Seagullslost's Doctor Who (and others) audio reviews

The Skeleton Quay                        Jago and Litefoot 6.1                                 Jago and Litefoot arrive back in their own time and are immediately accosted. The Queen needs their services. Ghosts are seen at a village lost to the sea. So if you didn’t know or had forgot, J&L spent the last series in the 1960’s. Here they are back where they belong, but we don’t get to catch up with Ellie , Sgt Quick etc. As they're off straight away. So the village of Shingle cove was washed away by the sea during a storm, but something would seem to be amiss as J&L start to see ghosts and visions of how the village was, and someone is out to stop them. Its does fall into that trope of small town by the sea, 73 yards does it, the Stuff of Legend also. Not that its necessarily a bad thing, but it sets the tone for the episode. The sea, cli...

Previously, Next Time                                              The Eighth Doctor adventures Cass part 3/4                                 There was some interesting stuff at the end of Vespertine , Alex ‘saw’ The Doctor on the ship with Bliss , and it wasn’t the Doctor’s future. The Doctors', or even the whole universes timeline is wrong. The starts with a bang, literally, as there’s an explosion and you may wonder if you’ve accidentally skipped to part two, but no. The Doctor, Alex and Cass are interrogated and accused of destroying an ancient monument, except that when they first arrived the rest of this world - its people - didn’t exist… I really enjoyed part one. Its told in flashback as, as the each of the TARDIS crew is interviewed they retell how they came to be here. The Daleks ha...

Vespertine                The Eighth Doctor Adventures Cass 1.2                   The TARDIS materialises on a research base, itself built above the wreck of a ship. The ship of Hudson Sage , noted explorer. But the Vespertine was never found was it? This is a step up from the last episode, a bit more intrigue. The research team have suffered a bout of illness and are awaiting the relief team. The wrecked ship turns out to be a sea ship made of wood and they go to investigate. Mild spoiler They find that Hudson is still alive and time locked, and so is part of the ship as it still looks new. With that and the fact the the rest of the crew abandoned ship, means there is quite a bit more going on here than first appears. So there’s enough mystery to keep interest. One thing with this episode and the last is that its easy to ...

Meanwhile, Elsewhere                       The Eighth Doctor adventures Cass part 1                    Following on from Time war series 4 this… well doesn’t. Bliss is no longer traveling with the Doctor , but in her place is the Doctor’s great grand son Alex . After a couple of brief scenes we find Cass reporting for duty on board a ship. She meets a passenger that doesn’t exist, doorways to strange places and of course the Doctor. I was a bit disappointed with this, though it had the ingredients for a good adventure I found it a bit pedestrian. A lack of excitement and somewhat uninspiring, just unremarkable. I’d listened to the first 40ish minutes by this point, then having came back to finish it, it had gone up a gear. Suddenly it was interesting. It does comes across as a bit Curse of Fatal Death , but you’d have to listen as its the ‘twist’ at the end.  Its a bit too ea...

Elevation                            Doctor Who: The Eleven Part 3                                 The Doctor and Constance arrive on Molaruss ; The Eleven , now ruling and it seems everything is fine and well… Having stalled while listening to the second part of this set, and coming back to try again. I do wish I’d listened to the set in one go, and paid more attention. As I think I would have got more out of it. I vaguely remember the first part (I heard it 5 months ago) and again, perhaps not giving it my full attention, is maybe why I wasn’t that taken with it. Having given the second part another go I find I’m quite enjoying it. With the Doctor impressed with the Elevens’ achievements and turn of character, maybe this is one time there is no peril. No such Luck! The Eleven plans to make everyone on Molaruss like him, in having 11 min...

The Murder of Oliver Akkron Doctor Who: The Eleven part 2 The Eleven has been invited by Oliver Akkron to a meeting. Oliver is the president of Molaruss . It begins with (and is mostly)  a lengthly conversation between the Eleven and Oliver. Its over 20 minutes before there’s any break, so you really need to take notice.  Its a slightly meandering piece at first and without context you’re wondering what’s it all about and where its heading. There is mention of mono and duo minds , which is the case of Oliver and ties into the situation of the Eleven. After a while it starts cutting to to medi techs who are dealing with parasitic worms that are infesting the world, and their experiments in coping with them. As with the conversation with the Eleven and Oliver you do wonder how it's connected. This doesn’t feature the Doctor or Constance , in a similar vein to Love and Monsters : the first time I saw it I wasn’t that impressed (It has grown on me since). Where was the Doctor? ...

Moonshine                                Star Cops Mother Earth 1.7                                Alcohol on the moon is the case in this episode. One man has already been sent back to earth for being in possession, while another is drunk on duty. Mother Earth seem to be quite and Nathan has to entertain a dignitary. Martin, who was found with alcohol, was Australian so it was someone Kenzy had got to know, and as he was a little anti alcohol it seems a little odd. When they learn he killed himself shortly after starting a new job back on Earth, something doesn’t seem right, Pal and Devis investigate. Paul is still recovering from the events of the last episode, and its possibly the reason for the visiting dignitary. Godfery Miller, who Nathan reluctantly has to show around. One of the issued raised by Godfrey is the old questi...

Homecoming                          Gallifrey Time War 4.4                  Romana , Leela , Narvin and the Daleks are all heading for Gallifrey and Rassilon is waiting. Leela and Narvin have reunited and are planning to continue the course of making the time vortex unusable. Romana is now a prisoner of the Daleks, who are using null space to edge closer to Gallifrey. Richard Armitage is playing Rassilon, and its a bit of a wonder why this isn’t called the madness of Lord Rassilon as he seems unhinged, disconnected from reality and thinks he’s god. So judging by events of the modern series he’s spot on. It is quite nice to have Leela, Romana and Narvin together again, though all too briefly. Finding out how they’re all got on since the end of the last series in the previous three episodes, it kind of feels back on track. The Daleks are advancing on Gallifrey but they are...

Beyond                 Gallifrey Time War 4.3                      .At the end of the last episode Braxiatel had saved Romana and this is their adventure. There is hope for Romana, and according to Braxiatel its in a place called ‘ The Beyond ’ Its a place that, due to the time war , is made up of timelines that have or could’ve been. It's not easy going, there are people trapped in moments of time, alternative timelines , the Ravenous , and each layer has issues of its own. Its a little odd to have Braxiatel back in the series, he left sometime in series 4. I bought it when it was released in 2011, I’d stopped listening to BF by then, but continued in 2019, so Ive caught up on 9 series so far. But I don’t remember much of the first 3 sets. This kept me interested, the ultimate goal of Brax is to find the Parallax which he thinks is the solution to the war. But its the journey that’s the co...

Dissolution                           Gallifrey Time War 4.2                               In the last part, Narvin , Leela and Rayo had left Unity and headed for the resistance colony of Nisteria . When the shields were broken they were forced to evacuate, Leela had gone one way and this is what happened to Narvin and Rayo. With not enough time to wait for Leela, Narvin is forced to leave without her. Using the telepathic circuits to escape the Daleks , the TARDIS takes them to Micallon , the home of Narvin’s chapter. Its a much more straightforward forward audio than the last episode. With only 4 main cast members, plus Daleks, its a chance to explore Narvin and Rayo’s characters. I mentioned in my review of the last part, that the Gallifrey series doesn’t always include Gallifrey and doesn’t always have the same characters. I’m sure we lost ...

Deception                   Gallifrey Time war 4.1                    As with most series like these, you really need to remember what was happening at the end of the last series (or like me go and look it up on the internet), as this follows directly on from last time. In case you’re wondering: With Rassilon being resurrected, Romana and Narvin had left Gallifrey and had tracked Leela to the planet Unity. Leela herself living with a woman and her son Rayo. With the Daleks arriving, Romana says goodbye to Leela and Narvin as they leave, and Romana chooses to use a chameleon arch to hide her identity. In this episode Narvin, Leela and Rayo head to Nisteria - a resistance group against both the Daleks and Timelords. However the shields are compromised and they have to evacuate and Leela is split from...