June 11

Timeless: Season 1

Hey Guys,

welcome to my thoughts about Timeless the first season. I haven’t watched it at first because Time Travel stories most of the time disappoint me. Doctor Who is one of the very little that I really enjoyed without thinking that it just doesn’t make any sense. Which is here a problem too. Later more to it. Timeless has so far two seasons and it doesn’t look good for the third season. For people who don’t like ending series with an OPEN end than stop here. Season two ends on a massive cliffhanger. But now to the series itself.

The Team

This is the reason I stayed with the series. First things first. Mason Industries developed a working Time Machine. This Time Machine got stolen be a man called Garcia Flynn. This man has a diary from the main characters Lucy – the Lucy from the future. So to stop Flynn Homeland security choose a team to follow the time machine into the past with the ‘Life Boat’ the first version of the time machine.
Agent Christopher who leads this mission. Three people can travel in the life boat. So they need a pilot. That would be Rufus, who already worked for Mason Industries and helped building the time machine. Than there would be a soldier Wyatt. His job would be to kill Flynn. The last person would be a historian – in this Lucy.

Working together

At first Rufus is really insecure about all of this. He is not a big fan of the time traveling for good reasons. He is black and there is not much time that is actually nice for him. The good thing about this series is that it actually showed that the times are bad for black people. Wyatt is the typical soldier type in this shows. He doesn’t care much about history. He is the one I can identify the most. Because he can’t just stand by and watch people die. Even when history already was written. Lucy is the one that is trying to don’t change anything. She believes that history has to be protected the way it was.
The team plays them in your heart very fast. This relationship between this three are amazing and I love them.

Changing History

I love history. There is not much good in the history of the countries.Slavery, mass murder to just name a few. But the different culture devolving. The people who stood up and fought for their believes. Is amazing and should be remembered. I personally know little to nothing of the american history. But that makes this series even more interesting for me.
What I dislike about the series is how they ran around changes things. Of course they show you that it has consequences. But people not even know it. The future changes so much all the time in the series… that is why I hate this stuff.
But I like the thoughts of the team. How they questioned letting things happen. Like save Lincoln and kill Werner von Braun for example.

Watching or not

If Timeless ends like that it is really bad but the series is still good. I really like the dynamic between the team and the big mystery is not getting answered but still I would watch it. It is just fun.

June 7

DW: The Stones of Venice

Hey Guys,

welcome to the 18 adventure of the Big Finish Main Range ‘The Stones of Venice’. The Eighth Doctor and Charley travel to Venice in the year 2294. There lays a curse over Venice and it’s people who actually is coming to his end.

The Tragic Love Story

This story is about a pair that loved each other until her husband lost her in a game. She curses him to live a long life to regret everything and in the end Venice will be sink under the water for ever. I am not a big fan of such stories. Why do you all the people die with this idiot? Why does the curse include innocent people. All of this just because of a broken heart…
It is so overdramatic. Not the story itself but the people in it and I just not like this kind.

Just enjoy

I really love the eighth Doctor and Charley. She is amazing and I love that she sees the beauty even when it is dying. The dynamic between them is great and it is always fun to listen to them. Like most of the adventure Charley has a lot of possibilities to shine on their own.

Listing or not

The story is definitely not my favorite. It is not a bad story. It is just that there are so much better once out there. I must say that many of the first adventures of the eighth Doctor and Charley are missing this special thing. I don’t know what. But the thing that makes a good story to an amazing story. It is Charley and the Doctor so yeah it is still fun to listen to it. But you don’t need to.

May 31

DW: Sword of Orion

Hey Guys,

welcome to the 17 adventure of Big Finish Main Range ‘Sword of Orion’. It is a story with the eighth Doctor and Charley. They met the cybermen in the year 2503 in the Garazone System. It is long after the Cyber War but in the Orion War. I think many can already thing how the story plays from here.

Orion War

The Orion War is a war in the late 25th and the early 26th century. It takes place between androids and humans. This got also explained in the story itself. The human race is always on a war.

Surprise, Surprise

The Cybermen are not dead. The Doctor and Charley strand on an old cybermen factory. A ship and their crew trying to get everything that makes money from the factory. The new captain is fishy from the start. The story is not really surprising at all. The characters are kinda dull. One of the crew got killed and they blame the murder on the Doctor. What totally make no sense at all. But all of the characters doesn’t make much sense. I also have problems to follow who is who in this story.

Listing or not

Okay truth be told this one of the very little adventure were I thought I really didn’t need to hear it. It is not sooo bad. But the story is a little boring and the characters are all so annoying. Of course Charley and the Doctor are great but that is here not enough.

May 24

DW: Storm Warning

Hey Guys,

welcome to the 16th big finish main range Storm Warning. It is the first adventure in the main range with the eighth Doctor and he also meets his new companion Charley Pollard. The story takes place on the 5th October 1930 over France on the R101. This story takes a bit of real earth history and tells us a story of what could be the reason that leads to that.

Storway

Charlotte Pollard is a storway on the R101. She wants adventure and see new places. The first impression you have on her is that she is a very kind person who does things and mostlikely before thinking. SHe is reacting and I like her (maybe because I already know her from the later adventueres). On the R101 she meets the Doctor who really fast find out that he is in a place that is doomed.

So many things I love

This story as alot I love. There is of course the eighth Doctor, who is at fault that I became adiccted to Big Finish. I also like Charley and the Doctor. Also I already knew who the travels of these two end and know to see how they start is interessting. Also I love the stories with historical background. Give me more with this.
So there are alot of reason to listen to this adventure. The story itself is good. There is something mysterious going on this ship. Changes in the buildings plans, a mysterious passenger that is on no list and nobody has seen and a mission to forfill.

May 17

DW: The Spectre of Lanyon moor

Hey Guys,

welcome to a great adventure of Big Finish Main Range ‘The Spectre of Lanyon Moor’ with the Brigadier. I love him and I just need so much adventures with him. Also you could bring back Sergent Benton. But back to the topic at hand here. The Brig meets the sixth Doctor and Evelyn. obviously the story takes place on earth – to be precise in Lanyon moor in Cornwall. Since Evelyn calls a friend it has to be her time and it also plays ‘a few years’ after his retirement – so it has to be somewhere in the 2000.

Just a short notice I read

It seems that here we have a situation – which is not addressed in the adventure. The Brig must have met the sixth Doctor already. He meets him for the first time in Business Unusual (Book from the Past Doctor Adventures) in 1989. So since my source says that the sixth Doctor has to met Evelyn before Mel with who he travels in 1989 it has to be his first time meeting the Brig, when the Brig already had met him.

A mysterious murder and goblins

A mysterious death bring the Brig – who works sometime for UNIT in his free time (love that guy) – undercover to Lanyon moor. As the coincidence wants the Doctor and Evelyn are landing here to. It is almost always fun when the Doctor and the Brig meet.
This story is like always a good mix between mystery and funny. Just like I love it the most. Everything from everything.

Respect

I love that we actually see the Doctor collect information. He sent Evelyn to inform herself about the local history. This also means that Evelyn is doing a lot of stuff on her own in this adventure and she is definitely not a damsel in distress. She has a lot of action going on.
She kicks asses but also can faint after she witnessed something horrible. But also stand up so she can try to prevent it ever happen again.
That means also that the Brig and the Doctor are working together again. The friendship and respect between each other is one of my favorite thing.
In this story the Brig is actually voicing some of his opinions about the Doctor to someone else. I love to hear him talk like this and that he takes the Doctor really serious.

Listing or not

definitely go and listen to this adventure. Evelyn is a really amazing and strong character. It is always fun to listen to her. Also we got a lot Brig and Doctor friendship what is a really good reason to listing to it. The story is good. Nothing spectacular but good. A good old mystery about a murder goblin?!

May 15

DW: Shadows of Avalon

Hey Guys,

welcome to ‘The Shadows of Avalon’ Volume 31 of the book series ‘Eighth Doctor Adventures‘. Quite obviously it has the eighth Doctor in it and his to Companions Compassion and Fitz. The reason I bought this book is that they meet in the adventure the Brigadier. You all know I love the Brig. I doesn’t know much about Compassion which would maybe helped with understanding this book. For people how doesn’t know what is going on I don’t want to spoil it but the story also a story about Compassion. So it is helpful to actually know her.

Compassion – short look at her

Compassion was first seen in the book ‘Interference – Book One’, which is the 25 volume of the ‘Eighth Doctor Adventures‘. All the information given know are just what I read about her. So it could be that there are mistakes in here. She was at some point Laura Tobin. She was one of the survivors of her home planet that was destroyed. Faction Paradox transported her to earth. But the ship need a few years more than human lifespan has. So the passengers were remembered by using biomass in remembrance tanks. It seems that Compassion is the result. Earth signals changed her so much that she started traveling with the Doctor.
When we met Compassion in this book, she waits for the Doctor to arrive. The Doctor send her to live on earth to become more human. So this is where the story starts.

Gateway

Avalon is a dream world dreamt from King Constantine. But something bad is going on in this world. A gateway opens between this world and earth. The military stumbled upon it and the Brig is investigating. The Brig is in a very bad place in this adventure. He lost his life Doris and is searching for death. As much as I hate seen the Brig in such a state, the travel he goes through in this book is kinda amazing. I am just not happy with the end of the book about this problem.
So back to the problem at hand. The humans and Fair Folk are at war and two mysterious people are meddling with the two folks.

A construct of Magic, War and Politics

This whole book is just a big conspiracy. You try to find out what these two ‘people’ are up too. The Doctor is trying to find out what is going on and leaves the Brig. The Brig totally lost in his grief is bringing the military to help the Humans and send all of them into war – into death. I don’t like the whole parts of the war. I am not a fan of war stories. Compassion and Fitz are away from the Doctor and also think that he is dead. So they got involved with the Fair Folk and send on a mission to close the gateway. A big part of the story are politics and religion stuff. And around that construct of War, Politics, Religion they spun a magical world with Dragons and other magic.

Live in the Dark

The book is rather dark. It is war and the Brig is grieving. Compassion and Fitz are grieving the Doctor and feel not secure. So there is really nothing positive going on in this story. There is little hope in the people. The whole story is set in dark palace. There is no laughter or happy moments. When we get a really small moment of happiness than the grief of the Brig is making this moment painful again. So it is light lecture.

The longest I read on a book

I think I read this whole book over a whole year… a year! For my liking it was too much war and politics and the whole atmosphere to depressing. Since I didn’t know much about Compassion and Fitz is also kinda difficult to relate to, when you know so little about him. In the epilogue I actually really gets him. Maybe a little late. The only thing I really found interesting was the journey of my Brig.
So if you like politics and war and Avalon. If you like to read books with a depressing atmosphere than you are here right. Maybe when you know the characters better the story would be better. I don’t know.

May 10

DW: The Marian Conspiracy

Hey Guys,

welcome to the first adventure with Evelyn Smythe in the 6th big finish main range adventure The Marian Conspiracy. Evelyn is the first companion on audio created by Big Finish. She is quite lovely. She travels with the sixth Doctor and I listened to a few adventure of her already. I read that her history or better time line is quite complicated. I haven’t notice such thing yet, but didn’t listen to many stories with her yet. The story takes place in London 1555 a month after the Wyatt Uprising and is one of the stories with a history setting. I love this stories.

Evelyn Smythe

The year she is living is not been given. But she is out of the ‘present’ time so my sources has put her first meeting with the Doctor at the 2000. When they met she is giving a lecture of Tudor History. She is like my sources put ‘nearer to the end of her career than the beginning’. Evelyn is a strong woman who has very strong opinions. What I love about her is that she is very similar to the Doctor. She likes to tell what knows about stuff and she doesn’t take any shit. She challenged the Doctor from the first moment. They not always have the same opinion what makes they travels so exciting.

You must be the Nexus point

The Doctor searches for a temporize Nexus point which seems to be Evelyn Smythe. It seems that Evelyns history is going to change. So the Doctor of course tries to find out what is going. Evelyn is talking about one of her ancestors that the Doctor don’t heart of. So he travels to London 1555 and see him for himself. Evelyn invites herself to accompany him. They land like I state above a moth after the Wyatt Uprising, which means that Mary was still Queen.
The goes to talk to the Queen and has a very interesting talk with the her. About what she plans on doing and why she is doing it. The Doctor even seem similar between them.
Evelyn is on her own and stables in a conspiracy against Mary to put Elizabeth on the throne.

Listen or not

I love this story. First of all I love the history adventures. They are amazing and with this Doctor and Evelyn it is even more fan. Evelyn is really a great character. The most I like the different points of view from the Doctor and Evelyn. The both have strong opinions but mostly not the same. It makes it interesting. Evelyn is not a fan of Queen Mary. She things that Elizabeth is one of the strongest female leader. Were the Doctor sees himself in Mary. That makes a really amazing adventure.

April 26

Torchwood – The Death of Captain Jack

Hey Guys,

welcome back to the fourth season of Big Finish Torchwood and the first adventure ‘The Death of Captain Jack’. It is a story with Jack Harkness and John Hart. I had really high expectations because John Hart. I love this character and the episode are always fun. So this adventure could also be named ‘The many times John and Jack had sex’.

Dynamic

The important thing when John Hart was in an episode of the dynamic between him and Jack. This love/hate relationship. The friendship and the jealousy between them. They just cant without each other and definitely can’t with each other. This was what Big Finish got across perfectly. They are so similar in many ways and so different in other ways. This dynamic between when you never know if the will save or kill each other. That is so amazing about the John Hart character you never knew which side he will choose – except his own.

Changing History

The Story is about the relationship between John and Jack – what makes it really amazing himself. But it is also a story about John taking things, changing things in History. He is breaking all the rules of time traveling. He is marrying the queen and that are just a few of the changes he makes. Almost everyone has a short role in this. I doesn’t want to say more because you need to listen to this story.

Listing or not

Definitely listing to it! It is a great story. It doesn’t count to the best story and will not make it to my favorite list but it is still amazing. Also it brings John Hart back what is amazing on his own. I missed John Hart. It is a great start in a really great season. Because there are amazing team ups already planned. I can’t wait for the next one with Owen Harper and Ianto Jones.

April 19

DW: 1963: The Assassination Games

Hey Guys,

welcome to the third part ‘The Assassination Games’ of the 1963 adventure that are celebration of the 50th anniversary of Doctor Who in the main range. The story is playing in 1963 in London. The seventh Doctor and Ace are going undercover. Also ‘The Assassination Games’ features the group Counter-Measures. The first appearance of the group was in the episode ‘Remembrance of the Daleks’ from the 25th season of the Doctor Who TV Series.

Not much Doctor

The first two episodes have not much of the Doctor and Ace in it. We mostly hear the story from the sight of Captain Gilmore the chef of Counter-Measures, which still trying to find founders for the group. The Doctor is undercover as an independent MP on a platform of nuclear disarmament and Ace as a maid in a wealthy family. Where she met Rachel the other part of the Counter-Measures or better an Ex-Counter-Measures Member.

Conspiracy

Ace and Rachel sadly doesn’t have such a big part. The most story we follow Gilmore and the Doctor, which try to find out what is behind the assassination. There are a lot of things that don’t at up, this why the good into it. There is a little time circle in it but itisn’t mentioned any further. I always like to think about how this circles start or end. The Doctor and Ace find a book writen by Captain Gilmore about the events in 1963.
I doesn’t want to tell more about it. The group the Doctor encounters here as an enemy is featured in others stories. So we will see more about them.

Listen or not

Like I said at the start ‘The Assassination Game’ is third part of the ‘1963 audio serie’. It can be that the other two stories (Fanfare for the Common man with the fifth Doctor and Nyssa; The Space Race with the sixth Doctor and Peri) are in some way connected to this story. I questioned all my source but it seems that they are only connected by the year they play in. So it should okay to just listen to this story.

But back the question. It is a story where Ace is traveling alone with the Doctor and she is a character I never got a real grip on. When she starts traveling with the Doctor and Hex I got a better access to her character.
I also wasn’t a fan the group Counter-Measures in ‘Remembrance of the Daleks’. The character I start liking is Rachel.

So yeah the story is good. But it is not mine. This isn’t a story I can get lost in. So I really didn’t need it but if you like Counter-Measures or Ace than this is good story for you.

April 12

DW: Landbound

Hey Guys,

welcome to the Short Trip Landbound. It is a story in the 7th season of the Short Trips that Big Finish produced as special free release. The story has two parts. The first part plays directly after the episode ‘Doctor Who and the Silurians’ of the 7th season of Doctor Who. It doesn’t deal with what happened in the episode like on of my favorite stories does (CC: Old Soldier). The second part plays after the episode ‘Green Death’ of the 10th season. So the Doctor has no Companion with him in both parts.

Meeting related soul

Like I said before the story is not about what happened the Silurians. But it still happens directly after it. The Doctor is so angry with the Brig and just drives away. This is where the story starts the Doctor meets here a related soul. After he helped in an unsightly situation he get an invitation for a drink. That is what happens they just start talking about their stories. About losing their way to travel to see the world. They both are souls that need to move all the time and both lost what they loved.

Dealing with exil

We all know that the exile was really painful for the Doctor. The way he can’t move, bound the land. For me it is like this man is helping the Doctor do deal with this situation. When in the second the Doctor tries to help him. The story is about not giving up, to fight for what love.

Listing or not

First of all of course go listen to it because it is for free. Second it is a good story. I am not a big fan of third Doctor. He things so highly of himself. But I love the exile stuff and the UNIT family. So the story with just the third doctor has it harder than other stories to excite me. But it is good story and I like the Doctor in it.
Yeah it never be favorite story because Rise and Fall is just so amazing.