Seagullslost's Doctor Who (and others) audio reviews

 One of Our Cops Is Missing                                            Star Cop: Mother Earth 1.1                         A new station is being built and the Star Cops need new recruits. An old friend of Nathans asks for help regarding an undercover officer, while Devis and Priya deal with a faulty spacesuit. With no new series this year (2025) it felt like a good time to go back and revisit the first. Though it came out in 2018 I didn’t get round to it until 20/21 ish - it feels much longer. I really enjoyed the Tv series so I’m not sure what took me so long to get round to the audios. With only three of the original cast returning, and Pal Kenzy only...

The Companion Chronicles  6.7 The Anachronauts Set in the Daleks Masterplan story this features The First Doctor, Steven and Sara. With Peter Purves and Jean Marsh as the cast. A collision in the vortex strands the Tardis crew on an island somewhere on a planet. The other ship is an experimental time vessel, the two crews will have to work together to survive. So how to Steven and Sara end up in Berlin accused of being spies? Its a nice beginning - the crash, waking up, stranded, the other ships crew. The fact that the other ship is also a time machine and the distrust between the two sets of people. There’s plenty to keep you interested, when they find the Tardis’s food dispenser in the middle of nowhere you do wonder whats happened to the Tardis and how they’re going to get out of it. The situation gets as both Steven and Sara get hurt and it does feel that this might be the end for them. When I came back to listen to part 3 I felt I had missed something. Suddenly its Germany, St...

The Monthly Adventures  235: Ghost Walk A slight different story approach here. A woman dong a ghost walk on modern day Earth and the Tardis arriving in cave a few centuries before hand. Seemingly unconnected until one of the ghosts turns out to be the Doctor. So part one is about the Doctor, Adric, Nyssa and Tegan arriving in the caves and something not right. Its very atmospheric, holds your attention and just enough mystery to make you want to hear more. Part two is concerned with he fates of Adric and Nyssa. Both having escaped the doom awaiting them, find themselves still in the past, alone, each facing their own problems. Not much from the Doctor in this episode. But till you don’t know whats going. The final two parts deals with the Doctor and Tegan, though it is just the Doctor by part 4. I quite enjoyed it. It isn’t the normal run around. The fact that the companions are written out, each facing a different ‘end’ really heightens the peril of the situation the Doctor has f...

The Companion Chronicles 1.1 Frostfire When the Companion Chronicles were first announced I preordered and was really looking forward to it. However when it came I listened to the first few minutes, turned it off and that was it. A narrated story wasn’t something I enjoyed. It wasn’t until I came to the Jago and Litefoot series, and their first series continuing from The Companion Chronicles ‘pilot’ they did that I gave that episode a go and rather enjoyed it. I asked for recomendations and pretty much started buying them up. So now I thought I’d go back to the beginning and see if my opinion had changed. Vicky or Lady Cressida, now married with children, living in Earths past, writes down a story of when she was with the Doctor. She tells this story to something that lives beneath the city, an entity that only Vicky knows and who knows of the Doctor. The story she narrates is from when she, The Doctor and Steven arrived in London, in the 1800’s - the Thames frozen over and the frost f...

The Lost Stories 6.2 The Doomsday Contract The Doctor and Romana are enjoying a holiday when co ordinates are sent into the Doctors mind. A summons from the highest court in the Galaxy cannot be ignored. This is very much on the comedy side of things. With Douglas Adams as script editor at the time this ‘lost story’ was commisisoned and written by John Lloyd, its no surprise. There are also one or two Hitchhiker references for those who can spot them. You feel that with the Doctor being effectly summoned, an interesting court case is to be played out, yet it seems to go off subject more than once. He’s asked to speak on the defence of Earth, but then has to go into a micro universe for witness protection where he resides for most of the audio. Romana chasing up issues in the real world. As much as I am of a fan of Douglas Adams and John Lloyd for that matter, this story isn’t up there with the greats. Its reasonable, enjoyable, but not that memorable. I am surprised to see how highly i...

Missy Series 1 Part 4: The Belly Of The Beast A little bit of a departure from the previous episodes. A planet with slave miners, but what are they digging for?  Of course Missy is behind it; the slaves are digging for her, but there are monsters, a rebellion and the planet seems to be the inside of an animal. It does show the evil side of Missy, unlike the first three episode where she’s been more disruptive and meddlesome. Work the slave until they die and then get more - it is an interesting place to be as a listener.You are kind of rooting for Missy, but also the slaves. To begin with I did wonder where this story was going. Its mostly told from the slaves point of view, its not much of a spoiler, there are clones, and some unanswered questions that you need to bear with, but it all works out in the end. I do have to give a shout out for Michelle Gomez’s accents in this series she’s brilliant at them and its very entertaining.

Missy Series 1 Part 3: The Broken Clock The adventure continues. In this episode the listener finds themselves hearing a US crime documentary. Impossible murders where the victim, recently killed has been dead for months? Its does take over fifteen minutes for Missy to enter the story and at first I wasn’t getting into it. I do feel that British should stick to British and US to US, as I’m never really sure if its offensive or not. I know I cringe at US Tv programs with British accents, interestingly enough it does come into play in this. So as you can imagine it does that docudrama thing of narrating and reenacting the events of the crime. And it is when Missy eventually turns up when the lines between fiction and reality start to blur. Suddenly we’re not sure if the actors recreating the events are actors, since they can hear the narrator and can’t see any cameras. There’s also the added meta of Missy’s interjections that play with Tv tropes. It does hold your attention, the mystery ...

Missy Series 1 Part 2: Divorced, Beheaded, Regenerated Missy and the Monk. Great fun, The Monk has taken the identity of King Henry, His new bride to be? Missy. It is a similar setup to the Doctor/Master working together for a common cause. Neither are who they’re supposed to be, but maintain the pretence. With other timlords - the Rani, Monk etc, it a little hard to understand their motives. The Master/Missy, just evil, but the others often seem to be paler versions. The Monk having only appeared in a couple of tv stories, he was more a comic aside, rather than a fully developed character. I have heard him before in audio, but Rufus Hound does a great job in bring a new take, he and Missy play well off each other and its a pleasure to listen to. In this, both Missy and the Monk are in the same predicament, stuck where they are and need each other to escape from Earth. Its not a particularly in depth plot, pretty much a stand alone, something you can just put on and enjoy. As with the ...

Missy Series 1 Part 1: A Spoonfull Of mayhem Missy was/is a great character, played wonderfully by Michelle Gomez, and a character you just want more of. Though I have heard her before in the Once and Future series and in Masterfull, this is her own vehicle. I was somewhat underwhelmed by the River Song series I heard it didn’t seem to really capture the essence or charm that River had in the TV series. So Is this any better? Missy has been confined to 19th century Earth by the wardens for her crimes. Unable to use technology and her usual methods she’s forced to take a position as governess to two children. This audio was a breath of fresh air, its kind of a cross between the Famous Five and Mary Poppins. The fact that these two children Lucy and Oliver, instead of the normal stuffy old teachers they’ve been used to, are now looked after by an exciting woman who doesn’t stick to the rules. Missy isn't taking her predicament lying down, she has a plan. I found it really enjoyable, ...