Three brand new adventures featuring Christopher Eccleston as the Ninth Doctor.
2.1 Girl, Deconstructed by Lisa McMullin
Marnie is missing. But she hasn't run away, as her dad fears - Marnie is still very much at home. But not quite as she was.
The Doctor joins forces with Missing Persons detective Jana Lee to help solve the mystery of a girl who's gone to pieces.
2.2 Fright Motif by Tim Foley
In post-War Paris, musician Artie Berger has lost his mojo, but gained a predator - something that seeps through the cracks of dissonance to devour the unwary.
Luckily for Artie, the Doctor is here. Unluckily for everyone, he needs bait to trap a monster...
2.3 Planet of the End by Timothy X Atack
The Doctor arrives on a mausoleum world for sightseeing and light pedantry, correcting its planetary records. The resident AI has other ideas.
Deep within a tomb, something stirs. Occasus is the last resting place of a species far too dangerous to exist. And the Doctor is its way back.
(2.1) Girl Deconstructed - This was fantastic. A solidly entertaining, and indisputably Ninth Doctor adventure. This one really felt like it could have been a never-produced script written right in the thick of the first season of Doctor Who (except that there’s no Rose). Eccleston feels like he’s back in top form and ready for whatever the universe has to throw at him. He’s just as charming and irreverent and witty as he ever was.
(2.2) Fright Motif - This was fun. A riotous ride through music and nightclubs and urban nightlife.
(2.3) Planet of the End - Probably my favorite of this batch. Great performances and wonderful use of a small, limited cast. Excellent. Dare I say …
This set was FANTASTIC and even better than the last set. The ninth Doctor is back and he’s better than he’s ever been.
Our second boxset with Christopher Eccleston and i have to say i enjoyed it way better than the first! Three incredibly strong individual character driven stories, which i struggled to find a favorite i enjoyed them all that much.
The 9th Doctor on screen, as sassy as he was, was always darker and mournful following the Time War. I appreciate that this isn't mentioned in the stories so far, as it's clear that this Doctor is still trying to find himself in a Universe after the Time War. So we're getting to see the funny, laughable mad man just running through the universe helping people out which we never really got to see in the TV Series.
Compared to the first boxset, which was very timey-wimey, these stories focus on characters and each story has a nice moment where The Doctor reflects on hope and the wonders of the Universe.
Overall, this boxset is well worth the listen, for strong stories and wonderful acting. (don't forget the wonderful music too!).
4.5 SO MUCH BETTER THAN THE FIRST BOXSET. Ah, these stories make me so happy. Christopher Eccleston sounds like he's genuinely enjoying playing the Doctor which, considering his short time on the show and strained relationship with the role, is just a joy to hear. Can't decide which of these was my favourite, they're all fantastic.
A brilliant collection of three audiobook adventures! It is fantastic to hear Christopher Eccleston return as the 9th Doctor and the adventures are very much on par with the sort he had in his tv series too. One of my favourite Big Finish audiobook productions yet!
Secondo boxset dedicato al nono Dottore, interpretato da Christopher Eccleston. Mentre nel primo set, Doctor Who: The Ninth Doctor Adventures - Ravagers, abbiamo ascoltato una sola storia suddivisa in tre episodi, in questo secondo set abbiamo tre storie autoconclusive, non collegate tra loro.
2.1 Girl, Deconstructed by Lisa McMullin Una ragazza è scomparsa e il Dottore si inserisce nelle indagini, mentre sta seguendo le tracce di una razza aliena. Con il solito poco tatto, ma con ampia comprensione del problema, che va ben oltre la fuga di una adolescente, il Dottore riesce come sempre a risolvere più problemi al prezzo di uno. Alcune situazioni sanno di già visto, ma nell'insieme la storia regge e diverte.
2.2 Fright Motif by Tim Foley Nella Parigi post Seconda Guerra Mondiale il Dottore incontra un musicista che sembra aver perso il suo Tocco magico, ma aver guadagnato un mostro affamato che lo perseguita. Tra crisi personali e tattiche poco ortodosse, come sempre la situazione viene risolta.
2.3 Planet of the End by Timothy X Atack In visita ad un mausoleo alieno e con la solita pedanteria che contraddistingue tutte le incarnazioni, il Dottore si ritrova ad essere prescelto come tramite per la resurrezione di una razza aliena pericolosa e particolarmente antipatica. Con millenni a disposizione, il Dottore riesce a portare dalla sua parte l'Intelligenza Artificiale a guardia del mausoleo e a scongiurare il ritorno dei cattivoni.
Tre avventure autonome, perfette per il nono Dottore e per un Eccleston sempre più in forma. Vari riferimenti sia alla serie Classica che agli anni di Nove sono sparsi lungo i tre audio, ma non è fondamentale coglierli per godere dell'ascolto.
So, we now have the second volume of Ninth Doctor Adventures from Big Finish. Again comprised of three stories, this time they're all stand alone stories. As with all these new boxsets, it occurs before the start of Series 1 so don't expect appearances by Rose and/or Captain Jack.
The first story is titled Girl, Deconstructed and sees the Doctor getting involved in the disappearances of hundreds of teens who vanish across England. It's a simple story, focusing primarily on the disappeared teen Marnie and DC Jana Lee. It turns out that there's a migratory species called the Serapheem who travel via starlight. They've heard teens' wishes to get away and tried to take them with them, but in the process turn the teens' bodies into dust. The story does a much better job of explaining this. The Doctor solves the problem and everything's good (for the most part). It's a sweet little story that I'd rate at 7/10. Not outstanding, but sweet and personal.
The second story, Fright Motif, sees the Doctor hunting a sound creature from another dimension in post-War Paris, 1946 with the help of Jazz Pianist Artie Berger (who I have no idea if he was a real person or a fictional one). This was fun. It deals with fear, and grief, and does a marvelous job. This has a small cast and some nice emotionally tender heart-felt moments mixed with some nice action sequences. I'd rate this at 8.5/10 because, while not a super outstanding piece, it's enjoyable and rather fun.
The third story is titled Planet of the End, and I found it be enjoyable, but possibly a harder story to translate to the screen, but then again, maybe not. Anyway, it's an anti-capitalism story that sees the Doctor lured to a mausoleum world by a supposed extinct race that ravaged the early universe for a profit named the Incorporation. We get a companion here in the form of Robotic AI guardian (with a female voice) that the Doctor names Fred. The Incorporation plan to use the Doctor to resurrect their species. On a side note, we get a namedrop of the Family of Blood and mentions of the TV stories “Tomb of the Cybermen” and “Death to the Daleks”. While the opening was confusing, I did enjoy the story. I'd rate it 8/10.
Whereas the first volume of Ninth Doctor Adventures felt like a bloated timey-wimey thrill-ride of a piece that was rather confusing until the reveal at the end, and then it was still a bit on the confusing side, this boxset with three stand-alone self-contained stories feels more like the RTD New Series. I could fairly easily see these being televised episodes. Eccleston seems to be having fun and brings back the Ninth Doctor in a way that seems fairly similar to the TV show. Not quite what I saw on TV (having re-watched half the season recently), but close enough. These audios are fun and enjoyable, and while none of them really blew me away as "Wow, that was amazing!", this was still a fun boxset and a much better way to introduce New Series fans to Big Finish. I'd rate it at a solid 8/10.
A cute little story with little stakes, a decent mystery and no real antagonists. Fun side characters and 9 is great, even if he lacks the edge he does in the TV show.
Fright Motif: 6/10 Verdict: Optional
Fun enough story with some decent side characters and a nice setting. The story ends up juggling a lot of elements and it does feel like they do slip quite a few times throughout, especially in the pacing. The antagonist is fine but pretty generic, the twist to their motives at the end only slightly elevating it. I feel there was a really good opportunity for 9 to express some feelings from the time war here, but apart from one line it isn't explored at all.
Planet of the End: 7/10 Verdict: Optional
Fun story with some decent stakes and some nice side characters and antagonists. There's a lot of technobabble with this story and I'm still not quite sure how it was resolved, but it was still a really fun ride. I'm getting a bit tired of these stories dodging the Time War, I mean 9 creates something in this story that he should really be over the moon about, but he just sort of shruggs it off. Hopefully we can get some more of that time war angst in future stories, even just one, cause I do see what they're doing with his character.
Well, I admit I tried Ravagers but did not get into it and so did not continue and will keep it for a later date. But I have started on Respond to all calls. First of all, I am pleasantly surprised by the fresh and original stories we get presented here. Of late, a lot of the Big Finish output has felt a bit stale. Not so here! The idea behind „Girl deconstructed“ is fresh and new and it is a fun little romp, hiding some truly horrific aliens ( even if this was not malicious, what they do is the stuff of nightmares). Eccleston’s Performance is great. I cannot find a lot of fault there. „Fright motif“ was quite interestingly, too. Interesting premise with the sound disharmony monster and the jazz musician and a great little chase around Paris. The last story is the weakest of the set. It is by no means bad, and still presents a new and original story idea. Plus a great AI character. But I admit it dragged a bit. All in all, this is a great set, with great fresh stories and wonderful performances.
The second set of adventures with Christopher Eccleston returning as The Doctor takes us firmly toward the Doctor 9 we saw on television. This second box set featuring three stories of Doctor 9, recorded under difficult lockdown circumstances, takes us back season 1 of Nuwho in style and tone. The stories themselves are all set before The Doctor meets Rose. This is a Doctor on his own. Unlike the mood set with Doctor 10, that The Doctor on his own would run out of control, we see here a Doctor "on call," saving lives on a case by case basis. The stories are all very personal, local emergencies involving historical nobodies, the ordinary people finding it hard just to get by. Yes, in two of the stories the Universe seems to be at risk, but these are more metaphorical dilemmas than actual dilemmas, large-scale interpretations of the difficulties people often have when their personal universes are falling apart. Eccleston is clearly having fun as The Doctor, reminding us just how energetic and enthusiastic his Doctor was. To get the Russell T. Davies vibe, Big Finish went to new, younger writers for these scripts, and used a Present - Past - Future pattern for the stories. The first story is "Girl, Deconstructed." This is the story of the Present, early 2000s. Teenagers are going missing in Scotland and it has something to do with the Doctor's efforts to track down what has gone wrong with the Serafim (I'm not sure of the spelling). The story is a sci-fi, haunted house depiction of teen angst, centering on Marnie, a teen girl struggling to connect with her single father, wishing simply that she could be anywhere other than home. Having a teen girl be both absent and present is a great metaphor for what teens often go through. Some of the explanations of events are a bit dodgy, and The Doctor is a bit too precise in his TARDIS control, a convenience to make the plot run smoothly that is out of sync with Doctor Who lore. The second story, the Past story, called Fright Motif, takes us to Paris, around 1949, recovering from the war. An American musician working in a hotel finds he can no longer play music. He's being pursued by an other-dimensional sound monster, as well. While the first story symbolized teen angst and family disconnection, this one symbolizes grief. In trying to save the situation, The Doctor brings together three very different people all dealing with grief in different ways. The sound monster is the symbol of that grief, destructive, drawn to the sounds that remind people of what they have lost. For me, this is the weakest of the three stories. There is quite a bit of running around to no end, and the resolution seems stretched out. Last is the Future story, Planet of the End, by playwright Timothy X. Atack. This one, in my opinion, is by far the best of the three. That is, in part, because Atack has more cleverly hidden the personal problem that is the real center of the story. The Doctor has responded to a distress signal that takes him to the far future when most intelligent races have come and gone. The planet is a giant cemetary-memorial to these lost races, but one on which no one is actually allowed to visit or memorialize anyone lest their presence "disturbs" the memorials. Apart from wildlife, the only intelligent presence on the planet is an AI robot, managed from afar by an officious oaf. The signal The Doctor has followed is a lure for a trap, so that The Incorporation, ancient beings from the dawn of the Universe, can resurrect themselves and begin again their business operations of destruction for profit. Atack does not even try to hide his contempt for modern corporate greed, or his disdain for corporate executives. This would seem to be the focus of the story, but in fact the actual focus of the story is the robot AI, whom The Doctor names Fred. The AI is symbol of the ordinary employee, whom the executive class "employ" in the sense of use. Allowed no identity outside of function, expected to follow directives without question, no matter how foolish those directives are, and not allowed to display will or personality, Fred is in some sense every-employee. By treating the AI as a person, giving it a name, talking to it as an equal, asking for its help rather than ordering it, The Doctor helps Fred to liberate itself, to realize its own desires, and to resolve its crisis of being. Thus, what appears to be a big, universe-threatening, all-hands-on-deck Doctor Who story, is, at heart, about The Doctor helping one person toward self-realization, an identity separate from the job. The set is enjoyable, especially given Eccleston's mix of fun, enthusiasm, and seriousness. The set makes one realize how much audiences missed by having Eccleston for only one season on TV.
So Ravagers came and went, people were very mixed about the release with some really appreciating it whilst others were a little more disappointed. However, Respond to All Calls came around and the excitement for the Ninth Doctor returned! So let's see if I agree with the praise this set gets!
Girl, Deconstructed: A mature story disguised with a lot of fun that deals with the familiar sadness of teenagers wanting to run away from home which of course has a very sci-fi twist on it that works incredibly well, with a lot of fun scenes but also some emotional and quite sad moments as well.
Lisa McMullin has managed to put together a story that would have fitted in Series 1 brilliantly and you can tell everyone especially Christopher Ecclestone had so much fun with this story and I'll admit it is an absolute cracker! 9/10
Fright Motif: A really fun and atmospheric little story that deals with a very unique monster that hunts by sound whilst also dealing with themes of grief and love. You can tell everyone is having so much fun in this story, the sound design is particularly good and Tim Foley has written yet another really good story! 8.5/10
Planet of The End: This was an incredibly unique Doctor Who story that tackles the themes of capitalism whilst having a brilliant pair up of The Doctor and an artificial intelligence that's started to build a personality of its own. The setting was really cool with a graveyard world and a necropolis where thousands of species have been frozen to the spot forever.
This was a very well-written story that was very clever and with a brilliant conclusion. I can see why this writer has won awards because this story was incredible and definitely something we've been needing from The Ninth Doctor range! 10/10
Overall this was a really good boxset with three fantastic stories where the writers, the actors, and the director have managed to pull them brilliantly! 27.5/30
I very much enjoyed all three stories in this set. A strong solid 3.5/4 stars.
I felt the stories were all very original, my favourite ones in order:
1. Fright Motif 2. Planet of the End 3. Girl, Deconstructed.
I felt like each story was original, and had a sense of developing the characters rather than focusing on the plot. Character development is something I find so essentially important in stories, and sadly, I find a lot of big finish stories lacking in this department. But was delighted to say this didn't disappoint in this boxset.
Tim Foley is easily becoming one of my new favourite writers in big finish. I really loved Artie, Maurice and Zazie. The interactions between Maurice and Zazie were an utter delight to listen to, and I really felt for Maurice's story and what happened to him in the end.
And I loved Timothy X Atack story, very original and loved the idea of incooperation, and loved Fred. Also Nine with a beard? That's a sight to see! I'm sure Rose would have hated it haha.
I also enjoyed Girl, Deconstructed. I loved the ghostly elements to it, and liked the interactions of Dana, Douglas and the young girl. It was interesting to see Dana's reaction to the TARDIS.
I enjoyed this more than the first set. The timing of my finally listening to "Girl, Deconstructed" is interesting, because the concept is similar to one of the Charlotte Pollard stories I listened to yesterday. Also, for the second time in recent memory, I'm surprised that Nine, like Ten, says ghosts aren't real. Have the Classic Doctors really never encountered real ghosts? The desperation in Marnie's father wanting his daughter back feels very believable. There's also an amusing moment when there are two Nines, so I guess this is sort of a multi-Doctor story? "Fright Motif" is a good post-WWII story set in Paris, incorporating a musician as the focus. Early on, there were actually sound effects that made me think the sounds came from the room I'm in, so I guess they're very good. "Planet of the End" is also really good. Splendid dialogue from Nine not knowing what'll happen next at the end.
Episode 1. Girl deconstructed. Really good, I felt like I was listening to one of the episodes from 2005. Episode 2. Fright motif. Also good. I don’t get why some people think nine is this dark and spooky guy, he’s so happy in this. Episode 3. Planet of the end. I loved the beginning and the one of the characters gaining a humanity over the course of the story. Not a lot of doctor who stories really take advantage of time travel or rather long stretches of time like this one did. But it did lose me towards the end of it, I was sort of waiting for it to be over.
A much stronger set of standalone adventures with excellent performances from Eccelston and the supporting cast. Girl Deconstructed was a big generic in terms of the grand scheme of Doctor Who, but I absolutely loved the other two adventures and hope that they can only get better from here. Girl Deconstructed - 8/10. Fright Motif - 9/10. Planet of the End - 9/10.
Three wonderful separate adventures of the Ninth Doctor, a gloomy horror story, an excellent and tragic story about jazz in Paris and a Moffat like story about eternal greed. Fantastic sound design and great performances. Loved it!
I'm really happy with these ones. They give a bigger variety than the first and they are all well done. Though I feel Planet of the End was the weakest one out of all three.
The first story the doctor helps store the lives of vanished teens. Two the doctor tries to stop angry music. Three the doctor tries to stop evil beings from getting regeneration energy.
Unlike the first release in the series, this really is what the blurb says it is: three separate hour-long stories. As before, all are set before the Doctor is travelling with Rose and, this time, we have one each for a contemporary, historical, and futuristic setting. But here, the stories are much more like what we got in most of the Ninth Doctor's TV run, rather than something more in the style of Moffat, as the first volume was. Eccleston is great in the role, really getting back into it, and bringing out the character's love of life.
Girl, Deconstructed – The contemporary story (which is to say, it’s set around 2005) sees the Doctor responding to a distress call after dozens of teenagers have simultaneously vanished from Dundee. There isn’t much mystery as to where they’ve gone, since that’s revealed in the opening teaser, and the Doctor is able to work out the why almost instantly (although it takes him a while to explain it), leaving the story more focused on how to get them back again. Which basically consists of a lot of running about confusing people and building gadgets.
Arguably, not much happens in the story, and there isn’t a real sense of threat, either. It’s largely conversational, although this does result in a good portrayal of the relationship between a single parent and his teenage daughter – through whose eyes we see the disappearance, although supposedly many others are also involved. The companion surrogate is a police officer whose main role is to be alternately puzzled and exasperated by the Doctor; she’s a necessary part of the story from a plot perspective but doesn’t bring anything very notable. There are a few callbacks to the classic series, and a foreshadowing of an event in one of Nine’s own TV episodes. Unfortunately, though, it’s evident from early on where it’s going and, the Doctor’s chirpy eccentricity aside, not much happens on the way there. 3.5 stars.
Fright Motif – The second story is a more traditional “monster” story, although the monster is based on sound, rather than anything visible, and thus not the sort you’re likely to see on TV. It’s the historical one of this set, taking place in Paris in 1946, a city just recovering from a long occupation. There isn’t a clear companion surrogate in this one, but the three guest characters are all worthwhile and bring out some of the themes of the era. Perhaps most notable is the concierge of the hotel where the story begins, who starts out just being obnoxious but is revealed to have greater depth as the story unfolds.
The result is a good Doctor Who story, with the monster chasing the characters across Paris, and bringing in modern themes as well as a feel for the burgeoning jazz scene of the time. (Some listeners may, however, be put off by the British-actor-doing-an-American accent thing; I’m not in the best position to judge that – although at least nobody’s trying to pretend to be French). Like the TV era on which it is modelled, there are some humorous lines here and there, and a good mix of wackiness and seriousness from the Doctor that keeps it effective and enjoyable. 4 stars.
Planet of the End – Once again answering a distress call, the Doctor arrives on an uninhabited world used as a planet-sized graveyard. It’s not the first time that particular concept has been used on the show, but here, it’s a peaceful place, full of nature, rather than the spookier vibe that such settings normally go for. The story, of course, concerns the nature of the distress call and it’s interesting to note that there isn’t a monster in this one, with the villains instead being provided by sinister corporate types that appear in the opening teaser, but whose connection to events takes a while to become apparent.
The journey to getting there is, however, enjoyable, partly due to the commentary on it provided by the plant’s automated caretaker, who effectively takes the companion role in this story despite initially distrusting the Doctor’s motives. The changing scenery and the evolving nature of the threat keep things moving along more swiftly than they might otherwise. True, the villains are rather one-note and prone to expressing everything in corporate-speak, but the clever use of the caretaker offsets that and the story is overall an enjoyable one that manages to balance a sense of peril with the Doctor’s positive outlook – without relying quite so much on the craziness. 4.5 stars.
If this didn't have Christopher Eccleston in it, then there would be no reason to listen to this. This was only "just" better than the last box set but that really isn't saying anything. If I could score them accordingly, then I would give the first set 2/10 and "this" set 3/10. Unlike the last set, these are all standalone stories with no continuous arc runnig throughout. But instead of getting new and creative ideas, we just get more running around with the Doctor and the companion of the week. And it doesn’t help than nearly all of the monsters for this set are just shapeless entities with no real motivation or personality of their own. This is the "third" time we've had a creature made of sound in a Big Finish audio and none of them are related in anyway. The best of the three stories is the first one "Girl, Deconstructed" as it actually has an idea at its core and actually focuses on the story and characters. But in the end, it was just another problem that the Doctor had to solve and not something that challenged him or pushed him to his braking point in anyway. As for the next story "Fright Motif", it's bad, I mean, it is just nothing. The monster is uninspired, the characters and non-existent and it is "even" more running around with no focuse. This is another one that tries to make up for how bland it is by setting it in a certain time period, but like "other" stories that do this, you could swop out the setting for any other period of history and it wouldn't change anything. As for the third story "Planet of the End" I had no fucking clue what was going on or why. The idea of a race of creature using the Doctors body as a vecal for the last of their species, is one that I think could work. But here, it feels so unimportant and vague and all the plot points just sort of melted into one another into an unfocused mess with no real idea or point. I don't know why Big Finish have such trouble doing the 9th Doctor right, if there's any Doctor that is "made" for Big Finish, it's him. But for some reason, both the sets I've listened to have just done nothing with the character and just gave us more stock Doctor Who stories. I'm not saying that every Doctor Who story needs to be just big silly monsters and explosions, but if the only outcome of the adventure is "we have a problem, problem solved" then that doesn’t make a compelling series.
Girl, Deconstructed by Lisa McMullin A character focussed story about a teenage girl who goes missing after an argument with her father. Overall I really enjoy the characters of the story especially DC Jana Lee. Though she was a strong character. For some reason I think this story is just really fun, maybe it is the pacing, the ninth doctor's interactions with the other characters or maybe all of the prior. 10/10
Fright Motif by Tim Foley A character focussed story about the musician in Paris who can no longer play very well. I thought the dialogue between Artie Berger and the Ninth Doctor is a particular highlight of the story. I also enjoyed the cat and mouse aspects of the story. 9/10
Planet of the End by Timothy X Atack Once again a character focussed story... although not as character focussed as the other two stories. This is probably the weirdest story and I think some people don't appreciate as much as I do. This in my opinion is the best story of the set. Fred is amazing, it is high concept science fiction with a really cool threat (being the Incorporation). I thought the Incorporation were great villains, their language being all business and economical is quite amusing and their design on the cover is gorgeous. The twists are strong and overall a really enjoyable story. 10/10
I enjoyed the three stories here. The chief pleasure was a reminder of how good Christopher Eccleston's Doctor is and I felt he was written well for - liveliness, plenty of dry humour and his particular bitterness where needed.
As a box set it did suffer from the entities he is trying to stop being rather too similar in form. Girl Deconstructed was a deconstructed ghost story, a tender little thing with its origins in the reality of teenagers, and I liked the non-malevolent (but just as devastating) origin. Bit too much wish fulfilment at the end.
Fright Motif had an interesting setting (1946 Paris) and idea and I felt the context overloaded the plot. I never felt I quite got what was going on.
Planet of the End was more interesting than I expected from its outset, with its (initially wearily familiar) robotic AI and the functionary. Partly that's because I am a sucker for tales of endurance which last for decades (Rory 'The Last Centurion' oh my!) but I liked the way a dead rabbit became so important.
Generous four stars to this set of episodes. Extra star because it's really great to hear Eccleston in the role again, and he certainly seems to be enjoying himself, with an energetic performance.
And, . . . this is also a better set of episodes than the three episodes in the first box set: "Ravagers," which was a bit too timey-wimey, and actually more one three-hour episode than three one-hour episodes.
Well, anyway . . . these three episodes are good, but if there's a flaw it's that each episode depends a lot on some kind of weird, other-dimensional antagonist. And the resolution is always some kind of weird tech the Doctor whips up to combat it.
Would have liked something a little more grounded, and I do think having a regular companion is important for Doctor Who. So I'm hoping that eventually we have a series of episodes either with Rose or with some other new pre-Rose regular companion.
Re-listened as part of ‘Ecclethon’, a marathon of Ninth Doctor audios and TV episodes to commemorate the 20th anniversary of New Who
A (mostly) much more 2005-esque collection of stories in comparison to Ravagers and the one that lays out the format for the Ninth Doctor audios going forward, a bunch of standalone stories in comparison to frequent multi-episode arcs. Tim Foley’s Fright Motif is a very decent mid-season filler episode that would’ve looked gorgeous on the television with its post-WWII Paris backdrop (and if it was written and recorded today this would’ve been a perfect story where Nine faces off against Maestro) but sandwiched in-between are two outright gems; Girl, Deconstructed by Lisa McMullin which asks the question ‘what if Fear Her didn’t devolve into tonally-whiplashed childish pants and actually told a meaningful story about missing people?’ and answers with ‘an intimate and quietly moving piece of sci-fi drama’, whilst Timothy X. Atack’s Planet of the End swings on the other end of the pendulum as being the Ninth Doctor equivalent to Heaven Sent; a high-concept and weird parable with plenty of striking imagery and metatextual commentary of corporatisation, and the sort of episode that would be more at home with post-2010 Who for its avante-gardness.
4.5, mejor que el primero, el formato episódico ayuda a que se sienta como si estuvieses viendo un capítulo con su inicio, su nudo y su desenlace. La segunda historia creo que me pareció la más flojilla pero igualmente es un gustazo volver a disfrutar de Eccleston. Y he adoptado formalmente a Fred, mi niña. <3