River Song: Five Twenty-Nine
by John Dorney (Big Finish, 2016)
One of the better Big Finish stories, not offering full closure but nonetheless presenting a global extinction event with sombre melancholy. Sans any of the Doctors, River Song is given space to make the programme her own. Alex Kingston does just that.
River Song: The Unknown
by Guy Adams (Big Finish, 2016)
A clever opening to the series, the time conflux allowing not only for River Song to meet the Seventh Doctor but also to assert herself as the primary protagonist, respectfully stealing his thunder. A base under siege story with strong female characters.
The Annual Years: A Celebration of the World Distributor Doctor Who Annuals
by Paul Magrs (Obverse Books, 2014)
The Doctor Who Annuals from 1966-1986 were licenced by the BBC but produced and written entirely by outsiders, emerging thence as disturbingly atypical of Who. Magrs catalogues two decades of meandering, rather amateurish stories (and trippy artwork), taking genuine pleasure in some.
Doctor Who: Domain of the Voord
by Andrew Smith (Big Finish, 2014)
Fifty years on, Andrew Smith succeeds in upgrading the Voord from the kooky wetsuited villains of Marinus to a threatening, believable race. Voiced by original (ever young!) companions William Russell and Carole Ann Ford, the story carries itself with a becoming stateliness.
Doctor Who: The Girl Who Never Was
by Alan Barnes (Big Finish, 2007)
The plot is unnecessarily convoluted in places; so too is there cause for consternation in the lineage of Byron(s), the like-named but ostensibly distinct Australian ne’er-do-well(s). Still, there is something refreshing in a Doctor Who story scripted beyond the audience’s immediate needs.
Doctor Who: Loups-Garoux
by Marc Platt (Big Finish, 2001)
Werewolves are given some welly for a change, Platt anticipating Glen Duncan by a decade in substituting patrician cold-bloodedness for mere savagery. The Fifth Doctor and Turlough are treated as characters, not cut-outs. The only flaw is the deus ex machina ending.
Doctor Who: Last of the Cybermen
by Alan Barnes (Big Finish, 2015)
A little too fan-indulgent in places and the humour doesn’t always work. Still, Barnes at least tries something interesting with plot and character, sending the Sixth Doctor back (rather than bringing an old Doctor forward) to pay homage to the Troughton era.
Running Through Corridors: Rob and Toby’s Marathon Watch of Doctor Who, Volume 1: The 60s
by Rob Shearman & Toby Hadoke (Mad Norwegian Press, 2010)
A book tailored to serious fans (although even those casual New Millennium Whovians who spurn the old DVDs could do worse than experience Doctor Who’s black and white era by proxy of Shearman and Hadoke). Generous critical analysis meets nostalgic love letter.
Doctor Who: Order of the Daleks
by Mike Tucker (Big Finish, 2016)
The people at Big Finish seem very chuffed with themselves for having thought of Daleks with stained glass panelling. Fair enough; it’s a nice image. But it’s also the only original idea on show (so to speak) in this run-of-the-mill audio adventure.
Doctor Who: Day of the Vashta Nerada
by Matt Fitton (Big Finish, 2017)
Conceptually, there’s a lot to like about bringing New Series monsters (and now even the Time War) to Classic Who. The story itself, however, is so bog-standard a rehash of earlier plotlines that it plays out like a badly degraded VHS transfer.