“The War Valeyard? Now you’re just being stupid!” was my initial reaction to this boxset, but then I thought about it, and with The Doctor not fighting the war, of course the Time Lords would be happy with an evil version of The Doctor, so the more I thought about it, the more I actually looked forward to the story seen here at the end of the set, and thankfully it didn’t disappoint! Let’s take a look!
The Eighth Doctor is still avoiding the Time War as we reach Series 3 of the titular range, and we finally (I guess?) get a good look at the backstory for his companion, Bliss. That being said, the highlight of this double bill is the second episode, away from her muddled continuity…
It’s been a long time since we got a new story featuring the Sixth Doctor and Peri (especially the “as seen on TV” versions) so if nothing else this story felt both fresh, in a way, and nostalgic. The central premise of punishing someone for crimes he can no longer remember is a genuinely interesting idea that was only partially explored, sadly. So let’s have a look at the story overall, shall we?
To celebrate 20 years of making Doctor Who audios, Big Finish released a special, roughly six-hour story titled “The Legacy of Time”, and now I’ve finally found the time to finish it, I can say it was a fun collection of stories, but was definitely just that. There wasn’t much of an over-arching plot, which is fine, it’s just different to what I was expecting. Let’s take a closer look!
Lucie Miller is back in the first many releases this month, and it was at least worth the wait. Ignoring a bit of a train wreck of a first story, the box was a fun trip overall, so let’s take a look! (Take a look in a different, more free-form format than I normally do…)
The first two stories in this “Mags Trilogy” scored a three, then a two. Does story number three hold up any better? Well… no, not really. After the disaster that has been the Ace/Mel stories, these have sadly continued the trend of poor Seventh Doctor audios, which is a shame because that particular Doctor used to be the highlight of the Main Range. Well, let’s take a look at this one, anyway…
Bernice Summerfield has finally reached Legion, and … once again we get a boxset of mostly completely stand-alone episodes, one of which ended up being a backdoor pilot for a different audio series all together. It’s not a bad thing to have single stories from time to time, but after a box of them stalling time for Benny to get to Legion, it was an odd choice… Let’s take a look if they still stand well on their own, anyway!
Benny’s second boxset release, Road Trip, actually feels more like it was created after the run of boxes and just set “during the time Bernice was on her way to Legion”, as that plot thread from the end of Epoch doesn’t arrive until a 10-minute post credit sequence. That being said, for three stand-alone stories, it’s actually a good bunch of audio dramas, so I’m certainly not complaining after the far more dull start to this run… so let’s take a closer look!
We end our look at the third 10th Doctor Adventures set, and a mammoth two weeks of new Big Finish releases (though if you think it’s been bad now, wait until July!) with The Creeping Death. Set in early 50s during the very real Great Smog of London, though with a very unreal alien element, obviously! Let’s take a look…
We continue our look at the third volume of the Tenth Doctor Adventures with One Mile Down. It’s a middle of the road story, containing both good and bad, and I can’t help but feel the Judoon, seen here front and centre of the cover image, were added for the sake of it, but without further beating around the bush, let’s have a closer look!
