Doctor Who: The Headless Ones
by James Parsons and Andrew Stirling-Brown; dir. Scott Handcock (Big Finish, 2020)
A fairly bland offering whose only real point of difference is an unhappy ending (which the players don’t lose much sleep over). Parsons and Stirling-Brown have a go at female empowerment only to make Amanda and Siyanda hapless figureheads rather than exemplars.
Doctor Who: The Abominable Snowmen
by Mervyn Haisman & Henry Lincoln
dir. Gerald Blake (BBC, 1967/2022)
The animation is serviceable (the yeti in fact look slightly less cuddly in cartoon form!) but the original story is terribly ponderous and presents vast chunks of ‘dead’ time where there is neither dialogue nor incidental music to offset the visual limitations.
Doctor Who: Conflict Theory
by Nev Fountain; dir. Scott Handcock (Big Finish, 2020)
A fun, frivolous story that, beneath clever execution, explores the more serious question of the Doctor’s culpability in exposing his companions to danger. Fountain’s script is spot-on. Colin Baker and Nicola Bryant revel in a character dynamic rarely done justice on television.
Doctor Who: A Town Called Mercy
by Toby Whithouse; dir. Saul Metzstein (BBC, 2012)
Whithouse delivers unto the Wild West setting a diverting yet not insubstantial self-contained episode. Ben Browder makes a compelling marshal. Karen Gillan and Arthur Darvill put in nuanced performances to balance Matt Smith’s uncommonly volatile embodiment of delighted child and world-weary ancient.
Doctor Who: The World Tree
by Nick Slawicz; read by Lisa Bowerman (Big Finish, 2022)
A single-note story but one that carries its premise well. Slawicz captures the Eleventh Doctor’s warmth and his childlike yet ageless appreciation of everyday people and their inherent worth as individuals. Nora Wicker is a believable character, ably portrayed by Lisa Bowerman.
Doctor Who: Attack of the Graske
by Gareth Roberts; dir. Ashley Way (BBC Red Button, 2005)
A plush, interactive Christmas special aimed at young viewers. While David Tennant does his best to rise above the Choose Your Own Adventure format, the available choices are (severely) limited and the story, shorn of its gimmick, is an utterly banal non-starter.
Doctor Who: The Impossible Planet / The Satan Pit
by Matt Jones; dir. James Strong (BBC, 2006)
One of the highlights of Series 2. A powerful double-episode in which Rose and the Doctor are forced to contemplate first life without the TARDIS, then losing each other, then death and the original, archetypal devil. Well-paced, claustrophobic, with a quality cast.
Doctor Who: Fear Her
by Matthew Graham; dir. Euros Lyn (BBC, 2006)
Graham’s concept successfully melds SF and scary supernatural elements, albeit aimed at a younger audience (more Sarah Jane Adventures than Doctor Who). The episode would have been more effective tonally had the Doctor and Rose not kept oscillating back to chummy flippancy.
Doctor Who: Delta and the Bannermen
by Malcolm Kohll (Target, 1989)
audiobook read by Bonnie Langford (BBC, 2017)
An ambitious story, in that it pairs manifestly serious themes (not least, genocide) with a feel-good, late-1950s rock ‘n’ roll vibe. Kohll opts for blithe exuberance in the novelisation, and, regrettably, not to excise the American agents. Langford’s reading is pure Mel.
Doctor Who: The Good Doctor
by Juno Dawson (BBC, 2018)
audiobook read by Clare Corbett (BBC Digital, 2018)
An insipid, paint-by-numbers novel. Dawson offers nothing original in terms of content and almost less than that in delivery, as if the BBC range editors were fixedly determined to scrub the word ‘new’ from ‘New Series Adventures’. Clare Corbett tries her best.