Doctor Who: Forty Five

An anthology of four 30-minute stories released on the 45th anniversary of the TV show's launch. In much the same fashion as the earlier anthology 100, the stories are all linked by the number 45, although here it's rather more ham-fisted.

FALSE GODS: The Doctor visits an Egyptian archaeological dig and gets embroiled in a plot involving time travel. At one point our heroes are randomly attacked by a “creodont” (I assume it was intended to be a Hyaenodon, until somebody pointed out that they're 42, not 45, million years old). It feels cobbled together, but not too bad. (3/5)

ORDER OF SIMPLICITY: A mad scientist is trying to advance human knowledge, but is in danger of accidentally destroying all sentient life in the universe as a side-effect (don't you hate it when that happens?) It's a bit of a run-around with flat characters, and honestly, quite dull. (2/5)

CASUALTIES OF WAR: An alien artefact has been stolen in post-War London, leading the Doctor on a chase to find it. Unfortunately, the subplot about Ace's background fails dismally when the voice of the 3-year old child is so utterly unconvincing that I thought it was supposed to be an alien at first. (2/5)

THE WORD LORD: I can only assume that this was supposed to be a bit like The Mind Robber, being a somewhat surreal tale of an entity with power over words. It's also meant to link the first three, with the number 45 actually having some relevance for once, but it ends up being completely unbelievable. Considering how rubbish the villain is, the ending is worryingly left open. They've ignored such dangling plotlines before, and for once, I'm hoping they'll do so again... (2/5)

Overall, 2.25, which rounds to just 2 stars. A missable and disappointing attempt at an anniversary release.