Lost Stories

Review: Doctor Who – Deathworld

Posted on by indiemacuser

Review by Cavan Gilbey

The Three Doctors is a beloved story from one of Pertwee’s most popular seasons, debatably one of the most popular seasons for the classic in general; it’s certainly one of mine. As much as I love Season 10, I had never really read any of the production history behind the season, so it was something of a surprise to discover this alternate take on that iconic first multi-Doctor story. Deathworld, originally penned by Bob Baker and Dave Martin and adapted for this new audio release by John Dorney. If you expected this to resemble to that original TV  serial then think again, because this is a very different beast. I’m not entirely sure if this the equivalent of fandom sacrilege but this is way more interesting than The Three Doctors for me, although it is so clearly un-filmable on the 70s era budget.

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Review: Doctor Who – Operation Werewolf

Posted on by indiemacuser

Review by Cavan Gilbey

It’s been a while since we’ve had a dedicated Second Doctor Lost Stories release, I’ve been waiting for one ever since Lords of the Red Planet came out. Sure we had the Early Adventures with brand new stories for this era,  but fans knew there was still plenty of untapped potential in those unmade script. One of the most popular amongst fans was Operation Werewolf, a pseudo-historical proposed by Douglas Camfield and Robert Kitts set in the tense period before D-Day and seeing the Doctor attempting to stop a sinister Nazi experiment which could change the course of history. It’s a narrative which I am surprised the show has never really done all that much, with some exceptions. But it was down to fan-favourite writer Jonathan Morris and the recent but reliable director David O’Mahony to bring this story to life over the span of six episodes. Did they succeed? Well this story is my favourite Second Doctor release from Big Finish so I feel that must account for something.

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Review: Doctor Who – Daleks! Genesis of Terror

Posted on by indiemacuser

Review by Cavan Gilbey

Genesis of the Daleks might just be the most beloved Classic Era story, it’s the one that has topped opinion polls and fan rankings. A classic tale of the origins of sci-fi’s most iconic villains, of nuclear holocausts and the persistence of fascism. Its nihilism is matched by a strong script from Nation and fully realised by Hinchcliffe and Holmes, some powerful performances from a central cast who clearly understand the gravity of the script. With a successful Target Novel and cutdown record version, this story has clearly stuck with fans for good reason. From a production side of things there wasn’t actually many changes, just a couple of aesthetic differences that don’t change the product we ended up with.
So considering all this, considering the production history and the accessibility of Genesis, why even bother releasing this?

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Doctor Who lost story ‘The Myth Makers’ getting Vinyl release

Posted on by indiemacuser

Demon Records/BBC presents the narrated TV soundtrack of a ‘lost’ four-part adventure The Myth Busters set in ancient Greece and starring William Hartnell as the First Doctor.

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Review: Doctor Who The Lost Stories – Return Of The Cybermen / The Doomsday Contract

Posted on by indiemacuser

Review by Jacob Licklider

When The Lost Stories was revived in 2019, listeners thought it could only be for a one-off run of two extra stories. Nobody really expected Big Finish Productions to announce the range to continue with more frequency than the occasional production, but only a few months later the announcement came that March 2021 would see the release of two stories featuring the Fourth Doctor, and last month a third release was announced from Russell T. Davies featuring the Sixth Doctor and Mel. The Sixth Doctor and Mel story may still be a long while off yet, but bringing Tom Baker back to The Lost Stories range is an excellent choice as he had only one release in the range: a box set featuring two stories, a six part story from Robert Banks Stewart and a four part adventure from Phillip Hinchcliffe. It is March 2021, nearly a year since the initial announcement, and Big Finish have made good on that release date. Return of the Cybermen and The Doomsday Contract have been released and the range is truly revived in a new form recovering previously abandoning Doctor Who scripts for a new audience to enjoy in a whole new way. Continue reading →

Review: Doctor Who Lost Stories – Nightmare Country / The Ultimate Evil

Posted on by indiemacuser

Review by Jacob Licklider

The Lost Stories range from Big Finish Productions had a four series run from 2009-2013, making a range of stories entirely out of television stories which for one reason or another never made it to the series. The range ended due to the amount of viable scripts drying up; with remaining stories being from creators who would not allow Big Finish to adapt them for one reason or another or stories which weren’t far enough along in development to facilitate a full adaptation. This year Big Finish have given the range a brief revival with two stories from the 1980s not produced during the original run for the former reason, featuring two distinct Doctors and two distinct feels to their stories.

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