[Doctor Who] audio dramas — intro 

There are a lot of Doctor Who audio dramas, and it's somewhat overwhelming to figure out where to start.

So I'm making a guide: averylychee.neocities.org/doct

It contains some advice, as well as a complete list of every audio drama, in a "Natural Listening Order".

As I listen through the audio dramas myself, I'll be providing a simple indication of which ones are really good and which ones aren't.

[Doctor Who] audio dramas — other threads 

(previous thread, detailing some stuff about the page I made (but not really anything about the dramas: computerfairi.es/@lizardsquid/ )

I'll be making updates less frequently in this thread as I do in my thread about the Classic TV show: computerfairi.es/@lizardsquid/

[Doctor Who] audio dramas 

The Genocide Machine is the first audio drama to be kinda disappointing – the first 3 parts are fine, but once the last part starts, you already know how it's going to end and you're just waiting for it to happen.

[Doctor Who] audio dramas 

I still need to track down copies of the old BBC radio dramas:

* Doctor Who and the Pescatons
* Exploration Earth
* Slipback
* The Paradise of Death
* The Ghosts of N-Space

I'm particularly interested to listen to the Pescatons, because the story was "unusual for its depiction of a genocide devised and led by Sarah and the Doctor, without either character displaying even a tinge of remorse."

[Doctor Who] audio dramas 

The BBC can't possibly be making a profit off any of these, can they? Why aren't they in the Public Domain, or on a collection disc?

[Doctor Who] audio dramas 

I've updated the webpage: it now has a button that hides the reviews, in case you want to just use my guide as a listening order and not have my opinions prejudice you.

averylychee.neocities.org/doct

[Doctor Who] audio dramas 

hmm, I started listening to one of the BBV not-really-cannon audio dramas, and it's quite good... maybe I *should* add the non-cannon ones to the guide...

[Doctor Who] audio dramas 

I've decided to follow the same rules as the tardis wiki:

tardis.wikia.com/wiki/T:CAN

So the unlicensed BBV audio dramas that feature The Professor (Sylvester Mccoy) and Ace (Sophie Aldred) won't be in the guide.

I'm mostly doing this because if I need to draw a line somewhere, otherwise where do I stop?

For example, should I put the Doctor Who Crossover Adventures (featuring Discworld and Xena characters) in the guide? crossovers.org/doctor-who/

I like them, but.... no

[Doctor Who] audio dramas 

...or, maybe I should?

now I don't know...

[Doctor Who] audio dramas 

I've noticed a trend in the early Big Finish dramas: the 5th Doctor Stories center around ghosts or spirits.

Phantasmagoria involved a ghost vacuuming people up in 1700s london.

The Land of the Dead involves First Nations beliefs about the spirts of the land causing ancient creatures to wake up from hibernation.

(Red Dawn wasn't about ghosts or spirits.)

Winter for the Adept features a poltergeist haunting a school.

[Doctor Who] audio dramas | Sale! 

Until the 7th of January, there's a sale on at big finish!

Go to bigfinish.com/offers/v/bigfini

and enter the code KRAMPUS, and it will give you access to a number of audio dramas for sale for much cheaper than usual.

I got
• Gallifrey Series 1
• Night of the Stormcrow (a 4th Doctor Bonus release)
• Trial of the Valeyard (a 6th Doctor Bonus release)
• The Beast of Kravenos (a 4th Doctor Adventure)
for only $13
(instead of the $42 it would have cost me otherwise)

[Doctor Who] audio dramas 

I've updated the guide so the Torchwood stuff makes more sense.

They started Torchwood dramas with episodes set at various times through out the TV show's chronology, and released them as "series 1" and "series 2"

But then they wanted to make a continuation of the show, "Torchwood Series 5"

So to make it less confusing, they rebranded the other Torchwood dramas as "Torchwood Monthly Range".

The TARDIS wiki is a bit confused about this, so I'll be fixing that next.

[Doctor Who] audio dramas 

I finished listening to The Beast of Kravenos – it's pretty good, but I'm not going to add a recommendation to my list yet.

Partly because it's part of Segment 214 (and I'm only up to Segment 3), but also because I want to see if my opinion changes after I watch The Talons of Weng-Chiang (The Beast of Kravenos features 2 characters from that story).

For future me: my current opinion is that it is worth listening to, but isn't highly recommended.

[Doctor Who] audio dramas 

a few things:

• I finished listening to Segment 3! I really enjoyed it. (Now to go back and listen to Segment 1)
• I've updated the guide so that instead of saying "No" on the dramas I didn't love, it says "Maybe" – because that's what I actually mean, and I should be clear about that. (The "no" was carried over from when I was also reviewing audiobooks, and the first one, "The Lair of the Zarbi Supremo", was garbage)

[Doctor Who] audio dramas 

I want to make the page easier to navigate, but I'm not really sure how – I can allow segments to be folded, but they'd reset after the page is reloaded. I also want to add a checklist, so that you can tick off a box next to the ones you've listened to, but I'm not sure how to do that*

*at least, with the way I've set up the guide – a previous version of the guide was automatically generated, and so the code for a checklist was simple.

[Doctor Who] audio dramas 

I could add a table of contents, but since there's 259 segments that would be a 259 line table of contents right at the beginning.

I'm really not sure what to do...

[Doctor Who] audio dramas | behind the scenes 

I've simplified a part of my source file, so now instead of each segment being a big multi-line thing with a bunch of html, it's just a single line:

[Doctor Who] audio dramas | behind the scenes 

This also will make it much easier to implement things like next/previous buttons, without having to manually put them in

[Doctor Who] audio dramas 

I'm listening to Doctor Who and the Pescatons.

This is really, really bad. It's confusing, it keeps switching tense between sentences (sometimes it's present tense, sometimes it's past tense), and the main plotline is basically "some aliens ask for the Doctor's help to resettle after their planet is destroyed, and he says no because... reasons?"

[Doctor Who] audio dramas 

in the scene I just listened to, the Doctor was captured, held prisoner, and then while imprisoned subjected to a mental battle.

...but then suddenly he just leaves???? He goes directly from "being captured" to "having escaped".

[Doctor Who] audio dramas 

Like, here's the actual thing word for word:

"we had been locked in mental battle, as the mighty zor had struggled to absorb my knowledge of the galactic universe and solar system.
However, my resistance was more than the pescaton leader had anticipated, and his mental pressure was no match for the special powers I had been gifted with.
I found my way back to the surface, and escaped from the evil that had almost engulfed me on the planet of pesca."

[Doctor Who] audio dramas 

The Doctor: But what if my plan didn't work? Hadn't Zor proved himself to be invincible and all powerful?

um... no? There was no proof of that.

Also, the Doctor keeps saying that the Pescatons are evil, which.... feels really out of character.

[Doctor Who] audio dramas 

also, Sarah Jane and the Doctor are simultaneously acting like they've been travelling together for ages AND like they've only barely met each other.

[Doctor Who] audio dramas 

alright, now that's finally finished…

my main question is... how did this happen? How did the writer (who had written for Doctor Who before) end up writing something that was so garbage?

How did the producers not notice that something was wrong?

How did Tom Baker narrate and perform this without going "hold on a minute, this doesn't feel right."

Doctor Who and the Pescatons is, almost certainly, the worst Doctor Who story I've had the displeasure of experiencing

[Doctor Who] audio dramas 

I've had to add a "don't listen" category to my guide, JUST for Doctor Who and the Pescatons.

I strongly suspect that it will be the only story on this page to get a "don't listen".

averylychee.neocities.org/doct

[Doctor Who] audio dramas | help wanted 

I'm still looking for the following BBC audio dramas:

• Slipback (1985)
• The Paradise of Death (1993)
• The Ghosts of N-Space (1996)

If anyone knows of a way to get them (even if it's "pirating"), I'd appreciate it.

(I'm also looking for a way to get the BBV audio dramas, but I suspect that's going to be much more difficult, especially since BBV no longer exists.)

[Doctor Who] audio dramas | help wanted 

(I should say that while I am willing to pay some amount, I'm not willing to pay very much – I've heard that Slipback is really bad, and I've heard nothing about the other two.)

Follow

[Doctor Who] audio dramas | thanks 

The Audio Dramas I was looking for are available on audible, which is something at least.

A friend gifted me a copy, so I'll be listening to them shortly...

[Doctor Who] audio dramas 

I listed to the first episode of slipback – it's not amazing, but it's so much better than Doctor Who and the Pescatons... if only because it is internally consistent... and doesn't have terrible grammar... and has good performances... and is augmented by background music...

[Doctor Who] audio dramas 

2 episodes in, and I actually don't know why it got such negative reviews... it doesn't really feel like Doctor Who, but it's not as horrible as I was lead to believe

[Doctor Who] audio dramas 

I finished slipback. It basically answered the question "What if Doctor Who was written in the style of Hitchiker's Guide?"

The answer to that is "it would feel anticlimactic and not actually be that funny"

[Doctor Who] audio dramas | behind the scenes 

ok, I made a table of contents.

And I'm convinced it's completely useless – in order to use it at all, you need to know what you're already looking for, and then read through a list of 259 different segments. It would be easier to just search the page.

[Doctor Who] audio dramas | money, decision 

Coming up soon is Bernice Summerfield Series 1, and I want to know if Bernice Summerfield is the kind of thing I want to listen to. So I have 2 options:

Option A – buy Series 1
Option B – buy "Bernice Summerfield – The Story So Far", which is intended to be a good introduction to the range.

(continued...)

[Doctor Who] audio dramas | money, decision 

It makes more sense to get The Story So Far (especially since I have that advice in my guide) but:

Series 1 is 6 stories (2 hours each) for $50
The Story so far is 3 stories (1 hour each) for $20

Now, obviously $20 will be better if I don't like the series. But if I *do* like the series, $50 for 12 hours is way better value than $20 for 3 hours.

[Doctor Who] audio dramas | money, decision 

(oh yeah, and the $50 price for series 1 is for the CDs, including delivery, whereas The Story So Far is a download.)

[Doctor Who] audio dramas 

The page is now significantly updated!

It's prettier, it's been proofread, and it has easy navigation between segments!

averylychee.neocities.org/doct

(I also listened to The Paradise of Death, which was good)

[Doctor Who] audio dramas 

I've now ordered Bernice Summerfield Series 1... hopefully I enjoy it

[Doctor Who] audio dramas | ghosts, afterlife 

Listening to The Ghosts of N-Space... it's weird to have a Doctor Who story that explicitly states that there is an afterlife, and that ghosts really are dead people coming back to try and fix what went wrong.

[Doctor Who] audio dramas | ghosts, afterlife 

it gets "worse" – one of the characters has an alchemical formula for the elixir of eternal life, and it works!

Now in Doctor Who, this generally has some kind of sci-fi explanation. But in this, the explanation is basically just "alchemy works, actually", which is really unsatisfying*.

The Ghosts of N-Space is a good story, and a good audio drama, but it doesn't really feel like Doctor Who.

[Doctor Who] audio dramas | ghosts, afterlife 

*the actual explanation given is that the formula allows someone to merge with their N-form.

Previously it was explained that N-forms are the forms people take after they die, and the forms that they use as they travel from real space through N-space to the afterlife.

[Doctor Who] audio dramas | ghosts, afterlife 

So in reality, the explanation for why the Elixir of Life is real is "the afterlife exists, but to get there you have to pass through N-space, and if you get stuck you become a ghost. This formula allows you to merge with your ghost, which means that you cannot die."

Which doesn't feel like a Sci-Fi explanation to me.

[Doctor Who] audio dramas | ✨ Update ✨ 

I just finished listening to Segment 1 (the BBC Radio Dramas)

Not the greatest segment., but still fairly enjoyable.

averylychee.neocities.org/doct

With this segment, the simplicity of my recommendations is fairly obvious to me – The Ghosts of N-Space is much better than Slipback, but both get a "Maybe" rating.

Both of them aren't quite enjoyable enough to warrant a "yes".

[Doctor Who] audio dramas | Advice wanted 

so today I listened to an audio drama outside of my listening order – it was Trial of the Valeyard, which is from Segment 123 (I've currently only listened to Segments 1 and 3).

So, my question is this: do I review this now, and have this reviewed audio drama mixed in with all the unreviewed ones, or do I review it when I innevitably get around to it when listening in the "proper" order?

[Doctor Who] audio dramas | Advice wanted 

extra context: this is a standalone release, it's not in the middle of a series or anything

[Doctor Who] audio dramas | ghosts, afterlife 

I just realised another thing about "The Ghosts of N-Space" that makes me like it less.

In the audio drama, the Doctor introduces "N-space" (short for null-space) as the place between here and the afterlife. Now, aside from all the problems I have with that on its own, it ignores a much more salient problem: "N-space" was already a term in the Doctor Who Universe.

N-space refers to *this* universe, in contrast to E-space (an alternate universe).

[Doctor Who] audio dramas | ghosts, afterlife 

(E-space originally featured in the 4th Doctor stories Full Circle, State of Decay, and Warrior's Gate; and has since featured in a small number of audio dramas and novels. N-space has featured in almost every single piece of Doctor Who media, by mere virtue of being the "default" universe)

[Doctor Who] audio dramas 

Listened to "The Choice", which is one of the fan made spin-offs.

It... wasn't as good as I hoped. In several scenes, I was rather confused as to what was actually happenning, and the tone kept rapidly switching back and forth between "comical" and "intensely dark".

Show newer

[Doctor Who] audio dramas 

@lizardsquid
City of Death is same style but better (and actually script edited by Douglas Adams)

[Doctor Who] audio dramas 

@lizardsquid she's basically the prototype for River Song, so I'm hoping so

[Doctor Who] audio dramas 

@lizardsquid she's an archaeologist who dates multiple incarnations of the Doctor, and she has nice snarky chemistry with Seven

Is my understanding from fandom discourse; I haven't listened to many audioplays because they're expensive

[Doctor Who] audio dramas | ghosts, afterlife 

@lizardsquid
There are a lot of ways in which Doctor Who is space fantasy. Mostly that they almost never explain how things work.

[Doctor Who] audio dramas | ghosts, afterlife 

@DialMforMara yeah, but every other time there's been ghosts, there's been some other explanation (like aliens, or echoes from an alternate dimension), whereas this is literally just saying that ghosts are real. And that just makes a bunch of other episodes make no sense - why would the doctor assume that a ghost is actually something else, if they already know ghosts are real?

[Doctor Who] audio dramas | ghosts, afterlife 

@lizardsquid
Is this a Christmas panto serial? Weird stuff happens in those. Like galactic Eurovision, and space Top Gear, and the Doctor having to work with a con man who impersonates him.

[Doctor Who] audio dramas | ghosts, afterlife 

@DialMforMara nope, this is entirely serious. It has a similar vibe to The Daemons

[Doctor Who] audio dramas | Advice wanted 

@lizardsquid Maybe give a judgement now, and then you have something to come back to later?

Because 120 segments sounds like it might take you a good long while, maybe a year.

[Doctor Who] audio dramas | Advice wanted 

@lizardsquid (As in, reflect on it when you have processed the surrounding material too)

[Doctor Who] audio dramas | money, decision 

@lizardsquid So The Story So Far is a synopsis of half the stories? Or shorter edits?

But if I know you you'll want to have as full a grasp as possible for you recommendation thing, and I'm guessing if you liked TSSF you'd want Series on afterwards, making $70?

I don't know what your finances are like at the moment but it seems expensive to me either way... :/

(Also weren't you looking out for when a shop got some other Dr Who thing back in stock?)

[Doctor Who] audio dramas | money, decision 

@lizardsquid I suppose it depends on what you're trying to go for with it? Are you going to try and judge it?

I don't know, heck.

[Doctor Who] audio dramas | money, decision 

@BatElite oh sorry, that is unclear!

The Story So Far is a specially released collection of brand-new stories, that are set at various times throughout the history of the show. It's designed to help get newcomers into the show, without being overwhelmed by the 21 seasons that have already been released

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