The sixth series of Fourth Doctor Adventures ends, as per usual, with a four-parter spread across two months. Unusually however, this story focuses much more on Romana than The Doctor himself, and manages to pull of a really good story. The extra time was a God send as it allowed the unusual planet and a new character from Romana’s past to both be fleshed out. So, for the last time this year, let’s have a closer look! (last time for a Fourth Doctor audio, anyway…)
Before we move on to a new Sixth Doctor trilogy, the Main Range take a one-release detour and gives us the Fifth Doctor, but not as we know him! Time in Office is actually a genuinely funny story focusing on the idea that The Doctor has been caught and forced to become President, a role he accepted in the past. Four distinct parts and plenty of fun, with both Tegan and Leela along for the journey… Let’s take a look at it then!
I had high hopes for The Silurian Candidate, one of two Main Range audio releases this month, but sadly it was far too concerned with lampooning Donald Trump than it was telling a new or interesting story with the Silurians. Sadly that’s another 7th Doctor / Ace / Mel trilogy in the Main Range that just hasn’t worked, although at least this time the lead trio weren’t really the problem… let’s take a closer look…
This month’s Main Range audio continues with the Seventh Doctor, Ace and Mel combination that, sadly, has failed to really work, mostly due to its placement in Big Finish’s own timeline. While the last story was disappointing, this lived up to the fact that it looked and sounded a bit dull by … being a bit dull. Let’s take a closer look anyway, because that’s how my blog works!
The second story of the Third Doctor Adventures Vol. 3, Storm of the Horofax is a fun story, filled with a good few Third Doctor tropes and, oddly, a few new series ideas thrown in. The Horofax aren’t memorable and I doubt we’ll see them again, but as a one off story, it’s good. Let’s take a closer look! (and quickly, so we don’t have to see the rush job I did on photoshop to try and get rid of the previous story elements from the artwork…)
The third volume of Third Doctor Adventures (a.k.a. Third Doctor stories with Tin Treloar doing a damn good job doing Jon Pertwee’s Third Doctor) starts off with Dalek story by Nicholas Briggs! … Unique! Seriously though, this does at least feel like a Third Doctor story, even if I would have preferred the Cybermen if we’re going with classic enemies (as the Third Doctor has three good Dalek TV stories and no Cybermen TV stories at all!) It does suffer from the usual Briggs Dalek war tropes, which is why this story sits somewhere between comfortably nostalgic and uncomfortably predictable… Let’s take a closer look, regardless!
I finish my game of catch up with Fourth Doctor Adventures with last month’s release, The Movellan Grave. Can a rather unspectacular and by-design stoic and emotionless race be redeemed with a story focused on just themselves?? … Not really, but it’s a good effort. Far better than I thought it would turn out to be, anyway. Let’s take a closer look!
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The sixth series of Fourth Doctor Adventures moves forwards… by going downwards! Ha! … Never mind, Subterranea features mole-people and mole-Cybermen, so it’s not your regular story type, that’s for sure, it’s just a shame it does feel rather generic, somehow! Anyway, let’s take a bit more of a detailed looksie…
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After breaking for a few weeks to allow for the July releases, it’s time to finish playing catch up with this year’s Fourth Doctor Adventures! The Haunting of Malkin Place is an interesting story, dealing with both traditional ghost tropes and locations, as well as the old spiritual vs. science, but also deals with PTSD and the horrors of war. It’s a concept that could easily have fallen apart, but manages to instead hold together and tell a really good story. Let’s take a closer look!
Classic Doctors, New Monsters Vol.2 comes to a close with the Eighth Doctor still avoiding the Time War, but ending up in a space station full of Vashta Nerada! It’s kind of a shame that my first McGann audio is this far into his life, there are so many great audios with him that have appeared over the last decade and a bit to cover for the blog! ANYWAY, this is a good little survival horror story with some nice ties to both the Time War and the War Doctor audios. Let’s take a closer look!
Hogan Reviews 