You can’t really go wrong with a Jo Grant/Katy Manning audio.

Here Jo seems to go from criss to criss. Almost the last few climatic minutes of an adventure, before being somewhere else doing much the same.

It doesn’t take much to know that things aren’t what they seem, the audio itself makes it obvious that what is being experience by Jo isn’t real, and it does become a bit of a waiting game for the reveal.

The title is slightly misleading as it doesn’t quite live up to it. Its just a few versions with reference to others.

It is more on the lighter, easy listening side, so if you’ve just come off a boxset or complicated plot this serves as some light relief.

To be honest I said at the start you can’t go wrong with a Katy Manning story and though this isn’t the most memorable, it forefills the requirements of an entertaining outing.

I was put off the Companion Chronicles after hearing the first few minutes of Frostfire, it really wasn’t my cup of tea. But when I began the Jago and Litefoot series which tied into the Mahogany Murders Companion Chronicles ‘pilot’ it seemed wise to give it a listen. Suddenly I was interested. This was one of the audios that was suggested when I asked for recommendations (and since then I’m pretty much making my way through the  lot).

Charlie enters a toyshop, no idea where she is or why, the shop keeper tells her she needs to play the game, but what is the game?

I love the character of Charlie and India Fishers performance. The Toymaker is back and David Bailie is great in the role. It is more akin to the Celestial Toymaker version than his appearance in The Giggle.

Solitaire isn’t narrated, it plays out as a normal adventure, with just the two members of the cast. It works really well, I do think Big Finish are quite good at two handers. You are as invested as Charlie is in wanting to find out what’s going on, what is the game she’s playing? And wondering if she’ll remember the Doctor. The Toymaker is as frustrating as ever giving rather unhelpful answers and riddles.

There is a time limit of the game as well; its intriguing stuff and adds tension to the proceeding. Its two 30 minutes episodes and was just right.

This story is as good as people said and I’d praise it as much as they have.

The Doctor runs into some old friends, Liv Chenka and Tania Bell and spend their time in a place not unlike ikea.

I do think it works better when the Doctor has a companion, and its something the 9th Doctor adventures have lacked. With Liv and Tania running into the Doctor they do fill that role. Liv I’ve heard before and I’ve always enjoyed Nicola Walkers work. Tania I don’t know, but other than being old friends of the Doctors you don’t need anything more to enjoy this story, there were a couple of references to stuff I wasn’t aware of, but nothing that impacted on the story.

The flatpack shop is new to the area, yet its always been there and why are the staff masked?

This isn’t the ‘biggest’ adventure, more of an interlude. Getting reacquainted with Liv and Tania, isn’t as momentous as the Tenth and Sarah Jane, but this is a post war Doctor and I suppose more could have been made of that.

Flatpack is based on ikea, even referencing the fact that Ikea is intensionally hard to navigate so that you keep hold of something in case you can’t find it again. The sprawling array of furniture to buy, and as the Doctor discovers, not all is of the time.

There is a part where you know what the big reveal is, if you hadn’t guessed already, and its a waiting game for the Doctor and co to catch on.

Overall I enjoyed it, I do feel there was potential for a grander audio. Its not groundbreaking, but a nice way to spend an hour.

‘She couldn’t drown a biscuit in a cup of tea”

A light hearted historical.

Earth 1864, and The Doctor is giving singing lessons?

I listened to half of this before I went to back to start again. Historicals aren’t my favourite, but this seemed to be one where, though stuff has taken place, you’re still wondering what the plot is.

Its Europe, and aliens are using salts to beef up the anger in Humans in order top make them fight. I wasn’t engaged in it, its fairly standard plot, Vampires of Venice springs to mind. The aliens are a bit wishy washy and not fleshed out.

This features Bertha Von Stuttner, who won a Nobel Peace prize - to be honest I didn’t know who she was, so at least it taught me something. I think that fact that is more about her than the threat accounts for the flimsy alien plot line. So maybe its more akin to The Unquiet Dead, and maybe if I’d have know this I would have appreciated it more.

There are a number of continuity references - Judoon, the Shadow Proclamation.

It does pick up in the second half, but the end is a little down out. Again I feel if I was more invested in Bertha it would have been more satisfying.

The Doctor arrives on Titan, a moon around Saturn, the last remants of a human settlement are still there, and they’re trying to explore the depths of the sea.

The pre title sequence seems a bit pointless, I think Stephen Moffat said that what used to be episode one of a classic era story is now the pre titles bit. Other than a little bit of scene setting, the Doctor turns up says Hello and that’s it!

I don’t read a lot about stories before I listen, so while it was a nice surprise for me, you may already know, that this features the Sea Devils. I’ve been watching the Silurians over the last week, and also just heard the first of the Paternoster audios. So I’ve been a a bit a theme lately - all by accident. It is just as well that I did as this story references the events of (and) The Silurians.

There is a bit of rehashing of what’s gone before, the two species afraid of each other, a bit of double crossing, the virus etc. The Sea Devils voices not the best on audio, they weren’t the best on TV either for that matter, so you do need to concentrate when they’re talking.

This is the kind of story I enjoy; a bit reminiscent of the impossible Planet/Satin Pit, the last people on a remote outpost, trying to stay alive in harsh conditions.

Its not the most complex story, it doesn’t go into much detail and the themes have been done elsewhere. It might be a nice set up for a story that could come later, but as it is it's Ok, enjoyable. A really good idea or another component would have elevated this to being something special.

Arriving on a space station thats 60 minutes out of sync for tax reasons, the Tardis team find themselves attending a funeral. The Doctor came looking for crystals, but the recently deceased had a large fortune left to his next of kin.  The family are made up of part clones, and unfortunately, they keep dying…

This is very much a light hearted adventure, its easy going and has a number of fun aspects. It might not be for everyone, but if you’re looking for something not too deep then this will do. It reminds me of Bang Bang a Boom! A lot of characters each with their own motives and seemingly reasons for murder.

I am a fan of murder mysteries, Columbo, Death in Paradise so for me I enjoyed this. It has been mentioned its a take on the film Kind Hearts And Coronets, I’ve never watched it but this as with that the family are all played by the same person.

There’s a nice part with the Doctor confined and talking to a robot and reflecting on his life. Tegan having the chance at romance.

I listened to this a month ago and found I haddn't finished what I was writing. Now I'm struggeling to remember.

Its Ok.

A slight different story approach here.

A woman dong a ghost walk on modern day Earth and the Tardis arriving in cave a few centuries before hand. Seemingly unconnected until one of the ghosts turns out to be the Doctor.

So part one is about the Doctor, Adric, Nyssa and Tegan arriving in the caves and something not right. Its very atmospheric, holds your attention and just enough mystery to make you want to hear more.

Part two is concerned with he fates of Adric and Nyssa. Both having escaped the doom awaiting them in part one, find themselves still in the past, alone, each facing their own problems. Not much from the Doctor in this episode. But still you don’t know whats going on.

The final two parts deals with the Doctor and Tegan, though it is just the Doctor by part 4.

I quite enjoyed it. It isn’t the normal run around. The fact that the companions are written out, each facing a different ‘end’ really heightens the peril of the situation the Doctor has found himself in. Its been done quite well, you don’t really know how the Doctor became a ghost or how things will be put right.

There are a couple of swipes at Tegan, just the odd comments made at her expense - made me smile.

The resolution was a little unsatisfying, its virtually wave a magic wand and the companions are fine and well again.

Its a good audio, not quite great or best of the best. But its a bit more original and refreshing.

The Doctor, Tegan, Nyssa and Adric arrive on a planet divided by a not so happy couple.

The couple are The Duke and Duchess, who only a year into marriage are now at loggerheads. So much so that the Duke has hired an assassin. When the TARDIS team find themselves on either side of a dividing line, each pair, therefore on a ‘different’ side. They both opt for the same survival method: they are the assassins come to kill the other’s spouse.

It is a bit of a challenge to suspend the disbelief, just happing to have the same idea as each other. And a somewhat outlandish one at that. It does lean more towards comedy than a serious drama, as long as you’re onboard with that then there’s fun to be had.

Things change half way through when the real assassin turns up, from there it become the usual runabout. Patsy Kensit features in this - a bit of a blast from the past - for me, a name I've not heard or seen for quite a while.

It takes a more dramatic turn at the end, assassins kill, and the Doctor has a choice to make.

Its an enjoyable audio, standard. Has its moments, not something that’s going to stick out. But worth a listen.

A little bit of a departure from the previous episodes. A planet with slave miners, but what are they digging for?

Of course Missy is behind it; the slaves are digging for her, but there are monsters, a rebellion and the planet seems to be the inside of an animal.

It does show the evil side of Missy, unlike the first three episode where she’s been more disruptive and meddlesome. Work the slave until they die and then get more - it is an interesting place to be as a listener. You are kind of rooting for Missy, but also the slaves.

To begin with I did wonder where this story was going. Its mostly told from the slaves point of view, its not much of a spoiler, there are clones, and some unanswered questions that you need to bear with, but it all works out in the end.

I do have to give a shout out for Michelle Gomez’s accents in this series she’s brilliant at them and its very entertaining.

The adventure continues. In this episode the listener finds themselves hearing a US crime documentary. Impossible murders where the victim, recently killed, has been dead for months?

Its does take over fifteen minutes for Missy to enter the story and at first I wasn’t getting into it. I do feel that British should stick to British and US to US, as I’m never really sure if its offensive or not. I know I cringe at US Tv programs with British accents, interestingly enough it does come into play in this.

So as you can imagine it does that docudrama thing of narrating and reenacting the events of the crime. And it is when Missy eventually turns up when the lines between fiction and reality start to blur. Suddenly we’re not sure if the actors recreating the events are actors, since they can hear the narrator and can’t see any cameras. There’s also the added meta of Missy’s interjections that play with Tv tropes.

It does hold your attention, the mystery of whats actually going on, the intrigue of mentions of other characters. I ended up thoroughly enjoying it, it felt longer than an hour, and another listen is in order to fully appreciate it.

Recommended.