Doctor Who: Spider’s Shadow
by Nicholas Briggs (Big Finish, 2008)
An uncredited one-part coda to Stewart Sheargold’s ‘The Death Collectors’. The in-story repetition is clunky at first (to the point of sounding like a recording error) yet gradually refines itself into a clever little time-trap mystery. Sylvester McCoy rolls with the punches.
Doctor Who: The Death Collectors
by Stewart Sheargold (Big Finish, 2008)
This three-part story sees the Seventh Doctor travelling by himself and in good form. Sheargold brings an original premise to the table but Big Finish have peppered the production with (commendably realistic?) sound effects, distortions and scratchy voices, rendering key points unintelligible.
The Black Archive #39: The Silurians
by Robert Smith? (Obverse Books, 2020)
A wide-ranging, clearly written analysis that recasts The Silurians’ apparent failings as strengths and offers, by considering aspects of the serial from a rational, scientific standpoint and giving them a societal context, something of a reappraisal of the Third Doctor more broadly.
Doctor Who: The Macros
by Ingrid Pitt & Tony Rudlin (Big Finish, 2010)
A well-acted production of a script that offers few surprises. The Doctor becomes embroiled in but unable to change history (the Philadelphia Experiment), the basis of his inability to interfere is glossed over, and a thoroughly one-dimensional tyrant revels in her machinations.
The Sarah Jane Adventures, Series 1
(CBBH, 2007)
A cleverly conceived Doctor Who spinoff, aimed at a younger audience but with sufficiently well-executed SF (both serious and Slitheen-level over-the-top) to keep adults interested. While Elisabeth Sladen is top-billed, her teen co-stars prove equally capable. The half-hour two-parters format works nicely.
Dr. Second
by Adam Hargreaves (Puffin, 2017)
Hargreaves’ mash-up of Doctor Who and Mr. Men remains more of a conceptual than an actual triumph, but on this occasion the characterisation—of Jamie, Victoria and the Doctor—is quite good, as are the illustrations and (to an extent) the storyline.
The Black Archive #38: The Sound of Drums / Last of the Time Lords
by James Mortimer (Obverse Books, 2019)
Refreshingly, Mortimer doesn’t attempt to relate Series Three’s two-part finale to any particular body of theory, preferring to assess its dark themes as presented within the context of Russell T Davies’ helmsmanship. A short, accessible read, albeit occasionally gawky in its prose.
Dr. Twelfth
by Adam Hargreaves (Penguin, 2017)
One of Hargreaves’ better efforts. The Doctor succeeds in foiling Missy’s convoluted and nefarious plan—without understanding it or allowing her to explicate! His insouciance is a nice touch but, even so, the story fails to live up to the cover’s allure.
The Diary of River Song: A Requiem for the Doctor
by Jacqueline Rayner (Big Finish, 2018)
A somewhat predictable story overlaid onto its historical setting (rather than using it to any intrinsic purpose). Alex Kingston and Peter Davison work well together but cannot mitigate the feeling of treading water. The Doctor’s new companion is presented without any explication.
The Black Archive #37: Kerblam!
by Naomi Jacobs & Thomas L. Rodebaugh (Obverse Books, 2019)
Jacobs and Rodebaugh bring academic rigour and methodology to Kerblam!, reading the story at a far greater depth than its author can have intended. Their analysis—focussing on AI development and socio-political systems—supports the contention that Kerblam! suffers from plot-driven superficiality.