Doctor Who reviews: Books and Audios
May. 10th, 2025 08:48 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
beccaelizabethI have been finishing things and then going on to the next thing without writing them up, which today bothered me enough to go fetch the stack back here and write about them.
Doctor Who: Origin Stories
Difficult to give a rating. I think I decided on 3.5/5 stars in the end. The stories vary a lot.
The one about Vastra was very good indeed and I would give it a 5 as a short stand alone.
Same for the one about Kate and her mother and relationship with her father. Covered a lot of significant stuff for the page count.
The rest suffer rather from having to tidy up before they go. They theoretically fit into canon before these people meet the Doctor, so many of them just use a quick memory wipe to tuck things away without consequence. It's technically canon compliant that way but it's the cheapest method. Well no, the ones that alter the timeline so it never no more happened are even cheaper. Can't be having with that aspect.
I think the Sophie Aldred Ace story worked well within the constraints, because like it says on the back of the book, a young girl discovers a love for explosives, and I would have read that without dropping anything specific to DW in it.
The stories all pick a specific emotional beat relevant to these young versions of the characters and do something interesting with that, like the power of words in the mouths of school bullies, getting lost on a field trip and reconnecting with a friend there, deciding to stay in school after exams you're not sure you'll pass, or missing your parent who has been gone for so long you're not quite sure you still remember them. I think the Katy Manning Jo story suffers a bit from trying to cover so much time at once but it is nice.
The stories with Davros and Missy are not nice. Ending on Missy seemed sort of mean? If they'd swapped the order of those two the book could end with hugs.
I also wasn't especially impressed with either story so if you are reading the stories next you could end with hugs and I feel not miss much.
Glad I read it, not sure I'm happy how much shelf space it will take vs how many pages of it I actually liked.
Doctor Who: The Legends of River Song
I gave this one 5/5. It was going to be 4.5 but when I asked myself what more I would want from River Song published fiction I didn't think of much so I gave it a 5.
It's five shorter stories in one book, and among the Doctor Who running around saving things it manages to hit some strong emotional bits. River and children, or River and predestination paradox. A character that believes they've got a hard deadline. More than one character not recognised as a person by others, just shaped to someone else's design. And where the last story leaves her is also mean, but in a way that underlines canon and how rough it was on her.
I love stories with River, she's such an interesting character, and this set were great.
Big Finish Audio: The Diary of River Song: The Orphan Quartet
Another 5/5
Having said I love River, I am a bit behind on listening to her Big Finish stories. I think to start with I didn't want to run out, and this is the last under this series name. But there's more now with a different name so still some to listen.
These stories had a lot about love and loss and being left behind, not just by the Doctor, but by family, mothers and their children, trying to balance letting go and feeling lost.
I'd have more detail to say if I'd written this right after I listened.
I don't remember much about the Excise Men. I feel like it did a clever plot about forgetting so this might be thematic on my part. It hit me in the feels the least, but it was good plot.
Harvest of the Krotons really worked. I remember loving everything with Jackie and River together. A friendship I would not have thought of but they work, and River has a perspective that's helpful for empty nest Jackie Tyler.
oh hey, free excerpt on Big Finish is this ep https://www.bigfinish.com/releases/v/the-diary-of-river-song-harvest-of-the-krotons-excerpt-2925
It seemed to strike a balance between having fun with gossip magazine characters and valuing Jackie's perspective. She's so distinctive for DW she goes great with a lot of characters now I think about it.
Dead Man Talking was powerful stuff, made more so because I didn't guess when it was set until it told me, and then a lot of things clicked like cold water. Strong story.
The Wife of River Song is an excellent story. I particularly liked when River had cause to remind herself what love really feels like, and as well as himself she mentioned Jack and Benny. I loved the audio with Jack so it's just sweet she has touchstones like that, even if it does function as Big Finish internal advertising. The story covered a lot of strong emotional ground, leaving and being left, not leaving and being called in like River calls the Doctor, lots of echoes and issues and feelings. I do recommend it. Trigger warning though, the Wife in the title does not treat River well, and she goes through a lot, even if a lot of it turns out to be implanted memories. People messing with her mind again is harsh, but that leads to the reminding herself bit that I liked.
UNIT Incursions
I listened to this one for the story The Power of River Song. There was not as much River Song in it as I was in the mood for, and I didn't feel like I knew the UNIT characters well enough to get any layers of meaning going.
Picking up the 8th box set in a series as your first listen will do that though.
I gave it 3.5 stars at the time, but it has some good ideas and I'd probably like it better if I was here for the main characters.
The last one I was going to review I can't right now remember if I reviewed it before, and the journal search isn't working for me at the minute. Also I don't think the bit where I fell asleep in the middle was the story's fault. So I'll leave it be. It's more fun telling about the good ones.
Many good ones exist and here are several.
Doctor Who: Origin Stories
Difficult to give a rating. I think I decided on 3.5/5 stars in the end. The stories vary a lot.
The one about Vastra was very good indeed and I would give it a 5 as a short stand alone.
Same for the one about Kate and her mother and relationship with her father. Covered a lot of significant stuff for the page count.
The rest suffer rather from having to tidy up before they go. They theoretically fit into canon before these people meet the Doctor, so many of them just use a quick memory wipe to tuck things away without consequence. It's technically canon compliant that way but it's the cheapest method. Well no, the ones that alter the timeline so it never no more happened are even cheaper. Can't be having with that aspect.
I think the Sophie Aldred Ace story worked well within the constraints, because like it says on the back of the book, a young girl discovers a love for explosives, and I would have read that without dropping anything specific to DW in it.
The stories all pick a specific emotional beat relevant to these young versions of the characters and do something interesting with that, like the power of words in the mouths of school bullies, getting lost on a field trip and reconnecting with a friend there, deciding to stay in school after exams you're not sure you'll pass, or missing your parent who has been gone for so long you're not quite sure you still remember them. I think the Katy Manning Jo story suffers a bit from trying to cover so much time at once but it is nice.
The stories with Davros and Missy are not nice. Ending on Missy seemed sort of mean? If they'd swapped the order of those two the book could end with hugs.
I also wasn't especially impressed with either story so if you are reading the stories next you could end with hugs and I feel not miss much.
Glad I read it, not sure I'm happy how much shelf space it will take vs how many pages of it I actually liked.
Doctor Who: The Legends of River Song
I gave this one 5/5. It was going to be 4.5 but when I asked myself what more I would want from River Song published fiction I didn't think of much so I gave it a 5.
It's five shorter stories in one book, and among the Doctor Who running around saving things it manages to hit some strong emotional bits. River and children, or River and predestination paradox. A character that believes they've got a hard deadline. More than one character not recognised as a person by others, just shaped to someone else's design. And where the last story leaves her is also mean, but in a way that underlines canon and how rough it was on her.
I love stories with River, she's such an interesting character, and this set were great.
Big Finish Audio: The Diary of River Song: The Orphan Quartet
Another 5/5
Having said I love River, I am a bit behind on listening to her Big Finish stories. I think to start with I didn't want to run out, and this is the last under this series name. But there's more now with a different name so still some to listen.
These stories had a lot about love and loss and being left behind, not just by the Doctor, but by family, mothers and their children, trying to balance letting go and feeling lost.
I'd have more detail to say if I'd written this right after I listened.
I don't remember much about the Excise Men. I feel like it did a clever plot about forgetting so this might be thematic on my part. It hit me in the feels the least, but it was good plot.
Harvest of the Krotons really worked. I remember loving everything with Jackie and River together. A friendship I would not have thought of but they work, and River has a perspective that's helpful for empty nest Jackie Tyler.
oh hey, free excerpt on Big Finish is this ep https://www.bigfinish.com/releases/v/the-diary-of-river-song-harvest-of-the-krotons-excerpt-2925
It seemed to strike a balance between having fun with gossip magazine characters and valuing Jackie's perspective. She's so distinctive for DW she goes great with a lot of characters now I think about it.
Dead Man Talking was powerful stuff, made more so because I didn't guess when it was set until it told me, and then a lot of things clicked like cold water. Strong story.
The Wife of River Song is an excellent story. I particularly liked when River had cause to remind herself what love really feels like, and as well as himself she mentioned Jack and Benny. I loved the audio with Jack so it's just sweet she has touchstones like that, even if it does function as Big Finish internal advertising. The story covered a lot of strong emotional ground, leaving and being left, not leaving and being called in like River calls the Doctor, lots of echoes and issues and feelings. I do recommend it. Trigger warning though, the Wife in the title does not treat River well, and she goes through a lot, even if a lot of it turns out to be implanted memories. People messing with her mind again is harsh, but that leads to the reminding herself bit that I liked.
UNIT Incursions
I listened to this one for the story The Power of River Song. There was not as much River Song in it as I was in the mood for, and I didn't feel like I knew the UNIT characters well enough to get any layers of meaning going.
Picking up the 8th box set in a series as your first listen will do that though.
I gave it 3.5 stars at the time, but it has some good ideas and I'd probably like it better if I was here for the main characters.
The last one I was going to review I can't right now remember if I reviewed it before, and the journal search isn't working for me at the minute. Also I don't think the bit where I fell asleep in the middle was the story's fault. So I'll leave it be. It's more fun telling about the good ones.
Many good ones exist and here are several.