Doctor Who: Once and Future – Coda: The Final Act Review

Remember “Once and Future”? The big 60th Anniversary run of stories that ended up being almost entirely disappointing nonsense with little thought into the writing? Well, this is the “Coda” to that story, an epilogue with one more special crossover, in this case The War Doctor and The Fugitive Doctor. The latter has an interesting premise if your brave enough to run with it (a pre-Hartnell Doctor from the Dark Times either working for the shady division or running away from it) but for the sake of this story it’s actually just two Doctors who are more inclined to violence than the numbered ones accidentally at odds with each other, and you know what? It was really fun, perhaps the highlight of the whole Once and Future storyline… which isn’t saying much, but still! Let’s take a look.

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Doctor Who: Time War – Uncharted: Reflections Review

“Doctor Who: Time War – Uncharted: Reflections” (bloody hell, enough subtitles for you?) is the latest Eighth Doctor Time War offering, continuing the adventures of The Doctor, his great-grandson from another universe Alex and Cass, that one off character he met right at the end of his life that has been retroactively made into a companion I guess he forgets. It’s an odd mix, but even more oddly it really works! Reflections is a really fun four story set, with each story building nicely from the one before it. Let’s take a look!

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My Top 10 Doctor Who Stories of 2024

For the first time in many years I haven’t actually gotten around to listening to all the Big Finish releases this years, thanks in part to falling behind due to the new website/app disaster from a few months ago. So if any of December’s releases end up being better than my Number 10 pick… bugger. With that being said it’s also been a few years since we’ve had a year with a full Series of Doctor Who airing, so at least there’s a greater pool of stories to choose from! Let’s take a look…

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Doctor Who: Joy to the World Review

While it’s nice to once again watch a new Doctor Who Christmas Special on actual Christmas, I will have to say that “Joy to the World” was a mixed bag leaning towards boring, at least in my opinion (which after all is what a review is, so I don’t know why I typed that…) It has some good ideas and some fun sequences but it was also capped off by the most Steven Moffat-y ending you could imagine, which at this point is somewhat nostalgic but still… Ah, enough waffling, let’s take a look!

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Doctor Who: The Quintessence Review

It’s time for another story from probably my most anticipated Doctor Who range of them all at the moment: the Third Doctor adventures. “The Quintessence” is the next in the line of older Jo Grant (or Jo Jones) adventures that got off to a bad start last year but I’m happy to say that this second set is among the very best this year. While it starts slowly (and oddly familiar) it turns into not just a great story but a great story with the Cybermen, the original Mondas ones no less. Let’s take a look!

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Doctor Who: The Great Beyond Review

“The Great Beyond” is the latest Fifth Doctor release from Big Finish and has taken the approach of doing a six-parter, something that can sometimes lead to a great story full of slow-burn plots and great characterisation, but often ends up spinning its wheels and padding out the story poorly, and I’m sorry to say this is very much the latter. It’s a shame as there are some fun sci-fi ideas on display here and the TARDIS team is well realised, but the plot doesn’t survive the nearly three hours, and the new characters barely survive the one scene they’re introduced in! Let’s take a look, anyway…

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Doctor Who: The Happiness Patrol Review

Another Doctor Who blu-ray set dropped, so it’s time for another review! Season 25-wise the story that I haven’t watched in the longest time was The Happiness Patrol, a weird bit of political commentary that’s caught between the super-child-friendly Season 24 mood and the more-serious (for Doctor Who) storytelling of Season 26. It… doesn’t entirely work, but there are some really good scenes in it though, especially the ending, so let’s take a look!

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Doctor Who: The Stuff of Legend Review

“The Stuff of Legend” is an odd one in that it was more conceived as a live show experience than a traditional release, though this version I listened to was a simple studio recorded version before they “took it on tour”. That means it doesn’t fit into a range or anything, it’s just a two-hour Eighth Doctor and Charley story featuring the Alex Macqueen Master… which is honestly good enough for me as I love all of those things! It also has the Daleks, which can be good or bad at this point, and some pretty generic supporting characters… So basically the story isn’t breaking any new ground at any point, but it’s fun enough. Let’s take a look!

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Doctor Who: Dominant Species Review

I remember years ago John Dorney said in an interview that he was practically begging to do a story with the Dominators and that he was “serious” when people thought he was joking. I was intrigued, especially as Mr. Dorney is probably my favourite writer in the Big Finish stable, and finally: here we are, and you know what? It’s an extremely predictable and by-the-numbers “resistance group fighting against invading aliens” story. Huh? Mr. Dorney could’ve written this exact story with any number of other alien races, why did this prove the Dominators “needed” a second go around? Oh well… At least the Fourth Doctor / Naomi / Harry stories are over now, it hasn’t been a great run. Let’s take a look!

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Doctor Who: The Face in the Storm Review

Next up in the Fourth Doctor / Harry / Naomi run of stories is “The Face in the Storm”, where Big Finish go back to the “person meets their relative in the past and can’t risk damaging their own future” trope, complete with a tragic storyline for good measure. I mean, at least it isn’t Helen this time, I guess! Let’s take a look…

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