AND HERE COMES MASTERPLAN WITH THE STEEL CHAIR
God, Alex Macqueen is good, isn’t he? The Doctor and Master’s interactions were electric here. The side plot was good too, with the misguided scientist man. The way the Master actually sort of grieved his pseudo-companion was interesting - “i wish it was you who died Liv Chenka” is about as much grief as he’s capable of expressing but it was still neat.
Easily the best Dark Eyes story so far.
The Time Vampire was so, so shit.
Quick note to Companion Chronicles writers; stop trying to make complicated time-travel/format screw/Rashomon plots work when the parts of the story will end up being released months apart. I was clearly meant to have been paying much more attention to those Leela stories I listened to two weeks ago because I literally have no idea what is going on in this one at all, and if any of the actors try and give me bullshit in the BTS saying they understood it too, I will be very cross.
Gave Legacy of Time a relisten for the first time since it came out, after chatting about it with @BillFiler up there in this thread somewhere, and I did get more out of this time so will have to go amend my scores on the Guide.
Lies in Ruins is still messy but I didn’t dislike it this time. McGann’s performance was the highlight for me last time and the same is true on the relisten but I found Benny and River working together far less grating this time.
Split Infinitive was a more fun listen as well, but still fairly lightweight for a big prestige release, which I think was my problem when I first listened to it. Lies in Ruins is a BIG story for such a release but I had other issues with it, whereas this one is actually very well put together but I couldn’t shake a, “So what?” kind of reaction.
The Sacrifice of Jo Grant (the only one I’d relistened to since it came out) is still the best of the bunch. Absolutely brilliant.
Relative Time improved again over the first listen but, as with Split Infinitive, it still didn’t feel big enough for a special release like this. Georgia Tennant here is really good and I don’t know how I missed that last time.
The Avenues of Possibility was one of the better ones when I first listened and this time improved even more. Again, I wish the whole boxset had a bit more of an epic quality given its existence as a huge big anniversary spectacular but this one is quietly brilliant, even if it still lacks the spectacle I was hoping for on release, and still think there should have been.
Collision Course, as with Lies in Ruins, is still messy but whereas Lies in Ruins was easily my least favourite last time, I’d say Collision Course currently is. Everything coming together felt more neat this time but the episode itself still feels all over the place. The Doctors all together is fun but there was no need for Bradley, Hines or Tennant’s cameos and, in fact, that they only come together for the latter part feels less like a climax and more like this particular story just being split into two.
Either way, glad I was compelled to relisten because I had a far better time than I did 5 years ago!
I was almost a bit worried I oversold it 
But I’m glad to hear you enjoyed it.
As it is such a “special event release” I was a bit trepidatious about it after listening to Once and Future which I found rather underwhelming, lowered expectations is often a good thing for me when experiencing something new to me. I think I am going to wait a year or so for a second listen, so as not to “kill the magic” so to speak since I enjoyed it so much 
And I think you are right when saying The Sacrifice of Jo Grant is the standout story - it is brilliant, and Katy Manning absolutely kills it emotionally
I listened to The Teeth of Ice - a chilling base under siege that tried to do yet another new thing with werewolves. 6/10.
I also listened to Spear of Destiny from the 15 Doctors, 15 Stories anthology. @Tian will be happy to know that it takes place in Uppsala with Three, Jo and Vikings! It’s a mixed bag for me - it’s a very formulaic and rushed story that suggests that the gods from Norse mythology were real people and that Odin’s spear is the same spear that was thrust into Jesus when he hung on the cross. Oh, and the Master is in it but does nothing. The narration is pretty flat, too. But at least it teaches everyone that the Vikings named one of their weekdays after their bathing day (Sarurday). 5/10.
Now they just have to find Stockholm. We are getting closer 
Finished 1634: The Galileo Affair this morning, fun book. Now if listening to this week’s Doctor’s Beard Patreon episode. Then it’ll be starting Dominant Species, the final story of FDA Series 13.
One of my closest pals is going through the 11DCs for the first time so I told him I’d listen to Broken Hearts again so we could discuss it like an audio club <3
And yeah, I almost cried again. This story is just a perfect encapsulation of everything I love about Doctor Who, and such a fantastic character drama. Beautifully acted on both fronts. Engaging and emotional story, both in the A and B plots. And a fantastic deconstruction and criticism of 11’s worst character traits that helps adds so much depth to him.
Incredible. 11/11
Oh, and glad to hear that you like Podcast Republic! I don’t think I can help with the podcasts though, because a lot of the ones I listen to regularly are ones you wouldn’t like…
I’m always open to changing my mind. 
About 20 minutes into The End and the script is just zinger after zinger. Brilliant conceit and Dudman gets better and better. Valerie is great but I imagine @realdoctor wouldn’t approve of the ‘monster’
They loved it too <3
My plan for yesterday evening is to choose a random 8th Doctor audio and fall asleep halfway through. It doesn’t matter much because nine out of ten I’d be relistening. But no. I pressed play Twenty-Four Doors in December and it was amazing. I couldn’t let myself drift into sleep when the Doctor was staying on Earth for an entire month and planning a Christmas party for kids in hospital. So I kept on. And on. And on. Till I finished the entire In The Bleak Midwinter boxset and it’s nearly four in the morning.
Now I only have Charlotte Pollard - The Further Adventuress left in 8DA so the natural thing to do is start The Mummy Speaks!. Finally I passed out 20 mins in.
TORCHWOOD: Ghost Mission
A James Goss script is always a good sign. Also, my first audio with Andy. Wow! That was good! Andy Davidson (now Sergeant Andy) was fantastic. Lovely to hear him coping with alien weirdness and such a rewarding experience to actually hear him demonstrating initiative and saving the day. It is, of course, a fantastic story that treads that wonderful tightrope between real world mundanity (cafés and dreary Welsh weather) and sci fi weirdness/horror. This is the territory that ‘Torchwood’ excels at, and perfectly demonstrates the X factor that Doctor Who has as its stock-in-trade.
Talking of X factor; Samuel Barnett as Norton Folgate? Abso-bally-lutely fantastic! Please tell me that we haven’t heard the last of Norton? Sheer delight to listen to. He and Andy were a pitch perfect double act. This was magical!
So, until now, there have been two Torchwood audio episodes that have stood head and shoulders above the rest so far; ‘Fall to Earth’ and ‘One Rule’ I’ve also rated More Than This’ and ‘Forgotten Lives’ highly, but, yowzer, I have a new favourite. ‘Ghost Mission’ rules.
Loved it to bits! 
‘The End’ is truly great, isn’t it? A really inventive tale. And, no, I wasn’t really bothered by the time spiders. Quite happy if they’re alien/otherworldly creatures. What I object to is Earthly spider species being portrayed in a dishonest/inaccurate/misleading way. Time spiders are clearly something else. A pretty cool concept in a hugely inventive and emotional episode
So pretty accurate for the era then /hj
Oh, we absolutely haven’t!
I didn’t think so. That’s the lovely thing about missing out on these first time around is that I’m genuinely discovering things as I go (and enjoying the ride). It’s lovely sharing my thoughts with you all as I gradually uncover more. I know that there’s a strong Torchwood One thread to be explored (which I’m looking forward to immensely after ‘One Rule’. Obviously the Committee is going to be a hugely significant element. Less sold on that at the moment, but it has potential (moreso after ‘Ghost Mission’. Now… Norton Folgate. A very interesting development indeed. Samuel Beckett is so good in the role and I’m genuinely fascinated to see where his part in all this goes next.
And Big Finish took note, there’s 2 more stories in the Main Range with those two, two more with him and no Andy (not counting brief cameo in Death of Captain Jack), and then he just keeps popping up in every other side of Torchwood, with Soho being a dedicated spinoff for him and Andy!
I think the only TW range he’s not been in at all is TW1
Continuing The Committee’s plotline is a little weird, I think the best way to keep going with it is listening to Aliens Among Us and God Among Us some time after Deadbeat Escape, and then Torchwood Archive some time after that (it’s not quite release order but I think that’s the best way to do it)