Day of the Daleks (1972)

Day of the Daleks is quite an important story. It’s the first Dalek story for Jon Pertwee and also the first Dalek story since 1967 adventure. As a result it has a certain air to it which means that as a result the story works but there are some things that don’t. This is not written by Terry Nation but by Louis Marks who had previously written the 1964 adventure ‘Planet of Giants’ which I quite liked. The story sees Sir Reginald Styles attacked by someone in army uniform before disappearing. It turns out that Styles is quite important in some peace talks and the Doctor is bought in to try and figure out why these ‘ghosts’ are appearing and from where. However as the story gives away the Daleks are involved. As I write this the special edition of this story with new effects and Dalek voices is just weeks away from release and to be honest if ever a story were in need of

The idea that there are people trying to assassinate someone from the past is nothing new but it is done quite well in this story. The idea that the story is set in a stately home with quite an important international crisis pending is something that makes the story have an extra sense of importance. However whilst the story was getting going, all I wanted was a Dalek. Just one solitaire Dalek would have done however I should be careful what I wished for because I would go on to be disappointed. When the story is at the stately home, it’s all intriguing and it was only when the story moved into the future that the story falls down. We get to meet a group of army clad figures who are determined to kill Styles and all that stuff is quite interesting but when we get into the future where the Daleks are overseeing slaves which is not done in a fresh way. The clever twist is that the bomb which is thought to cause the troubles in the future is actually caused by the people trying to kill Reginald Styles. This is the thing that gives the story some lovely sense of drama and irony because it’s because of them that they are in this situation after spending the majority of the story pretending to be the right ones when in fact they have condemned themselves.

The story starts to fall down because of the Daleks. They sound ridiculous, I’m sorry but there’s no way of getting around this. Whenever they are on screen and start talking they start to lose any sense of credibility and by the end of the story I found them about as scary as a cold. Anyone who says the ‘hiding behind the back of the sofa’ line when referring to this story cannot have been telling the truth. It must have been a disappointment for those fans at the time who hadn’t seen a Dalek story before to see this fantastic creation resorted to a silly voice.

Now there is a surprisingly good amount of action stuff and there is another opportunity for Jon Pertwee to do his James Bond thing on a quad bike with Katy Manning trying to not get thrown off. There is a good outing for the UNIT guys and I think that any story with Nicholas Courtney in it isn’t going to be 100% bad. I think that the supporting cast are all quite good but I think that this is a story that could have benefited from Roger Delgado. Ultimately this story is quite a nice story but whilst not the greatest Dalek story ever its just a relief to have the Daleks back in Doctor Who and when you watch this on DVD with its brand new effects then hopefully this story will be improved because of the changes.

The Sea Devils (1972)

The Sea Devils is often regarded as one of the best Pertwee stories and it’s hard to argue that point. This is in effect a sequel to the 1970 adventure ‘Doctor Who and the Silurians’. This story doesn’t feature the Silurians but instead a different species that is somehow related to them. Now that the Master doesn’t feature in every story like he did in the previous series. The story is set on Earth but doesn’t feature the Brigadier or UNIT though they are mentioned in this story. The Master is in prison after the events of ‘The Daemons’ and whilst in the area, the Doctor investigates the disappearance of several boats. Despite the story being six episodes long, the story does have a lot happening. The first part of this story is try to investigate what’s causing the ships to sink and then once we see the Sea Devils, then the latter half is about stopping the Master. The Master does have an ace up his sleeve and that is when the Doctor tries to convince the Sea Devils that the Master is a bad guy then the Master reminds them that the Doctor was responsible for the Silurians being destroyed.

One thing that I really like is all the location filming. Normally these stories are all in the countryside or in the city and this was the first time that the story had gone to the sea and it meant that we could see some fantastic Navy ships and diving bells and the director makes good use of these and creates a truly epic feel to these scenes. In fact another thing that the director should be congratulated on is the scene where the Sea Devils come out of the sea. It mirrors the end of ‘Dalek Invasion of Earth’ where the Dalek comes out of the Thames. This is done slightly better because there are more of them. The idea to add those blue fishnets onto the Sea Devils were a late addition and it’s a very good addition because it just makes them a little bit more credible and gives the impression that they are a civilised race that should be taken serious.

One of the stars of the show is Colonel Trenchard as played by Clive Morton. He starts off as the Prison Governor who has the unenviable job of keeping the Master secure. After doing a good job of fooling the Doctor and Jo, Trenchard soon shows how he is under the power of the Master. It all ends in rather a sad way when he sacrifices his life in fighting the Sea Devils. A nice man with honourable intentions who is turned to help the Master do his evil deeds. Morton’s acting means that when his end comes then it is made even more sad because we all like him and in a way the character. The introduction of the civil servant in episode five was a fantastic way of creating some new and fresh tension. By this stage, Captain Hart had started to go along with the Doctor so there needed to be someone who was the face of opposition and willing to put a spanner in the works. This was brilliantly played by Martin Boddey. He is totally unlikeable and his views are totally at odds with everyone else’s and it’s the way that he is so slimy to Captain Hart secretary/assistant. Edwin Richfield (Captain Hart) sort of becomes the second companion and takes Nicholas Courtney’s place as the authorotive position and he does a very good job. The progression of the character over the course of the six episode is perfectly done and like the Brigadier, Hart becomes a supporter of the Doctor. Katy Manning is perfectly fine in this story but doesn’t really do very much more than what she normally does. Roger Delgado is actually very good and he starts off quite quiet and then by the half way stage is back to his self. His best scene comes where he is having the sword fight with the Doctor. Those two put in a lot of energy into that scene and its one of the best scenes.

The Sea Devils has always been a favourite of mine. It’s slightly too long but there is still enough to enjoy and it’s always good to have Roger Delgado in an adventure. The creatures are well designed, sound great and also the fact its set on the coast give this story a different feel and one of the best stories of the season.

Immortal Sin (2011)

Well it had to happen sooner or later but it gives me no pleasure to say that Torchwood has hit rock bottom. This story is the living embodiment of padding. It’s 95% padding and 5% of entertainment which is a shame because just when the show needs to step up in pace it hits the breaks and bores me to death. At the end of the previous episode, Gwen is told via those contact lens thing that someone has her family and they want her to bring Jack. She does this and we get another bit of back story about Jack in America in 1927. Now the story features some of the most graphic sex scenes in Torchwood and to be honest it was at this point that the fault of this episode became apparent.

At the 15 minute mark when they were rolling around and then talking I was just thinking to myself if anything was going to happen. But then I think to myself that something will happen in a minute but no we get more boring stuff and then it flicks back to Gwen and Jack and that is how it goes for most of the story and it was only the car stuff that was of any interest. I was really bored by this entire episode as it was clear that someone was trying to fill the majority of the episode before the main purpose of the episode. The 1927 stuff was all very dull and just consisted of Jack and Angelo having a relationship in a time when homosexuality could lead to imprisonment and whilst it’s a nice reminder to societies attitude to homosexuality in the 1920’s the point of this was hammered home a bit too much the story got bogged down in stuff it didn’t need to.

I thought that the stuff with the torture would have been totally wrong in any other episode but in this one was a welcome relief. It was where every man and their dog was given the chance to stabbing and doing horrible things to Jack. This was started by Angelo who had seen Jack killed and obviously didn’t realise he’s immortal. Now this was ok until Jack runs away with him. Now if someone had done that to me I wouldn’t want to run away with them no matter what my feelings were for them. This was another dumb plot move which joins a lot list.

It seemed that they could have structured the episode better and not have Gwen’s family rescued in five minutes when they could easily have spent a good half of the episode trying to free them. They were all at home, now yet again this is another piece of lazy writing/thinking. Why not take them to a secret location instead of just leaving them at home. Also it can’t have been that big a thing if the people guarding them were a bit feeble. It’s stuff like this that really annoys me and shows that the series could have been cut down by a couple of episodes.

The main revelation of the episode was it was this Angelo bloke that wanted Jack and I was annoyed that I had to sit through the entire episode for just that snippet of information. I was annoyed because I think the series is starting to go off the boil and this was the second episode where there was no Bill Pullman and it was more noticeable that the previous episode. I think that this was the worst episode of Torchwood ever and despite the brief mention of the Doctor it was a woeful padding filler and left me very angry which isn’t something that I have felt since watching Love and Monsters.

Let's Kill Hitler (2011)

After the mid season break, Doctor Who returns with perhaps the most misjudged title in the shows history. The story sees a pre-title sequence where were reminded of what happened before the break and then the story continues in a corn field where pretty quickly we meet a new person who is a longtime friend of Amy and Rory’s called Melody who is introduced in a quite astonishing way with a big fancy car and pulls a gun on the Doctor uttering the words “Let’s Kill Hitler!”. Now I wasn’t expecting a full-on resolvement from ‘A Good Man Goes To War’ but I think I wasn’t expecting this episode to be as light hearted as previous episodes. The story is set in Berlin in 1938 where we meet possibly the campest version of Hitler ever. After preventing an assisnation attempt Hitler declares that the Doctor saved his life. Now obviously this isnt a good thing but lets be honest we all know how he dies (if not watch Downfall). Now no sooner has he been introduced than he is locked in a cupboard and never heard from again. I do wonder about why they chose Hitler to be the latest historical figure to bring into Doctor Who. His involvement was brief in the extreme and on reflection it was probably the right thing to do because having the most evil man in history in a family show for much longer would probably have caused issue with some of the dumber newspapers such as The Daily Mail etc.

The story sees Melody regenerate into River Song. We learn a lot more about the Silence and also about River Song. Not too much but enough to keep up going for another week. I was glad that first version of Melody we meet didn’t last long as I found her rather annoying. Her death/regeneration scene was her best bit. When River regenerates, she kisses the Doctor but this is psychotic River and so she gives the Doctor some poison and he has 32 minutes before he dies where for some reason he cant regenerate. This leads to a nice little scene where we see a hologram of Rose, Martha, Donna before it settles of young Amy. She uses all her regenerations to save the Doctor. This might be used as an excuse to keep the Doctor from carrying on after his thirteenth incarnation. Regardless it sees the Doctor give River her famous little TARDIS designed book and they leave her to carry on her life.

It does seem like Steven Moffat has been watching the Eddie Murphy film ‘Meet Dave’ where there are a bunch of miniature people inside Eddie Murphy. In LKH, this is done slightly more effectively where the miniature people are some sort of time police who find naughty people in history and towards the end of their timeline ‘give them hell’. What I was more impressed with was how they did their transformation which was a simple effect yet very effective. Also what was quite good was how the people that were copied were zapped inside their android copy and killed by some seaweed like robot who kills them.

All the regulars put in good performances with Rory given the job of punching Adolf Hitler and sticking him the cupboard. However this is really Alex Kingston’s episode as she is the one that poisons the Doctor, escapes on a motorbike (like in The Great Escape) and then storms into a room and forces people to take all of their clothes off. I think that Matt Smith also did a good job but didn’t seem to do a great deal for the first half of the story but once he was in the TARDIS he was back on form and it seems to be another excuse to stick Smith in a Tuxedo but I kind of forgive that because we are introduced to the Sonic Cane. Yes, the show might be 48 years old and the Sonic Screwdriver might be 44 years old but it doesn’t mean that we cant marvel at the Sonic Cane which is just a fabulous Doctor Who creation.

The story is a lot more light hearted story and that’s exactly what we needed. To be honest its nice to have a bit of fun especially considered how dark the stories have been aired so far. It’s nice how we’ve had a bit more background on things and I think that this was the best way the bring back the series. It wasn’t a full-on return and neither did it forget that people would want some more of the story arc. The use of Hitler was limited but if I had an issue with it then it would be that they should have left Hitler out of it because the story would have been just as good without. I get a feeling that the lighter stories have gone for the remainder of the series.

The Rocket Men (2011)

A story featuring William Russell is always something special. Anyone who has listened to other audio adventures narrated by him (original soundtrack narration, target novelisations etc) will be aware that he has a wonderful voice and could read the phone book and he would make it sound interesting. This is amazing only his second Companion Chronicle for Russell following on from the highly impressive Transit of Venus in 2009. Another reason for me to be looking forward to this release is that its written by John Dorney, who’s track record recently has been high impressive with Solitaire and Farewell Great Macedon so the omens were good. The story is set during the time when Vicki was travelling with the Doctor, Ian and Barabra with the story set on a platform base above a gassy sky.

In the interview at the end of the release, John Dorney freely admits that he came up with the title first and then developed the story. That shows quite a lot in this story as by the halfway point I was wondering what the actual story was about. There were things going on but nothing going on. I found the whole setting to be wonderful as it put it in a setting that it not done in Doctor Who and it owes a lot in style to the 1991 film ‘The Rocketeer’ which features a guy with a rocket-pack on his back. This is achieved by the cover that accompanies and also the dialogue from John Dorney. It’s a place that sounds beautiful and then the story starts which takes your attention away from that.

The thing that I liked was how there was some emphasis given on the blatantly obvious romance between Ian and Barbara. It was never really acknowledged on TV but it was clear to everyone and I thought that it was a nice touch and helped draw the listeners attention to just how much the events in this story had effected Barbara. Yes she might be a strong minded person but even she can be affected. I thought it was typically Ian thing to do to give Barbara some space but it was nice to have the Doctor force Ian to go over to her. As Ian reminds us that its hard to believe that at one point they were enemies and now they are friends. What a difference two seasons make. There is a wonderful scene where Barbara is thrown out of a window and is plummeting through the air and Ian in a moment on what can be described as madness jumps out to try and rescue her. This is something that defines the character and the relationship between the two.

William Russell as usual gives his usual top notch performance. In his 87th year on this earth its amazing how he is still enthusiastic about a role that he did for two years 46 years ago. He makes the story seem fun and the reason why I kept going with the story was mainly due to Russell. As the supporting side of the cast, Gus Brown is quite good as Ashman as he does come across as a particularly nasty person.

I must admit that I was slightly disappointed with this story. There are a lot of good things in this story however for some reason it doesn’t quite gel together and that’s the part that lets the story down. I think that with William Russell and John Dorney involved, anything less that would be seen as a disappointment. There is plenty to like and it certainly not anywhere near as bad as The Criminal Code or The Forbidden Time but I cant help but say that I was expecting slightly more than this.

The Daemons (1971)

The Daemons draws Jon Pertwee’s second season as the Doctor to an end and whilst there have been some high points there have certainly been some low ones. The introduction of Roger Delgado as the Master was certainly one of them but the decision to have every story with him in it certainly became a poor idea towards the end. This is a fact that never seemed true to me but going through this marathon has made me see things different. This story is written by Robert Sloman and Barry Letts under the pseudonym of Guy Leopold. The story is set in a quaint English village where there is an excavation going on which is about to release the devil but the Master (of course) is involved. Something that they seemed to have learned from previous stories is not copping out at the end by making the Master realise the error of his ways. The Master wants power and is still trying to get it right up until the moment when Jo is willing to sacrifice her life for the Doctor thus defeating Azal.

The story does a lot about the occult and mythology and stuff like that which is something that makes me go sleepy with boredom. I know that there are people who find this stuff interesting but to me its just a load of nonsense. That said there is enough in the story to keep my interest. The fact that Roger Delgado is in it is more than enough but the location filming is perhaps the best in Doctor Who for quite sometime. The whole feeling of the filming gives a different air to it. I also thought that the supporting cast are very good. In particular Damaris Hayman as Miss Hawthorne. She is introduced as some mad witch who sticks her nose in to the business of others. However its quite clever how it turns out she is one of the sanest people in the village, even though her beliefs are somewhat misplaced. There is also the appearance of Matthew Corbett, who would go on to become famous for Sooty, Sweep and Sue. The UNIT cast are also on good form with Yates and Benton getting to do some of their most heroic moments even though they have to look like they do. I know it was 1971 but that’s still no excuse.

Five episodes is something that needs addressing. I don’t know the reasons why its this length but I think that its too long. They could easily have lost an episodes worth of material and this would have been a much snappier story. I also think that the CSO that is used in this story is somewhat iffy. The rising of Azal is not one of the finest moments and I know that it was the best that they could do but maybe less is more and not seeing the early stages of that rise would have been better. Also, Nicholas Courtney does far too much away from the main action. He seems to spend an age on the other side of the barrier before coming in at the end just as the main action is being wrapped up.

The Daemons is a good end to the season. It’s not the best Master story nor is it the best story of the season but I think that after some of the solid earlier stories then it was obvious that the standard wasn’t going to be there towards the end of the run. I think that the running time is also too long and its largely the characters that are the most interesting because the villagers have that sort of dangerous feel to them when they are under the spell of the Master. I think that its definitely worth watching purely because we get to hear the Brigadier’s most famous line;

“That chap with the wings, five rounds rapids”

The Ratings War (2002)

The Ratings War is another story that was given away by Doctor Who Magazine back in 2002 and written by Steve Lyons. The story sees the ‘return’ of Beep the Meep. I put it like that because I have never read/watched/listened to an adventure with him in it. I am however aware of him so the story wasn’t lost on me. The story seems to have a lot of its story based in reality TV which when this story was released was at its most popular. Big Brother was still relatively new and Pop Idol and other shows were fuelling peoples hunger for this new-ish format. The story is split between the final of a reality show and the Doctor and Beep.

This is the second free re-release that I have listened to (after Living Legend) and its not as much fun as that story. Primarily because I can’t really stand Beep. I think as baddie’s go he is rather feeble. Ok, he sounds cute but his plan is rather lazy and doesn’t have much sense of threat or menace. It’s almost like the Doctor could have saved the day with his eyes closed. The stuff with the reality show was rather annoying as the presenter is the sort of person that you would quite happily slap and it was only the stuff between Beep and the Doctor that was keeping me going. I think that they could easily have cut the reality stuff out and it would have been a much snappier adventure.

As I always say its hard to slate something that is given to us for free however I really cant lie about my feelings about this story and I think that whilst its not a terrible story neither is it a good one. I think that had this being a four parter then it would certainly have struggled and as it is the duration of this (nearly 35 minutes) is just the right length.

Colony in Space (1971)

Colony in Space is the Doctor’s first venture into space in his third incarnation. After a season and a half of being restricted to Earth bound stories, Barry Letts has decided to liven things up by moving the action off to another world. Sadly its a fairly barron wasteland that looks exactly like a quarry. After stealing the so called Doomsday files, the Timelords decide that only the Doctor can help try and locate the files and so whilst messing around with the TARDIS, the Doctor and Jo gets taken to Uxarieus where there is a dispute between a group of colonists who are trying to get life started up and the IMC which are a group of miners who pretend to be concerned about finding some rare minerals that this planet has loads of and we are instantly drawn to dislike them even though one of them is Tony Caunter who played Roy Evans in the soap Eastenders. This story is written by Malcolm Hulke who is a writer that does political type stories and actually does them quite well. His previous stories ‘Dr Who and the Silurians’ (1970) and had a hand in ‘The Ambassadors of Death’ (1970). Now these two stories aren’t the political ones but the future stories definetly are and I will come to that in future reviews.



Now this being the Master series it was clear that at this point that Barry Letts and Terrance Dicks wanted to delay the moment when the Master turns up. This means that the main conflict between the colonists and the IMC guys can take centre stage and this goes on with both sides bleating on about why they should have the right of the planet with no-one asking for the audiences benefit if there are any inhabitants because that would spoil the surprise before it was ready to be revealed. When the Master does arrive it is as the adjudicator who’s spaceship that we see arrive on the planet is actually his TARDIS. So the story moves along and the Master awards the planet to the IMC crew like its the X-Factor that they are on and its not until one of the colonists pipe up with this thing about a primitive tribe that the story really gets interesting because at last we know why the Master is pretending to be the adjudicator and why the Doctor has been sent to stop him. If only they had started with this then the story would have been better. As it is by the time that the secret/primitive city has been discovered, my enthusiasm has somewhat disappeared and I look at some of these colonists who are trying to fight back as irritating twirps. Only the fact that one of them played by Helen Worth makes the story more fun. We get two former soap stars for the price of one.



I did like the IMC lot because the colonists were so wet, that I was rooting for the baddies which is a sign that the story is lost on me. I thought that Morris Perry was the shine out star because as Captain Dent he was the apitame of someone who will do whatever it takes and doesn’t care who he has to step over to get to it. I thought that Tony Caunter was also very good as his number two and one of the things that was so good about the IMC bunch was the internal conflict between Dent/Morgan and Caldwell (played by Bernard Kay - previously in The Dalek Invasion of Earth). This was a source of must interest and was only ruined by the colonists stuff. For the regulars it was business as usual. Even though he wasn’t in it for the entire duration, the moment when Roger Delgado turns up he commands the viewers attention and is instantly enjoyable. However I am starting to find the regular appearance of Delgado is starting to get a bit tiresome. I do think that Delgado's performance is very good and the performances from Jon Pertwee and Katy Manning are also strong though Manning isnt given the best first alien world as she spends the opening moments of the first episode whining and complaining about wanting to go back. Thankfully as we all know this changes and it actually happens in this episode.



I did find the bit inside the Master’s TARDIS to be highly amusing because there were about three or four filing cabinets and I know that it was 1971 and filing cabinets like these would have been fairly uncommon things (for someone who works in a stationery store its a regular thing). But you would have thought that the Timelords would have have more computerised ways of storing the information. When they said that the Master had took the files they really did mean the files. But that is for nought when we see the Guardian who is the most ridiculous thing that I have ever seen. It’s fairly easy to defend Doctor Who to people who laugh at the costumes of some monsters but even I had to put my hands up and say that this is undefenable. Someone should have stopped it from appearing before a camera and re-written the lines for the other odd looking creature.

There are things to like about the Colony but sadly this is a fairly bland story and it isn’t helped that its six episodes long. It’s a shame that I have to say this about Malcolm Hulke because he is one of the top writers that Doctor Who have ever had but I would say that you should listen/read the Target novelisation because its far more interesting and ultimately more satisfying.

Recorded Time and Other Stories (2011)

Big Finish have reached another landmark. Recorded Time and Other Stories is the 150th main range release. I remember the 100threleased back in September 2007 and found the single episode stories to be slightly bizarre. I remember not being entirely positive about Robert Shearman’s story and receiving a personal response about that review. I have since gone back to it and found that I was wrong and it’s a lot better than I remember. Then in November 2008 we had another anniversary which followed the same format and we’ve had two other releases which have followed the same format. The four stories are written by people who are new to Big Finish and like the 100th release this story is a Sixth Doctor adventure except this time it has Peri and not Evelyn.

The opening story is Recorded Time and is written by Catherine Harvey. It sees the Doctor and Peri arrive in 1636 at the court of Henry VIII where something odd is going on. The story sees the Doctor and Peri arrive and get separated in what must have been quick time but felt like it wasn’t rushed at all. The whole story had a wonderful sense that despite the restricted time the story had it wasn’t going to sacrifice anything and that is what I like about this. The story is that there is a scriber which is using a special pen that brings things to live or makes them come true. The price is the ink used is the life force of the person writing. The scriber we meet in this story is the son of the previous writer and it’s a very clever twist which I didn’t seem coming.

The second story is somewhat different in terms of quality. Written by Richard Dinnick this story sees the Doctor and Peri arrive on a planet that sees a bunch of women want to gain access into a vault. Now the first thing that struck me was did Mr Dinnick listen to Galaxy 4 before of whilst he was writing this because the fact that there are a bunch of women that consider men to be inferior seems to be borrowed from that. It’s something that whilst is unoriginal doesn’t mean that the stories not any good. It’s a nice story that actually makes Peri lead the story as the mystery is surrounding her. It’s nice that the secret of the vault was essentially the women’s downfall. The story features Raquel Cassidy who was recently in the Almost People two parter and she was in The Judgement of Isskar back in 2009. Whilst I didn’t dislike this story, I would be lieing if I said I loved it. I think that its the weakest story of this release.

The penultimate story is called A Most Excellent Match by Matt Fitton and it answers the age old question of what would happen if Doctor Who entered Jane Austin’s world. Well its answered in an odd kind of way. The story starts off with Peri being proposed by and the Doctor oddly about to ask for her hand in marriage. It turns out that they have entered a sort of AI unit where there are Jane Austin stories but there is something bad that has been collected by this sort of artful dodger and its an alien creature that seems to like to play games (a bit like the Celestial Toymaker). The story is highly enjoyable from start to finish and for a while I thought that it was going to rival Recorded Time as my favourite story but there is something about that story that pips it to number one spot. Dont get me wrong because I think that this story did well not to go overboard and just be a stupid little attempt at humour but it kept its nerve and served up a bit of humour mixed in with a lot of drama. It also marked the second story in a row where Peri’s role was important because she is the one that rescues the Doctor and its nice to see stories where Peri is put in that position. A good story.

The final story is Question Marks and is written by Philip Lawrence. It sees the Doctor and Peri in a situation where they and the scientists they are with have lost their memories. No one can remember why they are there and there is a wonderful sense of mystery as to what or who has caused this. The story has a wonderful feel to it as I was listening to it trying to catch a glimpse as to what is going on. Then the truth is revealed that they are copies and the real versions have been transported elsewhere. The only thing that I didn’t like about this story is how abruptly it ended or how it felt rushed. We had the truth revealed and the scene between the real Doctor and Destiny and then it was over. I honestly thought that I had missed a bit but to be honest when it finished and the theme tune played I just went ‘hmmmmm’. I think that it was very good story that had a bit of a poor ending.

I did like that Raquel Cassidy was in it again as she was given a better role that in the second story. I think that the mistrust that she led against the Doctor reminded me of the TV episode Midnight where nobody was really willing to believe the Doctor. The fact that the Doctor was called‘Question Mark’ was a funny thing which was a gag that was used again and again and thankfully the mystery of the story was what took centre stage.

Overall, I really liked this release. It was a nice selection of stories with only the second story that didn’t quite hit the mark. I think that this regular thing of having a release like this every year is a good thing because it shakes things up a bit and it introduces new writers and effectively gives them a pilot to go on and write a full length adventure. Colin Baker and Nicola Bryant were very good in all four episodes and its good when these two get together. My favourite part was in the first episode when the Doctor comments that it was odd to see Peri with so much on which is clearly a nod to how little Nicola Bryant wore during her TV days. As a celebration of Big Finish its a nice way to celebrate this impressive milestone so when they come to do 200 in 2015 or something like that they will something like this.

The Middle Men (2011)

The second half of this series sees the appearance of Ernie ‘Ghostbusters’ Hudson who is the most significant member of PhiCorp that we have yet met. The story starts off with Ernie (Stuart Owens) calling someone in Shangai who whilst investigating speaks to Owens some hours later and then falling off the top of a building. I want to say death but considering no one dies its just category one. We also learn of something called the 45 club. It’s mentioned at the beginning but never mentioned again. I presume that this is going to be something important else why would they bother introducing it. Another thing is ‘The Blessing’. This is something else that is mentioned breiefly and its hopefully going to answer who or what is behind all of this.

The main point of this episode is to tidy up the stuff from the previous episode where Vera was incinerated and Colin Maloney is trying to cover up what he did. I would say that Marc Vann stole the episode with his performance. It staggered between horror at his actions and pure evil. The best scene was between Colin and Esther when they have that fight and it leads to putting Maloney into category one.

The performances in this episode are fantastic. The best belongs to Ernie Hudson who steals every scene that he is in and I never thought that I was watching Winston from the Ghostbusters films but the most senior man from PhiCorp that we have met. I thought the highlight was his scene between himself and Jack where Owens gives us the impression that there is something or someone higher up and all that PhiCorp is guilty of is making money out of the situation. Due to Hudson’s performance I cant quite make up my mind whether this is a red herring or whether its genuine but I don’t mind and it’ll be fun finding out one way or the other.

The major issue I have is with the Gwen stuff. I don’t give a rats ass about her dad or her stupid attempts to get him out of the camp. I still cant forgive them for copping out when they tried to get the dad out just as he was having his heart attack. Whilst all the stuff in the San Pedro camp was going on, we were forced to have to go back to Gwen and her demands to get her dad transferred. Gwen seems to have taken several steps back in such a short space of time. She thinks that if she speaks to people in a certain tone then they will roll over and give her whatever she wants. It’s like we went back to season one Gwen when she tried to take the moral high ground but the problem is that Eve Myles goes overboard and it just comes across as annoying and that’s a shame.

It seems there are lapses into lazyness. Why if Gwen had spent so many episodes pretending to be someone else then why oh why did she pick up the phone when her real name was used? This is another instance of stupid plot stuff which in wouldn’t happen in any other drama but its like they got done with one part of the plot and couldn’t think of another way out so they went for this one and didn’t care about how it looked. It was only as I wrote this review that I realised that there was no Bill Pullman and so I cant say that he stole the show. The fact that I didn’t realise this until now shows how much action there was. This is credit to the writing and to the action in the US side of the story. It’s probably the best thing because it means that its freshens things up and when his character returns then it’ll be back to normal. This is arguably the best episode the season so far and its when things really start to get going and I think that as newer characters are bought in these final few episodes will make this season be a success.

Categories of Life (2011)

The title of this episode pretty much describes the episode. It’s now been decided that as you can’t be dead or alive but then there are three different ‘categories of life’. The Torchwood team try and infiltrate ‘overflow camp’. This is another episode written by Jane Espenson and it also sees Vera join the Torchwood group after she is appalled by the new categories. I think this was done partly because Gwen buggers off to Wales (UK) and Esther needs some female company. This episode features the most UK stuff since the show began. It almost felt odd to hear people talk in an English accent instead of American. That said it was good how we got more UK stuff because it was starting to feel like this was just an American problem. Oh and whilst I am at it. When there are the news readers talking, why aren’t there any British ones? There are plenty of American and other nationalities but no Brits. A good thing in this series has been the frosty relationship between Jack and Rex. There is clearly some respect but its hidden behind the childish back biting which leads to one of the few comedy moments when Rex gives Jack the middle finger as he is been put into the back of the ambulance. Rex’s thing in this episode is to be bought into the overflow camp and via a change in peg (blue means flu and red is dead) he ends up in the module and sees what it is before it goes up in flames. It’s another good episode for Mekhi Phifer who does the shoot first asks questions later thing pretty well and is a good opposite to John Barrowman.

Bill Pullman steals the show yet again in this episode as he spends most of the episode preparing for the Peace rally. It seems to be a standard thing where Oswald Danes doesn’t really do much for the majority of the episode but then comes out with a fantastic scene firstly with John Barrowman where Jack tries to persuade Oswald to read an alternative speech. This uncertainty is helped by the constant changing of speeches that Oswald is given and the fact he doesn’t get a dressing room like everyone else. Even Julie Kitzinger is unsure as to what Oswald will say and the way that Pullman delivers that speech is brilliant and the moment when the PhiCorp logo appears behind him was the culmination of the entire episode and shows Jack that things won’t be simple. The individual that threatened to steal the show was Marc Vann who played Colin Maloney. Now to many (including myself) he is known from the CSI Las Vegas series and he was an unlikeable character. In this he goes to a whole new level where he starts off as a nice person who is slightly creepy and then when he is shown to be mishandling things by Vera he shoots her in the leg and hand and dumps her body in the module.

Eve Myles does seem to be as well catered for as the other members. Ok she’s gone to Wales to break her dad out of the overflow camp but at times her stuff bordered on silly. Everything was going fine until she finds her dad and tries to get him into the lorry when he suffers another heart attack. Now if it were me I would have just put in the lorry and drive off but no, this being Torchwood she called for a Doctor and they he was returned to his bed. I think that this is an off week for Myles and she will be back to her best next week.

The end of the episode has to be one of the most intense that Torchwood has ever done. With the shocking revelation about what the modules are (yet again given to us by Rhys) comes at the same time as Vera has been placed in one of them. The moment the fires gets started and you realise that she is going to be cooked the whole tone of the show changes. The fact that the producers can be so ruthless shows that no one is a safe.

This is definitely the best episode of the series so far and at the half way stage of the series it seems like the previous episodes have really been a holding pattern for this moment. It seems that the next five episodes will be unmissable television.

The Ambassadors of Death (1970)

The Ambassadors of Death is the final story to be written by David Whittaker. It’s a story is quite original for Doctor Who at the time because it deals with conspiracy and the feeling that the good guys are battling against something that’s more powerful than they are i.e The Government. There aren’t too many stories in Doctor Who that deal with this topic. This story is an unusual one in that it was made in colour but large chunks are in black and white. What is also unusual is that a bit of the theme turn then the recap before the titles hurl themselves at the viewer before returning to the main action. This is the only time that this is done and its very odd.

There are three astronauts that have been kept hostage but some people who want to start a war with an alien race that have come from Mars. This is because General Carrington lost a friend on a previous space mission and he believes the aliens/martians to be dangerous. There is a message that comes with this part of the story and its that you shouldn’t judge something by its cover. The ambassadors didn’t realise that their touch can kill and at the very last moment the ambassadors are returned to their ship and war is prevented. Despite this being a seven part story it doesn’t drag like most six parters from the Troughton era. The thing about this story is that it doesn’t drag at any stage of the seven parts. I think that credit must go to Whittaker who at times hasn’t been known for memorable stories, not rubbish stuff but nothing that could be classed as a classic.

Jon Pertwee is on fine form as he tries to get the upper hand on whats going on and once he tries to get the ambassadors back. He had gotten a hold on the character from the very first story and this story confirms why he is so good. Caroline John suffers in this story and is ultimatley the weakest thing about this story. She is pushed to one side and spends the majority of this story held hostage which I think is a shame because she deserves better. John does the best with what she is given. Nicholas Courtney gets some good stuff to do including escaping from the base and trying to get back to his UNIT base. The supporting cast is very strong. John Abineri is the best as General Carrington its down to him that the view to attack the aliens comes from. He was on a previous Mars mission and it’s his misunderstanding that nearly plunges the world into war. Abineri plays the role brilliantly because he starts off as an unlikeable military figure and then turns into someone who is riddled with fear and were meant to feel sorry for him. Ronald Allen is another strong supporting cast member as Ralph Cornish. As the leader of the space mission he is one of the few characters that we can trust from the very beginning.

Season 7 is my favourite season of all Doctor Who stories and this story is one of those reasons why. I think that the story is solid throughout the seven episodes and there are intresting characters as well as several dramatic moments. The mystery is held up for the right amount of time and the fresh impulse that the story needed comes at just the right time. It’s David Whittaker’s final story and its his strongest and despite the uncredited contributions from Trevor Ray, Malcolm Hulke and Terrance Dicks its his name on the screen and he should receive all the praise.

Living Legend (2003)

Living Legend was first released in Doctor Who Magazine as a free CD back in 2003 and thanks to the wonderful people at Big Finish, they have released it as a podcast (also for free). Written by Scott Gray it features the Eighth Doctor and Charley, yes remember that time when those two travelled in the TARDIS? Considering its been four years since we last heard an Eighth Doctor and Charley adventure (The Girl That Never Was), I was wondering how this was going to go. I have been waiting a long time to listen to this one.

The story takes place in Italy in 1982 just after they have won the World Cup. The Doctor and Charley stumble across two aliens who are trying to lead an alien invasion. Quite why they chose the 1982 World Cup winning country to do this is debatable so clearly they aren’t the smartest aliens in the galaxy. This is compounded by the fact that the Doctor and Charley dress up as Timelords and separately go about trying to prevent them from finishing their task. I think that it’s a simple yet effective plan and given the short duration time (less that 30 minutes) it was the only one that they could have gone about it. Both tactics used are very amusing, the Doctor tries to convince one of them aliens that the euphoria that the Italians are showing is contagious and gets him drunk. I loved this strand of the story because it was showing the Doctor being manipulative but in a positive way. Charley’s attempts is not as amusing but just as good. She tries to persuade the second alien that the first doesn’t appreciate him and thinks very little. This is her attempt to try and drive a wedge between them but considering how stupid they appear it wouldn’t take (and doesn’t) much.

It’s very hard to find fault in anything that is given to us for free and to be honest I cant find any fault with it. The duration is just right and the story moves along at a nice snappy pace and never gets boring. Both Paul McGann and India Fisher are on fine form and prompted me to listen to one of best Big Finish stories ‘The Chimes of Midnight’. It was a nice and enjoyable release and shows that making great stories isnt something Big Finish have perfected recently but from the very beginning and Living Legend should be listened to as it’s a nice taster to hopefully lure newbies into Doctor Who adventures.

Escape to LA (2011)

Torchwood goes a bit brighter. Well they go from wandering around in the night to lovely sunshine. It’s at this stage the series needs to settle down and move on otherwise the series will not work. It still doesn’t feel like a series of Torchwood just a sci-fi show that happens to have Torchwood in it. The story is shifted from Washington DC to Los Angeles which is the right thing to do because the story needed a new thing in it to keep it going. Quite why they had to go to the other side of the USA is anyone’s guess. But the story needed it and that meant we got a bit of colour and also a new phrase ‘Dead is Dead’. Which is a new policy set up by Ellis Hartley Munroe and it’s a plan to segregate all the people who are dying until death returns and takes them. She is working for the people behind this odd triangle logo whilst Oswald – deep in the bosom of PhiCorp – continues his path of madness. One of the best scenes in the entire episode occurred with the Torchwood crew and that’s the first time this series that I could say that. It’s when Gwen and Jack are trying to steal the server from PhiCorp. It was tense, dramatic and occurred with the obligatory hiccup when Gwen is knocked out. When Gwen is threatened by the man I did have the genuine fear that something nasty was going to happen to her. This was achieved partly by the superb acting of Eve Myles who continues to shine and seems to be enjoying herself. Even John Barrowman seems to be settling down and gives one of his best performances so far. After the unnecessary ‘sex scene’ in the previous episode it was good that felt they had enough to not resort to that. I’m also still impressed with Mekhi Phifer who as Rex Matheson seems to have changed the most in the four episodes. He’s the gun toting shoot now ask questions later kind of character and that’s a fresh thing to have in the series. Alexa Havins is the only person in the new team that hasn’t impressed me so far but she really went up in my estimations in this episode. She starts off by visiting her sister and reporting her to social services and she spends the rest of the episode battling with her guilt. I thought this was really good and the guilt continued even when Gwen and Jack where doing their Mission Impossible thing.

Mare Winningham is another good piece of casting. This was her episode as she was the one trying to steal the thunder from Oswald Danes. She seemed to be working with this mysterious figure who when Danes turns the tide back in his favour, decides that Munroe is surplus to requirements and meets a grizzly end by being crushed in the limo that she was in. The final shot of her is her eye moving. It was quite a grim moment but excellently done. For that brief moment that these two were at odds it was some of the best stuff in the series so far. Bill Pullman is the best thing in this episode (I keep saying it and will continue to do so). There was a bit where it seemed like he was in the pocket of this PhiCorp but within 10 seconds in the scene at the hospital where he crosses the press line it shows that he thinks or is in control. His speech in the hospital is another fine speech and Pullman seems to be growing in confidence with each episode.

If I had a complaint about this episode is that the cliffhanger was horribly predictable. From the moment they started talking about patients being lumped into one hospital I was wondering at what stage we hear about Gwen’s dad who in episode one is unwell. This is the only complaint that I have really because for the first time the series is starting to feel like a Torchwood one and that’s been a major issue for me. The writing was good, the acting was good and as usual the scenery was stunning. As we get to the half way stage its looking like it’s shaping up to being a very good second half.

The Space Pirates (1969)

The Space Pirates is the penultimate story for Second Doctor. It’s a shame that this final season has been so inconistat because when you talk about this season there are stories like The Invasion and The War Games and then there are stories like The Dominators and this dull offering. This is the second story to come from Robert Holmes and he has decided to get the dross of his career done first. The story is about some pirates that are in space and that’s about it. To be honest the story doesn’t really find its footing partly because this business of dealing with pirates in space is poorly handled. The setting could almost be excused but the characters are all pretty poor. In particular the accents were all awful, in particular Gordon Gostelow as Milo. That voice was totally stupid as was General Hermack (Jack May).

This story is way too long at six episodes. Personally I thought that it would be too long at four episodes because there isnt six episodes worth of story. Now normally this is due to the fact that the latter stages are the weakest but in this story it’s the latter stages that are the best. It’s when the story oddly settles down and becomes a lot more interesting. The story spends time where the General thinks that Milo is the baddie and then its only in the latter stages that we find out its not. To be honest a child new to this story could have seen this one coming. You should take my advice and skip to part four because everything you need to know doesn’t come into the story until then.

This story is one of the worst stories in Doctor Who at this point in the shows history. No one benefits from anything in this story and it seems that all the energy was put into the final story as this story lacks anything and I do believe that they should have cut four episodes out of this and made another Cyberman story.