Doctor Who: Enemy Aliens Review

Released in August 2013, Enemy Aliens was the eighth Doctor Who audiobook to be released by Big Finish and AudioGO for the Destiny of the Doctor range. It is read by India Fisher who plays Charley Pollard and also features Michael Maloney as Hilary. It is written by Alan Barnes and directed by John Ainsworth.

Synopsis:

"1935: a message from a Time Lord in trouble sends the Eighth Doctor and Charlotte ‘Charley’ Pollard to the streets of London’s West End, in search of a mysterious alien adversary – unaware that something monstrous is already on their trail.
They soon discover that an insidious conspiracy is indeed at work, its tentacles extending the length of the British Isles. Proving its existence won’t be easy, however, after a confrontation in a music hall ends up with the Doctor under arrest and Charley on the run, suspected of murder. All their hopes rest in a musical clue and a man named Hilary – neither of which are much consolation, with the two time travellers the object of a nationwide manhunt.
And all the while, the enemy aliens are drawing closer and closer still…"

Paul McGann is among my favourite Doctors and Charley is among my favourite companions so I was really looking forward to this and it does not disappoint. I'm glad they chose Alan Barnes to write the story because he knows Charley better than anyone, seeing as he brought the character into Doctor Who. I'm also very happy that they chose Charley over Grace, Chang Lee, C'rizz, Lucie or Molly - don't get me wrong, they're all great, but I think Charley has become the iconic companion for McGann's Doctor but then again, since not all listeners will know about Big Finish's Eighth Doctor audios, it might feel a bit confusing to some. Well, it's fantastic to see (actually, I mean hear) her again as it's her first appearance since Solitaire in 2010!

India Fisher is a great audiobook narrator, but we already knew that thanks to an amazing 2010 Companion Chronicle! Michael Maloney does a brilliant job too - he's every bit as good as India Fisher and his Hilary voice is incredibly chilling and absolutely fantastic! Oh, and the vicar voice is great too!

The story basically revolves around William Tell so that's quite interesting.

There are quite a few sneaky references to past Eighth Doctor / Charley stories which I enjoyed spotting, even if things like this are the main reason Attack of the Cybermen gets so much (in my opinion, undeserved) hate.

I was a bit disappointed by what the "enemy aliens" turned out to be. I'm not going to spoil it, but don't assume they're going to be something ridiculously crazily awesome because they're really not. The build up is brilliant but then you realise what "enemy aliens" means...

The setting is wonderful even if it is just 1930's London, it's done brilliantly. Captures the place almost exactly as I'd imagine it!

Some good lines are "The key is in the house with the straggly witch... That's where the aliens are!", "Ahh, scrambled eggs... Oh lord! Ah, they're ruined!" and "Time Lords United 2, Enemy Aliens nil". Of course, "But we'll have to get those clothes off you first!" was kind of funny, but we had the same joke in the 2012 Christmas special The Snowmen so that ruined it a little.

Charley is the master of disguise she's been since her very first adventure (Storm Warning), the strange drumming noise thing reminds me of The Master and the Eleventh Doctor cameo was quite good.

My only problems with the story are:
#1. Somewhere near the start, there is a dog barking and that can be a little distracting at times.
#2. It can be a little bit slow at times.
#3. When the cavern roof comes crashing down, it's ridiculously loud, especially if you're a headphone user.

Overall, it's a very good, solid, enjoyable story despite a couple of minor flaws and so far, it's my favourite story in the Destiny of the Doctor range. Fantastic to see the Eighth Doctor with Charley again, everyone involved did a great job and we've got the amazing Alan Barnes to thank. I'd recommend it to just about anyone who likes the Eighth Doctor or Charley.

Overall Rating: 9/10

You can buy Enemy Aliens for £3.99 download or £5.10 CD here.

Free Iris Wildthyme Episode!

To celebrate the release of the fourth series of Iris Wildthyme adventures, Big Finish is releasing Iris Wildthyme: Appreciation Society for free in their latest podcast!

If you're unsure of who Iris Wildthyme is, hopefully this TARDIS Wiki article helps!

Fifty Years Of Doctor Who At The BBC Audio CD Set

This Doctor Who audio collection entitled Fifty Years of Doctor Who at the BBC will be released on 3rd October in the UK.

This audio CD set features over 17 hours of features from BBC radio and television - from the 1960's to present day. It is presented by Elisabeth Sladen, Anthony Head and Louise Jameson.

Features:
Volume 1: 30 Years and More
Volume 2: In the Hot Seat
Volume 3: Now and Then
Volume 4: The Plays
Volume 5: Project Who?
Volume 6: The Tenth Doctor
Volume 7: A Legend Reborn
Volume 8: Lost Treasures

Includes content from Blue Peter, Woman's Hour, Today, Pete Murray's Open House, Nationwide, Newsbeat, I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue, Dead Ringers, The Now Show, Week Ending, PM and many more. Also features Freema Agyeman, Tom Baker, John Barrowman, Phil Collinson, Russell T. Davies, Peter Davison, Christopher Eccleston, Janet Fielding, Carole Ann Ford, Julie Gardner, Karen Gillan, Michael Grade, Anthony Head, Louise Jameson, John Leeson, Sylvester McCoy, Paul McGann, Kylie Minogue, Steven Moffat, John Nathan-Turner, Terry Nation, Jon Pertwee, Billie Piper, Elisabeth Sladen, Matt Smith, Sarah Sutton, Mary Tamm, Catherine Tate, David Tennant, Patrick Troughton, Lalla Ward, Matthew Waterhouse, and many, many more. Also includes the full-cast radio plays Regenerations by Daragh Carville, Blue Sands and Golden Veils by Martyn Wade and Dalek I Love You by Colin Sharpe, plus an extended version of BBC Radio 2's 2005 documentary Project Who?

RRP: £100.00
Pre-order here!

Doctor Who: Blood Of The Daleks Sale

The first story in Big Finish's Eighth Doctor Adventures range (Blood of the Daleks) is currently on sale! It is a two part story and you can currently download part 1 for £1.34 and part 2 for £4.49. This is a great chance to get into the Eighth Doctor's audio adventures as it would usually cost you £17.98 for both parts.

The audio drama stars Paul McGann as the Eighth Doctor and Sheridan Smith as companion Lucie Miller.

Big Finish's sypnosis:

"People of Red Rocket Rising, my fellow citizens. Our long night is over. I've been contacted by a benevolent people. They too have known great trials, but they have overcome them and made it their mission to help others do the same. They have offered us refuge, and passage to the nearest human worlds. They have the resources, and the patience and compassion, to evacuate every one of us. My fellow citizens, my friends, rescue is at hand!"

Buy Part 1 here.
Buy Part 2 here.

Destiny Of The Doctor 10: Death's Deal Cover Revealed

The cover for the tenth audiobook adventure in the Destiny of the Doctor series has been revealed, and here it is!

The story is called Death's Deal, is written by Darren Jones and will be read by Catherine Tate who played Donna Noble in Doctor Who and it will also feature Duncan Wisbey.

It will be released in October and you can pre-order it here!

Doctor Who: Storm Warning Review

Storm Warning CD Cover

Released in January 2001, Storm Warning was the sixteenth Big Finish audio and the first to star Paul McGann as the Eighth Doctor. It also introduced India Fisher as Charley Pollard - an excellent companion even if she's never appeared in the TV series. Is it a good story? Let's find out!

Big Finish's sypnosis:

"October, 1930. His Majesty's Airship, the R101, sets off on her maiden voyage to the farthest-flung reaches of the British Empire, carrying the brightest lights of the Imperial fleet. Carrying the hopes and dreams of a breathless nation.

Not to mention a ruthless spy with a top-secret mission, a mysterious passenger who appears nowhere on the crew list, a would-be adventuress destined for the Singapore Hilton... and a Time Lord from the planet Gallifrey.

There's a storm coming. There's something unspeakable, something with wings, crawling across the stern. Thousands of feet high in the blackening sky, the crew of the R101 brace themselves. When the storm breaks, their lives won't be all that's at stake...

The future of the galaxy will be hanging by a thread."

Alan Barnes is a fantastic writer and this is a fantastic story of his, Gary Russell directed it really well, all the actors in it were brilliant, the setting (R101 Airship) was a brilliant choice and the Uncreators and Triskele were great aliens (I think having to imagine what they look like really does add to the magic!)

As for the characters,  I liked most of them - especially Lord Tamworth with the way he mistakes The Doctor and Charley for German spies from the Hindenburg Corporation. Rathbone was pretty cool too.

Another thing I like about the story is that The Doctor changes history a tiny bit, which results in a certain person appearing in most of the Eighth Doctor's future stories... But now for one thing I don't like: It got a little bit slow in places but if you get bored then I recommend taking a break and going back to it later as that's what I do!

Not that much happens in the story so I can't go into very much detail without spoiling the whole thing but what does happen is great and despite it's few flaws, it still manages to be a very good story that is highly worth listening to, especially for the amazing price of £2.99!

Overall, Storm Warning was an amazing first audio for the Eighth Doctor and it's much better than the infamous 1996 TV Movie and as much as I love Christopher Eccleston's Doctor, it's a huge shame that Paul McGann wasn't called back in 2005 as he is a great actor and didn't get anywhere near enough TV screen time as The Doctor!

If you want to start listening to the Big Finish stuff, this would definitely make a good first audio but if you're used to the 2005-present series, you might prefer to start with the Eighth Doctor Adventures range as they are only 60 minutes long while this is 120 minutes long.

  

Overall Rating: 8.5/10

You can buy Storm Warning for £2.99 download or £5.00 CD here.

Doctor Who: The Runaway Train Audiobook Review

The Runaway Train is a Doctor Who audiobook written by Oli Smith and read by Matt Smith.
I started listening to it with rather high expectations but I was, unfortunately, quite disappointed...

Firstly, it's a very bland story - it's all set on Earth during the American Civil War and all The Doctor and Amy are there for is to find an alien artefact that the Confederate Army have managed to get their hands on.

The aliens in this story (the Cei) are very disappoiting as they're only in it for something like 5 minutes and all they really do is chase The Doctor, Amy, Vin, etc. so I can't really say much about them.

The reason it's called The Runaway Train is because when the Cei are trying to get the artefact back, The Doctor tries to escape by jumping on the 3.25 to Arizona train. This disappointed me as I was expecting something much more exciting.

Now, one good thing about this audio is that we get to hear Matt Smith's attempt at an American accent and it's surprisingly good! I'd recommend this audiobook just to hear it! The other thing I like about it is that it's only 99p to download from the AudioGO website so for that price, it's worth a look even if it's not brilliant.

Overall, the story itself is just as bad (if not worse) than, let's say, Timelash or Fear Her and I certainly wouldn't give it a second listen but for the extremely cheap price of 99p, I do recommend buying it although it's fairly likely that you'll get bored within in the first 15 or so minutes. It's far from amazing, but it's better than some of the very unpopular stories like Underworld and The Twin Dilemma...

4/10

First 50 Big Finish Main Range Releases Just £2.99!

Because of Doctor Who's 50th anniversary, Big Finish are permanently reducing the price of the main range audios to just £5 per CD or £2.99 per digital download. These 50 Big Finish audios were released from July 1999 - November 2003 and star Peter Davison, Colin Baker, Sylvester McCoy and Paul McGann along with their various companions.

I will definitely be buying some of these and I hope you will too! :)

Get them from the Big Finish website here.

Destiny Of The Doctor #8: Enemy Aliens Is Out Now!

The eighth Destiny of The Doctor audiobook is out now! It is written by Alan Barnes and read by India Fisher who plays Charley Pollard in Big Finish's Eighth Doctor audio adventures aswell as some Sixth Doctor audios along with Michael Maloney reading Hilary's parts.

AudioGO's description of the audiobook:

"Celebrating 50 years of Doctor Who, a brand new adventure for the Eighth Doctor. 1935: a message from a Time Lord in trouble sends the Eighth Doctor and Charlotte ‘Charley’ Pollard to the streets of London’s West End, in search of a mysterious alien adversary – unaware that something monstrous is already on their trail. They soon discover that an insidious conspiracy is indeed at work, its tentacles extending the length of the British Isles. Proving its existence won’t be easy, however, after a confrontation in a music hall ends up with the Doctor under arrest and Charley on the run, suspected of murder. All their hopes rest in a musical clue and a man named Hilary – neither of which are much consolation, with the two time travellers the object of a nationwide manhunt. And all the while, the enemy aliens are drawing closer and closer still… India Fisher – Charley in the Big Finish Doctor Who audio series – and Michael Maloney perform this original story by Alan Barnes, with music and sound design."

You can buy Enemy Aliens here.

Adric Returns In 2014 Big Finish Audio

After years of having nothing to do with Doctor Who, Big Finish have announced that Matthew Waterhouse will be returning to the role of Adric in a 2014 Big Finish audio with the Fifth Doctor!

Source: @BigFinish

Sil and Flip To Return In 2014 Big Finish Sixth Doctor Trilogy

Big Finish have announced the return of fan favourite monster Sil, who appeared in the TV stories Vengeance on Varos and Mindwarp aswell as the return of Flip Jackson - Big Finish's own character and companion of the Sixth Doctor. The stories featuring both of these returns will be part of a Sixth Doctor trilogy and will be released between January and March next year. They are available to pre-order at £14.99 each for the CDs or £12.99 each for digital download versions.

More info here.