Here’s a general thread for the Fourth Doctor Adventures. What are your favorite stories, authors, arcs, etc? What don’t you like about this range? Discussion, rants and ramblings are encouraged.
3 Likes
I’ve only listened to the first two series to completion, about half of Series 3, and a scattering through the rest. They’re good, but it’s not a range I feel majorly drawn to at the moment.
3 Likes
I’ve only listened to a handful of stories because I’m not sure I can take that much Tom Baker in a row, but a couple that stick in my mind are The Labrynth of Buda Castle (fun), The Abandoned (listened for Stephanie Cole <3 and had fun), and Skin of the Sleek/The Thief Who Stole Time (interesting bit of Romana backstory)
2 Likes
I don’t think I’ve listened to any of those yet.
1 Like
I’ve listened to the last few box sets. They are fine for the most part, but not very memorable or special. Tom sounds visibly older and lacks his usual energy (he’s over 90 so that’s to be expected, but it takes me out of most stories). He’s also mellow and nicer than in his TV stories. I usually listen to them simply because I want to support Tom and listen to his stuff as long as it’s possible, but none of them is among my all-time favourites.
5 Likes
I’ve also only listened to a few stories here and there, and the recent couple of years’ of box sets. My takeaway from those has been that Big Finish’s shyness towards experimentation with the range has harmed it somewhat—while most of what I’ve heard has been fun, not much has been particularly striking or compelling from a story perspective. That being said, some of the recent stuff has been more interesting to me: Blood of the Time Lords and The Wizard of Time were both fun, intriguing and unique.
Four isn’t one of my favourite Doctors, but generally if I want him on audio I go for the Nest Cottage Chronicles—an personal favourite range of mine from BBC Audio.
7 Likes
I’ve listened to a few here and there. I enjoy them a lot. They seem to have picked a lot of good scripts. My only issue is with the way Tom is mic’ed. It sounds like you are in his mouth. 
We’ve discussed before on here about that there is a large backlog of 4th stories recorded, at the insistence of Tom himself. As a testament to this, the sets coming out this year were recoded in 2020.
5 Likes
I’ve listened to every series of these except Series 6 and 9 and honestly it’s such a mixed bag range. Like you can have the absolute highs of Series 5 (The Paradox Planet two-parter is one of my favourite pieces of Big Finish full-stop, The Trouble with Drax is also absolutely incredible and the finale is seriously good aswell) but then there’s absolute lows like Series 8 (I think I only really liked two stories and even then they were only just above average.)
Tom Baker is great and I love 4 but I think this range suffers from quantity over quality. It feels like they’re trying to get as much Tom Baker recorded as physically possible and it leaves you with a lot of mediocre stories.
Still I have to say they’re never boring mainly thanks to Tom Baker and his excellent various companion and when the stars align every now and then you get some absolutely incredible stories.
Well I hope that counts as a bit of rambling as I’ve had a lot to say about the range in general that can’t really be said in reviews and I’ll definitely be listening to the new series out tomorrow as soon as possible since I loved Storm of the Sea Devils.
8 Likes
I’ve listened to a few scattered releases from the first 6 series and while some sre enjoyable I’ve yet to hear any stand outs, and have not listened to a couple of the more acclaimed stories. However series 8 with Ann Kelso is really, really good, and maybe the highlight of the range as it is possibly the most experimental release. Shadow of the Sun is also really good.
I do want to buy this years releases at some point as I’m quite interested!
I feel like most of my preferred Fourth Doctor audios are in other ranges though.
5 Likes
This is true - one of my favourite BF story arcs.
4 Likes
They’re some of the first Big Finish I’ve listened to, so I’ve got a huge soft spot for the early releases, especially series 1. That said, I agree with the sentiment that most of it is just fine. Every now and then we get something special (I’m definitely in the series 8 bandwagon!) but at this point I listen to them more out of habit than anything.
7 Likes
I’m working my way slowly through it, I’m at Series 4 right now, and while I’ve enjoyed it, it’s largely been off the back of Tom and Louise’s fantastic performances. The scripts are certainly a mixed bag, not helped by Nick Briggs both wanting to write all of them, but also not being able to write anything remotely original. I mean, the Exxilons? That’s a push and a half.
But Tom is a delight, truly. He makes every script twinkle and his way with one-liners is marvellous. The behind-the-scenes stuff just shows they’re all having a tremendous time making it. I will say that I didn’t love Mary Tamm in the second series, I don’t think she ever really warmed up to audio (although she is much better on Gallifrey so maybe it’s just this particular series) but it’s fantastic that we’ve got these stories, and also that Tom has been doing them for so long.
8 Likes
Yeah I understand why they would, he is the crown jewel in the BF crown I think considering how popular he is with older fans & how long it took to get him on board. But I agree. Then again I still get them lol
4 Likes
Listened to Matryoshka from the new Fourth Doctor boxset today—really enjoyed it! Very fun, reminded me of The Magic Mousetrap, a fav of mine, with its playful, slightly macabre vibes. And the Toymaker of course!
5 Likes
Finished off Metamorphosis today. Loved The Caged Assassin so much! I think Matthew Sweet is such an underrated writer, he always puts so much wit and whimsy into his scripts. Assassin begins with the Fourth Doctor calmly negotiating with a tiger and never lets up—it’s wild and wonderful and a lot of fun.
Metamorphosis was a bit of a letdown relatively. Just a standard confrontation with the Master, although I really liked the alien planet and Geoffrey Beevers always shines!
7 Likes
I love Matthew Sweet, not just his Doctor Who stuff but all the stuff he does.
5 Likes
Matthew Sweet is excellent as the interviewer in the In Conversation… series on the Collection Blu-ray sets.
4 Likes
I’m not a fan of Sweet - I loathe Year of the Pig (never has a Doctor Who story felt more like it revelled in being something I disliked) and didn’t like his 50th anniversary doc at all. But I did like his Invasion of the Dinosaurs doc so I’m willing to give his Collection interviews a chance. I just find him a bit too clever by half in his manner sometimes.
2 Likes
Looking at the schedule, you’ll be able to tell us all about it in October 2025.
2 Likes
can we just shove the fourth doctor slap-bang in the middle of the time war for absolutely no reason? Or explore the character arc he goes on which makes him into the more sombre season 18 doctor, I want a story where Four is pushed to his absolute limits, all the true horrors of the universe come out and he can’t be the whimsical witty person he is always and it breaks him. Idk he strikes me as a doctor who is so excited to see the wonders of the universe after being stuck on Earth for so long, but clearly between seasons 17 and 18 he’s lost some of that spark and I want to know why. (spit balling here but I hope ya’ll get what I mean)
7 Likes