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| What: | Millennium Shock (BBC Past Doctor novels) |
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| By: | Mike Harrison, Los Angeles, United States |
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| Date: | Tuesday 1 April 2008 |
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| Rating: |   8 |
I have to say Millemium Shock was a great read!, I love the idea the 'monsters' of the book where half human, half machine and a little bit of snake!. Justin Richards never ceases to amaze me with the amount of action he puts into his books this has everything from car chases (invloving the Doctor in a tank) to rather scary operations and a nail bitting finish. The Charecterisation was amazing with the 4th Doctor being almost off the wall yet slightly serious and Harry Sullivan always being the rather pesimistic companion!
all in all a great read!
My hunt through my local library led me to find this gem of Who lore. The idea of a temporal paradox is fascinating and when the details of the paradox are revealed it sent shivers down my spine. In grand Who tradition, this story features awful visual effects, bad makeup and costumes and amazing scripts and above average acting. True the Daleks are not the highlight of this episode but if they had not been listed in the title I might never have seen this.
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 | A very good story indeed... |
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| What: | The Last (Big Finish: The Monthly Adventures) |
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| By: | Matthew David Rabjohns, Bridgend, United Kingdom |
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| Date: | Friday 28 March 2008 |
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| Rating: | 10 |
The Last is a fantastically grim and thought provoking tale. A nuclear winter on the planet of Bortresoye. Carolyn Jones really plays Excelsior brilliantly. She is a horrible and cold hearted snake of a character, fully encapsulating all that is bad about warfare. A fine performance from Carolyn. And India Fisher gets to be more vulnerable than ever when Charlie is apparently left paralysed from a roof fall in. The Doctor's optimism really is pushed to breaking point in this story. This has the feel of a tense and gripping drama of emotion. Conrad Westmaas is great in his portrayal of C'rizz too. The last hope of a whole world that has been destroyed by one bomb dropping. Madness has set in to say the least. And the few survivors live in a bunker a mile underground, yes, i can see why that would make people loopey. Very well written stuff.
| What: | Project: Twilight (Big Finish: The Monthly Adventures) |
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| By: | Matthew David Rabjohns, Bridgend, United Kingdom |
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| Date: | Friday 28 March 2008 |
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| Rating: | 10 |
I really like horror stories that are more stories than just blood and guts. And in this tale you get an exploding body, but the story is strong too. That scene is really gross. Evelyn commenting about never having flesh in her handbag is a gross and over the top piece of dialogue, yuck. But still flipping entertaining too. Another take on the vampire tale. Poor old Cassie, she didnt stand a chance really did she? And that Nimrod is a nasty piece of work too isnt he? and Reggie Mead needs to take a chill pill too. And Maggie Stables is great as Evelyn again. and the little hint of the future when the good old doc starts singing the zagreus nursery rhyme in his head. Chilling prequel to Project Lazarus.
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| Flip Flop only has its ups... |
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| What: | Flip-Flop (Big Finish: The Monthly Adventures) |
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| By: | Matthew David Rabjohns, Bridgend, United Kingdom |
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| Date: | Friday 28 March 2008 |
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| Rating: | 10 |
This is such a clever outing for big finish. You can listen to the black or white dic first, now isnt that clever? Well, i think its clever. Its all about a time loop you see. The poor old doc and mel get themselves into trouble on the planet Puxatornee, what with the sluggy slithergees and the radicals intent on changing their own history. Personally i listen to the black disc first, but thats just my preference. Either way, you get a witty and engaging little tale from Jonathan Morris, none of the let downs of Bloodtide are present in this outtake. This is just a cool and different tale that shows how great the big finish doctor who scene is...
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| A pig of a story? No way! |
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| What: | Year of the Pig (Big Finish: The Monthly Adventures) |
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| By: | Matthew David Rabjohns, Bridgend, United Kingdom |
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| Date: | Friday 28 March 2008 |
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| Rating: | 10 |
This is where Doctor Who is unbeatable. What you do is get a great leading actor, in this term Colin Baker, then you get a great female actress as companion, hereby Nicola Bryant, you put these two with the likes of Michael Keating and Maureen O'Brien and finally round it off with Adjoa Andoh playing a nurse for a pig. And hey presto, you get the perfect story. Matthew Sweet really has done it on this, his debut script for big finish. May he bring more very soon. I had no problem with the dialogue in this story, after all, in 1913 i should think the language was a tiny bit more archaic. You get real character development for once as well. Really deep plotting and character isms that you pick up on and relish right from the start. And the meat falling from the sky was an unexpected disgusting moment too, if this was visual it would probably make me feel sick. Having steak all over the beach, yuck! The story steadily gathers pace and momentum, without being tedious and dull. This is yet another one of the filmic feel doctor who adventures, a little inspector morse mystery if you like. Where for once no one is really evil, just misled and not understood properly. This story comes with a highly recommended note from me. Paul Brooke is easily one of the best actors in the last 15 or so audio stories, and he really gets his teeth into playing Toby the sapient pig. Love the Doctor saving the inspector in the sea bit too, really great acting from Colin on this one. Peri almost being steamed to death is a nice little ending to part one too. Nice that there is a genuine happy ending to this story, all rather like a fairytale, but with not so much stupid big bad wolf to blow the house down, just confused memories that need rearranging. A great new direction for the audio adventures of doctor who.
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| ARGHH, THE MUSICAL NASTY... |
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| What: | Nocturne (Big Finish: The Monthly Adventures) |
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| By: | Matthew David Rabjohns, Bridgend, United Kingdom |
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| Date: | Friday 28 March 2008 |
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| Rating: | 10 |
"A human settlement on the planet Nocturne, theres a war on and been going on for a long time" so remarks the doctor upon arriving on Nocturne. When isnt there a war with man involved might i ask? ALways so many of the useless battles around every day of our lives. We seem unable to break away from the hell of wars. And yet there is still some nice people left in the universe though. The Doc says Nocturne is one of his favourite places ever, a new idea. I dont the doctor has ever been to somewhere wholly because he likes it so much before. He never did get to Florana! But instead he arrives in Glassed City where all is not well as usual. A tune is on the loose. A tune that isnt very good at all. A tune that kills. And the doc is in a race against time to stop this new menace. Yes, Dan Abnett is right in his writing of the villain in this one, music can make you emotional and detached or alive and ecstatic! And so to turn this into a nasty little tune is a great thought. And then there is the slighly hot headed Oburst Renney, a great character with lots of attitude. really i love strong female characters. No tv or film or audio story would be any good without at least one strong female character in it. Theres Ragpole with his diabolical poetry too, a ha ha moment, and theres Will Alloran, the summing up of all that is wrong about war. And the nasty little greedy brother in Lomas Alloran too. Greed really does get you nowhere at all. All things considered then , i guess you could say i flipping enjoy this great play. A strong script yet again from dan Abnett, thankfully with no colourful language this time. A fine piece of storytelling. Sylvester Mccoy is ace as the doc again, and both Phil and Soph are on top form too.
| What: | Exotron (Big Finish: The Monthly Adventures) |
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| By: | Matthew David Rabjohns, Bridgend, United Kingdom |
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| Date: | Friday 28 March 2008 |
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| Rating: | 10 |
This has an echo of Arrangements for War, which is good for me. An echo without being a bland repeat so to say. This story is brilliant to say the least. The Farakosh are not evil, just another miunderstood alien race who are being hurt by man's stupidity yet again. But this is a real and every day thing in the real world, so no stupid views come out in this tale whatsoever. Peter Davison works so well when facing off against Nick Brimble as Major Taylor. A great piece of scripting from Paul Sutton. Yet again this is a small story in a massive backdrop, a hallmark of Paul Sutton it seems, but by no means is it a bad hallmark. No, this gives a more cramped and fast pace to the dialogue and characters involved. This story races along with plenty of enguaging ideas to keep you awake along the way. The big finish team are still on their 98% brilliance role, no bad stories have come along for a long while now, which is brilliant. I love Doctor Who and Urban Myths sums up all i love about the series. It feels like a tales of the unexpected romp, so cool and clever as the bonus one part story. The one part stories big finish have done recently on 100 and Circular Time and on ID and this story and the wishing beast are all highly regardable and flipping excellent i can tell yer. Big finish can you just do some for the seventh and eighth doctors now please?!!
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| Let down by only one thing... |
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| What: | The Harvest (Big Finish: The Monthly Adventures) |
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| By: | Matthew David Rabjohns, Bridgend, United Kingdom |
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| Date: | Friday 28 March 2008 |
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| Rating: | 9 |
This is an action packed thrill ride of a story, brilliantly acted by all involved. If only it werent for the over the top use of colourful language. Not everyone wants to hear garbage every five minutes. But apart from that, this story is definitely a classy tale i can tell you. Sly Mccoy is on top form as the good doctor, although he brings more of a feel of the last season of his performance on tv to this tale, a more sombre and dark and more thoughtful doctor. But this is by no means a bad thing. Its whatb defines his interpretation of the doctor anyway! Philip Olivier too makes a big entrance into the world of Who as Hex. And Sophie really is brilliant. This feels like another film on disc. A reaL sci fi mega movie this could be. Dan Abnett brings back the cybermen in a different plotline though, which is so refreshing and cool. The Cybermen want to become human again, and yet the humans here want to become cybermen, what a wonderful reversal...this is great stuff i can tell you. I think this should be adapted into a tv story too in the very near future. This is what Doctor Who should be like!
| What: | Primeval (Big Finish: The Monthly Adventures) |
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| By: | Matthew David Rabjohns, Bridgend, United Kingdom |
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| Date: | Friday 28 March 2008 |
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| Rating: | 4 |
The opening scenes would suggest this was going to be a classic doctor who story. What with Peter Davison bringing poor sick Nyssa to Traken in the past to find a cure for her ailment. A good bit of continuity from the tv series too made me smile and think, yes this is going to be a winner.
But sadly i was rather let down by the end of the story. The promising start just dwindelled into one of the few very weak plays from big finish. Wish wash is the phrase that comes to mind to describe this tale. Sarah Sutton's performance is the only thing that saves this story in the end. Even Steven Greif and Kwundaar doesnt blow me away either actually. In the end, a great first five minutes, mish mash last 90 minutes. Not worthy of Lance Parkin at all. But greater was to come from this guy in Davros...
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| Just not anything really new.... |
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| What: | Dust Breeding (Big Finish: The Monthly Adventures) |
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| By: | Matthew David Rabjohns, Bridgend, United Kingdom |
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| Date: | Friday 28 March 2008 |
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| Rating: | 8 |
Yet again i say this is by no means a bad story, Geoffery Beevers returning as the Master gives it an automatic and chilling 7 out of 10 already, just for his fine reutrn to the role. And thbe thought of a sentient being locked into a painting is a cool and imaginative thought. Just all the rest of the story that lags a little behind with so so action moments and so so cliffhangers. Although Caroline John is great in the role of Madame Salvadori, love the accent Caroline! Bev Tarrant is back again, pity she doesnt get as much to do this time round. The dust attacks maybe okay, and the krill are just not presented well enough, no distinctive roar or anything like that which lets this story down a bit. But on the whole still a very entertaining story, all things considered. Just not classic in status.
| What: | Colditz (Big Finish: The Monthly Adventures) |
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| By: | Matthew David Rabjohns, Bridgend, United Kingdom |
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| Date: | Friday 28 March 2008 |
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| Rating: | 10 |
History isnt dull as ditchwater and easy to forget. History is important to me to this day. All the wars and suffering should not be so readily forgotten by the masses out there. I like stories that dont shy away from the nasty bits of war.
Steve Lyons is great at whole sci fi stories, but he seems in a league of his own when it comes to purely historical tales. No one comes near this guy for history in the making. He showed us brilliance in The Fires of Vulcan, and now here he goes again with a great and classic script in Colditz.
Right, lets look at all the reasons i think this is a great play...
David Tennant is excellent as the perverted Kurtz, a nice and chillingly realistic approach employed by this very talented male actor. A great tenth doctor too man. But here he really is a nasty creep.
Sylvester Mccoy of course, but that should go without saying. He is still my fav overall audio doctor.
Sophie gives realism to the thought of Ace growing up into a proper young woman now, harder and less bawly. A great performance from the word go from a great actress.
Tracey Childs as Klein, a manipulative git from the future. You can really tell when people love the parts they are given to act on film or tv or audio adventures!
And the storyline itself is fresh and imaginative. This is a well crafted story well directed and produced with some genuinely great cliffhangers too. Bring on the diddly dums!!!
| What: | Loups-Garoux (Big Finish: The Monthly Adventures) |
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| By: | Matthew David Rabjohns, Bridgend, United Kingdom |
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| Date: | Friday 28 March 2008 |
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| Rating: | 10 |
Marc Platt always did know how to write intellegent stories with many good character pieces along with strong ideas. He brings together many components that work so well together and Loups Garoux is yet another fine example of this guys talent as a writer.
For a start there is the wolves, not bright as day but not as dark as night either, a villian who isnt as evil as many other doctor who baddies. and so Eleanor Bron returns to doctor who to voice Ileana, a great part well acted and interesting. Bert Kwouk is a great choice for Doctor Hiyashi too i must say. The performances really are very good and never ott.
And Mark Strickson gets a decent chunk of script to sink his teeth into too. Nice to hear him getting at least a bit of a storyline in the grand scheme of things again. Love the character of Rosa too.
Love the "no trees were harmed" segment too, shows thought provoking stuff again from Marc. ALways leaves those little things to think on after every story ive noticed. So Peter Davison leads a great cast in a story that is both engaging and far better then Tooth and Claw from the new series too. This is one of the strongest stories from big finish even to this day. A werewolf tale that isnt bogged down in werewolf isms. A breath of fresh air in a mostly stale horror villain story world!!!
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| Eclectic and slighty confused |
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| What: | Absolution (Big Finish: The Monthly Adventures) |
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| By: | Matthew David Rabjohns, Bridgend, United Kingdom |
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| Date: | Friday 28 March 2008 |
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| Rating: | 8 |
This story is by no means bad at all, but it all feel rather confused in areas. There are plenty of great moments along the way though, which still make this a worthy big finish story, just not one of the very best thats all.
Is this supposed to all be C'rizz's fault or just the people's trapped in the absolver eh? I found it a little hard to get around the twists and turns in this story at times. Or is it all Charlie's fault? Sorry, but there is probably just a little too much going on at times. Or maybe it is just me.
The good moments are there though, for a start the tardis behaving erratically and the blood from the central column would have been gross if televised, and then theres C'rizz's goodbye to the good old Doc and Charlie.
I hate the "Charlie have a go at the doc for being alien again" routine. Man, this is getting to be an old and tired excuse now. The Doctor cares about everyone. He cant help it if he's a time lord for petes sake. A nice thing in future would be if all the tv and big finish stories didnt bring up this common as muck attitude and storyline into every story.
Absolution is a decent story on the whole though, with strong acting especially from Conrad Westmaas. So, good but not brilliant...
| What: | Valhalla (Big Finish: The Monthly Adventures) |
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| By: | Matthew David Rabjohns, Bridgend, United Kingdom |
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| Date: | Friday 21 March 2008 |
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| Rating: | 9 |
I wrote earlier on a different site that this story was a little short of the mark for a Marc Platt tale, but ive listenened to it more and more recently and that means there must be polenty of cool stuff floating around in this great little tale. Maybe i had a headache when listening to it before.
For a start theres the great performance of Sylvester Mccoy being the lonely companionless doctor and all that. Well acted part yet again from my favourite audio.
Then theres the great appearance from Susannah York in all, a first class actress in my opinion. And i just love six legged spice, that did make me crack up.
But the coolest thing in this story is still the great performance of Michelle Gomez as Jeavan. Yet another in a long line of should have been a companion greats. Realistic and totally laid back. Adds to the tension and the overall feel of this well produced and directed play.
There is one minor little thing, i dont like the voices of the termites. So lame and unimpressive, but really apart from that this has a lot going for it i can tell you. Far far more impressive and litenable than the Voyage of the Damned was for watching!
| What: | Thicker Than Water (Big Finish: The Monthly Adventures) |
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| By: | Matthew David Rabjohns, Bridgend, United Kingdom |
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| Date: | Thursday 20 March 2008 |
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| Rating: | 10 |
This story is class to me, does that mean im thick or retarded, id be glad to hear any answers from people whove given this story such bad and totally unwarranted reviews.
This is a strong sequel to a great story. This is definitely on level pegging with the tear jerking Arrangements For War. Poor old Evelyn has to face up to her heart problem at last. Shes had a rough time of it hasnt she? Poor old girl. But she gets a surprise visit from the seventh doctor! What a cool and unexpected surprise! Just a great addition to a thoroughly enjoyable story. And she still has the chemistry with Gabriel Woolf too.
Bonnie Langford isnt half bad too. Getting thrown down that lift shaft was nasty. What idiot would or could do that to lovely Miss Bush eh? Good job the Doctor is on hand to save the day, yet again!
You feel sorry for the killorans despite their invasion in the last story, and they really have been totally dealienized here. Reduced to mindless brutes. Poor old killorans too.
And the closing scenes are warm and touching yet again too. This makes me weep a little bit. Continuity when done properly is brilliant. Colin Baker is great again as the sixth doctor too. And the action is very realistic too in my opinion. I dont know why so many other people see this story is such a dim view, but it may be that im the dim wit...but who cares, as long as i like the story, then thats all that matters..
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| only one thing lets this down.... |
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| What: | Spare Parts (Big Finish: The Monthly Adventures) |
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| By: | Matthew David Rabjohns, Bridgend, United Kingdom |
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| Date: | Thursday 20 March 2008 |
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| Rating: | 10 |
And the thing that lets it down is that the character of Yvonne is basically only in one episode of this drama. Really sad, that. i love the character to bits, so well performed.
But yes this story is excellent. Marc Platt deliver again in this cyberman story and a half. An emotional rollercoaster of an adventure which leaves you gasping for breath.
Doctor Who's best the cybermen are back in very strong form indeed, and the big finish team get those most chilling original cyber voices right on the nail. They freak me out i can tell you all.
And Sarah Sutton proves again why Nyssa is such a likeable and cool companion. And we get a mention of poor old Adric too, aaahh...
Sally Knyvette really does deliver as Doctorman Allen. And what the hell is the creepy cyber planner eh? Flaming scary or what?! This story is really fast paced.
The scenes with poor Yvonne and the family really steal this show though. Real tear jerking stuff when a partially cyberniseed Yvonne comes home cold and almost dead, horrible and realistic drama to the full. This is yet another excellent play from Big finish. Really, what the hell was Rise Of The Cybermen compared to this?! Not any comparison really...
| What: | Bang-Bang-a-Boom! (Big Finish: The Monthly Adventures) |
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| By: | Matthew David Rabjohns, Bridgend, United Kingdom |
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| Date: | Thursday 20 March 2008 |
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| Rating: | 10 |
This is kind of brilliant.
Clay Hickman and Gareth Roberts can always be trusted to deliver highly entertaining comedy yarns. I thought they couldnt get any better than The One Doctor, but i was happily wrong...
Oh Bang Bang is such a bang! The great Bonnie Langford cuts her teeth as Mel Bush, a truly great outing for her is this one, where she plays non screaming detective at the intergalactic song contest. The aliens here are so wet your nappy brilliant too, with Patricia Quinn being quite brilliant as Angvia especially. Her scenes with the doc and arm pits are really side busting! Ive never laughed quite so much to a story before.
The murder mystery brings in some hard relief from the comedy though, a good balance is maintained right from the word go.
Sylvester Mccoy is impressive as the doc again as usual. This is story that comes highly recommended from me.
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| Another UNDERrated one... |
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| What: | The Church and the Crown (Big Finish: The Monthly Adventures) |
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| By: | Matthew David Rabjohns, Bridgend, United Kingdom |
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| Date: | Thursday 20 March 2008 |
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| Rating: | 10 |
What is it with some reviewers, is history so boring and forgettable to them? well, this is my own personal thoughts on this classy play...
this is total french bread. With Nicola giving a great performance as both Peri and Queen Anna, she really is quite a nasty little minx as the latter actually. This is the story where Nicola shines more than ever. She has been given a decent chunk of scripting to get her teeth into. But the good old Doctor and Erimem are not forgotten either. In fact Erimem is strongly scripted too, trying to lead the town properly into battle again, like any true pharaoh would. A nice little history with a Three Muskateers feel woven all throughout the episodes...
im only sad that Antranak never got a chance to have a bigger part in the stories! Really, cats have a hard time of it these days dont they?
Airhead kings, deceitful bishops and whatnot. All the ingredients are here. This is not an OVER rated story, this story does deserve to be acclaimed, well, by me at least anyway...
| What: | ...ish (Big Finish: The Monthly Adventures) |
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| By: | Matthew David Rabjohns, Bridgend, United Kingdom |
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| Date: | Thursday 20 March 2008 |
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| Rating: | 10 |
What i actually really like about this play is the sound score, so cool and different. Really different from the usual sort of themed music to grace who.
And the script and acting aint half bad either in this really intelligent tale. This is quite a different play, with more emphasis on the words than any other play in the big finish range. This is a real brain twister. A murder mystery with a dictionary (yes, in some places it is required!) on top. Some great wording. Colin Baker is very strong as the doctor in this story. Whilst Nicola Bryant does get aomething to do again, which is very nice.
