Doctor Who: Classic Doctors, New Monsters Volume 1

Classic Doctors, New Monsters

by Phil Mulryne, Simon Barnard, Paul Morris

A brand new boxset of four adventures, featuring monsters from the new series of Doctor Who!

Fallen Angels by Phil Mulryne - 2015: When sightseers Joel and Gabby Finch encounter a strange man in Edwardian cricketing garb in the Sistine Chapel, their honeymoon suddenly takes a terrifying turn. 1511: Michelangelo is commissioned to create some very special sculptures by a mysterious sect. But as he carves, angels seem to emerge fully-formed from the rock. Almost as if they are alive. From Michelangelo’s workshop to the catacombs of Rome, the Fifth Doctor must keep his wits about him and his eyes wide open as he confronts the Weeping Angels.

Judoon in Chains by Simon Barnard and Paul Morris - The Sixth Doctor is no stranger to courtroom drama, but faces a very different challenge when he prepares to defend a most unusual Judoon. After an environmental clearance mission goes wrong, Captain Kybo of the Nineteenth Judoon Interplantary Force is stranded in Victorian England, bound in chains, an exhibit in a circus show. But he has allies: Eliza Jenkins – known to audiences as ‘Thomasina Thumb’ – and the larger-than-life ‘clown’ in the colourful coat. Uncovering a trail of injustice and corruption, the Doctor and Kybo soon find themselves on trial for their lives…

Harvest of the Sycorax by James Goss- In the far future, humanity has a remedy for everything. Whatever the problem, Pharma Corps has the answer and a designer disease tailored to every human’s blood-type. Zanzibar Hashtag has no need to be sad, scared, stressed, or depressed ever again. That is, until vicious aliens arrive on her space station intent on opening its Vault. What will it mean for the human race if the Sycorax take control of what’s inside? And when the Seventh Doctor arrives on the scene, can he convince Zanzibar to care about her life long enough to help him?

The Sontaran Ordeal by Andrew Smith - An instant of the Time War brings centuries of conflict to the planet Drakkis, and the Eighth Doctor is there to witness the terrible results. A Sontaran fleet, desperate to join the epic conflict, follows in its wake to take advantage of the fallout. But when Commander Jask is beamed down to the ravaged surface, there is more to his arrival than first appears. Soon, an unlikely champion joins forces with the Time Lord to fight for the future of her world, and together they must face the Sontaran Ordeal…

Genres: Doctor Who, Science Fiction, Audiobook, Time Travel, Fiction, British Literature

MP3 CD

First published July 28, 2016

Reviews

[Rick · Rating 4 out of 5]

Oh what could more fun than mashing-up actors from the classic era Doctor Who with monsters and enemies from the new era series? Not much, that’s for sure.

Fallen Angels - To start things off we are offered a fast-paced story with The (Fifth) Doctor (Peter Davison) up against the Weeping Angels. And to make things even more entertaining why not toss in Michelangelo as well? The ingredients are all there, and while the story itself is nothing spectacular, the various components mesh well and give rise to something greater than one might expect.

Judson in Chains - This was interesting, actually very interesting. But I thought having The (Sixth) Doctor, Colin Baker, involved weakened it a bit. Not sure if I can explain why exactly. There were aspects that played as thoughtlessly silly and others that worked quite well. Taken all together, it just didn’t really work that well for me. Still it was interesting.

Harvest of the Sycorax - A nice blend of old and new, which I think was the real intention of these box sets. This offering gives the listener Sylvester McCoy in typical (Seventh) Doctor mode and the one-off monsters from The Christmas Invasion. It’s fun and dark, very twisted with some interesting social commentary, in much the same tradition as McCoy’s tenure as the Doctor.

The Sontaran Ordeal - The Time War envelopes The (Eighth) Doctor, Paul McGann, with involvement from the Sontarans. What’s interesting here is that this set purports “classic Doctors” in conflict with “new monsters.” So theoretically the mashup should involve classic era and new era. But as the Sontarans are themselves from the original series, this particular adventure twists the concept a bit. The real element from the new era series isn’t the monsters, it’s the Time War itself. This twist really makes the gimmick work.

So, like most anthologies, the overall effect is a bit uneven. But the concept, mashing up classic Doctors with new era monsters, is clearly a nice idea and certainly warrants further development. Yet again, Big Finish delivers another nice offering in their wonderful line of Doctor Who audio adventures. Also includes a bonus disc of behind-the-scenes features and interviews.

[Mel · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wasn't that excited for this. Doctors and Monsters aren't really the reason I like Doctor Who. But when the box set came on sale I decided to get it as there was a story by a friend in it, and a new Paul McGann story. I was a bit disappointed.

One thing that Big Finish usually does well is gender balance. (One of the reasons why it's my favourite iteration of who). But this was severely let down. It must be nice to have male privilege and listen to this story and not go, hang on a minute there's only one woman in this. Half the stories only had one woman! That's really depressing. Women make up half the world, and therefore should be half the characters in a story to make it part of the universe we inhabit. Likewise women actors should be able to have as many roles to apply for as male actors. Writing 4 male parts and 1 female part means that male actors have 4 times as many chances to pay their rent and put food on the table as their female counterparts.

The first story was 5th Doctor meets weeping angels. Two young hooneymooners get sent back to Renaissance Florence by the weeping angels. It's a decent historical, if you don't notice Florence has no women.

The next story was my favourite. A wonderful poetry reading Judoon. This had a few women, and was better balanced. It had science fiction, and historical and did something interesting and different.

The third story really bothered me. James Goss is one of my favorite writers. This started out as one of his normally good blends of mayhem and craziness. Then I got SO excited as two of the women started talking about how they wanted to date each other!!! I was so happy. Never had I heard such blatant queer women discussions in a Big Finish before. The first (and only) audio in this set to pass the Bechdel test, but they did so flirting and being wonderful together!!!! Then ten minutes later one of them was dead. I was just too devastated to hear the rest and turned it off. Queer women dying has become a troupe it was disappointing to see Big Finish do this the first time they introduce a proper queer couple. (I mean a lot of presumably hetero people did die first but it still made me really sad).

The 4th story was 8th Doctor and Sontarans, Which was a little puzzling as Sontarans are not "new" monsters. This was a story with only one woman again. The woman was played by Josette who was wonderful, but her story got given 2nd importance to the Sontarans.

I really hope Big Finish do better in the future.

[Seb Hasi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fallen Angels -

Fallen Angels really demonstrates the full potential of the concept of having classic Doctors meet new series monsters, with the 5th Doctor taking on the weeping angels. Putting it in a pseudo-historical context and adding the famous Michelangelo into the mix really gives the story all the elements it needs to do something exciting. The story benefits even more from having the exemplary Diane Morgan and the pre-Master Sacha Dhawan in the cast; really makes for the perfect ensemble. There are some clichés and elements of plain ripping-off in sight, but this is one occasion where the strengths of a story completely make up for the shortfalls.

Peter Davison gives a great solo performance in the story, and manages to showcase his comedic range, and the dramatic ability (that David Tennant later copies); in great scenes such as the final confrontation with the angels. I found that the story didn’t overplay the comedy to any detriment on the drama, and managed to break up scenes of great intensity to some good relief. The supporting cast all give some very good and varied performances, although it is worth mentioning that even the antagonistic ones do seem to still border on comedy. The Doctor’s temporary companions and Michelangelo are the clear comedic relief so I’m not quite sure why everyone else was given a great deal of humorous dialogue.

What really is a surprise in this story is that the concept of the Weeping Angels works superbly on audio. For a 100% visual villain, they transition to audio and retain their fright factor thanks to some excellent writing. The reactionary dialogue and sound effects are all written perfectly, and although the general plot of the story is nothing too special, the hero vs villain element is brilliant. The story itself is just the usual ‘someone is messing with time, the Doctor goes to the source and stops them’, but those kind of stories never usually have a climax that is this intense. The weirdo cult is obviously a necessary story device but thankfully they are so forgettable and barely get any ‘screen time’ because the focus is, as it rightly should be, solely on the Angels.

At a one hour runtime it’s pretty obvious why the story got such a simple narrative, but all the small creative decisions Phil Mulryne takes here are marvellous. I can’t say this is even close to the greatest story of all time, but I can’t say certainly say this has to be one of the best debuts of an on-screen villain Big Finish have done to date.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Judoon In Chains -

The second story in the set is a strangely emotional tale, a rogue Judoon who writes poetry, the 6th Doctor on trial (as ever), and some dodgy corporate types. The story really does bring a tear to your eye with some fairly clever ideas, and makes you laugh a great deal; but as with the last story, it does slip into rather a few clichés. What I really appreciated was that this took the Judoon in a completely different direction to all their previous appearances on TV and in print, and made them into the perfect sympathetic characters.

With this one I think I just want to describe the flaws before all the lovely stuff. Firstly there’s the fact the plot has been done many times over in Doctor Who, but as with Fallen Angels I think there is a unique spin added that compensates for that and makes a surprisingly long ‘one hour’ story very fun. Then there’s the comedy, which is witty and charming but also about every 30 seconds. It did feel like every other line of dialogue was a quip or a pun and after a while it didn’t so much grate on me, just frustrated me. I was so keen to see what happened next in the narrative that the humour felt like a little cumbersome.

For monosyllabic characters the Judoon here are managed to be expressed so emotively, even with no variation on line delivery at all. I think that speaks volumes for the quality of the script but also just that Nick Briggs really hasn’t lost his skill when it comes to voicing monsters. The whole story is so verbose that Colin Baker shines here, aside from the slightly weak Latin jokes, and really is in his element. He is balancing the gritty darker moments and the comedy perfectly, and showing just why he is one of the best actors to play the Doctor. I do think there are a few too many side characters here but thankfully they don’t overstay their welcome, contributing the exposition or the comedic set up and then vanishing from the plot.

As I said the comedy is far too frequent but when it works, it really works. The Judoon poetry was inspired, and the Doctor trying to rescue Kybo was full of great moments. Not perfect, but there were diamonds in the dirt as the old idiom goes. The main problem is that it was a shame that antagonists were necessary as the story worked so well as is, and the fact that said villains were so two-dimensional. The showman who kidnaps Kybo is textbook bland but he doesn’t so much matter as he is just there to provide a hurdle to progress the earth set side of the story. It’s the main antagonist who is just eye-roll inducing kind of unoriginal. Evil corporations doing illegal things. Obviously very realistic (even more so now in 2025 than back in 2015) but there is no depth or mystery to make them worth investing in or even hating really.

The side characters who help the Doctor are all really loveable which is amazing considering fairly few lines at all, and I just loved that people being kind fit thematically; while still managing to just put a smile on my face. The story has some fabulous imagery, and is a rare occasion where a happy ending filled me with joy, so for all the flaws present; I loved it. No story is perfect, but this one is about 70% charm, and 30% ehhh… So all I can say is that the story I expected the least from in the set, turned out to be the second best of them all (only losing out on first by a super small margin).

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Harvest Of The Sycorax -

Harvest Of The Sycorax is a fun little adventure, with charming comedy and a great cast. On the other hand, the Sycorax aren’t very interesting and clearly work better as a scary monster visually than on audio. The story itself is a pretty simple case of ‘The Doctor saves the world from corporate types who made a dirty deal’. That considered, I wasn’t expecting too much from this one but I was surprised to find some pretty great satire. There’s plenty of social commentary but the thing that makes it really enjoyable is being wrapped in a comedic pretext.

Nisha Nayar is great as (oh god this name is cringey) Zanzibar Hashtag, and I found her to be a really sympathetic protagonist; plus a great companion for the story to boot. Her journey of self-actualisation is really engaging and performed with real emotion. The characterisation of the Doctor himself is a bit odd, as he does switch from his darker self to the clowning around constantly. It makes pinning down the tone of scenes quite hard as some are played straight and some are very silly. The rest of the side characters have minimal contributions beside the antagonist, but despite this all give good performances in their minor capacity.

The premise of the story is quite hollow, given it’s basically all just stalling until the final confrontation; yet the story was kept enjoyable by the humour. That’s not to say that the jokes didn’t get a bit much eventually, but James Goss manages to embed enough charm in the script to keep you engaged. Ironically the Sycorax are the least interesting thing about the story and don’t really offer much. They just snarl and threaten and eventually just stand idly by as the Doctor defeats them, so this was hardly going to be a story defined by its villains.

In the satire the story felt really real, and worryingly so as the whole idea of people taking medications for no good reason and blocking out things that ‘trigger’ them is a reality now. It’s almost educational in the way it shows how flawed that kind of mindset is, and how standing by doing nothing for fear of being triggered allows evil people to get away with whatever they want. In many ways this story was ahead of its time, and in teaching this moral lesson; felt incredibly accurate for this incarnation of the Doctor. Safe to say this story delivers, and is well worth a listen, just don’t expect much nail-bitting tension or shocking twists.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

The Sontaran Ordeal -

For a very generic time war story, The Sontaran Ordeal was quite an entertaining 45 minutes. No time lords or daleks here, which happens every now and then but having the Sontarans be the main villain made for something a little different. What was very different was this was a story about Sontarans fighting Sontarans (or at least one of them out for revenge). The basic premise is this doctor being his usual bleeding heart and ‘oh no the time war turned this planet into a war zone’. I don’t find this kind of thing annoying, it’s just massively overdone. The 8th Doctor’s temporary companion in this is rather just a series of cliches and when we get to the usual ‘she wrongly blames the Doctor and makes the situation worse because of this’ my entertainment started to wain.

Dan Starkey gives a great performance here, with this particular Sontaran having a lot more emotion than they usually do. Christopher Ryan is a nice guest star, and Paul Mcgann gives (as ever) a great performance. The sound design and backing music was lovely here, creating ambience and tension at the right times; even if the drama it was punctuating was occasionally a bit too silly for dramatic music. I loved these parts of the story, and I think most of my fondness comes from all the aspects bar the narrative. All the peripheral aspects are really going for this story, and it’s only the plot itself that narrowed my enjoyment slightly.

The problem is that the story is made up almost entirely of recycled ideas. Of course there is no such thing as an original story but all of the different plot elements are so recently done that any merit is lost. The charm and the strength of performances really do give some of the scenes a new feel but as I mentioned earlier; Sarana betraying the Doctor because a brief chat with the bad guy somehow convinces her that he is responsible for the entire Time War. How? I mean it’s ludicrous to take the scenes like that seriously when the massive leaps in logic just to get from point A to B are blatant. Applying these scenarios to a monster that rarely gets stories like this was clever, but aside from that aspect of the story; nothing to write home about.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

[Josh · Rating 5 out of 5]

Doctor Who: Classic Doctors, New Monsters Volume 1 - 4.125/5 Stars

5,6,7, and 8 go on their journeys against New Who monsters. An odd thing to make a boxset about, why weren’t these stories their own monthly adventure? I think the hour-long episode format works very well with these stories. They don’t feel too stretched out and tell very fun, emotional and compact stories.
I hope the second boxset of this series is just as good as this one and I hope Big FInish takes the time to bring back this series and have a new lineup of New Monsters with Classic Doctors of 1,2,3 as well?

Overall, this is a big recommended box set.

Fallen Angels by Phil Mulryne - 4/5 Stars

This is quite possibly one of the best Weeping Angel stories, the way the sound design helps keep the presence of the Angels, a visual monster being in an audio-based medium, works surprisingly well. The story is well-paced, the one-off characters are a delight, the only downside is the ending with the treatment of Joel and Gabby.

Judoon in Chains by Simon Barnard and Paul Morris - 5/5 Stars

Emotional, heartwarming, and sweet. Kybo is the best boy and deserves all the happiness. Who knew a story about a Rhino alien cop with a small brain learning English without a translation device and learning how to read and write poetry would make for such an amazing story.

Harvest of the Sycorax by James Goss - 3/5 Stars

I don’t know if I like this one or not. It gives off a vibe of “young people nowadays can’t take jokes” and a lot of the characters aren’t likeable, including the Doctor. That all being said, the story is still pretty decent, there is a few jokes in this I actually liked and a few emotional beats that I enjoyed too. Still can’t get over a character being called ‘Zanzibar Hashtag’.

The Sontaran Ordeal by Andrew Smith - 4.5/5 Stars

This Time War, 8th Doctor Story ends the box set, its basically a backdoor pilot to the Eighth Doctor Time War Series and this story works extremely well, despite not being a New Monster in the Classic Doctors, New Monsters range. This story is not a happy one, it doesn't have a happy ending and with all the Time War stuff it feels so little in such a big event in the Whoniverse. The Sontarans not being allowed in the Time War, and that being explored is probably the best part of the story. And Jask is such a good Sontaran boy.

[April Mccaffrey · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought this boxset was enjoyable but in some parts, I did feel the writing was a little rushed and the scripts not as good as they could have been. Overall, I give this boxset a 3/5 stars as it was enjoyable to listen to with Classic doctors interacting with mostly new monsters [Excluding the Sontarans.]

The strongest I felt was Fallen Angels and Judoon in chains. with added humour from the Harvest of the Sycorax. The weakest I felt was the Sontaran Ordeal as though they couldn't quite decide on the monster to be paired up with but chose for Sontarans on edge of the Time War. Maybe for rights issues I don't know but it was lovely to hear Paul Mcgann again on audio.

The best quotes were the 7th Doctor such as;

The worst people in the universe are the ones without a sense of humour!
— Seventh Doctor in the Harvest of the Sycorax

and

In case of repeating myself; Where am I? What is going on? And why are you humans so foolish?! I should get that printed on a card.
— Seventh Doctor in Harvest of the Sycorax

But Judoon in Chains was absolutely lovely and had a great set of cast. Colin Baker performance as always topped it right off.

3.5

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

The best thing about Doctor Who is its ability to mix and match characters and concepts to tell new stories and this first volume of Classic Doctors, New Monsters does that spectacularly.

Fallen Angels sees The Fifth Doctor fighting The Weeping Angels in Renaissance Italy side by side with Michelangelo, delightfully played by Matthew Kelly. The two supporting characters, cast back into time at the beginning of the narrative are deftly played as well and it's always interesting to see how The Doctor and company fight back against foes who feed on the energy of stymied potential. The effect of the Angels moving is also given deftly in this adventure, making them just as spooky audibly as well as visually. Great acting and an intriguing, tightly-knit story makes this a cracking starter to the set.

Judoon in Chains< follows and is just as interesting, this time The Sixth Doctor defending an unusual Judoon in a Victorian court. The exploration of art and the importance of culture are interestingly explored here and are an excellent fit for The Sixth Doctor and not just because he ends up in a courtroom again! Another good addition to the collection.

Harvest of the Sycorax is the third story of the collection and the weakest of the bunch. Pitting The Seventh Doctor against the Sycorax, this one contains all the issues weak audio dramas do: a plodding, exposition-heavy narrative, uninteresting locations and poor voice acting. Nisha Nayar sounds like she's reading off a page in a recording booth whichever situation and location her character is in and while Sylvester McCoy is great as usual, there's just not an awful for him to do here. The Sycorax just sound silly rather than menacing here, their sibilus cackling going too over the top into moustache-twirling villain territory. It doesn't help that the plot is resolved by a sound-effect heavy climax followed by plot points we don't hear that are only explained afterwards and you've got a bit of a dud with this one. Decent enough listen, but not a very memorable one.

Leading up the rear is the fantastic The Sontaran Ordeal (although can the Sontarans be called new if they appeared in 1973?) Paul McGann imbues the Time War-weary Eighth Doctor with anger and anguish throughout the story of his encounter with a disgraced Sontaran. It's sometime difficult to do an interesting story involving potentially two-dimensional proud warrior race, but Jask's motives and behaviours make him an intriguing character and one who is believably written and interesting throughout the story. Plus the gorgeous David Arnold theme makes a reappearance and that's always a plus.

All in all, a great idea of blending several Doctors with various villains, mostly successfully with some engaging stories. The majority of these stories are great and worth listening to. Looking forward to checking out some more CD, NM!

[France-Andrée · Rating 3 out of 5]

I find it very hard to give an overall star evaluation so I will give one for each story.

Fallen Angels by Phil Mulryne - 4 stars

A young couple is touring Rome for their honeymoon when they meet a bizarre cult to the Angels and, zap, they're in the past. Really liked this one, the reason how the Angels are in the created statues was clever. I thought this felt like a Fifth Doctor era episode and the ending was true to how the Angels work. Compared to the last two in this boxset, I thought the monsters weren't confined to what has been on the episodes featuring them maybe it has to do with the fact we've had the Angels more than once and so we can play with them more, but if you want an example of how to build on a monster appearance on the show listen to the next one in the boxset.

Judoon in Chains by Simon Barnard and Paul Morris - 5 stars

We've had only one complete Judoon story on the television Smith and Jones, the other times we've had Judoon on the scene, they've been a sort of backdrop and I can understand they might seem like a one note baddie. I didn't expect this one to be my favorite probably because of the limits I think the Judoons have as a species. This story though, it was a gem.

To set up the stage, we have a trial of a deserter, but with a Whovian twist... it is set in a London court of the 19th century, the deserter is a Judoon and the defence counsellor is the Sixth Doctor. We explore what it means to be human through the fact that you are not, I thought we saw all that we humans can be and how far or not that takes us. This one can be thought of for hours after the listening is done, there's a strong undercurrent of philosophy in there and I enjoyed the complexity of this story.

You got to love the Sixth Doctor on audio, Big Finish has made him so much more (so have the books and other media) and I always enjoy listening to Colin. This is a strong story for him.

Harvest of the Sycorax by James Goss - 3 stars

As much as the previous story expanded on the Judoon, this one just stayed exactly like the Christmas invasion, I'm all for recycling, but not in my fiction.

The Sycorax want access to a bank vault so they have taken hostages and they're executing them. The Seventh Doctor arrives on the scene and says on lot of what he will repeat in his Tenth incarnation.

What I didn't like about this one : like I said too much of the same events; the Seventh just doesn't cut it, he is ridiculing the Sycorax even when they are murdering lots of people; very easy to guess where the story is heading no big twist to save it from same old, same old.

What I did like (hey, I did give it a 3 stars after all) : how the author played on where we are going with our technology and how this could spell doom when married with our health fears, that was worth listening to this story all on its own.

The Sontaran Ordeal by Andrew Smith - 2.5 stars

The Sontarans want to invade a world where the Time War has made ravages, they see an in to the war in this planet. One of theirs though as dishonoured himself and so is sent by experimental teleport to the planet, that is his punishment because to date no Sontarans has survived this teleporting process.

I always enjoy the Eight Doctor, but I didn't find anything that made it distinctly his story, could have been the War Doctor and this would have worked as well; or even other Doctors in making the War not the Time one. The neohumans (well, not sure they were that) are pretty blah nothing really important or earth shattering happens either, fun to listen to, but not going to remember it long term, didn't love it or hate it enough for that.

Okay, have to say having the Sontarans included in this boxset did get on my nerves. How are they a "New" monsters? They've been around since the Third Doctor. And if you want to argue that in the recent years they've been completely reimagined (which as much as I like how they have evolved physically in the new series, in truth, they think the same way they did in The Time Warrior all those years ago) then show it in having an original way to present them, but, no, nothing new about them in this story so I feel like another new monster (even one appearing only once in the television series) would have been more at home in this boxset. Probably me being unreasonable.

All in all and very enjoyable anthology, would recommend it.

[Jamie Revell · Rating 4 out of 5]

As the title indicates, this collection offers four hour-long stories in which Doctors from the classic series encounter monsters first seen by the viewer in the modern version. This is presumably largely for practicality (i.e. which actors are available), and although it might pull in some listeners who are only fans of the new series, the stories don’t seem to be intended as introductions to their respective Doctors, not least because none of them feature companions – a wise decision, given their relatively short length.

Since the stories are standalone and have no particular sequence, I have reviewed them in the order in which I listened to them.

• The Sontaran Ordeal – An odd choice this one, since, while Sontarans have featured heavily in the new series, they also made a number of appearances in the classic one, first facing off against the Third Doctor back in The Time Warrior. Since there isn’t really any huge change between the classic and modern versions of the race, beyond the improved prosthetics, the connection with the new series here is really only that the story is set during the Time War, featuring the Eighth Doctor perhaps not long before his regeneration. There isn’t too much new to say about the race by this point, so the story doesn’t particularly break new ground, but it does a good job of showing both the good and the bad aspects of Sontaran society, using them as well-rounded characters who at times can be sympathetic despite their bluster. 4 stars.

• Harvest of the Sycorax – The Sycorax are not, I would have to say, one of the more interesting foes for the modern Doctor, memorable largely for appearing in Ten’s first outing. This new story, featuring the Seventh Doctor, builds on The Christmas Invasion, being largely about the Sycorax’s blood control powers. There is some attempt to expand on the race and show us more of their culture, especially in the scenes set inside their asteroid ship, but they don’t come to much, and even the Doctor has to concede that they are little more than monsters. Other than that, the story is a satire on the medicalisation of everyday life, but it’s so over-done that it’s not a terribly effective one, and the tone is rather uneven. 3 stars.

• Judoon in Chains - Here, the Sixth Doctor has to save a rather unusual Judoon officer stranded on Earth in the nineteenth century. The story has some comedic elements, although it's mostly serious, and perhaps at times waxes overly lyrical. Nonetheless, it's a good story, somewhat different from the usual fare and, by examining how this Judoon differs from others, both manages to emphasise and subvert the one-note nature of the race. 4 stars.

• Fallen Angel - The highlight of the four stories sees the Fifth Doctor facing the Weeping Angels in 16th century Rome. Here he meets Michelangelo, in a story that brings in the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel and, of course, plenty of statuary. It manages to deal effectively with a monster that, on TV, often relies on the visuals of sudden movements as the lights blink out, with some tense moments complementing the tragedy of those whose lives the Angels have stolen. This is both a good historical and a decent monster story and perhaps the clearest fusion of the styles of classic and new series in the set. 5 stars.

[Alasdair Smith · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've been meaning to listen to this box set for a long time now, and while it definitely had flaws, I think the concept for each story was good, and would definitely love to see big finish do more stories like this, just execute them a bit better.

Judoon in Chains was the clear highlight for me - the mere concept of a Judoon going rogue and gaining a love for literature is just the sort of weirdness I come to Doctor Who for, and I actually really enjoyed the Judoon in question, as well as his dynamic with the sixth doctor! The supporting cast for this was also really good, and quite memorable considering this was only an hour long.
However, even my favourite story in this collection had flaws - the resolution felt quite rushed, even if it was entertaining, and the villain could have been incorporated a lot better in my opinion.

That's the thing with this box set though: all of these stories have great concepts, but they all feel as if the script was rushed somewhat, and all have elements which could have been developed more. There is still something to enjoy in every story though, and all the performances are great!

Despite its flaws, I would still recommend this box set, especially as an introduction to big finish, if people are unfamiliar with classic who! Besides, the sheer novelty of the core concept - classic doctors and new monsters - is a lot of fun, and definitely an idea I want to see Big Finish develop further. Hopefully Volume 2 will be a bit better!

[Ellen Schoener · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well...
I have to say this one surprised me. I had certain expectations which stories I would like and which ones not and I was surprised that in the end I had a favorite I did not expect.
I did not really get into the first story with the angels, while it was well done and well acted, for me, it just was not on the same level as the previous TV angel stories (and I really like the angels).
I was really, really surprised by the story with the Judoon, contrary to my expectations, this was my favorite. Well written and quite funny and I really liked Colin Baker in this.
The Sycorax story was also better than I expected (and I did not expect much since I did not like them on TV).
The Time War story with the Sontarans was also very well done. What I liked best about it was- for once the Sontarans were not used as comic relief. No matter if in some Classic Episodes (Two Doctors comes to mind) or the New Series, I just found them ridiculous and hard to suspend my disbelief in these clowns being a fearsome warrior race. Well, not here.
What a nice change.
Here they are actually fearsome and ruthless and no laughing matter.
All in all, two of the stories I REALLY liked, but the other two, I am kind of indifferent.

[Jack · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fallen Angels:
6/10
Verdict: Optional

I fucking hate those Weeping Angel violin noises, They are so irritating. Other than that, this was a decent historical with some fun characters and some good tension at points. Nothing special, but a nice inclusion in the boxset.

Judoon in Chains:
7/10
Verdict: Optional

Really fun story, the judoon have never been more adorable. Love the setting and set-up for this, of course the 6 story is a court drama. Baker is great in this, and the side characters are really entertaining as well. Consistently good throughout, no complaints against this one.

Harvest of the Sycorax:
6/10
Verdict: Optional

Fun story but light on the whole. I never thought of the Sycorax as space pirates before, but I suppose it fits decently enough. I love the concept of emotions being seen as sickness and the human race trying to fix them with medicine, would be a great set-up for a cyberman story. It does lead inevitably to a lot of 'What is this feeling!?' scenes which get pretty tired after a while. The ending was a bit iffy, any fights that are audio only are pretty dodgy, but overall I still had fun with this one.

The Sontaran Ordeal:
6/10
Verdict: Optional

This story is fine, but all the story beats are very standard, once you see where they're going with them the plot just follows the path. Sontarans are cool I guess, the companion for this is fine. The doctor was there. I dunno, I felt nothing.

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

Even though I found the episodes themselves to be a bit of a mixed bag, I really like the concept of this set. It's a really fun idea to pair Classic Doctors with monsters from New Who. As evidenced by Fallen Angel, it can definitely work well, but some care has to go into the writing so the episode actually feels like more than just a gimmick. I appreciate the attempt by Big Finish and the writers of these episodes to try something new, and I applaud the results they were able to achieve. Hopefully following box sets will be even better. I do recommend this box set to anybody trying to get into either Classic Who or the Big Finish lineup of Doctor Who audios. It's a great jumping on point that requires very little in terms of any knowledge of the previous Doctors. The stories are mostly good and getting to hear these classic Doctors face these newer monsters is more than worth the price of the set.

(My full review can be found on my blog)

[Aidan Brack · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fallen Angels - Superb fun. A clever concept that plays on one of the most iconic Who monsters. Packs some superb lines.

Judoon in Chains - Lightly comic piece about a Judoon Fugitive who has begun to gain artistic sensibilities. Baker relishes the courtroom stuff and while it is slight, the execution is good and this builds well on their on-screen identity.

Harvest of the Sycorax - This had been the story I was most excited by in the set but it didn't grab me particularly, possibly because it presents a pretty straightforward take on the Sycorax. A shame because it would have been fun to expand a little on what they were and get a better sense of who they were.

The Sontaran Ordeal - There are two ways to look at this. One is whether it fits the model of this boxed set. The other is whether it is an entertaining story. Unfortunately this sort of misses in both ways. The argument is that the new Sontarans are a different beast from the original series. The thing is that while this gets that voice, it just doesn't feel new.

[Simon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good concept - throwing some of the foes from the return of the TV series and pitting them against earlier Doctors. Best of the set are the first two - wasn't sure how well the Weeping Angels would work in audio format but quite an enjoyable story. The Judoon story I was pleasantly surprised by - wasn't expecting much but this one was very good and the best of the set. Felt bringing the Sycorax back wasn't a good move - they were pretty lame in their TV appearance and over the course of a longer stint in this one, they're shown up as very one dimensional with the Sycorax Rock line very over done. Doctor and the interplay of the supporting cast are good, but knocking one star of what is otherwise a very decent set because of the Sycorax. Surely there were better candidates for foes to bring back? With a pedant hat on, it's a bit difficult to accept the Sontarans as a "new" monster, but happy to get that with an 8th Doctor story close to the Time War.

[Shaun Collins · Rating 3 out of 5]

Individual story Rankings...

Fallen Angels - Starts off promising, but quickly becomes another mundane retelling of Blink. 3 Stars.

Judoon in Chains - The best of the bunch, taking the idea of the Judoon and spinning it on its ear. A lot of fun to boot, if there's a complaint its that they didn't go far enough with the idea. 4 Stars.

Harvest of the Sycorax - Bogged down with realistically, a very uninspiring villain. 2.5 Stars.

The Sontaran Ordeal - Great core story but still felt a bit wanting. 3 Stars.

For our full thoughts visit https://travelingthevortex.com/?p=9007 and https://travelingthevortex.com/?p=9023

[Moko Anggoro · Rating 3 out of 5]

Since this is a collection of 4 separate stories, the overall rating turns out to be not as high as I expected. Out of all stories, Judoon in Chains is definitely my favourite, followed closely by Fallen Angels.

The other two stories...it's just meh. Sycorax are already a perfect foil for The Doctor, without any redeeming qualities for their part. I just feel the addition of another villain in the mix is unnecessary. Lastly, I couldn't care less about the Great Time War. Therefore, it may cloud my judgement.

[Steven Shinder · Rating 4 out of 5]

Surprisingly, the Fifth Doctor story with the Weeping Angels ended up being my favorite of this set. Maybe it was the use of Angels combined with the involvement of Michelangelou. For the Six and Judoon story, I rolled my eyes because it seems like many Doctor Who writers think Six has to always be involved in some sort of court case. The Seven and Sycorax story ended up being pretty engaging. And the Eight and Sontaran one is kinda funny because the Sontarans are so hell bent on wanting to join the Time War. But that in itself didn't undercut the drama.

[Marcel Driel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fallen angels

I often think the Weeping Angels are overused but this was a very smart story, well written and acted. Four stars.

Judoon in chains

Oh, my goodness, this was so unexpected! What started out as a fairly straightforward (but very enjoyable) story, became something very beautiful (and funny). Five stars.

Harvest of the Sycorax

There’s a great idea at the core of this story, but unfortunately it’s way too long and way too loud.

2.5 stars

The Sontaran Ordeal

Solid story, acting and production, but nothing special. Three stars

[Charles Mitchell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just as the title says, this box set features 4 stories with, you guessed it, classic doctors facing new monsters. 5 faces the Weeping Angels, 6 meets the Judoon, 7 squares off against the Sycorax, and the 8th Doctor matches wits with a sole Sontaran (though the creature is from the classic series, i assume they include it here because it is in the style of the new show Sontarans, able to compromise and at times switch sides).
An enjoyable series.

[CJ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fallen Angels.
Great little plot. Excellent voice acting. Surpising how well the Angels translate to audio. 3.5/5

Judoon In Chains.
Brilliant plot. Excellet voice acting. A great exploration of the Judoon. 4/5

Harvest of the Sycorax.
Ok plot, solid setting. Excellent voice acting. 3.5/5

The Sontaran Ordeal.
Solid plot and Excellent voice acting. Cool slice of The Time War. 4/5

[Richard Harrison · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great little assortment. The Weeping Angels worked surprisingly well on audio for a totally silent monster. Probably the best they've been since their debut in Blink. Great performances and writing all round.

[Sockich · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fallen Angels - 3/5
Judoon in Chains - 4/5
Harvest of the Sycorax - 4/5
The Sontaran Ordeal - 3/5

[Lara Corona · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read it for the faves (Eight and Five) but mostly kinda fun

[Jurgen · Rating 4 out of 5]

1.1 'Fallen Angels' by Phil Mulryne: 5*
1.2 'Judoon in Chains' by Simon Barnard and Paul Morris: 4*
1.3 'Harvest of the Sycorax' by James Goss: 5*
1.4 'The Sontaran Ordeal' by Andrew Smith: 3*

[Miguel Gutierrez · Rating 4 out of 5]

6, 8, 5 y 7

[Debra Cook · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting stories combining the old show with monsters from the new show.

[Jennifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Phew! It is a relief that the first set of Classic Doctors, New Monsters is a Big Finish success. Four different stories, four different Doctors... and yes, I'm looking forward to the next set due out next year.

The Weeping Angels story worked, thanks to strong acting: we have Michaelangelo and we have a contemporary honeymooning couple, both teachers, Joel history and Gabby physics. (An especial treat to have Diane Morgan, whose Philomena Cunk character on TV I love, as the latter) Quite a feat to make a weeping angels story scary with audio only.

Judoon in Chains... well, it owed a lot to Mary Shelley's Frankenstein and didn't attempt to hide it, but it was very fitting. Colin Baker's Doctor's bombast worked well up against the Whovian version of Vogons. Nicholas Briggs' as the Judoon who finds himself in a Victorian Freak Show is very moving, as is Eliza who is, thankfully, played by a real little person of great talent. And yes, you can hear that. Five stars for having a character called Meretricious Gedge, a most excellent baddie.

Harvest of the Sycorax... not especially inspired in itself, the Sycorax are pretty tedious monsters here as they were in their 'new' series outing (but I think that's part of the point, and allows Sylvester McCoy to do his dismissive thing) Some of the ideas though are great - the human race medicating for every sensation, and technology reporting, diagnosing and advising constantly.

The Sontaran Ordeal... hmmm, emphatically *not* a new monster. Not complaining as there's plenty of mileage in them and as another reviewer has said, there are complexities, particularly their concept of honour and glory which makes them more than potato headed daleks. I confess I did nod off during this one which was more about me than the story, but was a bit about the story... perhaps too much exposition for the sake of making the story's significant place in the Doctor Who canon (Time Wars and all that)

There was a bonus disc which was mostly how wonderful people were to work with and how they are best buddies from way back, but the rigours of the Judoon voice were worth hearing about.

[Taksya · Rating 4 out of 5]

La Big Finish mette i Dottori classici in contrapposizione a nemici moderni> .
Storie non tutte eccezionali, ma ben inserite nel contesto della serie e con qualche aggangio ai futuri incontri con i vari alieni.
1.1 Fallen Angels by Phil Mulryne
Quinto Dottore vs Angeli Piangenti. Pur essendo mostri silenziosi, grazie alla musica e all'interazione tra gli interpreti, non si fatica a vedere l'azione.
Scomodando Michelangelo (il "Perché non parli?" rivolto al Mosè applicato agli Angeli intrappolati nel marmo) e il rischio di perdere parte delle sue opere, il Dottore riesce a sconfiggere gli Angeli in modo, se si può dire,.collaudato.

1.2 Judoon in Chains by Simon Barnard and Paul Morris
Sesto Dottore e un Judoon atipico... ottima storia con personaggi, i Judoon, dalla notevole presenza scenica ma con una linea recitativa un po' monocorde.
La trama di base è abbastanza scontata, ma l'evoluzione dei personaggi risolleva le sorti della storia.

1.3 Harvest of the Sycorax by James Goss
Settimo Dottore contro i Sycorax e la loro mania di ottenere sangue da manipolare.
Solità umanità vittima di se stessa, con il riscatto finale e risoluzione brillante del problema.

1.4 The Sontaran Ordeal by Andrew Smith
Ottavo Dottore, Guerra del Tempo e Str... i Sontaran.
Bella la descrizione di come la Guerra del Tempo può sconvolgere la vita di mondi normali... ma Dan Starkey come Sontaran ormai ricorda inevitabilmente Strax, indipendentemente dal ruolo interpretato.
La storia non è male, ma non eccessivamente originale.

[William Vaudin · Rating 3 out of 5]

One of the main reasons that this box set is possible in that the monsters in them were established as monsters the Doctor has already met in his travels. So, you would think that this would chronical his first meeting with these monsters, but the Doctor's still recognise the monster on these stories the appeal is kind of dead-on arrival.
As the for stories, they were mixed, I think the Judoon one is the best of the four by default, and the Weeping Angel one has some merit, but the other two were just forgettable. I don't find the Sycorax interesting villains and the Sontarans, well, we're already familiar with them so it doesn’t justify them being here.
If anything, it just make me want more of the same thing with the same monsters but with different Doctors. I would like to see a Second Doctor Story with the Judoon or a Fourth Doctor story with the Weeping Angels, maybe even a Sycorax story with the Third Doctor and the Master. But with this set, it's possible at best.

[Colin · Rating 5 out of 5]

A set of four CDs, each with the premise of pairing a classic Doctor with monsters from the newer (2005+) series. So "Fallen Angels" pairs the 5th Doctor with Weeping Angels, "Judoon in Chains" pairs the 6th Doctor with the Judoon, "Harvest of the Sycorax" pairs the 7th Doctor with the Sycorax, and "The Sontaran Ordeal" pairs the 8th Doctor with the Sontarans (a bit odd, since they're actually classic Doctor Who "monsters," but it is a really great story anyway). Overall, I think the stories work very well, though "Harvest of the Sycorax" just didn't hold my attention.