There’s a story told throughout the universe. From the dawn of history to its dying days, you’ll find someone telling it. The story of the traveller in the blue box. The story of the Doctor.
No one knows the power of stories more than the Doctor who has been in so many. But for Valarie, this is all new. She’s about to learn how a story can save a life, forge a civilisation or even rewrite reality itself.
4.1 All of Time and Space by Ellery Quest As concepts for shows go, it’s a good one. An adventurer and his friend travelling through all of time and space, righting wrongs and defending those who can't defend themselves. Yet, as its creator is about to discover, there are those who'd rather this show never existed.
What’s so dangerous about ‘Doctor Who’?
4.2 The Yearn by Angus Dunican The people of Medrüth are under siege. Forced into underground bunkers, the Medrüthians are desperate for a way to escape. When the Doctor and Valarie arrive, it seems like they’ve finally got everything they wanted. Except, that's when the nightmares really begin.
4.3 Curiosity Shop by James Goss Mr Foreman owns a junkyard. He doesn’t get many visitors. In fact, all anyone ever seems interested in is Barbara.
One woman informs Mr Foreman she knows the truth about Barbara, that she went on impossible adventures with a man called the Doctor. This woman, this Valarie, will do anything to be reunited with Barbara and the Doctor. Even if it kills her.
5 stars to both “All of Time and Space” and “The Yearn” (omfg Val and Roanna🩷💜) and 3 stars to “Curiosity Shop”. The 11th Doctor and Val are sooooo fun to listen to and I’m obsessed with their dynamic.
Another set of 3 stories- this time, they are a bit weirder than the previous ones. Weird is good. Plus, Cyborg Companion Valerie is AMAZING.
"All of Time and Space"- amazing story. This is exactly my type of story, completely bonkers and totally rolling with it, while smashing any available fourth walls. Great play with characters and expectations and looking at how stories are constructed. I love when we get a bit more experimental stuff and if that stuff is pulled off well, and it certainly is here. I know, some of the ideas here have been played around with before- is the Doctor just a fictional character bouncing around the head of a writer? What if the Doctor became a puppet? But this is just so well done and uses these ideas in a different context, that it just works without being repetitive.
"The Yearn"- well, in a nutshell, this is a base under siege with added romance. It is well written and well performed, but tonight, I just was not in the mood for romance. So I keep the jury out on that one.... But at least I can say that Valerie gets some nice character development and intimate scenes, which is always great for a companion.
"Curiosity shop"- well, it certainly shows the range and ability of Jake Dudman as a performer. And he can pull off quite a lot, although I do not quite think he is as amazing as Nick Briggs makes him out to be in the extras. It is also a very traumatic story for Valerie and literally breaks her apart. Interesting story, although the confrontation between Doctor and companion- Valerie is not only used by the Doctor to get his plan in motion, no, he also uses her up bit by bit- this should have warranted more than a couple of sentences!
All in all enjoyable set. For me on par with the first set, although I really loved All of Time and Space which is exactly the type of story I am craving for.
So after having really enjoyed the first set in this series of adventures Big Finish has produced for Jacob Dudman's final hurrah as the 11th Doctor, I really wanted to dive into the second volume and see whether or not the consistent and amazing storytelling from the first set is here as well. I've heard so many good things about this set, so I have my hopes!
All of Time and Space: Ellery Quest has an idea for a play and it's called Dr. Who. It's about a traveler in time and space called The Doctor in his blue box called The Tardis who's accompanied by a young woman by the name of Valerie Lockwood. But Ellery is about to discover his bizarre ideas of the imagination might actually be real and when duplicates come knocking on his door, it's time to run.
Tim Foley has written a really fun and clever adventure that kept me guessing at every turn. I do feel I will probably benefit from a re-listen on this one since this story whilst making sense in the end, is really weird and surreal to listen to with some of the most bizarre and outlandish scenes I've ever listened to in a Doctor Who story but I had a lot of fun with it! 8/10
The Yearn: The Doctor and Valerie arrive on the planet Medrüth, to find an entire civilization in danger from a mysterious species called The Yearn. But what are they really and what do they want from the inhabitants? Time is running out and Valerie... has fallen in love.
Angus Dunican has written a story with an interesting concept and a really sweet love story between Valerie and Roanna. But aside from those two things, this story still felt very lacking, underdeveloped, and kind of poorly produced at times sound design-wise, The Yearn in this were hard to make out whenever they talked. Not a bad story conceptually, but the execution just didn't do it for me. 4/10
Curiosity Shop: Mr Foreman owns a junkyard on a world that's hiding away from a war between two alien forces high above the planet. Valerie has come to find a woman called Barbara and her old friend The Doctor. But how much will she have to give up to have her friend back and to save a deteriorating world from its demise?
James Goss has written a brilliant story that whilst quite fanwanky with Dudman doing impressions of other Doctors in this, it's actually quite bleak and depressing. Valerie goes through a lot in this story and it also shows just how cruel our favorite Timelord can be. It's hard to go into this one without giving too much away since it is a very heavy story, with a lot of emotional depth to it. 10/10
4.1 All of Time and Space 4/5 An imaginative and well told first story in the second Eleven & Valarie box set. The plot is a different take on a Doctor Who story. While other stories like this have been told, they usually end up a garbled mess, that ends up not making much sense. This one does. The world and ultimate explanation is satisfying, with an emotionally satisfying ending. The cast does an excellent job, with the usual chemistry between Jacob Dudman and Safiyya Ingar, and great performances from the guest cast. The audio design work is exceptional as always. I can see a recurring theme in my reviews being that I wish this overall series was in live action. This story is one I definitely want to see.
4.2 The Yearn 4/5 A well told story in the second Eleven & Valarie box set. While not as imaginative as the first, this story is very well done. While on the surface, this tale is a staple of Big Finish Doctor Who, this one has a few twists and turns that make it stand out on its own. The chemistry between Jacob Dudman and Safiyya Ingar is still here, and this story more than others really cements Safiyya Ingar's Valarie Lockwood as a great companion. The banter back and forth between Valarie and The Doctor is right out of the TV show. The guest cast is excellent, with a special note to Mia Tomlinson as Roanna. Overall, this is another cracker of a story in the ongoing series.
4.3 Curiosity Shop 4/5 A very good tale from the second Eleven & Valarie box set. This is the most serious story from the series so far. This story is written as a breakdown of who The Doctor is, and it leaves an impression. The butting heads of the Madman in a Box and The Lonely God plays out well in this one. Curiosity Shop is written for the audio format and takes advantage of it. Jacob Dudman is given the opportunity to show his ability to mimic other Doctor voices. The real standout though is Safiyya Ingar, who is give a lot to work with here, and doesn't disappoint. The pain and sadness they are able to portray just makes me love Valarie more. Both of them get a chance to show off their range as actors. The guest actor is great, and even sounds a little like Colin Baker. Overall, this is a great addition to the series.
“You’re the hero, Ellery. You save the cat.” The idea of stories is such an important theme in the Eleventh Doctor’s era. In fact, I’d argue that it’s the fundamental theme his entire era is built on, so this episode fits in perfectly. “All of Time and Space” is a very meta story with a number of clever and experimental ideas. It involves the Doctor and Valarie quite literally becoming part of the storytelling medium and Ellery Quest, the episode’s protagonist, is such a delightful character. This was a fun, slightly wacky episode and I enjoyed it a lot.
7V.5 The Yearn - 3/5
I did like this episode, although I do feel like it’s the weakest one so far. It’s a classic base-under-siege story which is somewhat welcoming after two very different/experimental episodes but at the same time I feel like it could have been executed slightly better. The concept and “monster” was very interesting but I struggled quite a bit to follow what was going on. The standout aspect of this episode was the romance between Valarie and Roanna; they had a lot of sweet scenes together and I could easily buy their attraction to one another. I laughed at the Doctor reassuring Valarie that she wouldn’t be the first of his friends to settle down with someone they had only just met and barely knew 😭.
7V.6 Curiosity Shop - 4/5
This was an interesting one. I love character driven pieces and I think they always work so well on audio. This episode deconstructs the Doctor and Valarie as characters; in Valarie’s case it’s literal, in the Doctor’s case it’s Dudman doing an impression of Matt Smith doing impressions of other Doctors, which definitely could have sounded much worse than it actually did. I have to give Dudman credit because I know it couldn’t have been easy. It’s a really interesting premise, however. The Doctor’s brain is basically fried and he works through some of his previous incarnations to essentially recover himself. Valarie suffers for this, physically and emotionally. It was heartbreaking to hear her break down and become a shell of her former self (literally). This episode shows just how much Valarie believes in the Doctor and how she’s willing to sacrifice parts of her self because of it, while also shining a light on the Doctor’s crueller, more thoughtless side. Unfortunately, outside of the character-focused stuff this episode falls pretty short (the plot, world-building and Golas (the one side character) are all ok and serviceable but not incredible).
Overall - 3.7/5, rounded to a 4. Not as good as the previous set but still a strong set of stories.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
More and more I am going to start my BF ratings at ZERO because I am really, really tired of the El-Jibbity pandering. So the second episode gets ZERO stars not just for the lesbian kissing (kissing in an audio drama is weird enough because it's right there in your ear-holes, but then let's make it lesbians, and . . . no, frankly . . . no. So done with this, BF. I dare you to release a box set without any El-Jibbity content. You can't do it, because all your current writers and script editors are activists first and writers somewhere farther down the list) but because they try to make us believe in a zero-chemistry lesbian relationship between Valarie and the character who is so bland I can't even remember her name. And that Valarie would even consider leaving the TARDIS for this non-entity. But you know, lesbians uber alles. Then there's the fact that I couldn't even understand what the aliens were saying because of the voice effects on them. Might have been an interesting plot, but how would I even know?
So, zero stars for the boring lesbian episode with the indecipherable aliens.
But one each for the other two because they were experimental, interesting, and entertaining for different reasons. Although I'm not sure the first episode made any real sense.
There. You get two stars for effort. That's as generous as I'm going to be until you start writing stories again instead of El Jibbity agitprop.
4.1 All of Time and Space by Ellery Quest (Tim Foley) This was a fun little story in which the Doctor and Valarie get to show up in different forms of media, such as radio, comic strips, and they even appear as puppets. The plot is about a guy named Ellery Quest who is pitching an idea for a play called: “Doctor Who.” But there’s something dangerous about Doctor Who. There are some nice twists and turns in this story as well, and the ending is somewhat sad.
4.2 The Yearn by Angus Dunican A lot of the time big finish box sets have really good first and last stories, but the middle story is usually the weakest. The same thing happened with this box set. There is a base under siege from creatures called The Yearn, and the Doctor and Valarie stop them. That’s kind of all that happens. Not to say it wasn’t an entertaining story, it was just a simple story, and that isn’t necessarily a bad thing. There is some great dialogue in the episode, which makes it more entertaining.
4.3 Curiosity Shop by James Goss This is by far the best story in the set. It’s a very sad drama about this world that is going to end soon, and yet the Doctor hasn’t shown up to save it yet. Valarie gets to look at the TARDIS in a junkyard, but the man who owns the junkyard asks her to pay up. So each time she visits she has to give away a part of herself. Each visit she becomes more and more desperate. The ending to this story is absolutely devastating.
Doctor Who: All of Time and Space - 5/5 stars 4.1 All of Time and Space by Tim Foley - 5/5 stars An exciting adventure with Ellery Quest! The opening where someone goes crazy after they read Doctor Who is very relatable. Valarie is great in this and the overarching mystery is continued to be built upon from the last set. 4.2 The Yearn by Angus Dunican - 5/5 stars A creepy horror base under siege story meets a queer romance story. I love it. Roanna and Valarie are adorable. The meta bit where the Doctor jokes about previous companions leaving the Doctor for people they’ve just met is really fun. The Yearn was a cool villain too. 4.3 Curiosity Shop by James Goss - 5/5 stars Valarie is stuck on a planet in the middle of a battlefield in space. I liked how the Doctor was recovering and acting like his past lives. Valarie is treated poorly here though as she literally pulls herself apart to help the Doctor recover.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
How do you even begin to describe this one? It reminds me of the first episode of the mind robber quite a lot. I really loved and honestly don't know what else to say.
The Doctor and Valerie as puppets was so fun. This entire boxset is so fun.
Tale 2 - 3/5
This felt kinda standard compared to the other more weird ones, still more normal doesn't really mean bad. Eleven and Valerie are hilarious in this one. It's kinda laid back.
Tale 3 - 4/5
Proper weirdness has returend again. Dudman playing bascially all of them was hilarious and worked so well. This entire story feels like even more of a fever dream then the first one. How that is possible I do not know. I just love that it took things back to a junkyard.
An excellent follow-up to Geronimo! which embraces the more meta storytelling aspects of the Moffat era. The titular opener sets the tone nicely by embracing the chaos and just its actual premise slowly unfold. The Yearn follows with a so-so take on a base-under-siege format but sported some nice material for Valarie. Finally Curiosity Shop is a stripped down story, but built around the Moffat era conceit that “the Doctor” is less a title and more a state of mind. Recommended if you’re a fan of the Moffat era of the show.
This was an odd collection that focused on lost memories. Because of that there's lots of confusion and people not knowing what's happening or who they truly are. I wasn't really into these, but I was glad to see in the second one that people didn't give up their lives or run away with someone they've known for a day. Also in that one, they should just say they're kissing. Doing so on an audiobook sounds weird/gross.
Feels like this was released early in 2023 specifically to start off the year of the 60th anniversary. You got a character pitching a play that's Doctor Who, and even channeling of the William Hartnell type voice in the third story.
Histoire 1 et 3 grave chouettes et rafraichissantes, chacune à leur manière et histoire 2 sympa viteuf juste parce que bravo les lesbiennes (et les bi)