Happy birthday Mr Baker

Can you believe that Tom Baker is 79! That’s amazing, completely amazing. I was just listening to him today, talking at the end of the latest Big Finish CD. He doesn’t sound 79 at all.

I hope he keeps on doing lots more audio stories.

The Android Invasion

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This is a great Tom Baker story, and one that I needed to add to my collection. It’s part of a two story boxed set called “The Unit Files” as both of the stories feature UNIT quiet heavily. Great stuff though.

I so enjoy these earlier stories. They take their time to unfold and get going and there is much more emphasis on the science fiction.

Well worth a watch if you get the chance.

The Key to Time: The Ribos Operation

After Mary Tamm’s untimely passing I thought I should watch all of these stories again, but for some reason I’ve been putting it off. Until now that is. I’ve just been watching this great story, Mary’s first. It’s excellent of course. A superb start to a huge story arc.

8th Doctor: The Witch from the Well

I listened to this a little while ago and was pleasantly surprised by what a great little story it was. I always enjoy stories where there are multiple simultaneous time zones involved. Although it invariably makes it a more complex to understand. But this was a good one. A great story with plenty going on and lots of pace too.

Thoroughly recommend it.

4th Doctor: The Sun Makers

Ok, by no means the greatest, but certainly a very credible story for the 4th Doctor, and with some very interesting dimensions to the story. There seems to be elements relating to tax, i.e. a corridor called P45 and the guards being the internal retinue, but also a lot of suggestions that the story was also about the BBC at the time and the bureaucratic nature of the organisation.

Whichever it is, or even if it is both I don’t mind really. It was a good story with some interesting ideas and of course a performance from Blake’s 7’s own Michael Keating which pre-dates his role as Vila.

I enjoyed it anyway.

Goodbye Mary

So sad to hear this morning that Mary Tamm has died aged 62. I don’t really have the right words for this sort of thing, it’s probably best to just say that I think I need to watch the entire Key to Time story again now.

8th Doctor: The Company of Friends

This is the one I was missing. An interesting experiment almost with the 8th doctor. The main reason I decided to buy it was to get the first Mary Shelley story, which did set the scene very well.

I enjoyed the other stories too, some more than others. But most of all it opened me up to the other 8th Doctor stories that are out there. Not big finish stuff, not audio. Now I have to decided if I’m going to get into those too!

4th Doctor: The Hornet’s Nest

On the long drive to Wales for Beyond the Border I listened to the whole of the Hornet’s Nest again. I’d forgotten just how good the writing was in this story in five one hour parts. It was not only a great story, but also so well written and amusing. It was a joy to listen to it again, and it’s prompted me to listen to the next two stories as well.

In fact, I’m hoping that there might even be another Hornet’s nest story too. Although now that Tom Baker has signed up with Big Finish that might not be on the cards.

Even so, the existing stories are still great.

Doctor Who: Hornets' Nest 1 - the Stuff of Nightmares (Unabridged) - Paul Magrs

 

I missed one out!

Having got to the end of “The Silver Turk” I’ve found out that I’ve missed out an 8th Doctor story, or rather, 4 stories, in which Mary Shelley is introduced! So I need to do a little bit of catching up soon otherwise I’ll get completely out of step with the 8th Doctor.