Hmmm. It seems I’m having a difficult time starting this article off. I usually do, and after I finish the intro, the rest flows like a waterfall. Well, since the title mentions Doctor Who, I think I’ll talk about that. I love Doctor Who, although I’m sort of a late blooming fan. It all started back in either 2011 or 2012, when I decided I wanted to be a full-time geek, and expand my knowledge outside the realm of Star Wars. My only exposure to Doctor Who at the time was seeing pictures of Doctor Who toys in my dad’s issues of ToyFare magazine. I started recording reruns of old Tennant episodes, but my first official Doctor was Matt Smith’s Eleven. I got the Series 5 dvd for Christmas, and the first season I watched live was Series 7. Now, I watch every new episode that comes out. I’d like to call myself a HUGE fan, but frankly I know people who have way more knowledge on the subject who would disagree. Anyway, to stop my tangent, I got some Eighth Doctor audio-books for Christmas and now I wanna talk about them.
I had heard of Big Finish Audio-books for a while now, and I’m sure any Doctor Who fans reading have heard of them too. Big Finish creates high-quality audio adventures for almost every incarnation of the Doctor, including a personal favorite of mine, Paul McGann’s Eighth Doctor. For those who don’t know, Paul McGann only got to play the Doctor once, in the 1996 TV movie. Personally, I loved his portrayal, and was very excited to get more of him. So for Christmas this year I asked for two of the audio-books; “Blood of the Daleks, part 1 and 2”. As the title suggests, I’ll only be talking about part one today, with part two coming next week. So what do I have to say about these stories?
Honestly, not a whole lot. I planned on setting aside a few hours every day last week to listen between classes, but I actually finished Part One in a single sitting. The premise is simple: the Doctor and his sudden new companion, Lucy Miller, arrive on the planet Red Rocket Rising. Red Rocket Rising has been lost behind a large dust cloud for a while, but they just got a message from a mysterious people known as the Daleks. The Doctor of course, after finding out about the Daleks, tries to warn the people about the danger involved. There is also a subplot about his new companion Lucy Miller and how she mysteriously appeared on the TARDIS one day, but I feel like they are just teasing as build-up for Part Two. Overall, the story is alright. It sorta feels like that one generic episode every season of Who has, but it wasn’t too bad. I actually enjoyed many parts of the adventure, especially Paul McGann’s performance. He brought a much appreciated snark to the Doctor that I thoroughly enjoyed. However, and it may just be because my hearing sucks, I couldn’t really distinguish some of the other characters apart.
I have yet to listen to Part Two, but I’m honestly enjoying the story so far. Big Finish really did a good job keeping me interested enough to listen to another part. Next week, I’ll have listened to Part Two, and I’ll bring you my thoughts on that!
….endings are hard too.
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