Doctor Who: Ghost Ship
by Keith Topping (Telos, 2003)
Told in the first person, supposedly from the perspective of the Fourth Doctor, this serviceably atmospheric, potentially wonderful novella reads, unfortunately, as if a 40-year-old Englishman has sat down with a framed picture of Tom Baker on his desk and started rambling.
Space Helmet for a Cow: The Mad, True Story of Doctor Who, Volume One, 1963-1989
by Paul Kirkley (Mad Norwegian Press, 2015)
A derivative though informative critique of Doctor Who’s original run. Kirkley admits that his only original contribution is the humorous slant he brings, but unfortunately this is facetious in its execution and grows old very quickly. The title is the best part.
River Song: The Eye of the Storm
by Matt Fitton (Big Finish, 2016)
In and of itself, this is a mess. As the conclusion to a four-part adventure it’s an even bigger mess. Big Finish again sacrifices coherent storytelling for clickbait casting. Yes, a ménage à trois! But the plot is forced and borderline nonsensical.
River Song: World Enough and Time
by James Goss (Big Finish, 2016)
A bit of a mess, sadly. Colin Baker can’t be faulted but his Doctor is out of character and has been shoehorned into the script merely for the gimmick of his being there. River Song would have been better on her own.
River Song: Five Twenty-Nine
by John Dorney (Big Finish, 2016)
One of the better Big Finish stories, not offering full closure but nonetheless presenting a global extinction event with sombre melancholy. Sans any of the Doctors, River Song is given space to make the programme her own. Alex Kingston does just that.
River Song: The Unknown
by Guy Adams (Big Finish, 2016)
A clever opening to the series, the time conflux allowing not only for River Song to meet the Seventh Doctor but also to assert herself as the primary protagonist, respectfully stealing his thunder. A base under siege story with strong female characters.
The Annual Years: A Celebration of the World Distributor Doctor Who Annuals
by Paul Magrs (Obverse Books, 2014)
The Doctor Who Annuals from 1966-1986 were licenced by the BBC but produced and written entirely by outsiders, emerging thence as disturbingly atypical of Who. Magrs catalogues two decades of meandering, rather amateurish stories (and trippy artwork), taking genuine pleasure in some.
Doctor Who: Domain of the Voord
by Andrew Smith (Big Finish, 2014)
Fifty years on, Andrew Smith succeeds in upgrading the Voord from the kooky wetsuited villains of Marinus to a threatening, believable race. Voiced by original (ever young!) companions William Russell and Carole Ann Ford, the story carries itself with a becoming stateliness.
Doctor Who: The Girl Who Never Was
by Alan Barnes (Big Finish, 2007)
The plot is unnecessarily convoluted in places; so too is there cause for consternation in the lineage of Byron(s), the like-named but ostensibly distinct Australian ne’er-do-well(s). Still, there is something refreshing in a Doctor Who story scripted beyond the audience’s immediate needs.
Doctor Who: Loups-Garoux
by Marc Platt (Big Finish, 2001)
Werewolves are given some welly for a change, Platt anticipating Glen Duncan by a decade in substituting patrician cold-bloodedness for mere savagery. The Fifth Doctor and Turlough are treated as characters, not cut-outs. The only flaw is the deus ex machina ending.