This is part of a series of reviews of Doctor Who in chronological timeline order.

Previous Story: The Wreck of the Titan

An excellent finale to this short set of stories. This really does feel like the third act of a blockbuster film in all the best ways. It's such an epic story and you can really feel the stakes. I thought Cybermen invading the Land of Fiction would be a stupid idea at first but it really does work surprisingly well. While this story doesn't capture the eerieness of The Mind Robber it brings it's own unique spin to the Land of Fiction.

It's great to hear Jamie and Zoe back together and Colin Baker blends in quite seamlessly into their dynamic. I love the inclusion of all the fictional characters and settings and the way they all blend together is really fun. All the questions and mysteries about this arc are answered satisfyingly and it does end on a bit of a bittersweet note.

Overall, a good end to a strange but very enjoyable little arc.

Next Story: The Curse of Davros

This is part of a series of reviews of Doctor Who in chronological timeline order.

Previous Story: Catastrophe Theory

That was... disappointing. Better than the last two stories but only by the slightest bit. It just feels like all the originality has been chucked out of the window in favour of a Dalek cliffhanger. I guess we always knew it was coming considering the cliffhanger to the first set but I just wish it was done in a slightly more interesting way.

This story carries on the nothing streak from the last two. There's this mysterious place called "the Vanishing Point" and the Doctor needs to go there to somehow find out what the purpose of all his missions has been and he basically just does that for a whole hour. I've already forgotten most of the specific details and I only finished it about 5 minutes ago.

Again, the only thing I can praise here is the performances (and they were great). It's really fun to hear the whole Season 6 team in full-cast audio and Troughton, Hines, and Padbury all have great chemistry with each other. Emma Noakes continues to be great as Raven though she's not nearly as interesting as she was in the last set.

This has been an interesting listen so far. I found the first two sets really promising after a relisten and was expecting this one to be the same for my first listen but it was by far the weakest one. I wanted to be able to say I'll be eagerly awaiting what comes next after this but I really can't say that I am, especially if Nick Briggs remains as involved as he clearly was here.

Next Story: (Unreleased)

This is part of a series of reviews of Doctor Who in chronological timeline order.

Previous Story: Kippers

Nothing continues to happen and it's getting a bit annoying now. I really can't tell you what's changed between the end of the last story and the end of this one because quite frankly I don't think anything has. The Kippers are still just as vague a threat as they were before, I'm still not sure what they're supposed to look like or even be. We still don't know anything about the situation, why the Doctor and co. have been sent here, why Zoe is here, who the Kippers are and what their motivations are.

This story feels so disjointed. For the first half Jamie is trapped on a cruise liner and it's about as interesting as you'd expect as he desperately fumbles with a screen to try and get a message out for 30 minutes. The Doctor is mistrusting of Zoe for a good while before she performs some sort of contact with him and establishes that she is, in fact, Zoe. Then after that they fumble out doing who knows what. Raven is talking to her mysterious bleepy superiors again and she's sort of gone back to being the same basic character from the first set although she does get a decent character moment that hints at her changing to somewhat respect the Doctor.

The second half is more of the same although we do get a sweet little reunion between Jamie and Zoe and for a bit the gang is all back together. There's some more threat from the Kippers and some more arguing between Raven and the Doctor. There's nothing at all clever in this story like there was with The Green Man and the Shroud. The setting is just a bunch of spaceships and there's nothing at all interesting to picture like there was with the last two sets. It's just such a downgrade.

Genuinely the only thing I can praise here is the performances and those are almost always going to be good anyway. The only reason I haven't rated this lower is because of that and that alone.

Next Story: The Vanishing Point

This is part of a series of reviews of Doctor Who in chronological timeline order.

Previous Story: The Shroud

The first real disappointment of the series I'd say. It's not terribly bad but coming off the heels of The Shroud this story definitely looks quite weak. The first half is great, very mysterious and it develops Raven's character in quite a nice way. We also get more of "Paul" from the last story which is great. I love "Paul".

Then "Paul" dies and the story gets considerably worse. We do get some fun conversations between Raven and the Doctor and I love the way the Doctor explains why he does what he does but otherwise there just isn't much. It's revealed there are these beings called "kippers" but they're never really described or anything it's just this vague threat in the story.

The majority of this second half is just Raven and the Doctor arguing. While I love both Emma Noakes and Michael Troughton's performances even they can't really elevate, well, nothing. It's just a nothing story. I'm sure the rest of the set will get better but this is not a promising start.

Next Story: Catastrophe Theory

This is part of a series of reviews of Doctor Who in chronological timeline order.

Previous Story: The Green Man

Another fantastic story and a great way to cap off this set. I like how this story has progressed the arc and developed Raven more as a character. I think this might be Emma Noakes best performance yet though it's a very high bar. I love the concept of  the Shroud, the idea of not being able to percieve visual light and needing "dream-scopes" to stream the world directly to your brain resulting in everything looking like a daydream. The way a species reliant on echolocation thrives in an environment like this. All these ideas are super cool and really well realised and it just makes this story a joy to listen to.

I really enjoy this exploration of the Time Lord's (specifically the CIA's) corruption. It's extremely interesting compared to the typical depiction of them in Doctor Who (The War Games excepted). The Second Doctor is a really great foil to them and I love that we're getting to see the more subtle parts of his characterisation fully realised through Michael Troughton's performance.

The twist reveal that "Paul" was the Shroud all along was one of my favourite parts of the story. I didn't see it coming at all but in hindsight there were quite a few hints. I do like how the Shroud (and by proxy, the Doctor) get their revenge on Raven as she's had it coming for quite a while. All in all, what a story to round out the second set with.

Next Story: Kippers

This is part of a series of reviews of Doctor Who in chronological timeline order.

Previous Story: Jamie

Ok so, that was fantastic. What a story. It feels so good to have a story where the good guys utterly outsmart the bad guys and get a cool moment where they reveal they knew all along. This works so well with Jamie and the Doctor specifically who you can really believe have been coordinating this plan the whole time without anyone (even the audience) noticing.

The atmosphere and setting of the story is really good. It's not the first advanced medical facility but it's definitely unique.  I absolutely love how this genuinely follows the format of some sort of spy thriller with the Doctor being sent in undercover rather than barging in at random and ordering people about. It's stuff like this that makes Season 6B stand out from regular Doctor Who.

The Doctor is in a unique position in this story thanks to Raven poisoning him so he could be admitted to the facility. It's rare that you get a story where the Doctor is forced to stay still and has to rely entirely on his companion. Admittedly, I did chuckle a bit at the Krynoid reveal because it's probably the most Big Finish twist a story could have - bringing back a one-off villain from some random classic story. In fairness I think they work really well in this story, especially the way the Time Lords interact with them.

Raven gets a really outstanding moment at the end, brilliantly performed by Emma Noakes. The Time Lords feel like a genuine threat and the stakes are through the roof. I'm starting to think this is one of the best Doctor Who related things that Big Finish are putting out right now (granted, I haven't listened to a good chunk of their modern output).

Next Story: The Shroud

This is part of a series of reviews of Doctor Who in chronological timeline order.

Previous Story: The Wrath of the Ice Warriors

It just wouldn't be the Second Doctor without Jamie would it? It makes sense why they've brought in Jamie but I do wish we had solo 2 for a bit longer or even a new companion. I can definitely see why this would annoy people who want something new. I personally don't mind it all that much however, Jamie is one of my favourite companions and the chemistry between Fraser Hines and Michael Troughton is fantastic.

Raven is more of an actual person here which was good fun. Seeing a Time Lord who's clearly never properly explored the universe before is very interesting and reminiscent of Romana when she first joined the Doctor. We get a lot more insight into her as a character aswell, her opinions on Earth and the Doctor.

The story itself is nothing spectacular. The Doctor is sent to Scotland where he finds Jamie whose been plagued by a mind parasite that he picked up on his travels with the Doctor. For the majority of the story Jamie is bedridden and having "dreams" about his travels with the Doctor and his life in general. That aspect of the story does make it a bit hard to follow for a while but I think it's easy enough to figure out what's going on by the end.

All in all, I've not got much to say about this one, it's good fun.

Next Story: The Green Man

This is part of a series of reviews of Doctor Who in chronological timeline order.

Previous Story: The Final Beginning

Continuing on with the Second Doctor's post-trial pre-exile adventures, we have Wrath of the Ice Warriors. Before going into this for the second time, I can't say I remembered it favourably and that certainly lines up with how I view most Ice Warrior related stories but after a relisten I have to say I'm pleasantly surprised. It's definitely quite basic and it does drag a little but it's good fun and not nearly as dull as I remember it.

There's not much to say about the plot, it's a pretty standard UNIT adventure made a bit more interesting by the fact it has 2 instead of 3. The setting of rainy Scotland isn't particularly unique but I found it quite cozy. Sheena is a really fun character and for a moment you almost think she's going to be a companion. I'm almost a bit disappointed she wasn't because it would've been an excellent way to carve out a new and distinct era for the Second Doctor rather than falling back on old fan-favourites (I'll get to my thoughts on that in the later stories, however).

The betrayal is excellent if a bit predictable. It happens just quickly enough to take you by surprise while still allowing you enough time to pick up on the clues like the Doctor. We meet an Ice Warrior queen (played by Katy Manning!!!!) who's trying to "reclaim" Mars for herself.  The reveal that the Ice Warriors have overslept and Mars has already been wiped out was pretty obviously coming. It's a tried-and-tested plotline for the Ice Warriors and it's probably the most derivative part of this story. It does leave me a bit disappointed because I feel like the Ice Warriors so rarely get any sort of new storyline. They're trapped in much the same limbo that plagues the Silurians.

The post-credits scene was a good bit of setup for the next few stories. It foreshadows Jamie and reveals that Celestine (the stranded Time Lord from the last story) is or atleast believes he is the Emperor Dalek.

All in all, this is a serviceable adventure. It's nothing special that hasn't been done before but it's made worthwhile by a fun cast with great chemistry in a somewhat interesting setting. I do find it funny though how much this set has pulled from the Third Doctor Adventures, we had Tim Treloar in the first one and now Jon Culshaw and Katy Manning. Let's see if the rest of it keeps up this quality.

Next Story: Jamie

This is part of a series of reviews of Doctor Who in chronological timeline order.

Previous Story: The War Games

With The War Games in Colour having come out recently, I've decided to revisit Big Finish's take on the Doctor's lost adventures in between his trial and his exile. I have listened to them before (mostly) but I didn't really give them my full attention and somewhat sped through them because I was eager to get to the first bits of Doctor Who in colour so I've gone back to give them the proper listen they deserve.

This story starts off strong, right off the heels of the Doctor's trial. The Doctor lands in some sort of snowy environment and it's very atmospheric. It really does feel like the perfect continuation if you listen to it right after that eerie trial scene in The War Games. The Doctor meets a mysterious character called Raven, who we later learn to be a Time Lord. Raven is a really intriguing character, played wonderfully by Emma Noakes. I like the way she acts as a sort of handler for the Doctor, it's a unique dynamic that I don't think we've seen before unless you count the Brigadier.

There's not much in the way of plot in the first half, we meet a few more characters also stranded on this strange snowy planet. The story really gets going when it's revealed that the planet is Skaro and the Doctor has been sent here intentionally to help retrieve a stranded Time Lord. Normally I'd find a Dalek cliffhanger a bit unoriginal but I do think it's done quite well here and given the Second Doctor's unique relationship with the Daleks I'll let them off here. After all that is resolved, there's some ominous moments with Raven and one of the side characters and the story ends.

All in all, this first story isn't much of an actual story, instead it exists to establish the status quo of this new era and introduce the format of the Doctor's adventures going forward. Like I said earlier, it's very atmospheric and sets up a good few mysteries so it's absolutely worthwhile. Michael Troughton's impression of his father's Doctor is great. I think the best impressions are where they play their own version of the character and not the actor and this is a shining example of that. It also helps that they're already quite vocally similar. Michael just sounds like an ever-so-slightly pitched up version of his dad. Ultimately, the fact that his impression is so good from the get-go is a promising sign and I'm looking forward to revisiting the rest of Season 6B.

Next Story: The Wrath of the Ice Warriors

This is part of a series of reviews of Doctor Who in chronological timeline order.

Previous Story: Night's Black Agents

Another fairly solid outing for Jamie and the Doctor. I was hoping we'd get a proper Titanic story but I think I actually prefer the way this story went. It's a bit confusing and there's a lot of different characters from different fictional stories mixed in which at first glance seems like needlessly confusing writing but it's all explained by an absolutely fantastic twist at the end. It does leave the story feeling like it's all just been set-up to the twist and makes it hard to review on it's own as it's so clearly linked to the next one but there's more than enough here to make up for that. Fraser Hines and Colin Baker are excellent as always and it's just a joy to hear them paired up. I'm excited to hear the resolution of this.

Next Story: Legend of the Cybermen