A Fifth Doctor story based on Alice in Wonderland and written by Paul Magrs was always going to appeal to me, so from the very first announcement I had my eyes on this book. I am pleased then, that I can call this book an utter delight.

Arriving in Oxford, The Doctor, Tegan, Nyssa, and Turlough meet Charles Dodgson, better known as Lewis Carroll, and very quickly find themselves caught up in an adventure straight out of his works.

Paul Magrs makes it clear from the beginning that he knows his stuff, as he writes our TARDIS travellers flawlessly, while incorporating elements of the Alice stories in a delightful manner.

The Doctor (who introduces himself as Doctor Who within the story) gets swallowed by a Jabberwock, drinks a potion labelled “drink me”, and meets up with Alice herself. He rarely sleeps, but when he does, he usually bursts awake with a great long list of things he wants to get done. He’ll happily play cricket, as long as it doesn’t involve exploding hedgehogs.

Tegan, much like Charley, holds fond memories of Alice in Wonderland from her childhood, and finds herself matched up with The Mad Hatter, The March Hare, and the Dormouse (from her favourite chapter of the story), who are well characterised and fun across the story, to the point where it’s something of a shame when reality is reasserted and the Dormouse is returned to a normal mouse (albeit one with a fondness for tea). She listens for the mocking laugh of The Mara deep inside her soul.

Nyssa and Turlough are paired up for most of the story, the latter being sickened by Nyssa’s optimism, refusing to take the situation seriously or show respect to any of Wonderland’s inhabitants – which gets him kicked out of a tea party, and nearly loses him his head. It is Turlough, under the Black Guardian’s orders, who creates the situation, spilling a potion into the TARDIS console. After mentioning Adric, The Black Guardian tells him that the Doctor didn’t save him because he doesn’t care for those he travels with. The Guardian hears Adric’s lonely screams in the Abyss.

Overall, Paul Magrs delivers a delightful story, packed with love for the Fifth Doctor and the Alice in Wonderland books, which will leave you struggling to put the book down until the end.

10/10

A lovely introduction to Jo Martin's Fugitive Doctor on Audio, the final installment of Once and Future keeps the dartboard approach that has characterised the series so far, but manages to balance all the moving parts well.

The final scenes with the Voord and Queen Elizabeth give me hope for the upcoming Fugitive series.

Overall, despite not being the strongest of Once and Future, it manages to be on the stronger side, and I would recommend it to anyone who is even vaguely familiar with the set up of Once and Future

Sarah gets a gun, we are introduced to the inimitable power of the Hand of Sutekh, what more needs to be said?

Sutekh is back, baby!

Looking forwards to how next week's episode wraps this up, this has a lot of potential right now.

Random thoughts:

RTD bring back Susan already you coward!

Mel is an absolute delight

A camera 66 Metres away? Or, 73 Yards.

Touched by an Angel is a deliciously tragic story.

Mark is an empathetic character, as we see him throughout his life, we begin to understand what Rebecca meant to him, which makes this story all the more tragic, as the reader understands that he will not be able to save Rebecca, but are nonetheless rooting for him, as most of us would certainly attempt to save someone we loved.

The time travel is done well, and the entire premise of going back in time to make sure your life turns out correctly is a fascinating concept.

I hope that we can eventually see an Angel story of this calibre on TV one day

10/10

In my opinion, this story might just be the peak of Doctor Who. Likeable side characters are always a good thing, and this story might have the most well rounded one-off characters of NuWho (Big Finish box set when?), but that's merely an aside to the true meat of this story.

A time travel story that isn't overly complex, whilst still using a well-known paradox. And the explanation of that paradox, 12 breaking the fourth wall and playing guitar, might just be the most Doctor Who scene ever.

Meanwhile, in the future, we have a fantastic Base Under Siege, with a classic example of Who taking the supernatural and making it scientific.

The Fisher King has a fantastic design, and his ghosts look wonderfully spooky.

I love this story, and it has been my comfort watch since first airing.

10/10

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