As some of you may have noticed, I have a thread on TARDISguide where I’m putting all my reviews of a very long and very slow marathon of The Monthly Adventures.
Why is it so slow? Because I keep doing things like this.
I’m taking a quick break from the Main Range due to a recent string of middle of the road flops and decided I’d finally get around to listening to the first season of the 8DAs - a huge blindspot in my listening catalogue I’d been meaning to get around to for ages now.
So, whilst I was at it, I’d thought I’d create a second thread for any Big Finish reviews I want to post that aren’t the Main Range, since I am planning on exploring some other audio series too and don’t want to clog up my main thread with them.
Same as before, feel free to ignore this post if you aren’t interested but if you are, I would very much appreciate a like on the review, it always means a lot.
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The 8th Doctor Adventures #1.1 - “Blood of the Daleks: Part One” by Steve Lyons
Decent pilot but bland script. Lucie seems promising and McGann delivers a great performance but I can’t really glean much about the series yet. I’m optimistic however and hoping Part Two delivers - 7/10
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Lucie Miller is fantastic and I love her <3 and she gets some really good stories on her run!
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The 8th Doctor Adventures #1.2 - “Blood of the Daleks: Part Two” by Steve Lyons
Pilots tend to get preoccupied with their function and gloss over the story. Whilst not as egregious as some examples, I do find Blood of the Daleks a little bit light on story and a bit too hooked on spectacle. Not quite as atmospheric as the first part, but a decent action story - 6/10
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The 8th Doctor Adventures #1.3 - “Horror of Glam Rock” by Paul Magrs
Glam Rock is one of my favourite genres, so going into this I was expecting a good time. Just a solid episode all around - it doesn’t blow you away, but it is a decent bit of scriptwriting, which is all anybody can really ask for - 7/10
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The 8th Doctor Adventures #1.4 - “Immortal Beloved” by Jonathan Clements
Immortal Beloved is a really annoying story, because it posits a brilliant idea and then leaves it underdeveloped in place of something far less interesting. A great performance and hints of a good world don’t justify this one for me - 5/10
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The 8th Doctor Adventures #1.5 - “Phobos” by Eddie Robson
A fun if flawed monster of the week story that absolutely does not deserve to be on the lowest rated in this range. Eddie Robson is a very talented writer and even in a slightly lesser story, he still gives you a good time - 6/10
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The 8th Doctor Adventures #1.6 - “No More Lies” by Paul Sutton
A genuinely beautiful and haunting character piece that shot itself in the foot trying to feel more like a normal episode of Doctor Who. Paul Sutton blew me out of the water once again with his bittersweet character drama but he really needs to focus on what he does best - 7/10
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The 8th Doctor Adventures #1.7 - “Human Resources: Part One” by Eddie Robson
A fantastic opener to a hopefully great season finale. I really love stuff that plays on the innately bizarre nature of corporate life, so this one was right up my alley. Here’s hoping Part Two pays it off - 8/10
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The 8th Doctor Adventures #1.8 - “Human Resources: Part Two” by Eddie Robson
We we’re going so strong and then we really weren’t. From the absolute high of the season to the absolute low in my opinion, the first season of the 8DAs concludes with a bit of damp squib that trips and falls over a confused conclusion - 5/10
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The 8th Doctor Adventures - Series One: CONCLUSION
I’ve heard a lot about the 8DAs. Home to some fan favourite characters and episodes, it’s commonly cited as one of Big Finish’s best runs and it’s been one I’ve been meaning to get around to for ages now. Whilst I wasn’t disappointed, it hasn’t blown me away.
I think McGann is consistently on his A-game here, he doesn’t seem to have a single bad performance anywhere, but the real star of the show is Sheridan Smith. Lucie has very quickly risen in my estimations and I think I can safely call her my favourite Eight companion at the moment; her chemistry with McGann is electric. In addition to this, I think Katarina Olson killed as the Headhunter - a very fun character I’m excited to see return.
The series arc could’ve been a lot stronger in my opinion. The central mystery of what Lucie’s deal was engaged me decently enough and I enjoyed the occasional appearance of the Headhunter but its downfall came in the form of that finale, which basically swept all of that build up under the rug.
I should also point out that the Doctor and Lucie’s relationship, whilst enjoyable, came out of nowhere. They went from at each other’s throats to best friends in between episodes and what really could’ve benefitted the season was an episode in between Blood of the Daleks and Horror of Glam Rock, where their relationship could be properly defined.
Whilst not blow you away brilliant, Series One was an engaging run of episodes, with some brilliant characters and a couple really fun stories. I’m still waiting for something to really wow me but I’m definitely going to look into the buying the next season so stay tuned.
Final Ranking:
- Human Resources: Part One - 8/10
- No More Lies - 7/10
- Horror of Glam Rock - 7/10
- Blood of the Daleks: Part One - 7/10
- Phobos - 6/10
- Blood of the Daleks: Part Two - 6/10
- Immortal Beloved - 5/10
- Human Resources: Part Two - 5/10
Overall Score - 6.4/10
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If there’s one thing about the 8DAs, they are both very bingeable and a breath of fresh air from the backend of the 8 MR stories in terms of pacing. S1, while not being anything groundbreaking for the most part has a soft spot in my heart because it’s just plain fun. Things do get even better from here though!
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