The Big Finish Catch Up: September 2014

Here's a round up of the Doctor Who audios I listened to during September 2014:

I finally finished off the 'Destiny of the Doctor' range with The Time Machine featuring the 11th Doctor read by Jenna Coleman. A very good timey wimey story and a good little audio book, the villains are very much like the villains from 'The Gallifrey Chronicles.' Very unusual for this range The Doctor is without a companion and we finally find out the reason for 11 popping up in the previous stories. Recommended but bear in mind its a finale to the range and its worth listening to a few of the previous stories before this one.

We get back into the monthly range with Scaredy Cat, featuring the 8th Doctor, Charley and C'rizz. When reviewing these audio's the basic question I have to ask is 'is it any good?' Sadly Scaredy Cat is a huge disappointment, I genuinely feel like nobody involved in the production of this story was bothered. The entire story felt like a plot outline not a script, guest characters felt only partly sketched out, ideas and scenes feel incomplete. I got to the end of the story and my reaction was 'is that it?' On checking the lights an hour and a bit had gone by, its worth remembering this is a double CD. Very much a disappointment and when I come to judge it against other releases I have to place it near the bottom. Also of note the plot line that looked to be being set up in Terror Firma with C'rizz is actually followed up on in a scene but I'm scratching for something positive to say. Also of note Arthur Bostrom who played Officer Crabtree in 'Allo 'Allo is in the guest cast.

Now this is more like it, we nip ahead in the monthly range as I got this in a recent Big Finish sale (subscribers get more). 'The Destroyer of Delights' is the second part in 'The Key 2 Time' trilogy I heard the first part having got it in a sale last year (I had no idea it was a trilogy hence the long wait to hear this one) and had been looking forward to this for some time. Featuring the 5th Doctor and Amy played by Peter Davison and Ciara Johnson it features David Troughton and Jason Watkins among the guest cast. One thing I love about Big Finish is when they decide to have some fun and this is an absolute fun romp, I fully expect I spent the entire audio with a smile on my face. The central plot is that one part of the key to time is so well hidden no one has been able to find it and as the characters move around the play with the various plans and schemes the central mystery of whereabouts of the key segment is handled brilliantly. This is the most fun I've had experiencing a Doctor Who story for the first time in ages, highly recommended as is the first part of the trilogy.