What audio were you really excited to listen to and it ended up surpassing your expectations gradually?
For me it was Arrangements for War. All I knew is that it continues Evelyn’s story, but I ended up with a tense political thriller, amazing work done by Gabriel Woolf and one of Colin Baker’s absolute best performances ever.
Scherzo. I knew it was meant to be brilliant, but it still blew my expectations completely out of the water
I can say right now that Spare Parts let me down because I didn’t enjoy it as much as I thought.
But in terms of episodes I thought I wouldn’t like - The Council of Nicea and The Kingmaker both jump to mind. Five on audio and historicals are two things that often don’t work for me but I was very pleasantly suprised to enjoy both a lot!
Oh yeah, I agree, amazing work
Haven’t done those yet, but the names of the audios are noted for the future :3
I’ve been meaning to listen to The Kingmaker, I might have to bump it up the list a few places
Well the 11th Doctor and Valarie audios spring to mind 
So many people on here have praised them so much that I really didn’t think they could stand up to expectations. But they do, and then some.
Still got the final two stories to go, and I am hoping to get to them this weekend 
Another vote here for the Eleventh Doctor and Valarie audios. Superb (especially “Broken Hearts”.
I’ll also add “Torchwood: Fall to Earth”. Still my stand out from a range I’ve only just delved into. “One Rule” was also a surprise for all the right reasons! I gather I have some superb stuff ahead, but I’ve got quite a way to go yet.
Finally, “The War Master: Only the Good”. Gobsmackingly good. I adored these.
(Great thread, by the way, @Five_Hundredth_Drax)
Broken in the Torchwood Monthly Range.
I’d heard a lot of amazing things about Broken, it was penned by one of my favourite writers and is the highest rated Torchwood audio currently on TARDISguide but for some reason I was still weary.
I think it’s because I didn’t find Fall to Earth to be quite as good as some people made it out to be (it was still good but the reputation made it look earth-shattering)
Broken however lives up the hype. Jesus Christ, I love Ianto so much.
Genuinely one of the most touching, intelligently written, exciting and necessary character pieces I’ve ever experienced, Ianto really needed a story like this after Torchwood Series One botched what could’ve been the best member of the cast.
Between this and Broken Hearts, I should expect any story with “broken” in the name to blow me out of the water.
I’m seconding The Council of Nicea. I remember expecting it to be generic if not boring, but it ended up being one of my favorite Who stories ever
On the other end of the spectrum, I remember being really excited for Lucie Miller/To The Death because I’d seen everyone praise it, and then it really didn’t work for me on any level
I had the opposite reaction to Broken. Everyone hyped it up so much as a perfect fix-all for Jack and Ianto’s relationship, and I felt it really fell flat in the aspect. It didn’t fill in the gaps I was told it would, and only left me with more questions. It’s still a really good audio, but I personally feel it doesn’t live up to the hype.
Scaredy Cat. Everyone said it was awful, and it ended up being one of my favourite audios to date!
I enjoyed Scardey Cat. It wasn’t outstanding but I never understood the hate it got.
The Doctor and Valerie audios. I got them because I love him trying to find Clara but didn’t know if it would live up to my expectations. They did and can’t wait to listen to Everything and Anywhere once I finish the previous one.
I thought the title was referring to audios that we had high expectations for but ended up falling flat/playing out not as we hoped.
But to answer the actual question, the most recent audio I can think of was the Quin Dilemma to an extent. The first story was great, but towards the middle I started to get a bit bored. It wasn’t until “The Thousand Year Thaw” where I was glued to the screen again, so to speak. Out of Quin’s six stories, the fifth and sixth managed to be fantastic enough that I can say that I enjoyed the entire set.
I didn’t think I’d like 100 B.C. because that era in history isn’t one I’m particularly fond of, but it’s one of my favorite audios. Swipe Right I thought I’d be annoyed by, but I enjoyed that also.
My most recent listen would be Eleven/ Valerie, but its been cited already so I’ll add the first Missy story.
I loved Michelle Gomez’ characterisation of Missy so was really looking forward to the boxset, but it was even more fun than I expected and I loved the weaving in of her outfit.
The Dalby Spook
I absolutely love the Dalby Spook and the best part is my favourite character (/j btw), Gef the talking space mongoose, but most reviews seem to hate this story.
Didn’t particularly like this one but glad you got something out of it
Mostly it’s just the usual suspects like Zagreus and Scherzo, or pretty much the Eighth Doctor audios in general. A lot of them are far from perfect but they are very special to me as a whole and I’m so glad I chose to listen to them after seeing people rave so much about them online.
Also I can’t remember if I went into the Natural History of Fear with expectations but it certainly surpassed them if I did. It’s still one of my faves.
Doctor Who and the Pirates was also a big one, I wasn’t entirely sure what to expect the first time I listened but I love that story sm. Also Afterlife.
There’s also obviously the Eleventh Doctor audios with Valerie. I wasn’t expecting Jacob Dudman to be THAT GOOD but he totally is.
Also more recently there’s the Truth of Peladon which I went into with little to no expectations (just something to tick off the list really) but that was an instant five stars from me.
Unfortunately I’ve also been let down by my fair share of stories but I wont get into that now lol.
Gotta be The Sontaran Ordeal from CDNM1, the rest of the boxset was very average and I thought the Sontarans were a bit of an odd choice for the range so my expectations were low, but I loved every second of it, an easy 10/10 for me which I wasn’t expecting