Seagullslost's Doctor Who (and others) audio reviews

The War That Never Was                                    Timeslip                         Simon, Liz and Jade find themselves in an alternative 1950’s, but where are Charlotte, Neil and what happened Sam Bembe ? It does help to remember where things were at the end of the Age Of The Death Lottery , having escaped the future where the death lottery was in place, Charlotte and Neil passed though the barrier before the rest. When they do catch up with Charlotte it seems a few years have gone by. The UK of this alternative post war world is quite different. Now part of the united states, the war having lasted longer, the barrier is known about and studied. The interesting thing is they have mobile p...

Lords Of The Red Planet                                          Doctor Who: The Lost Stories 4.3                                                                                    The Doctor, Jamie and Zoe arrive on Mars way into the past, and they run into some familiar faces… This story was replaced by The Seeds Of Death. You won’t be surprised to discover that it features the Ice Warriors, and it serves as an origin story for them. Its sounds a strange thing to say but it is vey much a classic 2nd Doctor story. Part one sets the scene introduces characters while The Doctor and Co are off doing there own thing. We discover that the Ice Warriors have been artificially created...

The School                                                  Sapphire and Steel                                               No surprises in that our heroes arrive at a school. The school is celebrating its 100 year anniversary, But all is not well as time is trying to break though. The audio series is what drew me to watch and love the Tv series. Now going back I feel not quite as enamoured as I was, though maybe I’m just getting old! There is this thing with Sapphire and Steel, where there’s a lot of not much progress until the end, perhaps its seems more apparent here. The audio series is more adult than the Tv series. I found it a little uncomfortable to hear Sapphire being slapped repeatedly and then to get passionate. The entity forces both Sapp...

The Killing Jar                                   Star Cops Mother Earth 2.2                                 Nathan , Kenzy and Paul head to the Charlie Chaplin , a repurposed space station, now used for space tourism . Its owner, known to Kenzy, is suspected of cutting corners and endangering lives. Their contact on the Charlie Chaplin seems to be missing and a journalist also is interested in finding him. When his body is seen floating out of an air lock its just the beginning of the Star Cops troubles . Its a reasonable enough adventure and has all the usual trapping of a Star Cops story. Priya not having much of an appearance and Devis in a reduced role, leaves Nath...

The Emporium At The End                            The New Adventures Of Bernice Summerfield 3.4                          Its the end, or is it? After the war ruined the universe, its collapse is imminent. The Doctor takes refugees to the only escape there is: the gateway emporium - a doorway to another universe. Of course its not that easy, selling memories to buy lottery tickets to secure your place to the other side. The fact that the end is coming a little too soon, and ‘ The Manager ’ whose a little too familier. Its a great cast David , Lisa and Mark Gatiss (rearrange Sam Kisgart ). Mark, who appears on the cover, popped up in the first episode of this set, and is playing the unbounds Master though he’s not mentioned as such. He do...

Resistor                                                                     Doctor Who : The Fifth Doctor Adventures - In The Night                                                                        Once again the TARDIS goes a little off course, instead of visiting Tegan’s family in Yugoslavia, its Warsaw, Poland 1982. In a club, a band play but are interrupted as punk music is considered capitalist propaganda, and soon the Doctor, Tegan, Nyssa and the band are being hunted by the secret police. With the Doctor stepping in to play drums when the drummer fails to turn up and then coming out with an Australian accent its not quite what we’...

The Very Dark Thing                            The New Adventures Of Bernice Summerfield 3.3                                    Weeks after they arrived on the planet Tramatz , Benny finally tracks down the Doctor , however he’s more interested in trying to work out what tune the river is humming. The talking skies and unicorns that also inhabit the planet of the least of Benny’s worries as an invading force has declare war on the people, yet Benny is the only who can hear the invaders demands. There is enough mystery here to keep you interested, obviously something is wrong. The very dark thing in question is something that can only be seen through the corner of your eye, a blind spot, it doesn’t want to be seen. But its where the Doctor, Banny and their friend Magatz go. This continues the war theme of the series. I remember...

Snare Doctor Who The Ninth Doctor Adventures The Doctor and Rose are taking a rest after the events of Fathers Day. Back on the Powell estate, with Jackie, and the Doctor being somewhat unusually suburban. When an old friend turns up, and his flat seems too have been taken over by plants, they find themselves somewhere else. Its been a long wait tho have Christopher Eccleston and Billie Piper together again. Longer than the eighties Doctors and their companions I think. I enjoyed the 9ths audios, and one thing I kept thinking is that he could do with a companion so when this was announced, I pleased to say the least. I’ve not listened to the Dimension Cannon audios, so its the the three audios Billie did with David Tennant (10th Vol2) which I heard a few years ago. I don’t remember that much, but I don’t think I was that impressed by them. Camile Coduri joins them as Jacky and to be honest she’s great. The plot isn’t the most complex, fairly straightforward, and little thin on the grou...

The Doctor’s Gambit Doctor Who Short Trips: A Feast Of Steven The Doctor, Steven and Dodo find themselves on a planet where the locals seem to be chosen to pass through an invisible barrier to participate in games… I could tell from the off that this wasn’t going to be as interesting as the first in this set. Just something about it. Whether I was a little distracted or just not paying attention, it seemed that the TARDIS team landed, saw people trying to get through the barrier and joined in. Its all a bit up in the air, as, along with the characters, you’ve no real idea what its all about. And the Doctor is absent too.  If you’ve wahcthed the last episode of the Celestial Toymaker and have no knowledge of the previous epodes then I supped this is akin to that. On the positive side: Dodo. I am struggling to remember if I’ve heard a audio featuring her. I’ve not delved into the short trips much, or Steven Noonan’s version, and I do have an early adventures I’ve yet to listen to. So...

Planet X The New Adventures Of Bernice Summerfield 3.2 The Doctor gives Benny a choice as to their next destination, that said its a choice of 3 options. No surprises as Benny choose Planet X the most boring, dull place there is… The first things that happened when I started this was I asked questions. With their first meeting in the last episode being a bit of a whirlwind adventure, now was time time to catch up. How Benny knows the Doctor, how she’s going to get back to her own universe? But Benny’s seems to have accepted being trapped in a different universe and quite content with her new life. Planet X succeeded in staying out of the war by being uneventful, mediocre, and its something they do well, by law in fact. The Doctor and Benny are somewhat of a disruption, the Doctor being too famous and exiting is arrested while Benny is befriended by a girl.  Its Benny’s journey that’s the most interesting of the two. Her relationship with girl 23,454,113 (even the names are dull) or...