Doctor Who: Recorded Time and Other Stories

An anthology of four 30-minute stories featuring the 6th Doctor and Peri.

* Recorded Time - The Doctor visits the court of King Henry VIII in 1536, shortly before Anne Boleyn's arrest and subsequent execution. Somebody, it seems, is using a magic pen to literally rewrite history, and the result is an implausible tale that doesn't really make too much sense. Add this to some relatively poor acting from the guest actors, especially at the beginning, and this is easily the weakest story of the collection. 2 stars.

* Paradoxicide - Matriarchal aliens come to an abandoned planet in search of powerful weapons rumoured to be buried there. The core of the story, as its title indicates, revolves around a time paradox (although not a particularly strong one), as well as the mystery of what happened to the inhabitants of the planet. This part of it is reasonable enough, but some fairly implausible plot devices, most notably the way that the ship's computer works, bring it down. 3 stars.

* A Most Excellent Match - Peri is trapped inside a Jane Austen novel in a story that later brings in other 19th century English authors who are safely out of copyright. This sort of thing has been done in Doctor Who before, including by Big Finish themselves, although this is a decent example of the type. Despite the appearance of characters from the novels in question, it has little to do with the plot of any of them (and, indeed, isn't supposed to), so detailed knowledge of the genre isn't required. Fortunately, it lacks the implausibility of the first two stories in the anthology, and is a better piece for it. 4 stars.

* Question Marks - The Doctor and Peri wake up in what appears to be a spaceship, with no knowledge of who they are, or how they got there, and are soon joined by an equally amnesiac crew. This is a good mystery piece, as everyone tries to put together what happened, and where they actually are, and the tension mounts as the ship comes under threat. It's well suited to its 30-minute length, and ends the anthology on a high. 5 stars.

On average, that's 3.5 stars, which I feel obliged to round down because of the weakness of the first two stories, even if things get steadily better as it goes along.