Audio Drama

Doctor Who: The Ninth Doctor Adventures
4.1 Snare

It was five years last month since the Ninth Doctor joined Big Finish, and to coincide with that anniversary (deliberately or not, I'm not sure) the thing I suspect most fans have wanted since the start finally came to pass: Rose (Billie Piper) joined him.

Alternating months with the Thirteenth Doctor Adventures* (until at least June 2027), the "fourth series" of the Ninth Doctor Adventures moves on from his solo pre-Rose era, as featured throughout his first three BF series, into... his Rose era, natch, for a series of stories set between Father's Day and The Empty Child (stories set between The Doctor Dances and Boom Town would've been fun, but that's never gonna happen now).

It's a good evocation of the era, feeling right at home with both the characterisation and the kinds of stories told — sci-fi and fantastical, but grounded in everyday real human experiences. That said, much like the opening instalment of the 13th Doctor series, it's solid rather than exceptional. But that's fine, and a decent start.

* The second 13th Doctor adventure came out at the start of the month, and I've received my CD copy. Three episodes into this combined era, I'm aleady two episodes behind.