Tenth Doctor audio adventures, with Donna Noble!
The David Tennant / Catherine Tate partnership was a particularly good pairing in the history of Who (and actually there have been very few obviously bad pairings). It's weird to think that that was already back in 2008, longer ago than the entire Tom Baker era lasted, or as long ago as any two other Doctors from Old Who combined.
And Big Finish, hurrah! have brought them back - just for three 75-minute adventures, plus a bonus disc of extra interviews with cast and crew, but gosh it's entertaining. If you're nostalgic for the days when Bertie handed over to Brian and Boris defeated Ken, that brief moment of time just before the Great Crash hit us, you'll love these.
Technophobia, by Matt Fitton, is a decent re-introduction of the characters, visiting a contemporary England where the population has become completely deluded about their own best interests, a scenario therefore with no contemporary relevance whatsoever. There is some particularly sparkling Doctor/Donna dialogue, and an overall plot that is fairly standard but executed with grace. Good guest cast includes Rachael Sterling as the potential villainness, and Niky Wardley as Donna's fellow temp Bex.
Jenny Colgan, who has written three New Who novels as well as her best-selling other output, makes what I think is her audioplay debut with Time Reaver, a story where the focus is on one weird organism that has the ability to change the subjective passage of time, and how it is used for good and for ill (mostly for ill) by the human societies that encounter it. It's a slightly flaky scenario, lifted to impressive heights by a strong ending and especially David Tennant.
Catherine Tate gets her turn in Death and the Queen by James Goss, where Donna Noble appears to be on the verge of achieving the fairy tale marriage that she was deprived of in The Christmas Invasion. As my regular reader knows, I rate James Goss as one of the very best Who writers working at present. I don't think that he's quite at the top of his game here, but Catherine Tate definitely is, and sparks off David Tennant and her romantic interest Blake Ritson very compellingly.
All in all, well worth getting hold of.
And Big Finish, hurrah! have brought them back - just for three 75-minute adventures, plus a bonus disc of extra interviews with cast and crew, but gosh it's entertaining. If you're nostalgic for the days when Bertie handed over to Brian and Boris defeated Ken, that brief moment of time just before the Great Crash hit us, you'll love these.
Technophobia, by Matt Fitton, is a decent re-introduction of the characters, visiting a contemporary England where the population has become completely deluded about their own best interests, a scenario therefore with no contemporary relevance whatsoever. There is some particularly sparkling Doctor/Donna dialogue, and an overall plot that is fairly standard but executed with grace. Good guest cast includes Rachael Sterling as the potential villainness, and Niky Wardley as Donna's fellow temp Bex.
Jenny Colgan, who has written three New Who novels as well as her best-selling other output, makes what I think is her audioplay debut with Time Reaver, a story where the focus is on one weird organism that has the ability to change the subjective passage of time, and how it is used for good and for ill (mostly for ill) by the human societies that encounter it. It's a slightly flaky scenario, lifted to impressive heights by a strong ending and especially David Tennant.
Catherine Tate gets her turn in Death and the Queen by James Goss, where Donna Noble appears to be on the verge of achieving the fairy tale marriage that she was deprived of in The Christmas Invasion. As my regular reader knows, I rate James Goss as one of the very best Who writers working at present. I don't think that he's quite at the top of his game here, but Catherine Tate definitely is, and sparks off David Tennant and her romantic interest Blake Ritson very compellingly.
All in all, well worth getting hold of.