Seagullslost's Doctor Who (and others) audio reviews

Frankenstein  Big Finish Classics Frankenstein’s monster is one of those things that seems to have always been around, lampooned and retold in so many different ways, that we know more about the fame than the original creation. I remember the Frankenstein Unbound film in the early 90’s with John Hurt. I do have a copy of the novel, though I’m not sure if I’ve actually read it or that its been so long since I did. As with the Invisible man last year, with this on sale its a chance to catch up on  a classic. This stars Arthur Danville as Victor and Nick Briggs as the monster, you’ll be familiar with the other names in the cast but these two do the bulk of the work. Its comprised of three hour long episodes.  A ship trying to find a passage between the ice rescues a man - Victor Frankenstein who tells a strange tale.  Destined to be a Doctor he leaves his home and the woman he is due to marry for  university. There he meets a likeminded man and together they set up...

The Dark Planet Doctor Who The Lost Stories 4.1 The Doctor, Ian, Barbara and Susan are way back in the early times of the universe. On a strange planet with crystal structures and odd statues, and a fight between the light and the dark…. This has all the hallmarks of an early adventure. Much like the Senorites, it has that isolated, unknown element where the rules of Doctor Who had not yet been set. I do like those stories as everything was new and it really could go anywhere and do anything.  With only four cast members and narration, it does come across as an extended Companion Chronicle. William Russell plays Ian and the Doctor with Maureen as Vicky and Barbara. It was much easier to tell the Doctor and Ian apart - a ‘My boy’ here and there made it obvious. However there was little difference between Maureen’s Vicky and Barbara. So, other than sometimes not realising which character was speaking, I didn’t feel like I’d enjoyed a Barbara adventure. I listened to this mostly on a ...

Maelstrom The Sixth Doctor Adventures: Water Worlds 1.3 Another water world. Here the people share bodies. Things aren’t going well and the population was uploaded and held as data. When needed, their minds are downloaded into one of the few bodies that are left. Its an interesting situation the TARDIS crew find themselves in, especially since the arrival of new people also means three new bodies that can used… They also discover evidence that the marine life of the planet have been experimented on to see if minds can be downloaded into them. It is a standard adventure, I do feel that being more focused on one element of the story would have made it more interesting, but I was never really caught up in the plot. The body swapping element could have been used to produce a much more engrossing storyline - I remember Charlie and the sixth in the main range. The maelstrom - the marine life, also could have been developed into something more satisfying. This story as with this set I’ve foun...

The Tides of The Moon The Sixth Doctor Adventures: Water Worlds 1.2 With Hebe joining the TARDIS, and being a marine biologist the Doctor takes her to the nearest ‘water world’. Its nearer than they though - The Moon 2 billion years ago… Though it is our moon it could be any planet really. The local are plagued by some creatures full of teeth called the Sheega, as usual the Doctor and co are sacrificed, and there’s more to life on prehistoric moon than even they are aware of. There is some nice stuff with Hebe. In the fact she touches one of the aliens gills and realise how many times she’s taken offence when someone done that to her wheel chair.  I wasn’t that well when I listened, and there is stuff I missed. So this is written more out of completeness on my behalf than for how useful it is to others. Generally speaking an average adventure. 

The Rotting Deep The Sixth Doctor Adventures: Water Worlds 1.1 An SOS coming from a mobile phone attached to the TARDIS takes The Sixth Doctor and Mel to an oil rig in the North Sea. Things are not good. Attacking gulls, several staff have disappeared and they’re out of food and fresh water. This introduces Hebe as a companion - a marine biologist. Played by Ruth Madeley, perhaps better know for playing Shirley Ann Bingham in Doctor Who and The War Between…. The oil rig’s future is uncertain and Hebe is there is make a decision. Its a two part story (30 minutes each) and a base under siege type - a bit reminiscent of Horror and Fang Rock. And filled with stock characters.  I went to Big Finish day last year (2025) and bought one of the Water World sets for Colin Baker to sign, so I’ve finally got round to listening.  I found it enjoyable. Though I have to admit it isn’t particularly original. There’s a little bit of mystery, danger, peril, the usual stuff you expect for a Doct...

The Ghosts Of Greenwich                                     The Paternoster Gang 1.3                            I wasn’t taken that much with the first episode, but I have to admit they’ve grown on me, even though its only two more I’ve listened to. Looking for a new case the gang find out ‘ghosts' have been seen. The only issue being is that the ghosts are of people who are still alive - well at the time anyway - they died a day later… Though there are other victims - people that have aged decades in minutes… Trevor Cooper plays several characters in this, better know for Devis in Star Cops. I’ve always enjoyed his performances so its a nice addition to the cast. It feels that this is the better story of the three in this set. More suiting to the setting, when I think of Sherlock Holmes adventures, this is more in line with that...

Dumb waiter Doctor Who: The Companion Chronicles 12.2/The Second Doctor 2.2 The second Doctor, Jamie and Victoria attend a garden party but things are not what they seem. More to the point who is Leela and why doesn’t she recognise the Doctor? With Frazer having played the second Docto rin the Early adventures, to does have a sense of a full cast audio, its just Victoria that’s not so well served here. I’ve said before that I don’t read much about the audios before I listen, if its a range I enjoy and it has good ratings and its on sale I’ll grab it. So when Mrs De Winter turns up and I could just about tell it was Louise Jamesons voice - my interest was piqued. With Leela herself entering the story, I knew this was going to be something special. The Doctor needs clarity on a recent adventure and so hooks Jamie up to a recorder so he can fill in the details, as he know that a future self will need it. Its a good way of adding the narration. With bones form an eaten meal left by the foo...

Kaleidoscope                                                                    The Third Doctor Adventures                                                                                 Jenny Nettles - a rival reporter to Sarah Jane, is on telly, she’s discovered an alien called Kaleidoscope. It’s news to UNIT though. However a UFO found at Hampstead Heath three days earlier is enough for the Doctor to spot a connection… This really wasn’t the adventures I was expecting, the cover gave an impression of something more action orientated. The title Kaleidoscope was perhaps some organisation, or tool to take over the world. B...

Beneath the Viscoid The War Master: Only The Good 1.1 So this was a freebie, part one of the set, that I got over five years ago. As with other ranges, it does sometimes mean having to wait till they go on sale, as some of the War Master series did. It is a later set so it felt like a good time to listen to this - I just hope that  set I bought won’t involve me needing to have heard the inbetweening ones… Derek Jackobi reprises his War Master role seen in the Utopia Tv episode. I am a fan of the I, Claudius seres, so a bonus for me. And its more of a Master we didn’t see much of. The Viscoid is a dense ocean that covers the planet the Master is on. The Daleks usually wouldn’t bother retrieving anything, so whatever it is that down there is important. The natives want to use an alien device to destroy the Dalek ship - the device being the Masters Tardis. Its not a bad setup, the right amount of Sc-fi, the waterworld environment I enjoyed. Not to emotion the Daleks. The Master introd...