Big Finish Box Set
I absolutely enjoyed this story more than Ravenous I. It’s still stories of danger and strangeness, plus we don’t get to see the ultimate bad guy, the Ravenor, until the final story but I felt this story was less emotionally depressing. Helen and Liv are especially prominent in this story, though I do wonder when we will deal with the Sonamancer powers that Helen must have but has been concealing. Why doesn’t she ever use them? She searches for 50 years or more to find Nicholas, the priest, but does she utilize her powers in that search? It’s unclear but there are hints of her having to use it, perhaps.
Escape from Kaldor
We get to meet Liv’s sister, yyy, and see her home planet in a moment of crisis, created by their own experimentation. Robots gone mad! And there is plenty of time for Helen to talk to the Doctor and have adventures we don’t see, plus Liv spending a year on Kaldor herself. So there is plenty of adventure fodder there!
My only issue with this story is that Helen seems like a third wheel. She does a few things to help out but doesn’t have a lot of input into the story. She seems pretty controlled and not very relaxed anymore.
Better Watch Out
We begin our Krampus, Christmas-time adventure, in Germany with the TARDIS team on December 5th, the night Krampus comes to take the bad children away (Krampusnacht). And slowly but surely, we see the imps start taking everyone away, to the Krampus! Even the Doctor as there isn’t anyone who hasn’t ever had a bad thought or deed. So Helen and Liv go around the city, trying to protect the people, especially the family that took them in for dinner. It picks up speed as it goes and I wanted to hear the rest! So glad it was just a click away…
Fairytale of Salzburg
As we may have guessed but just haven’t seen before, Helen Sinclair is just amazing! By trial and error, she figures out how to get the TARDIS to a particular person in history. She and Liv are the problem solvers of this story with Helen really showing her tenacity and determination. She finds a solution and implements it, though it takes most of the rest of her natural lifespan. Just amazing!
The Doctor is only in this story at the end as he was eaten by the Krampus. The framing of this story is really well done as well, with a story around the story, from both Helen and the Doctor. Two stories within a story, that is already a made up story brought to life. All a reaction to greed. Excellent!
Seizure
So the Eleven is back and he is in his usual bad place. He has tried to take over another TARDIS, killing the Time Lord who was its pilot/owner. And somehow he picks up another passenger, the Time Lord eating Ravenor **. So the Doctor and Helen are wandering the dying TARDIS, which is reconfiguring itself randomly, as they become separated from Liv. But then the find the Eleven, discover the nature of the true enemy, and work to reunite the team. With the Eleven getting in the way, of course. If he is anything, he is a coward. And he is very good at it! It ends on a major cliffhanger so I’m really excited to hear Ravenous 3! I can’t wait.
Paul McGann (The Doctor), Nicola Walker (Liv Chenka), Hattie Morahan (Helen Sinclair), Mark Bonnar (The Eleven), Claire Rushbrook (Tula Chenka / SV111 / SV23), Richard Popple (Kit Laver), David Rintoul (Galla Posca), Tracy Wiles (Hadway / Salma / V75), John Dorney (Sol / Security Guard / Comtech / V21 / V616), Jamie Newall (Shafranek), Carla Mendonça (Waltraud Raither / Imp 1), Kate Rawson (Inge / Imp 2), Ewan Goddard (Christophe / Krampus Runner), Robert Whitelock (Bruno / Vagabond / Priest), Siân Phillips (Pilgrim), Raad Rawi (Bishop) Kate Duchęne (Antonia Werner), Susan Hingley (Maria Werner), Pippa Haywood (Jaxa), George Asprey (Ravenous). Other parts played by members of the cast.
Writers: Matt Fitton, John Dorney, Guy Adams
Director: Ken Bentley
Release: October 2018