Seagullslost's Doctor Who (and others) audio reviews

Devil In The Mist                                                                 Doctor Who Monthly Adventures 247                                                 ‘The snakes can hiss off” The Doctor, Tegan, Turlough and Kamelion arrive on a ship that’s carrying a single prisoner.  Things aren’t exactly harmonious on board the TARDIS as Tegan is distrustful of Kamelion - you can’t blame her he has form. The ship they land on is transporting a criminal who can change into a mist at will, so not easy to contain. The crew of the ship consist of two hippopotamus like people. When things go wrong on the ship and it crashes; it's merely the start of their problems. It's nice to have Kamelion as a ‘proper’ compan...

The Tactics Of Defeat                                         The Companion Chronicles 12.4                   Ruth Matheson is in the jungle, heading towards an temple with only a recording of Zoe Herriot to guide her. I don’t do my research, and having finished my current play list for the month early I brought this up to fill the gap. The companion chronicles make a nice rest between boxsets. I did wonder if I’d missed something - whether this carried on from something else. I do believe what happened to Charlie Sato is explained in a short trip, a usually they’re together. Assuming you know who Ruth is then you’re good to go.  I’ve come to quite like Ruth, and its nice that Daphne Ashbrook gets to still get to play a role in the Doctor Who universe This is mostly a two hander between Ruth and adversary Deakin. Ruth has traveled to a tem...

Sins Of The Father                                                     The War Master: Master of Callous 2.4                                                                                               Back on Callous, Teremon wants the Swenyo and nothing will stop her. Mr Orman knows its location, and it's not like that kindly old man can do anything. This begins with Mr Orman - the Master being tortured, though this is the Master and laughing at their attempts isn’t the response they want. Finally we’re seeing the real Master. The thing about the Master he likes a long game doesn’t he? How much time did he spend with Bill in ...

The Persistence Of Dreams                                     The War Master: Master of Callous 2.3                                               Alone on as asteroid, with a bulk load of Swenyo, a mind affecting substance, can Martine keep her sanity? If you’d heard the last part then you’ll know. In order to hide the swenyo and stop Teremon taking all the profits, they snuck it aboard a small ship that went under the radars of the governor. Offloading in an an asteroid, Martine was left behind temporally, to guard it. Very much a change in this part of the story, and as with the first part not so much of the Master. To be honest you are in the dark with what’s actually happening. The swenyo has psychic energy that can drive people mad - it certainly did with the Oods, which is what m...

The Glittering Prize                                                The war Master: Master of Callous 2.2                                                                                 The mining colony Callous, Cassandra King has taken over from her father, and finally its successful. But governor Teremon wants her, rather large, slice of the pie. This picks up a little time after the end of part 1. The mining is working and the Swenyo is plentiful, everyone is happy, but once again the issue is that Teremon exerts her control by upping the levies, and taking most of the profits for herself. Its a nice continuation of the story and expands on the setup in Call for the De...

Call for the Dead                                                  The War Master: Master of Callous 1.1                                                                                                Callous - a mining colony; Elliot King trying his best to make it work, only being heavy levied by Teremon - the governor. Wild Odd in the forest and mines that can’t be mined. From the opening narration by the War Master, the brilliant music and a first scene where a woman lands a ship and cold-bloodedly kill an Ood, I thought that this would be an amazing War Master episode. How wrong I was! Prior to this I’d heard Beneath the Vis...

After The Daleks                                                                           Doctor Who The Early Adventures 7.1                                                                The Dalek Invasion Of Earth is over, the Doctor and TARDIS have gone leaving Susan and the human race to rebuild the planet. The Dalek Invasion Of Earth is one of my favourite stories, so this audio intrigued me. Though we’ve had stories - An Earthly Child - dealing with what happened to Susan this takes place much closer to the immediate aftermath of the invasion. Growing crops, and choosing leaders is where they’re at, and ex governor of zone 5, Marcus Bray, i...

Borrow Or Rob Eighth Doctor Adventures Time War 6.4 Back on the ship in the Void, The Doctor, Alex, and Hieronyma/captain are being attacked. This carries on from where The Road Untravelled left off, Cass having fallen through a doorway and presumed dead. They suddenly have to defend themselves.  I was somewhat underwhelmed but this. The ‘reflections’ that seemed so interesting in ‘The Road Untravelled” become mundane. They’re not getting accurate readings from what’s outside, and the reveal of what’s really going on turns an interesting premise into something rather dull and ordinary. Cass eventually turns up, and yet again maybe not quite the version she was. And brings a whole new set of mysteries.  There are a couple of twists, though the one that began in ‘The Road Untravelled’ - with the ‘Cass-cade’ episode being a bit of a detour - the momentum has gone. The build up isn’t as satisfying as maybe it should. The set as a whole seems to be a two parter with a prelude and a...

The Road Untravelled Eighth Doctor Adventures Time War 6.2 At the end of the last episode the Doctor and co had got out of the fake reality they were in. Now they find themselves on a spaceship in a void space. With 'Nowhere, Never' having some unanswered questions, this doesn’t do much to help. The ‘Captain’ seems to be known by the Doctor and it's one of those times where you’re suddenly trying to work out if you should know them as well. With so many different Big Finish ranges it's hard to keep up: Hieronyma Friend - the captain, we encountered as the non existent passenger in Meanwhile, Elsewhere. Yeah I had to look it up! Conrad Westmass plays the Captain, with his previous role as the Eighths companion C’rizz, it's a little odd, but it maybe due to the character he’s playing. The void space has reflections, and they are reflections of the ship hence the title. Other versions, but which version will make it out? Add to that the ship is of old Gallifrayan origi...

Cass-Cade                                                       Eighth Doctor Adventures Time War 6.3                                                    Cass is on a space station, a queue for the food counter is where she meets the Doctor and Alex who don’t know her. Suddenly she’s somewhere else, where she meets the Doctor and Alex who don’t know her, and, well… you get the idea. Its tempting to say this is a more straight forward story, yet that is isn’t. The space station is falling towards the sun and Cass is jumping around time meeting the Doctor and Alex at different points in the adventure, each time as if for the first. Like much other such adventures it starts to come together and you can build an idea of what’s the ...