Join the Doctor, Charley and Audacity as they meet some deadly strangers.
Thought I’d kick off a topic to chat about the new Eighth Doctor box set.
Puccini and the Doctor get a 4/5 from me.
Really enjoyed this story about love. This Tardis team works really well. I think the last box set played down the romantic tension between the Doctor and Charley that was present this part of their original adventures together so it’s nice for it to make a return here.
The use of Madame Butterfly is also nice way to link the story to the TV movie.
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I’m hoping to find the time to listen to this set this week! It looks very promising!
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Women’s Day Off gets a 3.5/5 from me
Nice story with some good banter between the two companions. The main let down is not using the setting. The Women’s March doesn’t really tie into the plot or themes of the main story. The painless/paneless joke really made me laugh.
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The Gloaming Gets a 4
Another strong story. The Mara was sufficiently creepy. Enjoyed both Charley and Audacity getting to do a silly voice.
I wonder who the note of the Tardis was from. My guess is River Song. It seems like the kind of thing she’d do
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Puccini and the Doctor was well written, well acted, if Charley/Eight is your kind of thing it is great on that front, Audacity is wonderful, and really all of it is very good.
And I hated it. Objectively, I can see that it is a good episode which is why I gave it a 3/5, but it’s full of all the tropes that drive me mental about ~love~ being what makes us human and I personally find the ‘romance’ of Charley and Eight quite unbearable. At least Audactiy wasn’t forced to change her opinion of romance and given a love interest because that would have irritated me enough to give it a low rating. I think also this is a function of it being me listening to it in a week where I’ve been arguing with people about being aro, so it’s put me in a bad mood, so I will revisit this with a more open mind one day probably.
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Of the 3 concurrent 8th Doctor tardis teams, this one is probably my favorite as a team, but I think they’ve been getting by far the weakest scripts. They’re not bad, they’re fine, there’s even bits I liked, but compared to the other 2 sets we got this year, it falls flat. None of these stood out to me as anything special
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Got to say I disagree. thought this was the best set with this team so far. But interesting to hear your opinion.
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I like sets 1 and 2 (haven’t listened to 3 yet), but honestly they shot themselves in the foot by making an entire set Christmas themed because we didn’t have any actual interactions with the whole team yet by that point… and we’re making their first few adventures monothematic
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Loved this set! I really really loved Puccini and gave it a 4.5, and loved The Gloaming and gave it a 4. I liked Women’s Day Off but didn’t love it because it felt to me like it barely used the actual setting. Gave it a 3.5.
Love this TARDIS Team though and I’ve enjoyed all 3 sets so far.
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Puccini and the Doctor was fine, a solid if unremarkable adventure.
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The previous story didn’t make much use of the historical character, & this makes even less use of its historical setting. A shame given how we’ve had great stories like The Peterloo Massacre. A pretty dull story with the historical event a rather unimportant backdrop.
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The Gloaming. A rather lacklustre ending to a rather lacklustre boxset. I enjoyed the previous sets with this TARDIS Team, nothing oustanding but fun. This one, a noticeable dip in quality 
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Puccini and the Doctor: Really liked this one. Easily my favorite of the whole Boxset. While the Story maybe goes a bit overboard with its romantic Aspect (really they could have it a little), it gives us a very different kind of 8 closer to the TV Movie than we had for a while, I’d argue (no surprise considering who wrote this one). It’s a fairly simple Story, but this where its success for me the most. Especially the Opening is quite lovely and of course the ending as well is very nice. Our Tardis Trio is used really well here, and I just had a good Time with it. Madame Butterfly is just a great Character for this kind of Story!
Women’s Day Off: Probably a bit controversial, but I really didn’t like this one. I hate to judge a Story on the based of What could have been and I certainly won’t do it with this one, but I can’t hide some Disapointment here. The Historic Setting is used fairly well at the beginning but feels so unimportant later down the line in the Story. What we get instead is a Story that can remind you of ‘Carrie’, which is a solid Idea, sadly its Execution just annoys me. It feels super repetitive, with the Doctor running around trying to calm this Girl for most of the Runtime. And while I REALLY liked the ending, as well as the Banter between Audacity & Charley, this one just leaves a lot to desired for me.
The Gloaming: Probably the most mixed Bag Story of the Set. I LOVE how Audacity calls out one of the Sleepers, it’s done so well and is easily my favorite Scene of the whole Set. India plays the possessed Charley to great Effect and gives the Mara a lot of it. The entire setting does fit perfectly for a Mara Story, and I enjoyed myself for most of it, but I wish we had more Time to flesh out certain Things. It was a bit hectic at times and not in intentional Way to enhance its Atmosphere I feel. Still I had a great Time with this one!
The Set starts strong, then dips down quite a lot and picks up a bit. Probably my least favorite Audacity Set that we have gotten so far, I must admit. Still a lot to like here!
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Nah, it was my least favourite in the set for pretty much the same reasons. I gave it a ‘this was basically fine’ rating of 2 1/2 stars
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Also agreed on the second story
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I really only liked the first episode 
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I really like Gloaming but Puccini is definitely the best of the 3 by a significant margin
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