Doctor Who: The Dark Husband
by David Quantick (Big Finish, 2008)
Whereas humour in Doctor Who has always worked best in moderation, Quantick can’t seem to help himself: the jokes never relent, meaning that the Doctor, Ace and Hex are constantly, frivolously undercutting the drama. Thus a potentially intriguing SF tale is stillborn.
Doctor Who: The Sandman
by Simon A. Forward (Big Finish, 2002)
A nice SF concept, which affords plenty of scope for the Sixth Doctor’s almost bipolar swings between compassion and firewalled ‘otherness’. Colin Baker once again shows that he could have been great if given something to work with by JNT and company.
Doctor Who: The Dying Light
by Nick Wallace (Big Finish, 2013)
The ever-young Frazer Hines delights in narrating and playing both himself and the Doctor, but despite his best efforts this adventure feels abridged. The Dying Light exhibits a wondrous complexity better suited to a novel-length treatment, not merely a single audio cd.
Doctor Who and the Pirates
by Jacqueline Rayner (Big Finish, 2003)
A bizarre audio drama, featuring an explicitly unreliable narrator (the story’s telling is itself the mystery) and Bill Oddie in gleeful Ecky Thump pirate mode. The third quarter sees Colin Baker and Co. drop into a full-on musical of the high seas.