and for a young reader (especially one who’s never seen the actual episodes) it paints a good picture of the landscapes and surroundings, expanding them past painted background and a few pieces of set dressing. As it stands, this was also my introduction to the Target novelizations the first time I read it (this review originally coming from the second time).

Something that really stood out to me in this was a couple of little historical clarifications for the readers of 1981 (and today) about Police Boxes (which were commonplace in 1963 but nearly extinct in 1981) and the UK adopting a decimal system for a currency which was a major point in making Susan seem alien. Dicks writes: “At this time, the early 1960s, Britain was still sticking to her uniquely complicated monetary system…” which he then breaks down briefly for the reader. (For the record, the UK adopted a decimal system for currency in February 1971.)

I can see why kids loved these. It moves along at a good pace, this story at least is a faithful recreation of the TV story. It’s an easy read that’s well written. You get into the heads of the characters a little and you don’t have to rely on low-budget BBC effects. In my mind, because I have seen the TV episodes, I still see at least some of the sets in my mind. The voices of the main cast are perfectly in line with the show, and I can somewhat hear the guest cast in my head as I read. In all, a worthy adaptation and a decent read. It made a serial that (apart from the stellar first episode) isn't one of my favorites, into the decent story that lies underneath.

(Taken from my Goodreads Review | Last Listened To: January 2022)

Slipback is an odd beast. Written by then-script editor Eric Saward, starring Colin Baker and Nicola Bryant as the Sixth Doctor and Peri respectively, and released as part of a kids radio program during the 'hiatus' between Seasons 22 and 23, this isn't that good. Made up of six ten minute episodes, the story sees the Doctor and Peri arrive on a spaceship where someone is experimenting with time. Colin and Nicola are fine, however the story is just kinda boring with a captain who can create and release viruses when he's angry, a schitzophrenic ship's computer, an art thief and a revelation that the ship will cause the big bang. At the time, it was probably enjoyed as it was new Doctor Who when there wasn't any on TV. Now however, it just doesn't stand up to the superior story-telling that we get from Big Finish. It doesn't help that Saward isn't the best writer Who has ever had. It's not un-listenable, and as a historical curiousity it's interesting, but it's not worth re-listening to. Mercifully, it's short. So check it out for historical curiosity, but don't expect much out of it.

(Taken from my Goodreads Review | Read: April 2022)

I find myself having a love/indifferent relationship with the BBC Eighth Doctor Adventures. First of all, they're hard to get my hands on. Being out of print, I have to rely on my library's Inter-Library Loan program to acquire them. So far, I've been lucky enough to aquire seven of the first eight. I really enjoy Paul McGann's Eighth Doctor having enjoyed the TV Movie despite its faults and followed his adventures from Big Finish. These novels, released after the TV Movie and before Big Finish have had varied results with the first six relying on aspects of Doctor Who past to drive the stories (with the exception of the sixth novel Alien Bodies, which simply has an aspect of the past appear as just one cog in an already massive plot). I've actually enjoyed more than I've hated. Not counting the book I couldn't acquire (Genocide), I've only not finished one of these (Kursaal) and thoroughly enjoyed five of the first eight.

In this story, the Doctor and Sam Jones arrive on an English Estate whose owner is a part-time hypnotist who consults with the military. In the library is the Philosopher's Stone, a marbled orb that glows mysteriously. As the Doctor investigates the manor's history he discovers a secret society that has endured through the centuries. And all the while, the threat of nuclear war hovers over the adventure.

This was a fun read that works as a political thriller coupled with a sci-fi/secret society mystery. It's relatively fast-paced and read quick. I'm enjoying Sam, though she still doesn't seem super defined for me (part of it is that she's not a TV or Audio companion who has a distinct voice I can hear in my head). Because I enjoy political thrillers and the Eighth Doctor, this just breezed through for me. The alien plot is revealed well, and resolved in an enjoyable manner. And with the best of this genera, there's a nice coda after everything's wrapped up. This was fun and a worthy inheritor of the Doctor Who mantle.

(Taken from my Goodreads Review | Last Read: March/April 2021)

Okay, I fully understand why the fandom hates this book. Because it completely rewrites the televised Dalek stories in order to negate the destruction of Skaro in Remembrance of the Daleks, fans tended to reject this book. I understand this, as Remembrance is a great episode and I'm a bit dubious of John Peel's claims that Terry Nation disliked that plot decision since Nation could've vetoed it before it went to screen. However, that said, this was a great book that's just fun to read. While I understand fandom's criticisms of Peel's Who books, I've found the three I've read enjoyable reads in spite of their flaws. This book (originally designed as a TV story then offered to Virgin before becoming an Eighth Doctor novel) is the fifth EDA and features the Eighth Doctor and Sam Jones. It's split into four parts split by three interludes. The middle interlude features a space battle between the Daleks and Draconians and is really fun to read.

The basic plot features a junker ship discovering an escape pod that contains Davros. The TARDIS is collected by the junker before being invaded by Thals and then Daleks before everyone is taken to Skaro for the Dalek Prime's trial of the Dalek Race that is intended to end Davros and his insurrection once and for all. A civil war erupts between the forces loyal to Davros and to the Dalek Prime while the Doctor, Sam and the Thals escape amid the chaos. There's even a fight between the Doctor and a Dalek inside the TARDIS at the end that's just awesome.

So, let's tackle the elephant in the room, the massive retcon of televised Dalek history. In a nutshell, after learning of the Shoreditch Incident (Remembrance) in the Dalek Invasion of Earth, the Dalek Prime works to ensure that Skaro isn't destroyed by the Hand of Omega. This involves terraforming a planet into Skaro and tricking Davros, and by accident the Doctor, that this is the real Skaro. Therefore, Destiny of the Daleks and Resurrection of the Daleks are part of the Dalek Prime's plot to trick Davros into destroying the wrong planet. Then it goes wrong when Davros creates his Renegade Daleks in Revelation leading into Remembrance. However, I actually don't mind this. It fits with the Daleks' deviousness and cunning, and allows for Skaro to exist in the TV Movie and then the Time War and Series 9. For me, it works. But, I understand why a lot of fans don't like it.

In the end, despite the retcon issues, this was just a fun book to read. If they made another Eighth Doctor movie, this would make a great movie. It's epic in scope and has a cinematic feel about it. Eight feels like Eight (or at least the Eighth Doctor I've come to know from his audio performances) and Sam is an enjoyable companion. A fun book that held my interest the whole time. My only real complaint about the Eight Doctor Adventures so far is the reliance on previously established characters and enemies (Time Lords/Master/Nostalgia, Vampires, Zygons, Jo Grant, Daleks). The next book, Alien Bodies, has a surprising returning villain, but makes up for that in weird new ideas and plot threads that carry on deep into the series.