Doctor Who: The War Doctor Begins: Enemy Mine is another compelling audio play boxset with Jonathon Carley continuing his performance as the War Doctor, which was originated by the late John Hurt. Helen Goldwyn served as director for this collection of three episodes. Also, Paul McGann, the Eighth Doctor, is included in the cast.

Ajjaz Awad continues in the role of the cybernetic hybrid known as Case who has been weaponized by both the Time Lords and the Daleks. Nicholas Briggs continues his role as all sorts of malevolent, scheming Daleks. Adele Anderson, Tiegan Byrn, Beth Chalmers, Louise Faulkner, David Monteith, and Becky Wright complete the talented cast.

Case herself has written the first episode entitled The Hybrid’s Choice. Case is in the custody of the Daleks and is encouraged to embrace that side of her nature. The Daleks now have a therapist for her. The War Doctor had thought she had died, but he soon learns the truth and tries to regain his former companion before she unleashes the full capacity of her weapons on the Time Lords.

It’s an interesting idea which stretches the Daleks’ capability for deception and manipulation. Awad gives an impressive performance. Carley continues to perfect his vocal impression of John Hurt. He also gives a compelling performance and continues to develop this hidden version of the Doctor, although we are not supposed to call him that anymore. It’s a great start to this little series.

Fear Nothing by Mark Wright continues the Time War. The War Doctor is recruited to captain a TARDIS dreadnought. Case is sent by the Daleks to assassinate a Time Lord asset. They are about to clash, and the War Doctor is as dangerous as he has ever been.

Wright has contributed to Doctor Who for many years, and this episode indicates that he should continue to add his talents to the mix. The War Doctor is finding himself in ever evolving alliances with his fellow Time Lords, who do not always trust this version of the renegade who is much more willing to engage in battle. The War Doctor also shows a complexity in that he wants so much to have a relationship like his previous selves did with their companions.

This is another strong entry into the set. Both the leads are engaging, and Case’s plight and emotional journey is fascinating to hear.

Finally, Matt Fitton closes out this set with Exit Strategy. The Dalek Time Strategist wants to have Case readjusted, and the War Doctor wants to rescue her even though the Time Lords want a more permanent resolution. Case gets to indulge in a fantasy in which she can interact with her other self before the enhancements that turned her into the Daleks’ most dangerous weapon. The War Doctor turns to another version of himself who has yet to become the Time Lords’ most effective warrior.

The conclusion to this set is quite thrilling a little heart-breaking. It’s always good to spend a little time with Paul McGann as the Eighth Doctor. He has to help his future incarnation with extricating Case from the Daleks.

All three of the stories here are very engaging. The development of the character known as Case was fascinating. Carley does a bit more than impersonate Hurt’s peculiar voice and delivery and gives a powerful performance.

I was not sure I would enjoy this range as much since I was hesitant to deal with a version of the Doctor that was not known of until the fiftieth anniversary episode.

The War Doctor is done beginning, but he is soon to start rising.

Doctor Who: The Eleventh Doctor Chronicles Volume 5: Everywhere and Anywhere is a recent audio boxset from Big Finish Productions with Jacob Dudman reprising his role of the Eleventh Doctor with his uncanny impression of Matt Smith. Safiyya Ingar continues in her role as cyborg companion Valerie Lockwood.

In this set, Nicholas Briggs is back behind the mic as the voice of the Cybermen.

Other guest cast members include Maddison Bulleyment, Sean Connelly, Edward Harrison, Jack Myers, and Brad Shaw.

This collection was directed by Helen Goldwyn, which is often a good choice.

There are three stories featuring the Eleventh Doctor and Valerie Lockwood, and they are pretty solid.

The first story is basically a Christmas story, done Doctor Who style written by Georgia Cook. Spirit of the Season concerns a child who says her name is Clara, and she wants to kill the Doctor and Valerie. They are trapped in a strange house with other people, including Valerie’s strangely resurrected mother, played by Mandi Symonds.

It’s a pretty good start to this collection. Becky Wright plays the malevolent alien claiming the name Clara and is appropriately wicked.

All’s Fair, written by Max Kashevsky, has Valerie on a first date in Chicago during the World’s Fair 1893. A man turns up claiming to be Valerie’s husband, and the TARDIS team find out how merciless Time can be. Valerie is destined to die in this time period, but she has to defeat the monsters stalking the streets of Chicago and ruining her date.

It was an interesting story and well performed. I am not all that familiar with this particular writer, but I thought he presented a decent script. Some of the action scenes were hard to interpret by audio, but that’s not unusual for this medium.

Sins of the Flesh, written by Alfie Shaw, brings this collection to a close. In a society that is trying to eradicate sinful behaviors, they have turned to something called Redemption Suits. The Doctor recognizes this as taking a step into conversion into a Cyberman. He and Valerie are trying to prevent a colony for paying a terrible price in their efforts to remove temptations of the flesh.

I tend to enjoy a good Cyberman story, and this one qualifies. It gets a little preachy though, which is distracting at times, but Shaw still sparks the imagination when he depicts of the horror of cyber-conversion. Briggs hasn’t lost his touch in bringing voice to one of the more iconic Doctor Who adversaries.

Dudman continues to shine in his impression of Matt Smith’s interpretation of the meandering Time Lord. Valerie is a somewhat intriguing companion, and Ingar does well on some of the more emotional moments in this story and the previous ones in this collection.

This is a pretty solid trilogy for the most part. Valerie is a creation of Big Finish and as usual an intriguing addition to the crew. Dudman is a gifted impressionist and does well in representing the Eleventh Doctor era.

It’s an enjoyable release but not really a remarkable one. It’s good enough for me to continue collecting in this range though.

Sightseeing in Space is a volume containing two mediocre Doctor Who novellas written by David Bailey and Steve Lyons.

To be fair, I think the target audience for this release is significantly younger than me, but I couldn’t help still being a bit disappointed.

The first story is entitled Terminal of Despair written by the usually reliable Steve Lyons. He has been writing Doctor Who fiction for many years for several ranges in print.

The Doctor and his companions, Amy and Rory, arrive on a spaceport in which would-be passengers have been quarantined for several months by strange creatures which feed on hope. These creatures resemble three-legged bulldogs that have some tentacle that protrude from their mouths to latch on a victim’s neck and drains any sense of hope from them.

The alien species dubbed Desponds is new, but I had some trouble visualizing these things. Also, there was no real clear opponent in charge of this chaos. Lyons does a decent job of capturing the Eleventh Doctor’s mannerisms for the most part.

I had some trouble maintaining any real interest in the side characters. Also, no one died, which I guess is an indicator that the youth were the intended audience.

I remember looking forward to a Lyons novel and usually appreciating his imagination, so I had high hopes for his contribution here. Sadly, my hopes were unrealized. The story was not terrible, but there was not much of an impression left.

The second story, David Bailey’s The Web in Space, is a slightly better. The Doctor, Amy, and Rory become trapped in a spaceship which is being attacked by scavengers. It also becomes trapped in a giant web in space where a massive spider awaits to feed. A maniacal robot has its eyes set on access to the TARDIS. The Doctor has a lot of threats to resolve before he and his friends can be on their way.

I enjoyed this story more, but there are still better contributions to Doctor Who literature. Bailey is a competent writer, but there is nothing that really stands out about his writing style.

At least it was some Doctor Who I had not read before. The volume is another that is not a complete waste of time, but it does not leave much of a lasting impression.

Next up, I am revisiting a reliable and favorite thriller writer of mine. Alex Delaware and Milo Sturgis being investigating a curious double murder at a poolside in Jonathan Kellerman’s The Ghost Orchid.