Jamie Revell

This makes a decent, if not remarkable, conclusion to the series. The initial story sees the two Batgirls swapping bodies but doesn't do much with the idea beyond using it as a vehicle to get into a plot about the characters' relationships with their respective parents. Which mostly works well, even if the resolution feels a bit uninspired. We do get a regular bat-villain turning up, albeit not one of the more famous ones, as an opponent, and Batman and other allies also get involved in the background.

Mostly, though, it's the story of Cass and Steph, as it should be, and there's a focus on their friendship and the way that they complement each other that makes for a positive vibe. That's nicely offset by the second part of the plot, which deals with the plausibly real-world threat of a hidden sniper stalking the neighbourhood. The artwork is variable, but never truly bad, and there are certainly some well-written sequences here and there. It's a decent send-off for the characters, for anyone who enjoyed their teen camaraderie, and possibly the strongest of the set.

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.

While there's no denying that this is a good book, it didn't seem as standout to me as it apparently did to many other readers. On the plus side, there's some great inventiveness, with some striking scenes and clever use of the tropes of the genre. Speaking of which, the genre in question is “fairy tales” in particular, rather than fantasy in general - this is a dark, adult tale that's clearly rooted in stories such as Sleeping Beauty. Despite dealing with some themes that one wouldn't expect in a story for children (although nothing particularly graphic or sexual) it also manages to be surprisingly bright and optimistic in places and the bickering elderly witches are enjoyable to read.

The downside, at least for me, was the slow start. The story actually begins in media res and the extended flashback that follows is written in a curiously detached style that I'd describe as “tell, don't show”. For instance, although there is some dialogue in this section, for the most part, we are told what the conversation was about rather than reading it directly. Things improve greatly once the story reaches the point where we came in, and the protagonist's quest to save her sister from the evil Prince gets underway. But, for some reason, I wasn't quite able to get over the beginning, and that drags it down from the full five stars.

But it's still well worth a read... and bone-dog is cool.

The biggest problem with this collection is the disjointed nature of the narrative. It starts with the second issue in the story arc (the first being included at the end of the previous volume) and from then on, continues in much the same manner, including only the even-numbered parts of the narrative. The other sections - parts 3, 5, and 7 - were in a different series, so we don't get them here, with the result that we're only getting half the story, leaping over events and resulting in, at best, confusion. Did this story work for somebody who was reading all the issues in the alternating series? I dunno... maybe, but it's no way to put together a collection and while it's unlikely to be Cloonan's fault, it's all one giant mess.

Who at DC thought this was a good idea?

In fact, you might wonder why I'm even giving it three stars and, if all we were getting was the first four parts, I wouldn't have. Fortunately, the final two sections (issues #799 and #800 of the original) are quite a bit better, and just about nudge the overall collection up to “middling”. They're kind of disjointed too, but for a reason, since they consist of a number of dream sequences as Diana experiences how her friends see her and how she touches their lives. The artwork is variable, with the framing device in the waking world having the weakest, but it's a valiant effort to produce a celebration of the character, with a mixture of humour, action, and heart.

Whether it's worth putting up with the repeatedly interrupted half-narrative of the first two-thirds of the collection is, however, a matter of taste. A veritable plethora of variant covers round it out.

The opening teaser sets up the premise as Owen discovers that Andy has a new girlfriend and there's something unusual about her that he is uniquely placed to sense. From there, though, the story does not necessarily go in the direction you expect, as we learn that she also has an unusual ability that draws Owen in. How he reacts to that and how the relationship between the two changes form the first part of the story, but then a shocking event intercedes and things begin to slowly spiral out of control.

Although Andy is important to this, the focus is primarily on Owen, with Gorman providing a strong performance as he struggles to keep his head above water and his ruthless and self-centred side clashes with his conscience. The ending might perhaps, be a little too neat, but there are limits to where one can go in a story set within the regular TV continuity and it works within the context of the show. This may not be gory, but it does get quite dark and, if the story manages to pull you along with Owen's plight, he's never entirely sympathetic. Andy's decency and dogged determination to do what's right are a different matter, but you know from the opening moments that he isn't going to get a happy ending...

Well, here's a thing I didn't expect to see for a long time, if at all: Christopher Eccleston returning to the role of the Doctor, albeit in an audio. But, nonetheless, here it is and, if it's not the strongest outing ever, it's certainly good enough to bring back some nostalgia for an often-overlooked era of modern Doctor Who. The blurb claims that it's “three new adventures” - but it isn't, it's one 3-hour story broken into three episodes in much the same way that Aliens of London and World War Three are undeniably a single story.

It's also rather complicated, playing about with time in a way that's more reminiscent of the Moffat era than anything in Eccleston's single season. Indeed, the story isn't even linear, with the first episode starting in media res and making extensive use of flashback - something that continues to a lesser extent in the following two episodes. This, on top of the fact that events occur out of order even for the characters and that they visit multiple different time periods and worlds and that, yes, the plot is about yet another threat to the existence of the universe means that Briggs is, arguably, trying a bit too hard with this one.

On the other hand, if you can follow the plot, there are enough positives to make it work. The villain, for instance, is working for more complex motives than at first appears to be the case - even if her reason for not explaining what she's doing earlier on, and saving herself a lot of trouble, is a bit thin. The constant scene changes, although they're filler in the sense that the core plot doesn't absolutely need them, do give a sense of scale and drama that a shorter story might lack, and it never really drags. Which is a considerable plus, given the length.

The story is probably intended to be set before Rose, although one could just as well argue that it's set during the seemingly brief gap between the TARDIS disappearing and then reappearing at the end of that episode (if you assume Nine is newly regenerated at the start of it). Either way, Rose isn't in it, and we have a surrogate companion instead, in the form of an indentured cook working in the canteen of a big corporation. She's one of the stronger points of the story, a worthy companion but one who would rather just find somewhere nice to live than traipse across the galaxy.

But the real joy is hearing Eccleston again, effortlessly slipping back into the character and sounding as if he's never been away. This may be a good, fun, outing, although it isn't a flawless one - but I suspect there's better to come.

The first in a series of original Stargate stories in Big Finish's “Chronicles” style - a first-person narrative read by an actor from the show, with an additional voice actor playing another major part, and sound effects to add to the ambience. This one features Michael Shanks as Daniel Jackson, with the guest actor playing a member of SG-12 who proves crucial to the story.

I wasn't expecting too much from this, but it turns out to be a strong outing. Firstly, Shanks does a great job, slipping back effortlessly into the character and also doing a great job of voicing the other members of SG-1 when Daniel has to recount what they were saying - bringing out their mannerisms without trying to do a direct impression. In fact, the whole thing sounds realistic, with Daniel obviously recounting the tale as part of a debrief rather than sounding as if he's narrating a regular audiobook.

But, mainly, it's just a good story. It's set entirely at Stargate Command, opening with Daniel waking up after a mysterious event has robbed everyone at the base of eight hours of their memory and having to piece together what has happened and why. The explanation is something that would have fit beautifully with the TV show and could easily have been one of its episodes - the choice to set the first audio story in the familiar surroundings of the base probably helps here. The characters are written well, and there's a strong theme of the military camaraderie and ethos that underlaid the show. Definitely one to check out if you're a fan of the original.

This unusually gory story is set in a 3-bedroom rented property in Cardiff, where Owen has turned up to investigate a particularly nasty outbreak of mould and rising damp. It's told largely from the perspective of one of the residents, a junior estate agent (that's “realtor” if you're American) who finds things rapidly spiralling out of control as the infestation spreads. It's one of those stories whose impact may depend on the listener's own phobias or sense of disgust - it's probably just as well it doesn't have visuals (or smells).

This makes it essentially a base-under-siege, although to say much more would venture into spoiler territory. Suffice it to say that there is a secondary theme as well, which has more of a connection to the title. Owen, who is still fully alive at the point this is set, comes across as something of the jerk that he was in the first Torchwood TV season but still at least trying to do the right thing and save the unfortunate bystanders. Similarly, the main guest character is well-written, giving her a believable depth considering the short length of the story and its focus on horror. It's those features and the steadily building sense of dread that make this a strong story... if not one for those with a weak stomach.

I'm old enough to remember when “swimsuit specials” seemed to be a common thing on the comic book shelves back in the '90s. I never read any, but I got the impression from the covers that they were excuses to include cheesecake images of the female characters wearing skimpier clothing than usual, and were little more than that. Unlike Marvel, DC has apparently not done one before, and the cover art shows that they're at least trying to poke fun at the concept.

What you get inside are two short stories and a one-page mock interview with G'nort that's not as amusing as it would like to be. The first of the stories is (I assume) traditional for the type, with five swimsuit-clad superheroines defending Gotham's beachfront from the Penguin. Who, admittedly, is also in a swimsuit and played for laughs. It's a light and fluffy summer story without trying to be any more than that - and, by the way, who'd have thought that Gotham City even had a sunny beachfront?

The second story is a gay romance with Apollo and Midnight, who, aside from a few panels early on, are fully dressed and not actually on a beach. So, not really fitting the theme, to be honest.

The rest is kind of what you'd expect from the title - splash art of superheroes in swimsuits. Slightly more women than men, with Wonder Woman and Harley Quinn being the most popular, but both genders are represented, which I suspect was less the case in the past. Most of the art is pretty good and I wouldn't describe it as voyeuristic, some of it being definitely tongue-in-cheek... but you know what you're getting with this title.

The Fifth and Tenth Doctors are both drawn to the same temporal anomaly in Paris and (as is apparent from the cover) find themselves facing an unusually protracted invasion by the Cybermen. The result is a fun story with the two pairing up and hopping through different time periods across Paris to try and foil the invasion plan. Although exactly where this fits in their personal timelines is not discussed (although clearly later than the Time Crash mini-episode) neither is travelling with a companion. To fill that gap, we have an inexperienced time agent, who is entertaining enough but seems largely there to make up the numbers.

I found this story slightly stronger than the one that preceded it in this series, perhaps because it's more anchored in the real world. However, it's probably fair to say that fans of the modern series will (on average) tend to be less familiar with the Fifth Doctor than the Fourth and the Cybermen are less popular than the Daleks. But, if neither of these things are a concern for you, Tennant-era fans should still find a lot to like here. The style of the story resembles many of his, with the sort of one-liners that you didn't tend to get in the '80s version of the show, although there are also plenty of references to classic episodes for those who appreciate those.

The Tenth Doctor arguably has more in common with the Fifth than with the Fourth, which provides less opportunity to contrast the two here than in the previous story. It does make things move along more smoothly, without the sort of bickering one might expect, but, depending on your preferences that could be either a plus or a minus. But they do bounce off one another effectively, and it's a successful team-up, especially with the addition of the time agent, and that's really what you want out of this type of story.

This three-episode story features the Sixth Doctor going up against the title character, a renegade Time Lord original to the audios. I know that I just criticised 4th Doctor story The God of Phantoms for feeling too long when it's only marginally longer than this, but here, the fact that the story is broken up into three means that it just doesn't feel the same, especially as the middle episode has a different style to the other two. Nonetheless, it does fit together as a single story, rather than three isolated ones.

All For One - This episode introduces us to a planet where the inhabitants all have a split personality, being able to switch between their two selves at will. Inevitably, they regard anyone who cannot do this as, in effect, disabled and there is some low-level discrimination against such people. That gets directed at Constance and a guest character, but the main focus is on The Eleven, taking advantage of some of the local medical technology to do something it wasn't intended for. Although much of it is a runaround with the main characters being hounded by The Eleven, it does have the advantage of making use of the exact nature of his insanity rather than just have him being nuts. And, while it would work well enough as a standalone, it's a good intro to what follows.

The Murder of Oliver Akkron - The second story is the most unconventional for Doctor Who and serves solely as a bridge between the other two, such that it wouldn't work at all in isolation. It consists almost entirely of a conversation between a sane-seeming Eleven and its titular character, whose identity and importance are slowly fleshed out as the story progresses. This, obviously, is the sort of thing that audio is well suited to, although the fact that it consists almost entirely of two people sitting down and having a polite dinner conversation is far from what one would expect. On its own, this would be dreary, but it fleshes out the world in which it is set and does employ some clever misdirection as well as providing what will prove key backstory for the third episode. An oddity, perhaps, but it fits where it is.

Elevation - We're back on more familiar ground in the final instalment as the Sixth Doctor returns to see the fallout of the previous episode and The Eleven coming up with an even more audacious scheme. It takes a while before that becomes apparent but when it does, as in the first episode, it ties in directly with the nature of his affliction. It manages to explore a little of what it would be like to be him, and gives Miranda Raison (as Constance) some entertaining opportunities to ham it up. It's bonkers and grandiose but very fitting for the character and once again showing Mark Bonnar's strengths as an actor. (If there's a weakness with the character concept, though, it's that eleven is too many - this far in and I've still not got a real feel for Two, Four, Five, or Seven and, while I'm sure they're all in this, I couldn't tell you which ones they are. But heck, that still leaves seven of them...)

A more straightforward story than the previous outing in the comic series, but just as strong, this sees Peter teaming up with DC Guleed to investigate an infestation of supernaturally animated black mould. This leads to crooked landlords in London's famously expensive housing market and some casual (and not-so-casual) racism. It's another solid police procedural that allows both Molly and Sahra to kick ass and - even if it's not overly complicated - it takes a few twists along the way. As usual, there are connections to the books, as well as to previous comics in the series, but this one feels more standalone than usual, requiring less prior knowledge to follow, but rewarding the familiarity if you have it.

This six-part (3½ hour) story sees the Doctor and Leela arriving on an isolated colony world that has devolved back to roughly 18th-century technology. Once there, they face a whole slew of problems - ghosts of the recently departed keep showing up, an invading army from another part of the colony threatens to destroy the featured town, an inventor has access to anachronistic technology, a third group of colonists hides out in the woods living a neolithic lifestyle, the Doctor keeps fainting and experiencing dreams about anvils... and, well that's not even the whole of it.

This complexity allows the story to keep going for its entire length without some of the padding that affects the longer TV stories of the era and also permits a larger cast than usual - by my count, there are eleven significant guest characters. But, on the other hand, the length is also something of a weakness, throwing too many things into the mix when a tighter story might have been more effective. For instance, an offworld colony that doesn't just consist of a single town is a plus, and there's a real feel that the world has complexity and depth to it, but the invading army is a cypher, an important threat but one that distracts from the main plot and is never fully explained.

The villain, once it becomes clear who he is, also isn't terribly interesting. Fortunately, many of the supporting characters are much better, even if the gender balance isn't great (which, I suppose, could at least be taken as accurate for the era of the TV show it's trying to emulate). There isn't much fun or humour in it either, leaving us with a sober and serious version of the Fourth Doctor more in line with his final season than with the Hinchcliffe era. Leela is good and gets to do a range of things, leading the action at several points.

This wasn't, for me, as epic as it was doubtless intended to be. It has a large scope, to be sure, and there are plenty of ideas in it but it goes on a bit too long and overstays its welcome. I'm torn between three and four stars, but I'll round up to save myself the hassle of deciding between them.

What you'll think of this may depend a lot on what you expect it to be. It's a story about the Gotham City PD, but it could just as well be any large urban American police force... although, clearly, making it a fictional one gives a greater degree of freedom to the writers. So if you're expecting costumed villains or similar craziness, you may well be disappointed - Batman, for instance, isn't in it and is barely even mentioned.

The story is about Renee Montoya, recently having replaced Jim Gordon as Commissioner, and trying to make the GCPD better. She's haunted by memories of Two-Face (the only other significant character from the Batman mythos to appear) and struggling to get her life together in the face of her new responsibilities. But the focus is perhaps even more on three new recruits who illustrate, in different ways, just how large a challenge she faces as they make their way through the grimier side of police life.

Despite the standard 13+ rating, it's a dark story, with some uncomfortable themes. The characters swear a lot (although the rating means that the actual words are blanked out) and there's alcoholism, overt racism, and gun violence that seems all the more real because of the plausible background. It's a grim read in places, without much in the way of hope, but the characters are well-written and varied, trying to do the right thing in a world that mostly doesn't care.

Unlike the first, this second season consists of three stories, rather than four, two of which are closely linked. Otherwise, it's similar, with the eponymous character encountering alien goings-on in exotic locations and dealing with her disreputable - if very rich - family. Although it has matured from the first season, with greater depth to some of the characters, this is still a set of stories about a glamorous aristocratic cat burglar with a flying bus, so you know you're not getting The Godfather.

The Wreck - We start in the coral reefs off Zanzibar, where Lady Christina drops in on her father and his latest, much younger, girlfriend. A hunt for buried treasure from a pirate shipwreck soon brings in the science-fiction elements although the aliens responsible remain a distant, mysterious force throughout. Instead, the story is about the effect that the encounter has on the characters and on the relationship between Christina and her father. The sunny setting and PG rating keep this from being as creepy as it would be were it being written for Torchwood but otherwise it would fit right in. There's some good characterisation not only for Lord Alfred but also for the ‘gold-digger' he is partnered with (played by Camile Coduri's daughter, Rosa), who becomes more sympathetic as the story unfolds. And the detailed nature of the threat also seems very appropriate for this particular series.

Outback - The second story is not directly connected to the other two, although it clearly takes place between them and makes reference to the first. Thematically, however, there is a strong resemblance, with Lady Christina dropping in another larcenous relative who has supposedly retired to the Outback of Western Australia. There's a mystery about possible alien abductions and something strange going on in an old meteor crater and it's not really as serious as the previous story, with one character coming across as a “comedy Australian” (the actor is of that nationality, although I suspect he's putting on a stronger accent than usual). UNIT get involved and it's all quite daft, but it fits in with the fun mood of the series.

Long Shot - It's arguably the final story that leans most into the wider premise of the series, since it's structured, and feels, a lot like a heist movie. True, the incident at the heart of it isn't a robbery but there are a lot of parallels to crime caper stories more generally. That central incident is set at Royal Ascot (albeit under another name) but most of the story consists of a series of interwoven flashback sequences explaining how we got there from the perspective of the different characters involved - Christina herself, Sam Bishop and Jacqui from UNIT, and the gormless Interpol agent from the first season. It's cleverly done and helped by the fact that it's quite a while before it's clear what Christina is even trying to do beyond the most general terms. Once again, themes of family rear their head as she struggles with the fallout from the previous two stories and tries to balance the fact that Lord Alfred has behaved quite appallingly with the fact that, at the end of the day, he is still her father.

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 third in the series of novellas is essentially a continuation of the second story, as Murderbot continues to dig into his past. In that respect, it could have been the second part of a longer novel, but the fact that all the characters, other than the protagonist, are new here means that would have felt rather odd. There is, nonetheless, more of a sense of the ongoing plot arc than before, and this story relies more on having read the previous ones than either of those did.

Here, Murderbot's quest leads him to an abandoned planetary research station with a human investigatory crew and a cheerful robot. The latter serves as another look into the complexities of human/AI interaction in this universe, with its relationship with its owners being quite different from what we've seen before - which also provides a glimpse into a broader cultural background. The bulk of the story consists of Murderbot trying to save the humans from the danger they find on the station, a set of fast-paced action scenes that nonetheless do a good job of exploring the various characters. Which, considering that the narrator doesn't fully understand (let alone like) humans is quite an achievement.

The twist in this story, if you can call it that, is that it's mostly told from the perspective of a taxi driver ferrying Tosh around Cardiff. Which has the potential to be one of those Torchwood stories that's about the effect that the organisation has on the regular residents of the area and somewhat is, although the chase she's being led on across the city is at least as important. However, unlike some other stories with that premise, this one feels rather slight.

It's not bad by any means. Nice touches include the driver trying to deal with her family over the phone between the sci-fi elements, and, in particular, how her detailed knowledge of the city and its inhabitants is key to saving the day. It may well be that those more familiar with Cardiff than I will get a lot out of this that I didn't. Numerous real-world locations are mentioned and the story makes good use of the geography, in a way that I'm sure I'd appreciate were I a local.

But I'm not and, while this story certainly works and has some good acting, there wasn't much else in it that stood out. For instance, there's no particular reason that Tosh is the Torchwood character here, beyond the fact that any of the others might have overshadowed the taxi driver's side of the narrative. It's a decent, middling story, not bad but not remarkable either.

And so here we are, after 275 releases over the course of more than two decades, at the very final story of Big Finish's flagship monthly range. From here on in, the individual Doctors will each have their own series, with less regular release schedules rather than being a slave to the calendar - or the two hour format. As the final release, it was inevitable that it, like the very first one back in 1999, would be a multi-Doctor story, featuring all of the incarnations that have appeared regularly elsewhere in this particular series.

It's a single story, but told in four distinct episodes and, to be honest, multiple Doctors aside it's good, but hardly exceptional; Day of the Doctor it isn't. The Fifth Doctor is up first, in a story set in 1911 in what is now Iraq (although this isn't clear until later). It concerns a chase against a villain trying to be the first to reach a ruined city with a fabulous treasure and has something of a Lawrence of Arabia vibe to it. It feels overly compressed, as if there was more that might have been explored, with what could have been an hour-long episode squeezed down into the 30-minute format. But, despite that, it's fun with a good sense of desert-themed adventure.

The next story is set during the 51st century, with a space colony (Titan, apparently, although it must be heavily terraformed by then, because nobody's living under domes) threatened by robotic pirates. It brings back a character from an earlier 6th Doctor audio, albeit mainly as a taxi service to get the Doctor to where he needs to be. We get Constance on her own as the companion, presumably because of the need to cut the cast list down, and she works well here - with a running gag about her not noticing when the main guest character tries to chat her up.

We then skip an incarnation to the 8th Doctor visiting London in 1999, when his only TV story was set. It's a fairly straight monster story, and with a monster that isn't original, either, but like the 6th Doctor's offering, it does feel the right length for its slot. To keep the link with Eight's audios in this series, rather than his own, we get Charlie back as the companion, but India Fisher is doing her voice so differently that it honestly took me a little while to work that out.

Everything comes together in the final episode, where the links we have seen up to this point bring the three Doctors together to face down the real villain. There are a few good twists in here, but the real strength is in seeing the characters meeting up and interacting with one another; taken on its own, the story is unremarkable. Yes, the universe gets threatened, because that's probably the sort of thing they felt they should do in a series finale, but it's been threatened a lot down the years, and it takes more than that these days to make something special. That the 7th Doctor makes only a brief cameo appearance feels like another missed opportunity, too, but I guess they only had so much time.

This all sounds pretty negative, and it probably shouldn't, because this is a decent celebration of what this particular run of 275 stories has covered, with four Doctors and stories set in the past, future, and present(ish). Plus two companions first introduced in the monthly series, reminding us of how it developed things for the Expanded Universe. If it's not quite the five-star celebration it could have been, it's still enjoyable and there's plenty more to come as the various Doctors spin off into their own audio lines.

There seems to be something of a trend in comics these days to turn female villains into something more positive and heroic - Catwoman and Harley Quinn being obvious examples. Poison Ivy has by no means been immune to that trend, but this volume pulls few punches and makes her into a much darker character. The plot essentially sees her on a mission to wipe out humanity, emotionally scarred by the trauma she suffered in other comics and taking her ecoterrorist leanings to the extreme.

And yet, the writing is more subtle than that; she's not some mad villain, but somebody dealing badly with her recent experiences. (Really badly; there's a high body count and themes of suicide). Alongside the despair, though, her underlying humanity shows through in brief glimpses until we reach the denouement and face somebody much worse. The story is well written, much of it in the form of letters in which Ivy tries to explain her actions and square what she's doing with her love for Harley. There are plenty of psychedelic sequences as Ivy (and others) trips on hallucinogenic fungi, making things both visually and narratively weird. It all adds to the flavour of a strong story that's more about Ivy's emotional journey than superhero action.

Two more stories featuring the original TARDIS crew, one set in the future, and one a pure historical.

For the Glory of Urth – The TARDIS lands in what appears to be Earth in the far future, to discover it is ruled by a brutal dictatorship hostile to all aliens and constantly on the brink of a war that never comes. It's primarily a story of survival, with the characters split up early on and then spending most of the story imprisoned in one way or another and trying to get back together so that they can escape.

Which isn't such a bad idea in itself. While we may expect futuristic fascist states to be overthrown in this series (as, for example, in The Sun Makers or Enemy of the World) realistically, that won't always be an option. The Doctor being unable to change the world of The Aztecs or The Massacre is something we expect, and it's a good fit for his era even here. Unfortunately, the story just isn't very good. That's largely because almost everyone in the story other than the regulars is either an idiot or insane (or possibly both) and the whole thing is just completely implausible. It could be that it's intended as a comedic farce, and for some reason, I kept thinking of one villain as being played by Hattie Jaques, which wasn't helping. But, if it is intended as a comedy, it's sorely lacking in laughs, unless you find stupidity funny in itself.

There are some positives in amongst the dross. There are a few clever ideas, including one alien character and, arguably, the eventual explanation for the setup. Susan gets a decent chunk of the plot, although Barbara is rather less well-used. But, while there I also have some minor gripes about the science (such as a confusion between bacteria and viruses) it's the characters and the disjointed and unfocussed plot that really let this one down. 2 stars.

The Hollow Crown – The second story, fortunately, is much better. This sees the Doctor arriving in London on the eve of the spectacular failure that was the Essex Rebellion of 1601. This probably isn't a well-known event in English history but no prior knowledge of it is required from the listener beyond the fact that it obviously didn't end with Queen Elizabeth I being deposed. Here, Essex is portrayed as noble and decent, while the real villains of the piece are his sister Lady Rich and, to a lesser extent, Essex's real-world nemesis Lord Cecil.

Into this recounting of a minor piece of English history the story also throws William Shakespeare, in a far more central role than he played historically. The story doesn't ignore the fact that both he and the Queen have previously met the Doctor, although only one of the prior encounters has an effect on the plot. A downside is that Barbara is underused here; she gets to deliver a few bits of historical exposition, but most of those are provided organically through the characters involved. Susan, Ian, and the Doctor all have rather more to do, with Ian putting himself in danger, Susan generally getting into trouble, and the Doctor trying to sort it all out.

There are naturally some adjustments to real-world events to accommodate the story, which pushes the regular characters right into the middle of the rebellion. But, on the whole, it fits well enough with history as we know it, and the fact that it's a relatively obscure incident to modern people makes it easier for the events to carry the story. Some of the tension comes from whether or not history can be changed enough to ensure an at least partially happy ending – reference is made here to a story in the previous collection where the failure of the characters to alter events left an emotional scar on them, as well as to obvious comparison point The Aztecs. (There's a red herring here about the existence of a particular character implying a different history track, but the explanation is obvious from pretty much the first time they open their mouth). With plenty of Shakespearean quotes dotted through the dialogue, this is a good historical story, lacking in aliens but still very much connected to the Doctor Who universe.

Ends on a cliffhanger that (as of August 2023) there seem to be no plans to resolve. 4 stars.

This novella is set in a steampunk alternate world where djinn interact with humans and (among other things) helped to ensure Egyptian independence fifty years early and make Cairo one of the world's greatest and most influential cities. The main story concerns a pair of investigators looking into an apparently haunted tram car and trying to exorcise the spirit concerned. This provides the fantasy elements and, in fairness, the plot is pretty straightforward - the real strength being the realisation of the setting.

Middle Eastern settings are not unusual in fantasy, but it's rare to see one quite as well-developed as this, with the mix of early 20th-century modernity and Islamic myth. Indeed, this expands on the first novella in the series by extending the supernatural elements beyond the Islamic world - although still featuring something that isn't Western European. It gives the impression of setting things up for a bigger story later (and a novel did follow) with several threads left hanging even though the core plot is neatly resolved.

Children of Ruin is good, but it's not quite as good as the first book in the trilogy.

To begin with, it looks as if it is going to follow a similar plotline to that, but with octopuses instead of spiders (this much is obvious from the opening paragraphs). However, it soon heads off in a different direction. We get the background of how the octopus civilisation got its start, but far less of its history, with the focus on the inhabitants of the human ship that originally explored the system they end up in. Partly, that's due to the fact that the octopuses are even more alien than the Portiids, so their history has less resemblance to a human one. But it's also, one assumes, to avoid repetition.

This is initially intercut with a story about a human/Portiid ship discovering the system and seeing the outcome of events unfolding in the other parts; this is deftly done to keep things mysterious even though we know that octopuses have to be involved somehow. As the story unfolds, it becomes clear that there is something else at work as well, and this becomes the main antagonist, with some moments of horror as the seemingly unstoppable threat advances. It's all part of this series' exploration of non-human intelligence and it manages to keep this story feeling different from its predecessor even though it's dealing with the same general topics.

Still, the characters are once again not as memorable as the concepts and, without quite the same sweep as the first volume, it doesn't come up to the same mark. But it's a good read, nonetheless, and it looks like the third book will be off somewhere different again, keeping this more varied than the basic premise might suggest.

While I liked Adams' previous volume, this one falls short of that. It's not really his fault; the problem is the disjointed nature of the narrative due to the number of crossovers this has to fit in with. So we start off with a story that doesn't go anywhere, because it's followed up in another comic, and then we have stories that tie in with the major DC arc for the year, seeing sections of a bigger story only parts of which are collected here. We do finally return to the main plot towards the end (which may explain why this collects a full ten issues) but the sliced-up route to getting there just doesn't help.

Having said which, there are some good bits here. As before, Adams does a good job of tying Wally's superheroics in with his everyday life, and at least Linda gets more to do this time around. There is, however, some overuse of Wally's children - having young kids be involved in the superhero action without facing any real danger (because, obviously, there's a limit to what you can do to kids in a regular comic) makes what the adults are facing less of a threat. The titular section of the collection sees the Flash Family visiting three alternate universes to find Barry; one is clever, one works well enough, and the other (a Mad Max pastiche) is a bit dull.

Hopefully, things will be able to settle down for the next volume because I rather like what Adams is doing if he doesn't have to fit other comics in around his story.

The Doctor travels to Dorset in 1830 to meet Mary Anning, the famous fossil collector. Of course, he manages to turn up just after a man is killed by a mysterious “monster” and sets about tracking it down in a story complete with whisky smugglers, wandering crocodiles, and plenty of fossils. The aliens involved in it all don't turn up until the halfway mark, but there's plenty going on before then, with Anning making a strong supporting character of the sort that, were she not a real historical person, would make a good companion.

Unfortunately, the first half is stronger than the second. Up until then, there's a good sense of 1830s society, something that kept Anning out of the scientific discourse at the time despite her obvious ability and knowledge. Since that's such an important part of her real-life story it feels entirely appropriate to deal with it here (through, for example, people's reactions to Leela) in a way that many Doctor Who historical stories tend to gloss over. Plus, there's all the whisky and the crocodiles to keep things busy, even if the villain is hamming it up a bit much.

Once the aliens make their appearance, however, the story becomes more focused on action and this, as so often on audio, doesn't work so well. It's often difficult to work out what's happening from bystander's descriptions or sound effects alone, and this applies to scenes of people trapped by the tide as much as the fight scenes with the monsters. Plus, the young lovers who find themselves caught up in it all turn out to be really quite annoying, constantly whimpering about how useless they are - which, may, perhaps, be intended to showcase Leela's heroism (and she is pretty good in this) but does wear thin after a while.

A minor point that I suspect most others won't have noticed is the use of words that didn't actually exist at the time - “dinosaur” is an example, having been coined in 1841. On the other hand, one could argue that it makes it easier for modern audiences to understand, in much the same way that we don't expect 16th-century stories to be written entirely in Shakespearean English. But there are surely ways around that.