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.

A bloody action movie with Daleks, written by THE David Bishop, with blasting Rock'N'Roll soundtrack - what else do you need?

One of those stories where Daleks do feel like a serious threat.

Also, huge respect for hiring an actual Japanese actor to play a Japanese character.

A *Legend of Ruby Sunday*/*Empire of Death* final plot twist done right.

Plus nice additions to Charley's arc tension

Time Hunter

-The Cabinet of Light

-written by Daniel O'Mahony

-reviewed by Five_Hundredth_Drax

Originally conceived as a Telos Novella, but eventually evolved into an obscure spin-off, The Cabinet of Light is a hidden gem. How so? Let's find out.

Quick summary of the plot:
1949.
Honore Lechasseur (who, despite the name, is from New Orleans) moved to London after the war ended, and now works as, what he likes to call, a "fixer" - he tries to help people for money. And one day he receives a very interesting request - a woman called Emily Blandish is looking for her husband, who she can't properly describe. The only tip she gives is that his name is the Doctor (or Dr Smith, if you're reading the Time Hunter tie-in reprint).
And as Honore digs into the case, he finds out even more sercets.
How is "the girl in pink pijamas", who was found amnesiac on the streets of London many years ago, connected to this disappearance?
Who is the mysterious pale woman and her almost 3 meter tall henchman covered in armor?
And what on Earth is the Cabinet of Light?

Review:
I listened to the audiobook, so I wanted to briefly comment on that first.
This audiobook has no soundtrack and soundeffects whatsoever (except for the title sequence, which is pretty fitting for this series), yet it works perfectly well. How? Thanks to the wonderful narration done by Terry Molloy.
I've never heard any of his narrations before, but now I can safely say that Terry is one HELL of a narrator. He plays with his voice a lot to show different characters, even almost cries at one point. And most importantly - in the intence action sequences he starts talking really really fast, creating the tension for the listener out of thin air!

As for the story - it is also great.
We are introduced to Honore, who will lead this spin-off, and he is a great character. It is very interesting to watch as he looks for clues or uncovers information about the Doctor.
An interesting part about Honore - he is time sensitive. He can see and feel people's past and future. He first felt it after a shellshock and since then thought he was crazy, but the Doctor explained it to him (also it's not a spoiler, Honore's time sensitivity is mentioned in the annotation of the novella).
As for the Doctor himself - the incarnation is unidentifiable. It's a new Doctor. And I love his characterisation.
You kind of get a feeling of Rose or Scream of the Shalka because this Doctor is written in way as if we are introduced for the first time not to this particular Doctor, but to the Doctor in general.
And it works - it actually feels like a series' reboot and it is a great start for this spin-off.
Honore is interesting to follow after because of his time sensitivity and overall chemistry with other characters in the story.
The antagonist - the pale woman, is also mysterious and sort of charming, despite appearing only twice. She is more of a looming threat, but enough to feel dangerous. Yet her henchman Abraxas is a clear and present danger. Thanks to Terry's narration he became very imposing because of how Terry imitates his voice and how he reads out action scenes.

I speak about Honore so much and not about the Doctor because it is a Doctor-lite story. The Doctor appears only twice, but the mystery surrounding him in this book makes up for it more than enough.

Also, fun fact - some might find the characterisation of this Doctor similar to that of the Doctor from Scream of the Shalka. Believe it or not, this is a total coincidence - Daniel O'Mahony wasn't aware of the webcast being in the works when he was writing this.

Overall, a great start for the series, great introduction of key characters and the atmosphere of looming mysteries all around.
I can't wait to get more stories with Honore.
I actually can't think of anything bad about this book. It is phenomenal. One of my absolute favourite Doctor-lite stories.
A solid 10/10. I can't recommend this book enough.
The audiobook is on Apple Music or Spotify if you're interested.

I had fingers crossed after miserable *Time Lord Immemorial*... AND THIS SURPASSED ALL MY EXPECTATIONS!!
First of all, I recently listened to the 8DAs, and it was nice to hear Susan again after such a sad note. God I love this character.
I know that River is the Doctor's wife, but I hated when in some of the episodes she was there just for the flirting jokes. Yet here she is greatly written and helps to move the story forward.
Paul McGann is amazing as the Doctor - Eighth is so good. And all the other Doctors here got time to shine, even some who I wasn't expecting at all.
The Union's reveal was good. I predicted it, but it was good. Maureen O'Brien was good as the Union.
The one was a great surprise for me. Probably my favourite part is when one characters shows up and makes the story go full circle.
And the plot itself actually makes sense, so this one didn't feel disjointed with other crucial parts of this anthology.
I'm excited for Coda.

After some fresh air from the Martian Invasion we go to... this...
Good grief...
I am disappointed.
Seriously, how could you waste such a potential of colliding the Doctors from different universes?!
The chemistry between the Ninth Doctor and the Unbound Third Doctor here is almost non-existent - they just bicker for some time and after that discuss the Time Lord Immemorial prophecy.
Liv and the Lumiat are just there, I have nothing to say about them.
Christopher Eccleston was great as the Doctor, but late great David Warner... for some reason he sounds nothing like himself, and he didn't do much and felt out of character. Which is a shame, since this Doctor has A LOT of potential in meeting the N-Space Doctor, but here he is present just for the sake of it. Swap him for Martin!Fourth Doctor or even David Collings Doctor, and aside from a few lines nothing would change.
And the Time Lord Immemorial... eh? He just sits there. And his prophecy is said to be very important, yet I'm pretty sure it won't be referenced ever again.
This was the story for which I was excited the most in this anthology, because I LOVE the Unbound Doctor and I always wanted to see him together with the N-Space Doctor. And when I found out it was going to be Ninth Doctor - the one who brought me into this wonderful series, I got even more excited.
And now... the potential is wasted miserably. I had fingers crossed for the next one.

This one surpassed many of my expectations.
First of all, after three stories we finally get more hints for the puzzle.
Second of all - yes yes, David Tennant is here and he is great, but that's not him I was so excited about. Not him, but Stephen Noonan as the First Doctor. I was worried that the original three might not get time to shine, yet I'm actually happy that the First Doctor (one of my favourites) was in the beginning of this story and leading the plot for some time. I was sceptical about Noonan's performance at first, but after this one I can safely say that he is amazing as the First Doctor.
Missy... she is wonderful. I didn't get to her in the series yet, but she is glorious and I can see why people love her so much. And the reveal about her part in this anthology was also great.
The Paternoster Gang was really funny here, all of them got time to shine. And the original character Jesamy Moore was interesting, although she kinda fell into the background near the end of the story.

This was fun.
I'm not a big fan of Jackie Tyler and Lady Christina, but they are really funny here. Jackie was the main source of comedy here.
Colin Baker's Sixth Doctor is amazing as always. Christopher Naylor nails the late great Ian Marter's Harry Sullivan perfectly (although I don't like him being aged on the cover). Their chemistry is amazing, I even laughed one time:
The Doctor (in the form of his Third incarnation): Harry, old chap, it's so good to see you! *retro-regenerates into Sixth* HARRY SULLIVAN YOU OLD FOOL YOU'VE SET MY CONSOLE ON FIRE!!!!
I was thinking this story would be generic, but Michael Maloney's the Two mostly saved it for me. I heard only one audio with the Eleven, and it is interesting to see how this villain began his life. But I wish he had a lot more time to get explored in this story - without it his storyline feels rushed and unfinished.
I can't say this story wasn't fun. It was quite enjoyable.