lizard-speed’s reviews!

On-Screen Appearances

The Chase

The Time Meddlers

Galaxy 4

The Myth Makers

The Dalek Master Plan

The Massacre

The Ark

The Celestial Toymaker

The Gunfighters

The Savages

Big Finish

Frostfire

Mother Russia

Home Truths (Sara Kingdom Trilogy Pt. 1)

The Drowned World (Sara Kingdom Trilogy Pt. 2)

The Guardian of the Solar System (Sara Kingdom Trilogy Pt. 3)

The Suffering

The Perpetual Bond (Oliver Harper Trilogy Pt. 1)

The Cold Equations (Oliver Harper Trilogy Pt. 2)

The First Wave (Oliver Harper Trilogy Pt. 3)

Tales from the Vault

The Anachronauts

Return of the Rocket Men

Upstairs

The War to End All Wars (Old Steven Trilogy Pt. 1)

The Founding Fathers (Old Steven Trilogy Pt. 2)

The Locked Room (Old Steven Trilogy Pt. 3)

Fields of Terror

Across the Darkened City

The Vardan Invasion of Mirth

The Bounty of Ceres

An Ordinary Life

The Ravelli Conspiracy

The Sontarans

The Dalek Occupation of Winter

An Ideal World

Entanglement

The Crash of the UK-201

Daughter of the Gods

The Secrets of Det-Sen

The Secret History

Etheria

This Sporting Life

Helmstone

O Tannenbaum

Peace in Our Time

Out of the Deep

The Five Companions

The Light at the End

Men of War

Novels

The Myth Makers

The Gunfighters

Galaxy Four

The Savages

The Celestial Toymaker

The Ark

The Massacre

The Time Meddler

The Chase

Mission to the Unknown

The Mutation of Time

The Empire of Glass

Salvation

Bunker Soldiers

Roses

The Golden Door

64 Carlysle Street

Planet of the Bunnoids

The Little Drummer Boy

Ash

Corridors of Power

Scribbles in Chalk

The Schoolboy’s Story

Waiting for Jeremy

Making History

Mars

The Long Step Backward

Snowman in Manhattan

Do You Smell Carrots?

White on White

The Power Supply

Murder in the Dark

Comics

Are You Listening?

Death to the Doctor!

The Forgotten

The Choice

The Vardan Invasion of Mirth was performed by Peter Purves and Stephen Critchlow, written by Paul Morris and Ian Atkinson, and released September 2019.

I really enjoyed this story!  Honestly, of the ones I’ve listened to this was definitely a favorite.  I really like the concept of a fake reality set within a virtual reality.  The story felt very meta— a story set within the television industry that turned out to be a fake set itself.  It was a good setup for the Vardans, having them come in through television waves.  It reminded me a lot of ‘The Wire’ which we did, in fact, get a callback to with Magpie Electricals.  

It’s nice having a consistent villain for Steven throughout his stories though I feel like they appear a lot.  I do have to give them the benefit of the doubt that these are being released years apart and I’m plowing through them in days.  

There were a bunch of silly Steven moments in the first half of this story.  A good chunk of it was people just talking about how attractive he was and trying to recruit him as a comedian (“I’m not a straight man!”).  

It wasn’t a very sad story which was quite nice honestly.  A fun little romp that I’d definitely recommend people listen to!

8/10

Friend Death Count: 0

Steven Tortured Count: 0

Across the Darkened City was performed by Peter Purves and Nick Briggs, written by David Bartlett, and released in June 2017.

I really enjoyed this story!  I wasn’t expecting a Dalek story which, I must admit, are not my favorite villains in a radio story.  I find that they can be very menacing visually so just listening to them can be detracting.  However, considering this story pretty much had only one Dalek I didn’t find it to be a problem.  

I’m a big fan of the “Dalek finds humanity” trope.  I think it’s an interesting idea to develop.  I especially liked how it was done during this story— the constant questioning of whether or not the Dalek was actually willing to help Steven or if he was just bluffing.  Of course, in the end, the Dalek was bluffing but that wasn’t that surprising.  I did enjoy the twist at the ending where they revealed that 2-1 was the Emperor Dalek.

Being narrated by Steven, he had quite a bit to do in this story.  It’s great seeing him take charge.  He goes through a mental battle (yet again!) over whether or not he should trust the Dalek and if he was being complicit in destruction by helping 2-1.  The last few stories I have listened to have been pretty nice to Steven so it was cool hearing a story where he went through a mental quandary (not to advocate more Steven torture).

Overall, I really enjoyed this story!  I thought it was an interesting concept with more room to elaborate on in future stories if possible.

7/10

Friend Death Count: .5

Steven Tortured Count: .5

The Fields of Terror was performed by Maureen O’Brien and Robert Hands, written by John Pritchard, and released in June 2017.

I really enjoyed this story!  I was hoping for a pure historical (which I had assumed it would be considering the setting) and was pleased it was.  For a while, it seemed like it wasn’t going to be (that is, there was an alien element to it) but honestly, I wouldn’t have minded.  This story was written extremely well– especially its elements of horror.  I didn’t find it necessarily scary, per se, but the tense moments were very well written and definitely held an element of suspense which isn’t necessarily an easy thing to do.

That being said, the plot was pretty simple with not much complication but that wasn’t much of an issue.  I had a theory at the beginning of why the Phantom Monk was chasing Lagrange which did not turn out to be 100% true but it was partially true which gave me some satisfaction.  Having a story that is impossible to guess where it will end isn’t necessarily a mark of good writing which I think is demonstrated well here.  Pritchard was able to set up an intriguing story, giving hints as to where it would go and letting the listener decipher it for themselves rather than relying on a character to bring out a previously undisclosed piece of information that would solve it all.

Steven didn’t have a particularly big feature in this story which was fine.  It was nice seeing Vicki in the spotlight and giving her something to do.  I might have liked a little more of a relationship developed between Vicki and Nicole but there wasn’t much time so if that had been done then perhaps it would’ve felt rushed and crammed in. 

Overall, I found this to be a really well-written, intriguing mystery.

8/10

Friend Death Count: 0

Steven Tortured Count: 0

The Locked Room was performed by Peter Purves, Alice Haig, and Lisa Bowerman, written by Simon Guerrier, and released in June 2015.

I had a lot of trepidation going into this one.  I had heard that it was a very bad story and really not worth my time.  But honestly, I enjoyed it!  It reminded me of a bottle episode of Star Trek where the whole story is self-contained on the starship.  Which is sort of funny since usually bottle episodes are due to budget constraints for sets which isn’t really a problem Big Finish needs to grapple with.  

I thought the story dealt with some interesting themes of morality and death, especially towards the end.  Was there a bit of a cop-out?  Possibly.  But sometimes it is better to leave those things ambiguous as they are quite controversial and truthfully there isn’t a black-and-white answer to what is right and what is wrong.  

It was nice getting a call back to Oliver and the Vardans.  They’re not a super terrifying villain but they work well with Steven.  I like Sida as a character and it’s always interesting to get more backstory into Steven and what his time ruling the Savages’ planet was like.  

Was this the best story to go back into for starting up my quest through all the Steven media?  Probably not.  But it is what it is and there are some I’m looking forward to so onwards!

7/10

Friend Death Count: 0

Steven Tortured Count: 1

The Founding Fathers was performed by Peter Purves, Alice Haig, and Lisa Bowerman, written by Simon Guerrier, and released in June 2015.

I’ll be honest, I’m writing this review a while after finishing this story but I still remember it pretty well.  

I wasn’t super happy with this story.  It was sort of blah, to be honest.  There wasn’t much of a plot nor was it very good.  It seemed like Guerrier was trying to do too much but didn’t have time to develop any of it and was left with vague plot points that barely fit together.

The ending was confusing and convoluted.  I was unsure about how the lighting strike thingy happened and how the plot got there in the first place!  The ending was strange and felt rushed as if the scraps of the plot were suddenly woven together.

I did like the relationship between Ben Franklin and the Doctor was sweet and I can definitely see how they would be friends.  This was an old Steven story, hence the inclusion of his narration and his granddaughter.  I’m still not 100% sure where this trilogy is going to lead, but according to some mildly reputable sources, it’s not going to end well.  

Overall, this was a confusing story was was mildly boring and not particularly worth a listen.

5/10

Friend Death Count: 0

Steven Tortured Count: 0

The War to End All Wars was performed by Peter Purves, written by Simon Guerrier, and released in April 2014.

I really, really love this story.  It’s perfectly political and a very well-structured metaphor.  It can be a bit preachy and a bit obvious but I can forgive it especially when it’s as well crafted as this.  

We get an insight into what Steven is doing post-The Savages and let me just say, upfront, good god Big Finish give him a goddamn break.  Not only was he deposed (which, to his credit, was technically his idea and carefully crafted) but he was imprisoned.  Not to mention his daughter died…

On the topic of his daughters… he had three of them, his favorite of which was named Dodo.  No that didn’t break me at all!  And of course, she had to be the one who died.  Alas.

The war story was very cool and incredibly engaging.  I love the idea of one power supplying both sides of a war with weapons making it an unwinnable war.  Sure, the end result of “Oh it was just a pleasure planet and there was no real conflict” was a bit boring but I can overlook that.  Steven running for governor (?) was very cool and it was nice seeing him try to infiltrate the system from the inside.  Added with an overall critique of big military powers.  *chefs kiss*

I found this story to be an interesting analogy for the Vietnam War- whether intentional or not.  Now that may just be because I was recently studying that in AP English Language but I thought it made sense.  Combine that with the similarity of it to A Private Little War from Star Trek: The Original Series.  But I digress, I’m just namedropping at this point.

Overall, this was a well-created story with an interesting twist and well-done background and political undertones.

9/10

Friend Death Count: 0

Steven Tortured Count: 1 (kinda) 

Upstairs was performed by Maureen O’Brien and Peter Purves, written by Mat Coward, and released in September 2013.

I was skeptical upon starting this story.  The description didn’t look very good and I wasn’t excited to put myself through this story.  But it wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be.  That being said, it wasn’t fantastic either.  The first half of this story was very intriguing.  I love the concept of an attic in which each room was a different time period.  The reveal at the end was… a bit strange but I was eager to listen to the second half.  Boy was that a disappointment.  They sorta dropped the ball on the whole temporal thing completely changing the focus of the story to something less interesting.  Alas.

ALSO MORE MUSHROOMS.  WHAT IS UP WITH THAT?  I AM TIRED OF MUSHROOMS.  BIG FINISH STOP MAKING STORIES WITH MUSHROOMS I AM BEGGING YOU.  PLEASE.

Moving on… The interactions between Steven, Vicki, and the Doctor were great.  A lot of fantastic moments and fun little comedy beats.  Vicki also described Steven as her older brother and the Doc as her grandfather *clutches heart*

Steven got to act all fancy and dignified and it was hilarious.  The story was pretty nice to him which is good considering what’s to follow *stares nervously*. 

Maureen O’Brien’s Scottish accent is very funny I loved it a lot.

I wouldn’t recommend this story but I also wouldn’t scream at you to not listen to it.

6/10

Friend Death Count: 0

Steven Tortured Count: 0 

Return of the Rocket Men was performed by Peter Purves, written by Matt Fitton, and released in November 2012.

This story was A LOT better than I remembered.  Tbh, it’s probably better than The Rocket Men (which I love, don’t get me wrong).  The plot is more interesting and, although I love the Ian & Barbara dynamic/plot in TRM, I found Steven’s plot overall just better.  

I do, however, think that the Rocket Men are less intimidating than Big Finish thinks they are.  Just an observation.

We get a bit of backstory for Steven in this which is always nice.  It’s uh not a *nice* addition to his backstory but it’s Steven Taylor so what did you expect?  He gets tortured quite a lot, both his legs are shattered and then he has to watch himself be tortured.  Oh, and he gets shot.  Fun times.

The story plays to Steven’s strengths which is really important to me.  He gets to show off his pilot and scientific skills as he flies a few vehicles.  We also get Steven realizing that he may want to leave the TARDIS and while it’s utterly heartbreaking it is also nice to see some development there.  

This story repeated the “when do you know” transition from TRM which I found interesting.  It was used in a slightly different manner but it worked very well.  

Steven’s dynamic with the Doctor and Dodo was also great here.  Dodo got many cute moments (singing happy birthday to him, making a friend, saving the prisoners).  Also, may I mention, Peter Purves’ Dodo voice is fucking hilarious and I love it so much.  For once, the Doctor and Steven weren’t really at odds and we get a sweet moment between the two at the end.

Overall this was just a really great story that definitely one-upped its predecessor.  

8.5/10

Friend Death Count: 1

Steven Tortured Count: 6 

The Anachronauts was performed by Peter Purves and Jean Marsh, written by Simon Guerrier, and released in January 2012.

Some stuff happens, Steven, the Doctor, and Sara crash, and like, some other stuff happens.

Not going to lie, I can’t really give enough of a fuck to write a proper summary for this.  This story annoyed me.  Not in like a god, this annoyed me to a point of anger but like, your little sibling’s annoying friend.  

The first quarter of this story was wildly inconsistent in keeping my attention.  I was intrigued, then not, then interested, then not, then I was again.  The second half of this story felt so disconnected from the first half and even the ending didn’t really help bridge the gap.  

Man, I don’t even really know what to say other than it was a very meh story and I basically can’t bring myself to care about it.  So much happened and yet.  Nothing happened at all.

Anyway, there were some cute Steven/Sara moments and I am now lowkey shipping them so that’s cool.  Steven was almost killed so that’s loads of fun. 

Man, I don’t even know what to say.

4/10

Friend Death Count: 0

Steven Tortured Count: 3