The Monthly Adventures #79 - “Night Thoughts” by Edward Young
Listening to this one was a headache. A bizarrely well loved chiller that ends up being one of the most utterly confusing scripts I’ve ever listened to. An embarrassing mess that made zero sense and felt like a bad B-movie - 3/10
The Monthly Adventures #80 - “Time Works” by Steve Lyons
A gorgeous bit of world building formed from a fantastic idea and some really stellar writing. Probably the most evocative and beautiful the Main Range ever got. The story doesn’t match its world in quality but still one of the most impressive Monthly Adventures - 8/10
I thought this one okay,gave it 3 stars but glead you enjoyed it.
The Monthly Adventures #81 - “The Kingmaker” by Nev Fountain
A genuinely brilliant comedy that plays with an impressive number of ideas, which all comes seamlessly together. A really intelligent script that wasn’t actually all that compelling when it came to plot - 8/10
The Monthly Adventures #82 - “The Settling” by Simon Guerrier
Hex gets some world class character development and 1600s Ireland is brilliantly realised but the plot’s lacking a cohesiveness that would’ve made everything a lot tighter. The script feels very jumpy and a little plotless - 7/10
The Monthly Adventures #83 - “Something Inside” by Trevor Baxendale
Pretty average and tropey but with a stellar cast and some inspired ideas. Would’ve benefitted massively from a little more commitment to a certain tone rather than a bland briskness but still not a painful listen - 6/10
The Monthly Adventures #84 - “The Nowhere Place” by Nicholas Briggs
A really great premise is squandered by classic Briggsy technobabble. Still an engaging story but lacking in both focus and atmosphere - 7/10
The Monthly Adventures #85 - “Red” by Stewart Sheargold
Absolutely incredible atmosphere from start to finish in one of the darkest Doctor Who stories ever. Throw in some fascinating world building and you have all the ingredients of a masterpiece. Shame the plot is so plodding and convoluted - 7/10
The Monthly Adventures #86 - “The Reaping” by Joseph Lidster
Christ, Lidster really likes ripping your heart out and stamping on it, doesn’t he? Yet another marvelous character piece, where Peri shines and the Cybermen are at their most tragic. I’m not a fan of how the focus shifts away from our characters towards the end but this is still one of my favourite Lidster scripts - 9/10
The Monthly Adventures #87 - “The Gathering” by Joseph Lidster
And the world’s most heartbreaking duology continues. The themes are even stronger here and I love their link to the previous story, but a thinner plot and some iffy pacing make it just a little worse than its companion episode - 8/10
The Monthly Adventures #88 - “Memory Lane” by Eddie Robson
A super fun idea box with a great idea and greater execution. At this point in Charley and C’rizz’s arcs, I am expecting a little more on the character development side of things, but this is still an absolute blast to listen to - 9/10
The Monthly Adventures #89 - “No Man’s Land” by Martin Day
A slow burn script for a story that needed a little more action. Thematically rich and brilliantly realised but hampered by an absolute slog of a story. A few more drafts might have made this one a classic, but as it stands, it’s not a favourite of mine - 6/10
The Monthly Adventures #90 - “Year of the Pig” by Matthew Sweet
Considering I really didn’t take to The Magic Mousetrap when I first listened to it, I was pleasantly surprised with how much I enjoyed Year of the Pig, especially considering its less than stellar reputation. Could it be cut down? Yes, but this is still a personality-filled romp with a ridiculously strong cast - 8/10
The Monthly Adventures #91 - “Circular Time” by Paul Cornell and Mike Maddox
The Monthly Adventures’s first anthology is a thematically rich and stunningly deep character piece with wonderfully poetic concepts: at least for half of it. This was a good first outing for this kind of format, but it was noticeably rough around the edges - 7/10
The Monthly Adventures #92 - “Nocturne” by Dan Abnett
A story with all the ingredients to be a fun - if generic - bit of Doctor Who, but it constantly shoots itself in the foot with trope after trope. There are some really great moments in this one, but none that truly make it rise above mediocrity - 5/10
Also, this just so happens to be my 200th review!