Doctor Who: The Code of Flesh
written by Andrew Lane, read by Dan Starkey
I've been meaning to continue these audio-exclusive 8th Doctor adventures ever since I listened to the first two-and-a-half years ago. Yes, I know that's ridiculous; but hey, I got here eventually. Hopefully I won't leave it so long before the next one (there are four in this sequence, so far) because they're quite good.
Showing posts with label Audio. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Audio. Show all posts
Sunday, 26 April 2026
Friday, 26 December 2025
Audio Drama
Doctor Who: The Thirteenth Doctor Adventures
1.3 Lionesses in Winter
Although released in November, this is a de facto Christmas special, what with it... being set at Christmas. I mean, that's plenty enough to qualify, really, but it also feels thematically pretty Christmassy, so it really nails the objective. And without one on TV this year, it's especially welcome.
1.3 Lionesses in Winter
Although released in November, this is a de facto Christmas special, what with it... being set at Christmas. I mean, that's plenty enough to qualify, really, but it also feels thematically pretty Christmassy, so it really nails the objective. And without one on TV this year, it's especially welcome.
Friday, 7 November 2025
Audio Drama
Doctor Who: The Thirteenth Doctor Adventures
1.2 The Return of the Doctor
That title... was this meant to be the first release and for some reason had to be bumped? And if not, why would you give that title to your second story? Sure, it doesn't matter, but it feels silly to me. Especially as I thought this was an all-round stronger story than the actual first release and therefore might've made a better choice to kick off the range.
1.2 The Return of the Doctor
That title... was this meant to be the first release and for some reason had to be bumped? And if not, why would you give that title to your second story? Sure, it doesn't matter, but it feels silly to me. Especially as I thought this was an all-round stronger story than the actual first release and therefore might've made a better choice to kick off the range.
Wednesday, 24 September 2025
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.
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.
Sunday, 6 July 2025
Audio Drama
Doctor Who: The Thirteenth Doctor Adventures
1.1 Vampire Weekend
Jodie Whittaker's Doctor comes to Big Finish — I'd say "finally", but this has to be quickest turnaround from TV to BF ever. No surprise: Jodie was talking about doing them before her time on TV had even finished. Anyway, here begins 12 new adventures released over the next couple of years (the final one is scheduled for May 2027). Can Big Finish do for the 13th Doctor what they've done for the 6th and, arguably, 8th and turn an underwhelming TV era into a fan favourite? Time will tell. This first instalment... isn't that.
But it's not bad, either. It feels very much like it's laying the groundwork. This is a light-weight romp-ish season opener; a reminder of all the different tones Who does, all at once (not a bad thing), with a breakneck pace and a focus on just being a bit of fun. In that sense, it's more successful than many of her TV episodes were.
Jodie and Mandip slip back into their roles as if they'd never been away, and there are some nice scenes between the Doctor and Yaz. That goes some way to make up for the supporting cast being a mite too large — there's not enough time for this many characters, so they're all quite vaguely sketched. It doesn't help that several sound quite similar, meaning it can get a bit confusing in fast-paced scenes with everyone present.
Still, a solid start to the 13th Doctor's adventures on audio. Hopefully future episodes will deliver on the promise of what Big Finish can do to positively transform an era's reputation.
1.1 Vampire Weekend
Jodie Whittaker's Doctor comes to Big Finish — I'd say "finally", but this has to be quickest turnaround from TV to BF ever. No surprise: Jodie was talking about doing them before her time on TV had even finished. Anyway, here begins 12 new adventures released over the next couple of years (the final one is scheduled for May 2027). Can Big Finish do for the 13th Doctor what they've done for the 6th and, arguably, 8th and turn an underwhelming TV era into a fan favourite? Time will tell. This first instalment... isn't that.
But it's not bad, either. It feels very much like it's laying the groundwork. This is a light-weight romp-ish season opener; a reminder of all the different tones Who does, all at once (not a bad thing), with a breakneck pace and a focus on just being a bit of fun. In that sense, it's more successful than many of her TV episodes were.
Jodie and Mandip slip back into their roles as if they'd never been away, and there are some nice scenes between the Doctor and Yaz. That goes some way to make up for the supporting cast being a mite too large — there's not enough time for this many characters, so they're all quite vaguely sketched. It doesn't help that several sound quite similar, meaning it can get a bit confusing in fast-paced scenes with everyone present.
Still, a solid start to the 13th Doctor's adventures on audio. Hopefully future episodes will deliver on the promise of what Big Finish can do to positively transform an era's reputation.
Sunday, 15 June 2025
Podcasts
The Empire Spoiler Special Film Podcast
Christopher McQuarrie on Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning Part One
Christopher McQuarrie on Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning Part One
Sunday, 8 June 2025
Podcasts
The Empire Spoiler Special Film Podcast
Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One — The Live Spoiler Interview with Christopher McQuarrie
I didn't listen to this fifth and final part of Empire's epic deep dive into M:I-7 back when it came out because it took so bloody long to be released: it was recorded in July, Part Four came out in September, and this last instalment wasn't released until Christmas Day — that's almost four months later. The Empire spoiler podcast costs money — I would've wasted three or four months of sub fees just waiting for this to turn up. Anyway, I've just re-subbed to listen to the new Final Reckoning episode(s), so before that I've gone back for this one.
More importantly: what McQ has to say is fascinating and insightful, so this is as brilliant as usual.
Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One — The Live Spoiler Interview with Christopher McQuarrie
I didn't listen to this fifth and final part of Empire's epic deep dive into M:I-7 back when it came out because it took so bloody long to be released: it was recorded in July, Part Four came out in September, and this last instalment wasn't released until Christmas Day — that's almost four months later. The Empire spoiler podcast costs money — I would've wasted three or four months of sub fees just waiting for this to turn up. Anyway, I've just re-subbed to listen to the new Final Reckoning episode(s), so before that I've gone back for this one.
More importantly: what McQ has to say is fascinating and insightful, so this is as brilliant as usual.
Sunday, 15 September 2024
Audio Drama
Doctor Who: The Eighth Doctor Adventures
The Stuff of Legend Part 1
The Stuff of Legend Part 2
This is the Big Finish 25th anniversary production that was performed live in London this weekend (twice yesterday, twice today — an expanded number of performances because of demand). Obviously I didn't go, but they released the studio-recorded version simultaneously for those who preordered it, so I thought I'd give it a listen in... solidarity? Not quite the right concept, but anyway.
The Stuff of Legend Part 1
The Stuff of Legend Part 2
This is the Big Finish 25th anniversary production that was performed live in London this weekend (twice yesterday, twice today — an expanded number of performances because of demand). Obviously I didn't go, but they released the studio-recorded version simultaneously for those who preordered it, so I thought I'd give it a listen in... solidarity? Not quite the right concept, but anyway.
Sunday, 8 September 2024
Audio Drama
Doctor Who: The Third Doctor Adventures
13x06 Revolution in Space Episode Six [finale]
+ the final behind-the-scenes featurette on CD3
I really didn't intend to wait a whole month between the penultimate and final episodes of this serial (indeed, if I'd had complete freedom, I'd've listened to it the next day), but sometimes life just gets in the way.
It's certainly no reflection on the quality of the story, which was very good. Originally I ignored Big Finish's releases with recast Doctors (surely half the point of what BF do is to bring back the original actors?), but I heard Tim Treloar's Third Doctor in one of their anniversary anthology stories and was impressed. Nonetheless, I only bought this particular story because it was offered in a bundle with October's Third Doctor release, The Quintessence (billed as a gothic story featuring the Cybermen, it could scarcely be more up my street), and the bundles are always better value than a single release, and this sounded good enough to be worth a punt. I'm glad I did.
13x06 Revolution in Space Episode Six [finale]
+ the final behind-the-scenes featurette on CD3
I really didn't intend to wait a whole month between the penultimate and final episodes of this serial (indeed, if I'd had complete freedom, I'd've listened to it the next day), but sometimes life just gets in the way.
It's certainly no reflection on the quality of the story, which was very good. Originally I ignored Big Finish's releases with recast Doctors (surely half the point of what BF do is to bring back the original actors?), but I heard Tim Treloar's Third Doctor in one of their anniversary anthology stories and was impressed. Nonetheless, I only bought this particular story because it was offered in a bundle with October's Third Doctor release, The Quintessence (billed as a gothic story featuring the Cybermen, it could scarcely be more up my street), and the bundles are always better value than a single release, and this sounded good enough to be worth a punt. I'm glad I did.
Monday, 5 August 2024
Saturday, 3 August 2024
Audio Drama
Doctor Who: The Third Doctor Adventures
13x04 Revolution in Space Episode Four
+ the behind-the-scenes featurette on CD2
13x04 Revolution in Space Episode Four
+ the behind-the-scenes featurette on CD2
Friday, 2 August 2024
Thursday, 1 August 2024
Audio Drama
Doctor Who: The Third Doctor Adventures
13x02 Revolution in Space Episode Two
+ the behind-the-scenes featurette at the end of CD1, which was a bit of a surprise — I know Big Finish include that kind of material, but I didn't expect it mid-story. Fortunately, they're sensible enough to not put any spoilers in it.
13x02 Revolution in Space Episode Two
+ the behind-the-scenes featurette at the end of CD1, which was a bit of a surprise — I know Big Finish include that kind of material, but I didn't expect it mid-story. Fortunately, they're sensible enough to not put any spoilers in it.
Tuesday, 30 July 2024
Audio Drama
Doctor Who: The Third Doctor Adventures
13x01 Revolution in Space Episode One
Having finished Colony in Space and Frontier in Space (and Planet of the Daleks), it's time to move on to the thing that inspired me to watch them in the first place — the supposed "third part of the trilogy" — Revolution in Space.
(Series 13 Episode 1, eh? Well, Big Finish numbering has always been a slightly iffy thing, but these days it seems to be worse than ever. Case in point: this is the 13th release in the Third Doctor Adventures series, and the spine of the CD case does have "13" at the bottom; but it's also the 5th release since a redesign/rebrand, so the spine of the cardboard outer box has a prominent "5" at the bottom. So, er, it's the 5th release and the 13th release, in the same series. You wot?! Fundamentally it doesn't really matter (and there are other lines, like the 8th Doctor ones, that have been more confusingly affected by this), but it does kinda bug me a little.)
13x01 Revolution in Space Episode One
Having finished Colony in Space and Frontier in Space (and Planet of the Daleks), it's time to move on to the thing that inspired me to watch them in the first place — the supposed "third part of the trilogy" — Revolution in Space.
(Series 13 Episode 1, eh? Well, Big Finish numbering has always been a slightly iffy thing, but these days it seems to be worse than ever. Case in point: this is the 13th release in the Third Doctor Adventures series, and the spine of the CD case does have "13" at the bottom; but it's also the 5th release since a redesign/rebrand, so the spine of the cardboard outer box has a prominent "5" at the bottom. So, er, it's the 5th release and the 13th release, in the same series. You wot?! Fundamentally it doesn't really matter (and there are other lines, like the 8th Doctor ones, that have been more confusingly affected by this), but it does kinda bug me a little.)
Wednesday, 15 May 2024
Videos
Critical Role
2x19 The Gentleman's Path [2nd half]
With this, I pass 100 hours of Critical Role content watched.
(Depending how you define it, I probably got there a while ago — this is just counting whole episodes and Talks Machina, not clips and interviews and music videos and behind-the-scenes segments and so on.)
[Watch it (again) on YouTube.]
Talks Machina
#67 'The Gentleman's Path'
Despite multiple attempts to get the below video link to work, for some reason it kept giving up partway through; so I had to resort to the audio-only version, which can be found here. ("Gif of the Week" and "Fan Art of the Week" kinda lose something — or everything — in audio-only form.)
[Watch it (again) on Internet Archive.]
2x19 The Gentleman's Path [2nd half]
With this, I pass 100 hours of Critical Role content watched.
(Depending how you define it, I probably got there a while ago — this is just counting whole episodes and Talks Machina, not clips and interviews and music videos and behind-the-scenes segments and so on.)
[Watch it (again) on YouTube.]
Talks Machina
#67 'The Gentleman's Path'
Despite multiple attempts to get the below video link to work, for some reason it kept giving up partway through; so I had to resort to the audio-only version, which can be found here. ("Gif of the Week" and "Fan Art of the Week" kinda lose something — or everything — in audio-only form.)
[Watch it (again) on Internet Archive.]
Monday, 1 April 2024
Audio Drama
Hell Cats 2
2x07 Your Own Worst Enemy
2x08 Fame At Last [season finale]
All in all, probably not quite as good as the first series — that had a higher episode count and an abundance of story to fill it, whereas it felt like this one sometimes struggled to even get to eight — but it still had its moments, and was entertaining and interesting and worthwhile. Is there scope for a third series? I don't know what it would cover, but if there's something worth spotlighting (in the same way this series took the characters in a wholly fictional direction to explore a different factual aspect of the era), I'm sure it would be worth doing.
[Listen to it (again) on Audible.]
2x07 Your Own Worst Enemy
2x08 Fame At Last [season finale]
All in all, probably not quite as good as the first series — that had a higher episode count and an abundance of story to fill it, whereas it felt like this one sometimes struggled to even get to eight — but it still had its moments, and was entertaining and interesting and worthwhile. Is there scope for a third series? I don't know what it would cover, but if there's something worth spotlighting (in the same way this series took the characters in a wholly fictional direction to explore a different factual aspect of the era), I'm sure it would be worth doing.
[Listen to it (again) on Audible.]
Wednesday, 27 March 2024
Podcasts
They Like to Watch
Little Wigs Abound! And Russell T Davies (DOCTOR WHO)
Saw a news story about one of the things Russell T Davies said when a guest on this podcast (which I hadn't heard of otherwise), so of course I came to listen to the full thing. It's not just the RTD interview, so I confess I did skip to that. He's as interesting and insightful as ever, naturally. The interview has clearly been cut to shreds, though. There's a longer version of it available via the podcast's Patreon — I'd like to listen to that, but not "subscribe" much.
Little Wigs Abound! And Russell T Davies (DOCTOR WHO)
Saw a news story about one of the things Russell T Davies said when a guest on this podcast (which I hadn't heard of otherwise), so of course I came to listen to the full thing. It's not just the RTD interview, so I confess I did skip to that. He's as interesting and insightful as ever, naturally. The interview has clearly been cut to shreds, though. There's a longer version of it available via the podcast's Patreon — I'd like to listen to that, but not "subscribe" much.
Saturday, 16 March 2024
Saturday, 2 March 2024
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