“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…

Continue reading →

“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!

Continue reading →

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!

Continue reading →

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…

Continue reading →

“The Trials of a Time Lord” is the latest in a run of overly-long boxsets where to celebrate a milestone since a Doctor’s first TV appearance Big Finish decided to throw literally everything into a blender and see what happens, and once again it’s just not very good. It’s thankfully better than the Seventh Doctor’s “Last Day” duo but that’s damning with faint praise if I’ve ever heard it. Featuring the Cybermen, Davros, Daleks, Androgums (yes, Androgums!) and The Master, with a plot that’s basically just Vengeance on Varos again it could have been a fun ride in expert hands, maybe, but instead it’s just a “remember him?/them?” fest with little going for it… So, let’s take a closer look! Yay?

Continue reading →

It’s time for a one-off return to the Novel Adaptations range as for some reason the Paul Cornell “Missing Adventures” book Goth Opera has been turned into an audio drama, but not the Fourth Doctor novel that leads into it, so it’s all a bit odd. Still, I’m not going to turn down a three-hour Fifth Doctor story with a larger cast one way or another, so let’s take a look!

Continue reading →