The Bride of Peladon (2008)

The first story of 2008 sees the Doctor encounter a familiar planet and species. January stories always tend to be a bit of a weak story or that might just be how I interpret them. The Bride of Peladon is first story to be written by Barnaby Edwards. Edwards has directed countless stories over the last few years and seems to have taken the Gary Russell quota since he left in early 2007. It is also the first story to be set on Peladon since the 1974 story The Monster of Peladon. As you start to listen to it you get a feeling that it very much in line with the previous Peladon stories but with a modern twist. The first episode set up the story quite well as it shows that Pandora is coming to Peladon for a arranged marriage which doesn't go down well as Beldonia doesn't want Earth involved as she fears it will end badly. I like it when the Doctor sung that rhyme which the Third Doctor used in The Curse of Peladon, I felt it was a nice nod to the TV series. It’s good when they nod to the past but you can over do it but thankfully Big Finish seems to know where to draw the line. There was also a reference to the previous but one story Son of the Dragon. Also in the second episode of this story there was the classic idea that the Ice Warrior was up to no good was very much belonging to Curse. It soon becomes apparent that Zixlyr is there to kill those responsible for the death of a fellow Ice Warrior called Alyxlir.

It would have been nice if the name of Zekmed had been revealed earlier than when it was (episode 4). It also only in Episode 4 that it really starts to pick up. Its classic who, episode 1 sets up the story with locations and characters with episodes 2 and 3 setting up the actual plot of the story with the final part just meant for action. I wondered whether the Sutekh that the voice refereed to was the same Sutekh from Pyramids of Mars. If it is then it was suggest that the voice has huge powers. It was made blatantly obvious who we were expected to believe was responsible for the death and that been Beladonia. It was clearly an attempt to make you believe that but everyone who has watched any murder mystery drama will know that it is not necessarily the person who is made out to be the murderer.

Peter Davison was very good in this story as he seemed to be to be in his prime Nicola Bryant (Peri) was very good in this story as she was set with Zixlyr and they worked very well in try to find out what really happened to Alyxlir which made Peri to be a brave and intelligent companion which she never seemed to be in the TV adventures. Phyllida Law was very good as Beldonia because her voice was very deep at times and it gave an impression of what spirits she was powered by. Yasmin Bannerman who is one of the few people to have appeared in both Doctor Who and Torchwood is very good in this story as Pandora (she appeared in End of the World in 2005 and also the They Keep Killing Suzie episode of Torchwood in 2006). She is very vocal in the fact that she doesn't like being involved in an arranged marriage but is also sensitive in what Pelleas's feelings. Her death was very unexpected and also very sad.

The thought that the moment that Zixlyr gave his life to destroy Zekmed was a very sad one and also surprising because when you think of Ice Warriors, noble and sacrificing are not words you would describe them. Also when it seemed like Erimem was going to give her life I thought that she was going to leave the Doctor but thankfully that didn't happen. But just when I thought that the Doctor, Peri & Erimem were going to leave in the TARDIS the rug was pulled from beneath me and Erimem did decide to leave. This was a really sad moment and the feelings that Peri was going through was just like what I felt because I thought that the character of Erimem was well written and enjoyable. The Doctor's silence was subtle but it didn't mean that the Doctor wasn't sad that Erimem was leaving because we all know that he was. The way that Erimem went was quite a logical and a nice exit for a character that had developed quite well in the seven years since she made her debut. The departure of Erimem had been suggested in Son of the Dragon but it seemed that it was just being delayed and not used as a simple plot diversion.

As has already been mentioned this is the first story to be written by Barnaby Edwards and what he has done is write a script that has intrigue and a fast enough pace that builds up to a thrilling end. The Bride of Peladon is a well written story with good characters and a good pace to it. The departure had been teased since Son of the Dragon and in The Mind’s Eye you thought it might happen but the fact that it did come still came as quite a shock but hopefully that doesn't mean that it will be the last time we hear from her. Barnaby Edwards has contributed quite a lot over the years for Big Finish as a Director and other administrative roles but in his first writing project it was a nice story and here’s hoping that he pens more stories. Also I would like the have more stories set on Peladon, it’s a planet that hasn’t really been explored a great deal except maybe in books but I think that they could return to it and do a series of adventures there. Fingers Crossed.

The Tomfiles #4 - Celebrities in Doctor Who

Celebrities and Doctor Who have gone hand in hand for many years. Before the likes of Derek Jacobi and Simon Pegg and alike starred in the new series, Doctor Who had attracted many famous faces. This Tomfile is about the famous faces that have graced the screen in the name of Doctor Who.

Now the thing about having celebrities in Doctor Who is obviously to raise the profile of the show and get some media attention. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. Ken Dodd's appearance in Delta and the Bannermen in 1987 obviously didn't work but sometimes names like Kylie Minogue gets the job done. Her appearance in Voyage of the Damned got 13.3 million viewers which made it the 8th most watched programme in Doctor Who history. Below is the list of what I would consider the famous faces in Doctor Who. If you think that there’s anyone missing then – tough.
• The Beatles - The Fab Four who took over the world in the mid-1960's didn't actually appear specially for Doctor Who but a clip of them on Top of the Pops was shown on the 1965 William Hartnell story 'The Chase'.
• Peter Butterworth - Butterworth was more famous for appearing in 16 of the Carry On films. He played fellow Timelord The Meddling Monk and appeared in two William Hartnell stories, The Time Meddler (1965) and The Daleks Master Plan (1965/66).
• Michael Sheard - Michael Sheard is more known for playing Mr Bronson in the BBC Children’s Drama Grange Hill. He appeared in The Ark (1966), Dr Summers in The Mind of Evil (1971), Supervisor Lowe in The Invisible Enemy, Mergrave in Castrovalva and Remembrance of the Daleks (1988). He also appeared in the Big Finish play Stones of Venice (2001).
• Michael Gough - He has played Alfred in four of the Batman films but he appeared in two Doctor Who stories. His first was The Celestial Toymaker in the story of the same name (1966) and Arc of Infinity (1983) as Councillor Hedin.
• Carmen Silvera - Carmen who is best known for starring in the popular BBC Comedy 'Allo 'Allo!. She was in The Celestial Toymaker (1966) as Clara, Queen of Hearts & Mrs Wiggs. She also appeared in Invasion of the Dinosaurs (1974) as Ruth.
• Lynda Baron - Baron is best known for playing in the BBC Comedy Open All Hours alongside Ronnie Barker and David Jason. She sang (off screen) in the 1966 story The Gunfighters. She then appeared on screen in Enlightenment (1983) as Captain Wrack.
• Kenneth Kendall - BBC Newsreader and presenter of Treasure Hunt appeared in The War Machines as himself.
• Bernard Bresslaw - Another Carry On actor appeared alongside Patrick Troughton's Doctor as Varga in The Ice Warriors.
• Pauline Collins - Collins has appeared in two Doctor Who stories. The star of the Oscar Nominated Shirley Valentine starred in The Faceless Ones (1967) and as Queen Victoria alongside David Tennant in Tooth and Claw (2006).
• Hannah Gordon - The presenter of Watercolour Challenge and star of shows like Upstairs Downstairs, Telford Change and My Wife Next Door appeared in The Highlanders as Kirsty.
• Peter Sallis - The man behind the voice of Wallace and one of the original line-up from the ancient BBC Comedy Last of the Summer Wine appeared in The Ice Warriors as Penley.
• June Brown - Before becoming the Chain smoking Dot Branning in the BBC Soap Eastenders. June was in the 1973 story The Time Warrior as Lady Eleanor.
• Matthew Corbett - Well known for sticking his hand up Sotty's arse. Matthew Corbett appeared as Jones as The Daemons (1971).
• Paul Darrow - More known for starring in the lamer Sci-Fi show Blake's 7. Darrow played Captain Hawkins in the 1970 Jon Pertwee story Doctor Who and the Silurians. He also appeared in the awful Timelash as Tekker.
• Fulton Mackay - The star of Porridge appeared in the 1970 story Doctor Who and the Silurians as Dr Quinn.
• Geoffrey Palmer - Palmer has been in three times. He played Masters in the 1970 adventure Doctor Who and the Silurians, Administrator in The Mutants (1972) and as the Captain in the 2007 Christmas Special Voyage of the Damned.
• Ingrid Pitt - Star of countless Hammer Horror films appeared in Doctor Who as Queen Galleia in The Time Monster. She then appeared in Warriors of the Deep as Dr Solow.
• Helen Worth - Helen is best known as playing long-suffering mother Gail Platt in the ITV1 soap Coronation Street but played Mary Ashe in the 1971.
• John Challis - Boycie in Only Fools and Horses and its spin-off The Green Green Grass appeared as Scorby in the Tom Baker adventure The Seeds of Doom.
• John Cleese - The former Python and Fawlty Towers comedian appeared as a Art Gallery visitor in the 1979 adventure City of Death.
• Kenneth Cope - Another Carry On favourite appeared in Warriors Gate (1981) as Packard.
• Janet Ellis - The former Blue Peter presenter didn't use sticky back plastic in her performance of Teka in the 1980 adventure The Horns of Nimon.
• Keith Barron - He has appeared in shows like Where The Heart Is appeared as Captain Striker in the 1983 adventure Enlightenment.
• Martin Clunes - The Men Behaving Badly and Doc Martin actor appeared in the Snakedance story as Lon.
• Robert Glenister - The Hustle actor appeared in The Caves of Androzani alongside Peter Davison in his swan-song story as Salateen.
• Leslie Grantham - Before finding fame as Dirty Den Watts in Eastenders, he starred in Ressurection of the Daleks as Kiston.
• Nerys Hughes - The Liver Birds actress starred in Kinda as Todd. Polly James - The Liver Birds actress starred as Jane Hampden in the Peter Davison story The Awakening.
• Burt Kwouk - The Last of the Summer Wine actor appeared in Four To Doomsday as Lin Futu (1982).
• Rula Lenska - Dennis Waterman's ex-wife appeared in Resurrection of the Daleks as Styles (1984).
• Jonathan Morris - The Bread actor appeared in Snakedance as Chela.
• John Savident - The former Coronation Street actor appeared in Doctor Who first in the 1982 adventure The Visitation as The Squire even though it was only at the beginning of Part 1.
• Lynda Bellingham -The OXO ad actress appeared in The Trial of a Timelord (1986) as The Inquisitor.
• Honor Blackman -The former Bond Girl and The Avengers actress appeared in The Trial of a Timelord as Professor Lasky.
• Brian Blessed - The very loud very popular actor appeared in The Trial of a Timelord as Yrcanos.
• Faith Brown - The comedian appeared in Attack of the Cybermen as Flast.
• William Gaunt -The Champions actor appeared in the 1985 story as Orcini in Revelation of the Daleks.
• Sarah Greene - The Going Live and Ghost Watch actress appeared in Attack of the Cybermen as Varne.
• Geoffrey Hughes - The Keeping Up Appearances, Coronation Street, The Royle Family and Heartbeat actor appeared as Mr Popplewick in The Trial of a Timelord.
• Kate O'Mara -O'Mara appeared alongside Colin Baker in The Brothers and also The Mark of the Rani as The Rani, she would return in 1987 again as The Rani in The Time of the Rani.
• Jacqueline Pearce - The Blake's 7 actress appeared in The Two Doctors as Chessene (1985).
• Christopher Ryan - The Young Ones actor appeared in the 1985 adventure The Trial of a Timelord as Lord Kiv and also a an Sontaran in the 30th series (2008).
• Alexi Sayle - Considered as one of the founders of the alternative comedy scene. Sayle appeared in Revelation of the Daleks as a DJ.
• Joan Simms - Another Carry On actress guest starred as Katryca in The Trial of a Timelord.
• Clive Swift - The Keeping Up Appearances actor has appeared twice in Doctor Who. The first was as Jobel in Revelation of the Daleks and as Mr Cooper in the 2007 Christmas Special Voyage of the Damned.
• Richard Briers - The Good Life comedian appeared in Doctor Who in 1987 in the story Paradise Towers as Chief Caretaker.
• Ken Dodd - The tickling funny man appeared in the 1987 Delta and the Bannermen as the Tollmaster.
• Gareth Hale & Norman Pace - The comedy double act appeared in the last story to be broadcast in the original run – Survival (1989). They appeared as Len and Harvey.
• Sheila Hancock - The actress appeared as Helen A in the 1987 adventure The Happiness Patrol.
• Don Henderson - The XYY Man actor appeared in Delta and the Bannermen as Gavrok (1987).
• Nicholas Parsons - The host of Just a Minute and Sale of the Century appeared as The Rev Mr Wainwright in the 1989 story The Curse of Fenric.
• Anne Reid - The Coronation Street and Dinnerladies actress appeared in the Curse of Fenric as Nurse Crane and in Smith and Jones (2007) as Florence Finnegan.
• Adele Silva - Not a famous face at the time, the Emmerdale actress appeared in Survival in 1989 as Squeak.
• Silvia Syms - The actress appeared in the 1989 story Ghostlight as Mrs Pritchard.
• Eric Roberts - Brother of the Hollywood actress Julia Roberts appeared as The Master in the 1996 TV Movie.
• Mark Benton - The Early Doors funny man appeared in the 2005 story Rose. He starred as Clive the geek and got killed by an Auton.
• Zoe Wanamaker - The My Family and May to December actress was the voice of Lady Cassandra in the 2005 adventure The End of the World and returned the following year in New Earth.
• Simon Callow - The Four Weddings and a Funeral actor appeared in the 2005 adventure The Unquiet Dead as Charles Dickins.
• Matt Baker - The Blue Peter presenter appeared as himself on the show in Aliens of London.
• Navin Chowdhry - The Teachers actor appeared as Indra Ganesh in Aliens of London but got killed by a Slitheen.
• Andrew Marr - The BBC News reporter appeared as himself in Aliens of London and World War Three.
• Rupert Vansittart - Playing Lord Ashfordly in Heartbeat, Vansittart played General Asquith in Aliens of London.
• Penelope Wilton - The Shaun of the Dead actress appeared in Aliens of London, World War Three as Harriet Jones MP and then returned in The Christmas Invasion as Prime Minister.
• Bruno Langley - The former Coronation Street actor appeared as Adam in Dalek and the Long Game. He did travel for those two episodes but isn't really a companion.
• Tamsin Greig - The Black Books and Green Wing actress appeared as a Nurse in the 2005 story The Long Game.
• Simon Pegg - The Shaun of the Dead funny man appeared as The Editor in the 2005 story The Long Game.
• Richard Wilson - Famous for playing Victor Meldrew in the BBC Sitcom One Foot in the Grave. Wilson played Dr Constantine in The Empty Child & The Doctor Dances.
• Sussannah Constantine & Trinny Woodall - The What Not To Wear presenters provided voice for Zu-Zana and Trine-E in the 2005 season finale story Bad Wolf.
• Davina McCall - The Big Brother presenter provided a voice for Davinadroid in Bad Wolf.
• Jo Joyner - The Eastenders actress played Lynda Moss who was a Big Brother contestant in the Bad Wolf story.
• Anne Robinson - The Weakest Link presenter provided the voice of the Anne Droid in Bad Wolf and The Parting of the Ways.
• Anthony Stewart Head - The Buffy The Vampire Slayer actor appeared in School Reunion as Mr Finch.
• Sophia Myles - She played Lady Penelope in the Thunderbirds, she then went on to played Madam De Pompador in the 2006 story The Girl in the Fireplace.
• Don Warrington - The Rising Damp actor played The President in Rise of the Cybermen.
• Gethin Jones - The Blue Peter Presenter played a Cyberman in Rise of the Cybermen and The Age of Steel in 2006.
• Roger Lloyd Pack - Best known as Trigger. Pack played John Lumic in Rise of the Cybermen and The Age of Steel before becoming Cyber Controller.
• Ron Cook -Parker in Thunderbirds, Cook played Mr Magpie in The Idiots Lantern.
• Maureen Lipman - The British Telecoms actress appeared as The Wire in The Idiots Lantern (2006).
• Will Thorp - The former Casualty actor played Tbobias Zed in The Impossible Planet & The Satan Pit (2006).
• Peter Kay - The Max and Paddy, Phoenix Nights funny man played Victor Kennedy in Love & Monsters (2006). He also played the Abzorbaloff in the same story.
• Marc Warren - The Hustle actor played Elton Pope in the Doctor-lite story Love & Monsters (2006).
• Huw Edwards - The BBC News presenter provided the voice of himself in Fear Her at the 2012 Olympics in London (2006).
• Derek Acorah - The 'medium' appeared as himself in Army of Ghosts (2006)
• Alistair Appleton - The Cash in the Attic presenter played himself in Army of Ghosts (2006).
• Trisha Goddard - The talk-show host starred as herself in Army of Ghosts (2006)
• Barbara Windsor - The Carry On and Eastenders actress played Peggy Mitchell in Army of Ghosts (2006).
• Tracy-Ann Oberman - The Eastenders actress played Yvonne Hartman in Army of Ghosts and Doomsday (2006) where she was the leader of the Torchwood in Canary Wharf before becoming a Cyberman.
• Catherine Tate - The award winning actress appeared as Donna Noble in the 2006 Christmas Special The Runaway Bride before becoming a proper companion in the 2008 series.
• Sarah Parish - The Cutting It actress appeared as The Empress of the Racnoss in the Runaway Bride Christmas Special (2006).
• Roy Marsden - The PD James actor played Mr Stoker in the 2007 story Smith and Jones.
• David Lennox Kelly - The former Shameless actor played William Shakespeare in the 2007 story The Shakespeare Code.
• Ardal O'Hanlon - The Father Ted actor played Thomas Kincade Brannigan in the 2007 story Gridlock.
• Hugh Quarshie - The Holby City actor played Soloman in the 2007 two-parter Daleks in Manhattan and Evolution of the Daleks.
• Miranda Raison - The Spooks actress played Tallulah in Daleks in Manhttan and Evolution of the Daleks.
• Thelma Barlow - The former Coronation Street Actress played Lady Thaw in The Lazarus Experiment (2007).
• Mark Gatiss - The former League of Gentleman actor who had written The Unquiet Dead (2005) and The Idiots Lantern (2006) actually starred as Professor Richard Lazarus in The Lazarus Experiment.
• Michelle Collins - The former Eastenders actress played Kath McDonell in 42.
• Jessica Hynes - The Royle Family, Spaced and Shaun of the Dead actress played Joan Redfern in Human Nature and The Family of Blood (both 2007).
• Derek Jacobi - The former I,Claudis actor played Professor Yana and then The Master in the 2007 story Utopia.
• John Simm - The Life on Mars actor played the Master in the Last of the Timelords and Sound of Drums two-parter in 2007.
• McFly - The pop group briefly appeared in The Sound of Drums.
• Sharon Osbourne - The X Factor judge also briefly appeared in The Sound of Drums.
• Ann Widdecombe MP - The Conservative politician appeared as herself in The Sound of Drums.
• Bernard Cribbins - Known for appearing in the Big Screen Doctor Who movie appeared as Wilfred Mott in Voyage of the Damned.
• Kylie Minogue - The pop star and former Neighbours appeared as Astrid Peth.
• Tim McInnery - The Blackadder actor is to be in The Planet of the Ood in 2008. Role yet to be confirmed.
• Felicity Kendall - The Good Life actress will play Lady Clemeny Eddison in 2008

Sleeper (2008)

Episode 2 is follows on from what I thought was a fantastic episode. The biggest fear I had about this episode was that it would fall short and to be honest, it didn’t. One of the things that struck me about the beginning of the episode is who it fooled you into thinking it was a case of the woman just pretending to be human when in fact she was just made to think she was human (very Battlestar Galattica). Another nice thing I noticed about this story is how the plot seems to unravel at a really steady pace, it doesn’t reveal itself to quickly and doesn’t rush itself in the last five minutes. It did get a bit annoying when Beth couldn’t seem to accept that she was responsible for the deaths. She did redeem herself with her possed acting.

Another thing that I thought was good was how you never knew when it was over, just when you thought Beth was going to be frozen and forgotten about we discover that she has tricked the Torchwood gang and she has escaped from her pod. Then when she’s about to go in the pod again she holds Gwen captive. I was very impressed with Ianto’s humour in this, it was used well and eased the tension that was starting to build. The funniest bit was when he was in that chair and pretended to be electrocuted. My favourite moment of the entire episode has to be when Dyfed Potter is walking towards to Nuclear Base and is being shot left right and centre but doesn’t seem to be affected was just mesmerising.

Sleeper was a very well written episode and James Moran is writing an episode of Doctor Who (Series 30) which I am now looking forward to. The cast were brilliant again and the directing was superb. Overall it was another fine effort from the Torchwood team and shows that they have learnt from their past mistakes in Series 1.

The Catalyst (2008)

The fourth and final release of Companion Chronicles sees Louise Jameson reprise her role as Leela. A part she played from January 1st 1977 to March 11th 1978. This story is written and directed by Nigel Fairs who had also penned The Blue Tooth. It was really nice to hear Louise Jameson reprise the role of Leela and it was nice to hear that she hasn’t changed in 30 years and that helps the story along. The main problem with this story is that I had a bit of difficulty in understanding what the actual point of the story was. I was still wandering that at the end of the story which is never good. I thought that the story was going well for the first 15 or 20 minutes and then my interest seemed to disappear. Overall this story was ok but nothing special

Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (2008)

The first episode of a brand new series starts in its usual weird way. A weird looking alien (in a sports car of all things) being chased by the Torchwood gang minus Jack. The first thing that I was impressed about was James Marsters. He was a very good character and you knew that he was up to no good but when he did turn it was very well done. The other thing that impressed me was how much more structured it seemed. It never slowed down once and the characters don’t seem as annoying as they did in the first series. Tosh seems more lively, Owen seems less idiotic, Gwen did less of the dumb blond acting and Ianto seemed less wooden. Jack also seemed different as he didn’t seem so determined to be centre of attention like he usually does. I don’t know whether that will change in future episodes but for now it’s the sort of Jack that I could get used to.

Some sequences were well directed, the fighting scene at the bar where Jack and John were fighting and crashing through everything and then having a drink chatting was really different. The moment at the end where the woman that John had murdered (which you knew he did about 10 seconds after he mentioned that she had died) had placed a trap which would kill John in 10 minutes, the action that occurred afterwards was well shot and really dramatic. There were some things that did worry me, the bit at the beginning with the blowfish and the lady at the Zebra crossing was just terrible, why would a creature a) drive a sports car and b) stop to let someone across the road and then to cap it off the horrible Torchwood car/monstrosity stops and asks the woman if she had seen the blowfish and when they went she said ‘bloody torchwood’. It just ruined that opening moment for me.

On the whole it is perhaps the best story that has been made of Torchwood, the script was very good and the acting is far better than it had been in the previous series and that is probably because the production team and the cast are finally starting to get the hang of these characters.

Return of the Daleks (2006)

Return of the Daleks was first released as a special for the subscribers of the regular Big Finish stories in December 2006. The previous story to be given a subscribers special treatment was Cyptobiosis which was frankly a mixed bag. With the word Dalek in the title there was a heightened sense of anticipation. What is so special about it is that it combines Doctor Who and Dalek Empire which is the most successful and arguably the most popular spin off from the main series. The last Dalek Empire story was in October 2004 and it was a nice to have the old familiar characters of Susan 'Angel of Mercy' Mendes and Kalendorf back. This story also features the Seventh Doctor minus Hex and Ace which was good because that would have complicated the story and taken ten minutes to have to explain things. This story was written by Nicholas Briggs who was behind the Dalek Empire series.

The story is set on the planet Zaleria which is at the beginning of the story is occupied by the Daleks but it turns out to be actually Spiridon. The story takes place during the Dalek Empire series and so there is some knowledge required to understand what is going on. I like how it this story has a direct link to the Third Doctor story Planet of the Daleks and the whole purpose of the story is that the Daleks are trying to get to the frozen Daleks that the Doctor helped freeze. The Doctor also seems a lot more mysterious than in normal stories, it harks back to the mystery that surrounded his version of the character in his final two series as the Doctor. I quite liked the return of the Ogrons. I like the idea that they are sort of the Daleks slaves. They previously appeared in Day of the Daleks and in Frontier in Space. They helped add that touch of nostalgia from those stories. There is an air of nostalgia in this story ranging from the classic series to the Dalek Empire series.

I liked how despite the significant lapse in time, the Gareth Thomas and Sarah Mowat have got the voices down to exactly the same as they were. If you just listened to them in the chronological order then you would be able to tell because the voices are the same. The narration is also something that I quite like in this story. Christine Brennan has a really nice voice and that is what helps make it seem like the massive story that it is. Other members of the supporting cast include Hylton Collins who plays Mendac and Jack Galagher as Aytrax. Both characters are really well acted characters and are written well. Collins also provides the voices for Dorla, Zalerian and the Ogrons with Galagher doing the voices for the other Zalerian and some of the Ogrons. The rest of the Ogrons, Daleks and Talamar are provided by Nicholas Briggs. All voices are well acted and the voices all add to the adventure and create a nice image in my head.

Even though Slyvester McCoy was in this story he wasn't the driving force of the plot and he did what you would expect him to do when he is involved with the Daleks and that is to try and send them packing without what they came for but this time he tried hard not to get involved which I thought was a nice change. The end of the story was a nice moment for McCoy as it was quite sad and moving. Gareth Thomas was on top form in this story as Kalendorf, I have always liked his character in the first two series as Thomas has a nice voice that makes you wish he had his own spin-off series called I, Kalendorf or something equally amusing. Sarah Mowat was also very good as Susan Mendes. The Angel of Mercy character is a curious one and it the scheming side that is shown in this story. One thing I liked was towards the end when the Doctor had the chance to blow things up and trap the Daleks again he decided against it so that Kalendorf would live and continue working with Susan Mendes and went to work for the Daleks only to turn on them was a brilliant twist. Nicholas Briggs who is probably the only person who could write this story and to his credit on the second listen I thought that it was a better story because I realised that it was a story really to fuel the Dalek Empire story along a bit to remind people of what the series is like. On second examination I think the story is good with good character development and a very sad end.

The biggest flaw in this story is that it doesn't quite know what it wants to be.. Does it want to be another instalment of Dalek Empire or does it want to be a Doctor Who story? When I first listened to it back at Christmas 2006 I was a little disappointed because of this confusion however on second listen I had a different reaction to it, I think that it actually quite good. I think that as a stand alone story there are some elements that might be lost. Like why should the listener really care any more about Susan Mendez and Kalendorf than they would about anybody else that would be captured by the Daleks. For those like me who have heard every instalment of the Dalek Empire series will know exactly why we should care about them.

This story is well worth a listen. I would advise you at some point to purchase at least the first series of Dalek Empire because according to some websites, Return of the Daleks is aimed between the first two episodes. Once you’ve done that then buy the rest because they are a superb piece of entertainment and shows how evil the Daleks can really be.

Voyage of the Damned (2007)

This Christmas special received more hype since the show returned in March 2005. Most of the hype was because Pop star Kylie Minogue was going to star in it. I was really looking forward to it to though there was one slight irritation and that is I wish Martha would have stayed until the end of this story instead of Last of the Timelords. It would have been nice to see the Doctor and Martha on the Titanic together. But anyway that’s not going to detract from the story.

It was a strange idea to set it aboard the Titanic but then you learn that it was in fact a spaceship called Titanic and that to me was a curious decision by RTD. The idea that asteroids hit the Titanic and it starts floating towards Earth which mirrored the tragic events of the real Titanic seemed quite insensitive because of the huge losses of life that the event produced. But getting to the actual story itself one of the things that I noticed was how much like the Poseidon Adventure it seemed but that only really appeals to the story, it’s a Christmas special so it should be a bit different from the normal stories. The Hosts were well thought of, they seemed truly menacing from the beginning they came onto the screen. The removing of their ‘halo’ from above their heads was a truly scary moment. The individual characters in this story were all well written and well acted. The Van Hoofs stood out the most for me, they seemed really genuine and when they were introduced to the Doctor as being mocked for dressing up differently to the other passengers then you knew that they were they for sympathy and when Morvin Van Hoff died it was truly a surprising moment and then moments later she gives up her own life was another sad moments.

Kylie Minogue was the most surprising thing for me, I wasn’t expecting that much from her and when in this story she wasn’t brilliant but she was a lot better than I thought she was going to be. The main reason behind this is because the story wasn’t centred on her which is what I thought it would be. She was more of a companion to the Doctor than I thought would be the case. The other thing about this story that I thought was the best thing about this story were the special effects. The effects in Doctor Who since 2005 have been of the highest order but in this story they excelled in what are some of the best effects I have ever seen in this show. The sequence when they were trying to get across the walkway sort of thing and looking both up and down was truly spectacular.

The main problem that I do have with this story is that the plot was a bit weak. When the show finished I thought that there didn’t really seem much of a point to the plot. The fact that Max Capricorn set the whole asteroids hitting the Titanic so that it would crash into the Earth just to throw the board members who got rid of him thrown into jail seemed a tad bit ridiculous. I know that this isn’t a traditional main-series story but they could have worked harder on finding a plot that actually worked, as such it let down what was otherwise a rather good story. It wasn’t as good as The Runaway Bride as it also lacked pace but despite those negative aspects I still thought it was a enjoyable Christmas Day story and one that will deserve another viewing to really get a proper perspective of this festive episode.

The Kingmaker (2006)

The Kingmaker is the second story that came from Nev Fountain. Many fans of this range will remember that he wrote the 2003 story ‘Omega’. This story also features Peter Davison as the Fifth Doctor except this time he’s with his two ‘regular’ companions of Peri and Erimem. This is the fifth time that this combination has been used (not including The Eye of the Scorpion where Erimem wasn’t a companion). This story is quite a bizarre story that has several interesting elements but also has several flaws.

The first thing that I liked about this story is that the setting. Set in the fifteen century I like it when a story goes back into that time era. Stories like The Marian Conspiracy and The Time of the Daleks have used their settings to push a story along and with the Kingmaker the setting is not really the pushing force of this story because the basic traits of it could be used in any time zone really. Another thing that I liked in this story is the relationship between Peri and Erimem. With this being their fifth story together their relationship is taking on that of sisters. They look out for each other in this story and it was nice at time when Erimem got annoyed with Peri and vice versa. The scene where the robot appears in the TARDIS and is talking to the Doctor was a nice comedy moment which wasn’t too annoying and didn’t detract from the scene.

Other things I liked was the addition of Jon Culshaw who is known in this country as the best impressionist of Tom Baker. Arthur Smith was also a good addition to the story as his character was well written and wasn’t too serious but at the same time not too comedic. There were negative things about this story. For one I thought that the plot was a bit difficult to understand at times. At times I thought I understood this story but then all of a sudden it just shifted gear. Also I thought that the cliffhangers were not very good. They just didn’t feel like cliffhangers. To me, cliffhangers should make you stop and think ‘wow, whats gonna happen next’ but instead with this story you were left thinking ‘oh ok’. Also Peter Davison seemed to put in a background performance, not totally in the background of all the action but didn’t really take charge like he should have done and the way it was written. I cant figure out whether it was the setting of the story or the situation but Davison just didn’t seem on form in this story. Overall this isn’t a really bad story but just a mediocre one and one that could have been better had it perhaps been set in another time.

2007 Toms Tardis Awards

BEST DOCTOR - Colin Baker
BEST COMPANION - Sarah Sutton (Nyssa)

BEST MAIN RANGE STORY - Son of the Dragon
BEST MAIN RANGE WRITER - Steve Lyons (Son of the Dragon)
BEST MAIN RANGE DIRECTOR - Barnaby Edwards (Son of the Dragon)
BEST MAIN RANGE COVER DESIGNER - Barry Piggott (100)
BEST MAIN RANGE MUSIC & SOUND DESIGNER - ERS (Son of the Dragon)
BEST GUEST STAR - James Purefoy (Dracula – Son of the Dragon)

BEST EIGHTH DOCTOR ADVENTURE - Blood of the Daleks

SPECIAL RECOGNITION - Gary Russell