Yeah. That would be another issue with the end of the series.
5 Likes
I listened to the final two parts of Kaldor City today (No badge 
).
Will miss Paul Darrow’s voice, so delightfully gravelly.
Then logged a repeat on Gallifrey: Lies for the Audio Club Extra 
Mary Tamm!!!
I’m not sure I can wait a week to listen to Spirit
And just started the audiobook of The Giggle 
9 Likes
omg we’re only two weeks away from Spirit 
7 Likes
Indeed. The post is scheduled with a little surprise.
10 Likes
Almost finished The Caves of Androzani. Love Peter Davison’s reading, not so about the Target adaptation. A word for word retelling? Are you serious?
10 Likes
You have to remember that for a long time this is exactly what fans wanted because it was the only way of reliving the stories before VHS, DVD, BluRay and iPlayer.
11 Likes
I thought VHS was common enough in the 80s. So I expect this adaptation to have more to add to the story. 
6 Likes
The Caves of Androzani was released on VHS in 1992. Only about 16 stories were out by the end of the 80s.
12 Likes
Trying to get through Nekromanteia for the audio club but it is boring. But that is expected from a fifth doctor audio…
12 Likes
I remember having a perpetual order with Woolworths to get every release as they came out. I paid a pretty penny for the early release though from our local market.
10 Likes
The Sitter, from War Master: Future Phantoms. I’ve been down on a fair few of Lizzie Hopley’s scripts in the past, but this is her best work I’ve heard by far! A genuinely creepy piece, disarmingly suburban, but with a slow build of tension that absolutely gripped me.
I had the perfect listening experience too– cooking in the kitchen on a dark night (well, 8pm… but thanks do daylight savings that’s pitch black around here), and surrounded by candles and shadows. Excellent stuff!
10 Likes
So, I finished The War Master: Future Phantoms yesterday and wasn’t particularly impressed. The first two stories are 4/10, and the last two are 6/10. All have great performances and great atmospheres, but the stories themselves are slow, boring, and forgettable.
I listened to Nekromanteia today. That was certainly something.
And I started listening to Pull to Open, read by Christopher Naylor. It’s a pretty straightforward and detailed account of the creation of Doctor Who, though so far, I’ve only heard about the careers of Donald Wilson and Sidney Newman before they started working on Who.
10 Likes
Today I listened to:
BBV: Faction Paradox 1.1: The Eleven Day Empire 3.5/5
The Eleven Day Empire is my first foray into Faction Paradox. The story is interesting, and kept my attention for the whole piece. They established just enough of the world so I wasn’t completely lost, but left enough of it unexplained so that I am interested in learning more.
The characters seem interesting, with mystery as to true motives etc. The voice acting was solid, with not a bad actor in the bunch.
I’m excited about continuing my first foray into Faction Paradox. The world they have presented so far reminds me of the paranormal Victorian era tales that I have read.
BBV: Faction Paradox 1.2: The Shadow Play 3.5/5
The Shadow Play is an interesting continuation of the Faction Paradox story that started in The Eleven Day Empire. The story was OK, but that is to be expected to what is essentially the second part of a two-parter.
There wasn’t anything bad about this serial, but it did feel a little thin. There were some interesting developments, but it was very much designed to tie up the previous release and set us up for future stories.
The voice acting is good, with some appropriate over-the-top acting to liven up the story.
BBV: Faction Paradox 1.3: Sabbath Dei 3.5/5
Sabbath Dei is an interesting, if not a little confusing, continuation of the Faction Paradox story. The plot has enough intrigue going on that it held my interest. I genuinely can’t wait to find out what happens next.
The world building is great, with new aspects of this world opened up and ready to explore.
The voice cast does an excellent job, with their delivery of some of the fun dialogue being a standout aspect.
Audio Dramas Level 4 badge.
BBV: Faction Paradox 1.4: In the Year of the Cat 3.5/5
In the Year of the Cat is another solid entry into the Faction Paradox audio adventures. The plot has some interesting world building that added to my enjoyment of the current tale, and the overarching FP saga. While, overall, the plot is slower, it kept me engaged throughout.
The voice acting, and sound design, is excellent in this release.
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
7 Likes
An odd Companion Chronicles release to kick off the sixth series, Tales from the Vault is quite enjoyable. Nice to get four mini-chronicles from four companions of four Doctors, though each of their bits feels like it just ends way too quickly. Found myself wishing this had been a 2-disc release so those tales had more room to breathe.
The end of the main story either does a clever job of pulling elements of those minisodes together…or it’s just way too hokey how four randomly selected artifacts just happen to tie together way too conveniently. Haven’t decided which, but I’m gonna just roll with it.
Nice, at least, that we could get back the companions from the TV Movie but not as the companions but we could still have companions and make it a Companion Chronicles release.
9 Likes
Listening to the new episode of the Doctor’s Beard podcast. Then I can listen to the next Gallifrey.
6 Likes
Moved on to the Magic Bullet run of Faction Paradox. As much as I ejoyed the BBV version, this one is much better. Plus a bonus Gabriel Woolf.
10 Likes
Today I listened to more Faction Paradox. I am enjoying the Magic Bullet run more than the BBV run.
BBV: Faction Paradox 1.5: Movers 3.5/5
Movers is an interesting story in the overall Faction Paradox universe. This serial, a continuation from previous stories, introduces some new elements that I found fascinating. These new elements opened up the world in interesting ways, but didn’t overwhelm me. Some of the new characters were fascinating, almost to the point that they stole the show. There is a character that I would love to know more about.
Lawrence Miles penned a great script to keep the overall story moving forward, but also gave us a story-of-the-week that kept me entertained.
The voice acting was excellent, with the new additions to the cast giving some excellent performances, and the sound design was great.
BBV: Faction Paradox 1.6: A Labyrinth of Histories 3/5
I rather enjoyed A Labyrinth of Histories, but not as much as the previous release, Movers. While the recent additions to the cast were still fun and interesting, they seemed to fall into the background in this serial. The plot was a bit paint-by-numbers, but still enjoyable.
The voice cast was, again, very good.
This was the last release of Faction Paradox on BBV, but sadly the series doesn’t really have an ending. Hopefully the overall plot that was being built up this season is picked up over in the Magic Bullet releases.
Magic Bullet: Faction Paradox 2.1: Coming to Dust 4/5
Coming to Dust is an excellent beginning to the new Faction Paradox series, this time from Magic Bullet Productions. This series does continue on from the last, but only really in a minor way. Right from the beginning I was drawn into the story, and I can’t wait to see how it all plays out.
The world building added some new additions to my understanding of the FP world, but it didn’t overwhelm me with technobabble, or weird concepts. It felt like it fit in with what had already been presented in the BBV series.
The voice acting was excellent, but with some notes. The actors do a great job, with special note of Gabriel Woolf’s turn as Sutekh. His voice is like silk to my ears. The regulars from the previous run have been recast, and as such their voice will take me a bit to get used to. Justine going from a northerner to a southerner will take some getting used to. Also, the characterisation of Eliza seems off compared to her previous outing.
Overall, a great start, even if I have some adjusting to do.
Magic Bullet: Faction Paradox 2.2: The Ship of a Billion Years 4/5
The Ship of a Billion Years is a great addition to the Faction Paradox cannon. Continuing on from Coming to Dust, this serial delves further into the world of the Osirian, and the machinations of Sutekh. While the story is interesting, it does feel a bit stretched out. But even with this minor complaint, the serial did keep me engaged throughout.
The splitting of the narrative between 2 locations added enough variation that I wasn’t bored. Both were interesting, in their own way, with one dealing with the main plot of the serial, and the other with the overall plot of the series. It’s a basic setup, that is common in TV, but it worked well here too.
Again, the voice acting is great, with some familiar Magic Bullet voice appearing. The sound design was great as well, with some interesting sound effects used in places.
Overall, I am looking forward to seeing where the series goes.
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
7 Likes
In the middle of Gallifrey: Lies.
8 Likes
The Rocket Men has some really nice back and forth between two time frames. Towards the end it felt like maybe a little too much, as normally you finish flashing back to the setup a bit earlier to have an uninterrupted conclusion. This stretched it farther than any other story I can think of, and not entirely unsuccessfully either. Fine story that’s elevated in the telling.
12 Likes
honestly trying to decide what to listen to next since my focus is drifting from my current goal of listening to Five’s audios in (approximate) chronological order, especially since i’ve recently started Gallifrey for audio club extra.
i’m currently almost finished the early s20 era with just Tegan and Nyssa, and was planning to listen through up to when Tegan leaves or up to when Turlough leaves (sorry Peri) and then jump back on the 6 & Evelyn train to then alternate with 7+Ace+Hex since there’s some overlap there to understand some of the later stories BUT ALSO now i rly just want to listen to Gallifrey and maybe also jump back to Romana I and listen through from there in Four’s timeline and arghdgfh so many audios so little time
14 Likes