Seagullslost's Doctor Who (and others) audio reviews

The School  Sapphire and Steel No surprises in that our heroes arrive at a school. The school is celebrating its 100 year anniversary, But all is not well as time is trying to break though. The audio series is what drew me to watch and love the Tv series. Now going back I feel not quite as enamoured as I was, though maybe I’m just getting old! There is this thing with Sapphire and Steel, where there’s a lot of not much progress until the end, perhaps its seems more apparent here. The audio series is more adult than the Tv series. I found it a little uncomfortable to hear Sapphire being slapped repeatedly and then to get passionate. The entity forces both Sapphire and Steel to revert to being children, and maybe we all have memories of overbearing teachers who insist they know right. Its not the longest stories, as its 4x 20 minutes episodes, but I don’t mind if its fits. There are one or two twists along the way. But I wasn’t that taken with it. 

The Killing Jar                                   Star Cops Mother Earth 2.2                                 Nathan , Kenzy and Paul head to the Charlie Chaplin , a repurposed space station, now used for space tourism . Its owner, known to Kenzy, is suspected of cutting corners and endangering lives. Their contact on the Charlie Chaplin seems to be missing and a journalist also is interested in finding him. When his body is seen floating out of an air lock its just the beginning of the Star Cops troubles . Its a reasonable enough adventure and has all the usual trapping of a Star Cops story. Priya not having much of an appearance and Devis in a reduced role, leaves Nath...

The Emporium At The End                            The New Adventures Of Bernice Summerfield 3.4                          Its the end, or is it? After the war ruined the universe, its collapse is imminent. The Doctor takes refugees to the only escape there is: the gateway emporium - a doorway to another universe. Of course its not that easy, selling memories to buy lottery tickets to secure your place to the other side. The fact that the end is coming a little too soon, and ‘ The Manager ’ whose a little too familier. Its a great cast David , Lisa and Mark Gatiss (rearrange Sam Kisgart ). Mark, who appears on the cover, popped up in the first episode of this set, and is playing the unbounds Master though he’s not mentioned as such. He do...

Resistor Doctor Who : The Fifth Doctor Adventures - In The Night Once again the TARDIS goes a little off course, instead of visiting Tegan’s family in Yugoslavia, its Warsaw, Poland 1982. In a club, a band play but are interrupted as punk music is considered capitalist propaganda, and soon the Doctor, Tegan, Nyssa and the band are being hunted by the secret police. With the Doctor stepping in to play drums when the drummer fails to turn up and then coming out with an Australian accent its not quite what we’ve come to expect. But then Nyssa knowing about clubs and punk music seems a little out of place also. Though not quite the norm, I did enjoy the start, sadly from then on, it was much of a run about. Back and forth, hiding from the police, splitting up and reuniting, and I’m not really sure if it was all necessary. There is a moment where the Doctor suspects there is something ‘alien’ though how he deduces it I’m at a loss for. The sci fi element comes into its own for about 10 minu...

The Very Dark Thing                            The New Adventures Of Bernice Summerfield 3.3                                    Weeks after they arrived on the planet Tramatz , Benny finally tracks down the Doctor , however he’s more interested in trying to work out what tune the river is humming. The talking skies and unicorns that also inhabit the planet of the least of Benny’s worries as an invading force has declare war on the people, yet Benny is the only who can hear the invaders demands. There is enough mystery here to keep you interested, obviously something is wrong. The very dark thing in question is something that can only be seen through the corner of your eye, a blind spot, it doesn’t want to be seen. But its where the Doctor, Banny and their friend Magatz go. This continues the war theme of the series. I remember...

Snare Doctor Who The Ninth Doctor Adventures The Doctor and Rose are taking a rest after the events of Fathers Day. Back on the Powell estate, with Jackie, and the Doctor being somewhat unusually suburban. When an old friend turns up, and his flat seems too have been taken over by plants, they find themselves somewhere else. Its been a long wait tho have Christopher Eccleston and Billie Piper together again. Longer than the eighties Doctors and their companions I think. I enjoyed the 9ths audios, and one thing I kept thinking is that he could do with a companion so when this was announced, I pleased to say the least. I’ve not listened to the Dimension Cannon audios, so its the the three audios Billie did with David Tennant (10th Vol2) which I heard a few years ago. I don’t remember that much, but I don’t think I was that impressed by them. Camile Coduri joins them as Jacky and to be honest she’s great. The plot isn’t the most complex, fairly straightforward, and little thin on the grou...

The Doctor’s Gambit Doctor Who Short Trips: A Feast Of Steven The Doctor, Steven and Dodo find themselves on a planet where the locals seem to be chosen to pass through an invisible barrier to participate in games… I could tell from the off that this wasn’t going to be as interesting as the first in this set. Just something about it. Whether I was a little distracted or just not paying attention, it seemed that the TARDIS team landed, saw people trying to get through the barrier and joined in. Its all a bit up in the air, as, along with the characters, you’ve no real idea what its all about. And the Doctor is absent too.  If you’ve wahcthed the last episode of the Celestial Toymaker and have no knowledge of the previous epodes then I supped this is akin to that. On the positive side: Dodo. I am struggling to remember if I’ve heard a audio featuring her. I’ve not delved into the short trips much, or Steven Noonan’s version, and I do have an early adventures I’ve yet to listen to. So...

Planet X The New Adventures Of Bernice Summerfield 3.2 The Doctor gives Benny a choice as to their next destination, that said its a choice of 3 options. No surprises as Benny choose Planet X the most boring, dull place there is… The first things that happened when I started this was I asked questions. With their first meeting in the last episode being a bit of a whirlwind adventure, now was time time to catch up. How Benny knows the Doctor, how she’s going to get back to her own universe? But Benny’s seems to have accepted being trapped in a different universe and quite content with her new life. Planet X succeeded in staying out of the war by being uneventful, mediocre, and its something they do well, by law in fact. The Doctor and Benny are somewhat of a disruption, the Doctor being too famous and exiting is arrested while Benny is befriended by a girl.  Its Benny’s journey that’s the most interesting of the two. Her relationship with girl 23,454,113 (even the names are dull) or...

The Library In The Body The New Adventures Of Bernice Summerfield 3.1 Benny, in mid lecture at her university, is interrupted by the arrival of the TARDIS. Not the most unexpected thing to happen, but when the Doctor turns out to be one she doesn’t know; its the beginning of a whole new adventure. I did listen to the two David Warner unbound stories before this, as it seemed a good idea (and a nice excuse to dig them out for another go) though they’re not essential. As long as you know the set up - this version being a alternative 3rd Doctor then you’re fine. The Doctor wants to escape to our universe using Benny’s unusual artron cloud as an anchor, however he inadvertently drags her into his. Things are not going well there, a war that no one seems to remember correctly has devastated it. The Doctor and Benny find themselves at a library where the Kareem, hell bent on destroying knowledge, want to obliterate it. Its a nice reintroduction to Davids’s unbound Doctor, little fuss and str...

The Pursuit Of The Nightjar Doctor Who : The Fifth Doctor Adventures - In The Night The Doctor, Nyssa and Tegan arrive on a ship, to the Doctor’s delight the ship is the Nightjar. The tale the Nightjar is one the Doctor heard many years ago, and is the stuff of legend. Captain Gobin’s 3 year solo mission to take medical supplies to a war torn colony, followed by the Nemesis, itself crewed by captain Eslo, trying to stop him. As the Doctor knows Gobin succeeds and his act ends the war, that is until the TARDIS materialises. I won this cd in a raffle at the Big Finish Day in Derby, the the Fifth Doctor is kind of my Doctor. I always seem to look forward to his releases more than others. This is the kind of story I really enjoy - a space one. But not the Star Wars kind, more the 2001/ Alien type. A lone ship in the desolate depts of deep space, though this isn’t quite the hard core level those are - this is Doctor Who after all. This is a fixed event story, so what happened has to happen,...