NFET's Doctor Who Spinoff Corner

Timewyrm Revelation is one of only.... oh, three Doctor Who books I'd give an A+ to. It's just so very perfect. Cornell even manages to make the Timewyrm itself seem relevant in a way that it hasn't even during it's introduction, and Dicks's fun-but-Timewyrm-feels-bolted-on Exodus. And does the same for the stray surviving Nazi as well - no mean feat. Plus the beautifully poetic imagery, a proper and genuine expansion of what Doctor Who is capable of, and the best characterization of Ace and the Doctor basically in the entirety of the NA range. So, so wonderful. You know I don't grade, so A+

No Man's Land - as dull as most Ace/Seven/Hex stories tend to be, sadly.

The Beautiful People: You know, when people write the 4th Doctor and Romana II, I really wish they'd try and write Season 18 4th Doctor/Romana II instead of turning in yet another sub-Douglas Adams script with City Of Death overtones. It's just so very repetitive, especially since the only person that can write like Douglas Adams was, in fact, Douglas Adams. This is a typical, not-as-clever-as-it-thinks-it-is, wannabe Season 17 runaround slightly saved by Ward's performance and ability to deliver a good line, but precious little else. What I love about the CC's is their ability to challenge convention, and this challenges nothing. Next!

Circular Time - 5th/Nyssa. A lovely quartet of short stories centered on the Doctor and Nyssa’s friendship. “Spring” (B) starts it off light, with a little morality play about the appropriateness of Time Lord intervention in a flawed culture. It has the weakest story, but it’s setting is filled with neat detail. “Summer” (B+) is a comedy that pits the Doctor against the keen insight of Isaac Newton, putting one solid monologue at its center. “Autumn” (B+) is a sweet Stockbridge-set tale about Nyssa finding love, a story that is great for Sarah Sutton but let down a tad by the thinness of her paramour. Finally, “Winter” (A-) reunites Nyssa and the Doctor just before his regeneration in a strange but beautiful dream. All of them solid stories that reinforce why the pairing of Davison and Sutton work so well for Big Finish.

I don't begrudge you for not liking Year of the Pig, it's definitely a singular story.

Absolution - 8th/Charley/C’rizz. A fantastically imaginative story that is sadly let down a bit because of how fast and loose it plays by it’s own rules. The simulacrum of Purgatory that forms the setting for the story is never fully explained, and the fuzziness of the logic takes some wind out of the truly chilling and brilliant ideas it’s working with. The soapiness inherent in the side plots is also a drag. Also, despite being C’rizz’s big departure story, the focus on the character is light, keeping him out of the action for a lot of it and failing to illuminate his character. Charley gets more depth added through her heartbreaking reaction to C’rizz’s death than C’rizz received while dying. A weird but shallow story that’s a fun listen but a poor sendoff. B


Dalek Empire: Series 3 - This series is off to a bad start for one fundamental reason: it’s frustrating to see characters who have no knowledge of the Daleks slowly figure out what they are and what they’re planning. The set up is a plague is ravaging the galaxy and only this “mysterious” new race called The Daleks has the cure. Already you can see where this is going. Even though our protagonists, a group of nature wardens who find their reservation planet invaded and some spies for the government investigating the Daleks, don’t trust them at first, it’s such a drag to spend three of six episodes with people just trying to convince the world at large the Daleks are bad news. It takes until halfway through episode five for all the plot threads to coalesce and have our heroes openly fight the Daleks and that means the wrap up feels far too short. It’s a shame because there’s a lot to recommend. The ensemble cast has several fascinating and well drawn characters, with great performances, including one from David Tennant. There’s some really chilling and heart breaking scenes and thrilling, well directed action. The ending episodes have a hell of a momentum, and the ending is truly special. I just wish it wasn’t so slow to start, a well paced version of this story would have been aces. B+

Return of the Daleks is meh in the extreme. But as I've mentioned before I'm really burned out on BF Dalek stories at the moment, so perhaps I'm being a touch unfair.

Mother Russia is pretty damned terrific though. Purves is great, there's a real sense of place and time, and I love the fact that it actually seems to take place over days and weeks, not just how long the episode runs for (very Hartnellian, that). Much appreciated. And actually the more I hear Purves the more I fall in love with him (and Steven). Under-utilized in the broader sceheme of things, but really, really great.

Couldn't agree more about "The Girl Who Never Was". By this stage, at least for me, Charley has long worn out her welcome (had done by Zagreus, really) but this is just such a lovely ending for her, sets up everything for her unexpectedly excellent interactions with the Sixth Doctor, and Fisher is rarely better. McGann is just so the Doctor as this stage it hardly even bears mentioning just how amazing he is, and this is one of the best Cybermen uses I can remember in simply ages, and even the "lost ship" doesn't end up being the obvious over-used plot it seems like its going to be - quite the reverse in fact. Even if its not a story to use as an introduction, if you wanted to point to a BF story and just have one that proves how good everything can be, this would be an excellent example.

Helicon Prime: *snores*

The Catalyst - 4th/Leela. A dark story that takes its time to build, but becomes gripping once it reaches its climax. The Z’nai are a compelling threat, their cold calculation made creepier by their unaltered voices, so used we all are to Who villains who use voice modulators. Louise Jameson remains an excellent performer, mounting the dread early on and conveying her horror at the end beautifully. She really tells it like a story, giving the full range of emotion throughout. A great, chilling tale. A-


Renaissance of the Daleks - 5th/Nyssa. A huge, sprawling mess of a story that’s fun in the wind up but just confusing and boring at the conclusion. The whirlwind of activity in the first half is exciting. Even if it’s impossible to follow the story about shifting timelines across multiple eras, the novelty of introducing this many characters this quickly is really fun. Four characters from four different eras find themselves press ganged into helping out the Doctor and Nyssa, it’s interesting to see all the personalities clash. Eventually we have to get into the actual story though and it’s a complete mess, one I still don’t understand. Events happen like rapidfire for little reason, and nothing is given the proper emotional room. No beat can land and every exciting or touching moment is swallowed by the next one right around the corner. So despite bursting at the seams with fun ideas this is an ultimately disappointing story, one that could have worked with more focus and edits. C+

Cat’s Cradle: Time’s Crucible - Marc Platt is the only person on Earth who can figure out exactly what’s going on in his book, and honestly I’m not convinced he could 100% get it. It’s a mess of time travel that plays by it’s own rules that are too confusing at the start to follow, and only get slightly clearer as the story goes on. To make something this dense work you need to root it in strong character, and while Ace is well written and likable, the new characters are mostly shallow and uninteresting. Sidelining the Doctor for so long is a mistake, the story misses his charismatic premise. And the flashbacks to Old Gallifrey don’t work for me on any level. Overall, this is a potentially interesting story working with some brilliant ideas that get lost in them and fail to build a compelling story around them, instead content to leave me feeling lost at sea. C-

I.D. - 6th. A tense, fun thriller, working with a lot of ideas including killer robots, personality alteration, and brain hijacking. There might be a bit too much going on in the short 3 episodes to let all the ideas breathe, but it makes for a hell of a fun time, pairing a solo Doctor against some interesting characters. B+


Urgent Calls - 6th. A very unique framing device, an entire story told in telephone conversations, already makes this story stand out. But it’s the empathic treatment of protagonist Lauren Hudson that gives the story its heart. It’s always interesting to see how ordinary people react to being sucked into the Doctor’s world, and Kate Brown’s timid but enthusiastic performance makes the character come alive. It builds a sweet friendship between her and the Doctor in its half hour running time, making a strong case for more experimental short stories like this. A-

Nathan Ford's Evil Twin - I love Urgent Calls so much. Exactly the sort of inventive, different kind of thing Big Finish can pull off really well when the put their mind to it, and of course one that relies on the fact that this is an audio play, not just TV without the pictures. Love it to be bits.

Time's Crucible is absolutely overflowing with ideas, concepts, mythology and development, brimming over with a vast amount of hugely influential stuff. Unfortunately it's all wrapped up in a dull, dreary book that, beyond exploring "the novel that came to shame much of how we view the Time Lords post-cancellation" it's completely unengaging as an actual work of fiction. Actually that's not quite true - the opening section in London where the Doctor and Ace just go to a cafe, then have to struggle back to the TARDIS through some hallucinogenic imagery is actually very well done. But that just makes the rest of the novel seem very pale by comparison. There's a lot of that in the early NAs...

I.D. is just Six being Six, and that's fine.  It's not remarkable but it's entertaining and I can just listen to Colin knocking these out all day long.  

Though maybe Exotron proves otherwise, because I can't ever imagine going back and giving it a second listen, unless I was given a very compelling reason to do so.  Rote, rote, rote.

Neither Valhalla not Demon Quest I have heard... would you recommend Demon Quest?  I know it's basically responsible for getting Tom Baker to finally board the Big Finish ship, but I've always been a bit reticent, partly because I'm not a big Mike Yates fan (nor a fan of what BF have done with him, to be honest) and partly because it took Tom a bit of time to get back in to the role in BF, and I don't know how entertaining a "work in progress" Fourth Doctor might be.

Frozen Time - 7th. A by the book base under siege story. Briggs adds some cool details to spice it up, like having the Doctor enter the story frozen in ice for eons, but ultimately we’ve seen all the characters in this story before. The greedy businessman, the quick witted scientist, the horde of marauding alien baddies, no element here is unique to this story. This comes at the expense of the Ice Warriors, a sometimes fascinating race who don’t stand out at all here. C+


Son of The Dragon - 5th/Peri/Erimem. A historical story all about it’s dark, moody atmosphere. Telling the story of the historical Dracula aka Vlad the Impaler and the war he fought with his younger brother, Radu, Steve Lyons’ story takes place on a long timescale that’s not exactly clear. It allows for the Doctor Who formula to be shaken up though, and it contrasts Erimem adjusting to the time period while Peri remains stubbornly modern. The story is bolstered by James Purefoy’s excellent performance as the morally gray Dracula. Though there is too much plot compression involved for the story to make complete sense, it’s continually exciting and fascinating, with great character work for all involved. B+

Bloody hell I'm miles behind... I'll catch up shortly!

Return to the Web Planet - 5th/Nyssa. The decision to return to the bizarre Web Planet is a bold one, but one that ultimately doesn’t pay off. The Menoptera and Zarbi that appear here are drawn in generic enough strokes that they could be any alien species, with I think betrays the fact that their memorable presence is more from the strange production design than anything inherent to the species. The Menoptera characters themselves are interesting and well written however. The story plows forward in a very straightforward fashion that doesn’t reflect how strange the story is. It hinges on a twist that comes out of nowhere and is more head scratching than interesting. RttWP gets points for its wild ideas and well drawn characters, but feels generic in ways that let it down. B



Bride of Peladon - 5th/Peri/Erimem. A fantastic, roaring adventure set against the familiar backdrop of Peladon. There are so many characters and side stories, probably a few too many, making the early going a bit bogged down as we cut between five different groups of characters interacting. Once the climax is reached however all the pieces fall into place and the story delivers an epic conclusion. This is Erimem’s final story and it’s a fitting sendoff for the character. Peri and the Doctor are also in fine form, buoying a supporting cast that feels a bit thin at times, if only because there’s too many characters to properly service all of them. An ambitious tale that mostly succeeds in being a blockbuster. A-

Horror of Glam Rock - 8th/Lucie. A pretty straightforward base under siege story, though here the base is a diner in the 70s, and its patrons are glam rockers! The characters are all fairly interesting, especially the contrast with failed rocker Pat and the up and coming Tomorrow Twins. There’s an extra wrinkle in Pat being Lucie’s aunt, which leads to her coming to terms with the consequences of the weirdness traveling through time means, though not much is done with this connection. Ultimately, the story boils down to the Doctor and co. avoiding monsters until the Doctor comes up with a clever way to stop them, it’s all in fine form and doesn’t need to reinvent the wheel. B

The Dark Husband - 7th/Ace/Hector. A confusing, boring story about two thinly drawn sketches of alien races feuding for no reason. The Doctor and companions try to bring peace through a series of arcane rites that never make sense and lead to a conclusion that tries to be a big twist but it’s incredibly obvious and uninteresting. Characterization for the TARDIS crew is at a low point here, as they have nothing interesting to do and squabble for ridiculous reasons. It’s been a long time since Big Finish has whiffed this badly for me, I hope it doesn’t happen again soon. D


Cuddlesome - 5th. A truly bizarre tale about fictional Furby-esque toys coming to life. There is entirely too much exposition required to make the complicated story completely work, but it gets a lot of points for weirdness. The Cuddelsomes are pretty adorable creatures, while the American Cuddlesomes are frankly hilarious with their bad accents and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle slang. There’s a fine sympathetic villain in Turvey, though there’s so much backstory attached to him it bogs the story down a bit, and the real villain, Tinghus, is just your run of the mill evil psychic entity. There’s also has a great stand in companion in Angela Wisher, it makes me sad she never comes back. It’s a solid story, better than most of these bonus one-offs. B


Assassin in the Limelight - 6th/Evelyn. Robert Ross’ final contribution to Big Finish is also his best, delivering a story much more straightforward than the needlessly complicated Medicinal Purposes and Pier Pressure. It’s still pretty damn twisty though, dealing with multiple fake out deaths and possible alterations to the timeline leading up to Lincoln’s assassination. Leslie Phillips returns as Dr. Knox and does a great job matching wits with the Baker and Stables again. The remaining characters are well drawn, and the story does a good job leaving you guessing at where it’s going up until the very end. The only knock against it is the very anti-climatic ending, one that also is partially resolved offscreen, without any sort of emotional component to it. Though it’s all very fun, without a solid conclusion the story falls short of excellent and instead settles for pretty good. B+

I am, again, miles behind.

Horror Of Glam Rock. Cleverest thing about it is the title, and it's not nearly as smart or clever as it seems to think it is. When it bothers with character work it comes across quite well but it's all near the end and it's too little too late. Your ranking is more generous than mine would be...

Dark Husband: Eh. And I just dont care about Hex any more. Or, sadly at this point, Ace. A stupid, runt-of-the-litter plot makes this just crap.

Cuddlesome: Absolutely this deserves full marks for committing to its own insanity. It doesn't quite work, as you point out there's way too much exposition, and this kind of story isn't a natural fit for Davison's Doctor. But whatever else it is, it's not run-of-the-mill and that's something to be applauded.

Assassins In The Limelight: Shit, I've missed one!

Immortal Beloved: Just lovely. Love Lucie here, love McGann, love the story, and it's all just incredibly compelling. We are as one.

The Haunting Of Thomas Brewster: Yea I mostly agree here. I'm a big fan or Morris and he definitely doesn't disappoint here. Brewster gets a bit over-used by the end I think, but here he's terrific and a nice new kind of "companion" for Baker to play off.

The Boy That Time Forgot: Stupid. The idea of the Doctor apologizing to Adric for getting him killed just doesn't make any sense (not least because few in the audience think this is something that needs to be apologized for in the first place...), so the idea of constructing a whole story around just that is always going to be basically futile. The alt-Adric also has way too little in common with "our" Adric, nor is he acted with anything that suggests Waterhouse's performance, so this is very much in-name-only. Big, big fail.

Phobos is just so average. I wish I could find anything to say about it that isn't just "meh" but I can't, so "meh". Even McGann seems to be struggling to raise any life out of this, and that's REALLY unusual...

Time Reef is just badly written. It tries really, really hard to be a twisty, turny kind of thing and just doesnt have the chops to pull it off. Faintly, poorly related to Enlightenment in atmosphere (but not in anything else) it just doesn't come together, and it's the point where Brewster starts to become actively annoying.

A Perfect World is... uh, also pretty unremarkable really. Nice try and all, but the whole Baker St house just isn't a conceit that ever works really (especially here) and it all just feels lazily referential without any real purpose. I'm glad to see the back of Brewster, which is a shame for a character that started out so well, though I think he works better with Baker than with Davison, to be honest. Oh, and the comedy isn't funny, which is unusual for someone of Morris's experience and skill. A big, unsual misfire from him.