Doctor Who: Tick-Tock World
by Guy Adams (Big Finish, 2019)
A more-or-less successful mix of experimental SF and character overhaul. The production team at Big Finish still seem uncertain how to develop Susan—her emotions, maturity, competence and relationships fade in and out—but at least they’re trying. Well worth a listen.
The Day of the Doctor
by Steven Moffat; dir. Nick Hurran (BBC, 2013)
Like many of Moffat’s ‘big’ scripts, this has a rushed, scattershot feel—not from poor conceptualisation but from trying to cram too much into too little space. That said, there are plenty of nice moments. The interaction amongst Doctors is perfectly pitched.
Doctor Who: The Phoenicians
by Marc Platt (Big Finish, 2019)
It’s easy to envisage this historical adventure as part of Doctor Who’s first season. Platt spends time developing Ian and Barbara’s relationship, and pays some attention to women’s search for independence. David Bradley is on form, his interpretation idiosyncratic yet not unfaithful.
Doctor Who: At Childhood’s End
by Sophie Aldred (BBC, 2020); audiobook read by Sophie Aldred (BBC, 2020)
An unexpectedly proficient debut novel. The prose rarely sparkles but Aldred builds the story well, bridging the 30-year divide between Season 26 (dark manipulations) and Series 12 (sparkly rainbow TARDIS family). Her audiobook reading affords Ace’s journey a further layer of authenticity.
Doctor Who: Resurrection of the Daleks
by Eric Saward; dir. Matthew Robinson (BBC, 1984)
This serial begins with eerie promise and impressive acting/characterisation but degenerates into a confused mess, redeemed only by the pathos of Tegan’s departure. The Daleks (as so often in Doctor Who) have the intellectual sophistication of tantrum-prone toddlers with no inner monologue.
Doctor Who: Free Speech
by Eugenie Pusenjak; performed by Jacob Dudman (Big Finish, 2020)
A trifle simplistic in its resolution. This story would have benefited from some explanation as to how the scenario came about, and a deeper exploration of its effects. Nonetheless, it’s a nice idea and a very good portrayal of the Tenth Doctor.
Doctor Who: The Best-Laid Plans
by Ben Tedds; performed by Jacob Dudman (Big Finish, 2019)
The Twelfth Doctor runs interference so as to reform an amoral ideas man. A sound premise but the confrontation/denouement is clunky and the SF trappings come across as badly degraded Douglas Adams pastiche. Narrator Jacob Dudman breathes some life into the prose.
Doctor Who: Last of the Romanovs
by Jonathan Barnes (Big Finish, 2020)
A nicely understated, character-focussed story that sticks to the ‘observe and depart, become emotionally involved but don’t interfere’ blueprint of early Hartnell historical adventures. Claudia Grant’s Susan continues to sound less like Carole Ann Ford and more like a young Queen Elizabeth.
Doctor Who: Return to Skaro
by Andrew Smith (Big Finish, 2020)
This direct sequel to the first ever Dalek story works best if one can disregard all subsequent canon (plus the Thals lacking so developmentally arduous a skill as timekeeping; condescension begets poppycockery). The recast TARDIS crew also takes some getting used to.
Doctor Who: Fury From the Deep
by Victor Pemberton; dir. Hugh David (BBC, 1968/2020)
This lost story always had good wraps—a tightly written, claustrophobic six-parter bolstered by Dudley Simpson’s tense score (and a resolution that validates the screaming companion!). Its rebirth in animated form makes for a welcome addition, albeit that Troughton remains quintessentially inimitable.