It was... really good!
Honestly, felt like a breath of fresh air, I'll explain later why.
Jodie Whittaker is great as the Doctor. Haven't quite picked up on her unique features, gonna watch a couple of episodes tomorrow to get more of that. Out of her new companions Graham is my favourite so far. Ryan and Yaz are fun, but I need some time to get to know them.
The villain felt like sort of Doctor Who meeting the Predator which is a really fun idea. The villain was imposing and felt like a threat.

Now, about the breath of fresh air.
Even though I'm very positive towards NuWho, there is one thing that makes me prefer Classic Who over it. And that is - pacing and music.
The new episodes (even the good ones) often tend to rush things - the pace of the episode just keeps accelerating, going faster and faster like a runaway train, and the music just keeps blasting into your ears. Murray Gold is good, but one gets tired (that's also one of my problems with the Fifteenth Doctor era - it keeps rushing and always has music that often distracts me).
While Classic Who doesn't hurry. It takes its time to establish the characters and setting, and doesn't have the music blasting into your ears. Even when the episodes get intense, they are FAR from the NuWho ones. Classic Who is more relaxed and doesn't bother.
And I see why some of you said that 13's era has a classic who vibe, and I felt it in this very episode - *The Woman who fell to Earth* does happen really fast, but at the same time it doesn't feel rushed. It's calm and hasteless - it doesn't try to outrun a train, it takes its time. And the music, which is very good I must say, is dark and imposing, yet not loud. It's subtle, and that's what makes it stand out.

OH BOY WHAT A BOOK

First of all, huge respect to the late David A. McIntee for setting the book in a very interesting period of my home country, as well as not just having the historical characters at the back, but have them as actual characters who struggle with their own problems. Especially Yusupov, who is considering committing the greatest sin.

As well as giving some spotlight to Rasputin, making him a morally ambigious person - not quite confirming whether he was a general hack or was just broken.

Liz and Jo get some great and polarly different action here, I very liked the dynamic between them when they were together.

The Doctor also gets a lot of action - he gets involved in a conspiracy and actually has to wrestle one of the enemies on THE ROOF OF A MOVING TRAIN. This book really does turn the Doctor into James Bond.

But the background characters also don't bore - agent Powell easily stands out. He is always tired and just wants to relax while the Doctor basically throws him in the very middle of the action. Their dynamic is hilarious.

And this book even manages to give the Doctor one of the most chilling scenes connected with what the Laws of Time mean to him. Seriously, that scene alone is worth reading the book.

I have no idea what Terrance Dicks smoked while writing this, but... can I have some?

"The Ultimate Adventure" has to be one of the most bizarre and crazy BF's audios ever made. It is so stupid, unhinged and downright ridiculous, that I can't help but love it because of that.
The premise is very simple, and some might even find it similar to the Series 2 finale, but OOH BOY - there are so many things that move this audio above that season finale.

The Doctor and the gang pretending to be evil so they don't get jumped in the bar full of mercenaries and thus scowling and snarling like the evilest people ever to exist? Sure! Funny and catchy songs? There are three of them! The Doctor speaking in an alien language that sounds like a screech of a pig? Pfft, easy!

This audio is so ridiculous, so stupid, so unhinged, yet thanks to that so impossibly funny. The story doesn't take itself seriously one single bit and you can see everyone involved had the time of their lives producing it.

Switch off your brain and enjoy the show, because there is no way you'll even consider taking this s**t seriously xD

Ooh boy, what a ride.

I was at first skeptical, but once I saw the cover (and when my Cyberman bias took over), I decided to give it a go.
And it was worth it.

Great alternate take on the Cybermen origin, even showing their earlier versions that quite differ from what we are used to (for example:the Cybermen were doubting their decision of undergoing conversion).

Every character was great here and had a great part in the plot.

The soundtrack is one of the best, 5 is quite lucky of getting the best soundtracks BF ever made. It starts as usual for 5 era - synthesizer plus a bit medieval music, but as the story progresses and the stakes get higher, the music becomes more and more techno, and I LOVE that.

The only problem I have with this story is the ending. For some it might seem reminiscent of "The Visitation", but there it sort of made sense. Here it is downright strange:after escaping the Cybermen the surviving Mondasians leave their planet in spaceships and head to Earth, which is prehistoric at that moment. And the Doctor quite strongly implies that they may be the humanity's predecessors. Very, very strange decision that doesn't quite click with me :(.

But overall, a really great audio, I enjoyed it A LOT. If it wasn't for the ending, I would've rated this story higher, but for now it gets what it deserves - a very very nice surprise.

Doctor Who meets the Elephant Man

First of all, I didn't listen to any previous solo Benny audios, this was my first. And I understood everything. All you need to know - Benny has a son Peter, and she is in a conflict with Brax.
Now, what about the audio?

It was really good. Not a masterpiece by any means, but still an extremely enjoyable audio that kept me invested throughout its entire runtime.

Benny was great here. A lost mother trying to get back to her son. Her fear for Peter works great here, as even if time travel is (almost) her speciality, she is still scared for her child and wants to find him by any means necessary.
But even when she gets her usual "Benny stuff" to do, she quickly switches from flee to fight and stands her ground. I love Benny so much.

Mycroft Holmes, played by late great David Warner himself, was also great. A less eccentric version of his brother, yet equally smart. As the villain of this story says - "Your brain is the closest this era of humanity has to an advanced CPU."
Mycroft helps Benny a lot and even with his mind being somewhat limited by the era where he resides, he isn't confused by an advanced enemy and still manages to somewhat deduce what they are capable of, which is always appreciated after a ton of stories where really smart people see an alien and suffer permanent brain damage.
Also, I'm a big fan of Benny and Unbound Doctor audio stories, so hearing Lisa Bowerman and David Warner together in one audio is always appreciated.

Peter Miles as Straxus was just brilliant. If his name sounds familiar, then you are correct - that's his debut, and he will go on to appear in the Eighth Doctor Adventures.
This incarnation of Straxus isn't very different from his other selves, but still feels unique because of mainly two reasons.
1. Peter Miles's performance. His voice isn't particularly threatening, but it is strong enough to imply that there is more to his character than meets... uh... the ear? His voice is great and manages to give just enough mystery to get invested into this version of Straxus.
2. The lore. I will talk more about it later, but the lore used in this story is presented with just enough mystery to intrigue the listener and thus have the direct "appendage" of that lore in the form of Straxus to grab you and throw you into this new and very less-known version of Doctor Who Universe.
Listen, I love Straxus, and I'm always up for more content with him. Not a perfect Time Lord as he wants everyone to perceive him, but a very interesting character.

Simon Kingsley as Septimus is also great.
From the moment he appeared I realized that the voice he makes sounds familiar. And it was true - he was copying Chris Cwej's voice, and for a good reason, which I will explain later.
Simon manages to greatly portray two versions of the same character - one calm and one insane (although the calm one later also turns out to be insane, but you get the picture).
Even if his character is insane, you understand his logic. You don't exactly sympathize him, but you understand the way he thinks, which in my opinion is a great way to write villains - make them not sympathetic, threatening, dangerous, but just explain the logic behind what he does.

And now, it's time to talk about the lore, because ooh boy, it is great (and also the reason I decided to listen to this audiodrama in the first place).
This is the closest we get to the lore of Faction Paradox being present in the Big Finish version of canon.
Before that they quickly shoved the VNAs and the EDAs into an alternate universe, but eventually they grew fond of those, and elements of the lore were incorporated into BF's vision.
This audio has lore elements of both VNAs and the EDAs, and introduces them greatly.
First of all, why does Septimus sound like Chris Cwej? And why does Benny mistake him for Chris when she meets him in person? The answer is easy, he is a Cwej - a mass-produced biomechanical clone of the original Chris Cwej, created by the Time Lords.
Second of all, what were the Cwejen made for? For War in Heaven. This war isn't names directly in this audio, but Straxus does mention a war his "people" are waging.
And that's what I love about this audio. It introduces these elements, yet very cleverly avoids usage of terms a casual Doctor Who fan knows very well, making this audio feel like one of those unofficial unlicensed Doctor Who spin-offs (like Faction Paradox for example) - we don't hear the word "Time Lord" here, or the name of the Doctor being dropped, but the way the characters talk while implying those words is so simple yet you instantly recognize what they are talking about.
The lore of the War in Heaven is mysterious on its own, and I LOVE what BF did to it here - bringing it into its vision for just one audio and not giving everything away, making it just mysterious and interesting enough to make the listener invested and want to learn more. That's authentic to that lore itself - it is very obscure.

Long story short - great audio for introducing the previously ignored part of the Doctor Who universe, but making it just mysterious enough not to give too much away yet keep the listener entertained.

That was A LOT of fun.

As one Russian expression goes, this audio "doesn't steal stars from the sky", but manages to deliver a really fun and enjoyable story that feels extremely authentic to the early Fourth Doctor era.
The story might be generic, but it was a lot of fun thanks to great dialogues, vocal performances and an interesting expansion of the lore introduced in one of those first Fourth Doctor episodes.

Since this was recorded in 2024, Tom does sound older and even a bit ill, but I stopped focusing on it too much about half way through the story.
Sadie Miller is magnificent and virtually indistinguishable from her late great mother (just for you to understand how good she is - when I first heard her in another audio two years ago, I didn't know that BF recast Sarah Jane and thought that I heard Elisabeth Sladen).
Christopher Naylor also does an incredible job - I also confused him with Ian Marter once.

Other cast members also have a lot to deliver, especially the villain. His character does seem like he came right from that era.

Overall a great anniversary release that celebrates without tons of cameos and by just telling an authentic story.
Great fun for any early 4/Sarah Jane/Harry enjoyers.
A solid 8/10. I had a great time with it.

P.S. Also I recently finished Tom's run on TV, so it was really nice to "get back to the roots" sort of speak

Two words - zombie Sontarans

A masterpiece. Watch it right now.

Also, turns out it is written by the same man who directed "The Boat that Rocked" - great movie, no wonder this episode is so good.

That was fun.

The story does feel more standalone from the story arc, but I ended up having a good time anyway.

I wish they addressed what happened to the Master, but eh...

The interactions between characters were great - War and Fugitive being manipulated into fighting each other and Benny not having a clue who is who is so fun.
For some it might seem that there is a lot going on, but in my opinion it doesn't feel overloaded.

*The Union* is still my favourite out of the bunch, but this one wasn't as bad as it could've been. I had a good time.