Doctor Who: Living Legend

The Eighth Doctor Adventures

by Scott Gray

This is a free promotional audio play released with issue 337 of Doctor Who Magazine.

Set after the events of The Chimes of Midnight, The Doctor and Charley have landed in Italy on 11 July 1982. While the Italians are celebrating their Football World Cup championship over West Germany, the Doctor and Charley are tracing "an odd signal". This leads them to discover a pair of Threllips, who are planning to open a transdimensional portal for their full invasion force.

Cast

* The Doctor — Paul McGann
* Charley Pollard — India Fisher
* Vengorr — Stephen Perring
* Thon — Conrad Westmaas

Genres: Doctor Who, Science Fiction, Audiobook, Time Travel, Media Tie In, Fiction, Short Stories

Audio Play

First published January 1, 2003

About the author

Scott Gray, born Warwick Gray, is a comic book writer from New Zealand who lives and works in the UK.

There is more than one author with this name

Reviews

[Polly Batchelor · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Well, here they are, Captain, Homo Sapiens. Hairy, smelly creatures with no dress sense."

[Mark · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another short story starring Paul McGann as the 8th Doctor and India Fisher as Charly. This time the TARDIS lands in Italy 1982 on the night that Italy beats Germany in the worldchampionship football. And the spiritual are high.
Yet the Doctor and Charly are not there to party, they are following a signal that is not from our world.
Another invasion of earth is happening and the both are all that can stop them, using the reputation of the Timelords. The story is quite amusing.
The second part of this release is the making of the 40th anniversary story by Big Finish called Zagreus. A multi-Doctor story of the 5th, 6th, 7th and 8th Doctor.

[Kyle Berk · Rating 4 out of 5]

A roaring little play taking place after Chimes of Midnight that has the Doctor and Charley tricking some aliens into not invading earth. I found it rather funny with the setting there in a me how they follow that up. Especially Charley playing the part of time lord.

A good bit of fun.

[Emilija · Rating 5 out of 5]

2022 52 Book Challenge - April Mini Challenge - 2) A Comical Read

This was a very good short story, and was pretty funny. The Doctor and Charley trick an alien into getting drunk during the World Cup final.

[Frank Davis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Just a bit of silly fun. I didn't check out the "making of Zagreus" feature which is included after the short Eight story.

[Noah Soudrette · Rating 5 out of 5]

A hilarious 30 minute play about the Doctor and Charley tricking some buffoonish aliens by pretending to be very important Time Lords. Wonderful.

[Seb Hasi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Living Legend is a short, fun little freebie that came with Dr Who Magazine. As such it isn’t particularly long, but it is free! Paul Mcgann and India fisher give a surprising amount of effort for this one as they play comedic stories so well. A charming story about them stopping an alien invasion in Italy the year of the world cup. The aliens themselves are also comedic characters, and I was surprised how taken I was with something so silly and quaint. The Tardis team convince the aliens they are Time Lords who have come to document their historic invasion, and subsequently fill one with envy by convincing him that history forgets him, while the Doctor is off with the other one getting him drunk. The length of this one is very apt considering it is essentially a series of skits, it doesn’t overstay its welcome and really has some great lines and moments. The aliens are played very well, with even a dodgy Cornish accent to boot and occupy their role as easily defeated comedic characters; very well. This one really felt like it was straight out of the DWM comics, from its quirky setting and silly moments to grand comedic imagery; this is how I could describe the story as feeling very different, and such a light/fast listen.

[Mel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Free audio well worth the listen. It was delightful to have such a fun and silly adventure for Charley and the Doctor. Charley played Pompous Time Lord very well. Glad they decided to release this again.

[Steven Shinder · Rating 3 out of 5]

The story itself is about 22 minutes of The Doctor and Charley fooling some aliens into thinking they’re high ranking Time Lord officials. Amusing, but not much happens. The remaining half hour is The Making of Zagreus.

[Xander Toner · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hilarious and short. Exactly what I wanted out of it.

[Alyce Caswell · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very short audio adventure, but still quite fun. Charley and 8th were on point.

[Rick · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute, fun, little romp. Not much else.

[K · Rating 4 out of 5]

あらすじ

ターディスが検知した不審なエネルギーの出所を目指してドクターとチャーリーが到着したのは1982年、ワールドカップの優勝沸き返るイタリアだった。
ドクターとチャーリーは森の中で好戦的種族のスレリプスの戦士が2人、ヴァンゴール大佐と部下のソーンを見つける。ギャリフレイと交易するぐらいに高度な技術力を持つ彼らが地球侵略を企んでいたら大変だと、ドクターとチャーリーは一計を案じる。

感想

ドクターとチャーリーがタイムロードの幹部に化けてヴァンゴールとソーンを口車にのせて地球から追い払おうとする短編。ドクターとチャーリーのかけあいがとにかく楽しい。2人のファンとしては嬉しい一品だった。

[Jacob · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a fun short story this is! A few of Big Finish's full-length stories could have benefitted from being cut down to this length. Nevertheless, Fisher and McGann give their funniest performances yet and the whole thing left me with a big grin on my face.

[Coraline · Rating 4 out of 5]

Charley bossing around The Doctor was great 4/5
Zagreus bts- I had no idea the Zagreus bts was in this omg what a pleasant surprise. WHAT THE FUCK WERE SYLVESTER AND COLIN TALKING ABOUT 😭 sucking the blood of Virgin's and Walt Disney groping women hello??

[K · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love how much Charley makes a better time lord.

[Gabriel Mero · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fun quick adventure with the Eighth Doctor and Charley.

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

Cute

[Michael Botterill · Rating 5 out of 5]

A cool little story very fun!

[*Gasp* · Rating 5 out of 5]

A funny and cute short story. It’s free and definitely worth the listen.

[SuperPiggy5000 · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun little adventure for the Eighth Doctor and Charley. The role reversal was pretty funny. Plus it's free!

[Sting251 · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5/5 ⭐️

[Kathy Broyles · Rating 3 out of 5]

Story is only the first half. The rest of the audio is filled with interviews on the set.

[Craig Fisher · Rating 1 out of 5]

Tedious. Smug. Dull. Definitely bottom tier audio. I resent the time wasted listening to it.

[Finlay O'Riordan · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun freebie!

One half sees the Doctor and Charley dressing up as Time Lords to prevent an invasion of Earth, while the other half features cast interviews for Zagreus.

[Zach · Rating 4 out of 5]

Easy and fun bite sized 8 story

[Calum · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a fairly fun half hour story. I liked the way they beat the villains and it was pretty nice hearing 8 and Charley again.
6/10

[Jamieson · Rating 5 out of 5]

A short free story that was originally given away in an issue of Doctor Who Magazine (DWM #337), this story takes place in 1982 Italy right after Italy beat West Germany to win the World Cup. The Eighth Doctor (Paul McGann) and Charley (India Fisher) have to defeat the advance party of an alien invasion. Fortunately, the aliens aren't very bright. This is short and just a lot of fun. And it's free on the Big Finish website, so there's no reason not to check it out.

[DrAshleyWho · Rating 4 out of 5]

Re-listened as part of McGanathon, a re-watch and listening of all the Paul McGann audios for Big Finish up until the current audios in 2026

Scott Gray has shown with his comic work that he's capable of doing genuinely epic drama-filled stories like The Glorious Dead and The Flood but with that said this is still an example of him doing a funny and entertaining one-off. Basically an extended joke taking place during an Italian World Cup but at twenty-two minutes it doesn't outstay its welcome.

[Taksya · Rating 4 out of 5]

Breve avventura dell'ottavo Dottore e di Charley Pollard nell'Italia del 1982. Mentre a Ferrara si festeggia la vittoria sulla Germania, due alieni complottano per conquistare il pianeta... e la risoluzione del "problema" da parte del Dottore è brillante.
Breve e divertente, ma accompagnata dal making of di "Zagreus", l'episodio realizzato dalla Big Finish nel 40mo anniversario della serie.