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The Fifth Doctor Adventures #7
Doctor Who: Forty
Celebrating four decades of the Fifth Doctor, with stories from across his timeline.
1.1 Secrets of Telos by Matt Fitton
Professor Parry’s expedition to the tombs of Telos was hardly an unmitigated success. The handful of survivors limp home in a spaceship… unaware that the deadly peril they faced from the Cybermen is not yet banished. Into this situation stumble the Fifth Doctor and his friends Nyssa and Tegan - and they’re soon in a deadly fight for their lives. Except things aren’t quite that simple - something odd is happening to the Doctor. He’s suddenly in a different part of his own timeline inhabiting his future self with no idea of why or how this has happened. Who is bouncing him through time? And what could they possibly want?
1.2 God of War by Sarah Grochala
The Doctor is still being jolted through his own timeline, and has now found himself with Nyssa, Tegan and Adric in ninth century Iceland near a Viking settlement on the edge of a volcano. A settlement whose leader has just found a god in the ice. The TARDIS crew are soon in a battle with the fearsome Ice Warriors. There are a lot of lives to save… and not just those of their new friends. The Doctor’s about to find that his biggest battle may be with his own conscience.
1.1 Secrets of Telos by Matt Fitton
Professor Parry’s expedition to the tombs of Telos was hardly an unmitigated success. The handful of survivors limp home in a spaceship… unaware that the deadly peril they faced from the Cybermen is not yet banished. Into this situation stumble the Fifth Doctor and his friends Nyssa and Tegan - and they’re soon in a deadly fight for their lives. Except things aren’t quite that simple - something odd is happening to the Doctor. He’s suddenly in a different part of his own timeline inhabiting his future self with no idea of why or how this has happened. Who is bouncing him through time? And what could they possibly want?
1.2 God of War by Sarah Grochala
The Doctor is still being jolted through his own timeline, and has now found himself with Nyssa, Tegan and Adric in ninth century Iceland near a Viking settlement on the edge of a volcano. A settlement whose leader has just found a god in the ice. The TARDIS crew are soon in a battle with the fearsome Ice Warriors. There are a lot of lives to save… and not just those of their new friends. The Doctor’s about to find that his biggest battle may be with his own conscience.
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First published January 4, 2022
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
April 13, 2024
This release came out forty years to the month after the Fifth Doctor's first full story, Castrovalva, and is intended to celebrate as much of his three seasons as it can get away with. It consists of two stories, consecutive from the Doctor's point of view, that see him mysteriously propelled through his own timeline. It's a device Big Finish have used before in a different context, but here, it allows him to interact with different companions and, indeed, the same companions at different points in their lives, all within one story arc. This first volume includes two stories.
Secrets of Telos – The first story follows the ‘standard’ format of 4 half-hour episodes, making it the primary one in this particular release. The framing device - which sees the Doctor transported from just after Four to Doomsday to shortly after The Arc of Infinity – has nothing obvious to do with the plot, and isn’t built on, either, beyond Nyssa and Tegan trying to avoid telling him what happened to Adric. Instead, what we get is a direct sequel to the Second Doctor story Tomb of the Cybermen, starting on the escaping rocket just hours after that adventure concluded. The surviving characters from that story return (played, of course, by different actors) as they discover they aren’t as safe as they’d assumed.
The result is initially a sort of Alien-with-cybermats as we get a bug hunt through the rocket – which is bigger than it appeared in the TV serial, but still a claustrophobic setting. Things later move elsewhere in a story that uses cyber-technology more than it does full-blown Cybermen, something that keeps things fresh for what’s arguably an over-used monster. It’s a good, tense story, with a well-played villain, and a fair amount of action that keeps things constantly moving despite the 2-hour length. The addition of the ship’s engineer (implied to exist in Tomb, but never seen) is also welcome although Captain Hopper’s depiction here arguably owes a little too much to the ‘60s original. 4.5 stars.
God of War - With the first story being set during the Fifth Doctor's second season, the second one is set during his first season, shortly after Kinda. This means that it includes Adric, and Grochala does at least take the opportunity to deal with that, providing foreshadowing in a way that wouldn't normally be possible. Nyssa and Tegan also return, albeit earlier in their travels than in the previous story. This one is a 1 hour two-parter, which sees the TARDIS team arriving in 9th-century Iceland, at a point when its Viking colonisation was only just beginning.
Beyond the use of Adric, however, the framing device is once again unconnected with the rest of the plot, which could otherwise be any regular Fifth Doctor story. That's not a bad thing, of course, and the short length at least keeps things moving. As the cover indicates, with this story we get Ice Warriors, which seem appropriate enough for Iceland, although it has to be said that there's nothing much new that's done with them - again, likely the product of a shorter story that has to focus more on the Doctor and his companions. There are also a couple of points where the story logic falters, perhaps due to some hasty rewrites; a character who is clearly a teenager says she's twelve years old, and there seems to be some confusion about where the Ice Warriors' ship is. But, otherwise, it's a decent enough story with good use of Nyssa and Adric and with Tegan by no means ignored. 3.5 stars.
Since there is a second volume, dealing with the Fifth Doctor's third season, this, naturally enough, ends on a cliffhanger.
Secrets of Telos – The first story follows the ‘standard’ format of 4 half-hour episodes, making it the primary one in this particular release. The framing device - which sees the Doctor transported from just after Four to Doomsday to shortly after The Arc of Infinity – has nothing obvious to do with the plot, and isn’t built on, either, beyond Nyssa and Tegan trying to avoid telling him what happened to Adric. Instead, what we get is a direct sequel to the Second Doctor story Tomb of the Cybermen, starting on the escaping rocket just hours after that adventure concluded. The surviving characters from that story return (played, of course, by different actors) as they discover they aren’t as safe as they’d assumed.
The result is initially a sort of Alien-with-cybermats as we get a bug hunt through the rocket – which is bigger than it appeared in the TV serial, but still a claustrophobic setting. Things later move elsewhere in a story that uses cyber-technology more than it does full-blown Cybermen, something that keeps things fresh for what’s arguably an over-used monster. It’s a good, tense story, with a well-played villain, and a fair amount of action that keeps things constantly moving despite the 2-hour length. The addition of the ship’s engineer (implied to exist in Tomb, but never seen) is also welcome although Captain Hopper’s depiction here arguably owes a little too much to the ‘60s original. 4.5 stars.
God of War - With the first story being set during the Fifth Doctor's second season, the second one is set during his first season, shortly after Kinda. This means that it includes Adric, and Grochala does at least take the opportunity to deal with that, providing foreshadowing in a way that wouldn't normally be possible. Nyssa and Tegan also return, albeit earlier in their travels than in the previous story. This one is a 1 hour two-parter, which sees the TARDIS team arriving in 9th-century Iceland, at a point when its Viking colonisation was only just beginning.
Beyond the use of Adric, however, the framing device is once again unconnected with the rest of the plot, which could otherwise be any regular Fifth Doctor story. That's not a bad thing, of course, and the short length at least keeps things moving. As the cover indicates, with this story we get Ice Warriors, which seem appropriate enough for Iceland, although it has to be said that there's nothing much new that's done with them - again, likely the product of a shorter story that has to focus more on the Doctor and his companions. There are also a couple of points where the story logic falters, perhaps due to some hasty rewrites; a character who is clearly a teenager says she's twelve years old, and there seems to be some confusion about where the Ice Warriors' ship is. But, otherwise, it's a decent enough story with good use of Nyssa and Adric and with Tegan by no means ignored. 3.5 stars.
Since there is a second volume, dealing with the Fifth Doctor's third season, this, naturally enough, ends on a cliffhanger.
January 4, 2022
As the title would imply, this commemorates the 40th anniversary of Peter Davison’s first full length episode as The Doctor. And what better way to celebrate that than by having Five’s mind move between different periods of his lifetime without knowing who’s causing it?
The first story, Secrets of Telos, is a sequel to Tomb of the Cybermen. The way that Second Doctor serial ended always felt like sequel bait, and I kinda wished season 20 would have Five finishing that thread, as that season was full of callbacks. (I even wanted series 7B to have the Eleventh Doctor going on adventures that felt like sequels to previous Doctor adventures.) But here, we have Five dealing with the thread finally, a mere six hours after Tomb. It makes sense that Nyssa would be the one not wanting to tell him what happened to Adric, with Tegan wanting desperately to let him know.
The second story, God of War, involves Ice Warriors and Vikings. Having the hindsight of Adric’s fate makes The Doctor’s conversations with him feel bittersweet. Of course, since I was already aware of Forty 2, I knew this would end on a cliffhanger. I’m very excited to see when I’m his life Five ends up, and who is behind it. If it’s The Master, that would be too easy of a reveal. At the moment, I don’t really have any guesses.
The first story, Secrets of Telos, is a sequel to Tomb of the Cybermen. The way that Second Doctor serial ended always felt like sequel bait, and I kinda wished season 20 would have Five finishing that thread, as that season was full of callbacks. (I even wanted series 7B to have the Eleventh Doctor going on adventures that felt like sequels to previous Doctor adventures.) But here, we have Five dealing with the thread finally, a mere six hours after Tomb. It makes sense that Nyssa would be the one not wanting to tell him what happened to Adric, with Tegan wanting desperately to let him know.
The second story, God of War, involves Ice Warriors and Vikings. Having the hindsight of Adric’s fate makes The Doctor’s conversations with him feel bittersweet. Of course, since I was already aware of Forty 2, I knew this would end on a cliffhanger. I’m very excited to see when I’m his life Five ends up, and who is behind it. If it’s The Master, that would be too easy of a reveal. At the moment, I don’t really have any guesses.
April 21, 2022
Forty 1 is the first of two boxsets celebrating 40 years since the debut of Peter Davison as the Fifth Doctor. This set contains two stories: Secrets of Telos and God of War. The overall plot is that right after the TV Story Four to Doomsday, someone pulls the Doctor out of his timestream and inserts him into future adventures.
The first story Secrets of Telos, sees the Doctor in a sequel to the TV Story Tomb of the Cybermen set after the TV Story Arc of Infinity for companions Nyssa and Tegan. The story is enjoyable and acts as a decent successor to Tomb. The mystery of what's happening to Doctor is ever present but doesn't eclipse the main story. It's good.
The second story God of War, finds the Doctor traveling back along his timestream to an adventure with Adric, Nyssa and Tegan set shortly after the TV Story Kinda. Here, we arrive in Iceland where an outcast clan of viking women, a mother who murdered her husband and her nine children, have uncovered a martian grand marshal. The Grand Marshall has them digging for his crashed ship and his fellow Ice Warriors. This one was okay. The story's decent, but it has the detriment of the Ice Warrior voices being at such a whisper as to be nearly unhearable. Plus, the series arc only gets a couple tiny mentions before giving way to the main plot, which is fine, it works, it just feels a bit forgotten here.
In all, a decent release. My curiousity's been piqued enough that I look forward to the second boxset and having the answers revealed. However, this wasn't as good as I expected. It's still good, and the production and writing and acting is excellent like with anything Big Finish produces, but this just didn't blow me away and probably won't be something I'll be coming back to very often.
The first story Secrets of Telos, sees the Doctor in a sequel to the TV Story Tomb of the Cybermen set after the TV Story Arc of Infinity for companions Nyssa and Tegan. The story is enjoyable and acts as a decent successor to Tomb. The mystery of what's happening to Doctor is ever present but doesn't eclipse the main story. It's good.
The second story God of War, finds the Doctor traveling back along his timestream to an adventure with Adric, Nyssa and Tegan set shortly after the TV Story Kinda. Here, we arrive in Iceland where an outcast clan of viking women, a mother who murdered her husband and her nine children, have uncovered a martian grand marshal. The Grand Marshall has them digging for his crashed ship and his fellow Ice Warriors. This one was okay. The story's decent, but it has the detriment of the Ice Warrior voices being at such a whisper as to be nearly unhearable. Plus, the series arc only gets a couple tiny mentions before giving way to the main plot, which is fine, it works, it just feels a bit forgotten here.
In all, a decent release. My curiousity's been piqued enough that I look forward to the second boxset and having the answers revealed. However, this wasn't as good as I expected. It's still good, and the production and writing and acting is excellent like with anything Big Finish produces, but this just didn't blow me away and probably won't be something I'll be coming back to very often.
January 9, 2022
Secrets of Telos by Matt Fitton - 5/5 stars
Weirdly good start to a fans wet dream of a boxset. Past 5 Doctor is put in the future where Tegan and Nyssa try their best not to tell him that Adric is dead. The story? Tomb of the Cybermen continued, like immediately after the 2nd Doctor leaves. Matt Fitton writes an emotional, tense and exciting story to start the 40 years celebration of the 5th Doctor.
God of War by Sarah Grochala - 4.5/5 stars
A delight to have the ice warriors back, my only issue is this one is just a bit too short. The 5th doctor from the future being apathetic about Adric, knowing he can't die here cause he dies a bit later gets a little old after a while.
Overall great stories, great cliffhangers, great celebrations, can't wait for part 2 later this year.
Weirdly good start to a fans wet dream of a boxset. Past 5 Doctor is put in the future where Tegan and Nyssa try their best not to tell him that Adric is dead. The story? Tomb of the Cybermen continued, like immediately after the 2nd Doctor leaves. Matt Fitton writes an emotional, tense and exciting story to start the 40 years celebration of the 5th Doctor.
God of War by Sarah Grochala - 4.5/5 stars
A delight to have the ice warriors back, my only issue is this one is just a bit too short. The 5th doctor from the future being apathetic about Adric, knowing he can't die here cause he dies a bit later gets a little old after a while.
Overall great stories, great cliffhangers, great celebrations, can't wait for part 2 later this year.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 8, 2022
There are two stories with the 5th doctor. One with cyber men and the other is with ice warriors.
June 8, 2023
(4.5 stars)
September 9, 2022
When this was announced I was very unsure what to think of this release. I was intrigued yet nervous at the same time with plenty of worries. The idea of The Doctor being dragged back and forward in his own timeline is an excellent one and a great way to celebrate this incarnation's 40th anniversary. But after seeing that magnificent trailer on the Big Finish channel I decided to plunge in and give this a go.
Secrets of Telos:
After surviving the tomb of The Cybermen. Professor Parry, Captain Hopper, and his crew are heading on their way back to Earth, traumatized by all the events that had happened on the planet below but when The Doctor arrives with his two companions, Tegan and Nyssa, things are about to get complicated for the nightmare isn't yet over and The Cybermen are coming. But for Professor Parry his past is about to catch up with him.
I was really nervous about Big Finish doing a direct sequel to Tomb of The Cybermen. But Matt Fitton has managed to write a highly engaging story with plenty of atmosphere, action, high stakes, and a story that works brilliantly as its own. This is what a sequel should be about and it's brilliant. The cast are fantastic in this as well and this is by far one of the strongest Cyberman stories Big Finish has ever produced. 9/10
God of War:
The Doctor has been shifted through his timeline again but back to more familiar territory with Tegan, Adric, and Nyssa but he's still not in his correct place in time. Still looking for answers they find a Viking settlement full of women who have run away to live in isolation from the fear of men. However, they are in desperate need of continuing on the family tree and it seems an old God of War may bring them salvation... But The Doctor knows this god of old... it's an Ice Warrior.
A fairly simple story but it's still a successful one nonetheless. It perfectly captures the essence of the Season 19 Tardis Crew and the overall fun vibe of that season. Sarah Grochala has done a brilliant job at capturing each of the characters and their mannerisms, whilst writing a very fun story. 8/10
Overall: 17/20
Secrets of Telos:
After surviving the tomb of The Cybermen. Professor Parry, Captain Hopper, and his crew are heading on their way back to Earth, traumatized by all the events that had happened on the planet below but when The Doctor arrives with his two companions, Tegan and Nyssa, things are about to get complicated for the nightmare isn't yet over and The Cybermen are coming. But for Professor Parry his past is about to catch up with him.
I was really nervous about Big Finish doing a direct sequel to Tomb of The Cybermen. But Matt Fitton has managed to write a highly engaging story with plenty of atmosphere, action, high stakes, and a story that works brilliantly as its own. This is what a sequel should be about and it's brilliant. The cast are fantastic in this as well and this is by far one of the strongest Cyberman stories Big Finish has ever produced. 9/10
God of War:
The Doctor has been shifted through his timeline again but back to more familiar territory with Tegan, Adric, and Nyssa but he's still not in his correct place in time. Still looking for answers they find a Viking settlement full of women who have run away to live in isolation from the fear of men. However, they are in desperate need of continuing on the family tree and it seems an old God of War may bring them salvation... But The Doctor knows this god of old... it's an Ice Warrior.
A fairly simple story but it's still a successful one nonetheless. It perfectly captures the essence of the Season 19 Tardis Crew and the overall fun vibe of that season. Sarah Grochala has done a brilliant job at capturing each of the characters and their mannerisms, whilst writing a very fun story. 8/10
Overall: 17/20
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February 14, 2024Download edition comes with a copy of Doctor Who: Interludes: I, Kamelion.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews