I recently started on the probably-insane journey of listening to Big Finish’s main range of Doctor Who stories from the beginning. We’ll see how far I get, but I thought it might be fun to do these little capsule reviews!
All scores use a five-star scale
The Sirens of Time ⭐️⭐️⭐️ - It's fine! It’s fine. I like that Five, Six, and Seven get to go on their own little one episode mini adventures, but the ending is tedious
Phantasmagoria ⭐️⭐️⭐️ - A formulaic-but-solid "alien mucks about in a historical time period" story. It's nothing special but it gets the job done and the early-18th century period detail is fun
Whispers of Terror ⭐️⭐️ - Six's solo debut gets points for a killer concept and an attempt to lean into the audio format. Unfortunately this ends up being an utterly predictable murder mystery that brings back the worst aspects of Six and Peri's relationship
The Land of the Dead ⭐️⭐️ - Arctic terror and unhinged James Bond-villain millionaires should be fun. But the monster here is boring and the treatment of indigenous characters is tone-deaf and embarrassing
The Fearmonger ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ - This tense political thriller leans into the best aspects of Seven's run while avoiding many of its pitfalls. Sylvester McCoy and Sophie Aldred slip back into their wonderful dynamic like an old glove, it’s so nice to have them back
The Marian Conspiracy ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ - A delightful throwback to the historicals of the 60s and by far the best Sixth Doctor story to date. New companion Evelyn Smythe, a grouchy matronly history professor, is an absolute delight, and her strong personality goes a long way in smoothing Six's rough edges
The Genocide Machine ⭐️⭐️ - This is, unfortunately, the latest the long tradition of tedious Dalek stories that fail to find an interesting angle on Doctor Who’s most iconic monsters. At least Davros isn't here