Whilst it may seem on initial reading of its synopsis just a re-hash of The Chase, this audio proves to be so much more. Full of charm and really evoking that 1960s feel, the Stephen Noonan led First Doctor Adventures continue to be one of my favourite ranges showcasing just how good Big Finish can be at accurately recreating eras on audio.

The basic premise of this audio is as already stated a loose re-hash of The Chase with seemingly the main wrinkle being that of a much older Vicki returning for one final adventure with The Doctor, but upon closer inspection all is not as it seems. Whilst featuring The Daleks, they are not the main villains of the piece. In a wonderfully executed twist, the main villain of the piece is revealed to be the robot duplicate of The Doctor from The Chase. The inclusion of RoboDoctor provides the piece with a fascinating discourse of the nature of being alive and free will and his scenes with Vicki where he truly believes himself to be The Doctor are wonderful.

Vicki being so much older in this story also provides the story with a nice bit of closure for her as she gets to say a 'proper' goodbye to The Doctor in what is a really heartfelt moment. The scene where The Doctor laments that he is the one being left behind instead of his companions is heartbreaking and really does portray The First Doctor as being a lonely wanderer (something never really touched upon in the TV show).

The additional wrinkle in the story is Dodo dealing with the Doctor's sudden disappearance at the end of The Incherton Incident, I can tell that this specific plot thread will run on for a while maybe not being resolved in the immediate future. Although The Doctor mentioning that he was taken out of time does indicate to me that we may well get some answers when Deathworld is released in July

Now, the contentious point with these audios is always the recasting of deceased actors. Personally, I'm a big fan of Noonan and think his take on Hartnell is perfect with the mannerisms nailed and he has the cadence of speech on lock too. His performance has gone from strength to strength with each boxset and I'm sure he can only improve with further exposure in the role.

Overall, this was a delightfully charming audio further cementing the First Doctor Adventures as one of my personal favourite ranges in the Big Finish repertoire.

Remember when The Lost Stories used to actually be full of unmade adventures? I do too. Unfortunately, the last 2 series of it have mainly been comprised of serials from Season 12 in their "original drafts" (barring The Doomsday Contract, a genuine Lost Story). This release, Daleks! Genesis of Terror, is once again a foray into the original drafts of Season 12. The main "sell" of this release is the full cast episode one and then the rest of the episodes are the story outlines read by other members of the cast.

This, quite simply put, is a release that does not need to exist. I very rarely give things a 1/10 but this warrants it. Very little has changed from the Genesis we saw on TV and the minutia that are different were taken out with good reason. To give this release some credit, Christopher Naylor as Harry is a delight as always and Tom Baker never puts in a bad performance. That is, unfortunately, all of the positives surrounding this release. The audio mixing is abysmal on this release, making it sound like they're all cramped in a cupboard. Yes, I know this was remotely recorded but Shadow of the Sun proves the mixing can be done well so there's no excuse for the shoddy mixing here. Also bundled with this release is an 80 minute interview with Phillip Hinchcliffe that I'm not sure anyone has actually listened to yet.

Overall, a disappointing and ultimately pointless release that I fear may spell the end of this revived series of The Lost Stories

What a story, I don't want to write too much so as not to spoil it for those who are yet to listen but this story is fully deserving of its reputation and will destroy you in many ways as you listen to it. Credit to Sophie Aldred for a fantastic performance as Ace and Ian Reddington as a delightfully evil performance as Nobody No One. All in all, probably the best main range story Big Finish has ever done

What a story, Ben Aaronovitch crafts a superb narrative throughout this novel. I don't want to discuss it too much as I don't want to spoil any joy other readers get out of this novel but I personally would class it as some of Aaronovitch's finest work with fantastic humour laced throughout. A must read for anyone

Wow, what an audio. Sitting at one of Big Finish's longest audios this may seem like a daunting task but if you have a spare 4 hours I would wholeheartedly recommend you settle down and enjoy this magnificent audio.

Whilst I'm not the biggest fan of William Russell as 1 you can overlook his slightly weaker impersonation compared to Purves as it doesn't detract that much from the overall listening experience.

However, the standout performance from this audio has to be John Dorney as Alexander. How one man can be such a good writer and actor will never cease to amaze me but in this audio he gives the performance of his life. A performance that is filled with such nuance and depth. A performance that moved me to the verge of tears. I would say this is one of the best performances I've ever heard in an audio.

Overall, this is a fantastic audio if recommend to anyone.

This audio, that never made it past the scripting stage, is absolutely wonderful. It absolutely reeks of that Hitchhiker's charm mainly because of the, albeit little, input that the late great Douglas Adams had on the original idea and how closely he and John Lloyd worked together on other projects. The main plot of this audio is that Earth is about to be demolished (sounds familiar right?) and the Doctor is the star witness chosen to defend it. The main cast all play the audio very well and give convincing performances laced with subtle humour and acerbic wit. It's good to hear Baker, Ward and Leeson on audio together (as this is my first experience of them) as they bounce off of each other very well. I found myself laughing out loud on many an occasion during this audio. Nev Fountain had done a very good job adapting this audio and it makes me curious to experience his other audios.

Overall, I have found The Doomsday Contract to be a thoroughly enjoyable listen throughout, full of nice references to the rest of the Whoniverse. I will almost certainly be checking out Fountain's other work and the other story in this series of the Lost Stories

"Father must see my new suit"

Heartbreak, horror and humour. This audio has it all, Marc Platt hits it out of the ball park with a suitably eerie story that tells the tale of one of the many origins of the Cybermen. Definitely one of the standout releases from the first 50 Main Range stories and probably the best 5th Doctor release from those 50, it weaves a chilling atmosphere and the suitably cold setting of Mondas only aides this. The reveal that the people going to the surface of Mondas from their subterranean dwellings is great and always sends shivers down my spine.

Peter Davison and Sarah Sutton give good performances and are backed up by strong performances from the supporting cast and the monster voices from Mr Briggs are as good as they always are.

Overall, a fantastic Cyberman story, proving that they lend themselves perfectly to body horror, backed up by excellent performances from the cast make this audio story a must listen for any fans of Who.

Despite having never listened to any of The Committee arc, I found this to be a pleasant celebration of 10 years of Torchwood featuring beloved characters from both TV and audio. I especially liked that it gave the listener a backstory of sorts to Alex from Fragments and the reasoning as to why he killed his entire team. It's fittingly poignant and mysterious for a Torchwood audio and definitely feels more like a Special Release than anything else I've heard from the TW Main Range. It has that bigger sense of grandiosity that befits a release celebrating a decade of Torchwood. The mystery surrounding Object One is good and reaches a satisfying conclusion

Overall, a solid story befitting the celebration that it was written for

I really do not understand all the hype surrounding this story, I listened to this in the run up to Christmas last year because it just wouldn't be Christmas without it and because it was recommended to me to do this . The performances are good as I've come to expect from a McGann story but it has to be said that the twist is very easily predictable. This was the second Shearman audio that I've listened to after Scherzo and I feel like Scherzo is the stronger audio. I think that this is a good example of why you don't buy into the hype surrounding a story as I was very excited to listen to it and was just let down a bit when I eventually did.

Overall, this is a fairly decent story with some very good performances by the cast but ultimately it just goes to show you as to why you shouldn't buy into hype

#JamesGossForShowrunner

This is an absolutely standout release which befits such an enemy like the Master. All of the actors interact well together. Milo Parker especially was excellent on what was his first outing on audio, likewise with John Simm. There are also some fun cameos to look out for (none of which I shall spoil), Katy Manning was superb as Jo and there were some really good and heartfelt moments particularly with the Beevers Master storyline.

Overall a fantastic story well worthy of any plaudits that should come its way.

Bilis is fittingly menacing in what is so far the only Big Finish audio to send a shiver down my spine. Murray Melvin's voice is so smooth and the acting within from the tiny cast is excellent, the cast size really helps this feel like a claustrophobic experience. A fantastic little number written by the ever-talented James Goss, would recommend this to anyone who wants to listen to a Torchwood audio.

#JamesGossForShowrunner

What if TLV is all just a ploy for the reintroduction of Faction Paradox into the Doctor Who universe. If that's the case I'm all for it. This is a fantastically written short story and makes me want to go out and purchase The Wintertime Paradox (also written by the same author). On numerous occasions reading this short story I screamed out loud with joy (much to the annoyance of my peers sat around me) in particular at these two lines: "Worn by a long-forgotten cult who worshipped impossibility and contradiction." and "‘Do you know what a paradox is?’"

These lines filled me with immense joy as I immediately knew they were talking about Faction Paradox. I shan't get into the nitty gritty of Faction Paradox but for those of you who don't know who they are essentially they are a time-travelling cult who worship paradoxes and try to create them as frequently as possible.

Dave Rudden does an extremely good job at weaving suspense and tension into this little package, from the constant calls by a scared Doctor warning our main character about the threats that the objects pose to the moment of the big reveal you are left on the edge of your seat wondering what will happen next

Overall, one of the best Doctor Who related short stories I have read for a long, it's a credit to everyone who worked on it and to everyone who worked on TLV

What can I say about this story that hasn't already been said? Rufus Hound sparkles in this witty, wonderfully well written character piece about everyone's favourite meddler The Monk. James Goss writes an amazing piece about The Monk's plans are constantly foiled but set as a motivational seminar about how to conquor the Earth and the hazards that come with it. There are many laugh out loud moments in this audio but my particular favourite is when the Monk is trying to change the Earth's atmosphere and we get the gem of a line "Is that Lenin on an inflatable girrafe?"

Hound's personification of the Monk is spot on throughout and you can really empathise with him as he goes through the trials and tribulations of having The Doctor constantly foils his plans and schemes. Having it set as a seminar was a genius move and only adds to the hilarity and when the big reveal comes at the end i was already crying with laughter. I believe this was Hound's second or maybe third outing as the Monk and by this point he has settled into his role and it almost feel like he inhabits the role and has made it his own.

Overall, this is probably one of if not the most charming and inventive short trips audio that i have ever had the pleasure of listening to

Is there anything Sir Michael Palin can't do? Despite freely admitting that he'd never listened to nor seen Torchwood he still manages to pull off a skilful performance full of that dry wit and Python humour we've come to know and love. The methods of killing people are gleefully inventive and this is far and away the most experimental that Big Finish have ever been, with the story being done in a second person narrative and taking the form of a haunted self help tape.

Overall, this is a wonderfully inventive story made all the better by Sir Michael whom I hope returns to do further voice acting work for Big Finish.

I recently rewatched this episode as I wanted to see if it was as good as I remembered it. The short answer is: it wasn't. The performances were just as good as I remember, Capaldi can literally do no wrong but there was just something about the story that wasn't as good as I remembered it, I can't quite put my finger on what that was. Perhaps it was that we saw the monster a tad too early than what I would've like, perhaps it was some of the gravitas that had been lost as this was a rewatch with slightly older eyes. Whatever it was though, it doesn't detract from my enjoyment of the story it just means that sadly I cannot give this any higher than a 7 because there was just something that wasn't as good as I remember about this story.

Overall, this is a solid story with a fantastic performance from Capaldi which would probably have to go down as the finest in all of his tenure

THIS REVIEW WAS WRITTEN PRE-BARROWMAN SCANDAL, COPIED OVER FROM THE OTHER SITE

There is probably a fascinating discourse on the nature of justice at the heart of this dull, unfunny exercise in padding, but you'd be hard pressed to find it.

All of my friends say I'm crazy for hating this episode but I just don't get the love surrounding this travesty. You may call me crazy but I would rather rewatch Orphan 55 over this. To me it would seem that the actors don't seem at all interested in this episode and that reflects through their wooden performances, although to his credit John Barrowman alone is worth a rewatch as he at least tries to inject a bit of humour in the part of the episode when he states his plan only to be brought back down to earth by the Doctor. That part of the episode notwithstanding i find myself in no great hurry to rewatch the story and always skip it when i do a rewatch of Series 1.

Whilst it was nice to see the Slitheen reused, I feel as if they were reduced to some comedic monster of the week trope with no real character development given to Blon Fel-Fotch Passameer-Day Slitheen other than the fact she wanted revenge on the Doctor for killing her family in Aliens of London/World War Three. The scene where she's running away makes me cringe every time I see it and when's she's on the 'date' with the Doctor I want to pull my hair out at all the stilted, unfunny dialogue between the usually brilliant Christopher Eccleston and Annette Badland.

Overall, I personally find this to be one of the worst stories from the RTD Era and New Who in general, I would like to forget this episode ever existed as it drags down what is a fantastic season full of spectacular high points but this is the lowest of low points and spoils my enjoyment of Series 1