Big Finish Doctor Who Companion Chronicles sale

Big Finish currently has an up to 50% sale on its Companion Chronicles series of Doctor Who audios. Many are available to buy only in download form now, but they are offered DRM-free, in MP3 and M4B formats that you can download to keep, as well as play in the Big Finish mobile app. The current sale runs through until 23:59 (UK time) on 5th May 2025.

The Companion Chronicles audios from Big Finish audios are reduced cast audio plays, told usually by a single main companion, with a small additional cast added on. This works surprisingly well, and they are IMHO one of the strongest series of audios that Big Finish ever produced. Each Companion Chronicles story is typically about an hour long.

Ones reduced in the sale that I would especially recommend are, focusing on the lower priced ones, all available as downloads for £1.99:

• Frostfire, set in Regency London, with 1st Doctor companion Vicki. One of my all time favourite Doctor Who stories ever.
• The Transit of Venus, an adventure for the original TARDIS crew, narrated by Ian.
• Find and Replace, with an older Jo Grant meeting the 3rd Doctor again. Plus bonus Iris Wildthyme. Phenomenally moving.
• The Magician's Oath, a story from 3rd Doctor companion Mike Yates, with surprising emotional heft.
• The Mahogany Murderers, that would form the template for a spinoff Big Finish audio series starring 4th Doctor friends Jago & Litefoot.
• Solitaire, 8th Doctor companion Charley Pollard meets the Celestial Toymaker. And the Doctor is a ventriloquist's dummy ...

There are other fantastic stories in the range. But for just £1.99 each I have no hesitation in recommending any of the ones above.

Televisual archaeology

Excavating deep into our DVD collection - it feels like a combination of vertical and horizontal archaeological stratigraphy! - clearing out 30-ish year old VHS tapes (yes really!) and in the process rediscovering some DVD things I forgot we had. Like American Gothic, the short-lived 1995 gothic/horror/fantasy series, that aired in the UK on Channel 4. Well that will be fun to rewatch!

New recovery plan for Dundee University

This has been announced today, aiming for a much lower cut in jobs - 300 full-time equivalent, rather than the 632 proposed last month. And managed via voluntary severance, rather than a mix of that plus compulsory redundancies. Savings will need to be made elsewhere too, and there is presumably going to be a hefty further financial injection from the Scottish Government and Scottish Funding Council. But it's better.

Dundee University was potentially going to crash into bankruptcy as soon as June. And the originally proposed recovery plan was taking a sledgehammer approach to the university, losing 1/5 of all academic jobs, as well as cutting courses and institutions, and gutting the staff needed to deliver a high quality education. This is better. It's a shame it's been so catastrophically managed though, both to get us into this mess (the previous Principal has an awful lot to answer for, as do other executive members, including current ones), and also after the financial disaster became clear in November. It has been a phenomenally stressful time for staff and students. The Scottish Government was also hands off for too long. But we are getting there. Fingers crossed.

I'm writing this as long-term honorary research staff at the university (for 15 years now), a double alumna, and married to a salaried staff member of 24 years standing.

Meow, scratch, purr, jump

Fellow cat lovers may want to check out "Marbles, D, and the Sinister Spotlight", an entry in this year's Spring Thing festival of interactive fiction games. This one is a traditional parser text adventure, where you play a cat, who has to help your person explore a mysterious theatre. You get extra points for doing cat like things. It's delightful. And very newbie friendly.