Seagullslost's Doctor Who (and others) audio reviews

Eaglemoss short story: Mission To The Known This was in the Figurine collection 2. The info bit that precedes the story ‘Dalek Time Commanders’ mentions the Hond invading Sakro  after the entity was defeated in the Daleks! webcast, Possibly giving an explanation as to why they had a Hond prisoner in ‘defender of the Daleks’ The actual story though, is set during the novel All Flesh Is Grass, and before the audio Mutually Assured destruction. As its set on the Dalek saucer. It begins with torture of an alien, that is kept as a specimen. But the real crux of the story and, mild spoiler, is just the order to destroy Gallifrey.  Some of the information in the magazine is useful and helps to understand the TLV timeline. But otherwise its pretty redundant.

Short story: what The TARDIS thought of The Time Lord Victorious This is available on the doctorwho.tv website. Its the Tardis musing over the Doctor and their time together. It mentions taking the Doctor to where he needs to be rather than where he wants to be (Its a little reminiscent of Dirk Gently). Its set just after the Water Of Mars, where the ‘Time Lord Victorious’ moniker comes from. The Tardis can see a Time fracture, the paradox that the Doctor had created.  Having read the Time Lord Victorious novels, I did wonder how and why the Tenth Doctor (and the Ninth for that matter) ended up in the Dark Times, especially as they’re supposed to be locked, so this gives an explanation for it and bridges the gap.  Its nice enough, fills in some details but isn’t enough on its own to merit seeking out.

Doctor Who The Companion Chronciles  1.3 The Blue Tooth Having a few days spare Liz decides to visit an old friend, however she missing, and she’s not the only one. Having just watched Jon Pertwee’s first series with Liz Shaw this came at quite a nice point. And as it performed by Caroline John its the icing on the cake. This audio is compromise of four 15 minutes episodes, which seems a little unusual, but it was a welcome difference.  It does have the feeling of a four parter, but truncated. As such it moves along quite briskly, you have to pay attention as in only a coupe of sentence’s the situation changed and you’re lost. Indeed I had to go back a few times to relisten. This is one of those stories that is somewhat spoilt by the cover, as in a Cyberman appears on it. The audio itself doesn't bring them in or at least name them until part 3ish, so the mystery isn’t there.  But it is quite an eventful story, the disapearences, the oddities with the strange blue metal, ...

Time Lord Victorious Comic: Defender Of The Daleks As with the Monstrous Beauty comic, I didn’t buy this at the time, so again I’m viewing some rather well done YouTube videos. The Tenth Doctor wakes up on the TARDIS floor with a bit of amnesia, outside are the Daleks. Not wanting to g to hang a round he quickly dematerialises, however when he lands the Daleks are present -its not really his day, what’s worse is that wherever and whenever he lands the Daleks are always there. With the daleks having no memory of the Time War, there’s a paradox going on… The story is interesting enough, avoiding the Daleks, giving in and working with them, a monster is introduced etc.  There is some background info on the Dalek strategist and why its still in its old battered casing. One of the things I can say about the various parts of the TLV series is that certain details are explained. Making each part have a place in the whole. It was a bit unclear as to why this was a paradox, possibly its par...

Time Lord Victorious Audiobook: The Minds Of Magnox The tenth Doctor along with Brian the Ood are in the Dark times battling with the Kotturuh, But the Doctor has a question that needs an answer. Jacob Dudman reads this tale, I’ve been listening to his Eleventh Doctor Big Finish audios and he’s great. His Tenth is good too, getting his mannerisms. There are also sound effects with helps bring the story to life. They visit Magnox, a plant of information, so much so even their currency are infos - little bits of information. There the Doctor hope he’ll get an answer but its the the big guys he’ll need to see the Minds of Magnox.  Brian on the other hand is at a bit of a loss, so he goes and finds work - he’s an assassin after all. We do learn am bit more about Brian’s past in this - having started with the audios, he kind of appeared with no backstory, so its nice to have it filled in somewhat. Its a bit of an odd one this since it happens during the novel All Flesh Is Grass, it doen...

Time Lord Victorious Webcast Daleks! 5: Day of Reckoning This is the fifth part of the animated webcast Daleks! and can be found on YouTube. The last two Daleks - the Emperor and Strategist arrive back on Skaro, but the Mechanoids are not far behind. A bit more action orientated episode. Its starts wit the Dalek ship crashing into the ground - its a nice shot, but its the kind of shot that’s been seen many times in sci fi. This does have a cinematic feel to it as does the series as a whole. Its hardly a spoiler but the Daleks are not quite as depleted as they led the Mechanics to believe, once again displaying their cold blooded nature. Another deception but the Daleks seem to have a knack for it. The entity makes an appearance, albeit briefly. Its not explained who or what the Entity is in the series. But the short story in the Eaglemoss figurine collection The Restoration Empire, mentions its the Slave of the Hond, the Hond I believe features in the TLV comic Defender of the Daleks. ...

Time Lord Victorious Webcast Daleks! 4: The Deadly Ally This is the fourth part of the animated webcast Daleks! and can be found on YouTube. The ruthlessness of the Daleks becomes evident here as their plans are revealed. They lured the entity to the Mechanoid world in order to force them to find a way of defeating it. Te Daleks seem to be down to their last two members the Emperor and the Strategist. Again with the last part its a little talkie, though towards the end you do wonder whether the emperor is going to make it out alive.  Its is more of the same, since it carries on directly from the last episode. Its the reveal of the Daleks really plan that for me is highlight of the plot.  I would have liked this series to have been fleshed out more, its nice enough but I have the feeling a more griping story could have been told.

Time Lord Victorious Webcast Daleks! Planet of the Mechanoids This is the third part of the animated webcast Daleks! and can be found on YouTube. Having unleashed an entity the Daleks cannot defeat they go looking for help from one of their greatest enemies: The Mechanoids. It quite a talk episode. The mechoniods only featured in one Doctor who story and aren’t the best design for uninteresting foe. But they have endured and I quite like them. Anjali Mohindra plays the voice of the lead Mechonoid best known as Rani from Sarah Janes Adventures. This series is really based on the Tv century comics, I’ve never read them, but seen enough images over the years. There are some really nice shots and camera movements, but its just a little uneventful.

Time Lord Victorious Webcast Daleks! The Sentinel of he Fifth Galaxy This is the second part of the animated webcast Daleks! and can be found on YouTube. The Dalek attack on the Archive of Islos resulted in failure. Not only that but the Daleks unwittingly released an entity. Fleeing back to Skaro they release they need more help. The two main players are the Emperor Dalek and the Dalek strategist. The Strategist still in an old battered Dalek casing. Its the strategist who goes to the Fifth Galaxy for reinforcements. We don’t know much about the Entity yet, other than its time sensitive. Lots of Daleks fighting - the kind of stuff we’ve seen in the TV series snow. Rows of Daleks lined up for battle. There are moments of comedy, in this series, wether its suits I’m not sure. Its not quite as gripping as the first episode, slightly more of an interlude.

Time Lord Victorious Webcast Daleks! The Archive of Islos This is the first part of the animated webcast Daleks and can be found on YouTube. The Daleks have come for the archive, yet the robotic archivians are not prepared to give it up. The first time I watched this series was when I had listened to the first three TLV audios and being a little confused. I hoped watching this would help, but at the time it didn’t seem to tie into the story I’d begun. Now I’ve read the novels, some of the other bits and pieces, its making more sense. In the short story The Last Message, the Emperor Dalek realises he needs more information about what happened to the Dalek drone (TLV trailer The last Message) and how the Doctor was involved, The Archive of Islos was where the data was to be found. The animation take a more realistic approach rather than a cartoonish one. Its colourful but maybe a little garish. There are some nice shots and it looks quite good. At 13 minutes its not going to be an epic b...