Doctor Who: The Lost Flame
by Cavan Scott & George Mann; audiobook read by Clare Higgins (BBC, 2017)
An exaggerated scenario with a deus ex machina finale. A concluding serial that ties in but tenuously with the rest of the series. Clare Higgins handles the reading with aplomb, but once again Cavan Scott and George Mann have failed to deliver.
Doctor Who: Last Christmas
(BBC, 2014)
A Christmas special that strikes the right balance, providing an important link between Series Eight and Nine yet not taking itself too seriously. After Simon Pegg’s guest role in Series One, it was always likely that Nick Frost would appear… as Santa.
Doctor Who: The Lost Magic
by Cavan Scott; audiobook read by Dan Starkey (BBC, 2017)
After two ho-hum instalments, Doctor Who’s “Lost” series attempts something more ambitious, revealing the creature behind the Time Lords’ mastery of the fourth dimension. Unfortunately, the length of story makes for a negligible denouement (and the two American companions continue to freeload).
Doctor Who…at the BBC: a Legend Reborn
presented by Elisabeth Sladen (BBC, 2010)
A somewhat artificial look back at the successful revival of Doctor Who under Russell T Davies, featuring previously aired interviews and radio appearances (many with an exuberant David Tennant). Elisabeth Sladen’s contribution is sadly limited to reading linking material from a script.
Doctor Who: The Dreaming
by Mark Morris (Woodlands Books, 2014); audiobook read by David Troughton (Bolinda, 2015)
With the fourth and final Trenzalore story — another classic foe brought back and lessened — the series must go down as a disappointment. David Troughton is rather splendid as a narrator but Trenzalore was the perfect setting for new dangers. A missed opportunity.
Doctor Who: Strangers in the Outland
by Paul Finch (Woodlands Books, 2014); audiobook read by David Troughton (Bolinda, 2015)
Paul Finch brings a certain SF originality to Trenzalore, coupled with nostalgia as yet another Classic Series foe is brought back. This, however, is where the story starts to flounder, Trenzalore by its unique constraints offering little scope for a satisfying resolution.
Doctor Who: The Husbands of River Song
by Steven Moffat; dir. Douglas Mackinnon (BBC, 2015)
The 2015 Christmas Special takes a lighter approach than its predecessor, and not since Blackadder II has a severed head been played for such laughs. Peter Capaldi captures something of each of the first four Doctors while Alex Kingston nails her swansong.
Now We Are Six Hundred: A Collection of Time Lord Verse
by James Goss; ill. Russell T Davies (BBC Books, 2017)
By themselves Davies’ illustrations would make this a 4-star book, but the unmitigated celery stick of Goss’s verse (so-called) diminishes this to a dudgeon-inducing 1-star cash-in from the direst depths of e-space. Utterly unreadable to poets, Doctor Who fans and everyone else.
Doctor Who: Heralds of Destruction
by Paul Cornell; ill. Christopher Jones (Titan Comics, 2017)
The character of Jo Grant appears to have morphed with Liz Shaw, but this is the only off-note in an otherwise well-scripted and paced, beautifully drawn, and above all faithful depiction of Doctor Who in the Jon Pertwee dandified exile UNIT days.
Doctor Who: An Apple a Day
by George Mann (Woodlands Books, 2014); audiobook read by David Troughton (Bolinda, 2015)
David Troughton’s reading brings a lot to this gentle Christmas ‘Seeds of Doom’ homage-cum-reprise. The Krynoid remains one of the Classic Series’ more memorable monsters, although again — as with the original serial’s RAF bombardment — the means of its defeat are rather unsatisfying.