Rosa written by Malorie Blackman & Chris Chibnall and directed by Mark Tonderai

This story in a nutshell: One of the most essential Doctor Who stories of all time… 

Oh Brilliant: I continue to be impressed with how Jodie Whitaker plays the part of the Doctor completely in control and yet very rarely choosing to dominate the story, instead very generously allowing her fellow actors to take equal weight in a scene. It’s a really interesting choice that sees her displaying all those essential Doctorly qualities (curiosity, intelligence, morality) without having to steal a scene or make it all about herself. Davison did something similar but I think it’s more pertinent here because she is the first female Doctor. Whilst she was quite brilliant throughout, I was most enthralled with her scenes with the villain of the piece because she gets to finally show her teeth in some very nicely scripted scenes that show the Doctor without mercy or patience. In a story that tackles racism, Whitaker’s Doctor displays her intolerance for prejudice but in a way that is very different from her predecessors. Capaldi punched a guy in the face, Tennant would have been spitting blood, Eccleston would have been all sarcasm and condemnation. Whittaker holds back, showing her disgust with gentle comments of acceptance. She never preaches but merely quietly shows her allegiance. ‘I don’t recognise anyone by that description.’ The Doctor thinks the TARDIS isn’t getting her friends home deliberately. Yeah, yeah, blame the Ship. Of course the Doctor has Elvis’ phone number. She’s practically salivating to get into the suitcase in the warehouse. The Doctor does love poking around in other people’s things. Look at the look on her face when she walks away from her first confrontation with Krasko, thoroughly pissed off. More of this please because Whittaker is genuinely impressive. The Doctor wont promise Rosa a golden future when she asks, she wont lie to her like that. To have me expressing an element of misandry in a topical episode seems quite on the nose but I really like the first female Doctor standing up to men so confidently. Why is it misandry? Because I like the fact that she is a strong woman and he is a strong man and that she bests him. When he attacks her physically, she bests him. 

Graham: Our salvation in this episode. A man from contemporary times who not only lacks a racist bone in his body but embraces differences. Graham is a useful reminder of how far we have come. I really like how we are continuing to learn more about his relationship with Grace after her death and how her presence is continued felt in the series. I guess we did take her with us after all, in the people who loved her. I thought her death was a misstep in the first episode but instead it has afforded the show some real heart as those left behind deal with their loss. Graham’s anger is hidden beneath the surface but the more he is exposed to Blake, the less he can hide it behind that charming smile of his.

Ryan: Forget about the subtlety of Martha being chided for the colour of her hands in Human Nature, we’re in a period where you will be struck around the face as a black man for daring to touch a white woman. It’s a shocking moment of real violence in a season that has been pretty muted in that respect so far, showing just how ugly and dangerous history can be for the regulars. It’s a vital scene in its rawness because it shows the sort of peril our friends are in simply for looking how they do. The stakes are immediately high for them.

Yaz: I really liked how Yaz instantly became the police officer when Ryan was assaulted. Very assured, very in control. There’s a suggestion of attraction between Yaz and Ryan which I’m guessing will develop throughout the season. It’s Yaz who points out all the positives that are to come for people of colour, her optimistic nature is a real tonic in an episode that exposes the dark underbelly of society. The fact that Yaz, of Pakistani heritage, has to take her chance at sitting where she wants and wait to see how she is treated says so much about the moral compass of this time period.

Sparkling Dialogue: ‘You aint Banksy!’ ‘Or am I?’
‘If you keep sitting there we’ll all have to move.’
‘It’ll get better, you know. Not perfect…but better.’
‘What keeps you going?’ ‘Promise of tomorrow.’
‘Law’s the law’ is a very important line because it shows how people of prejudice can hide behind it to express themselves. 

The Good: The episode wastes no time in exposing the ugliness of racism, with Rosa being asked to get off the bus and head round to the side entrance in deference to her fellow white passengers. It’s treating coloured people as second-class citizens, holding a mirror up to the fact that society considers them different, lesser, inferior. If you don’t do as your told and stay in your place there are guns and violence that will ensure that you do and the law sits squarely in the hands of those who enforce this ritual discrimination. And if you choose to stand up to your betters, you are punished. I got all of that from the first scene, which is a simple scene of Rosa choosing to behave like anybody else and sit in a seat designated for white people. I knew this was going to make an impact on me from the start. Quietly brave, displaying fear and confidence and just wanting to live a normal life like anybody else, Rosa is instantly likeable thanks to the acting talent of Vinette Robinson. It’s not a great showy role like celebrity historical in the past, there isn’t the usual insane hero worship that comes with this kind of episode, which marks this out as something a little different. The director knows exactly what he is doing in moments like the café scene, spreading an air of disquiet for the regulars to be scrutinised in; two white people and two-coloured people talking in a public place. Many many Doctor Who stories attempt to generate one tenth of the tension of the motel room sequences and fail and what I love about this scene is how damn simple it is. A few characters trapped in a hotel and one massive dose of discrimination from a law enforcement officer. It’s unbelievably tense. Maybe Doctor Who was right to scale back on its showiness after all and get back to things that feel real if it can produce moments like this. You might find it preachy but the scene where Ryan and Yaz discuss how racism is still rife in society is necessary to show that whilst we have made some strides, there is still a long way to go. I thought this scene was quite well written actually, refusing to shy away from the word ‘Paki.’ Stormcage and Vortex manipulator, some nice kisses to the past. 

The Bad: I’m not sure we entirely needed the scene with Martin Luther King. Rosa was impressive enough without that added element of hero worship. However, these scenes did give us an insight into her domestic life and flesh out the character more. I sure do seem to be praising the characterisation in this season. That’s because it’s mightily impressive. That big crystal that rises and falls in the TARDIS central column is hilarious.

The Shallow Bit: How dare Doctor Who employ music to make an emotional statement! Like what the hell does this show think it is? That’s the sort of insane bollocks I have been reading on Twitter. Get a grip folks, it’s a song, not a betrayal of a 55-year-old show. It’s a very beautiful song too and taps into the core of what is going on perfectly. Oh, and the Doctor looks fab when she takes off her jacket. Just saying.

Result: ‘It’s worth the fight…’ Doctor Who hasn’t worn its heart on its sleeve in such a topical way in an age. Not since Vincent and the Doctor I would say. Racism is a common theme in the series (the Daleks) but it has rarely been tackled head in such a brutal, unflinching way where the ugliness of humanity is laid bare. I remember seeing the line up of the latest series and rolling my eyes at the sheer PCness of the series these days, trying to cater for every demographic. There was almost an element of racism in that reaction, and I’m somebody who is never more comfortable than when I am in the company of people from all around the world. I begin to see the logic of the decision now because Ryan and Yaz’s colour makes this adventure really personal for them and allows us to connect with both of them for how they are treated. However it was Bradley Walsh’s Graham that made the greatest impact amongst the regulars, proud of his love for a coloured woman and her grandson and struggling to play his part in an important moment of history. The show hasn’t tugged on my heartstrings like that in a long time, as Graham has to fight his nature to make sure something good comes out of an unpleasant moment of humanity. It’s less about holding up high a person from history and more about ensuring that the right events take place. The race against time ending to stop Krasko from interfering with Rosa’s part of history generates a lot of excitement. I was so caught up in the action that the power of the moment itself really snuck up on me. It’s one of the best ever scenes in NuWho, the Doctor realising that they have behave against their natural instincts in order for Rosa to make a stand. I find racism baffling, I was brought up to treat everybody equally and then hopefully everybody would treat me equally. It’s an element of society that gets under my skin and makes me angry. And this episode had the ability to bring something out in me in that respect. Every demeaning act that is issued made me emotional and any piece of drama that can connect me to its characters and theme that personally is definitely doing something very right. A quick word for the regulars who are gelling in a massively engaging way, all four of them had something to offer here but it is the group scenes that impressed me the most. Rosa is beautifully written and filmed piece of drama with plenty to say. I thought it was a truly excellent piece of Doctor Who and the show reclaiming its ability to shock in history: 9/10

The Sontaran Ordeal written by Andrew Smith and directed by Barnaby Edwards

What’s it About: An instant of the Time War brings centuries of conflict to the planet Drakkis, and the Eighth Doctor is there to witness the terrible results. A Sontaran fleet, desperate to join the epic conflict, follows in its wake to take advantage of the fallout. But when Commander Jask is beamed down to the ravaged surface, there is more to his arrival than first appears. Soon, an unlikely champion joins forces with the Time Lord to fight for the future of her world, and together they must face the Sontaran Ordeal…

Breathless Romantic: The Doctor considers the Time War cruel and senseless and can see the knock on effect it is having on the lives of the rest of the universe. The Doctor in this universe is cold, dark and angry and this was the first opportunity to see the usually cuddly eighth Doctor turned black by a conflict that was working its way through the multiverse like a piece of fruit slowly rotting. McGann plays this furious anger so brilliantly (think of his blinding anger at the end of To the Death) and with a really powerful reason to bring on this vitriol, it’s justified and necessary. One thing that he insists upon if somebody travels with him is that they never give up hope. The Doctor realises that you most certainly trust a Sontaran, even one that is one your side.

Standout Performance: It was a bit of a coup to score both Christopher Ryan (always a revelation) and Dan Starkey, so this feels as faithful as an ode to The Sontaran Stratagem could be. Listen to the moment that Sarana realises that she has been lied to and given false hope, Josette Simon is remarkable. It’s the most emotional moment of the set and it gave me goose bumps.

Great Ideas: Why would one Sontaran transport unarmed and unmanned into a wasteland on the fringes of the Time War? That’s a powerful image I would have liked to have seen on screen. The land between the cities is where they fought their bloodiest of wars, the Dead Lands have been poisoned by the city wars, scarred and (almost) lifeless. Jast is a guinea pig, testing a dangerous technology (a Sontaran teleportation device that can give them all access) in a deadly landscape. Ordeal is the worst thing that can happen to a Sontaran; stripped of their rank and sentenced to dishonour. This planet was ravaged in a battle in the Time War, this sector of space was contaminated by temporal flux, which is a type of instability that occurs when the Time War enters real time. Drakkis is a world that has been at war for as long as time is recorded but at the same time it has been at peace throughout its history. The records of the latter where made outside the infected areas on the planet. Depending on where you are on Drakkis, the history is completely different. The Sontarans want to join the Time War and have come to Drakkis to learn some of tis secrets, to find a way in. The Sontarans have an incinerator for the disposal of their dead. Charming.

Isn’t it Odd: I cannot have been the only fan to take a look at the details of this release and find myself double take at the use of the Sontarans. Classic Doctors, Classic Monsters more like. The gimmick here being that this involves the Sontarans during the Time War. Fair enough but it does work a little against the brand of what this set is trying to do elsewhere. I love the Sontarans so I have no objections to their appearance but if this is a love-in for the Russell R Davies era monsters then I would have opted for some of the more memorable creations in that period such as The Trickster, the Beserkers, the Reapers, the Krilliatines, etc.

Standout Scene: Ever wanted to hear a Sontaran get eaten alive? Now’s your chance. ‘A better death than he deserved’, indeed. How they bring down Stenk is very satisfying. He's such a loathsome character that you really want him to get his comeuppance.

Result: A memorable foray into the Time War, The Sontaran Ordeal is a notable end to this box set. Something very odd is happening with the Time War and Paul McGann. Whereas the box sets that have taken place in the war to end all wars have been variable at best (and that’s being generous), he’s had several one-part adventures now that have taken place in other sets in the same period that have been excellent (this and the first River Song box set). So, what are they getting right that the Time War sets are getting wrong? They make the story more personal and emotional, which makes the story you’re listening to much more affecting. They deal with details on the periphery of the Time War, showing the impact of the almighty conflict rather than trying to chronicle the big events. They don’t feature Daleks. And because they afford McGann the chance to display quiet anger and not empty bitterness and sarcasm, he comes across as a dangerously vulnerable man, ready to snap and break because of the atrocities that are going on around him that he can do nothing about. And this story and Rulers of the Universe featured brilliant characters for the Doctor to support. River was a revelation in the final story of her first box set because of her proximity to the man she loves and Josette Simon works wonders with one off character Saran Teel here, showing precisely how a memorable protagonist can be conjured up in relatively little time. The Time War sets are plagued by Bliss, a vacuous companion who has failed to make an impression despite the work of some very talented writers. Simon’s performance and Smith’s writing marry beautifully. Andrew Smith is becoming the most accomplished writer for the Sontarans on audio and to have him (a classic writer) having a stab at an RTD era story is a pleasing anachronism all of its own. Unlike the other stories in the Classic series, New Monsters range I feel that the writer is genuinely trying to explore a fresh angle on the villains of the piece and given this is a race with a 40-year history that is quite an accomplishment. Featuring scenes of the Sontarans and their power struggle away from the main conflict helps as it establishes those characters in their own right, rather than just using them to contrast against the Doctor. The reason behind Jast’s dishonour is surprising and his reaction to the news he is dying is perfect. Big Finish is getting a bit of a reputation for its empty action adventures set during the Time War so it’s nice to be able to report that this is a more psychological affair, getting into the minds of characters and monsters affected. As a result this has more emotional substance, and offers something new: 8/10

Harvest of the Sycorax written by James Goss and directed by Barnaby Edwards

What’s it About: In the far future, humanity has a remedy for everything. Whatever the problem, Pharma Corps has the answer and a designer disease tailored to every human’s blood-type. Zanzibar Hashtag has no need to be sad, scared, stressed, or depressed ever again. That is, until vicious aliens arrive on her space station intent on opening its Vault. What will it mean for the human race if the Sycorax take control of what’s inside? And when the Seventh Doctor arrives on the scene, can he convince Zanzibar to care about her life long enough to help him?

The Real McCoy: ‘You get a sword? I have an umbrella!’ Apps on pads… as far as the Doctor is concerned this is sounds like one of those self-centred periods of human history. Listen to how McCoy asks ‘where am I?’ – it’s the perfect example of how he can sound so unrehearsed and uncommanding at times. He tends to just pop out of nowhere and be rude. He loves it when monsters hiss out ‘Time Lord!’, it probably gives him a sense of importance. Really, he’s just a nice little man in a silly jumper…or that is what he would like you to believe. Would the Doctor use the deaths of innocent people to lecture somebody? You bet your ass he would. The Doctor warns that the Sycorax should get out of his mind because they might not like what they find. McCoy is generally okay in this story but he sounds as unconvinced as the script at time whether to play the story up or to try and try and play it deadly seriously. At times it feels like the Doctor is doing all he can to mock the characters and at others he is quite condemning of this society. It’s an uneasy mix that has been pulled off much better elsewhere.

Sparkling Dialogue: ‘You may be able to control humans but you will never understand them.’
‘The worst people in this universe are the ones with no sense of humour.’

Standout Performance: Nisha Nayar is playing our identification figure and our way into this world. It’s a very irritating performance, hysterical and overly emotional (not helped by a script that makes her moany and sarcastic) and someone I was hoping would snuff it relatively quickly.

Great Ideas: Human beings deliberately infecting themselves with viruses that deliberately infect their immune system? Just because it is fashionable to do so? A period where humanity is controlled through medication. Emotions, appetite and the need for sleep, there are hypo sprays for everything. Human beings may be cruel and cowardly but they are also capable of great charm…the Sycorax have never done anything charming in their lives. They’re fierce and frightening but half of it is just magic tricks. They can take over half a planets population like that but it isn’t voodoo, it’s blood control. Decades ago PharmaCorp decided that it made sound financial sense if the medical samples of everyone in the human Empire were outsourced to an off-site facility. A sample of everybody’s blood would give the Sycorax control of every single person in the human race. How appalling that love is now decided by an app that will test whether you are compatible or not. A computer that analyses your future, rather than you simply exploring it. It’s a curious thing, blood control. You shouldn’t be able to make a species go against its own nature.

Isn’t it Odd: I fail to comprehend the point of the (potential) same-sex relationship that is inserted into this story because it is certainly adds nothing that would have happened during a seventh Doctor story on television. It is definitely something that would happen during Russell T Davies’ era on television. So, the inference is that this isn’t a classic Doctor Who story featuring new monsters but a Seventh Doctor story set during the Russell T Davies era, which is a very bizarre and wanky thing to try and attempt. But then coming from a Company that shoved random Doctors and companions together for no better reason than ‘wouldn’t it be fun’ (the Locum Doctors trilogy) is it very surprising? They will milk the New Series for everything they can regardless of a decent creative reason or not. It’s an especially odd addition given one of the women is murdered shortly after their attraction is revealed.

Standout Scene: The twist about PharmCorp selling out humanity to the Sycroax feels like it should be a huge revelation but it is delivered in a very predictable way. And to be honest, it’s a revelation that feels unearned.

Result: And the Classic Series, New Monsters box set crashes and burns with an unusually poor script courtesy of James Goss who fails to do anything innovative or interesting with the Sycorax, a race who probably did deserve a second crack at the whip but in a story that utilised them much better than this. As far as the Sycorax are concerned essentially a re-run of The Christmas Invasion without any of the style, charm and imagination and the voodoo inspired creatures use exactly the same bag of tricks as they did last time. As The Widow’s Curse from DWM comics proved, this is an alien race that relies on a visual presence and if you are going to consign them to audio you need to make sure you have something original up your sleeve to keep them interesting. To have them spouting out threats in their own language is about as much fun as it sounds. They use their electric whips, they utilise blood control, they act in a relentlessly macho way. In every way this is a faithful recreation of the monsters from The Christmas Invasion but when that is all you get and there isn’t any effort to add anything to their mythos you have to wonder why they bothered. There’s a cynical portrayal of humanity in the future, a world where we are reliant on medication and apps (hmmm) and Russell T Davies would have gone to town with a murky notion like that but James Goss (uncharacteristically) fails to exploit the setting to it’s dark potential. As a result of it’s short running time the story is far too abbreviated and reliant on exposition, so before this world is set up it is time to put the toys back in the box again. The performance of the Sycorax characters is tiresome too; shouting, one dimensional characters who exist merely to threaten and kill and because of the constant screeching this could be quite an unpleasant listen at times. Even McCoy is bellowing his head off by the climax, which is hardly his forte as an actor. The Doctor is the only character I found remotely likeable, which was another problem because all of the guest characters were either unpleasant or unrelatable. I felt at a distance from the characters, the story and the monster. Pretty unengaging because of that: 3/10

The Quantum Possibility Engine written by Guy Adams and directed by Jamie Anderson

What’s it about: The Doctor and Ace are locked up. The TARDIS is gone. Things just couldn’t get worse, could they? Of course they could. Things can always get worse — the new President of the Solar System, Josiah W Dogbolter, didn’t get where he is in life without learning that. That’s why he has a Quantum Possibility Engine. It’s a wonderful machine, creating a wonderful Solar System. And with this wonderful device, he can bring happiness and peace to all. Possibly. Either that or tear the universe to shreds, it’s hard to be sure which.

The Real McCoy: Placing McCoy’s Doctor in the role of a naughty trickster trying to wind up Narvin as much as possible really suits him. There’s always been something of the mischievous imp about him. He has copyright on sonic screwdrivers. He always has to fight for an explanation from the CIA. The Doctor is rebranded as a down and out (but pretty chipper considering) cleaner living in social housing. Narvin treats him abominably in this timeline too. I loved the interface Doctor, always ready to help in a tricky situation. McCoy is clearly having a great deal of fun playing his multiple parts. I enjoyed the Doctor and Ace coming together and deciding that they aren’t terrorists and claiming their identities. It’s nowhere near how touching I have seen it done elsewhere but it’s cute how they instinctively trust one another. Once the Doctor emerges at the climax, he sounds more commanding than ever like McCoy has been gagging to get back to some good old-fashioned Doctoring. It’s akin to Matt Smith’s climactic speech in The Pandorica Opens but with more of an emphasis on ‘oh why don’t you just fuck off.’

Narvin: Interference is his job. I don’t think we’ve had a story featuring Narvin in the main range for ages and I cannot think why since Sean Carlsen is a bloody good performer and the character spars wonderfully with whichever Doctor he happens to stumble across. He will do whatever he can to safeguard the universe. Mr Narvin always did have a superiority complex. Ultimately do we need Narvin in this story whatsoever? Not really, but he’s such fun it doesn’t really matter. Having a writer tie together various spin off characters is more fanwank from a company that forces it down your neck on a monthly basis but it’s still a really fun idea.

Aiieeeeeeee: What could possibly have possessed Mel to sell the TARDIS to Dogbolter? He contacted Mel a while ago and her debt with the Speravores was still outstanding, she was classed as a toxic debtor and placed under a judicial death sentence (what Mel?). Because she was perceived as being harboured by the Doctor and Ace there was a death sentence on all three of them. Dogbolter bought the debt and said the only way he would call off the assassins was if Mel handed over the TARDIS and the operational manual. Her interaction with Hob is delightful, mostly because Mel gets to be all bossy and nasty, it’s a side of her character that we don’t see very often (she certainly has a way with spitting out threats). I love seeing her think on her feet this much, apparently making up so much on the spot and using her intelligence. She really is the Doctor in this story. She suggests that she needs him to get out of this mess but she does really well on her own.

Oh Wicked: Did Ace really think that Mel had turned rogue? Surely, they have been travelling long enough to give her the benefit of the doubt. It’s no terrific surprise that it is Aldred who let’s the side down in the ‘playing another part’ department because she pitches it as a slightly bemused Ace and little more. McCoy genuinely embodies a new role in comparison.

Standout Performance: I’m not as massive fan of the comics as some but I did have a period where I bought all of the graphic novels and read them through avidly. I’m fully aware of what an impact Dogbolter had on the strip, a larger than life comic businessman with some very grey morals and a cigar never far from his lips. He was a funny character and one who was particularly adept at kicking off a decent plot because he had his froggy fingers in so many pies. The man of a million voices Toby Longworth provides his voice again and does a fine job of capturing the humour and dangerousness of the character, all wrapped up in a hint of the hearty aristocrat.

Sparkling Dialogue: ‘There’s no point in beating about the…Bush.’
‘Who would vote for him?’ ‘The majority. Obviously.’
‘Besides people are easy to control. Most of the time we just massage trends, beliefs, perceptions. People will believe anything you’re willing to tell them as long as you couch it in terms they are willing to accept.’ Ahem, Brexit.
‘War? But that’s so expensive!’
‘Well today really has been the most rubbish day’ – possibly my favourite Big Finish line in a few years. I howled with laughter, especially given who it came from.

Great Ideas: The entire solar system has become a closed temporal system that even a TARDIS cannot enter. Dogbolter has a control station right on the periphery of the bubble. The Speravores entire business empire is built around their ability to understand futures. Combining that with Time technology and Dogbolter has built a bubble of sealed programmable reality. You predict certain events and then ensure the most beneficial decisions occur. The solar system is now entirely under his control. When something happens that he doesn’t like he activates the machinery, rolls back time, re-runs events so they come out in his favour. It’s a closed system, border control insists that nobody is let in or out without his knowledge and permission. Everything within should be possible to control because it is being manipulated entirely from the outside. Scenes being repeated and played out again to Dogbolter’s design from within the scene itself are delightful. Once that idea has been set up Adams can have a lot of fun with it. . Dogbolter trumping the Regent at the climax proves to be a defining moment for his character, always in control, always in charge, always coming out on top.

Musical Cues: Like the other two stories in this trilogy, a mixture of some lovely new cues and Joe Kraemer’s music from Static. This is a story that needs its music on side because the plot is so insanely bombastic and silly it needs the score to support that. It’s mock drama all the way, the more melodramatic the better and it takes the mood of the piece comfortably into comic strip territory. Precisely the idea. Just listen to the music when the Doctor remembers who he is. Delightful.

Isn’t it Odd: I resisted from talking about the cliffhanger at the end of the last story because it was so discordant, so disconnected from the adventure that it polished off that it was barely worth considering as a part of that review. Mel decides to turn rogue, assault the Doctor and Ace and send the TARDIS to President Dogbolter, for a purpose that is completely baffling. I suppose it is an attempt to whet our appetites for this story but it is so entirely without context it just left me scratching my head. Remember when Klein stole the TARDIS at the end of Survival of the Fittest? That’s a riveting lead in to the final story of a trilogy. This bizarre moment of jeopardy at the climax to The Dispossessed is perfectly indicative of these 7, Mel, Ace adventures; feeling as though they are being made up as they go along. After presenting us with the brilliant idea of the locked solar system that can be manipulated by design, Adams fails to do anything truly spectacular with it, mostly resorting to some fun narrative tricks. The story is content to have fun with its ideas but I would suggest these ideas are big enough to run with over more stories, perhaps even a trilogy. It’s a shame to waste something this epic on a story that is so throwaway.

Standout Scene: If anybody wanted to know what a comic strip version of a Big Finish story might sound like then go no further than the end of episode one. With the most melodramatic cry of ‘Kill her!’, a companion who screeches at injustice and the Doctor and co popped off out of existence thanks to some ridiculous piece of equipment, it’s pitched at eleven all the way. Very season 24, in fact. Bonnie Langford has finally come full circle. Fortunately, this is directed with a lightness of touch that makes the material very knowing, and very cheeky. Gloriously Guy Adams doesn’t stretch his imagination at all with the second cliffhanger and we get to go through the same melodramatic schlock at the end of episode two. And Wayne Forester gets to camp it up to the point where he is shitting rainbows. Following that Mel gets to act like the Supremo again, practically abusing the robot, which is all for the good.

Result: Halleluiah! Let joy be uncontained! Break out the bubbly! Let’s have a party! A seventh Doctor, Ace and Mel story that doesn’t suck like an old woman who has lost her false teeth! For a start there’s almost 12 minutes before Ace appears. Okay okay…I’ll stop being facetious and get on with the review. The Quantum Possibility Engine works primarily because it is more like an episode of The Melanie Bush Adventures; where the plucky ginge takes on the scourge of the galaxy with her slightly annoying assistants, the Scots tramp and the Upper Middle Lower Before Hex, After Hex (depending on who is writing her and how Sophie Aldred chooses to play it this week) Bovver Girl. Bonnie Langford dominates and that’s fine by me because she’s as excellent as ever and she gets to do all those Doctorly things in McCoy’s absence (including stand up to the villain, outfox his henchmen and pretend to be a scoundrel) and is clearly having a ball doing so. This is a great daft run-around with lots of over the top characters, a chance to see the regulars in different roles, some tasty ideas that are applied in an enjoyable way and fusion of the many worlds of Doctor Who spinoffery. Dogbolter is a really delightful character, and expertly brought to life but it was his henchman Hob who I enjoyed the most, a robotic side man with delusions of grandeur and facing the full womanly wrath of Melanie Jane Bush. You can’t take any of this seriously but for once you’re not expected to (unlike The Dispossessed which was pitched at a similarly absurd level but was supposed to be a horror) and everybody is working to the same goal, to provide a rollicking good time with a few cheeky winks (the music is particularly on side in that regard). It’s a well-paced four parter with plenty going on and a plot that rests on terrific ideas that allows for some creative development in the latter half of the story (how certain stories replay really made me smile). There are always witty lines (‘What’s the point of having lots of lovely technology if you need several Doctorates to operate it?’) and comic reversals and while the whole thing is about as deep as a puddle, it’s so refreshing to have this TARDIS team get the chance to let their hair down like this, I’m not complaining. Think Time of the Rani, but good. Colourful, outrageous, stylish, clownish. The first story in this run that I would listen to again. One of those stories where the Doctor is practically irrelevant and it really doesn’t matter: 8/10

The Ghost Monument written by Chris Chibnall and directed by Mark Tonderai

This story in a nutshell: Winner takes all…and the Doctor claims her Ship...

Oh Brilliant: Whittaker is finding her feet and I’m pleased to say rather quickly. I like how she doesn’t feel the need to completely dominate a scene how many Doctors of old could (particularly Hartnell, Pertwee, both Bakers and Capaldi) but take control without commanding everybody. Again, it’s very Troughton. It’s lovely to see her in a tight spot on a spaceship, tossing out insults, pulling levers and expressing her knowledge. This is the Doctor alright and never moreso than in a crisis. She’s very sure in her ability to get her friends home, which is something that has run through the series from the First Doctor with Ian and Barbara to the fifth Doctor and Tegan to the Tenth Doctor and Martha. Her mouth runs away with her in the best Tennant and Smith traditions, but with more moments of humanity and less moments of overt humour. She isn’t trying to be the funny women in every scene, despite some witty lines. A lovely mention of Venusian aikido, it appears the show isn’t abandoning the past quite as much as it suggested. I do like the idea of outthinking bullets but the message of ‘no guns’ was overstated. I liked her (very) blunt attitude towards Epzo, it’s the one occasion where she shows her teeth in this story (‘What do you care? You don’t care about anything.’). She doesn’t always have all the answers and she asks lots of questions. The Doctor is back to experiencing adventures rather than being one step ahead all the time. Goodness knows what the Timeless Child is all about, but it looks like even if this season is abandoning the usual spread of an arc across the season it is definitely championing some character arcs (which in this day and age cannot be avoided). I’m not sure about that moment of defeat at the end, it feels very uncharacteristic of this most optimistic of Doctors.

Graham: It’s the most convincingly handled set of regulars in quite some time because a great deal of thought has been given to the idea of what it would be like to find yourself in outer space after living a perfectly normal life. The Ponds and Clara shrugged their shoulders at this stuff and so there was no real sense of going on a journey with them (and besides they were far too caught up in mysteries and arcs to be accessible from the beginning). Graham is especially compelling because he’s just a normal bloke who is trapped in an impossible scenario and is trying to make the best of it. He’s the most natural and the funniest too. Bradley Walsh underplays his part beautifully whilst scoring every laugh. The initial scenes of the three of them acclimatising to spaceships and alien planets are some of the best scenes in the episode. I appreciated the scene where they all discuss whether they can trust the Doctor and simply decide, based on her actions and her character, yes they can. It’s great that there is no manufactured tension between the regulars just to make the story juicy. They all get on very well, and work together very well. It’s a lot harder to write interesting people that get along, it’s much easier to write them in unrealistic conflict. Bravo for taking that approach.

Ryan: I raised my eyes to the heavens as Ryan grabbed and had his ‘Call of Duty’ moment. It felt very out of character given he has been quite a considered young man until this point. However, his ridiculous girly screaming as it all goes horribly wrong is actually the funniest thing in the entire episode and really made me laugh out loud. It’s not exactly Joss Whedon style humour led characterisation (he has an ability to make you laugh with his characters by having them fall flat on their face) but it did warm me to him after this spectacular moment of idiocy. Huge kudos for the scene where Graham and Ryan discuss Grace, the sort of character pause that the show abandoned in the past couple of years. It’s where Chibnall’s writing is at its best too, real people discussing real feelings. He writes people far better than he writes science fiction. Ryan’s dyspraxia gets a mention again, I’m pleased this is going to be a running thread. 

Yaz: The weak link in the regulars at the moment, but through no fault of the actress. Yaz is just waiting for her episode to shine. For right now she is a perfectly serviceable, if unmemorable, member of the ensemble.

Sparkling Dialogue: ‘If you’re an interfere then those are excellent nose hairs.’
‘You talk about this stuff far too much. And you don’t talk about it enough.’
‘Don’t ever take them for granted.’ Wise words. 

The Good: An immediate shout out for the visual this year that are standing out much more than in previous seasons and the arresting opening sequence that is told entirely in silence with the spaceship appearing the grappling hook being revealed in the reflection of somebody’s eye is extraordinary. Doctor Who has so often been told (for budget reasons) in words so to see it leaning so heavily and creatively on visual storytelling is refreshing. The spaceship crashing onto the planet is the sort of set piece we have always dreamed of on Doctor Who but the show could never quite afford. Don’t get me wrong Doctor Who has often shown great ambition and bravery in its action set pieces but more often than not the budget conspires to a resulting dodgy model shot or a reaction shot. This looks as though it has sprung from your local cinema, it’s dizzyingly stylishly shot. I rather like the idea of human beings being irrelevant in this sector of space. Too much has been made about the indomitability of humans in the universe, it’s nice to visit somewhere where they are immaterial. Susan Lynch and Shaun Dooley deserve a massive round of applause for bringing Angstrom and Epzo to life so convincingly. I haven’t seen detailed guest characters of this ilk for some time, especially ones played with such down to earth conviction and given this much screen time. These are people I can believe have lives outside of the confines of this story. And Chibnall didn’t go down the obvious route of the two of them being in love with each other, it’s just mutual love/hate friendship all the way. As much as they are merely distraction techniques, the Sniper Bots and wraiths are responsible for some decent looking set pieces. As delaying tactics go, they look pretty. It makes a lot of good sense to set the Stenza up as the new Big Bad of the season and to have one of them appear in the first episode and then to see the devastating effects of what they can do out in the universe in the second sets them up well. It’s just a shame that they were pretty underwhelming in execution. Loving the new TARDIS; it’s a little too early to make any solid judgement but its back to the more organic look of the Tennant era (which I LOVED) and the use of crystal is inspired. I especially love the new walls as you come in. Very Invasion of Time. 

The Bad: If you were excited about Art Malik’s participation you might be disappointed to discover it is little more than a cameo in two scenes that bookend the ‘plot.’ However, he’s as good as you would imagine, but in a very underwritten role. Having the TARDIS revealed as the ghost monument completely the guts the story of its emotion at the climax. The Doctor and friends should have gone along with the racers simply because it was the right thing to do, rather than because the Doctor wanted to score a win with the TARDIS. Imagine the climax had the TARDIS been revealed as the monument with no previous warning or expectation, it would have been a really climactic and satisfying scene. Instead we have to go with the Doctor thinking she has lost and the ATRDIS just appearing out of nowhere. Which doesn’t have anywhere near the same sort of emotional power (which I thought Chibnall was all about). What was the point of the flesh-eating microbes in the water if we were never going to see them in action? Chibnall is such an obvious writer at times – the introduction of the cigar is such an noticeable plot point (can anyone say Hexachromite?) that will be relevant to an escape later in the episode you can practically see a huge arrow on screen screaming IMPORTANT. Moffat was better at hiding this sort of stuff. Sniperbots and sentient wraiths are merely present to add a little tension to a story that honestly lacks any, they are distractions techniques to fill time and give the regulars something to fight to delay finding the TARDIS. Truly, they don’t amount to much in plot terms.

The Shallow Bit: We’ve been through so many title sequences since the show has come back that I’m kind of used to them swapping and changing by now. Whittaker’s is no better or worse than any of the others (except Matt Smith’s series 7 one, fuck knows what that explosion in a rainbow factory was all about); it’s more organic and amorphous and it’s pretty short. Inoffensive I would say, but not a patch on the original Christopher Eccleston one which seemed to suggest the joy of travelling the universe like no other.

Result: Lots of nice details and moments, but an uninspiring storyline. I’ll add a caveat to my previous review with regards to the series; Doctor Who is about people again but that is all it seems to be about for the moment. Challenging plot details need to be added because this was a perfectly serviceable run-around but it had a plot as light as last weeks and it lacked the excuse of having to set up the main characters. As a result, it feature a lot of very good character moments that explored the new dynamics and gave the guest actors plenty to work with but I can’t pretend at any point I was particularly surprised or engaged with what they were going through. It’s a fascinating conundrum, with Moffat I was often dazzled by his sparkling imagination but disappointed by his lack of heart. With Chibnall it seems to be the reverse problem. And heaven forbid if I praise Russell T Davies once again but he did set the benchmark when the series returned with The End of the World; a stunning little piece that married intense character beats, fun, excitement, shocks, terrific creativity and visual splendour. He knew that in the second episode that the show had to show everything that it could offer and in comparison The Ghost Monument is a little neutered. Because as entertaining as this was at times, I truly hope it isn’t all the show has to offer now. And where Moffat presented too much as a mystery (the characters, the individual stories, the arcs) with too many unanswered questions, Chibnall simply presents his ideas straight up with no ambiguity or ability to surprise. A planet that moves, a space race, a ghost monument, a missing TARDIS, deadly water, sentient cloth…these are all decent ideas that are worth building up but the Doctor and her companions merely hop from one set piece to the next with the end game something that is spelt out since the beginning. Countering that you have two brilliant guest characters, very well played and with interesting backstories. And this is an excellent chance to see the regulars gel, for Whitaker to take charge of the show through some moments of danger and for Graham, Ryan and Yaz to step into peril and still want to move on at the climax. It would be remiss of me to fail to mention how beautiful this episode looks and the lengths that the production team have gone to to ensure this show matches the expensive American imports on Netflix. Chibnall said that was his aim with the production values and they have achieved that. The cinematography is phenomenal, the direction stylish and the score refreshingly unhysterical and atmospheric. I liked The Ghost Monument, but there were moments where I was clock watching between all the decent character beats: 6/10

Seizure written by Guy Adams and directed by Ken Bentley

What’s it about: As if it wasn’t enough to be trapped in the labyrinth of a dying TARDIS and pursued by a ghost, the team find themselves face to face once more with the Eleven. But the Doctor has bigger things to worry about when he discovers they’re being hunted by the only creature to strike fear into the hearts of a Time Lord: The Ravenous.

Physician, Heal Thyself: The Doctor isn’t a complete bastard and if the Eleven is sending out a distress signal then it is probably for a good reason…or a trap. Either way it is worth checking out, despite the complete disinterest of his companions. He practically emotionally blackmails his companions into heling out their old foe, asking if they would genuinely leave someone to die. TARDISes and Time Lords are telepathically linked and if this had been the Doctor’s TARDIS in this much pain it probably would have broken him. He leads a bruise worthy life. I’ve heard Paul McGann play angry and weary and jolly lately, but it’s been a while since I have heard him this perturbed. He makes the atmosphere in the broken-down TARDIS work because of his nervous and distracted reaction to it. He really is worth his weight in gold, this actor.

The Eleven: Oh groan, I thought we had tied this character up and assigned him to the rubbish bin? I thought we had moved onto the much more desirable prospect of the Twelve? No, he’s back and it’s not about time and he’s still banging on at the voices in his head. Insane and capable of great violence, apparently. Why then is he presented in such a comic book way? He murdered the previous inhabitants of this TARDIS and stole the ship.

Sparkling Dialogue: ‘TARDISes do love a corridor. It gives them something to do whilst they are coming up with more rooms.’

Great Ideas: The Doctor is very empathic and a dying TARDIS has a certain anxiousness in the air. As a TARDIS dies it should continue to constrict; dimensions folding in on one another, rooms shrinking, corridors shortening. Areas that they are in could simply cease to exist because when a TARDIS is in distress it tends to forget certain parts of its geography.

Isn’t it Odd: Ravenous is proving to be a very odd set of adventures indeed. As a series of standalone adventures it has delivered pretty well with six of the stories scoring above average in my book and providing everything from a reasonably diverting time to a near-perfect adventure. However, as a linked series of adventures with a running arc it is least satisfying that Big Finish has ever produced with little or nothing to join these stories together, no sign of a continuing storyline and only now, eight hours into the narrative are elements emerging that make any sense of the umbrella title of the sets. It’s certainly not the first time Big Finish has promised one thing and delivered another (Zagreus promised to a multi Doctor story, the Divergent arc promised to be good) but I could imagine if arcs were your thing that you might be bitterly disappointed by this point. The one saving grace is that the remaining stories on this box set have been extremely good in their own right, but that doesn’t quite make sense of their utter disconnect from the central storyline, which is conspicuous by its absence. I made similar complaints about Doom Coalition and it would appear that they have learnt nothing from that exercise. DC could have been condensed down into two box sets of four episodes but I’m willing to bet at this rate Ravenous (the core material of the arc) could be squeezed down into a third of it’s sixteen-hour length. The Ravenous almost couldn’t live up to expectations because we have waited so long for them to make an appearance. It’s not the culmination of a great narrative resulting in their appearance, it’s more the sigh-worthy appearance of an (underwhelming) creature that I had forgotten was relevant. It has lines like ‘my mouth is actually watering…’ and ‘I’m so hungry!’ It’s no scarier than Kroagnon or the Wire. The synopsis states that the Ravenous are the only creatures to strike fear into the hearts of a Time Lord but let’s be honest with Big Finish stretching the mythology of the Time Lords to bursting point that is quite an overstatement. There seems to be a threat that they are terrified of coming out every other month these days. And why are the Time Lords the benchmark for everything these days? The most terrifying Time Lord weapon! A foe even the Time Lords never managed to defeat! It must be so tedious having to live up to that kind of reputation. The climax just sort of…happened. The Doctor and his friends just leave. The end. Well, if only it was that easy every week. The Ravenous is defeated by the TARDIS just going.

Result: It sounds like a wonderful idea for a Doctor Who story, doesn’t it? A Decaying TARDIS, a monster stalking the Doctor and his companions around the corridors and an old enemy to fight. I can see why the producer jumped at the chance to tell this story, it seems rife for scares, drama and atmosphere. It doesn’t quite turn out that way despite the efforts of the director to make this as much of an assault of weirdness as possible. Much like the Time War material that Big Finish has put out there is a general lack of imagination when it comes to Time lord technology and how it manifests itself when it is malfunctioning. I think this could have been a really trippy, terrifying, surreal experience. I can imagine a writer like Lawrence Miles or Rob Shearman taking this concept and running with it, turning the experience into a nightmare you can barely comprehend and putting the regulars in an impossibly frightening spin of madness. Guy Adams goes for a much more straightforward, linear approach; with a ghost floating down the corridors going ‘woooooo’ (not quite but it isn’t far off) and the great titular Ravenous monster of the providing to be little more than a screeching Doctor Who monster. At this point in the set (halfway through) it is astonishing that this is the point where the arc has reared its head and that practically everything before it has been standalone. The Ravenous ultimately turn out to be a bit toothless, all talk and no balls. If you want to make a supposedly terrifying new foe make an impact then let it do something shocking. This might have been a good moment to lose either Liv or Helen, have them cut down in action just as their relationship with the Doctor and each other has reached its height. It would have made the creature far more exciting than a cheap Wire knockoff (‘Hungrrrrryyyyyy!’). I had switched off by the end, there was nothing risky happening, nothing surprising. It’s the definition of a Doctor Who run around (because that is all anybody really does) sowing seeds for future stories and the climax is so forgettable the Doctor and his friends just sort of leave. I hope the Ravenous turn out to be bit more exciting than is promised here: 4/10

Fairytale in Salzburg written by John Dorney and directed by Ken Bentley

What’s it about: With the Doctor and most of the population condemned to hell, Liv and Helen race against time to discover the source of all this chaos, and to find the one man who can save the people of Salzburg from eternal damnation.

Physician, Heal Thyself: 'Think of me as your guardian angel...' Bad ideas are his favourite kind, he can spin them into gold. You can’t re-write the past, he says with some degree of certainty although we know that is not always the case.The last scene is lovely, how it ties up the Doctor’s part in the story and how it turns him into a Christmas miracle. It’s lovely.
Liv Chenka: ‘Who out you in charge?’ ‘Circumstances! We don’t have time for an election!’ Even if she knows she will be gotten in the end that will never stop her from trying. What is it about Nicola Walker, who can sound so deadpan and causal in the part of Liv Chenka and yet when she is given emotional material she manages to absolutely break my heart. She did it in Absent Friends and she does so again in the climax to this tale.

Helen Sinclair: Helen has a point; how is believing in wishes that come true any more absurd than the things they usually have to deal with? In the circumstances of giant mythical demons stomping around European cities throwing people into Hell, Helen is willing to suspend her disbelief. Gambling life on a ‘might’ is business as usual. She’s just really, really smart and she proves that throughout this story.

Standout Performance: Some people have voices so rich and full of character that they were simply made for audio and Sian Phillips is one of those people. It’s a shame that she is shunted off into the framing device that holds this half of the story together because I would happily have had her as a main participant, such is the joy of luxuriating in her beautiful voice. Who the Pilgrim turns out to be is one of the loveliest moment in a story packed full of them. I guess I should have known when she was able to operate the controls of the TARDIS.

Sparkling Dialogue: ‘Don’t you think if wishes could come true that the world would be a bit of a nicer place?’
‘We’re going to save the day!’
‘That’s the sound of salvation!’
‘I want my lovely, beautiful and clever friend back!’

'Nobody wants a tragedy at Christmas.'

Great Ideas: Trust John Dorney to take the story down a route that you wouldn’t expect. Anybody under the impression that Fairytale in Salzburg will pick up where Better Watch Out is going to be boggled as we head back in time to before the chaos broke out to give the entire situation more substance and explanation. We discover how the Krampus came to be, the work of a desperate woman and a mischievous wish maker, and get to see the Doctor, Liv and Helen arriving from the point of view of the guest characters. It’s a really fascinating reversal because in the first half they were the focus of this scene and this time around they are just three people in a crowd enthusing about snow and Christmas like everybody else. And why not? The Doctor is not the central figure in everybody’s lives. The TARDIS is a bit like Santa’s sack – you’d be amazed what you can fit in there.

Result: ‘They’ve got your scent!’ Atmospheric, surprising, scary and really fun, Fairytale in Salzburg brews up a magical spell. The first 15 minutes of this story are a revelation, belonging entirely to the guest the guest characters and barely featuring the Doctor, Liv and Helen and showing that this Christmas spectacular really is something a bit different. With a very strong guest cast and some mighty fine characterisation you barely notice that the regulars are missing. When they do take their part in the action their dialogue is better than it has ever been before, suggesting relationships that have grown into something quite special built on mutual trust and an education of experiences. I was dazzled as one great line hit its target after another. In the wake of so many Big Finish stories where the dialogue can be so functional, it’s lovely to have a writer presenting his script in such a witty, memorable way with lines steeped in character. The climax of the story, with the myth coming full circle and the identity of the Bishop revealed, should be ridiculously corny but it’s presented so honestly that it worked a treat for me. I feel a Christmas story deserves a touch of magic and Fairytale in Salzburg certainly doesn’t disappoint. This could have been a simple tale of good versus evil but instead it becomes a tale of salvation, of hope and of being very careful what you wish for. How it cements the future of one of the Doctor’s companions is surprising and beautifully handled. This is confidently presented tale, superbly directed by Ken Bentley and with sound design and music that compliment the story magnificently. To have a two-part story where neither part is a disappointment is a rarity and this is terrific example of promising much and then delivering something very different and paying off because of it. McGann, Walker and Morahan are a formidable team these days, sporting an effortless chemistry. I’m a little scared because when a team of regulars reach an apotheosis like this it usually means it is time to split them up before they get stale. Listen to this story as soon as you can, it’s Big Finish at its brilliant best: 10/10

Better Watch Out written by John Dorney and directed by Ken Bentley

What’s it about: The Doctor hopes to take Liv’s mind off recent events by treating his companions to a traditional European Christmas. But not everybody is full of the spirit of Christmas when a wave of misery follows the Krampus as they run through the streets of Salzburg.

Physician, Heal Thyself: An enthusiastic Paul McGann is the most enthusiastic that the Doctor can be but not in a Tenth Doctor and Rose ‘I want to murder them both’ kind of way. His infectious attitude drags you along with me and makes you want to be a part of the adventure. When he delights in Christmas at Salzburg and crunch of snow on the ground, I want to grab his hand, laugh, and leave big deep footprints in my wake as I explore the city. This is the Doctor of The Stones of Venice, of Other Lives. This is the 8th Doctor before he got all brooding and steeped in the Time War. And with Helen and Liv by his side this is the smiliest introduction to a Doctor Who story for an age. The Doctor has a brilliant way of choosing food in the myriad of places he visits – just choose the one with the silliest name. He flatters himself that he can be extremely helpful in almost every situation. Is this what the Doctor does now? Heading around the universe and paying the rent of those who cannot afford it? Unbelievably the Doctor describes Liv and Helen as a few of his favourite things. He’s not armed, well except for a sharp wit and a cunning mind. He’s the baddest boy of the lot and he has killed hundreds of thousands. It’s been a long time since he’s seen a gateway to Hell.

Liv Chenka: There is no Christmas on Kaldor and so Liv is brought up to speed on all the festivities. Initially she is a bot of an old Scrooge about it but she soon slips into the festive spirit. Rather wonderfully Liv tries to pick apart the Krampus myth and ask how the monster and St Nicholas decide who is naughty and nice, whether they have a list that they check between them.

Sparkling Dialogue: ‘Very chocolate box. Very biscuity.’
‘Traditions are largely baffling if you’re not used to them.’
‘Which one of use hasn’t been bad at some point in their life? Eaten too much cake, told a white lie. I think it’s operating a zero-tolerance policy!’
‘Time to burn!’

Great Ideas: The Krampus only comes for the bad children. The lazy ones, the violent ones, the ones who tell untruths. Santa will bring you presents but the Krampus will steal you away. He steals into the dark to drag the naughty children away, taking them to Hell. This is Doctor Who’s first attempt at a Grinch style Christmas story and it immediately gets off on the right foot by turning the idea of the Krampus into a dark myth to scare children with. The story of the Krampus coming for the little girl in the middle of the night is automatically scarier than anything the TV series managed in any of their Christmas specials (except maybe the Dream Catchers from Last Christmas, but they were pretty much a bog-standard Doctor Who monster and not Christmas themed at all). Every December 5th people dress up as the Krampus and take to the streets giving nuts and sweets to the children. A monster that is behaving like the mythical Krampus rather than one from its historical origins.

Audio Landscape: The squeaking footsteps of the Krampus approaching. Brrr. The Doctor calls Christmas in Salzburg perfect and if he is referring to how it provides the sound designer with a chance to provide a stunning audio backdrop then he is not wrong. With a swelling seasonal soundtrack and lots of activity and a hive of expectation and excitement, it is the most enticing 8th Doctor audio environment for some time.

Musical Cues: A terrific score, bright and cheerful and full of Christmas cheer.

Standout Scene: ‘He rises!’ With all this talk of the Krampus throughout, I was waiting for the moment when he would finally make an appearance. Dorney saves the best to last and it’s an astonishment that something that is anticipated throughout is not a disappointment but a memorable emergence.

Result: ‘It’s time for us all to go out and meet monsters!’ Believe the hype that will surround this release, it’s a Big Finish Christmas special that delivers on it’s promise and out Noel’s the TV series by getting the atmosphere right, the imagery right and the dark thread of scary Christmas myths right. It’s a story that has a tangible sense of Christmas without ever descending into tweeness, and it uses its lightness of tone to contrast the nasty idea of the Krampus against and provide a truly memorable Christmas nasty. This story addresses my main issue with A Christmas Carol (a story that I still cannot bring myself to review because I had such an allergic reaction to its central idea that I found abominable) and turns the Doctor into a man who tries to bring some Christmas cheer to a right old Scrooge but he doesn’t do it by perverting his timeline but instead simply talking to him. If Paul McGann came a knocking a Christmas and started enthusing about festive cheer I think it would melt the heart of even the greatest sourpuss. And he gets the most wonderful reception in the wake of his celebratory exuberance. What’s the worst Halloween film of all time? To my money it’s Halloween III Season of the Witch and there is an air of that film in this in the grisly idea of the Krampus masks melting onto the flesh of the people playing monster and having them embody his spirit. Fortunately, that is where the comparisons end. How the story goes from seasonal merriment to chaotic horror is effortlessly achieved and by the end of the story you’ve got apocalyptic madness descending on Salzburg. John Dorney provided the best standalone adventures in the Doom Coalition series and he’s outdone himself here. Again, I question what the hell any of this has to do with the Ravenous (maybe this will all turn out to be a massive misdirection and that all these apparently unlinked stories have a great deal in common) but who gives a flip when you can generate as much atmosphere and chilliness as this story does. Dorney taps into a creepy angle on the traditional Christmas tale, and Ken Bentley executes this story with more verve than anything he has directed in yonks. It’s an absorbing, simple tale that takes one grand idea and runs with it and uses its time to indulge in its setting and its regulars. More please. Oh wait, there is...: 9/10

Escape from Kaldor written by Matt Fitton and directed by Ken Bentley

What’s it about: Returning to a home world she’d rather forget, Liv reluctantly accompanies Helen to the grand opening of a luxury shopping mall. But when a glitch in the system sends the Robots of Death on a rampage, Liv’s past comes crashing down about her.

Physician, Heal Thyself: It’s amazing that the Doctor can hang around with so many humans and not really learn a thing. That’s not entirely fair, the Doctor has demonstrated a keen understanding of human behaviour over the years when the time is right (see his summation at the end of Vincent and the Doctor) but it seems that no matter how good his intentions, sometimes he can just get it wrong (his triple whammy of taking Ace to Gabriel Chase, to meet her mom as a baby and then back home in season 26 is quite an adept example). He’s always interested in new technology.

Liv Chenka: It’s interesting for us but weird for Liv to be brought back to Kaldor, where she belongs. It mirrors the beginning of the second Time War set where Bliss was taken for a homecoming but we have known Liv a lot longer so it’s much more involving and alienating. She doesn’t feel like she is from Kaldor, she spent most of her days looking at the stars and longing to be away. Liv has some unfinished rage towards Kit and pretty much anyone with a desire for wealth from the Founding Families stock. She lost touch with her sister years ago when Liv was barely out of college. Tula had her career to think of and wasn’t even there for their father’s funeral (she paid for it and thought that was involvement enough). The scenes between the two women feel very real, families are full of this kind of resentment and it’s very well brought to life by both actresses. Sometimes it is hard to believe that two performers who have never worked together before are siblings but I had no trouble buying Walker and Rushbrook. She’s never said sorry to her sister, and she has carried the burden of having to deal with her fathers’ death ever since he finally slipped away. Despite the fact that she hasn’t spoken to Tula in ten years, she doesn’t hate her. It hurt Dad that Tula never came back. He missed her. She was the favourite that Liv could never live up to. The backstory of Liv’s father has run through her adventures and has provided some of the most touching moments. It’s hard to believe that Liv has been a companion for 4 years now, that this is her 30th story and that she is still revealing new shades to her character. Whilst you have to credit the writers with this, Nicola Walker is a huge part of making it all count for something.

Helen Sinclair: Helen is enjoying the chance to spend some time with Liv after their recent exertions and given how many times Liv has been to London she is enjoying the chance to see where she comes from for a change. She says without apology that the Liv isn’t a friend to her but more like family. Helen is the voice of reason when the shit hits the fan.

Standout Performance: Which Paul McGann do you prefer? The lighter, more carefree one of the Doom Coalition and Ravenous series or the darker, more uptight version who is heading the Time Ware series? I listen to one and I think that is where his strengths lie and then I listen to the other and I re-evaluate. It’s fair to say he is simply a damn fine actor who is still finding interesting things to do with the Doctor after a huge manifest of audios under his belt. His scenes in Escape from Kaldor were the least interesting (because they were the least suspenseful) but by his mere presence alone he ups the interest levels and makes those scenes of exposition worth listening to.

Sparkling Dialogue: ‘We’re building virtual people. You can’t do this job if you don’t have some ego.’

Great Ideas: People like being surrounded by beautiful things on Kaldor. Some parts of human nature never change, and some descendants of the Founding Families cannot see beyond their privilege. The whole angle that the Robots are simply children waiting for the right instruction is a worthy one. How the Doctor considers them a new lifeform just starting to evolve is very sweet.

Isn’t it Odd: Talk about starting off on the wrong foot; Escape from Kaldor opens with several cardinal errors. We’re partway through a story with no idea of how we got to this point, it’s a particularly unconvincing crowd scene that sounds like three or four people trying to sound like a mob and generally it is a lot of ugly noise pretending to be drama. It’s hardly a massive revelation when the Robots of Death start killing people…when, you know, they are called the Robots of Death in the synopsis. I’m not sure if ‘Purify’ is going to catch on like ‘Exterminate.’ ‘Delete’ was bad enough.

Standout Scene: A brilliant coda to the story which plays the timey-wimey card (are we still doing that?) and scores big time with a use of time travel that is satisfying, a chance for a character to grow in the blink of an eye and leaves some unanswered questions about Liv’s absence and what she has been up to. Very well done indeed.

Result: What is it about these pauses in the eighth Doctor, Liv and Helen’s adventures that are so refreshing? It was magic when it happened in Absent Friends and again in Ship in a Bottle and the opening 15 minutes of Escape to Kaldor captures that sparkle between them again when Liv and Helen get to relax and soak in each other’s company. I think it is because their adventures are often so hectic and interconnected and lacking respite that when we get the opportunity to simply spend time with them talking as regular people that you get the opportunity to realise what interesting and engaging characters they are. I’ve never heard any of the Kaldor City audios but it’s a setting that intrigued me from Robots of Death and few Chris Boucher PDAs alone, and the two Doctor Who audios that have handled these themes (Robophobia and The Sons of Kaldor) were both fairly engaging. It’s where Liv comes from, so bringing her home gives us a chance to see how much she has evolved since her debut. The inclusion of her sister was a nice touch, giving the story a more personal edge than it otherwise would have. I was impressed with how scary they managed to make the Robots on audio, with some genuine jump out of your seat moments and scenes of high drama. Big Finish rarely makes me jump anymore, and you would think on audio it would be uniquely qualified to do so. I still have zero clue what the Ravenous are all about and I don’t think we are going to find out anything significant any time soon but like with the first boxset of this series we’re getting some decent standalone adventures before the arc kicks into gear. And when those stories are as entertaining as this, who can really complain? Don’t get me wrong this isn’t a revelatory piece that will blow the mind of a Doctor Who fan into a thousand tiny pieces of amazement, it’s a well-paced, well-made throwaway story about the Robots of Death that probably should have been the beginning of the Ravenous series (and we could skipped all over the pointless Helen is missing nonsense) rather than the opening story of the second set. Enjoyable: 7/10

The Woman Who Fell to Earth written by Chris Chibnall and directed by Jamie Childs

This story in a nutshell: ‘We don’t get aliens in Sheffield…’ 

Right, This Is Going to be Fun: ‘There’s a moment when you’re sure you’re about to die…and then you’re born again...’ Literally falling into the action from the sky, Whittaker’s Doctor makes an immediate impression by simply being so much fun. Whilst there are a lot of efforts to make her a little quirky, she really doesn’t need the help because she brings a cheeky, snappy energy to the part that makes your eyes draw to her and never want to leave her. Yep, that’s the Doctor alright. Davison was also ‘looking for a Doctor’ in Castrovalva, a nice touch. When half an hour ago you were a white-haired Scotsman and now you’re a beautiful blonde with nothing in your pockets I’m guessing you would be a little frazzled upstairs. I liked very much how empathetic she was to all of her new companions; whether it’s watching Ryan ride his bike, letting Graham have his moment of disbelief that she is an alien or apologising to them all for having to witness a grisly murder. There’s a gentleness to her character that doesn’t come from her gender but from her nature. Matt Smith had it too, so did Davison. When she’s asking how everybody knows each other it’s almost like the Doctor is actually selecting her new friends to travel with. Even when the Doctor is a little uncertain of who she is I was confident that Whittaker was absolutely sure she should be playing this role. She’s effortlessly confident and I love that. It’s a far cry from the first half of Capaldi’s opener where he was a raving madman. If you want to point at one scene where you say ‘yeah, that’s the Doctor’ it’s when she throws across the curtain declaring ‘this is gonna be fun!’ and sets to work assembling a sonic screwdriver from old bits of toot. The whole sequence is a delight, especially her reaction to the already malfunctioning sonic screwdriver. That’s the point where I realised just how gorgeous this Doctor was going to be. Her ‘get behind me now’ is the moment she really takes charge of her troupe, doing the Hartnell thing of confronting the alien menace head on by standing in its way. She’s a Doctor who will have a plan by the time she reaches her destination. How she undermines serious moments with irreverent humour is almost Troughtonesque, and I love how it isn’t overplayed (like so much of Matt Smith’s could be). I didn’t even need the ‘I am the Doctor’ moment, but I understand that is practically a rite of passage now. It feels very right on for the Doctor to be purchasing her new outfit from a charity shop in Sheffield. How gloriously unromantic. It’s a glorious costume too; hotchpotch yet practical, stylish and yet complete without style. It’s unique to this Doctor and she looks glorious in it. 

Ryan: Surprisingly this turns out to be Ryan’s episode more than anyone and he was the character and actor I knew the least about going in and to be honest he was the character and actor I was most impressed with leaving the episode. It’s not because he is imbued with particularly complex characterisation but what Tosin Cole does with the part is quite magnificent. He’s relatable from the off, speaking directly out of the screen to the audience, a man who isn’t afraid to talk about his feelings. I felt a bond with him immediately and there were no missteps throughout the episode that made me question that. A sweet guy with a huge heart and a love for his grandmother, he reminded me very much of my partner. The whole ‘I can’t yet ride a bike angle’ might be a little forced if it weren’t for the skill of three actors making those scenes really count. Dyspraxia is a fascinating condition that I knew little about (way to go Doctor Who, still teaching me knew things after all these years) and it means we are automatically on Ryan’s side. I think he is going to be one to watch throughout the series, not only because Cole is so damn cute (sorry but I do have blood pumping through my veins) but also because I think his condition is going to be relevant and a worthy obstacle in the future. Mickey was a loser you really wanted to prove himself, Jack was hyper confident and Rory was the dork you wanted to get the girl. I liked Ryan because he was gentle without ever losing the sense that he was a bloke. 

Yazz: Immediately authoritative but in quite a reserved way, making Yaz an officer in training is a great idea because it gives her skills that will be useful in her adventures but she still has an awful lot to learn. I love the accent, it’s great to have a more regional slant to the show. She’s somebody who thinks she is capable of more, who wants to be tested. Be careful what you ask for, Yaz.

 

Graham: Bradley Walsh could so easily overplay the whole ‘man trying to get his adopted grandson to accept him’ angle but instead gives a much more considered performance than even I was expecting. Weirdly since the announcement of all of the cast it was Walsh’s name that excited me the most because he strikes me as a man very akin to Catherine Tate, who is known for a particular line of entertainment who would probably surprise everybody in Doctor Who. I was not wrong. He doesn’t bring that showbiz attitude with him at all but instead grounds his character entirely in reality. He’s a reliably solid presence in the episode, a kind and serious man who is trying to understand quietly all the weird things that are going on around him. He strikes me a little bit of the typical bloke with his football scarf and love of a pint and that is exactly the sort of character we have never seen travel in the TARDIS before. It’s almost what my Dad would be like as a Doctor Who companion, except Graham is far more likeable than my Pops could ever be. His relationship with Grace anchors the episode; she’s a bit cheeky, very sweet and completely in control. Their relationship is unforced and I was waiting throughout for the inevitable loss because I knew there were only three companions in this new series and not four. His speech at Grace’s funeral is the first genuinely moving moment in Doctor Who in a long time, probably since Wilf tried to give the Doctor the gun in The End of Time. 

Sparkling Dialogue: ‘It’s gonna kill us!’ ‘It could have done that already.’
‘We can evolve but still stay true to who we are’ – a really important line to all the naysayers.
‘It’s been a long time since I’ve bought women’s clothes.’ 

The Good: A huge shout out to the stunning cinematography, which is the best the show has ever scene with some stunning landscapes brought into focus and expert camerawork with a wide lens that isn’t a afraid of drinking it all in. The score is also fresh and relevant, lacking the overdone vocals or melodramatic stings of Gold and instead giving this opening episode a contemporary, down to earth feel. I think I would like a little more bombast down the line but as an episode that is trying to connect with a modern audience again, it really does its job in grounding the piece. The offscreen deaths make this perfect entertainment for all the family. Doctor Who has always excelled at graphic offscreen deaths (go watch The Greatest Show in the Galaxy for some really terrific examples) and The Woman Who Fell to Earth continues in that tradition. We don’t even need to be told how horrid the corpses are, the implication is nasty enough. The cod-Predator knock off was a little obvious until he took his mask off to show the grotesque array of teeth stuck in his head from his victims’ mouths. That was a brilliantly gruesome moment. Chibnall remembers to give his extraneous characters little moments to make them people; I particularly liked Karl from the train who just wants to get to work and feel valued. Doctor Who loves a bit of spectacle for no reason these days. There’s literally no reason at all why Karl should be a crane driver accept to provide a tasty looking set piece at the climax but fortunately it means we get to lots of fun things at crazy heights. It’s a good thing that he wasn’t a lollipop man. Imagine how exciting the denouement would have been then. Huge kudos for the character led coda, which took these characters that we have gotten to know over an hour and broke our hearts a little. I realised how much I had been made to care. Big thumbs up for the cliffhanger too. 

The Bad: The plot basically. However, I don’t feel I can be too hard at this junction because, like Rose, the plot was just there to service the characters and provide a bit of jeopardy. The idea of two alien races using Earth as a battleground is a really exciting one but we don’t get to see that reach anywhere near it’s potential here (that was done far more effectively in Doomsday). The quirky science fiction elements are just an excuse to bring these people together and see how they react to the situation. So, I’ll give Chibnall a pass, this time. But the next time he pens an episode these characters will be very well established I’m looking for something with much more substance. Grace’s murder was signposted by the writing and the direction so in the end I was waiting for that moment rather than shocked by it.

The Shallow Bit: Whittaker with her blonde Rachel cut and dishevelled clothes is a beautiful and bold statement for the show. She’s stunning.

Result: Massively enjoyable for the most part, even if it is a little thin on plot. The big shout out is for Whittaker’s Doctor, the news of which was greeted with national interest. The simple fact of the matter is that she’s a delight. Easing herself into the role confidently, effortlessly connecting the audience (well, to me, because I am the audience for the purpose of these reviews) with moments silliness and authority and assembling a bright new team to join her on her adventures. Would you just look at how much of this review I have spent talking about the characters and if there is one thing I’ve really missed in the previous 6 seasons it is relatable people whose adventures I want to share. I got a sense of the Sarah Jane Adventures at times with its focus on characters, Bradley Walsh and Predator stand in and an increased sense of fun. I don’t mean that in a derogatory sense at all, there were plenty of things Doctor Who could do to learn from its CBCC sibling. The dialogue is much more functional and less stylised than we are used to; Moffat’s wit was both a strength and weakness because whilst his characters spoke pure quotes it meant that they rarely sounded natural whereas Chibnall’s dialogue is less memorable but much more realistic. I think that was Davies’ biggest strength, he could marry both things (quotability and realism). There simply isn’t much story here to speak of but is merely dressing in order to bring these characters together into a functioning unit and on those terms it does its job very well. It’s like somebody has taken a musty old cellar that is obsessed with relics (I don’t mean Capaldi but rather the obsession in the shows recent past with celebrating its continuity) and opened the windows and let in sunlight and fresh air. With a refreshing new Doctor and a warm family to travel the universe with and what looks like a serial developing, the show has gone back to its roots but brought itself bang up to date. It’s a promising approach and I’m left really excited for next weeks spectacular. The plot itself is worthy of a 7 but I’m inclined to be kinder because this lays out its characters in an engaging way (the extra time was devoted to them and the episode was all the better for it) and with some pleasing aesthetic improvements. Doctor Who is about people again: 8/10