The Fifth Doctor lost stories rocket on then, as we get a very of-era story set on an alien world that has coincidentally copied Tudor London for their city, which would’ve been handy at the time for existing sets and costumes! Involving an old friend of Tegans and some body snatching, it’s got a lot going on, but is it good, or should it have stayed on the cutting room floor? … Wait, cutting room floor doesn’t make any sense, it was just never commissioned, erm… never mind.
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The first half of Shadow of the Daleks is here! … What is it? It’s… well, it’s something that has come into being thanks to the Pandemic. It’s a series of eight half hour stories where the Fifth Doctor has accidentally found himself feeling the effects of the Time War his future selves are fighting, and as a result is meeting the same few faces in very different locations. Basically, two Main Range audio slots had to be removed and so they came up with a way to make new ones by re-using the same few actors/actresses who have good enough at-home recording set-ups. Does it work though? Hmmm… it’s a mixed bag…
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It’s time to begin the Eighth Doctor Audio Drama strand of Time Lord Victorious with “He Kills Me, He Kills Me Not”. Obviously on the fringes of the core story seen in last week’s book, this is more about The Doctor realising something is very wrong with time and meeting Brian the Ood Assassin for the first time. The rest of the story is fun, but full of bad accents… Does it hurt it overall? Let’s find out!
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The next stop in the Time Lord Victorious story arc is a pair of “Short Trips”, basically 40 minute pieces of prose read in audiobook style by one actor/actress, and in this case these two trips feature Masters who have never really appeared in Big Finish audio stories (for obvious reasons, though less so now there are so many recasts!) So what are they like, and how do they fit into the Time Lord Victorious story arc? Let’s find out! … as much as we can at this point.
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We reach the Fifth Doctor in our look at the Lost Stories range (not including the story I’ve already covered when it was released, obviously…) and we kick off with a bang! The Elite is one of the better Lost Stories, most importantly if you go into it without spoilers. This was my second time listening to it, and while it was still good nothing beats the memory of that first time reveal… Want to know more? Well, listen to it first, you’ll thank me! … Want to get spoiled anyway, or just want my thoughts? Read on!
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The second of the two Fourth Doctor Lost Stories (for now!) is not lost in the same way as a lot of the other ones. “The Valley of Death” by all accounts is based on an idea Philip Hinchcliffe had during his time as a producer on the show where he wanted to do a story set in the Amazon, but sadly for him none of the writers were all that interested, so he dropped it. So it was an idea rather than anything already scripted or even pitched on paper, so although Mr. Hinchcliffe did give all his ideas to Jonathan Morris to adapt here, this feels more like a “Phillip Hinchcliffe Presents” release rather than a truly lost story. Still! The main thing is… well, is it any good? Let’s find out!
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When Tom Baker finally joined up with Big Finish most fans flocked to “Destination: Nerva”, the first Fourth Doctor Adventure, but I was one of the few who headed straight for the Fourth Doctor Lost Stories box set (which to be fair, was rather expensive at launch…) and so this was the first Fourth Doctor audio drama I heard, and boy… it’s a damn good one! Admittedly, looking back on it you can tell Tom is still just getting into the groove but hasn’t found the same older Fourth voice he eventually settled on yet. Still, is it a match for the six parter that eventually replaced it? Let’s find out!
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Much to my relief we return to the second half of the fourth Time War box set to find it doesn’t let the side down after a fantastic first half. While neither Dreadshade or Restoration of the Daleks are as great and well thought out as Palindrome, they do up the war stakes and deliver some great moments, including a hell of an unexpected final scene! Let’s take a look…
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The fourth and currently final Eighth Doctor Time War set is here, and we start off with a two-part close inspection of Davros and his potential timelines, as well as generally featuring a lot of other general time shenanigans. Luckily it was written by John Dorney, so what could’ve easily been a mess was actually interesting and really fun to follow. Want to know more? Read on!
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Hooray! More Ace and Hex! … In two two-part stories… okay, well, one of the best from this team was just a single part (“The Word Lord”) so still looking forward to it! … Oh, one story is crap and the other is just plain. What a shame given this trio is one of the best things to come out of Main Range, this is a sorry note for what is presumably their final outing in its original series…
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