Destiny of the Doctor: The Time Machine Review

Today sees the final part in my series of reviews of Big Finish's 50th anniversary series, Destiny of the Doctor. The Time Machine features the 11th Doctor and is voiced by Jenna Coleman, Nicholas Briggs, and Michael Cochrane and is written by Matt Fitton.

I was rather surprised that Clara wasn't actually in this story. Given that it was narrated by Jenna and (almost) all of the stories so far have been narrated by the actress who played the companion, I was expecting her to be in it. I suppose she wasn't really necessary to the plotline since Alice was being the companion instead.

70 minutes didn't seem like enough to wrap up this plot that we've been building since January. I was expecting the messages to past Doctors to be a bigger part of the story, rather than being smashed into the last 20 minutes. They were essential to defeating the Creevix, but I would have liked to see them come into play for longer. This story have been drawn out to closer to 80 or 90 minutes.

This is the first timey-wimey solution to an episode that I wasn't able to fully wrap my head around immediately upon hearing the story. After thinking about for a while, I was able to work out the paradox that stopped the Creevix. However, I'm still not sure how the storylines of Shadow of Death and Smoke and Mirrors feature into the Doctor's plan.

A small plothole that they overlooked was where Guy fit into the timeline of the Time Agency relative to Jack. Jack said that he was the very first person to be signed up for the Time Agency, and he was issued a vortex manipulator wrist strap. Guy was a time agent and the Doctor said he was from before they miniaturized time travel down to a wrist strap. So unless Guy was from the very early days of the Agency and Jack was originally issued one of these vehicles, I can't see how these can both be true.

Destiny of the Doctor: Death's Deal Review

This month is the penultimate entry in my series of reviews of Big Finish's Destiny of the Doctor range. This month's story is Death's Deal, starring the 10th Doctor and Donna Noble. It is read by Catherine Tate with Duncan Wisbey.

I'm very glad they chose Donna to be the companion in this episode; they could easily have used Rose or Martha. I feel like Donna was cheated on a lot of episodes by not being the sole companion. Half her episodes also had Martha, Jack, or Rose in them and this helps make up for that.

There's the usual bit about the 11th Doctor signaling his former selves. I still can't figure out what he wants with all the items/people he's collecting. I was always under the impression that we'd get some sort of clue by now. So far, we've only gotten one back in June (when the sixth Doctor failed to complete his task, the universe started to collapse). I guess Big Finish is really playing this to reveal everything in November. The series is apparently supposed to be eleven adventures with only a loose story arc. I mean, a strong story arc across the Doctor's entire life would probably start to attract too much of his attention. If it was that important across his entire life, it would have been picked up on in other stories.

This story has the largest variety of alien life of any story in the range so far. The sheer number of different species and their difference from Earth life is very big for a Doctor Who story. Even most Star Trek species are largely the same.

I'm not really sure why all these ships crashed here. It was explained that it was a very dangerous planet, but unless it's situated in a dangerous region of space, that doesn't explain all the ships. Also, with a planet that dangerous, unless they're all illegal tourist ships, there's no good reason why they would all land there and get stuck.

I also find it hard to believe the distress signals were still operating after a couple of centuries. I mean, unless someone purposefully switched off every system except the distress signal, the power drain would kill the batteries after a few years. I doubt the engines would stay running continuously without maintenance for so long, and the batteries probably aren't designed to power the entire ship for more than short periods. There's also the fact that the ships crashed (and so were damaged) and the corrosion that was mentioned. So unless the ships were all really well designed, there's no reason all those distress signals should still be going.

Destiny of the Doctor: Night of the Whisper Review

Today, I continue my series of reviews of Big Finish and AudioGo's Destiny of the Doctor 50th anniversary series. This month, it's Night of the Whisper, written by Cavan Scott and Mark Wright, performed by Nicholas Briggs and John Schwab, and featuring the 9th Doctor, Rose Tyler, and Captain Jack.

I'm kinda annoyed that they departed from the usual format for the series and didn't use the actress for one of the companions as the voice actress. In the previous stories in the series, the actress who plays the companion has done the primary voice acting with another actor playing a secondary role. In this story, instead of Billie Piper, they used Nicholas Briggs for some reason. I was rather distracted for the first part of the story because it was two male voices instead of one male and one female and I was trying to figure out where John Schwab came in.

This story was about 10-20 minutes longer than the previous stories in the range, which I thought meant we were going to get more background into whatever is going on in the story arc. However, it turns out it was just an extra-long story. I'm getting increasingly impatient with this story arc trying to figure out what the eleventh Doctor is up to. He obviously needs a collection of items and people, but I can't figure out what they all have in common. There's an artificial intelligence, a magic rock, a psychic crystal ball, and now a police chief. They'd better have something really good in store for this November.

I really didn't see the identity of the Whisper coming. I thought it would be your average vigilante with high technology (like Batman). I totally didn't see corpse-cop alien hybrid coming. I'm also still confused as to why it went after Rose in the beginning scene. It should have been going after Wolfsbane, but for some reason it was targeting poor ole Rose.

I love how easily characters always break into heavily guarded facilities in TV and movies. In any story the bad guy is going to have hardly any problem breaking into the nuclear power plant, or the White House, or the top secret military base. In this case, the Whisper broke into the atmospheric generation facility. You'd think the plant responsible for keeping the entire city alive would be heavily guarded, but it appears there was only one guard. Of course, the Whisper easily dispatched the guard before they could get off a shot or call for back-up.

Destiny of the Doctors: Enemy Aliens Review

Today I continue my series of reviews of AudioGO and Big Finish's Destiny of the Doctors series. This month is the eighth Doctor adventure, Enemy Aliens, written by Alan Barnes.

I haven't listened to any of the other 8th Doctor stories, so I don't know about those or how Charley Pollard usually talks. This story seems to have a lot of over-the-top, ridiculous description. The story uses words like thingamabob and describes a mustache as coming out of a crowd, rather than a man.

The story leads you down one path, thinking that it's the usual Doctor Who story. Then, it's revealed that it's more historical fiction than science fiction. As soon as you've gotten used to that fact, they go and pull something on you which I don't think I'll reveal here for fear of spoilers. Nevertheless, it's not what you expected. Twice.

The aliens in the story don't seem terribly well thought-out. They can obviously see, but they have no capacity to recognize individuals. Either that, or they can recognize individuals, but they don't know their own commander. What kind of soldier can't recognize their own superior? I mean, they should at least be able to tell Charley's the wrong species. The writers don't seem to have thought this through very well. Either that, or they have and the alien's just an idiot.

Destiny of the Doctors: Shockwave Review

This is probably my favorite Destiny of the Doctors story so far, though I'm not sure why. It's probably because I really like the seventh Doctor and it's been a while since I had a new one of his stories.

It's still no clearer why the 11th Doctor is having his past selves do chores for him. He obviously needs these people/items for some greater purpose, but we still don't know what, even after seven stories (though we do know the existence of the universe is at stake). Hopefully we'll get some more clues soon.

The name of the ship is the Obscurer. I'm not sure why anyone would name a starship that. It sounds sort of dark and nefarious, like whoever is onboard is up to no good. It doesn't sound like a passenger liner.

The Doctor and Ace could have done a little more to prevent themselves from being caught robbing the place. They really should have known better than to hang around talking when the alarm is noise-activated. They should have left and then talked about it after they were safely away. The problem, of course, is that then there wouldn't have been half the conflict in the plot, and it would have been much too easy to save the day. It's one of those cases in writing where the smart way out of the situation would have averted much of the story and there wouldn't have been a whole lot for the author to write.

I also don't get why the Doctor introduced himself to the captain and made a big deal of himself when he was planning on robbing the ship. Any smart thief would have snuck onboard quietly and not drawn attention to themselves. He could very easily have used the TARDIS to materialize in the cargo hold (though that would have set off the alarm). Again, it all boils down to writing and plot aversion.

Destiny of the Doctors: Trouble in Paradise Review

We finally get a clue as to why the Doctor's interfering in his own timeline so much: apparently the entire universe is in danger of collapsing. Unfortunately, that's happened multiple times now, so it's not much of a hint. There could be multiple reasons why it's doing that. We'll still just have to wait and see what this is all about.

This story is very wibbly-wobbly compared to some of the other stories in the series. There's finally a story with a heavy amount of time travel involved. It's about the biggest interference in the history of the Earth we've ever seen. It's the type of event that's so important it was bound to happen anyway, the characters just caused it to happen at an earlier point in history.

I'm not sure I like the introduction of a third dominant species of Earth. It kinda of messes with your notion of Who-history, especially since it's a species that exists in real life. Buffalo ruling humans? I'm not sure that idea is going to catch on.

I like stories that take place in parts of Earth other than Britain. This particular story takes place in the Caribbean, which is a nice break from cold and dreary England. I think if they had more stories in other parts of the world, that might draw in wider audience. It would also make it a bit more realistic, since the TARDIS can go anywhere.

Big Finish's License Extended Through 2016

Big Finish's license to produce Doctor Who content has been extended through December 2016. The company produces original audio adventures featuring all of the classic Doctors.

Executive producer Nicholas Briggs has been quoted as saying

This year will mark my seventh anniversary as executive producer at Big Finish. For me, it's a clear indication of how much fun I've been having with the work and the people I'm privileged to work with that I am looking forward to the possibilities opening up with this latest extension of our licence so much. And by that time, I'll have been in the role for ten years! Bring it on, I say. We have a great relationship with AudioGO and there will be exciting developments ahead.

Line producer David Richardson has also stated

‘We have so many more tales to tell with the first eight Doctors and their companions. We can promise that 2016 will see more of your favourite ranges – plus maybe a brand new range or two that will surprise and delight. Certainly, as a team, we could not be happier that we will continue to be able to make our Doctor Who dreams a reality.

Big Finish is currently celebrating the 50th Anniversary with the Destiny of the Doctors range and The Light at the End multi-Doctor special. Destiny of the Doctors is ongoing and available here, while The Light at the End will be released in November and is available for pre-order here.

Destiny of the Doctor: Smoke and Mirrors Review

I'm doing a series of reviews on the Destiny of the Doctor 50th anniversary audio range. The month's adventure, Smoke and Mirrors, is written by Steve Lyons and read by Janet Fielding & Tim Beckmann. It stars the fifth Doctor, Adric, Tegan, Nyssa, & Harry Houdini.

I'm glad they finally took the opportunity to bring back a recurring villain for this adventure. Having monsters of the month is fun, but it's not really Doctor Who unless you bring back a villain like the Master. His presence makes possible storylines that don't really work with other villains. It's also refreshing having another adventure with him, since I've watched almost all of Anthony Ainley's episodes.

This is also the first Destiny of the Doctor story that's a proper historical. One of the things that makes Doctor Who Doctor Who is the ability to have episodes set in the far future, but also venture back in time and meet historical figures, in this case Harry Houdini. I think any set of Doctor Who stories needs to have a historical, and this certainly fulfills that purpose.

The thing happens again. The spoilery thing. It's happened in every adventure so far. I have no idea what it's building towards. Obviously, someone's in trouble, but I can't figure out the relevance of the various items in each of the stories.

If you haven't already purchased these stories, I would definitely recommend them. It's always nice to see old Doctors in new stories, and it will help bide the time until the 50th anniversary.

Destiny of the Doctor: Babblesphere Review

I'm doing a series of reviews on the AudioGO/Big Finish series Destiny of the Doctors. This month, it's Babblesphere, written by Jonathan Morris, read by Lalla Ward, and starring the fourth Doctor and Romana.

Twitter. On overdrive. As soon as I heard that first guy, that's pretty much what I thought. He's mumbling in Tweets. They're not actually Tweets, but they've got a pretty similar format. It's obviously meant to be modeled after that.

I guess this story serves as a warning about social media. What would happen if everyone was on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, etc all the time, without ever stopping. It's actually rather interesting what would happen if everyone was just sharing an endless stream of information with everyone else, around the clock.

There's actually a nice little reference to The Power of Three as well as what could be a reference to Cold War or perhaps The Silent Stars Go By or maybe just a general statement about the Ice Warriors. It all depends on where the in time stream [spoilers] is.

That brings up another point: the whole thing about the story arc. I'm having a hard time figuring out what a civilization of pure energy, a telepathic rock, and an artificial intelligence who wants an interesting conversation all have in common. I'm sure all will be revealed in time, but guessing's half the fun and I'm having a hard time doing that right now.

Destiny of the Doctor: Vengeance of the Stones Review

I'm doing a series of reviews on the AudioGO/Big Finish audio adventure series Destiny of the Doctors. This month, it's Vengeance of the Stones, written by Andrew Smith and featuring the third Doctor, Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart, and Lieutenant Mike Yates.

This is basically another one of your classic third Doctor-UNIT stories. It appears to be the first time the Doctor and the Brig meet Mike Yates, which would put it sometime in the first couple of seasons of the third Doctor.

The science in the story is completely rubbish. I mean some stuff on Doctor Who could actually happen, such as time travel and chameleon circuits, but stones as energy sources? Connecting with them telepathically? I mean, I can understand connecting with living things telepathically, but a rock? Come on!

The same thing that happened in the last two stories happened again. I'm really not sure what the Doctor is getting at, with a special telepathic rock and some data on a civilization of pure energy. He obviously needs them for something, but I can't tell quite what. I have a feeling that it may not be until the new series Doctors that we get an idea of what's really going on.

I like the idea of UNIT having a mobile command post in a C-130 Hercules. I'm not sure if they had that in the classic series (I doubt the BBC could have afforded to rent one), but it's definitely the type of thing UNIT would have.

I also like the inclusion of perception filters, which is not something you would have found in any classic series stories. I'm not sure how often Big Finish stories about classic Doctors borrow things like perception filters and psychic paper from the new series. I really haven't listened to enough of their stories to know.

Coming up next month, it's Babblesphere, written by Jonathan Morris and starring the fourth Doctor and Romana.

Destiny of the Doctor: Shadow of Death Review

I am doing a series of reviews on the 11-part audio adventure by AudioGO and Big Finish, entitled Destiny of the Doctor. Shadow of Death came out last month and features the second Doctor, Jamie McCrimmon, and Zoe Heriot.

The story is a very nice one. Another classic Doctor Who type where the characters drop in on some place in the far future and immediately get themselves into trouble. There's also the usual wibbly-wobbly timey-wimey goings on that happen in the show.

The story is one where you see the villain, see how they operate, but you don't know what they are or what they want. You have to actually listen to the story and find out. It's not a recurring villain like the Daleks, Sontarans, or Cybermen that always want the same thing.

Partway into the story, you get the sense again that there's a story arc to Destiny of the Doctors. I'm not going to say what, for fear of spoilers, but something that happened in Hunters of Earth happens again in this story. You still don't have a clue what the story arc is, but if what happened happened, then surely the events of this story must be of great importance later on.

The voice acting is a bit better in this story than in some of the other audiobooks I've listened to. Frasier Hynes actually does a good job of imitating Patrick Troughton. I don't know what Wendy Padbury's voice sounds like, but this is not some overly fake female voice that I've heard Matt Smith and David Tennant doing in some of the other audiobooks.

Once again, the Hostile Action Displacement System is mentioned. The HADS is a system on the TARDIS that causes it to move out of the way if it detects a threatening force. I find it interesting that it is mentioned in the books and now in the audio adventures, but never in the TV shows.

Overall, I like the story a bit better than the last one. Maybe that's just because it doesn't take place at a high school, though. I would definitely keep listening to the stories at this point because it's clear something is going to happen, and I want to find out what.

Destiny of the Doctor: Hunters of Earth Review

I'm doing a series of reviews on the AudioGO/Big Finish 50th Anniversary audio series, Destiny of the Doctors. I'm going to play catch-up first, then I'll being doing one each month.

Assuming there is any kind of story arc to Destiny of the Doctors, this is a good way to start it out. Just another day at Coal Hill, nothing out of the ordinary. Then you realize something's wrong. Someone's acting up. Then the Doctor sends a message from the future. Okay, no biggy, that can't be the first time he's interfered in his own timeline. Then something's really up. By the end of the story, you're still not sure who was behind it all. Maybe it was the Nazis, maybe it was aliens. Finally, at the end, it hits you: there is a story arc after all.

So there's a story arc, but that's all you know. What's happening? Who's behind it? How long is it going to take? Was this a first strike? Will the next story play into it more? These are all questions the listener has to deal with.

As far as the story goes, it's not your usual Doctor Who one. There are no aliens to speak of. It's based more on human tendencies than alien aggression. It also deals more with day to day life than fast-paced exciting life with the Doctor.

There is actually a timing error in the story. The Doctor and Susan have supposedly been there for four months and Susan has been in school almost the entire time. However, in An Unearthly Child, it's November and they have been there for about seven months. So unless school started sometime around June, that can't work.

All in all, maybe not the best story to listen to if you haven't watched An Unearthly Child and Remembrance of the Daleks, but still very good as an introduction to the eleven-part story.