Doctor Who: Out of Time
by Matt Fitton; dir. Nicholas Briggs (Big Finish, 2020)
David Tennant and Tom Baker make for an arresting duo and are given time to interact, the story’s emotional depth further complemented by Kathryn Drysdale’s performance as Jora. A shame, then, that the threat had to come from blustering, blogging, self-opinionated Daleks.
Doctor Who: The Five Companions
by Eddie Robson (Big Finish, 2011)
Nostalgia is well and truly satisfied with five former companions yanked back into the fray. Evergreen acting chops notwithstanding, the opportunity for poignant character moments is largely frittered away in a pointless Death Zone slugfest involving Sontarans, dinosaurs and, inevitably, screeching Daleks.
Doctor Who: The Daleks in Colour
by Terry Nation, with new material by Russell T Davies; ed. Benjamin Cook (BBC, 2023)
The colouring works well! However, too much plot has been expurgated, leaving this version frenetic and a good 25 minutes short. Quiet moments, suspense and drama give way to near-farcical, jump-cut action montages and the grandiloquent fanfare of Mark Ayres’ new score.
Doctor Who: The Celestial Toymaker
by Brian Hayles; dir. Bill Sellars (BBC, 1966/2024)
The most ambitious lost story animation to date. Even if the characters now stray into the uncanny valley, the 3D, multi-angle approach offers a zaniness lacking in the original. The colour version is particularly eye-catching… but it’s still a deplorably weak script.
Doctor Who: Psi-ence Fiction
by Chris Boucher (BBC, 2001)
Boucher knows how to build a story, if not how to end one; how to flesh out minor characters, if not how to distinguish them; and above all how to write for Leela… even if portraying the Doctor as a high-functioning psychotic!
Doctor Who: The Devil’s Chord
by Russell T Davies; dir. Ben Chessell (BBC, 2024)
Maestro presents as a seriously deranged threat—albeit one that would have hit home harder had (a) Gatwa’s Doctor an established track record (beyond happy-go-running-away), and (b) they not been meekly sacrificed to a larger story arc (plus delirious show-choir song-and-dance routine).
Doctor Who: Space Babies
by Russell T Davies; dir. Julie Anne Robinson (BBC, 2024)
Part exposition for new watchers, part setup for the rest of the series, but mostly just the only story that Russell T Davies could come up with having pulled the title ‘Space Babies’ from a random text generator. Ebullient but rather forced.
Doctor Who: The Hoxteth Time Capsule
by Paul Davis; read by Colin Baker (Big Finish, 2023)
A neat enough premise but vague and unfocussed, with middling prose, a deus ex machina and exposition up the wazoo. The Doctor’s involvement is murky, his mission to Rajasthan making little sense given how he came upon George in the first place.
The Black Archive #65: The Myth Makers
by Ian Potter (Obverse Books, 2023)
A deeply researched study in authorship. Potter debunks production myths, compares iterations of text, and reconstructs the development of The Myth Makers from commissioning to recording. While the detailed biography of writer Donald Cotton is especially welcome, numerous typos undermine the scholarship.
Doctor Who: The Church on Ruby Road
by Russell T. Davies; dir. Mark Tonderai (BBC, 2023)
Davies scripts a bonhomous if heavy-handed, found-family Christmas special that rattles along while re-treading old ground (his own Whoeuvre plus a sing-and-dance tribute to Labyrinth). Ncuti Gatwa takes the Doctor’s zest for life and channels it into a more tactile, people-friendly persona.