Seagullslost's Doctor Who (and others) audio reviews

Iron Bright Doctor Who The Monthly Adventures 239 The Doctor lands in London in 1828 and The Brunels are digging a tunnel under the Thames… This had the feeling of Mark of The Rani - an historical setting, not that far in the past. The historical figure - Isambard Kingdom Brunel. Workers scared of ghosts etc.  A standard plot and  felt flat. Things change in the second half of the story, as it doesn’t play out in they way you might think. As episode three continued I had to go back and relisten as I wasn’t taking it in, and even when I did I found myself questioning the plot. It kind of felt like a tangent, though it all came together. Without wanting to give too much away the overall plot has similar theme to the TV series Fringe.  I was never excited about this audio, there is nothing inherently wrong with it. The character of Flo was the most developed but there wasn’t enough of her. Ok but lacked 

Planet Of The Witches The Fourth Doctor Adventures 9.3 I bought the CD in a Big Finish warehouse sale, and had the cover signed by Matthew Waterhouse at a convention last year. It was then that I realised I hadn’t actually listened to it yet. So it was brought forward in the schedule. Its a little odd the 4th Doctor having 3 companions, Romana, Adric and K9. It so brief in the series that its easy to forget. The Doctor and Romana are trying to map E space, with a bored Adric. They soon find themselves on a planet and no surprises there are witches. I never got a grip on this one, from the initial scenes which I didn’t quite grasp what was going on, and I should have restarted the audio, though I did feel that it would pick up. With the Doctor and Romana separating and traversing a swamp. The most interesting part was Adric and Tiresias - the main antagonist. Adric having a advanced brain and all. The rest of the plot I wasn’t invested it, and after Adric and Tiresias parted I was even ...

The Sleeping Blood The Companion Chronicles 9.1 On their travels the Doctor cut’s his hand, unable to cure any infection, the Doctor takes to his bed while Susan finds help. This is a very heavily narrated story, not my favourite kind, but reasonably enjoyable nonetheless. It does depend on your preferences, Frostfire put me off the CC’s for 14 years, and this did remind me of it. With the Doctor ill, its a solo Susan adventure set before an Unearthly Child . The place and planet Susan finds herself, is one where antibiotics are obsolete and in their place are nano machines . Not only that but the building she’s in is caught up in a situation: ‘ the Butcher ’ has hijacked the nano machines and is holding the people to ransom. A squad has been sent to get him. It is a long time into part 1 until we hear another voice. Not that that’s a complaint, Carol does a great job and its always great to have her. But it can be quite demanding to listen to. Its not a particularly complicated plo...

Suspicion and Sabotage Star Cops: Conflict 5.1 Nathan and Devis are on Earth, valuable minerals are running low, but an astroid belt holds the answer. A plan to mine it for the benefit of all is under discussion. As usual not all are on board. Meanwhile Kenzy goes to the lunar pole; tapping into the ice sheets has been the target of sabotage. Luckily Paul is already under cover. Alice isn’t present in this, we find out early on that she is bringing a prisoner back from Mars. On Earth Nathan and Devis meet Alexandra Myers, and there’s a nice bit of drama as Nathan follows someone and he gets into a perilous situation. The action sequences do suffer being on audio, but it's quite enthralling, bringing back memories and excitment I felt staying up late because I couldn't put my book down. The Kenzy and Paul strand has its moments too, and it all comes together when Nathan, Devis and as it happens Alexandra return to the Moon. Its enjoyable. The end does set things up for the serie...

Lure Of The Nomad Doctor Who The Monthly Adventures 238 The Doctor and Mathew respond to a distress call and find themselves on an abandoned ship drifting through space.  I did initially have difficulty fowling this; wether I’m getting old or endlessly scrolling through social media is diminishing my concentration I don’t know. Maybe its that The Sixth is travelling with Mathew and I spent the first part trying to remember who he was and what adventure he joined in. The new owner of the ship is on board, being interviewed by reporter Ester, as he has plans to turn it into a luxury hotel, with the assistance of the Makara. When people start dying, its apparent that there is something else going on. We do get an explanation of Mathew and how he met the Doctor, and things settle down. It becomes a fairly run of the mill story, not bad, not exactly stand out either.  The Makara have tentacled exo suits that have been hijacked for killing, and its largely about avoiding them, and f...

Secret Of The Daleks The Second Doctor Adventures: The Potential Daleks 1.2 With the Daleks seemingly coming back, the Doctor Jamie, Zoe and Raven decide on their next move. While Raven thinks Gallifrey is the answer, The Doctor feels its Skaro that should be their next destination. I’ve not been that complimentary of this and the last release.  While Skaro was their heading, they find they’re in a small village on a planet. Suddenly its three weeks later, and they’ve been happily idling about. Usually in circumstances like this it turns out that our heroes are under some kind of spell, not this time. It doesn’t tie in with the urgency of the Daleks returning and themes of the series. Part two changes the situation and we get full on Daleks. Though its connected with the village, it just makes the first part almost redundant. This is everyone being held by the Daleks and the Doctor and co escaping. It has its moments but I spent the episode wishing for a more traditional adventure....

Humpty Dumpty                                                                             The Second Doctor Adventures: The Potential Daleks 1.1                                             Unfortunately this carries on from the last set, my feelings towards the Conspiracy of Raven release are not good. It was hard going, unrewarding and having had to sit through it twice to try and get a hold on it, it wasn’t a pleasant experience. On one hand there’s a woman whose relationship with the nursery rhyme Humpty Dumpty is causing problems. On the other we find The Doctor, Zoe and Raven where we left them at the Vanishing point and like us, trying to work out what’s going on.  I spent a we...

The Surest poison Sapphire and Steel 2.2 An auction of time pieces is where we start this audio. The man selling collection has lived well beyond the normal for a human, which is where Sapphire and Steel enter. Richard Franklin, plays Webb, better know as Mike Yates from Doctor Who. The time pieces have been keeping him alive and now its time he gave them away.  This is pleasant enough story, the time pieces were created, each one more complex than the last which help Sapphire and Steel to travel to different time zones to stop times bidding. It has its moments, but I’m struggling to find a hook to sell the story on. As with the previous audio though I remember enjoying them at the time, I find they’re not living up to my memory of them. With this I didn’t feel the drama, there’s nothing that stands out either as good or bad. With two 30ish minute episode the final two are just 15 minutes long, leaving me feeling a little short changed or wondering why they didn’t try to even out t...

t’s A Wonderfull War - An Eight Doctor Story Doctor Who: Christmas - It’s A Wonderfull War and Other Stories The Doctor is on a asteroid, its the last independent mining operation, Galen is trying to keep the community going, but all isn’t perfect. This starts off with Vekin, so its time war audio, but then switches to the mining world, which is narrated, and you wonder where is going and why. The Doctor is more in the background for this third/half of the episode. They have American accents, another audio I listened to earlier in the year did the same thing Americans accents for absolutely no reason. I’ve said before if this was a US production I wouldn’t question it, but it just felt unnecessary. Things shift a gear as you’re made aware of the Daleks and the situation on Oblivion isn’t as simple as it appears. The Doctor is much more involved. But I started to lose track of the plot. Going from a story I’m not that interested in, to having more and more situation changing info thrown...