Seagullslost's Doctor Who (and others) audio reviews

The Companion Chronicles  4.12 Solitaire I was put off the Companion Chronicles after hearing the first few minutes of Frostfire, it really wasn’t my cup of tea. But when I began the Jago and Litefoot series which tied into the Mahogany Murders Companion Chronicles ‘pilot’ it seemed wise to give it a listen, suddenly I was interested. This was one of the audios that was suggested when I asked for recommendations (and since then I’m pretty much making my way through the  lot). Charlie enters a toyshop, no idea where she is or why, the shop keeper tells her she needs to play the game, but what is the game? I love the character of Charlie and India Fishers performance. The Toymaker is back,  David Bailie is great in the role, it is more akin to the Celestial Toymaker version than his appearance in The Giggle.  Solitaire isn’t narrated, it plays out as a normal adventure, with just the two members of the cast. It works really well, I do think Big Finish are quite good at...

The Ninth Doctor Adventures Hidden Depts 1.3 Flatpack The Doctor runs into some old friends, Liv Chenka and Tania Bell and spend their time in a place not unlike ikea. I do think it works better when the Doctor has a companion, and its something the 9th Doctor adventures have lacked. With Liv and Tania running into the Doctor they do fill that role. Liv I’ve heard before and I’ve always enjoyed Nicola Walkers work. Tania I don’t know, but other than being old friends of the Doctors you don’t need anything more to enjoy this story, there were a couple of references to stuff I wasn’t aware of, but nothing that impacted on the story. The flatpack shop is new to the area, yet its always been there and why are the staff masked? This isn’t the ‘biggest’ adventure, more of an interlude. Getting reacquainted with Liv and Tania, isn’t as momentous as the Tenth and Sarah Jane, but this is a post war Doctor and I suppose more could have been made of that. Flatpack is based on ikea, even referenci...

The Ninth Doctor Adventures Hidden Depts 1.2 Lay Down Your Arms ‘She couldn’t drown a biscuit in a cup of tea” A light hearted historical. Earth 1864, and The Doctor is giving singing lessons? I listened to half of this before I went to back to start again. Historicals aren’t my favourite, but this seemed to be one where though stuff has taken place you’re still wondering what the plot is. Its Europe, and aliens are using salts to beef up the anger in Humans in order top make them fight. I wasn’t engaged in it, its fairly standard plot, Vampires of Venice springs to mind. The aliens are a bit wishy washy and not fleshed out.  This features Bertha Von Stuttner, who won a Nobel Peace prize - to be honest I didn’t know who she was, so at least it taught me something. I think that fact that is more about her than the threat accounts for the flimsy alien plot line. So maybe its more akin to The Unquiet Dead, and maybe if I’d have know this I would have appreciated it more. There are a n...

The Ninth Doctor Adventures Hidden Depts 1.1 The Seas of Titan The Doctor arrives on Titan, a moon around Saturn, the last of a human settlement are still there and they’re trying to explore the depths of the sea. The pre title sequence seems a bit pointless, I think Stephen Moffat said that what used to be episode one of a classic era story is now the pre titles bit. Other than a little bit of scene setting the Doctor turns up says Hello and that’s it! I don’t read a lot about stories before I listen, so while it was a nice surprise for me, you may already know that this features the Sea Devils. I’ve been watching the Silurians over the last week,  and also just heard the first of the Paternoster audios, so I’ve been a a bit a theme lately - all by accident. It is just as well that I did as this story references the events of (and) The Silurians. There is a bit of rehashing of what’s gone before, the two species afraid of each other, a bit of double crossing, the virus etc. The Se...

The Paternoster Gang Heritage 1.1 The Cars That Ate London. I recently met Neve Macintosh at a convention and realised that I had’t actually heard many of her audios. In fact the only one as Madam Vastra was the Once and Future one she was in. This was a freebie that I downloaded nearly two years ago, and I think that the reason I held off from listening was that: its another audio series to keep up with. There are a couple of audios prior to this: an episode of the Eighth Of March release and a short prelude. Though there aren’t necessary. If you watched the TV series you know the characters and set up, I would have preferred a bit more of an introduction though, as you are thrown into the middle of it, and I didn’t wonder where in the timeline this was set. Vastra, Jenny and Strax deal with the new electric cars, but they are a little ‘out of time’ and there’s a factory that can instantly tell if you’re  a worker or management. I do feel that some characters don’t travel across t...

Doctor Who The Novel Adaptations The Romance Of Crime. I’m not the biggest fan of the Fourth Doctor, and I do feel that he’s lost something on audio, but with Tom Bakers age I can forgive that. I try to vary what I listen to and this came up on sale. Its a murder mystery set on an asteroid, that deals with justice, executions etc. Aside form the recurring caste have some familiar voices. Miranda Raison now more known for playing Constance to the Sixth Doctor and Micheal Troughton again better remembered for recreating the second Doctor. There are things that happen at the start that seem to be actually a while ago when the Doctor and Romana arrive, though I didn’t get that at the time. It is possible I missed something. It may be a little bit of a spoiller, but the Orgons turn up half way through, they are on the cover so its not all that surprising. Its quite nice to have them. To be honest this audio didn’t do a lot for me, a fairly standard affair. I recently listened to the Doomsda...

Doctor Who : The Lost Stories  8.2 - DeathWorld When this came up as a deal/discount along with Operation Werewolf it was too hard to turn down. I’ve enjoyed Tim Treloars 3rd Doctor and likewise Micheal Troughton’s 2nd. These two Doctors work well with each other so its great to have more. This was the idea that later evolved into the Three Doctors. With Frazer Hines unavailable and William Hartnell too ill to take part fully this is a chance to experience what could have been. Each of the first three doctors are facing their own problems, when they come together on Deathworld, the enemy? Death themself.  Katy Manning and Frazer Hines are the only original cast members playing Jo and Jamie. It is a little odd with the rest being played by new people. For me its Stephen Noonan who I’ve not really got to know. No-one has ever really ‘got’ the first Doctor, they seem to forget his nice side. Stephen’s version isn’t quite there, he does have some of the mannerisms, whether he’ll g...

The Companion Chronicles  Series 1 episode 2 Fear Of The Daleks  Its a pity this wasn’t the first episode in this series as if it was I might have stuck with them.  Zoe has memories that she can’t have, she never travelled with the Doctor and certainly never met the Daleks. She recounts a memory she has where she, The Doctor and Jamie arrive on an asteroid, where peace talks are taking place. Unfortunately not everyone wants them to succeed. This audio features Wendy Padbury as Zoe and Nicholas Briggs as the Daleks.  I found this quite engaging, I mentioned in my review off Frostfire that I heard the first few minutes and gave up on the entire series for 15 years! The narrated style wasn’t enjoyable, but its grown on me.  The plot involves The Doctors thought scanner, Daleks crystals, and Zoe being used as a weapon.  With her body in one place but a copy of her projected, she is forced to carry out the bidding of Atrika or suffer pain. I think this is the m...

Doctor Who The Eleven                     Part 1: One For All                                 This audio is set on on a planet where the people have two minds: two personalities - an ideal place for someone like the Eleven . The Eleven has married and is separating out his various incarnations into clones… I had trouble getting into this, I’ve heard a few stories with the Eleven and always had similar issues. If you’re not familiar with the character, The Eleven is a timelord where all his previous regenerations continue to exist along side the latest version. Maybe the fact thats there’s different voices for the same person and being an audio medium probably doesn’t help when you’re trying to work out what’s going on. Though it...

 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...