Prime Winner review [Nigel Fairs]

The Doctor and Peri land in what looks like a '30s casino for aliens. But what is Peri's step-father, last seen in '80s Lanzarote, doing here?

Who are we with?: The Sixth Doctor and Peri Brown.

Where are we?: A casino far from Earth.

When are we?: For the Doctor and Peri this takes place shortly after Revelation of the Daleks, presumably before The Nightmare Fair given how the pair are still bickering.

The Good:

• Nicola Bryant is very, very good at making each character distinct. Her accents are superb (although her American accent continues to stray from coast to coast).
• The method of cheating at the casino isn't a ground-breaking idea but an interesting one all the same.

The Bad:

• The Doctor's a bit unpleasant in this story. It makes sense given that it's presumably set between Revelation of the Daleks and season 22a, but emotional abuse in the TARDIS is always a bad thing.
• The Doctor makes a very strange jump in logic in assuming that the Howard Peri saw was actually Kamelion. He's not the only shape-shifter in the universe. What a strange line of thinking for him to come to.
• The Howard mystery fails to interest and the payoff is lacking. The reference to Maxil isn't clever.

This Reminds Me...:

• "You'll need to wear something blue!" Blue is established as the colour of mourning on Necros in Revelation of the Daleks.
• We previously met Peri's step-father Howard in Planet of Fire.
• "That shouldn't have happened," the Doctor also remarked in Attack of the Cybermen.
• The Doctor has a bleeping device not unlike the one he will later use to identify Evelyn Smythe as a nexus point in The Marian Conspiracy.
• The Doctor replaces his fob watch, which was broken in Revelation of the Daleks.
• The Howard lookalike is just that - a lookalike, just as the Abbot of Amboise looked like the First Doctor (The Massacre of St Bartholomew's Eve), Ramon Salamander looked like the Second Doctor (The Face of Evil), Ann Talbot looked like Nyssa (Black Orchid) and Maxil looked like the Sixth Doctor (Arc of Infinity), among a number of others.

Verdict: This story lacks in a number of areas. The plot isn't hugely interesting and the mystery of what Howard is doing in the casino turns out to be... well, just a guy who looked like him. We've had lookalikes in Doctor Who a number of times before but they've always served some sort of purpose. We wondered whether the Abbot was the Doctor, Ann and Nyssa are mistaken for one another, the whole plot of The Face of Evil, but this time it's just because. The narration by Nicola Bryant is good and, as someone who really isn't a fan of Peri, her character is written tolerably whilst we get a nice gleam of the Sixth Doctor's niceness towards the end. E

Short Trips

Gardens of the Dead  |  Prime Winner  |  Washington Burns

All Hands on Deck review [Eddie Robson]

"A long time ago, you decided I was going to stay here. I didn't get a choice. I've had a good life on Earth but I'm making the decision this time." - Susan

Who are we with?: The Time Lady Susan Campbell.

Where are we?: The 2210s. For Susan this takes place some time after To the Death. For the Doctor, it's at some point between the end of the Doom Coalition series and The Starship of Theseus.

The Good:

• It's always a pleasure to return to Susan post-The Dalek Invasion of Earth, and even more so to see how she is after the death of her son at the end of the Eighth Doctor Adventures. There's very little continuity aside from Susan's hostility towards the Doctor but we do learn a bit about her life since then and there are a few sad notes, such as when we hear of how Susan didn't need so big a house anymore.
• The last few scenes with the Tesseracts and Susan being picked up by the Time Lords to join the Time War are very enjoyable and it's very satisfying to now know why the Doctor in the modern series assumes that she's dead. At long last this question has been answered.
• The final scene is an inversion of the First Doctor's farewell to Susan in The Dalek Invasion of Earth. Susan has gone forward in all her beliefs and grown to become a strong character, leaving the Doctor behind as he once did to her.
• Susan is once again an excellent character in this story, beautifully written and wonderfully performed. Big Finish has given the character a whole new lease of life and developed her from the somewhat pathetic teenage girl of the '60s.

The Bad:

• Why wasn't this a full cast audio drama? The goodbye would be that much more poignant with Paul McGann opposite Ford.
• Shouldn't Susan be angrier at the Doctor leaving her to deal with Alex's death alone? That would have been an interesting nugget of their relationship to explore, but instead Alex isn't so much as mentioned. Perhaps it was to avoid alienating those who haven't listened to Lucie Miller/To the Death, but all the same it's a missed opportunity and one that's now unlikely to be returned to.
• The Doctor's distractions come across almost as filler until we get to the meatier ending. There is, of course, a good narrative reason for them but wouldn't it be more fun if the Doctor was staying with Susan ostensibly to help her cope post-Alex whilst actually being there to throw away any Tesseracts that arrive?

A Good Quotation: "Don't be afraid for me. It's the right time. That's why they came for me now. They know I've done all I can here. You go and do what you need to and I'll do what I need to. And one day we'll see each other again. One day." - Susan

This Reminds Me...:

• We first saw a Tesseract in The War Games, in which the Second Doctor uses one to contact the Time Lords.
• Susan tricks the Doctor in a reversal of what he later does to Rose (The Parting of the Ways) and Clara (The Time of the Doctor). Perhaps Susan's where he learnt it from.

I'll Explain Later: 

• Why doesn't Ian and Barbara's plaque have a date of death? 
• If Susan isn't her real name, why does the Doctor call her that in The Beginning?

Verdict: An okay story with a superb performance by Carole Ann Ford and a heart-breaking ending. It seems that this is the end of our visits to an older Susan, which is a huge shame, but perhaps we'll catch her in the Time War at some point. She did say they would meet again one day, after all. C.

Short Trips

A Heart on Both Sides  |  All Hands on Deck  |  The Ingenious Gentleman Aldric of Alzarius

Forever Fallen review [Joshua Wanisko]

"It's my choice to do this, and in doing so I am acting by my principles. I'm sticking to what I believe and I hope you always do too." - Sean

Who are we with?: The Seventh Doctor, Ace and Sean Calvin.

Where are we?: A cafe called the Uncertain-Tea Principle on Elysium 7.

When are we?: Uncertain, but it takes place at some point after the Doctor first dons his brown suit jacket in 1963: The Assassination Games.

The Good:

• The framing device of Sean visiting the Doctor and Ace once a year is utilised far more effectively here than in A Christmas Carol, allowing us to explore Sean and his development, as well as the relationship between him and the time-travelling pair.
• The mention of the Doctor's metaphorical aunt is very funny. It's a wonder that a similar line has never been uttered by him before.
• Sean was always going to be arrested and exiled. The Doctor didn't involve himself to save Sean but to save Odessa. Because of his stopping Sean, Odessa reacts differently to her father's fate and will live a happier life of hope rather than one of resentment. This was a nice twist, injecting a bit of positivity into a sad ending.

The Bad:

• Sean is a little unbelievable at the beginning with the Leviathan and his supposed skill at robotics at a very young age. However, he quickly becomes a realistic and rounded character. 
• Nicholas Briggs could do with a little bit of work on his McCoy impression.

This Reminds Me...:

• The Doctor refers to a possibly metaphorical aunt - this is, of course, a reference to the Second Doctor's exclamation of "my giddy aunt!"
• The Doctor mentions haemovores, the monsters of The Curse of Fenric.

I'll Explain Later: Why does the Doctor say that he "possibly" has a granddaughter? Was it a reference to the belief that Susan isn't actually his granddaughter? Regardless, it feels like a missed opportunity to have a rare character moment of the Doctor thinking about Susan.

Verdict: I'll admit I had some unfounded prejudices against this story because of its being written for a competition, but soon after starting Forever Fallen that mood was dispelled and by the end I was of the belief that it would have been a crime for this not to have won. We're introduced to an unlikeable stranger as our main character who we learn about and journey with and by the end accept for his flaws and pity him for his past. Odessa being the true centrepoint of the Doctor's plans was an inspired idea. Hopefully this wasn't the last we'll see of Mr Wanisko at Big Finish. A

Short Trips

The Hesitation Deviation  |  Forever Fallen  |  The World Beyond the Trees

A Heart on Both Sides review [Rob Nisbet]

"For a race with two hearts they show little compassion."

Who are we with?: The genius scientist and spacefaring medic Controller Nyssa of Traken.

Where are we?: We're on Reave, a planet not far from Gallifrey.

When are we?: We're in the 36th century, at some point before Nyssa rejoins the Fifth Doctor, Tegan and Turlough in 3530 in Cobwebs. For the Doctor, this presumably takes place before The Starship of Theseus.

Who are the bad guys?: The Time Lords.

The Good: 

• Nyssa tending to victims of the Last Great Time War sounds so obvious that it makes you wonder why you never thought about it before. It's a brilliant idea to have the intelligent and kind-hearted Nyssa seeing to the poor people that get caught in the crossfire, wandering the universe in a hospital named after her home planet.
• Nyssa's difficulty to comprehend and accept the actions and new morality of the Time Lords makes it clear how much the race changes from their general passivity in the classic series to the war-like race we see in the modern. They've gone from having next to no contact with the universe outside of Gallifrey to threatening the nearby Reave, which wishes to remain neutral.
• The Doctor boarded The Traken fearing that Nyssa would come to harm because of the Time Lords' threats, saying that he wanted to protect the person with the most good in them that he had ever met. How sweet is that? Nyssa was always such an innocent character and the Doctor concerning himself with protecting her while the Time War is bubbling away perfectly represents his ethos.
• The Doctor leaves Nyssa knowing her looming fate in E-space in The Entropy Plague with just a kiss on the cheek, with Nyssa not even knowing who he was and thinking that he was unlike the Doctor. A beautiful final farewell.

The Bad:

• Some might find the lack of action to be a bad thing. Personally, I don't. This talkier story is a much more interesting way to explore Nyssa and the evolution of the Time Lords.
• The reveal of Dr Isherwood being a Time Lady doesn't really ring true after all the character building, and are the Time Lords really so vicious so early in the Time War? The explosions and Isherwood carving out one of her hearts sounds like something even Cardinal Ollistra wouldn't order. But then perhaps I'm a Time Lord apologist who doesn't want to accept it.

This Reminds Me...:

• The robotic Sisters bear the green crescent, said by the Tenth Doctor in New Earth to be the universal symbol for a hospital.
• Time Lords' allergy to gases in the praxis range was first mentioned by the Fifth Doctor in The Caves of Androzani whilst explaining to Peri why he wears celery.
• Nyssa has named a ward aboard The Traken the Turlough Ward after the Trion companion she would soon join once again. Another is the Adric Ward, named after the boy genius from Alzarius that died in Earthshock.
• The Doctor kisses Nyssa as they part, just as he did as a goodbye in Terminus.

I'll Explain Later: How does Dr Isherwood know about the Doctor Foster nursery rhyme?

The Inquisitor's Judgement: A very nice little story wonderfully performed by Sarah Sutton. It's an interesting take on the Time War by seeing how it affects the lives of previous companions and hopefully there'll be a few more to come. Nyssa was a character that wasn't given a whole lot to do onscreen so giving her centre stage in her own story is a great thing for fans of hers. Having the Time Lords seem like the villains of the Time War is a delightful new spin but after all of the characterisation of Dr Isherwood, her being a Time Lords isn't entirely convincing despite an earlier hint or two. Regardless, as a Nyssa piece this is a very good story that I would rate as an A.

Short Trips

The British Invasion  |  A Heart on Both Sides  |  All Hands on Deck