Seagullslost's Doctor Who (and others) audio reviews

All Of Time And Space By Ellery Quest                        The Eleventh Doctor Adventures 4.1                      I quite enjoyed this. Ellery Quest has an idea for a theatre production, a man with two hearts and his companion: Doctor Who . Though it isn’t well received, and that’s just the start of his problems… It is another Doctor who being fictional in its own continuity story, but it works quite well. Ellery - the writer, is the main character and the real Doctor and Valarie do show up; on the radio, as  punch and judy puppets, cartoons etc. anywhere where there’s fiction, guiding Ellery to evade the many Mr Darlings who are after him. Its something you have to stick with until its explained, and there is a lengthly info dump/exposition but its worth it. The bit with the Doctor and Valerie, being puppets reminded me of the audio Solitaire , and the squeaky vo...

Destroyer The War Doctor Begins: Warbringer 2.2 This continues directly on from the previous episode. The Doctor puts a crashing spaceship in a time lock, meaning there’s 12 hours before it hits. I lost interest in the story by the end of the last part, so with this carrying on the plot, it wasn’t the best news. I’ve never been a big fan of the war doctor audios, through the last series did change my mind. However I’m now back to thinking maybe I shouldn’t bother. So not the Doctor, Veklin and Case carry on with their versions goals, with the Daleks getting nearer. There are nice moments, finding underground tunnels that stretch all over. Case finding out what she really is. The Doctor using logic to get his way with a computer. As I said I lost interest during the first part so, this being more them same didn’t help. Just running around arguing. The Doctor not really doing much. Again this is a British product using American terms, and I find it distracting, and I feel this is the beg...

Hour Of The Cybermen                           Doctor Who Monthly Adventures                         The continues the UNIT / Daniel Hopkins arc that started with The Helliax Rift . The Doctor finds himself on Earth after receiving a call from UNIT. The UK is suffering a drought. Deserted streets and people fighting for water. It is reminiscent of Invasion of the Dinosaurs , which the Doctor mentions himself, and its similar in other ways too. Refreshing his connections with UNIT, the Doctor finds Daniel isn’t as pleased to see him as he thought, though having lost his family he’s not the man he was. I listened to the after struggling to get into a war Doctor set. It is a pretty run of the mill story. The Cybermen were interesting in their first few tv stories, but the time we get to the eighties versions, they’re a bit dull. Of course its them that have caused ...

Consequences                           The War Doctor Begins: Warbringer 2.1                                    Its one of those where you feel you’ve missed something. I did spend a bit of time wondering whether this carried on from what happened at the end of the last release, and thinking maybe I should stop and remind myself of what had occurred. However it eventually begins to become clearer. Its starts off quite promisingly, someone waking up with no memory but a voice in their head that tells them information. The planet is one of war: two sides ever in battle, though its all a bit of a mixture thanks to the time war , and why they fight is also a mystery. The Doctor and Veklin are both there only with slightly differing objectives… Its Ok, not the best not the worst. The Doctor is more passive in this and not really the main ...

Merlin’s Trap                              Halloween: Sea Smoke and other stories 1.4                             Once again a British thing using American wording: flashlights . Why Big Finish is going to the lengths of using Cornish accents when they can’t get the terminology right, you may as well just set it in the US and forget you’re making Doctor Who . This audio never recovered from such a basic mistake. A couple and friends go exploring caves, named after Merlin . Things don’t go right, hearing voices, time going weird. Somethings down there and it's being protected. The big draw of this release was the Twelfth Doctor . Having only heard a brief snippets of Jacob Dudman ’s version and not being that enamored with it, hearing Jon Culshaws portrayal, and it being so close, made it a much have. Unfortunately it takes so long for the Do...

Bramble King                            Halloween: Sea Smoke and other stories 1.3 I was put off this early on when the Doctor refers to Halloween as a holiday and says candy several times. I can deal with trick or treat, the Uk doesn’t call things such as Christmas, Easter etc as holiday and Tom Baker never said would you like a candy (which I assume is what jelly babies would be called). The story centres on a family on a space ship, on their way somewhere. The Doctor has a few odd episodes where, for a moment he seems to be ‘somewhere else’. The crew seem to be worried about the ‘ Bramble King ’ - surely a children’s tale, but there’s more to it. My first time encountering Audacity ; not what I had thought the character was but enjoyable all the same. This is more of a tragedy than horror . The idea of the Bramble King is a spin on any childhood/folklore monster - an idea used to scare kids, horror films do it a...

Party Favours                  Halloween: Sea Smoke and other stories 1.2                        A coupe living in a flat who don’t see to be that happy. Bev hopes that her halloween party will turn things around for them. But with Annika ’s attitude she tempted to ask the strangers upstairs to come, even though they’ve never met, and they always seem to be moving furniture around. As someone who wasn’t that impressed with the first episode in this set, this really delivers. The halloween setting is a good start, but that’s just the beginning. With the odd people above them and less said about the basement the better. Not to mention the strange drawing appearing everywhere, the layers are added, building up a picture of something ‘other’.  Of course the party does’t quite go to plan, especially as Osgood and Kate turn up, as do monsters and people start dying. Though this is a ...

Sea Smoke                    Halloween: Sea Smoke and other stories 1.1                        The Doctor and Dodo arrive on an island off Scotland a little before Dodo’s time, Kelp burning is the least of their worries. This is my first proper full first Doctor story with Stephen Noonan as the Doctor, and though there are hints of William Hartnell , I’m not getting a ‘first Doctor’ vibe. :Likewise with Lauren Cornelius as Dodo, I find her soo far removed from Dodo that she may as well be a new companion. Most of the recasts I’ve heard there is some trace of the character there, here I’m struggling. As for the story, its a great setting -  a Scottish island, 19th century, perfect for something scary, yet I wasn’t scared at all. This is Doctor who and there are limits. There is some fun stuff - the Doctor and Dodo suggesting they’re Swedish, and nice touches as when Dodo...