Started the Kerblam! audiobook yesterday.
I’m about a third of the way through and quite enjoying it 
8 Likes
Finished set “I, Davros” with The Davros Mission 4/5
Good, but a little boring with all the talks. And the end was exciting
9 Likes
This past week I have listened to:
BBV: The Rani Reaps the Whirlwind 3/5
Not a bad little story. Plot was interesting, but a little thin. The cast did an excellent job. It’s a shame there isn’t more of this series.
BBV: The I: I Scream 4/5
I Scream is an excellent story. The world is established quickly, and with enough detail, to really help set the foundation for the story. The world itself is interesting, and it feels like a fully realised planet that could exist in 80’s Who. The heavy lifting of this story is done by Lisa Bowerman. Having a real pro in the story makes a world of difference. This might be my favourite release from BBV. Then again, I am a big fanny of Benny/Lisa.
BBV: Wirrn: Race Memory 3/5
Race Memory is an OK story. This is a simple tale that has its ups and downs. The idea presented is interesting, but sadly it is handled in a fairly simple way that means it doesn’t live up to its potential. There are some moments where I couldn’t follow exactly where people were in relation to others, but that may have been a fault from my end. The acting is solid, with Sarah Sutton redeeming herself compared to her acting in some early Big Finish releases.
BBV: The Wanderer 01: Cyber-Hunt 4/5
I really loved Cyber-Hunt. The story wasn’t anything special, but after a run of mediocre BBV releases, this one really stands out. This serial could easily have been a full on Doctor Who release. Nicolas Briggs penned something that easily could have had the Eighth Doctor vs the Cybermen.
Briggs also brought a solid Doctor-esq performance to the table that felt very familiar. The acting across the board was solid.
The only real downside was some of the audio mixing was a bit off. Another pass was needed to balance the levels. Other than that I was impressed with this release.
BBV: The Wanderer 02: Vital Signs 4/5
While the plot to Vital Signs is fairly simple, it did keep me engaged the whole way through. The cast of characters, and their interplay, is what really held this serial together.
The acting is top-notch, with Nicolas Briggs giving another great Doctor-esq performance.
Like the previous The Wanderer release, the real downside to this serial is that sounds mixing is all over the place. I had trouble hearing some of the performances due to such quiet mixing, while other actors in the same scene were too loud. The music sometimes drowned out the vocals too.
BBV: The Stranger 01: The Last Mission 3/5
The Last Mission is a rather plodding serial. While there are some interesting concepts, twists and turns, there just wasn’t anything that I could grab onto to really pull me into the world.
While not being familiar with the previous The Stranger home video releases, this release didn’t really have any onboarding to the series as a whole, thus it left me a bit lost.
The voice acting was great but, like previous BBV releases, the sound mixing was all over the place.
Overall, the release was a mixed bag. Not bad enough to dismiss, but not good enough to really enjoy.
BBV: The Stranger 02: Eye of the Storm 2.5/5
Eye of the Storm is a boring and confusing serial in The Stranger series. While the characters are interesting, the story just doesn’t do anything for me. It very much feels like everything of substance happens in the last 10 minutes.
There isn’t anything to hate about this release, it just doesn’t have anything worth listening to again in it.
My rating system
5.0 Perfect/Fav
4.5 Excellent/Fav
4.0 Very Good
3.5 Good
3.0 Fine/Average
2.5 Meh
2.0 Bad
1.0 Very Bad
Now onto Kaldor City.
12 Likes
Good to see I Scream getting some love but I’m surprised at The Wanderer getting high scores. I remember nothing about either of them beyond Nick Briggs not being the Doctor honest guv.
7 Likes
The Wanderer may get a higher rating after the drudgery of the rest of the BBV range. I rather enjoyed the Not-Doctor that Briggs performed. He reminded me of early Eight.
8 Likes
This evening I have listened to:
Magic Bullet: Kaldor City 01: Occam's Razor 4/5
Occam’s Razor is an excellent little story. The plot keeps moving at a great rate, with enough variety in locations to really give you a sense of the world.
The dialogue is snappy, with some really great back-and-forth. The acting is excellent with Paul Darrow, and his unbelievable voice, giving a brilliant performance.
Magic Bullet: Kaldor City 02: Death's Head 3/5
Death’s Head is a solid entry in the Kaldor City series, but sadly it doesn’t quite live up to its predecessor. The story is interesting enough, and starts well, but after that it seems like it’s mostly in a ‘holding pattern’ until the end.
The acting is great, with Paul Darrow giving his usual, deep voiced, performance.
Magic Bullet: Kaldor City 03: Hidden Persuaders 3.5/5
Hidden Persuaders is a great little story that adds another layer to Kaldor City. With enough twists and turns to keep you entertained, this serial is a return to form for the series as a whole, and it moves the overall plot forward.
The acting is still top-notch. The sound design is another aspect that deserves some praise.
Magic Bullet: Kaldor City 04: Taren Capel 3.5/5
In a vacuum Taren Capel isn’t anything special, but as part of the entire Kaldor City series it really starts to tie together the threads that have been running through the entire series. I really enjoyed this release, and can see Kaldor City as something that I will re-listen to when I have finished the entire series.
As usual the voice acting is top-notch, as well as the overall sound design.
My rating system
5.0 Perfect/Fav
4.5 Excellent/Fav
4.0 Very Good
3.5 Good
3.0 Fine/Average
2.5 Meh
2.0 Bad
1.0 Very Bad
I’ve enjoyed the hell out of Kaldor City so far.
5 Likes
Just finished the Kerblam! novelisation.
That was absolutely brilliant.
It fixed the niggles, big and small, of the televised story and streamlined (and fixed) the message at the end.
Having Judy as the main focus throughout was a good choice, and there was just enough background added to make us care more about Kerblam!'s Head of People.
And a lovely cameo in there 
Honestly one of the best novelisations I’ve experienced and really well read by Julie Hesmondhalgh (Judy Maddox)
5/5 
16 Likes
Oh no there’s another Target I’ll have to get
8 Likes
Eventually, I’ll spend a day on this forum and not have to add something to my “to buy” list.
13 Likes
Out of interest how is it achieved - I’m not someone who ever had a massive problem with the original ending but it does seem to rile people up something chronic. Just wondering whether it’s done with only a little bit of tweaking which would suggest the original TV ending is just a bit of a fumble in terms of how it is scripted. I can’t imagine it’s a massive change.
12 Likes
Nope that’s exactly what happens, but the focus is shifted so that it highlights that it is the big companies utilising these systems that is the problem rather than telling the audience that they are at fault for shopping at Space Rainforest™ . It is a small change but the message makes so much more sense with what we know about the Doctor.
Also it places faith that humanity can exist and thrive in that future (and gives Judy a kill switch for the Kerblam! system should crap happen again )
11 Likes
Finished The British Invasion last night. Pretty middle of the road Short Trip with the 2nd Doctor, Jamie and Zoe discovering a Vardan hanging out at the Festival of Britain.
Not the most exciting but there was some nice description when the Vardan took over the body of the host it had been hiding in, and there were a couple of fun continuinty references to other Vardan-featuring stories.
7 Likes
I am half an hour into the audiobook of “Rogue”. (Loving how much stuff is on Libby here)
It seems to be really well written and starts out with a nice little new adventurey bit with Rogue.
Dan Starkey narrating and seems to be forgetting he isn’t playing Strax at times
13 Likes
Need to decide what to go with next…
Either a re-listen of Jubilee, possible Order of the Daleks (next on my TARDIS Guide ‘next up’ list) or The First Wave (following a relisten of the first two parts of Oliver’s trilogy).
But I also need to get going on Gallifrey Series 2.
Decisions, decisions…
(And I’ve 99.9999999% sure I’m going to use an Audible credit on The Monster of Peladon audiobook, so there will be that too!)
10 Likes
Well you can always ask @handles to roll a dice~
I was listening to The Light at the End. But half and hour in, my audio file start to crack. I’m not sure if it got corrupted when I copied it into my phone. Have to check the backup in my hard drive…
9 Likes
Hi! To find out what I can do, say @handles display help.
5 Likes
I’ve only just noticed that Handles has a little D84 as a pet…
9 Likes
Continuing on Uncharted 1 and listening to Cass-cade.
3 Likes
I listened to A Blind Eye. What did I think of it? You’ll have to check the Audio Club Extra thread to find out 
I also listened to On Ghost Beach, which was a surprisingly solid little ghost story with Fifteen and Ruby. It truly captures the Season 1/15/40 era, and Susan Twist’s narration was lovely to listen to. It’s a solid 8/10 for me.
12 Likes