Doctor Who: Other Lives

Big Finish: Monthly Range #77

by Gary Hopkins, Paul McGann (Narrator), India Fisher (Narrator)

London, 1851.

Scene of the Great Exhibition of the Works of Industry of All Nations. Scene also of a plot to un-seat the government, de-throne the monarch and start a republic. If the Duke of Wellington himself is to be believed...

While the Doctor and Charley are drawn into the murky world of nineteenth-century politics, C'rizz struggles to maintain his dignity against growing odds. What begins as an attempt to prevent murder quickly becomes a desperate race to avert revolution. Separated from the TARDIS, the travellers are left to wonder if they'll get their own lives back or be forever entangled with the lives of others.

And who is Mrs Georgina Marlow? What need does she feel the Doctor can satisfy?

Genres: Doctor Who, Science Fiction, Audiobook, Historical Fiction, Time Travel

Audio CD

First published December 9, 2005

About the author

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Reviews

[Lady Nerd · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 ⭐️

[Emilija · Rating 4 out of 5]

2023 52 Book Challenge - February Mini Challenge - 1) Set In Winter Or Spring

I actually really enjoyed this audiobook. All three of the main characters end up having to pretend to be other people after they lose each other at the opening of the Great Expedition.

There isn't much adventure or thrill to this one, but it was still enjoyable, with the historical setting and the Doctor helping out a woman and trying to keep her family home, and Charley becoming friends with the Duke of Wellington. I wasn't as much a fan of C'rizz and his subplot, but that might be because I don't like C'rizz.

[H.K. · Rating 4 out of 5]

I very much liked this audio play. For one, the Doctor helping Georgianna was very sweet, and it emphasized his romantic nature. The Eighth Doctor was very compassionate and romantic, and he could easily develop affection for people he's helping. What happened to C'rizz was horrible and made me cringe, but his revenge seemed possibly justified if not equally horrifying. Once again, Charley's charm befriends the most unlikeliest of characters, but totally a fun side plot. It's definitely a story that came out of the eccentricities of the TARDIS, and honestly I rather enjoy when she strands the Doctor and his companions somewhere to help out/learn something of themselves.

[luckey · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was a fun romp, literally had no villains, but I liked lot of the side gags that were going on, and it was peak Victorian Doctor loverboy, which I lived for

[Steven Shinder · Rating 3 out of 5]

For some reason, I long expected this to be a story about an amnesiac Doctor who had spent years in the nineteenth century believing he was someone else. Even after divorcing myself from that expectation before listening, I found this one to just be okay. It's a purely historical story, which is cool, but there's not much thrill to it.

[Ellen Schoener · Rating 3 out of 5]

Has some fun scenes, but in the end, it is pretty unremarkable.

[Reggie A · Rating 3 out of 5]

This story has some of the best comedy in the whole series so far. That said, it also has one of the most rushed endings, and I leave the episode with more questions than answers.

I really enjoyed the Duke of Wellington and his assistant Mr Fazackerley. The Duke especially was very charismatic and I loved the camaraderie he had with Charley; they bounced off each other well.

I also loved the French dignitaries and wish we had seen more vis-a-vis their predicament. There’s not really an explanation to any of that, which I really would have liked.

The first third of this story is a perfect shenanigans event. Everyone was funny and the situations felt very nearly slapstick. The shilling payoff with Eight at the beginning and then the end was really good.

All in all I wish this one was stronger. A lot of fun ideas were at play.

[Kelly McCubbin · Rating 2 out of 5]

This play feels like a mish-mash of about 4 different stories which could've, each, been interesting if fleshed out, but none of them are and they don't seem to go together at all. On top of that, the story is hung on plot points WAY too tenuous. There might be another French Revolution if two diplomats disappear in England? What? C'rizz, who is treated as an absolute monstrosity can imitate one of said diplomats with a really good wig?
What a mess.

[Plingsben · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was really refreshing to listen to a pure historical as we don't really get any televised stories that are purely historical in new Who (with the exception of Thin Ice). The story while alright is not the best of historical writing that Big Finish has to offer. I also find myself intrigued by the development of C'rizz. He is very slowly beginning to become a darker character to a level that you could probably only get away with on Torchwood if he was to be televised.

[K · Rating 5 out of 5]

1851年、ロンドン万博を訪れたドクターとチャーリーとケリス。ターディスにケリスを残して万博会場に繰り出したドクターとチャーリーだったが早速はぐれてしまう。チャーリーはアーサー・ウェリントンと遭遇し、ドクターは妻だと名乗る女性と出会い、ケリスは見せ物小屋の主人に捕まってしまう。

珍しく事件の背後に宇宙人が存在するということない話。ドクター、チャーリー、ケリスに似た存在と偶然ニアミスし、彼らのドラマに少し巻き込まれるという形なのだけれども、面白かった。
ウェリントンとチャーリーのコンビも良かったし、ドクターと冒険家の夫をドクターと間違える夫人の話もすごく面白かった。悲劇すぎることもおこらなくて、たまにはこんな冒険もいいなって感じで。

サイキックペーパーをそういえば8thは持っていなかったんだと思い出した。
ないと不便！
でも手品で小銭を稼ぐあたり、さすがドクターと思ってしまった。

[Finlay O'Riordan · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's fun to have dual roles for our three main performers, but putting that novelty aside, the story itself is pretty dull and uninspired. There's very little excitement and it drags for the majority of it. Some good characterization of C'rizz but it's otherwise a pretty not-even-average-quality story.

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5

[Xander Toner · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this. It was much smaller in scale then even the usual Main Range adventure and I think it worked really well. Each of the three story threads were interesting and I even found myself enjoying the Paul McGann as a random husband sub-plot.

[Gabriel Mero · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another fun adventure.

[Alyce Caswell · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a bit of a mess to start with, but it all came together nicely by the end. I particularly enjoyed the Doctor's solo adventure.

[Finn Chamberlain-Page · Rating 3 out of 5]

7/10

Nice to have a pure historical, we never get these anymore.

[Tabitha · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don't really care for historical stories but this one did have a few good points

[SuperPiggy5000 · Rating 3 out of 5]

A perfectly average story. It was interesting seeing/hearing a story in this time period. Don't know how much impact this will have on future stories, other than C'rizz story.

2.5/5 - Average

[Zach · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of the most well rounded 8th Doctor stories of this era. Does a great job balancing between the 3 characters.

[David · Rating 1 out of 5]

The dullest most pedestrian Who I've ever come across. Totally redeemable.

[Devin Harvey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Other Lives was a big surprise, it was I think one of the Eighth Doctor's only almost purely historical (except the tardis and c'rizz) audios. The Doctor, Charley and C'rizz are all get pulled into their own troubling situations, separated from each other after the Doctor let the TARDIS escape with the Special Guests of the Great Exhibition. I think my favorite performance in this was actually Conrad Westmaas as C'rizz. I've always thought C'rizz was a fantastic character but he is especially good in this one, going from being snarky and hilarious while with Charley, to dark and creepy when kidnapped by Mr. Crackles. Though everyone in this audio was especially wonderful, especially compared to the audio that came before, the horrid 'Scaredy Cat' where even Paul McGann couldn't save it with his performance, has all been fixed for this. I enjoyed this audio greatly and definitely recommend listening to it!

[Nicholas Whyte]

Other Lives is one of those rare stories where the only sfnal elements are the Doctor and companions, and the Tardis. On a visit to the Great Exhibition (as promised originally by the Fifth Doctor at the start of Time Flight), everyone gets entangled in their own plotline - the Doctor embroiled in a case of mistaken identity, the Tardis arbitrarily wandering off with a couple of French tourists, C'rizz kidnapped by the proprietor of a freak show, and Charley rather gloriously hooking up with the Duke of Wellington, memorably portrayed by Ron Moody as a paragon of aged courtesy occasionally flipping into anti-revolutionary frothing. The plot doesn't really make a lot of sense, but it is enjoyable stuff.

[Mel · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a really nice historical. Where better for the 8th Doctor and Charley to end up than the Great Exhibition? I always love proper historical where the plot is just, the past, and not aliens trying to take over the past. Here the villains and plots were all things that happened in 19th century literature, mistake identity, wills, sideshows, and political intrigue. It had the feel of George Reynolds plot. Normally I'm not the biggest fan of Crizz but I did enjoy him in this. Charley was superb though. From impersonating royalty to being mistaken for a prostitute. Definitely recommended.

[Jack · Rating 3 out of 5]

6/10
Verdict: Optional

Very standard adventure. It's nice to get a pure historical, but this story is pretty dull. The setting is very ordinary, the plot is quite linear, with some interesting twists, but they end up leading in a very straight line as well. There are some threads which are somewhat interesting, but I wasn't interested enough to care.

[Debra Cook · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Doctor, Czrizz, and Charley land during the Great Exhibition of 1800"s and have adventures on their own. Charley gets lost trying to follow the doctor, The Doctor gets mistaken for an assinsin and Crizz gets but in an oddity show.

[Sara Habein · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was more like the Eighth Doctor does a historical adventure, but it manages to be more interesting than many of the historicals of yore. Resolves itself a bit too neatly, but it's still a good story.

[Ritchie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Eight, Charley and C'rizz in 1850s England. Murder and intrigue. Charley becomes royalty, C'rizz becomes an exhibit, The Doctor finds a family and the Tardis is a foldaway pianoforte. Fun historical.