Seagullslost's Doctor Who (and others) audio reviews

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 las...

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                    With Mother Earth apparently over and done with, the ISPF have their hands full. On one hand Devis investigates coffins that don’t seem to house people that actually existed. While Nathan and Kenzy pay a visit to the only residential building on the moon where a burglar has died… With Priya if off on a course and Paul taking a little bit of a back seat, it does put the original Star Cops members to the front. It is nice to have Kenzy back and this time a proper star cop again.  This starts with a scene from toward the end of the episode, and your given the events that led up to it. Devis’s case is somewhat straightforward, if the people who are supposed to be in the coffins didn’t really exist then there’s only one way to find ou...

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 series, 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 want something sunk, usually wouldn’t bother retrieving anything, so whatever it is that down there is important. The nativ...

Day of the Vashta Nerada                                           Classic Doctors New Monsters 2.4                                A distress call brings the eighth Doctor to a research lab. The lab is experimenting with the Vashta Nerada, but the Doctor isn’t the timelord(s) they were expecting… Its a pretty run of the mill story. Again as with the first set, this eighth Doctor story is set during the Time War. I was going to complain about it being unnecessary but coming out in 2017, I can understand that it was still a novelty at the time. The Timelords and the lab are working together to produce a new ‘weapon’ - genetically modified Vashta Nerada. Something that can be targeted at their enemy. But, as the Doctor asks, How will you stop them when they’ve succeeded? It’ll be no surprise that things go w...

Prisoner and Escort Star Cops 5.3 Conflict Alice has arrived back at Moonbase after two and a half months in a shuttle with a prisoner coming back from Mars. On suspicion of murder, as he was found robbing the deceased. Meanwhile for the others; a dead body shows evidence that her death maybe of nefarious means. Mitchel Kane seems to be taking things a little too in his stride for a man looking at a life sentence, even the Star Cops find it suspicious, so there’s more to his story. Nathan and Alice interview him, I’m not sure how much this happens in the series, actually interviewing suspects. But I quite liked it. It is Alice’s turn to take the main role, though the others are present. There are some nice catch up moments with Alice and Pal. With Alice having come back from Mars - or at least a drop off point on the way, there are references to the the Mars Star Cops. Since the team were there a couple of series ago, and Nathan was supposed to top in the Tv series out helps with the c...

The Carrionite Curse                                          Classic Doctors New Monsters 2.1                                          The Sixth Doctor in the 1980s, the midlands, and there’s witches. Hardly a spoiler given the title, and you’re probably familiar with the Shakespeare Code. I did watch it again, and to be honest, though I enjoyed it the Witches I didn’t care much for. Having recently listened to a fourth Doctor audio - planet of the Witches, I wasn’t taken with either, So it doesn’t bode well for me. The Doctor makes a friend, and there is a feeling that she could become a companion. There a certain amount of rehashing, and it does tie somewhat into the The Shakespeare Code. This seems to end half way through, before it gets going again. There a few mentions of Ge...

Red Planets                                                    Doctor Who The Monthly Adventures 241                                                A Russian cosmonaut is nearing Mars, Ace is in wartime Germany while The Doctor and Mel are in present day UK, the Russian communist Uk that is…. I had thought that perhaps Ace wasn’t in this, as they mention they dropped her off. But when the story picks up she’s saved a man from being killed as he was attempting to get over the wall. Things aren’t so good for the Doctor and Mel though, as Mel remembers a different timeline to what really happened. At one point a president Reagan is mentioned, the disbelief that the actor Ronald Reagan could become president of the USA, Is there no one else call...

Empire of the Racnoss                                             Classic Doctors New Monsters 2.2                                                           A distress call finds the fifth Doctor way back in time - the Timelords are fighting the Racnoss .  The Doctor decides to help one of the Racnoss. It does strike me that if my people were fighting an enemy I might be inclined to side with my people, but that’s by the by. If you remember the way the Racnoss spoke in the runaway Bride then this is how they speak all through this and, as with a lot of alien voices,they’re not the best on audio, but again its a minor quibble. The story itself: Racnoss double dealing and betraying each other for the leadership and the children of...

Night of the Vashta Nerada                                   Classic Doctors New Monsters 2.1                                           A team are sent to Funworld - a leisure park world - to find out what happened to all the people who worked there. They only find the 4th Doctor and skeletons of the employees…. I’ve never really been a fan on the 4th Doctor on audio - I don’t know why, but I did enjoyed this. Its an odd collection of people who make up the team. The owner of Funworld, the pest control expert, a tech expert and a psychic . And the Doctor joins them to investigate. Its not too dissimilar to the first series , its rehashing the original stories the monsters appeared in. So as they look for answers to the missing crew, the skeletons, the discovery that they cut the forests down to bui...