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.

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.