The Thirteenth Doctor #21

'The Maze of Doom' (2020) from BBC Children's Books.

Top quality stuff this. These two David Solomons books have captured Thirteen and the Fam so exquisitely. I feel like I know more about them from these than all of the televised run really. Graham has a lot of great focus in this one here. Love all of his bus-related antics, and his care and protection for Ryan. Yaz and The Doctor have lovely chemistry once again as well.

Big fan of the Nimon. Having not seen the Tom Baker story, this is a great introduction to them. It's really cool to see a classic villain being brought back into the new series via the EU rather than the main show. The Grecian lore and even the Polichroniadis villains were very kinetically written.

Only thing I'll say is the little "left not right" message felt a bit wasted. I feel like we should have seen The Doctor make that phone call immediately after they were separated, but then the double-meaning would later reveal itself. Just a weird bit of bootstrapping there that didn't really work for me.

The Ninth Doctor #33

'Shades of Fear: Red Darkness' (2023) from The Ninth Doctor Adventures: Series 2.

An intriguing story bringing back (forward?) the Vashta Nerada and combining them with the Verimine from The Colour of Terror, although I have to say they're both kind of the least interesting part of this. I enjoyed the characters enough, and the Bird Box kind of situation they get into heading back to the TARDIS. Not quite sure how this canonically works, I can't recall if Ten knew what they were, but whatever. I appreciate the talking dog and especially the character of Callen, and how he's seemingly set up to be a companion in Series 4?. I really hope that is the case, as I've been dying for a male companion for Nine, as he's been very female-heavy in these stories.

The Ninth Doctor #32

'Shades of Fear: The Blooming Menace' (2023) from The Ninth Doctor Adventures: Series 2.

I wasn't sure about this at first, but as it went on I found myself getting more and more into it. The setting of the Fellows Club and all the posh-tosh accents and personalities that come with it was very humorous, and the little budding romance going on I quite got into and enjoyed. Big fan of the Day of the Triffids vibes this has, and the presence of the scientist was great. Not too keen on Nanny, or really much after things start to get explained and resolved, but the characters and setting made it a fun time overall.

The Ninth Doctor #31

'Shades of Fear: The Colour of Terror' (2023) from The Ninth Doctor Adventures: Series 2.

Despite being a little bit goofy in a kind of Auton-like setting, the villain here is quite compelling, with how it takes over anything that is the colour red, and the way this influences the really brilliant little set of characters is a lot of fun. Kind of reminds me of a Fam dynamic, with Frank Skinner actually killing it. Could easily see him in a Graham-type position. The ending with the woman talking to her deceased fiancé through the red dress is honestly haunting. Love to see more instances of The Doctor not being able to save everybody.

The Ninth Doctor #30

'Her Own Bootstraps' (2020) from Short Trips - Series 10.

Absolutely love how The Doctor is written and performed in this. Totally grabs his post-Time War trauma in a much more spotlit way than any of the Ninth Doctor Adventures have really gone into it. The Short Trips format is a welcome change for me at the moment too, with narration rather than audio as though there were visuals. Althea is a good moral equation in the mix of an otherwise fairly standard story, but her dynamic with The Doctor really solidifies this. Nice to see Rose crop up too.

The Ninth Doctor #29

'Hidden Depths: Flatpack' (2022) from The Ninth Doctor Adventures: Series 2.

Quite a lot to... unpack... with this one. A really well-maintained tone throughout that I commend the story for a lot. Serves as a good companion, and improvement, to Kerblam!, with an evil IKEA being the setting. The mystery of is it a TARDIS and who's in charge grabbed me quite well, and the reveal of The Doctor being The Manager and all of the staff being all of the people was really cleverly done. I'm not aware of Liv or Tania from their times spent with the Eighth Doctor, but it was nice to experience companions meeting The Doctor with a new face and re-connecting with him. Tania's line about regeneration and comparing it to transitioning was lovely, I didn't even know that was a transgender companion in Doctor Who so that makes me excited to see her with Eight way later on down the line. Infinitely better representation and handling of themes than The Star Beast. I especially like how Liv is the one to save the day, and The Doctor and Tania both become completely brainwashed by Flatpack, it makes a great change to The Doctor just sonic screwdrivering or techno-babbling himself out of a situation which has been happening a lot in these 9DAs, but luckily not all too much in this Hidden Depths volume.

The Ninth Doctor #28

'Hidden Depths: Lay Down Your Arms' (2022) from The Ninth Doctor Adventures: Series 2.

Not the most interesting story, but I like The Doctor's relationship with the side characters a lot. He fits into that sort of Victorian setting very nicely. The Trinity villain is a bit whatever, but the idea of them making humanity fight itself in order to solve their own predicaments because they're not allowed to fight anymore as a result of the Shadow Proclamation is really fun and The Doctor gets a lot to chew on there.

The Ninth Doctor #27

'Hidden Depths: The Seas of Titan' (2022) from The Ninth Doctor Adventures: Series 2.

Very cool little sort of political thriller this one. I really enjoyed the Sea Devils and their civilisation on Titan, and the typical military-esque response that humanity has to that. The Doctor is a great mediator here, and I like how he steps back towards the end and lets them sort out their own problems, and the open-endedness of the narrative is nicely done too. Makes me sort of excited for The War Between the Land and the Sea, as I feel like they're going to have some interesting plot similarities.

The Ninth Doctor #26

'Doctor Jones' (2022) from Origin Stories.

A very weird little story here with Martha Jones getting sucked back in time because of some termiteand the Ninth Doctor saving her and wiping her memory. Feels very wanky as a way to just get Nine and Martha to interact, but I can't say it's anything all that interesting. I did like Martha's relationship with her mother though in this, it adds a lot to what was kind of lacking in her televised run.

The Ninth Doctor #25

'Into the Stars: Break the Ice' (2022) from The Ninth Doctor Adventures: Series 2.

Having just had The Grimminy-Grew as a villain and then quickly going to something as silly and ridiculous as Jack Frost is a bit of a hypocritical dislike for me. I just can't say I enjoyed the presence of this villain at all, although I enjoyed the sentiment of it being a God that exists across many different cultures and yet has a bit of a scientific explanation for having existed since the beginning of time. The side characters really didn't do much for me, and the plot was just a bit of a kerfuffle really.

The Ninth Doctor #24

'Into the Stars: Last of the Zetacene' (2022) from The Ninth Doctor Adventures: Series 2.

I really like Nel as a companion in this story. She pairs incredibly well with The Doctor and sort of reminded me of Nova. The big gambling-ring billionaire sort of setting is fun, The Doctor is well-performed as always, and the story is a fairly enjoyment, although rather forgettable, one.

The Ninth Doctor #23

'Into the Stars: Salvation Nine' (2022) from The Ninth Doctor Adventures: Series 2.

A great Sontaran story here. The Doctor and his going back-and-forth between the ship and storytelling and the planet is all great. I love the Niners and how they're sort of like Sontaran Ewoks. Really really cool lore added onto the Sontarans in this story, and having only seen them in NuWho it's done a lot to increase my interest in them as villains. The mystery of whether or not the Niners are going to reveal themselves as Sontarans the whole time is well-written, especially when the two main ones are pretending to be Sontarans and feel like they're enjoying the evilness too much.

The Thirteenth Doctor #20

'The Secret in Vault 13' (2018) from BBC Children's Books.

A lovely outing with Thirteen and the Fam. Took a little while for it to get going with me, despite enjoying the setting and overarching plot of the Seed Vault and the weed taking over it, but once it got a bit more Terry Nation-y and had a bit of planet-hopping I started to really get into it. Graham and Ryan have some fun moments with the giant mole in the evil rich people's garden. But the real standout of this whole story for me is Yaz entering the mind of the TARDIS, and going through her past and the presence of young Ryan in her head too. It's all really wonderful imagery and adds a lot to her character for me. The Doctor's fake-out death is also done really well for me. I actually felt myself invested and believed it with the Fam.

The Ninth Doctor #22

'Human Conflict' (2018) from The Churchill Years: Volume Two.

Didn't really interest me at all to be honest. I can't say I care much for the Winson Churchill character, and I still don't like the lack of a voice actor for The Doctor, and how Churchill half-heartedly does an impression sometimes but also sometimes doesn't do one at all. It's strange. The story here is very forgettable, with the ultimate weapon being created and needing to be gotten rid of. Just not a lot here did anything for me unfortunately.

The Ninth Doctor #21

'Back to Earth: Auld Lang Syne' (2022) from The Ninth Doctor Adventures: Series 2.

Really love this one. A brilliant use of time-travel, while also being a great way to develop the relationship between Mandy and The Doctor which I find to be one of the most interesting parts of it. I found their romance to be quite believeable, and it does quite a lot for the Ninth Doctor for me, establishing that he's a more open-hearted incarnation who is sort of seeking a connection in the wake of the Time War, leading into Rose in the future nicely. The family drama in the majority of the story is really well written and performed, and the mystery of the house and The Doctor's presence from their perspective is fun. I don't think it really goes into the villainous entity that well for me, when it's kind of just a vague concept villain it does a lot less for me than something more tangible, but that didn't matter as much here when it was such a people-focused story, and the ending with the antibody and the house is a great conclusion to all of that too.

The Ninth Doctor #20

'Back to Earth: The False Dimitry' (2022) from The Ninth Doctor Adventures: Series 2.

Not a particularly big fan of this one, but it is one of the stronger historicals that have been in the 9NAs thus far. The relationships that Dimitry has, the presence of the fake one, and the climax were all cool, but the story palette is just a bit stale for me really and didn't grab me at all.

The Ninth Doctor #19

'Back to Earth: Station to Station' (2022) from The Ninth Doctor Adventures: Series 2.

A really great entry to the 9DAs here. I love the setting of the train stations, the mystery of all of the ghostly characters trapped in the limbo, and the concept behind how they get there I like a lot as well. All of the characters have their own little moments going on that don't get delved that much into but I actually like how they're pretty fleeting, as it helps maintain the focus on Saffron and her predicament, and then The Doctor versus The Grimminy-Grew. A super easy villain to find overly silly and sing-songy and not really intimidating, but I just kinda loved the goofiness and how it contrasted the situation for all of the characters and had a good time. I even liked the name-off between the two, it had a nice Bilbo versus Gollum vibe that I dug.

The Ninth Doctor #18

'What I Did on My Christmas Holidays by Sally Sparrow' (2005) from Doctor Who Annual 2006.

It's very different to experience a Doctor Who story from more of a writer-development perspective rather than canon-development. I don't really care as much about how this Sally Sparrow and the Blink Sally Sparrow could possibly be the same person, and instead find interest in how this plants many seeds that Moffat will later flower in the televised version. As a short story, though, it's plenty of fun, and shares a lot of the mystery and even dread that Blink has while being shrouded in that child-like fairytale wonder.

The Fifteenth Doctor #22

'Spectral Scream' (2025) from BBC New Series Adventures.

I like how this is sort of an extension of the First Doctor story The Arboreals, with a crashed spacecraft adapting to their environment in a unique way. Quite a lot of good stuff going on in this novel concept-wise, and the side characters are fun for the most part, beside the bounty hunters I think as they overstuff it all a bit too much for me. Belinda is okay here, gives her a bit more screentime essentially, but I don't really feel anything for her character. She lacks a lot of what Ruby has I feel like and it's frustrating that she's just been poorly treated.

The Ninth Doctor #17

'Old Friends: The Forth Generation' (2022) from The Ninth Doctor Adventures: Series 1.

Maybe I just wasn't paying enough attention to this, but I was really not invested in the almost entirely action-based story here. Lots of military / Brigadier communications and Cyberman stuff going on. The partial conversion of the woman in the story was a highlight, but still I didn't have any connection to her or the other side characters unfortunately.

The Ninth Doctor #16

'Old Friends: Way of the Burryman' (2022) from The Ninth Doctor Adventures: Series 1.

As a bit of an informal introduction to the Brigadier for me, minus one little First Doctor short story, I suppose a lot of his connection with Nine and their references to their past is a bit lost on me, but I still enjoyed their conversations together. The setting of Scotland with the Burryman and the Forth Bridge is an interesting piece of history with all of the related accidents, and I suppose turning those lost people into Cybermen would be sort of fun maybe if there wasn't a Cyberman story literally two stories ago in these box sets. But the presence of Kreel is quite well done here, even if Nicholas Briggs' performance kind of makes him sound like General Grevious, and as a cliffhanger the reveal is cool. This is generally a pretty solid first-part in a two-parter that doesn't overall work for me unfortunately.

The Ninth Doctor #15

'Old Friends: Fond Farewell' (2022) from The Ninth Doctor Adventures: Series 1.

A pretty good concept here, with a funeral home that can recreate a person to attend their own funeral, very kind of Moffat vibes there. The mystery of Flynn Beckett's missing memories is a good one to unravel, and I think I enjoyed this a fair bit. I was unfortunately listening to it while a little stressed at work, and was pausing it quite a lot, so the flow of it didn't quite make it all work for me, but I don't think that was the fault of the story, and regardless of that I think I'd call it one of my favourites from these 9DAs.

The Ninth Doctor #14

'Lost Warriors: Monsters in Metropolis' (2021) from The Ninth Doctor Adventures: Series 1.

Some really fantastic stuff in this one. Very glad I saw Metropolis for the first time only a month or so ago so none of the references were lost on me, and in general it was a really fun setting for a Cyberman story. The humanisation of the Cyberman was interesting, and comparing that with the true villain of the story worked nicely enough. Not quite sure if it all pulled together perfectly, but it was a very good time overall.

The Ninth Doctor #13

'Lost Warriors: The Curse of Lady Macbeth' (2021) from The Ninth Doctor Adventures: Series 1.

It's a shame that this is such a nothing story because the setting and the characters are a really fun idea. Seeing the true characters of the Macbeth play is a great idea for a historical, but it's all just a bit boring and leaves me feeling really indifferent about it all. I had little-to-no connection with any of the characters or the way that the story was told, which sucks because the Fuath is a cool concept for a villain, but I couldn't tell you anything about it because this really didn't grasp my attention at all unfortunately.

The Ninth Doctor #12

'Lost Warriors: The Hunting Season' (2021) from The Ninth Doctor Adventures: Series 1.

Putting Nine in a wartime setting is always so lush. His characters works wonders in that period with his fresh Time War grief, as shown in The Empty Child / The Doctor Dances, as well as in Battle Scars, which this story actually bears quite a few similiarities to, with the villain being a hard-up kind of arsehole who turns out to be an alien. Some cool stuff in here with that, and the relationship between him and his daughter and the way that The Doctor perceives that is quite fascinating. Not sure if I find this as enjoyable as Battle Scars, I just think the characters aren't quite as well performed, but the Fleshkins are a nice little idea and serve as a well-done switcheroo revealing the true villain of the story.