Audio Club: Seasons of Fear

It’s time to listen to and discuss Seasons of Fear

Buy it online using the link above, or listen for free - you’ll find links where to listen free on the story page!

Once you’ve listened, talk about it below! Even if you listened to it before and just want to discuss it - dive right in! Just please use spoiler tags where appropriate.

Everyone who participates will get a coveted Audio Club badge! :medal_military:

Just for fun, add your rating here:

Select your rating (out of 10):
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
  • 6
  • 7
  • 8
  • 9
  • 10
0 voters
5 Likes

WAIT omg Paul Cornell wrote this. Wasn’t planning on listening today but now i have to. I’d… do everything for Paul Cornell…

9 Likes

It has always tickled me that this audio sees the return of the Nimon and manages to make them a proper threat whilst staying true to their debut story and background.

10 Likes

Hot take: this is probably my favorite of the “Season 2” Eighth Doctor stories. Everything about it is just delightful from the storytelling, the hopping around, the monsters, the humor. It has probably my favorite rendition of the Eight/Charley dynamic and the most delightful “oh yeah I’m gonna be your best friend” version of Eight.

8 Likes

It’s no Chimes but its definitely in 2nd place- just - because Neverland is brilliant too.

6 Likes

You’d think it would be tough following up on Chimes but Seasons of Fear left almost just as strong an impression on me. That ending… :eyes:

8 Likes

It is absolutely not the perfect story that is Chimes. But this is where we come into plum pudding and bulls :wink:. They’re two completely different stories. That’s kind of the magic of Doctor Who to begin with. You have a dark comedy character piece about grief one week and the next, a very fun time trotting adventure with a very fun twist that also reflects on why mortality is so important.

8 Likes

Hmm. Idk. Usually i’m the number one Paul Cornell fan but this time i’m… not really feeling it? Like it was good, duh. But not great, or more. Aoh well. I’ll blame it all on the other writer and keep swimming in my endless pool of blind Cornell praise that sounds reasonable

I’m not sure if it’s in the script or if it’s the direction of the delivery, but a lot of the dialogue feels really ‘written’, i guess to me. And like more than usual. Even during more casual banter it sounds like they’re reading of off a script.

Great concept, to follow a guy who lives very long and becomes bitter through the ages. A bit Rory the Lonely Centurion vibes. Maybe they got inspired by this? Probably not. So the idea sounds all masterpiece worthy, but i dont think all that much is done with it. Last episode where he meets himself is great. But there’s also quite a bit much of alien with barely understandable voice filter nonsense.

And the other parts don’t decide to do that much with the interesting concept of the guy losing his morality. Paul McGann and his beautiful voice just tells us he has. The Doctor brabbles a lot of poetic stuff, and even lampshades that he does. And don’t get me wrong i love a good old roast of capitalism among other things, but it’s more fun when it’s a theme in the story and not a 20 second sequence where i’m told that.

So like not bad. Just feels like something that should and could have been even better.

Lots of rambling in this one by me, i truly totally feel like this is a next step in my Paul Cornell arc. Minds have been shattered and feelings have been blown. Im so good at making sense you guys

Edit: oh oh and they mentioned the guy who sits in your head and lives among the dead who eats you when you’re sleeping which was exciting

8 Likes

Paul McGann gets to narrate and I swoon so basically perfection.

9 Likes

Interesting story, I enjoyed it, mostly the excellent interactions between Charley and Eight. Mostly, I´m intrigued by that ending though

7 Likes

I enjoyed this enough, I liked the interactions between Eight and Charley, and there were a lot of funny one-liners, but to me the whole story was so weird. I get it - Paul Cornell likes writing weird stuff. But I’m not a fan of this one.

It would probably improve if I listened to it again, but I don’t have time!

I laughed when Charley said she’d gone to an orgy once :eyes::sweat_smile:

6/10

7 Likes

I absolutely love this audio. As far as 8th Doctor stories go, this is one of my favorites.

8 Likes

Oh I just recently listened to this one!!

I really enjoyed it. The Doctor’s swordfight made me very happy. Circular plots always interest me. I didn’t just listen to it, so no longwinded review.
4/5

6 Likes

Lots of great things about this disarmingly simple story, and great performances throughout. I loved the Dalek cameo, and bringing back the Nimon was a wonderful surprise.

Jim Mortimore’s music (available on his Bandcamp page) really does a good job of building the tension and carrying the atmosphere. The main players McGann, Fisher and Stephen Parring as Sebastian Grayle are all brilliant.

I think the sign of a good audio story is when talking/writing about it makes you want to listen to it again. It’s on my to-do list for tomorrow!

9 Likes

5 Likes

Heard this one today.

Nimons!

tumblr_npfh0sJtvC1si297wo1_250.gifv

I really enjoyed this story. So many quips and so much banter. The 8th Doctor and Charley arc is starting to speed up, they really are great together :slightly_smiling_face:

Zagreus mention!

Did the word “orgy” have a different meaning in Edwardian times? Or is Charley just an adventuress in more than one fashion?

7 Likes

For the spoilered section, see Minute in Hell and the Hellfire Club for that reference.

2 Likes

Oh right, that didn’t ping for me. Now it all makes sense again :wink: Cheers.

2 Likes

A very underrated audio. Interesting plot, good usage of a classic villain, and a ton of fun overall. Also I completely forgot Paul “the GOAT” Cornell wrote this

7 Likes

Another one of those stories that is just fun. I’ve finished Part 1 and am loving the Eighth Doctor in this. McGann sounds like he’s having a blast with the fast paced script. I enjoyed the little Dalek cameo hinting at a story a couple months (at time of release) off. Knowing who Grayle’s masters are, the hints of their identity are all there throughout the episode. That said, if you don’t know, the reveal later on can be extremely satisfying.

3 Likes