vivdunstan

Onto another one, and this time one that's set in Ancient Greece, that sees Benny and Jason meet Socrates.

This feels like such a novel setting for the range, after a long run of futuristic (for us) scifi adventures. Benny and Jason used to have time rings that the Doctor gave them as wedding presents, though in this case I think they're using one or more time rings from the Braxiatel Collection. It's a shame these are not used more often. It's not even clear listening to this story why they've decided to use them this time, except it's on orders from Bev. And there's a strange cliffhanger at the end, which is also muddled. Though that's something that can happen a lot with this range, with confusing/under-written arc elements. Not least with the awkward split between the books/short stories and the audio adventures.

But that aside it's a refreshing and light-hearted adventure. Albeit with the threat of a devastating plague hanging over Athens ... Socrates is a superb quasi-companion for Benny, and there are lots of clever insights into Athenian society and democracy. It's particularly amusing when Benny dresses up as a man to go into the Assembly. And then Socrates dresses up as a woman ...

Jason's side plot works well, and it's just all round fun. I think this was maybe the first Benny audio that Scott Handcock wrote for Big Finish? If so it's a great start.

Another one featuring Tom Baker's Fourth Doctor and Louise Jameson's Leela. I laughed a lot at one early bit. Leela: "What is the name of this wet world Doctor?" The Doctor: "Well it's called Britain. Great Britain actually. But I think wet world is rather more apt."

Generally Benny audios are fairly family friendly. But there are some where they're absolutely not suitable for younger listeners. Scenes of torture (portrayed through audio) sometimes happen. And then there's this one, where the population of the Braxiatel Collection are overcome by an orgy of lust. Which is handled on audio much as you might expect. Though that aspect could have been far worse! They're also pushing the comedy factor in this story, with the pair ups happening. I first heard this audio many years ago, but it works better slotted into the ongoing continuity of the series. And it's surprising how enjoyable I found this story to be, given the content. It does make me want to read more of the Benny books and short stories though. In particular the short story collection Something Changed could have been helpful here. I do have it in print, though have barely managed to read any print for prolonged periods for a couple of decades now ...

But yes, surprisingly enjoyable, pretty disposable, and absolutely not essential. But an original take on the premise. And I was amused.

Belatedly finishing listening to this first boxset, pairing the Eleventh Doctor (played by Jacob Dudman) with companion Valarie (played by Safiyya Ingar). This pair's stories slot in between TV's "The Snowmen" and "The Bells of St John", with the Doctor looking for Clara, but ends up travelling for a while with future cyberneticist Valarie, who also has super human strength, being part cyborg.

This pairing is great, and I'm looking forward to listening to the rest of their stories. The Eleventh Doctor feels written true to form. And yes, well acted, and sounding close enough. Valarie is a confident and brave companion, much better written than many of Steven Moffat's female companions. It's also a surprisingly emotive series of stories, really moving at times.

On the downside these audio boxsets are extremely expensive from Big Finish, even in download only form. I picked up a lower cost CD bundle before one of the boxsets went out of print on CD. You do get 3 stories in each of these boxes, and there are 4 boxes for the Eleventh Doctor and Valarie arc. So there's a lot of storytelling. And it's very imaginative and well done. But it's still a hefty investment. At least on CD there is something that can be sold on after, or in our case donated to charity for them to make a bit of money. But I would thoroughly recommend them as superb examples of Doctor Who audios.

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.

On to my next audio, the first in the seventh series of Big Finish Benny audios. This story follows on from the upheaval of the previous one, before sending Jason off on a quest to rescue Benny who has vanished from time and space.

There are a lot of clever ideas in this audio. The aliens involved have a datascape virtual world that they inhabit. And they can also control time to go back in time. But I don't think I was in the right mood for this level of abstraction. It's also rather difficult to successfully achieve in audio alone.

The writing wasn't great. There were some particularly painful extended info dumps. Again very much the "tell not show" poor form of storytelling. And this wasn't even the huge back story elements of especially Benny but also to an extent Jason that the story relied on.

Stephen Fewell and Lisa Bowerman were acting their socks off as Jason and Benny though.

But ultimately not a great audio by a long chalk.

I do remember the next one is a fab story, so looking forward to that ...

20 years ago "Rose", the first episode of the relaunched Doctor Who, aired. This was the start of an opening series starring Christopher Eccleston as the Ninth Doctor and Billie Piper as his companion Rose. And what a return.

Though I felt that Christopher Eccleston sometimes seemed uncomfortable in the part, particularly the more humorous sections, Billie Piper was a revelation. I knew her before then as a pop singer, a pre Britney UK version of Britney Spears. And then wow, she could really act. And now is a multi award winning stage actress. There's no way that Doctor Who would have been such a hit on its return without her part in it.

The overall feeling from the first season for me was fun and vitality. Doctor Who was back with confidence and pizzazz, and it sure delivered. Albeit with often scares and even pathos. Losing the Ninth Doctor at the end of the season was a shock, but as a one-season run for that Doctor (before Big Finish made many audios more recently with Christopher Eccleston returning to the role) it was very strong, and remains so viewed today.

My favourite story from this opening series by a long way is the two-part "The Empty Child" / "The Doctor Dances". When this aired it even bumped 1979's "City of Death" from the all-time top spot for me. And it's retained that place in the two decades since. This story is a perfect mix of historical, terror, horror, humour and pathos. It was also the first time I'd seen Steven Moffat's writing (yes I missed the 1999 "The Curse of Fatal Death"!) and I was wowed.

The other absolute standout for me from this series is "Dalek" by Robert Shearman. Cleverly reworking a Big Finish audio, this relaunched Daleks for a new audience, all through presenting just one of them on screen.

And my other favourite story is "Rose". Which was a superb introduction for new viewers and old timers alike. Absolutely brimming with confidence.

I could write much more, but for now just want to say "Happy birthday New Who!" And yes, I will be watching my all-time favourite story again tonight.

Finally resuming my listening and reviewing of Benny audios from Big Finish's series!

Just as a reminder, Benny/Bernice was introduced as a companion of the Seventh Doctor in the early 1990s Doctor Who novels. She then spun off to have her own adventures, and Big Finish made a long-running series of audio adventures starring Benny, played by actress Lisa Bowerman. Benny, like the more recent River Song, is a professor of archaeology. The stories are set in a scifi universe full of Doctor Who lore and monsters. Benny is often sent to investigate an archaeological site or matter on other planets. But in the series she is largely based at the Braxiatel Collection, an archive of strange artefacts, run by the mysterious Irving Braxiatel.

My latest listen is another in the 6th season of Benny audios. In this one, Benny and her former husband / on-off lover Jason Kane go to investigate the status of a museum on a war torn planet.

This is another sometimes brutal audio to listen to, following The Kingdom of the Blind. Like that one this includes accounts of torture, though less directly, rather recounted later. But it's still a tough listen, and does capture the sense of a society in anarchy, with a complicated picture of right and wrong, and certainly not a clear-cut black and white image.

More worryingly the soundscape is chaotic and it can be difficult to follow what's going on. I don't think it was as coherent as it could have been. However there are extremely powerful musings on the role of museums in preserving and sharing culture, and also their potential misuse for propaganda and power reasons. Benny also faces some rather direct questions about the supposedly open nature of the institution she works for.

So it was ok, but not one I'll rush to listen to again. Though the repartee between Benny and Jason was strong. Old friends rather than lovers now, but with a comfortable relationship that sees them survive a dangerous mission.

Belatedly starting listening to the Eleventh Doctor and Valarie Doctor Who audios from Big Finish. Bit strange not having Matt Smith in the role, but Jacob Dudman sounds pretty good.

These have been on hold since Christmas, as I've just slept so much, and have been phenomenally wiped out as my neurological illness flares again. Then I had to focus my extremely limited awake time and energy on a time critical academic journal paper revise and resubmit. But I think I can restart these fun things next week. I enjoy doing them a lot. Initially I plan to alternate the two weekly, so a Benny audio listen and review one week, a Sherlock Holmes short story reread and review the next week, and repeat. With luck I may be able to switch both to a weekly rate again, but this initial alternating plan looks more sustainable for now. I will be resuming with the "The Adventure of the Stockbroker's Clerk" story from The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, and Bernice Summerfield Big Finish season 6 story number 3 The Lost Museum.