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The Third Doctor Adventures #7
Doctor Who: The Third Doctor Adventures, Volume 7
7.1 The Unzal Incursion by Mark Wright
Under the supervision of the Doctor, the Brigadier and Dr Liz Shaw, UNIT are getting ready to activate Hotspur: their new, advanced early warning system.
But something goes wrong. Can it be that UNIT has been betrayed from within? Suddenly bases are falling across the globe, and only the Doctor and his friends are able to escape.
Not knowing how far the conspiracy goes, the Doctor, Liz and the Brigadier become fugitives. Their investigations lead them to the Fulcrum military training facility. And something beyond the Earth.
7.2 The Gulf by Tim Foley
The TARDIS lands on an ocean planet where the Doctor and Sarah find themselves stranded on a former rig, which has recently been converted into an artistic retreat.
But art is far from the residents’ minds. A troubled member of their collective has disappeared, and the Doctor senses a sinister psychic presence. The waves are rising. And there’s something in the water.
Under the supervision of the Doctor, the Brigadier and Dr Liz Shaw, UNIT are getting ready to activate Hotspur: their new, advanced early warning system.
But something goes wrong. Can it be that UNIT has been betrayed from within? Suddenly bases are falling across the globe, and only the Doctor and his friends are able to escape.
Not knowing how far the conspiracy goes, the Doctor, Liz and the Brigadier become fugitives. Their investigations lead them to the Fulcrum military training facility. And something beyond the Earth.
7.2 The Gulf by Tim Foley
The TARDIS lands on an ocean planet where the Doctor and Sarah find themselves stranded on a former rig, which has recently been converted into an artistic retreat.
But art is far from the residents’ minds. A troubled member of their collective has disappeared, and the Doctor senses a sinister psychic presence. The waves are rising. And there’s something in the water.
- GenresDoctor Who
Audio CD
First published May 1, 2021
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
May 27, 2021
Two fantastic stories. Daisy Ashford and Sadie Miller are incredible (and sometimes spookily accurate) in their respective roles as Dr Elizabeth Shaw and Sarah Jane Smith, made even more special by the fact that they are both the daughters of their characters' original actresses. They've done their mothers proud.
No, I haven't had a glass of wine and I'm not getting emotional at all.
No, I haven't had a glass of wine and I'm not getting emotional at all.
September 9, 2023
This follows the usual format of two 2-hour stories, with one set in the UNIT era, and one in space. The difference here is that these stories feature Liz Shaw and Sarah rather than Jo Grant, with both characters played by the daughters of the original actors. Thus, for the first time, we have a story in this series that features nobody from the original show – but, honestly, if you’re put off by that, you’ll probably have been deterred by the earlier releases and won’t have gotten this far.
The Unzal Incursion – Liz Shaw, obviously, gets the UNIT-era story in this one. As the uninspiring title indicates, it’s an alien invasion plot, but it rings a few changes on the regular format. For one, the aliens don’t appear in person until nearly the end, making this almost an invasion by Zoom call – but their Earthbound agents are sufficiently active up until that point that you barely notice. The story also isolates the Doctor, Liz, and the Brigadier from their usual UNIT resources and still finds plenty of time for action shoot-outs that fans of season 7 will probably love.
There are a few flaws here and there, with the Brigadier turning out to be a qualified aeroplane pilot being one of the harder ones to swallow. The presence of a female army sergeant on active combat duties, while welcome from a modern perspective, also feels out-of-place in a story that’s set no later than the early ‘80s and some listeners might feel the lack of Sgt Benton in her stead. (She’s also Black, but it’s the TV series’ all-white casting that’s the discrepancy here, if you really want to go down that route). These are, however, minor points in what’s generally a strong evocation of the era, helped by the ‘70s style incidental music.
By this point, Treloar and Culshaw are familiar enough to forget they aren’t the original actors, and Daisy Ashford does a good job as Liz Shaw; she’s not really doing an impression of her mother, but it’s good that she properly gets to play the hero this time – unlike her previous appearance. There’s also some subtle foreshadowing of Liz’s departure, and some rather less subtle hints fitting the story in with a larger arc – all explained in a short segment after the closing music. 4.5 stars.
The Gulf – Sadie Miller had previously played Sarah Jane Smith in Big Finish’s remake of Revenge of the Cybermen but this marks her debut playing the character in a fully original story. She does not, of course, sound exactly like her mother, but, at least for me, she’s close enough that I soon became used to it – which is more quickly than I did to Treloar, in fact. Although Sarah Jane is better known for her partnership with the Fourth Doctor, she was arguably written as a stronger and more independent character during her initial season with the Third Doctor and, naturally, that’s what we get here. (Not that one would expect otherwise in a modern story set during, say, season 13, but it’s perhaps less noticeable here).
The story is a base-under-siege set on what’s essentially an oil rig on a waterworld during the waning years of the Earth Empire. A small group of artists have set up a facility on the abandoned rig, giving a different dynamic to the ‘base’ format than we see in most such stories. It’s notable that they all happen to be women, leaving the Doctor as the only male character (indeed, almost the only man even mentioned). It’s not something we’re likely to have seen in the TV series but here it’s not even commented on – as it should be, really.
The base-under-siege format is well-played here. We get some good worldbuilding about the base and the universe around it, which plays directly into the plot and fits in with themes often seen during the Third Doctor’s run. Everyone in the tiny artist colony is hiding a secret of some kind, creating a ‘whodunnit’ feel, especially given that the story opens with a mysterious death. This subplot is largely resolved by around the halfway mark as we move into something that’s more about trying to escape the monster. Speaking of which, while the basic concept of the monster is nothing new, it’s well done, giving us an emotional insight into all of the characters it’s facing, regulars and guest stars alike. This is a strong and well-constructed story of its type that manages to fit in nicely with the Third Doctor's era despite having a theme more associated with the Second. 4.5 stars.
The Unzal Incursion – Liz Shaw, obviously, gets the UNIT-era story in this one. As the uninspiring title indicates, it’s an alien invasion plot, but it rings a few changes on the regular format. For one, the aliens don’t appear in person until nearly the end, making this almost an invasion by Zoom call – but their Earthbound agents are sufficiently active up until that point that you barely notice. The story also isolates the Doctor, Liz, and the Brigadier from their usual UNIT resources and still finds plenty of time for action shoot-outs that fans of season 7 will probably love.
There are a few flaws here and there, with the Brigadier turning out to be a qualified aeroplane pilot being one of the harder ones to swallow. The presence of a female army sergeant on active combat duties, while welcome from a modern perspective, also feels out-of-place in a story that’s set no later than the early ‘80s and some listeners might feel the lack of Sgt Benton in her stead. (She’s also Black, but it’s the TV series’ all-white casting that’s the discrepancy here, if you really want to go down that route). These are, however, minor points in what’s generally a strong evocation of the era, helped by the ‘70s style incidental music.
By this point, Treloar and Culshaw are familiar enough to forget they aren’t the original actors, and Daisy Ashford does a good job as Liz Shaw; she’s not really doing an impression of her mother, but it’s good that she properly gets to play the hero this time – unlike her previous appearance. There’s also some subtle foreshadowing of Liz’s departure, and some rather less subtle hints fitting the story in with a larger arc – all explained in a short segment after the closing music. 4.5 stars.
The Gulf – Sadie Miller had previously played Sarah Jane Smith in Big Finish’s remake of Revenge of the Cybermen but this marks her debut playing the character in a fully original story. She does not, of course, sound exactly like her mother, but, at least for me, she’s close enough that I soon became used to it – which is more quickly than I did to Treloar, in fact. Although Sarah Jane is better known for her partnership with the Fourth Doctor, she was arguably written as a stronger and more independent character during her initial season with the Third Doctor and, naturally, that’s what we get here. (Not that one would expect otherwise in a modern story set during, say, season 13, but it’s perhaps less noticeable here).
The story is a base-under-siege set on what’s essentially an oil rig on a waterworld during the waning years of the Earth Empire. A small group of artists have set up a facility on the abandoned rig, giving a different dynamic to the ‘base’ format than we see in most such stories. It’s notable that they all happen to be women, leaving the Doctor as the only male character (indeed, almost the only man even mentioned). It’s not something we’re likely to have seen in the TV series but here it’s not even commented on – as it should be, really.
The base-under-siege format is well-played here. We get some good worldbuilding about the base and the universe around it, which plays directly into the plot and fits in with themes often seen during the Third Doctor’s run. Everyone in the tiny artist colony is hiding a secret of some kind, creating a ‘whodunnit’ feel, especially given that the story opens with a mysterious death. This subplot is largely resolved by around the halfway mark as we move into something that’s more about trying to escape the monster. Speaking of which, while the basic concept of the monster is nothing new, it’s well done, giving us an emotional insight into all of the characters it’s facing, regulars and guest stars alike. This is a strong and well-constructed story of its type that manages to fit in nicely with the Third Doctor's era despite having a theme more associated with the Second. 4.5 stars.
November 27, 2024
This collection gives us two four-part series, The Unzal Incursion representing the 1970 season, and The Gulf representing the 1974 season. The first is the better of the two. The Unzal Incursion finds The Doctor, Liz Shaw, the Brigadier, and UNIT fighting another invasion. This time, it is an invasion by stealth. A new training program for soldiers turns out to be an alien brain-washing system to make the Earth soldiers work for the alien invaders. UNIT has been infiltrated, and The Doctor, Liz, and The Brigadier become fugitives, trying to escape capture while also ending the alien menace. The story fits into the 1970 series in being both a rollicking adventure while at the same time a rather sombre exposé of human shortcomings. The second story brings back together Sarah Jane Smith with Doctor 3. Bopping around Time and Space, they land in the future, on an ocean world. Set upon the poisonous ocean is a decommissioned "spin drifter," designed for mineral extraction, now used as home to an artist collective. The story quickly becomes a haunted house narrative, with semi-corporeal aliens that have telepathic abilities forcing people to cry so that the aliens can remove the salt from their bodies. As with most of these things, motivations are somewhat unclear. I would like to see aliens motivated by more than just hunger. Also, I cannot help feeling that The Doctor and Sarah are butting their noses in. At the beginning of the story, they don't really have a stake in what is going on, so why get involved?
Both of these stories include the daughters of the original actors taking the roles of their mothers. Daisy Ashford, daughter of Caroline John, plays Liz Shaw, and does so quite well. They have some vocal similarities, but Ashford does not try too hard to be exactly like her mother. Sadie Miller, daughter of Elisabeth Sladen, is much closer in vocal manner to her mother. She really gets the little characteristic mannerisms, when the voice raises or lowers, distinctive pronunciations, and so on. It is really nice joined with Tim Treloar's marvelous Doctor 3 impression and John Culshaw's equally marvelous Brigadier impression, giving one the feeling that the old gang is back together.
A peculiar aspect of this box set, and I do not know whether this was intentional, is that it is a big exercise in girl power. Both companions are played as strong, independent characters, not just hanging onto The Doctor. Additionally, in The Unzal Incursion, we get the villain, the villain's assistant, and the guest companion, Sergeant Attah, played by women. The entire cast, apart from The Doctor, in The Gulf is female. I find this neither good nor bad, just interesting.
Both of these stories include the daughters of the original actors taking the roles of their mothers. Daisy Ashford, daughter of Caroline John, plays Liz Shaw, and does so quite well. They have some vocal similarities, but Ashford does not try too hard to be exactly like her mother. Sadie Miller, daughter of Elisabeth Sladen, is much closer in vocal manner to her mother. She really gets the little characteristic mannerisms, when the voice raises or lowers, distinctive pronunciations, and so on. It is really nice joined with Tim Treloar's marvelous Doctor 3 impression and John Culshaw's equally marvelous Brigadier impression, giving one the feeling that the old gang is back together.
A peculiar aspect of this box set, and I do not know whether this was intentional, is that it is a big exercise in girl power. Both companions are played as strong, independent characters, not just hanging onto The Doctor. Additionally, in The Unzal Incursion, we get the villain, the villain's assistant, and the guest companion, Sergeant Attah, played by women. The entire cast, apart from The Doctor, in The Gulf is female. I find this neither good nor bad, just interesting.
July 8, 2022
The Third Doctor Adventures are a very hit and miss range, the first set was rough but you get the feeling everyone's just getting their bearings with it and the quality I'll admit does improve with every set in the range with Volume 5, in my opinion, being the best the range has to offer so far! But I've heard so many good things about Volume 7 that despite delaying it, made me really excited!
The Unzal Incursion:
An explosive epic that fits right at home in Season 7 and I can imagine being easily made with the budget they had in the 1970s. The Doctor, Liz Shaw, and The Brigadier all on the run from their own forces makes for an exciting, thrilling adventure with plenty of twists and turns. It's amazing to hear Tim Treloar, John Culshaw, and Daisy Ashford altogether in this story and they absolutely give it they're all!
A fast-paced story with a brilliant script, excellent direction, and sound design with an incredible twist at the end that'll have you jumping up and down with excitement! 10/10
The Gulf:
A lighter tale compared to the first story, but it still has a fast-paced to it, with a fantastic but eerie little horror story set on an ocean world with artists on a former rig dealing with not only an enemy from the sea but their own past. This was a fantastic and at times really scary story with some really disturbing and depressing imagery, the characters in this were great so you really feel down when they start getting picked off.
Tim Foley has written a fantastic story with a great cast, I will say though that Sadie Miller was awesome as Sarah Jane, she really managed to convince me she was her mother's character! 10/10
Overall: This set is awesome! Just like Volume 5, Big Finish have once again out down themselves with this range and I can't wait to discover what Volume 8 is like! 20/20
The Unzal Incursion:
An explosive epic that fits right at home in Season 7 and I can imagine being easily made with the budget they had in the 1970s. The Doctor, Liz Shaw, and The Brigadier all on the run from their own forces makes for an exciting, thrilling adventure with plenty of twists and turns. It's amazing to hear Tim Treloar, John Culshaw, and Daisy Ashford altogether in this story and they absolutely give it they're all!
A fast-paced story with a brilliant script, excellent direction, and sound design with an incredible twist at the end that'll have you jumping up and down with excitement! 10/10
The Gulf:
A lighter tale compared to the first story, but it still has a fast-paced to it, with a fantastic but eerie little horror story set on an ocean world with artists on a former rig dealing with not only an enemy from the sea but their own past. This was a fantastic and at times really scary story with some really disturbing and depressing imagery, the characters in this were great so you really feel down when they start getting picked off.
Tim Foley has written a fantastic story with a great cast, I will say though that Sadie Miller was awesome as Sarah Jane, she really managed to convince me she was her mother's character! 10/10
Overall: This set is awesome! Just like Volume 5, Big Finish have once again out down themselves with this range and I can't wait to discover what Volume 8 is like! 20/20
October 16, 2021
Both of the stories featured here are wonderful additions to the Doctor Who cannon. The Unzal Incursion fits in very well with the early UNIT stories of season 7 of classic Doctor Who. Like many of the stories from that era of the show it's about intrigue and subterfuge. It isn't just about preventing an alien invasion, it's also about fighting other people's hidden agendas. Who is the real enemy?
One of the best things about Unzal Incursion is that it gives the three leads, the Doctor, Brigadier, and Liz Shaw a chance to shine. Liz gets to shine as the key figure in the plot of the story. She is the brains behind the Hotspur early warning system. Liz together with the Doctor and Brigadier are also the only ones not under mind control and must work together to solve this puzzle while trying to evade the rest of UNIT. Even after the problem is solved and the Unzal have been defeated, the Doctor is convinced this is only the beginning. All signs point to another mastermind behind events.
The Gulf is a latter era third Doctor story featuring the Doctor showing Sarah Jane Smith some of her future. This may be a third Doctor story but it actually made me think of the Second Doctor era "base under siege" style stories and reminded me of Fury From the Deep mashed together with Dust Breeding. An artist colony on an abandoned refinery on a water planet, threatened by a malevolent psychic force. It's moody and atmospheric and very entertaining.
One of the best things about Unzal Incursion is that it gives the three leads, the Doctor, Brigadier, and Liz Shaw a chance to shine. Liz gets to shine as the key figure in the plot of the story. She is the brains behind the Hotspur early warning system. Liz together with the Doctor and Brigadier are also the only ones not under mind control and must work together to solve this puzzle while trying to evade the rest of UNIT. Even after the problem is solved and the Unzal have been defeated, the Doctor is convinced this is only the beginning. All signs point to another mastermind behind events.
The Gulf is a latter era third Doctor story featuring the Doctor showing Sarah Jane Smith some of her future. This may be a third Doctor story but it actually made me think of the Second Doctor era "base under siege" style stories and reminded me of Fury From the Deep mashed together with Dust Breeding. An artist colony on an abandoned refinery on a water planet, threatened by a malevolent psychic force. It's moody and atmospheric and very entertaining.
May 24, 2021
And I finished the whole set, all in one go, so yes, I did enjoy it and it held my attention.
The first story was a more "standard" Who story, featuring classics like an alien invasion, mind control, the Brigadier shooting things and the Doctor tinkering.
While the second story was more unusual and featured a creepy tale which was genuinely haunting in places with great atmosphere.
In stories that completely rely on recasts, how did that work out?
I have to say, I had no issue with the recasts from the start. In previous stories, I was not always happy with the results, but I have to say that they are getting much better at it.
This time around, I think they really got the performances as perfect as one could realistically expect. I think they did a very good job.
Also, the sound effects and the incidental music are a near perfect match for the era they are supposed to represent.
Personally, I am in two minds about this- on the one hand, yes, it is great that they perfectly mimic the past, on the other hand, for me, missing the nostalgia (being a NuWho recruit), the past soundscape has not aged very well.
But, overall, he writing was good, the pacing was good, the performances faultless, this might be one of the best releases I have listened so far for this year.
The first story was a more "standard" Who story, featuring classics like an alien invasion, mind control, the Brigadier shooting things and the Doctor tinkering.
While the second story was more unusual and featured a creepy tale which was genuinely haunting in places with great atmosphere.
In stories that completely rely on recasts, how did that work out?
I have to say, I had no issue with the recasts from the start. In previous stories, I was not always happy with the results, but I have to say that they are getting much better at it.
This time around, I think they really got the performances as perfect as one could realistically expect. I think they did a very good job.
Also, the sound effects and the incidental music are a near perfect match for the era they are supposed to represent.
Personally, I am in two minds about this- on the one hand, yes, it is great that they perfectly mimic the past, on the other hand, for me, missing the nostalgia (being a NuWho recruit), the past soundscape has not aged very well.
But, overall, he writing was good, the pacing was good, the performances faultless, this might be one of the best releases I have listened so far for this year.
March 21, 2024
So, it this point, I only listened to the first story: The Unzal Incursion. It's good and fits well into Season 7. A new training requirement for British soldiers is revealed to also be a form of mind-control as the Doctor, Brig and Liz are forced on the run. Enjoyable, with plenty of callbacks and forwards as . The main cast is very close to the originals (it's kind of weird that none of the original cast are still alive) with Jon Culshaw's Brigadier being the best of the lot. We get the mid-credit opening/cliffhanger recap a la Ambassadors of Death and plenty of good action scenes. In essence, this feels very much like the season it's placed and is an enjoyable story.
January 13, 2024
I was kind of taken off guard by how the first story began with the end credits music after a cold open, and had to be reminded that this was how some Third Doctor episodes began. Overall, these stories were fine. I somehow wasn’t as thrilled as I was by some previous volumes.
June 10, 2021
What a wonderful boxset! As much as i love Katy Manning's Jo Grant, it's nice to finally explore the Third Doctors first and final season's characters.
The Unzal Incursion:
A story that fits in perfectly with stories like "The Ambassadors of Death" within the Third Doctors first season. Liz Shaw is a character I've always felt needed much more screen time, a strong, intelligent, independent woman who can easily handle her own and this story shows that. Jon Culshaw as The Brigadier is simply superb as always, certainly once of the best casting decisions Big Finish has ever made. The sound design as annoying as it can be at times, brings that nostalgic feel out of you for this story and if you close your eyes you can picture the story happening infront of you.
The Gulf:
Sadie Miller as Sarah Jane Smith is uncanny, it makes it more special that she is Elizabeth Sladen's daughter doing her mother proud. Sarah Jane is a wonderful character and like Liz Shaw i felt like she should have had more time with the Third Doctor, so this boxset is nice to have them together again. This story felt very "Terror of Fang Rock" to me, a group of people trapped by an alien force with a mystery to solve, giving time to explore character relationships and develop the story into something more dramatic but also keeping the action well paced so you don't get bored.
Overall, a boxset with two wonderful stories, perfectly acted by all those involved. If you're a fan of the Third Doctor Era, I'd recommend this boxset to you.
The Unzal Incursion:
A story that fits in perfectly with stories like "The Ambassadors of Death" within the Third Doctors first season. Liz Shaw is a character I've always felt needed much more screen time, a strong, intelligent, independent woman who can easily handle her own and this story shows that. Jon Culshaw as The Brigadier is simply superb as always, certainly once of the best casting decisions Big Finish has ever made. The sound design as annoying as it can be at times, brings that nostalgic feel out of you for this story and if you close your eyes you can picture the story happening infront of you.
The Gulf:
Sadie Miller as Sarah Jane Smith is uncanny, it makes it more special that she is Elizabeth Sladen's daughter doing her mother proud. Sarah Jane is a wonderful character and like Liz Shaw i felt like she should have had more time with the Third Doctor, so this boxset is nice to have them together again. This story felt very "Terror of Fang Rock" to me, a group of people trapped by an alien force with a mystery to solve, giving time to explore character relationships and develop the story into something more dramatic but also keeping the action well paced so you don't get bored.
Overall, a boxset with two wonderful stories, perfectly acted by all those involved. If you're a fan of the Third Doctor Era, I'd recommend this boxset to you.
October 20, 2025
7.1 'The Unzal Incursion' by Mark Wright: 4,5*
7.2 'The Gulf' by Tim Foley: 5*
7.2 'The Gulf' by Tim Foley: 5*
October 21, 2022
The doctor keeps aliens from taking over the earth with liz and the brig. Then he tries to save a colony from a monster trying to destroy it.
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