Doctor Who: Classic Doctors New Monsters

Payday tomorrow so I can finally get the new set soon :heart_eyes:

6 Likes

Haha for a moment I thought “does he know who he’s talking to” :sweat_smile:

3 Likes

Really enjoyed both The Krillitane Feint and The Dying Breed!

3 Likes

Faithful Friends has genuinely been one of the strongest sets I’ve heard in quite some time. Haven’t gotten to the final story yet but absolutely adored The Krillitane Relic other than how underutilised Ray is.

4 Likes

Don’t tell Delta… He’ll be so upset.

5 Likes

He shouldn’t be upset about the truth!!

2 Likes

What an incredible ending to Faithful Friends! I’ve always read 8 as one of the more alien, and aromantic Doctors despite him always trying to act like a hopeless romantic human. And this story really shows that side a lot, but also shows that ant manipulation he does is always out of a love of humanity, and a misunderstanding of human nuances as opposed to malice. All my other thoughts in the review above!

Just a fantastic set all round, with no stinkers.

4 Likes

Finished The Krillitane Feint this morning. Good stuff. I haven’t heard a huge amount of Michael Troughton as the Doctor but he was really good here and I found myself generally able to imagine the the 2nd Doctor (similarly my recent listen of The Scream of Ghosts found me settling into Tim Treloar’s 3rd Doctor much more).

I think I must have accidentally skimmed over a comment about dopplegangers (it may even have been on approving an edit on the main site) because I very quickly realised something was up with the trio. But actually, having listened to John Dorney in the extras I also think it was because something just felt slightly off about them. And of course, this was deliberate. The lack of giddy aunts and Scottishisms now seems obvious but it was a very clever way of hinting all was not as it should be. I found myself a little bit unsettled by what I was listening to - in a good way.

Beyond that, though, it was a fairly ordinary base under siege - the monsters are inside with us story which was fun but nothing spectacular. 3.5/5 for the clever twist writing.

8 Likes

Jumped ahead to The Dying Breed because after the Fugitive Doctor release I wanted some more Chibnall era in my ears. Really enjoyed it.

6 Likes

Listened to a few more while working from home. The Sontaran Ordeal just felt like a Time War story. Night of the Vashta Nerada, was a fun mix of their TV story with Jurassic Park & Alien, some interesting supporting characters. Empire of the Racnoss was almost unlistenable, all the screeching :hear_no_evil:

4 Likes

Now this was great, the Carrionites are an adversary perfectly suited to Sixie.

4 Likes

I love that story. As you said, they’re a monster better suited for him than Ten, but I really liked how the overall audio ended. I’m a sucker for miserable Six lol. The beginning of it, though, drew me in with him willingly playing the part of the clown to entertain the children. That was too cute. The relationship between him and the main female character was nice also; it was nice how she was more on the gothier side in terms of her appearance. I bet they had some nice contrasts walking down the street haha.

3 Likes

Day of the Vashta Nerada was fine, unmemorable tbh.

The House That Hoxx Built was a fun haunted house story, although the Hoxx didn’t seem that crucial to the plot.

3 Likes

The Tivolian Who Knew Too Much was great fun. Some City of Death vibes here & there with Tom on fine form. A nice humorous riff on the Hitchcockian innocent man caught up in an espionage plot. Only this time it’s a Tivolian. A few easter eggs for cinefiles too.

5 Likes

Now, then: Faithful Friends.

I’m sure I remember BF saying that this range of Classic Doctors New Monsters might have come to an end a while back, but reassuringly the ‘hits’, as they say, ‘keep on coming.’

To me, this is what BF excels at—exploring characters and events that are often impossible in the high-speed world of an average television production. As the umbrella title may or may not imply, there is a theme here, that your friends might not be what they seem. With obscured identities featuring in three of the four stories, this could be regarded as repetition, but the stories are so good - I mean, just look at the two writers featured - that all is forgiven.

I really enjoyed John Dorney’s two Krillitane tales, both featuring good performances from their respective Doctors. It’s great how the recasts have slotted in effortlessly alongside the originals. For Sylvester, great stories have been few and far between for the last few years, so it is good to hear him tackling something as interesting as this. I also like the way Ray is suddenly simply ‘there’ as his companion. Her presence has been on fans’ wishlists for a while, and here she is. It’s up to the listener to decide how her older self hooked up with The Doctor, and I have no problem with that at all. Sara Griffiths has modified her Welsh accent too - something the actress was not happy with in Delta and the Bannermen; I hope we hear more from Ray.

With Tim Foley’s Five Hundred Ways to Leave Your Lover, I appreciated doing the unexpected, and the dialogue was often very witty and appealing, but I’m not really into ‘rom-coms’ and had hoped to feature more about the Monks. For their lengthy appearance on television, we never knew much about them. It’s a nice story, just not really my cuppa.

The Dying Breed is exactly how things should be done, in my view. We get the Lupari in a very different environment to how they were in Flux, and really add flesh to their bones, as well as setting up future events. This might be my favourite story in this highly recommended set.

Have I gone on a bit?

3 Likes