Part 1: Cigar cards from Cadet
A simple story that seems like an early rough draft of the dalek intro episodes. Very much pulpy, clinical, without enough artistic merit to be recognizably Who today. Still, like the ideas of the “computer brain” from the first draft merged with the bug eyed monsters we know and hate today.
This is the one where the Daleks throw a banquet for the Doctor!
It always amuses me that so much of 60s expanded universe stuff seems to only have glanced at a quick synopsis of the show and never seem to have actually watched an episode!
Not the daleks lol. They all died
Part 2: One Virtue and a Thousand Crimes
While this story does feature a brief dialogue exchange between the Corsair and 1, it is more or less a solo adventure for the Corsair, as she is trying to deliver some smuggled bounties for 13 (or maybe Fugitive Jo, she only said “she” when referring to the doctor). A neat little adventure that I can’t help but wonder if it would make a lot more sense if I read the whole collection it came in.
While we wait for the Cadet cards to be added to the main site (
) - here’s the review I wrote for my blog when it was going though a bit of a Voord-fest:
I never thought I’d be researching cigarette sweet cards 
Doctor Who is the gift that keeps on giving.
Part 3: The Exiles
Find it quite odd that our first story since the exile from Gallifrey has no explanation for why he and Susan were exiled, especially given the pre-War eons. This story feels like the written equivalent of a Hartnell era episode. One take, no proofreading, in a collection with dozens upon dozens of stories. A fitting writing style for this era, and for once we get a story starring 1 with 1’s personality fleshed out (unlike the cigar pictures) to what we know him as today. Phenomenal and pulpy, a real treat!
Part 4: The Beginning
Now we’re getting somewhere! Directly after the exile, the TARDIS finally appears, rickety circuitry and all. A great excursion to Earth, it won’t be the last! Was a little weird to hear Susan voicing the doctor, but this is my first time with Big Finish, so I might get used to it
Your first Big Finish! Wow! Welcome to a whole new world of Doctor Who!
Here’s what I thought about The Beginning - I liked it:
I admit, i probably should’ve talked about my thoughts on the Earth adventure, but it strangely wasn’t the highlight here.
Part 5: Frayed
This one took me a while, it’s pretty long for a novella. It’s pretty spooky, and the highlights for me include
The Doctor getting his moniker
The person who gave it being named after one of my tulpas (coincidentally)
Susan being nonbinary
THE EVIL FOX BABIES
