I see you’re sitting there, twiddling your thumbs, waiting patiently for Doctor Who Series 13.

So. What to watch while you wait for the next series?

Let’s put some ingredients together:

• Lead character looks human but isn’t.
• They have a British accent.
• They shamelessly namedrop all the people in history they’ve met (including Attila the Hun, Oscar Wilde, and many more).
• They can escape from handcuffs and open locks.
• They play a musical instrument.
• They have a strange charm, and powers of mental persuasion.
• They are very old, and have regenerative powers…

It’s obvious — you should watch Lucifer!

There’s is a minor UK problem though, in that Seasons 1 and 2 aren’t around, Season 3 is on Amazon Prime, while Seasons 4 and 5 are on Netflix. I started with the big trailer on Netflix before watching Season 4 and it was fine. After the first half of Season 5, we had a slight gap, so I took to Amazon and watched the first three seasons. Then watched it all again. Twice. Now we have the second part of Season 5 and God even popped in for a few episodes.

There’s no need to worry about canon: each episode tells a story, there are season arcs, mad murders (in the style of Death in Paradise) to solve, and the on-off love story between Lucifer and Chloe Decker. It looks amazing, has a great cast, boasts lots of music, and Tom Ellis (who wanted to be the Doctor) was born for the role. You’ll know Ellis for being in Last of the Time Lords. Lucifer‘s based on a comic book but has found its own wings to spread on TV.

What’s not to like?!

UPDATE: Yes, as a few of you have guessed, this is the DWC’s April Fool’s Day gag, so is a complete fabrication. Or is it a kernel of truth in a mass of lie? (No, no, it is a lie.) Thanks for checking out the DWC, and don’t forget to check out our exclusive interview with Christopher Eccleston — and no, that’s not an April Fool’s Day joke!

ORIGINAL ARTICLE:

In a conscious bid to recover from dwindling viewing figures and raging debate amongst fans as to the show’s future, the BBC has clear plans for Doctor Who‘s 60th anniversary and beyond.

In a Netflix press release (now deleted, indicating it was released too early), two surprises for fans were revealed. Firstly, Netflix will co-produce the Doctor Who 60th anniversary show; and secondly, this will be a springboard to a new incarnation of the show going forward, produced by Netflix with BBC Worldwide.

What do we know about the 60th?

In just over two and a half years, Doctor Who will reach 60 years. The leaked report implies Chris Chibnall has been approached by Netflix to act as showrunner on another series along the lines of Broadchurch. The report then implies Chibnall will be involved in the anniversary show (which will feature Cybermen) then bow out.

It’s less clear as to Jodie Whittaker’s involvement, but given the show will be reset after (or at the end of?) the 90-minute episode (to be syndicated worldwide by Netflix), we don’t see the need for a new Doctor for just one series.

There’s no word on whether or not multiple Doctors will be involved, but given David Tennant’s profile in general and Matt Smith’s work on The Crown, it seems likely.

What about the New US produced version of Doctor Who?

It won’t be the first time we’ve had US involvement with Doctor Who (and let’s hope it has more longevity than The TV Movie), and we have to note the quality approach Netflix takes in production. It’s also fair to say they are very ratings driven, so there’s a chance we have an orphan one-off series for the next Doctor, then (we hope) the licence can revert to the BBC — if they still want to make the show.

We did manage to grab some information on the concept behind the new series, which Netflix are calling Dr Who?

…we wanted to go back to the show’s roots and reset it anew for a modern audience. We respect the legacy but feel there’s plenty of scope to tell an engaging story from a new perspective…

…fifteen years old, Susie is new at Coalville High School. Following the death of her parents, she and younger brother Benny (aged 9) now live with their uncle. Trying to fit in, she finds out the school has a secret — some of the teachers and pupils are alien!

The piece then goes on to discuss how these aliens are the last survivors of their race, destroyed in a vast war (is this a nod to the Daleks?). They have advanced technology and medical skills with some superhuman powers – we assume this includes telepathy and regeneration, but may not. They call themselves the Watchers. They have time travel technology and historically use it only to learn, rarely to influence. Since the war, some of their number want to change the past, others want to change the future, the majority just want to live their lives in peace.

It then goes on to explain how one of the few fully functioning time machines was stolen by a renegade: yes, we finally get mention of the Doctor! Susie ends up part of a group looking for the Doctor by searching space and time via time bracelets. It seems they have limited ability to travel but will bounce the wearer back in 24 hours. We felt this was a little like Sliders and expect some stories about lost bracelets, faulty bracelets, and the like.

So. It’s a show about teenagers hunting for a renegade time traveller called the Doctor (or Dr) who has a ship that can change shape depending on when it lands (no more broken chameleon circuit.)

What do we think?

It’s a lot to take in, yet is it any more radical than Chris Chibnall’s own resetting of the show? For all the fans baying for change, be careful what you wish for — you just might get it!

Despite the vivid cover for the latest Celestial Toyroom (the free-to-members publication of the Doctor Who Appreciation Society), the Third Doctor never did meet Triffids. This isn’t to underestimate the relevance of John Wyndham’s work to Doctor Who. I was lucky enough to be able to write a piece on this very topic and flattered to have my article inspire this glorious cover picture, by Paul Cooke and Andrew-Mark Thompson.

It’s long been a source of some frustration seeing John Wyndham’s influence overshadowed by overused references to it’s a bit like Quatermass. While I enjoy Quatermass, it’s time we looked wider when we think about Doctor Who – so that’s exactly what my article (“Doctor Who and the Triffids, The Kraken, The Chrysalids and So Much More….”) does!

Here’s what else is inside the latest issue:

• A Cheerful Tweeting in the Darkness
• Blank Video Who?
• Visualising Time and Space
• Remembrance of Time Lords Past
• Season 26 Revisited on Shiny Blu Ray
• RTD v Moffat: Who’s the Greatest?
• Dimensions in Space

Celestial Toyroom issue 507 is coming through letterboxes now. Details on the DWAS website.

So, you’re looking for something to help take you mind away from the grim realities of lockdown. But you’re a Doctor Who fan and can’t decide between one of many sci fi series that only made one or two seasons on Netflix or something left field. Look no further, I have the perfect solution.

Based on a detailed scientific analysis of your requirements (yes, you personally – everyone else gets their own recommendation thanks to the advance quantum uncertainty engine at the heart of the DWC), I have determined this is what you like:

• A long running, popular BBC series with family audience appeal, shown weekly in hour-long episodes and is one of the most widely shown programmes in the world
• People being in two places at the same time, getting out of rooms locked on the inside and other impossibilities according to the conventional laws of physics
• A strong lead character whose insight and quirky personality lets them get to the heart of the mystery right at the end
• The lead character is not from around here
• A regular stream of guest stars, most of whom are never seen again
• The hero has a set of companions helping out
• A chance to buy some merchandise (eg T-shirts, mugs)
• Spin-off books
• There is a police connection…

Am I warm? I also deduce you don’t mind:

• Stories being mostly set in the same few square miles
• The lead character being recast every few years and companions also changing regularly.

If I combine all these facts into the DWC confabulator, there is only one possible answer:

WELCOME TO ST MARIE

Welcome to

DEATH IN PARADISE!

Joking aside, Death in Paradise is pure escapism and exactly what you need to take yourself away from day to day cares. Who wouldn’t rather be chilling in a bar on a Caribbean beach? Yes, the plots are mostly obvious, but they do let you switch off. It’s all classic Edwardian detective cliché and all the better for it. There are also nine series all now showing on iPlayer, so it’s free.

The lead detectives are played by Ben Miller (Robot of Sherwood), Kris Marshall (who was long rumoured to be the Thirteenth Doctor), Ardal O’Hanlon (Gridlock), and, most recently, Ralf Little (Smile).

If you want one last reason to watch, the show’s creator Robert Thorogood had his idea for a show championed by Tony Jordan (of Life on Mars and Hustle fame). He is also studied at Downing College Cambridge*, as did John Cleese and Terrance Dicks. You don’t get more Doctor Who than that!

*As did yours truly, not that you can tell!

Sometimes as a reviewer you get wrong-footed. Knowing I was to review the eighth episode of Doctor Who Series 12, The Haunting of Villa Diodati, I’d done some preparation. I’d reminded myself of the story of how Mary Shelley came to write Frankenstein; Or, A Modern Prometheus; I’d thought about a clever introduction and a nod to Deep Purple. I’d even found a new way to complain about pacing, about the companions being underused, about the Doctor being erratic. I’d worried about how it might contradict the Big Finish story about the same events (Mary’s Story by Jonathan Morris, part of the Eighth Doctor release, Company of Friends, 2009).

Instead Chris Chibnall, writer Maxine Alderton, and director Emma Sullivan gave us what just might be the most polished Doctor Who story for some time.

There were no clues. Emma Sullivan directed last week’s Can You Hear Me? and that was very much an episode I thought was constrained by the time available and the need to give everyone something to do. Maxine Alderton is far better known for Emmerdale, a soap opera set in a tight-knit Yorkshire village. Nothing prepared me for The Haunting of Villa Diodati.

What went right?

Taking stock, this episode had the four person TARDIS crew, five new main characters (the Romantic poets: the Shelleys, Byron, Polidori, and Claire Clairmont; two servants and a new look Cyberman. It kept everyone involved, moved from location to location, built tension, spooked and had a twist (I for one didn’t expect the Lone Cyberman this week). Several of the new characters developed across the story and all performed well. This requires a combination of casting, writing, directing, and post-production. It doesn’t just happen (and often doesn’t happen at all).

The measure of how this story worked is how well it flowed. Events seemed natural; servants reacted to events, characters split up to do different things, the companions went with them without seeming contrived. We learned things as we needed, got distracted with apparitions and creepy hand-spiders, and worried about baby Shelley.

We even had some historical exposition about Mary not yet being married and the volcano bringing the year with no summer. Why can’t it be this natural every week?

The haunting as a whole was also done well. Instead of running around endless identical corridors, we had several loops around the building as staircases and rooms re-linked in increasingly frustrating ways. It took a bit of airtime, yet never got boring.

I’d like to focus on the various journeys (apologies for using the J word) the new characters went on, and how they each had a presence in the story. I’ll talk about just how much better developed Jodie Whittaker’s Doctor is after this adventure. I’ll even mention Big Finish again. First I’ll actually talk about the companions. I’ll also remember to talk about the Lone Cyberman.

The Companions

First a reminder – all three had things to do and key interactions with various of the Romantics. Ryan could dance – I did wonder if they’d mention his dyspraxia, but it never came up. He did end up giving Mary advice and very much following the Doctor’s rules better than she did.

Graham had some lighter moments in search of a lavatory, his own ghosts (I don’t think they’ll ever get explained, even though one staple of Doctor Who is there are no such thing), and acted as a good viewpoint character when Polidori demonstrated the nature of the illusions.

Yaz had a chance to worry as the house’s internal geography seemed broken, but there’s also a scene which plays very much to a popular forum theory about her feelings for the Doctor. It wasn’t over done but it was there. With last week’s revelations about her past, Yaz is very much more of full character than we ever saw in Series 11.

The Romantics

Polidori had less to do than others, though his sleepwalking was a key moment. He didn’t sleep properly and had a volatile temperament. Let’s just take a moment to remember in real life he is credited with inventing the vampire story, the same night Mary should have been writing Frankenstein.

Claire had a chance to see Byron’s true nature during the story and is all the better for it. Shelley was the reason history was broken. Locked in the cellar, he was desperately holding back the night, and himself was somewhat promethean, racked by torment and only able to be saved through death. Big stuff.

Mary Shelley (or Godwin as she was at this time) almost stole the show. Actor Lili Miller already has an impressive CV for one so early in their career and her scene with the Lone Cyberman told us everything we needed about the woman who wrote Frankenstein.

Finally Byron. Brilliant, arrogant, and, by modern standards, deeply sexist. By this stage, he’d left England to avoid spending time with his wife and new-born daughter, Ada Lovelace (another Series 12 connection). Actor Jacob Collins-Levy is already known for starring with Jodie Comer (Killing Eve) in The White Princess and portrayed Byron as history tells us he was.

Most intriguing was his reaction to the Doctor as an attractive woman. So far this aspect of the Thirteenth Doctor has not been examined. We’ve had a few comments about the gender change, Captain Jack is keen to meet, but the sexual nature of the Doctor has been avoided. Possibly to keep the change of gender as trivial as possible, it all helped portray the Doctor as someone different from how she appears. Let’s now forget how many recent Doctors have had a clearly sexual side to their characters: Tennant, Tennant, Tennnant to name but one. Even Capaldi spent a (very long) night in a hotel with River Song.

The Doctor

At the start I was not sure this episode would deliver. The reveal of the TARDIS team in the rain was too Scooby Doo for me, as was the fangirling over Byron and Mary Shelley, plus the wholesale mention of aliens and history, despite her rules about keeping a low profile. Regarding the episode as a whole, these are but freckles on the face of a loved one. Faint imperfections but so what?

This Doctor has a clear moral drive. Help those in immediate peril and deal with the consequences. It’s never wrong to help the weak. Save Shelley rather than history. Give the Lone Cyberman what it wants rather than have Earth destroyed. Very clear and even high concept.

Then there’s the speech. A step up from the put-down of Ryan we had before, this was more Sixth Doctor hiding behind the mask of the normally amiable Fifth Doctor style persona. There is no flat team structure. The Doctor is vastly superior (arrogant, or perhaps even Master-like?). She can make decisions they don’t even understand. There is no debate. This is no democracy. This is the Doctor.

Wonderful stuff!

The Lone Cyberman

If that wasn’t enough, we also had the first Cyberman of the Chibnall era. Like the broken Dalek in Resolution, this was as convincing creature driven by a mission, and constructed out of whatever was around. Its cyborg appearance included the remnants of humanity, allowed Mary to believe she could appeal to the human inside the machine and actually made the evil of the Cybermen more vile. It killed at will, it ignored a baby as being irrelevant, remembered slaughtering its own children. Magnificent in deed, word, appearance – I think Pedler and Davis would be very proud.

This is a foe worthy of a Time Lord.

And finally…

I started mentioning Big Finish. In 2009, Paul McGann’s Doctor was at the Villa, nudged Mary towards her novel, and even took her in the TARDIS. Big Finish never gave us more than one short story and three main range adventures, but (and there is no canon) it did happen. History has now been rewritten at least in part, so there is no continuity back to this story.

Fans may be disappointed or even twisting the details to make it all work, but it is what it is.

And what it is may well be one of the strongest episodes of Doctor Who since 2005. The whole is more than the sum of its many (and interesting) components. All parts of the production gelled (as they did with Blink). It may not be as game changing as Fugitive of the Judoon but if we get more like this whenever Series 13 lands on our screens, the show is in rude health.

First up: a confession. When the chance to pick a season of Doctor Who arose, I went out of my way to pick something I had DVDs on the shelf I was overdue watching. While I’d seen Season 7 back in 1970, at the time I didn’t take it all in and, truth be told, a couple of the stories were rather vague in my mind, and not watched since. Well, it was nearly 50 years ago, and I was only 9! So, Season 7 it was, a chance to think about UNIT, Quatermass, and one-season companion Liz Shaw. It’s also a chance to think about a season as a whole, rather than individual stories taken independently.

Context

Let’s remind ourselves of the obvious. From the perspective of the show, we were on our third Doctor, had no companions, and it was very much a relaunch. As a technical aside, it was the move to colour, but while interesting to viewers (and initially expensive to film), it isn’t a major factor on the show’s production, compared to the chance to then move into early special effects techniques such as Colour Separation Overlay (CSO, aka Chroma Key).

Culturally, it was more interesting. In 1969, just after Patrick Troughton left the show, man landed on the Moon. We moved into a new decade – would a show from the 1960s, even in colour, still have a place? We all know the answer, but at the time it would have been far from obvious. What was needed was a good launch and strong stories.

Constraints

Looking back over the four stories (and they’re discussed later, don’t worry!), it’s easy to see the impact of clever series design and good production/ script editing. In reality, a lot will have just happened and we join together dots in our minds that aren’t always there. What is true is the writers had to operate to certain constraints (and not just budget). In my view, key amongst these are:

• The need to establish Jon Pertwee as the Doctor
• Avoiding being overtaken by events
• Having an earth-bound Doctor.

Jon Pertwee is the Doctor

It might have been enough to leave the continuity with Jon emerging from the TARDIS and that being the substitute for Ben and Polly watching the first Doctor’s regeneration, but instead, UNIT came along and the Brigadier became the ersatz (if not actual) companion.

With UNIT comes a lot of the Quatermass feel, the bureaucracy versus recklessness, and being part of a larger order of events even if on Earth. It also brought the bonus of an easy way to start stories, with UNIT being naturally involved in strange events.

Don’t be overtaken by events

Believe it or not, in the 1970s, we felt the move to space would happen in decades, Mars probes were on the cards, and Tomorrow’s World heralded the use of microchips as the future (and they were right, eventually). We couldn’t have a show set in 1970, and from this, perhaps without intention, we get the seeds of the UNIT dating paradox. When are the stories really set? Let’s just go with a few years in the future…

Meanwhile, stuck on Earth

This is the big one for me. The quintessence of the Doctor was a wanderer in space and time (a madman in a blue box, if you will), not the mad scientist tinkering away in a lab surrounded by soldiers. It’s a step-change, and as future seasons would show, not something to base in entire incarnation on. If the Doctor can’t go into Space and Time, what does he do?

Well, it’s obvious, and brilliant. Mohammed-like, the mountains of Space and Time must come to him. I’ll say it again. Brilliant!

Let’s consider the four stories in this light:

1. Spearhead from Space – aliens come to Earth and need defeating;

2. Doctor Who and the Silurians – monsters (horrible word, but they aren’t aliens; maybe foes?) come from history and appear underground;

3. The Ambassadors of Death – humanity has gone to Space, so the Doctor can follow along and also meet some aliens;

4. Inferno – trying to travel through time, the Doctor visits a parallel world (and there’s another threat from pre-history as well!).

Job done. Exotic locations (okay: offices, caves, and control rooms), new and (mostly) interesting villains, and all science fiction – no sneaking off into ghost stories or other territory.

If the idea of being stuck on Earth proved a manageable hurdle, it’s worth also considering other aspects of the seasons as a whole. In particular:

• The Brig
• Liz Shaw
• UNIT
• The TARDIS and other toys
• The bad guys.

The Brigadier

A lot pivots on the Brigadier, and Nicholas Courtney does a great job as the man in the middle of everything. He’s the channel through which a lot of the story flows, the link back to Whitehall, the commander of troops on the ground, and the man trying to keep the Doctor in check. Most important of all is his acceptance of this new face as the same old Doctor, if in a new body.

The Brigadier does his best to see things in black and white. The Doctor is good, the latest foe bad, authority to be obeyed, and so forth. We don’t learn much more about his background, but we do see how he interacts with a wide range of stakeholders, and in stories such as The Ambassadors of Death, we see how he tends to stick to the hierarchy until he knows he must do what ultimately is right to save the world.

It’s probably not an exaggeration to say the return of the Brigadier is the single most important facet of Season 7.

Liz Shaw

It’s interesting watching Liz Shaw again. Big Finish audios aside, she was not well-served by Doctor Who. Her character is viable but completely trivialised whenever the Doctor is around. I think there are ways two scientific advisors could work, and where is Liz’s desire to learn from the Doctor?

Caroline John is also dressed in a variety of fashionable outfits, mini-skirts, and strange wigs. I’m not sure any of these work with the character as she seemed to be portrayed, and much of the look is something more associated with Jo Grant. For me, it’s more evidence of not quite knowing what to make of the character.

UNIT

It’s strongly implied in Spearhead in Space that UNIT has just been set up. Liz is recruited and soon it’s all about the Doctor then the Autons. I know it’s harder story-telling, but I’d have liked more of a sense of UNIT as an organisation, not people popping into the Brig’s office for a chat. Why can’t they have several investigations under way at once? Why can’t they mention Mars probes and Stahlman’s project in earlier stories? I realise the way the programmes were made prohibits this, but I think it would be better.

I also note the outfits of the soldiers are very generic and brand new, almost as though Spearhead was a bit of a pilot story.

UNIT as a whole isn’t impressive. I’ve seen better tactics in a paintball match-up, and almost all of the UNIT personnel we see are easy to defeat and find it hard to hit anything at 10 paces. The Brig is, of course, the exception!

Across the four stories, the only two soldiers with any credibility are the late Paul Darrow’s Captain Hawkins in Doctor Who and the Silurians, and then John Levene’s Sergeant Benton once he appears in The Ambassadors of Death (being another link back to the Second Doctor, having first appeared as Benton in The Invasion).

The TARDIS (and other toys)

The TARDIS is notable for being almost entirely absent. I know it’s an expensive set to build if you aren’t flying the TARDIS (see also Jodie Whittaker’s almost non-existent TARDIS scenes), but with the box in the corner, surely the Brig and Liz would have popped in for a look?

Also, just how did the console get through the doors? Transdimensional trickery or does it flat pack? Imagine putting it back together and finding the helmic regulator doesn’t fit!

We get Bessie, we get the sonic (mostly used as a door opener in Inferno), and much is in place we recognise as being ‘70s Doctor Who.

The bad guys

Looking back, the main thing missing from the series is a top-grade villain. That would come later. Until then, we had a range of newly minted foes to vanquish. The Autons and Silurians both made comebacks, whereas the aliens in The Ambassadors of Death are rather a puzzle as they get bored and (we assume) go away once they’ve had their ambassadors returned.

The Primords work better on audio (as Big Finish has proven with their sequel to Inferno, Primord, also starring Caroline John’s daughter, Daisy Ashford as Liz Shaw).

There’s no summoning back of previous fan favourites to cement the Third Doctor in place, unlike Troughton’s first adventure, The Power of the Daleks (1966). I take this as adding to the distance between the new Earth-bound era and the previous, it perhaps being too much to imagine another Dalek invasion (plus, 1967’s The Evil of the Daleks was supposed to be their last story anyway), though another outing for the Yeti – copyright permitting – would have been a very strong link back, as perhaps would have been a sequel to The War Machines(1966).

It’s possible to argue the range of enemies might have been different, but I’m not sure they’d have been better, unless the aliens from The Ambassadors of Death could have been a returning race, though they’d have to be radioactive!

Story Length

It’s worth a mention of story length. Across the season, we had 25 episodes, down from the 44 we enjoyed in Season 6. This is attributed to production methods changing, but whatever the reason, it was a shorter run and would have appeared even shorter for only having 4 stories. To us now, having stories of 7 episodes seems long, but remember that across the previous season, we had stories with 4, 5, 6, 8, and even 10 episodes!

Even with that observation, 7 episodes means careful consideration of tension, and a critical eye can find a lot of ways stories could have easily been cut to save an episode; nonetheless I am sure this would not be possible as location filming costs and time mean all the footage should be used.

The 3 longer stories (Silurians, Ambassadors, and Inferno) all use the time to run with 2 plots. In the case of Inferno, the Primord plot is used as filler here and there around the excellent parallel world story, and in Ambassadors, we have a layered set of secrets and conspiracies that manage to come together into a whole. Silurians does it best with the basic menace in the cave dovetailing to the end of the world from plague back to a touch of base-under-siege – the various story beats have time to work and build.

Even though episodes were roughly half as long as today, 7 parts equates to 3 and a half modern episodes. In recent years, we’ve had little approaching that length though Russell T. Davies’ 2-part finales did snuggle close to their previous stories in some cases (e.g. Utopia, Sound of Drums, Last of the Time Lords).

Is there a best format? Both can point to great successes and stories that might have been better treated differently. It’s as easy to want more time for character development as it is to want the story to get on with the action. The jury is out, and the answer is probably a bit of both. Some might argue the season arc gets around some of this, but here isn’t the place for that debate.

The Quatermass effect

If Doctor Who was once intended to be replaced by a Nigel Kneale-involved Quatermass style show, we should consider ourselves fortunate Nigel wasn’t interested in that project.

There’s a clear Quatermass feel to the stories, with government secrets (very much a UK Area 51), military and science clashing, and also what we might now say as very old-school British values. Largely unavoidably, the show is a product of its time, and the beliefs of those involved in its creation. As I’ve said earlier, Nick Courtney’s Brigadier glues this season together and validates Pertwee’s character as the Doctor of old. Once you’ve decided to do that, the rest tends to follow if you don’t want UNIT to be some undercover operation working in the shadows. Military involvement acts as a conduit for stories and a source of equipment, plus a ready number of UNIT soldiers ready to get shot in the cause of storytelling.

Yes, Quatermass looms large over this season (and in particular The Ambassadors of Death) but the Doctor isn’t the Professor (sorry Ace!) and his ethics are informed by both his alien nature and Time Lord perspective. He already knows a lot of the answers and his motive is freedom, not investigation.

And finally…

If you take the view that Doctor Who Season 7 was about a new take on the Doctor and the show finding its feet in the 1970s, it’s fair to say it did a good job. Pertwee’s Doctor has clear needs and the Earth needs a hero. Roll on the next season!

NEXT TIME: You will obey…

Congratulations! By the end of Easter weekend, you’ll have survived almost 4 months without any new Doctor Who on your screens. While there’s been plenty of excellent Big Finish stories to keep you going, some days you want to watch as well as listen. Once you’ve seen the latest animated lost classic, re-watched some favourite DVDs, and started spending a little too much time on YouTube fan channels, you realise you want some new time travel drama to keep your sanity intact. If you’ve got Netflix, you’re in luck, but if you’re not sure just which of the many hundreds of shows to watch, you’re even luckier as we at the DWC have got your covered.

Welcome to the Easter 2019 edition of the DWC guide to time travel shows on Netflix!

Star Trek: Discovery

First up, it’s safe ground and it’s a big one. Yes, it’s Star Trek Discovery Season 2. It’s probably a safe assumption everyone reading this knows what Star Trek is, but have you been following Discovery? Did you watch some or all of Season 1 and think it wasn’t bad in places but didn’t quite work? Have no fear: Season 2 has stepped up a level in almost all areas.

Quick summary: Star Trek Discovery is set before the original Star Trek series with Kirk. Season 1 focussed on Michael Burnham, Spock’s adopted sister we never knew about. The season arc was a war against the Klingons, mixed with a parallel universe story and a strange new starship drive. And the end scene was an encounter with the Enterprise commanded by Captain Pike.

Season 2 puts Pike in charge of Discovery, gives a quest for Spock (played by Gregory Peck’s grandson), and a big season arc. If you’ve missed season arcs, this is the big one. There’s time travel (a lot of it, in fact), a red angel, mysterious Federation spies, strange tech, and more, much more. Captain Pike is one of the best captains to ever sit in the chair and the stories are quite often brilliant. Spock is another casting triumph and Jonathan Frakes (Riker from The Next Generation) even directs a couple!

BOTTOM LINE: Good Star Trek with time travel and a story arc – what’s not to like?

Timeless

Next up is a rather different show: Timeless. If you liked Rosa, there’s a good chance you’ll like Timeless. What’s more, if you don’t have Netflix, it’s even on Channel 4 from time to time (as is the excellent Netflix series, Homeland, but that’s not in scope as there’s no time travel, aliens, or any other sci fi!). It’s already been cancelled after two seasons, but fans love it. In fact, it was cancelled after one season and brought back as a result of fan demand, and producers have even made a one-off special to close the cliff-hanger from Season 2.

The premise is this: Paterson Joseph is a brilliant and rich scientist who invents a time machine. Said machine (the mothership) is stolen and the heroes follow it through time in a prototype machine, the lifeboat. Its approach to time travel is rather different to Doctor Who; there’s a machine but beyond that, history gets rewritten all the time, and often with side effects. Each episode dips into history (most often American, but not always) and points out the roles played by people who aren’t male and white. It deals with what we would today call racism and does so with some objectivity. It seeks to educate and inform but also tell decent stories. There’s a conspiracy, intrigue, and side-stories, and the show isn’t afraid to reset itself when a storyline runs out of steam.

BOTTOM LINE: An endearing show that entertains as well as informs.

The idea of rewriting history is at the core of the next two choices, both with a strong Canadian influence and sharing several cast members. Both have now either finished or been cancelled and it’s intriguing to wonder what the next series might be…

Continuum

Continuum ran from 2012 to 2015 and is the story of law enforcement office Kiera Cameron, a mother from 2077 trapped back in the early 21st Century in pursuit of time travelling terrorists. Her only advantages are various pieces of high tech (a suit that makes the wearer invisible and bullet proof, a special gun, and some cybernetics) and she quickly meets teenage genius Alec Sadler who would go on to invent most of the world of 2077, including Kiera’s suit. As the series moves forward, the terrorists try to change history but – and the “but” is a good one – just who sent them back in time, just what is the plan Alex in the future had, and just why is Kiera here?

It’s set in Vancouver and has large scale concepts where everything in the world has a location in the local neighbourhood. It’s a bit like having every alien in Doctor Who invade London rather than anywhere else!

As history changes, we get alternate versions of Kiera, Alex’s own life takes a very different tack, and even though later series jump the shark a little (super soldiers from the future, a strange sect of time protectors), overall it’s a show focussed on doing the right thing and the difference between short and long term goals. The producers also let Keira be a real person and a mother first rather than turn her into a pin-up, super hero in a tight-fitting costume aimed at the more adolescent viewer.

 BOTTOM LINE: If flawed in places, and relying too heavily on convenient connections, it has merits and a good sense of character.

Travelers

Last in our selection but by no means least is Travelers (US spelling), which ran for three seasons, 2016-19. The idea is a collection of people travel back from the future and alter history for the better. This is as we are polluting the planet and need help to avoid future eco-catastrophe. The travelers go about various missions and mould history, but each time, it seems events turn out for the worst.

There are several areas where this show brims with originality. As a writer I like how there’s a chance of perspective over the seasons. Imagine being a spy with a mission, you only need a secret identity good enough to last a short time. If you are staying longer your cover needs depth, and at some point, develop meaningful relationships and settle into a new life. It’s very subtly done and to be commended. 

The big USP though is the way travelers come back in time which (no spoilers here) has consequences. Only information can travel in time so a person can only come back as a mind so needs a body to inhabit. There are all kinds of ethical consequences and the show doesn’t hesitate in exploring them.

BOTTOM LINE: There’s more to this than meets the eye, with a great cast and some intriguing characters. Go watch now – don’t read the rest of this article.

BONUS: The Good Place

If you’re still here, there’s a bonus. It’s not a time travel show but it is a fantasy, and it is about ethics again. It’s The Good Place a show about the afterlife. It’s clever, has short episodes, is funny, and even has Ted Danson as the person in charge of the place where you go when you die. It’s already had three seasons and is easy to watch in short bursts.

BOTTOM LINE: Try something different – try The Good Place.

To misquote Strictly Come Dancing‘s Craig Revel Horwood, It Takes You Away had no opening, ridiculous waffle about sentient energies and some debatable silliness about the future ovine (that’s pretentious for sheep-like) rebellion, and grandmothers. None of that matters, because it was Fab-u-lous! I’ll even put up (grudgingly) with yet another Gallifreyan fairy tale monster.

The setting

There’s a lot to admire about the setting, the structure, most of the characters, and the Doctor herself. In some ways, it was also a very different type of story for TV Doctor Who, and will no doubt be used as further evidence Chris Chibnall should stick to running the show rather than writing for it. Let’s focus on the positives…

When I first spotted this episode would be set (at least initially) in Norway, a distant bell rang at the back of my mind. Some digging brought me to the 1999 Nick Walters Eighth Doctor Adventures novel, Dominion. The novel is set in Sweden, amongst forests and lakes, so the resemblance is entirely meaningless. In the novel, there are monsters in the woods and a pocket universe connected by a wormhole, and if things aren’t checked, it could spell doom for the Earth. Hmmm, maybe there are some similarities after all. Hold that thought.

Focussing on It Takes You Away, the setting did allow the production to tap into a modern Scandi-noir zeitgeist. Under the fanciful language, what I mean is, viewers have expectations of modern drama with a Scandinavian dimension. The TARDIS removes the need for subtitles (even when the team are in a strange zone between universes), but we are still prepared for psychological twists, darkness, and a sense of unease bubbling beneath the surface. Cue the abandoned house…

The abandoned house

Having set up Norway, and a figure glimpsed at a window, Ed Hime’s writing moved us into the messy house and we soon met blind teenager Hanne, played by actor, Eleanor Wallwork. Before I heap praise on the character and performance, a digression. What drives good story? Plot or character?

The very best writers can create masterpieces with one or the other, but most of us need to pay attention to who our characters are and what they are doing (and why!). Hime covers both bases well, and Hanne is the prime example among the guest characters.

Her being blind makes several elements of the story work, including the monster in the woods, and she also acts as a point of view (!) with the episode giving us plenty of chance to experience events from her perspective. Hanne is resourceful, but not superhuman. She is scared and determined and acts as a result of clear reasons. She wants her Dad back. Her lack of sight was downplayed in the tunnel between the worlds with Ryan (Tosin Cole) needing a light to help guide her, rather than her being able to lead through sound (no white sticks in this story). What it did do without fanfare was allow her to be clear that the figure of her mother wasn’t actually her mother. Excellently written and delivered. It’s a shame her father, Erik (Christian Rubeck) was less inspiring as a person abandoning his child, but he has his motives as well.

Both Erik and Graham are affected by grief, and once again Bradley Walsh almost steals the episode in his scenes with pseudo-Grace and his soul searching. Let’s not forget Ryan, who also suffers from the death of Grace and the void left by his father’s lack of interest in him. Grief is powerful, and intertwines with loneliness, the force driving the strange energy consciousness at the heart of the story.

It’s high concept (once we get there) and allows both Erik and Graham to experience part of their journey of coping.

Structure

Talking of journeys allows considering of structure and even myth. It Takes You Away is a three-act story with worlds within worlds.

We start on Earth with a potential base under siege, but it turns into Alice Through the Looking Glass and the second act takes place in a classic underworld of flesh moths and Ribbons (the creepy Kevin Eldon). There was also a moleman, but he didn’t make the cut.

NEW #DOCTORWHO VILLAN ALERT!

This is Paul Sturgess dressed as an upcoming villain for series 11! These photos have come from his Instagram!#DoctorWho #DrWho #JodieWhittaker #13thDoctor pic.twitter.com/1J178GOknq

— Donald Moffat (@RealDonaldDalek) October 9, 2018

Was this underworld (or antizone) the source of all evil? No. Meanwhile back on Earth, Ryan has solved the mystery of the monster in the woods, and, in Scooby Doo style, it’s a simple trick. Ryan and Hanne enter the underworld, but don’t make it through.

The main group of the Doctor, Graham, and Yaz (Mandip Gill) survive the horrors to find themselves back at the portal, or so they think. This is where the writing is clever; the whole sequence in the antizone is to set up a mini-journey – a conflict but just when you think the heroes are returning home, they find themselves in a new and better (tidier at least) world. Cue Act 3, and we finally learn just what is happening.

Missing father Erik is rather passive, and I forgive him as he thinks his wife is back, but don’t forgive him for abandoning his daughter, if only temporarily. There’s some shouting, some sonic, and a big sacrifice from the Doctor. Cue the big mythic sequence.

When you’re a very-long-lived Time Lord, the idea of spending some portion of eternity in a pocket universe isn’t the end of the world. Even if rushed, the sacrifice makes some sense and the dissolve to white opens up all sorts of possibilities. Just as this fan was wondering just who Jodie Whittaker’s Doctor might meet – Susan perhaps? – we get the talking frog on a chair. Brilliant, mad, and iconic. Did I mention brilliant? It’s off the wall in a way the show hasn’t done for what seems like ages. Okay, we’ve had killer Santa robots since the reboot, but the talking frog is wonderful.

The length of story was against proper development (and I have to wonder when we might go to longer stories) but the Doctor seemed really upset at having to leave the frog alone. Here is an alien Doctor, quite prepared to encompass the different. This tells us something about her relationship with…

The TARDIS team

Ignoring some silliness, exposition, and jumping to the right conclusion on little evidence, this is a decent episode for the Thirteenth Doctor with some caring, compassion, decisiveness, and perhaps some distance between her and her human companions. She does care about them, but also prepared to let them find their way home from Norway while she spends an unqualified length of time with a strange alien force. Great stuff!

Yaz gets to use some police training and, while not central to much of the story, isn’t rattling around doing nothing.

I’ve mentioned Graham already, and if this were a conventional story arc, we’d say he is now ready to move on and either leave the fantasy world of the TARDIS and rebuild a life as a widower, or perhaps a noble sacrifice so he can be with Grace again? We know Bradley is in the New Year’s Day special, so this issue could be ducked.

Ryan deserves proper consideration. Why is this the episode in which he finally calls Graham granddad? It’s down to his time with Hanne. Ryan upsets her with his initial thoughtless comments, spots the speaker wires, tries to look after Hanne, gets knocked out then comes to her aid in the antizone. He treats her as an equal without making a fuss and sees her reconciliation with Eric. He is looking at others and (as had to happen) identifies with Graham’s grief, matches it to his own, and shows maturity as he reaches out to Graham and builds a proper connection. If Graham were to leave, what would Ryan do? It’s an interesting question.

Ed Hime

All this brings us to the writer, Ed Hime. On the strength of this story, more Hime in Series 12 would be most welcome. I mentioned some similarities to the Eighth Doctor Adventure novel, Dominion. Apart from proving I’ve read, watched, and listened to far too much Doctor Who, it probably means nothing else except the extended continuity is very large, and ideas will come around more than once (aliens trapped under a hill for millennia, anyone? I’m looking at you, Witchfinders). It does let me talk about alternate types of Doctor Who story, something that happened more and more when the show was off the air.

Ed Hime is not only known for his work on Skins, but a look at his profile also shows he is involved in the Big Talk Productions remake of Sapphire and Steel. Talking frog aside, It Takes You Away is a classic Sapphire and Steel story, and let’s face it, that show was more than a little influenced by Doctor Who (and many others). It all bodes well for Sapphire and Steel, whenever it arrives.

In conclusion

So, rambling aside, this was a good episode, and it wouldn’t take a lot to make it absolutely fantastic. Is it the best episode of Series 11? It’s certainly a strong contender.

Following the success of the original Seasons of War, we have a full-length novel, simply titled Seasons of War: Gallifrey, published by Altrix Books. Written by Paul Driscoll (The Black Archive: The God Complex) and Kara Dennison (City of the Saved), it has the full support of Declan May, the originator of Seasons of War himself. His praise is somewhat excessive, sprinkled with adjectives – all you need to know is he’s pleased with this book and the continuation of his work. Again, any proceeds are going charity. Paul and Kara are doing this for (I assume) a mixture of love of the concept, kudos, and because they can.
So, to the book itself. Moving past the introduction, we are treated to some well-crafted prose, and the reveal of the book’s four central characters. There’s Kendo who will go off to become one of Gallifrey ruling elite; Tor Fasa, the elder Time Lord with his own Machiavellian motives; Savalia who goes off to become a soldier; and Mordicai the Engineer. There’s more to it than these four, with a cast of generals, councillors, inhabitants of Gallifrey, and some close family ties. At its heart, the opening is about family, hope, and the damaging effect of war on our young heroes.
Scene set, the book splits the four and tells events from their perspectives. Here, the writing becomes a little uneven: the internal thoughts of the characters are sometimes very at odds with their appearance to others; Kendo in particular suffers from this. We might expect some variance on how characters are written when two people are involved in the creative process, but it is noticeable with a couple of the characters. This is not to suggest the book is anything other than entertaining – it’s perhaps a writer’s comment, not something many will pick up on.
The book also sets itself a lot of challenges. It’s telling the story of war, of people and building its own version of Gallifrey. At times a lot of pieces are in play and the actual story is hard to spot behind the necessary mechanics of world-building.
There are many plot strands at work, as would be the case with four lead characters, but the driving force behind a lot of the plot is a love story between Savalia and Mordicai. The course of true love is far from smooth and it’s a well-conceived and delivered thread. Mordicai is also driven by his reaction to the idea of the Doctor – now the Doctor of War – and there are times when his (the Doctor of War’s) shadow is cast over proceedings. On reflection, this is a good thing; it links back to the original set of short stories and can’t be ignored.
The writers also don’t gloss over many of the tropes of Gallifrey: Matric, Sky Trenches, Death Zone, and the vast collection of artefacts attributed to Rassilon. What they do well is use these where useful and move beyond to carve out their own world.
Of course, there’s a lot of war, death, regeneration, technology, and time trickery, so, although this is an unofficial book, it’s very much swimming in the language and ethos of Doctor Who. The pacing is good and there’s a clear ending that brings the separate elements together well.
We are promised more from Altrix – more in this newly cut slice of Gallifrey and more from these two writers. Whatever happens, the Time War is well under way and there are many more adventures to come…!
Seasons of War: Gallifrey is out now, so head over to Altrix Books to get your copy. 

So, you’d like to listen to some Eighth Doctor stories from Big Finish, you’ve popped over to the website, looked at The Collected Eighth Doctor page, found there are (as of the end of May 2018) a mere 106 titles ranging over the past 17 years, and thought – where do I start? Luckily, we’ve got your back! We’ve also suggested different ways to listen, and pricing where available. It should be noted Big Finish has frequent sales and offers so these prices can be improved upon, including with subscriptions for main range titles.
First, some assumptions: you’ve haven’t heard any of the releases, you’re open to suggestions, and you want the best selection of good titles you can listen to for the smallest investment. In some ways, the answer is really easy – get a Spotify subscription and start listening to the vast array of early Big Finish, including lots of Eighth Doctor, the Fifth, Sixth, and Seventh, plus lots of other great titles, including (as of November 2017) five boxsets of the brilliant Jago & Litefoot.
Meanwhile, back to Paul McGann’s Doctor.

One thing to point out before we dig in, is the Big Finish titles almost entirely (see the odds and ends section later) carve out new ground with new companions. You may also have seen Night of the Doctor (and if you haven’t, watch it above), and you might have noticed Paul McGann looks different (ignoring ageing) to how he did in Doctor Who: The TV Movie; the transition between Byronic (and wig-wearing) Doctor and slightly-weathered explorer takes place in a Big Finish release (see Dark Eyes below). If you’ve seen Night of the Doctor, you’ll remember the Doctor’s list of companions: Charley, C’rizz, Lucie, Tamsin, and Molly. As of 2013, those were the Big Finish Eighth Doctor companions, and provide a key to starting points for the audio dramas.

The Big Finish Eighth Doctor companions

The full list of Big Finish companions (to date) in order of appearance with the Eighth Doctor is:

1. Charley Pollard
2. C’rizz (appears with Charley)
3. Lucie Miller
4. Tamsin Drew (appears with Lucie)
5. Molly o’Sullivan
6. Liv Chenka
7. Helen Sinclair
8. Bliss

If that weren’t enough, he also has appeared with the following (the previously mentioned odds and ends):

1. Romana 2
2. Mary Shelley
3. Fitz (from the novels)
4. Izzy (from the comics)
5. Bernice Summerfield (novels, Big Finish audios)

The next sections outline each of them and how best to use them as a starting point.

Charley Pollard (including C’rizz), 2001 – 2007

Charley Pollard, Edwardian Adventuress (and only one to appear as a companion in the Doctor Who Legacy game), is the first companion for Paul McGann on audio, appearing right back in 2001. Performed by India Fisher (voice of the UK TV Masterchef), she has appeared in 27 titles with Paul McGann plus many others. She is a young girl, left home seeking adventure, and is rescued by the Doctor and taken on a whole host of adventures. These break into three waves:

1. Lots of travelling in the TARDIS, meeting many monsters, and saving the day before getting mixed up with the Time Lords;
2. Entering a strange dimension, the Divergent Universe, where they meet the alien C’rizz who travels with them;
3. Returning to our universe, standard adventures, and eventually both C’rizz and Charley leave. Charley goes on to travel with the Sixth Doctor and get her own series.

If Charley Pollard is for you, where should you start? Our recommendation is to dive into the first set of stories. There are eleven in all, published between 2001 and 2003. To buy all eleven would cost £32.89 and they are download only. They are all included with a Spotify subscription. If you just want to sample this set of stories, the minimum set should include:

• Storm Warning – Charley’s introduction, Paul McGann’s first Big Finish, and essential listening;
• Sword of Orion – a personal favourite, a big Cyberman story;
• Chimes of Midnight – an all-time classic and fan favourite, written by Rob Shearman and one of the few Big Finish titles to make it to vinyl. It’s also a Christmas story;
• Seasons of Fear – we jump to New Year’s Eve, Raffles hotel, and a story that hints at things to come;
• Neverland –  Time Lords, Romana, Web of Time, and nursery rhymes;
• Zagreus – The 50th main range title, on three discs, not the usual two, and with a vast host of cameos. Mad, over the top, and not universally liked but does end with the Doctor and Charley being abandoned in a new realm.

To listen to those only would cost £17.94 or free on Spotify.

If you do want to follow Charley’s adventures further, you have to think about the Divergent Universe arc. Before the show came back to TV, Big Finish decided to experiment with the only Doctor whose destiny was unwritten. There are some ideas, a new companion in the form of Conrad Westmaas’s C’rizz, and lots of surreal ideas. The return of the show to TV meant the Eighth Doctor needed to get back to our reality to allow a later regeneration, so the Divergent Universe was cut short. It covers eight titles from 2003 – 2004, and is almost entirely skippable, despite some interesting stories in their own right.
To buy the Divergent Universe arc would cost £48 on CD or £23.92 on download. It’s not on Spotify. The minimum set is:

• Scherzo – a brilliant two-hander by Rob Shearman, almost worth buying even if you don’t get the others. It’s strange and poignant, and bridges the old to the new;
• Creed of the Kromon – introduces C’rizz;
• Caerdroia – another strange story, but perhaps the best of them;
• The Next Life – another three disc epic with a stand-out performance from Paul Darrow. It end with the TARDIS taking our heroes home.

To buy just these stories would cost £24, or £23.92 on download.

Now back in our reality, Charley and C’rizz both travel with the Doctor between 2005 and 2007. There are eight stories costing £48 to buy on CD or £23.92 download. There are at least four worth listening to at a minimum:

• Other Lives – one of the best C’rizz stories;
• Memory Lane – a surreal suburbia with ice cream vans;
• Absolution – farewell to C’rizz;
• The Girl Who Never Was – farewell to Charley, and one of her best stories.

To get just these costs £24 on CD, £11.96 on download.

Lucie Miller (including Tamsin Drew), 2007 – 2011

As Charley was moving on, the Eighth Doctor was moving out. With the new show on TV, Paul McGann acquired his own feisty companion in the form of Sheridan Smith as Lucie Miller. These came out in their own series of single disc releases. Good news here: the first series is available on Spotify and have all been on BBC Radio 4 Extra. If you are in the UK, keep an eye on the schedules. Other Big Finish titles also appear there so it’s worth a look occasionally.

There are four series altogether, and once you’ve tried the first, the rest should be a foregone conclusion. There are many excellent stories. The first three series ran for eight discs, costing £72 on CD or £64 on download. The fourth series introduced Tamsin Drew (played by Niky Wardley) and the return of Susan with her son, Alex (played by Paul McGann’s son, Jake). It ran for ten discs, and would cost £81 to buy on CD, £72 on download.
If you just want to sample the first series, the minimum listen is:

• Blood of the Daleks Parts 1 and 2 – Daleks on the planet Red Rocket Rising (good name for a blog!), and the arrival of Lucie in the TARDIS;
• Horror of Glam Rock – Paul Magrs gives us pop stars, Lucie’s aunt, and Bernard Cribbins!
• Phobos – eerie happenings on the moon of Mars;
• Human Resources Parts 1 and 2 – Cybermen and the reveal of a secret!

Even this reduced set is still six discs and would cost £65.94 on CD or £53.94 on download.

Molly O’Sullivan (appears with Liv Chenka), 2012 – 2015

The end of the Lucie Miller era was a watershed for the Eighth Doctor, who in a quest for hope finds himself in World War I. There, he meets Molly O’Sullivan (Ruth Bradley) and gets involved in (another) quest to save the universe and avoid the Daleks.

The first Dark Eyes boxset (four discs, £40 CD, £35 download) won an award and lots of plaudits. The work of Nick “Voice of the Daleks” Briggs, the Big Finish executive producer, it was conceived as a one-off but became a set of four boxsets, each priced as the first, or get the whole lot in one go for £80 (CD or download).
The latter three boxsets add new companion, Liv Chenka (Nicola Walker) who had once met the Seventh Doctor. Liv is from our future and is a med-tech – think a doctor who can also treat cybernetics. Action moves across an increasingly war-torn reality, and also features the first Big Finish Master, Alex Macqueen. Each set builds to a grand climax, and Molly finally moves on, leaving Liv on the TARDIS.

Liv Chenka and Helen Sinclair, 2015 – 2019

Next stop, another set of stories, and another possible starting point with Doom Coalition.

There’s a set of foes across these four boxsets (again priced £40 on CD or £35 on download or get the whole lot for £80). There’s some superb villains, including Mark Bonnar’s The Eleven (a Time Lord whose past incarnations still live on in his mind). The second story is John Dorney’s much praised The Red Lady, a genuine scary story and a chance for 1960s museum worker, Helen Sinclair (Hattie Morahan) to join the TARDIS.
The stories involve Time Lords a plenty, and an appearance by Alex Kingston as River Song.
Doom Coalition is followed by Ravenous, and it’s early days with only one released set at the time of writing, but that did include the return of the Kandy Man! These are priced at £23 for CD, £20 for download (the bundle price is £90 on CD, saving £2, and the same £80 on download!).

Bliss 2017 – 2020

Finally, if you’re mostly interested in the Time War, here’s a chance to live events with the Eighth Doctor and new companion, Bliss (Rakhee Thakrar).
We’ve only had one volume so far, but more are coming very soon (each is £40 on CD, £35 on download, or £80 for the whole set of four boxsets), and the action is full-on.

Odds and ends

There have been some other Eighth Doctor releases, including:

• Shada – a timey-wimey adaptation of the Tom Baker story with Lalla Ward as Romana, for a mere £5 on two discs (no download) released in 2003;
• An Earthly Child – the Doctor finally gets back to Susan stranded on Earth, who has a son Alex (Jake McGann). Available as a subscription extra, this 2010 release is also available for £14.99 on CD, £12 on download;
• Company of Friends – four half-disc stories for the Eighth Doctor and Benny (Lisa Bowerman), Fitz (Matt di Angelo) from the novels, Izzy (Jemima Rooper) from the comics, and Mary Shelley (Julie Cox) who wrote Frankenstein in the fantastic Mary’s Story;
• Mary Shelley Trilogy– a single trilogy of stories with Mary Shelley, released in 2011, £44.97 CD, £38.97 download.

Summary of the starting points for the Eighth Doctor

You don’t have to spend a fortune to enjoy some of the best Doctor Who stories in existence. So what are you waiting for?
Head over to Big Finish now and enjoy the extended adventures of the Eighth Doctor!