When the target novelisations started, all the way back in the 60s, only a year after the show began, they existed as a way to let people who'd missed stories on broadcast still be able to experience them. Knowing what happened, catching up on important character details, or even just being able to experience a 'new' adventure. A fact that the author - Jenny T Colgan - mentions in her afterword, commenting on her history with the show, explaining that it's how she first experienced many classics.

When the target range was revived however, it was 2018. Every single episode of Doctor Who was just a few clicks away, just two years prior a Doctor Who spin off had released online only. The media landscape was a completely different beast to what it had been 20+ years prior when the range ended, and the novelisations had to change to reflect that.

Rose, for example, takes the story told on television and expands it in countless ways. It's more adult, there's more character, more details, plot points are expanded on and we really get into the heads of the characters. And The Day of The Doctor?! It's incredible, expanding on everything in so many different ways, adding new sequences, expanding on old ones, using the new medium to it's fullest.

The Christmas Invasion on the other hand, doesn't do this. Sure, we get a new prologue introducing some original characters, and explaining a bit more of the history of Guinevere One, but other than that and a new sentence of explanation or humour here or there, it's basically just a beat for beat retelling of the TV story. There are so many moments where I want to know what a character is thinking and feeling, to really get into their head, and the novelisation just doesn't unfortunately. The book is solely told from the perspective of an omniscient narrator, which doesn't have to be a bad thing, but a story as emotionally charged as this one I think would've benefited from a different style of storytelling.

I mentioned the history of the range, and the history of the author, to aid in making this final point: I haven't read any of the classic target range, but this novelisation, to me, very much feels like what I'd expect of those. This book doesn't feel like it exists to expand on the TV story, it feels like it exists to retell the TV story, and I just don't think that's enough in a day and age when the original is literally 5 button presses (new tab, type 'i', click iPlayer, click Doctor Who (2005), click on Christmas Invasion) away.

The Deadly Assassin!

A brilliant first two parts, and... a third and fourth part. It may be that the Gallifrey series has spoilt me for gallifreyan intrigue and politics, but while the first two parts set that all up really nicely (the assassination of a president, the exposition about life on Gallifrey, seeing the bureaucracy in action, the loopholes in law), when the Doctor enters the matrix near the end of part 2, it starts to somewhat fall apart.

It's not that the matrix sections are particularly bad or anything, it's just that they feel very much like standard fare for the show, and the story up until that point had managed to feel somewhat out there, even despite its 'grounding' of the Time Lords. It'd felt somewhat more unique, the bureaucratic aspect being something not often seen in the show, and here The Doctor isn't the clear smartest man in the room like he often is, we're even introduced to his old mentor.

When we get into The Matrix though, it's The Doctor running around a quarry. The show can say that The Master's controlling the environment as much as they want, but it doesn't really affect all that much, and it still ultimately comes down to, well, The Doctor fighting an enemy in a quarry, about the most standard story you can have in classic who.

It does somewhat come back after he leaves, especially with The Master's plans with faking his death to get what he wants and that, but even then, it feels like a Master story. Master stories are always good, and I of course appreciate that there hadn't been one in such a long time, but for a story that started setting itself apart from the standard action of the show, it's a little disappointing that it ends up being standard Who story.

Don't get me wrong, a good standard Who story, but still a standard Who story.

Seeds of Doom has an incredible first couple of parts, a really fun second couple of parts, and a personally somewhat disappointing final couple of parts. It turns from atmospheric horror to kaiju movie, and while i like both of those seperately, the combination is a bit odd.

The characters here are all spectacular though, henchman, to billionaire, to painter, all have very clear character voices, and you can very easily get invested in all of them.

The Krynoids are also a fascinating concept for an alien, part zombie plague, part godzilla, part venus fly trap. While I've got issues with the tonal shift the story takes, and while the Krynoid's evolution is a part of that, I have abosolutely no issue with the monsters themselves, I think it's really interesting, and the practical effects are a marvel. When the Krynoid first emerges, the combination of the effects and the location/setting reminded me somewhat of John Carpenter's The Thing (though obviously on a much lower budget, much less graphic, and half a decade early.

I think if I had one main critique, it's that the story goes on a touch too long, I think if this had been cut down even just by one episode it would've been a lot tighter, and rather than jarring, the tonal shift could've felt more shocking. Still, it's a classic for a reason!

Also as an aside, wow, season 13 really is stacked, Zygons, Krynoids, Sutekh, Morbius. I'd never really paid attention to what stories were in what season before with classic, but I can see why this one is so well regarded!

"A Tear, Sarah Jane?"

Planet of the Spiders is..... not great, from Tommy's (not-actually-but-come-on) autism, especially with it getting cured, the strange almost fetishisation of Asian culture, the far-too-long runtime, the half episode car chase, etc etc, there's a lot to not like here.

Don't get me wrong, there's some things that are great, the puppetry is of course hillarious, but I do also really like that this feels like a best-of of the era. I love that we get to see the oft referenced Metebelis 3, I love that we start with a letter from Jo, I love Yates' kickstarting the plot despite not being in UNIT, the era gets a really nice showcase and I do love that.

But then the plot itself, even ignoring the issues I've already mentioned (which, you definitely shouldn't, those are some big issues), it doesn't feel like a finale really should, there's just something missing, something that probably has to do with Delgado's unfortunate passing. Obviously Delgado passed well before this story, it's not like it had to be re-written around his absence, and yet.... there's still a giant Master-shaped hole in this finale, it doesn't feel like the celebration it really wants to be because of that.

All that said, the final scene does just work spectacularly, from Three's final line, to The Brig's sigh - 'Here we go again' indeed.

Rememberance is fine, but feels very rushed, you've got three seperate stories here that could very easily have been at least two issues, and while they all kinda interesting, none of them are really given the attention they deserve to fully flesh them out.

For the Britzit section it's not too bad, given that's more there just to get the ball rolling and to be a fun little gag, but when it comes to Jones' Funeral, the fact this isn't split up really does mean that section just isn't given the time and weight that it really deserves, which really sucks. Sure there's mention on how The Doctor's always moving on from one thing to the next, but Alice is then dragged into doing the same, and the story doesn't focus on her feelings at all.

And then the end seems to be getting into the arc stuff, which is fine and all, but with it being a third (mostly) disconnected section, it's another thing that just messes with the pacing a bit.

Overall, this has some things going for it, but doesn't devote nearly as much time to said things as they need. I can't help but wish they didn't leave Jones' funeral, and spent the rest of the issue showing how the characters feel about that, leaving the arc stuff to start in #2.

I quite enjoyed this one. There's quite a few characters to keep track of like others have said, but as the story goes on it does focus in a lot more on who's important and who's not, with the extraneous cast getting little to nothing later.

The main thing I really like here though is Freddie. His presence really adds that sense of childlike wonder to the book, you can imagine kids reading this and seeing themselves in him. He's important, but not in a way that the actually really affects the story, in a way that makes him interesting, but still enough of a blank slate for kids to project themselves onto. And everything with him and Rose in this story is just lovely. I also genuinely couldn't tell if they were going to kill him off in the end. The book had me believe they might for just a moment.

This era of London is also just such a brilliant setting, and the clockwork motif does just add so much to getting you into the vibe of the setting. The description of the clockwork characters reminded me a lot of The Girl in the Fireplace, and it's really interesting to see where they're the same, and where they differ, I like the fact that here they're very much treated as robot characters rather than just robots. I also really like the descriptions of how London has changed so much in such little time, the moment of Rose running down Embankment and comparing it to Rose, so similar but so different, was really nice, though maybe that's my londoner bias coming through.

Overall though, while there's a lot to like, while I enjoyed the twists and turns and the ending set piece, I dont' think anything really 'wowed' me enough to rate it higher than a 7/10

An entertaining conclusion brings up what would otherwise be a rather boring outing for Doctor Who's most famous foes.

The first three episodes of the story are entertaining, but definitely moreso thanks to Pertwee, Manning, and the UNIT family (part 1 especially having some truly delightful moments). The actual plot seems to be somewhat treading water for episodes 2 and 3 after Jo and Three end up in the future, which is a shame, showing us a future under Dalek rule should be exciting and scary, but the vast majority of the world-building is just allusions to what's happening off screen, we don't get enough of a sense as to what this world really looks like, and it feels like you're meant to see that the Daleks are there, and for that to be enough.

On the subject of the Daleks, they do almost feel like a non-entity for most of the story. Humans and Ogrons to most of the heavy lifting which is a real shame for the Daleks' big return to the silver screen after five years off. On the one hand, I appreciate this not watering them down, making them a force that UNIT can equal, or even defeat, on the other, it does feel like they could be replaced with a lot of other enemies here, once again it feels like the fact that we're seeing Daleks is meant to be enough, but looking back on the story 50+ years on, it's just not.

That all said, as I mention at the top of the review, that last part really does bring the story up for me immensely. The bootstrap paradox with the rebels going back in time being what ends up causing the Daleks to come to power is brilliant, and you can really feel the 'oh s**t' moment when the characters all realise that's the case. I love the politician's arguing with Three and The Brig, and the self-sacrifice of the rebel at the end is a brilliant moment. Changing history in the simple act of waiting, bringing down the Daleks that'd made their way to the present. The speech Three has to the politician afterwards as well, stressing the importance of the conference, of peace between nations, and what can happen when it's not achieved, is great, and a perfect reminder that Doctor Who has always been political, absolutely to its benefit.

Wow. Just wow.

Disassembled is a masterclass in this form of storytelling, I absolutely adore it.

Last time, we had 'what if Gallifrey were capitalist', this time it's a classic 'what if they were fascists', and in the Spirit of Inferno, you can't help but love to see what our core cast would become in that environment. Seeing these time lords being fully in on intervening is terrifying, the story opening on just such casual use of the De-mat Gun really does just set the stakes for this story, and the danger our core cast are in.

The alternate versions of cast we see as well are just great. Our Romana has had moments where it seems she might take the darker path, but she never quite falls to it, and even when she does, it's always done with the best of intentions, meanwhile the one we see here has fully fallen into the 'ends justify the means' mindset. Our Leela was able to find a home on Gallifrey as herself, the Interrogater General modifed her life on Mordee so that she fit in better here, while no longer a 'savage', her actions are more savage than our world's Leela ever was.

And then there's Lord Burner. I love the misdirection we get with him initially helping our crew, finding his way back to the Axis. The fact we think the paradox is happening from the Interrogator General being in the Axis alongside Narvin, whom she killed on her world (which is another thing they do that I love), but then the eventual reveal about what the title of Lord Burner truly means, Brax confiding the history of the position of Romana, and the lore implications of what he says. I absolutely adore that Brax was the burner, and I love his mention of the refusal to kill The Doctor, instead killing the president and making it look like an accident. Brax has already somewhat been built up as this all powerful all knowledgable figure, but this moment really does just bring it to the forefront, and makes you question the danger a person like him could pose.

I also love Brax and Burner's confrontation, Brax's line as he falls into the portal paralleling The Master in Planet of Fire, with the implication here being very clear. And then the bit at the end, with Brax meeting Benny for the first time (in his timeline) makes me want to listen to her stories more than I think anything else I've seen her in has done.

Overall, yeah, this story was incredible, and once again I'm so so glad I started listening to this series.

Deadwood is... well, it's fine.

To be completely honest, deadwood feels like what the Case Files should have been from the start of things. Honest to god short films which, sure, aren't anything to write home about, but you can feel the appeal, fan-films born out of a love of the series and a desire to have fun with it, rather than push to put content out to get money and stay relevant.

That all said, because it's coming after the other case files, where it is so clear that they're not just made for the joy of it, it just doesn't work for me as well as it should.

Watching this story, as much as I'd love to be coming at it from the perspective of it being a fan film, seeing the fun that people are having, laughing with it at moments that are unintentionally funny, I'm coming at it from the perspective of it being a case file. I'm not laughing with the story when things are off, I'm laughing at it, I don't see the actors having fun, I see Baggs wanting to get paid. There's a whole four actors in this thing, and unlike other fan films where I wouldn't give a second thought to that, I'm shocked that Baggs actually (hopefully) paid three other people to be in this.

The plot itself is fine, nothing to write home about, but there's some nice nods to history, and I can appreciate what it's going for, but that's kind if where my appreciation ends.

I think when you have more to say about everything surrounding the story than the text of the story itself, there's a problem, and unfortunately all I can think to talk about with the case files is the real world 'story' surrounding them.

Reborn is a spectacular start to Gallifrey IV!

This story almost reminds me of some of BF's later output, specifically Stranded and The Dimension Cannon, though with the focus here being on alternate Gallifreys rather than alternate earths, it's done in a way that, despite being older than the aforementioned series', feels so much more fresh and unique.

This alternate Gallifrey where futures are used as currency, and the high council is selling Time Travel for profit is beautifully bleak. There's many a dystopian story featuring an Earth that's fallen to a similar fate, but seeing it here happening to one of the most powerful peoples in the universe is something else. We don't need to hear the consequences this would have on the world, we know it from how we've seen the Time Lords avoid doing just that in the previous three seasons.

The heart of Gallifrey however is, and continues to be, our core cast: Narvin, Leela, Romana, Brax, and, of course, K9. Each and every one of them get something to do here and it's all brilliant. Leela becoming this world's leader, though more so she can be used as a scapegoat than for anything else, with K9 as Castallan (which was absolutely hilarious). Romana and Brax visiting this world's Romana, an excellent chance for exposition and character exploration, and even more than that a beautiful excuse to get Mary Tam back. And Narvin, poor Narvin, seemingly having his future regenerations stolen from him. You really feel for him, especially the way his story ends, the others not knowing what's happened and mocking him as usual, things being different this time, but he can't bring himself to tell them.

The villian here, Antonin, is the unfortunate weak point of this story for me personally, his links to Romana are interesting and bring about some great character moments for her, both of her, but overall I was personally much less interested in him, and more in everything that was going on in the rest of that Gallifrey. Still, his motivations, what he'd sacrificed for his place on that world, was interesting to hear.

Overall, sure I've got a minor gripe, but even then I overall enjoyed that bit, and even with it, this season has started off with a bang!

This was again just such a delight to read.

The worldbuilding here is really interesting, it's great to see the PROBE side of the DWU fleshed out a bit more, the PoV character being not only someone who was infected with Cyberon (a character from a previous Arcbeetle/BBV short story collection), but also being a member of the JDS, an organisation described as US PROBE. None of that world building feels forced, as I could see it being in a story this short, it's just naturally integrated in a way that works.

I also think the connection between our two leads is really interesting to see, Maxie obviously not being of this world, though not having told her colleagues and unable to talk about it freely, and Brittany being not completely human anymore with the cyberon infection. The way they talk, both clearly closed off to the rest of the world, but able to open up to each other about everything is just really sweet, and again, I think focusing on character is the best way to write these shorts.

As for the actual plot and threat, it's exactly what it needs to be for the story. I think the amount of detail of the backstory messes with the pacing a tad, but other than that the general vibe of it really works, almost a spy thriller short with alien aspects. While the resolution does also seem to come a little out of nowhere, it's also using the entire mcguffin the plot has been centered on, so it doesn't feel like a Deus Ex Machina.

Overall, yeah, just a fun little romp which I found great!

Maxie is absolutely my favourite member of NuPROBE, and this story does a great job on showing why.

Once again we've got a more character focused piece here, Tasha and Maxie out on their own investigating a forest that makes people come back different. It's a classic setup, but the execution here just makes it work really well.

The idea of this place that knows what a forest is meant to be, but can't quite replicate it is great, the visuals of grass not moving when you step, or an old well not leaving any grime on your hands, are a brilliant way to lead you into the idea that something's wrong, before you're then thrown things that are increasingly out of place, the giant cliff, the ship, the burning house, everything being strange and out of place, and the way that it's slowly built up just adds a certain vibe to it.

I love the idea of the forest preying on people's worst days, and that we get to see what that means for Tasha, not only hearing some of her past, but seeing it. I love that the solution is acceptance, going back into the woods and facing what really happened. And I love the ending, the idea of something not being able to work on an alien is one that's been done a lot in the past, but cliche as it can be, it works for me really well here, it was set up previously to be fair, with Maxie quoting back exactly what was said to her about 'the human soul'.

Focusing on character in these sorts of shorts tends to work best for me, and here I think it's done really well.

Another story focusing more on the side-cast of the PROBE team, and I love it.

This take on PROBE sort of starts to show some more signs of what Arcbeetle would do later with SIGNET (at least what I've heard of it). The alien here very much being a threat, we see as much in the story's opening, giving us its PoV really helps you understand the danger it poses, but it's also out of place, not misunderstood, but misunderstanding. PROBE here want to protect people, yes, but they also want to figure out a way to help the alien as best they can.

The previous few stories have show monsters that can't be reasoned with, or forces from beyond this world that we can't begin to understand, but here, it genuinely feels like given time, and were what ends up happening not to have happened, they could have forged a connection with this alien.

Dalek War has been a pretty bumpy road overall, hell, Dalek Empire so far has been, but there's one thing that's always kept me coming back to this series (apart from the TARDIS Guide Clubs): Karlendorf.

Here, Karlendorf truly comes to center stage, we learn more of his motivations, his reasonings, he's never presented a bastion of morality, but his morals are clear and unshakeable. Honestly from the way he's presented, he sometimes feels more like a force of nature than a character, an oncoming storm, if you will, and the way this story is told, being uncovered by historians as a tale from thousands of years ago just adds to that larger than life character he builds up for himself.

Albie's death here surprisingly kind of just doesn't affect the story, almost proving how much of a secondary character he really was in Dalek Empire. It's almost a shame, but also yeah, I just don't really feel anything about it at all.

But back to Karlendorf, I think the two best scenes in this story are him talking to the leaders of the two dalek factions. His conversation with The Mentor especially is really interesting. The way The Mentor is characterised here, not as a good dalek, still a monster in the way that she and her daleks have treated planets that didn't join the war, but still somewhat reasonable. There's a cruel logic to her actions, and you can really see how the differences between her and davros ended up creating such similar yet different daleks. Her and her daleks, to me at least, feel like what you would get if you replaced the rage and fury of N-Space's daleks, with a cold pragmatism. I love that they choose to leave, not because they think they'd loose, but because they can forsee that the conflict would lead to death for everyone, and that Karlendorf would let that happen rather than give in.

And then the final confrontation with the Susan-Emperor. The tale that the historians are telling in the future of the story that inspired Karlendorf, Karlendorf's plans all coming together, forcing Susan to the forefront and using her connection to the emperor to the daleks, to kill them all in one fell swoop. Karlendorf killing countless millions of lives, dalek and otherwise as all dalek technology is destroyed. Where the Ninth Doctor refused to kill all people on earth to wipe out the daleks, Karlendorf doesn't hesitate to wipe out solar systems.

Victory or Death.

How else was a Dalek War meant to end, I suppose.

A spectacular finale to the series, and I'm so glad I stuck with it for that.

A beautiful little bottle episode that I don't think could have been made at any other point in the show's history.

Firstly, I want to praise the episodes titles, The Edge of Destruction going into The Brink of Disaster feels very Revival Season 9 to me, and in the best way possible.

This story is just so strange and I kind of love that, there's a real sense of tension and building dread. These characters the audience would've been coming to get to know and love over the last 2+ months are now trapped together, and the worst is being brought out in them. I've seen others comparing it to Midnight or Class' Detained, and I absolutely agree that this feels very much like a precursor to those, but I love that here, unlike Midnight, The Doctor is almost the antagonist of a lot of the story here.

When I say that it's a story you couldn't tell at any other point in the show's history, The Doctor is the main thing I'm talking about, he's brash and rude, and even effectively threatens to kill Ian and Barbara at one point. This story wouldn't work with any other doctor, you just wouldn't believe that he'd do that, but here, where the character's not fully formed yet, where he's still a mystery, you really don't know what he's willing to do.

It's also a great story to help showcase the wide variety of stories that can be told with the show. Often-times the new series will start with a trio of episodes, one in the past, one the present, one the future, and here, The Edge of Destruction finishes out that trilogy that the first two eras of the show tend to do. An Unearthly Child shows the past, The Daleks shows the future, and The Edge of Destruction is more of a 'sidestep'.

The character acting here is also great here, I especially love the way The Doctor uses a light to explain what happened to Susan, or the moment where he admits to Ian that they only have five minutes, and they both sort of share a moment.

The only reason this isn't higher is that, where other stories are somewhat let down by the stylings of the time, I feel this story is really let down by it. I think different camera angles, or more use of darkness could have really improved this story, but of course that wasn't the done thing at the time.

So the last thing I want to mention then, it Barbara. The way she stands up for herself against The Doctor, how she's not taking any ■■■■ from him, even when Ian is so ready to forgive and forget, she's not, she needs to hear that apology, and she can't move on in their relationship without it, it's a great point of characterisation which I just adore, and absolutely moves Barbara up my companion ranking

I think more than any other story in the collection so far, this is the one that's suffered the most from the limited page count.

Unlike the other stories so far that have told stories of more small-scale or personal conflicts, while on the surface The Last Few Pages seems to be doing so with Agamya, the level of stakes that are being dealt with here are much higher, and, unfortunately, don't get as much time to be explored. Everything we do get with Agamya, from her lying to Az, to her response to seeing her family, to the very end with her confrontation with Giles, is great, but it feels somewhat overshadowed by the extreme stakes, setup for future stories, and callbacks to older ones.

Erasmus Gretorix is a really interesting antagonist, and I think does a great job of paralleling PROBE itself. PROBE as an organisation are frequently in over their heads, barely making it out by the skin of their teeth, and Erasmus here is very much the same, dabbling with powers far beyond him, and unlike PROBE, he doesn't make it out.

In short, I like pretty much everything this story has to offer, but I just wish we were able to have more time with everything. Each part of this story deserves just a little more to really flesh it out, and the medium it's within just doesn't give it that space to breathe unfortunately.

Now this is a story I really enjoyed.

I'm a big fan of Arthurian legend, so this, bringing characters from legend into the present, dealing with the repercussions of events from years back, and then also introducing new characters in the modern day, a half-dead hacker who tries to cultivate an aura of mystique but in reality being a ray of sunshine, it's just a really fun story.

I really like how the flashback sequences are interspersed with the main story, and some of the descriptions of the monster are really interesting. The way it's defeated as well I think is a really fun twist and makes it all the more unique, it also ties in thematically to the ideas of myth and legend that the story's already playing with, which is another thing that just makes it work.

I also really enjoyed the epilogue, using The Doctor while legally not doing in that way is just a lot of fun, and I think the characterisation here is pretty interesting!

With the lack of time you have to spend on a story with the medium, I think one of the best options for telling said story is focusing on a single character and exploring/developing them.

This story does as much with our one alien member of the team: Maxie Masters.

Focusing in on Maxie, using her extraterrestrial knowledge, but combining it with the fact she doesn't want the rest of the team to know about her origins, is a really fun premise. Her calling Giles or interfacing with the alien computer, pretending that's where she's getting her information from, is pretty fun, and said alien threat, being a species of paranoid aliens, that attempt to assassinate anyone who knows too much about them, is a really fun idea.

That all said, again this story suffers a bit from the ending. I enjoyed the bit with Giles explaining how people are rationalising what happened, reminding me a lot of The Doctor's similar explanations, and twist, while a little obvious, was fun. The actual events however did feel a little rushed, the conflict was over before it really started, and the explanations once again were simply exposited after the story was basically over.

Still, I definitely enjoyed the character stuff here, and I'm loving the team.

An interesting story, with a fun mystery, and some interesting character exploration, that's unfortunately let down by what feels like a rather rushed ending.

After having heard Giles talk about Manchester before, a story where he he's called back there, having to face not only a new physical threat, but the demons of his past as well, seems a really interesting idea, and this story does somewhat deliver on that promise, as well as sets up a great mystery with the state of the victims.

The Giles duplicate, with 262 tattooed on his body, is a really interesting setup for an antagonist, and the crew finding where he came from is a fun bit of character interaction, but when they find the actual location of 262, it starts falling apart. The limited time you have to wrap up the story is a often a problem with the medium, and it's definitely felt here, the conclusion itself is mostly exposited to us after the fact, rather than being something we experience in the moment, and has to not only explain the antagonists actions, but also to foreshadow coming events. I think the story does a decent enough job at the latter, but unfortunately to the detriment of the former.

I absolutely adore classic and revival who, but as much as I love them, the CGI doesn't always hold up decades on.

The Five Doctors is a story that I think is brilliant, balancing the fanservice, multiple doctors, multiple enemies, lore reveals, brilliantly, with being able to tell a spectacular story, but the one thing that always sticks in my mind when I watch it back with friends, is the time scoop. A silly little triangle floats down on screen, and we get a freeze frame of our characters. It's utterly hilarious how it doesn't hold up, and while I love it, it does take you out of the story a little.

Lux, in contrast, is a story I think we'll be looking back at in 40+ years and be astounded at. Every second Mr Ring-a-Ding is on screen just works. The cold open especially is one of the absolute bests in the show's history, Mr Ring-a-Ding crawling from the screen is spectacular, and really does just show the scale of the villian, you can't not be hooked.

As for the rest of the story itself, I think it's a wonderful blend of Scooby Doo (as the characters themselves point out), and The Giggle. A god-like being trapped in a closed down cinema with a caretaker at night, where 15 people have gone missing, that being using their powers, trapping The Doctor and the companion in a world relating to that medium, it's so so good, I can't help but love it.

I do think the 4th-wall break, while fun, did somewhat bring the episode's pacing to a screeching halt, and used up time that could've been devoted to better fleshing out the ending. I do enjoy Lux's defeat, and I think it's an interesting twist on the way the rest of the pantheon we've encountered so far have been defeated, but I do think that explaining the actual mechanics of it a little more might've helped the story somewhat. The missing 15 suddenly returning as well felt like an obvious ending, but the actual mechanics of how they did aren't really explained. It makes emotional sense, which is what I think should always be prioritised, but less so on the logic front.

As a final note, I do also have to give credit though to the side cast. Everything we get with them in just brilliant. They're no Silence in the Library or Under the Lake, but they've all got very clear characters and motivations, they're entertaining to watch, and none of them are forgettable.

This is a lot better than the previous chapter, and it's almost entirely down to the expanded role of Karlendorf.

Alby and Susan's role in this story does get a little more interesting as they start to try to piece together Karlendorf's plan, and Morli is predictably revealed as a roboman for the 'good' daleks. Despite the predictability of the twist though, I think the way the characters respond to it, using that information to piece more things together, works nicely. If it were just left as a shock twist it may not work, but the way it's revealed and the repercussions of it do make it for me.

As per usual though, the highlight here is Karlendorf. I love his constant scheming, how you can never quite be sure why he's doing what he's doing. Even when he reveals his plan to Susan at the end, he chooses to keep Alby (and by extension, the audience), in the dark as to what's really going on. His interactions with The Mentor, as he's hiding what he's doing, feigning ignorance, is a particular delight. When he falls into the dalek's trap, leading to the deaths of hundreds, you're never quite sure if that was intentional. There's a darkness to his character, and honestly, he's the main reason I keep coming back to this series.

Also yeah, sure, there's another cliffhanger at the end. These are starting to feel out of necessity more than anything else to be honest.

I'll admit, taking a month long break probably didn't help my connecting to this story, but bearing in mind it was released a month after the prior installment, that shouldn't affect as much as it did.

While there's certianly some interesting stuff in here, especially with Karlendorf, and Susan's current relationship with the daleks, this story feels like another load of things just happening. Meandering to get to the point. In a great story that can be used to build tension and suspense, here, for me, it unfortunately feels aimless.

I remember ending my last few reviews saying I wasn't really all that big on the stories themselves, but with the cliffhangers, I was excited to see what turns the story would take next, where we'd end up, and while the cliffhanger at the end of this does intrigue me, well. Fool me once, shame on me, fool me twice, shame on you, fool me thrice... and you get Dalek War Chapter Two.

In short, this is continuing to be a story that I just wish I liked a lot more than I actually do, and while I'm going to keep listening to see if it improves, I'm done getting my hopes up that it will.

Sometimes you go to Doctor Who for the biting social commentary, the thrills, the horror, the out there sci-fi concepts, the depth to every interaction, how it's building on 60 years of lore.

Sometimes you go to Doctor Who to sit down in front of the telly, throw on an episode, and just have some fun.

The Robot Revolution definitely doesn't do the former of those, but it doesn't need to, it's all in on the latter and works. Is this the best Doctor Who story I've ever watched? No. Is it one that I can absolutely see coming back to, throwing it on when I just want some fun? YES.

A brilliantly fun story that does exactly what I think Doctor Who needed to, backed up by brilliant effects (cosmetic, practical, and CG), a wild premise that's fun from start to end, some spectacular acting, and a cliffhanger that almost has me sad we're not getting a 2 episode premier again.

If I were asked to sum up Sil and the Devil Seeds of Arodor in two words, I'd say 'Surprisingly Forgettable'.

This story, along with some others such as Zygon: When Being You Just Isn't Enough, has become somewhat famous in Doctor Who circles for its place in canon. If Revival Who is the tip of the iceberg, and Big Finish is just below the surface, Sil and Zygon are possibly the deepest you can go where a typical fan will still be able to at least recognise their DWU connections.

Sil also sees the return of Nabil Shaban and Christopher Ryan as Sil and Kiv respectively, reprising their roles from over 30 years prior, and stars Sophie Aldred herself, playing a newly created member of Sil's species, acting as a foil to him in the episode she primarily appears in.

All this is to say that Sil and the Devil Seeds of Arodor is a fascinating piece of media... conceptually.

While I have to commend the set design, costumers, and some of the actors, the story here is nothing to write home about. Some parts don't seem to make sense or seem to come out of nowhere, Sil isn't anywhere near as fun to watch a protagonist as he is an antagonist, the direction isn't great, and while I absolutely could see a courtroom drama doctor who story working out incredibly (just look at Trial), here, it just isn't. The writers seem to have a vague idea of what people want from a courtroom drama, but don't understand what really makes them tick, and fact the judicial system is invented for this, and the intricacies of it actually matter somewhat unlike Trial, just makes me wonder why I should care.

I genuinely don't understand how this ended up like it has, from the premise and concept, you'd expect it to either be competent, not necessarily good, but competent, or a complete trainwreck. This somehow manages to be neither.

I don't care about the courtroom drama, I'm not laughing, either at or with the story when there's a moment that would otherwise be pretty funny.

I'm just bored.

A rather short story, but I think it serves it's purpose.

This story once again centers around Az, our new recruit at PROBE, and I think is a decent character piece for him. It shows off how he feels about his new job, still glad that he's got it, still awed by what's going on, but starting to feel a bit out of place, a bit left to the wayside. His worrying he was only recruited for his powers makes sense, and so a story where we get to see him use both his powers and his humanity to help a lost soul is a great idea.

That said, while a good idea, I find the execution here a little bland. Az's interactions with Giles and inner monologue are great, but I can't help but feel there could've been more done with the actual ghost child himself. I love the interactions that we get, but it does feel like there's some missed potential.

Still, I did enjoy the story, and the ending with Giles finding Az, taking him out for dinner to talk about the day, but still scolding him a bit with the mention of not paying for the afternoon, was really nice, and I definitely recommend reading.