COURT INTRIGUE!

King Richard (Julian Glover) faces trouble from his sister Joanna (Jean Marsh).

In the troubled Jaffa-based court of the fiery King Richard the Lionheart (Julian Glover), his sister Joanna (Jean Marsh) is implicated in a special marriage arrangement conceived as a peace gesture by her brother with the Saracen leader Saphadin, done without her knowledge and consent, during explosive events within the middle episodes to The Crusade.

One of the all-time greats, with two surviving episodes, this superb historical story by David Whitaker has been poorly treated by the BBC this past thirty years. The audio release had poor sound quality (likely the best that could be done at the time, but which might be improved now), it failed to get a full DVD animation release (due to costs) and its part of The Collection - Season 2 Blu-ray proved underwhelmingly represented at best. Lets hope that this situation changes for the better at some point in the years to come...

The Crusade ★★★★★ | Radio Times

Get the William Russell narrated audio LP from Demon Records, out now.

Doctor Who: The Crusade 2LP Green & Yellow Translucent Vinyl [VINYL]: Amazon.co.uk: CDs & Vinyl

OUT NOW FROM BBC PHYSICAL AUDIO: 'HOUSE OF PLASTIC'

It's Spearhead from Space - The Next Generation, as the evil alien race with a special affinity for all things plastic, the terrifying Autons (accompanied by their wax work-like servants), return to Earth and fight the Seventh Doctor and Ace within modern day London, as effects genius and writer Mike Tucker returns with an an all-new audio adventure, House of Plastic, that satisfyingly captures the spirit of the special McCoy/Aldred era of 1988-89 (which he originally worked on back in the day) yet updates it too, giving the Autons' latest invasion an all-new and believable spin as they work to achieve their subtle and stealthy goals in absorbing humanity, this time via a revolutionary new plastic recycling company. It's a unique enterprise that soon attracts our heroic TARDIS pairing's attentions as they discover what the ingenious enemy, first seen in the Jon Pertwee/UNIT phase, is now up to. 

Aided by an elderly civilian from a nearby East London-based retirement home, the prime instigator to the story, this new invasion goes deeper into society than can ever be imagined. Could the Autons' plan actually succeed? Will plastic conquer over flesh?

Former Davros inhabitor and radio drama veteran Terry Molloy tells the fun and lively story with spright efficiency, of which fans of this era's quirky Earthbound stories will be happily content.

Get it here: 

Doctor Who: House of Plastic: 7th Doctor Audio Original: Amazon.co.uk: Tucker, Mike, Molloy, Terry: 9781529940633: Books

WHO'S THE BOSS?

The Seventh Doctor has fallen foul of bizarre types of authority again, and this time he's suffering the full force of the deranged, possessed Chief Caretaker languishing within the dangerous and dilapidated Paradise Towers, as top-tier guest star Richard Briers hams thing up with relish, and it's all very enjoyable!

'THE TRIAL OF A TIME LORD' AT 40: KRONTEP CHAOS!

Every inch the warrior, the once captured Krontep King Yrcanos (the ever mighty Brain Blessed!), with his reluctant Queen-to-be Peri, begins his fight back against the evil machinations of Sil and the Mentors on Thoros Alpha, during the middle episodes of The Trial of a Time Lord episodes 5 -8 (aka 'Mindwarp'). An interesting camera rehearsal shot.

AVAILABLE NOW ON BBC DIGITAL AUDIO: 'AGENT OF THE DALEKS'

The inimitable First Doctor, with his loyal companions bolshy Steven Taylor and perky Vicki, arrive at a vital communications installation, protected by a force shield, located on a radioactive alien world in the Fourth Sector. But their arrival soon proves non-coincidental, as the trio find themselves caught up in a battle against the dreaded Daleks, of whom a battered but effective group of the Skaroan monsters is trying to penetrate the base's defences and capture it. Could there be a Dalek Agent at work amongst the small band of trapped humans? And just how important a role will Steven play within a tense and brutal situation that has a seemingly irreversible, time-related fixed point?

Long-time Who scribe Steve Lyons returns with an intriguing and edgy adventure that effectively showcases Steven, and also fleshes out some of his background before his onscreen introduction in the series. As ever, the Daleks, once more voiced by Nicholas Briggs, prove a worthy, murderous foe - the true antagonists of the First Doctor, whilst Maureen O'Brien clearly and confidently enjoys being the storyteller and bringing the characters to vocal life. After years away from Who pursuing other career/life interests, it's nice to see her making more contributions to the series mythology.

Get it here: 

Doctor Who: Agent of the Daleks: 1st Doctor Audio Original (Audio Download): Steve Lyons, Maureen O'Brien, Nicholas Briggs, BBC Digital Audio: Amazon.co.uk: Books

'DESTROY THE DOCTOR!'

Art composition by Lee Binding.

Having been prior humiliated and his plans thwarted by the Doctor over the Key to Time saga, there was no doubt that the evil, all-domineering force for evil that is the Black Guardian (played with relish by Valentine Dyall) would seek revenge on the Time Lord, finally catching up with him and laying his murderous traps, via his new reluctant acolyte Turlough, across three critical stories over Season Twenty.

HEADING FOR A FALL...

Meeting his demise in the best Frankenstein's Monster tradition, the evil rebirth of the Time Lord megalomaniac Morbius is now at an end, as the mind/creature falls over a cliff within the spooky, lightening-lashed world of Karn, challenged by the fierce determination of the local Sisterhood witches. Great art by Tom Connell, a commission that appeared in one of the early UK DVD files magazines for the Classic Series.

My memories of The Brain of Morbius from its original transmission are near complete, especially the opening episode, many of the scenes with the Sisterhood of Karn, and the grisly moments that would make Mary Whitehouse boil over with rage, including Condo's brutal shooting and Morbius's brain glooping out of its container! 

Gothic glory days, indeed! 

CLASSIC ART: THE PERTWEE ERA

Heroes, villains and monsters galore, the colourful and exciting Jon Pertwee era of Doctor Who cemented the show's popularity with audiences for years to come, of which all are well showcased in this lovely image composition by Lee Johnson.

THE KROTONS EMERGENT!

Now charged with enough crystalline energy absorption needed to reactivate both themselves and their massive ship, the two Kroton bio-robots are now planning the further enslavement, or destruction, of the weakened Gond populace that live in their thrall, in a memorable moment from The Krotons, the first repeated Patrick Troughton adventure (in 1981) on BBC TV since 1968! 

The Krotons ★★★ | Radio Times

OUT NOW FROM BBC PHYSICAL AUDIO: 'WHAT STILL REMAINS'

Caught in a Temporal Cycle Overrun, the TARDIS deposits the Seventh Doctor and Ace on a mysterious Earth space station precariously kept in place, by time manipulation, around an unusual neutron star. The station's meagre crew, the majority of whom have prior disappeared in mysterious circumstances still being investigated, hope to harness the unique powers of a mysterious object removed from the star that could ultimately help solve Earth's ongoing energy crisis. But there's more to this 'object' than meets the eye, as the Doctor soon discovers the shocking truth about its function and history. Can the building crisis around them be stopped before the annihilation factor begins?

Beware the Time Decay. Beware the shadow! 

Adam Christopher delivers a technobabble heavy but enjoyable space adventure story for the Seventh Doctor's era that is well told by the versatile fan favourite Sophie Aldred, who effectively brings out a fun Scottish burr in vocalising Sylvester McCoy's unique and enigmatic Time Lord.

Get What Still Remains here:

Doctor Who: What Still Remains: 7th Doctor Audio Original: Amazon.co.uk: Christopher, Adam: 9781529940671: Books

FROM THE DEPTHS...

It's well known that there are all kinds of nasty things within the legendary London River Thames, but who could ever in their wildest dreams (or nightmares!) expect an iconic patrol Dalek emerging from its depths...

 A genuinely classic scene from The Dalek Invasion of Earth, which I'm sure excited audiences young and old enjoyed no end back in the day, hungry for their return phenomenon..

DESTINATION: SHANGRI-LA!

The era of Rock 'n Roll meets the Doctor and Mel as they travel with other aliens to a unique holiday destination experience. All goes relatively well until the arrival of the brutal Gavrok and his Bannerman mercenaries, in pursuit of the mysterious fugitive, the Chimeron Queen, in the popular and nostalgic three-parter Delta and the Bannerman. Personally, I prefer the intriguing original title for the story: Flight of the Chimeron.

Great Lee Johnson art composition for Doctor Who - The Complete History.

'THE TRIAL OF A TIME LORD' AT 40: THE MYSTERIOUS PLANET!

Within the strange environs of Marb Station, on the planet whose strange underground inhabitants refer to it as 'UK Habitat', the Doctor faces a brutal stoning for accidently traversing the human's cultural water conservation. Luckily, his umbrella saves the day for our colourful hero, from the colony's most-eager-to-kill residents. 

The late Robert Holmes scripts for episodes 1-4 of The Trial of A Time Lord may have taken an undeserved structural battering from the idiots of the BBC's then Sixth Floor, but the story's intriguing and quirky opening episode was nonetheless a triumph and warmly received by critics and viewers on its original transmission.

MYRKA MAYHEM!

The Sea Devils and Silurians have begin their attack on the troubled Sea Base Four of 2084, firstly by unleashing the aquatic terror they possess that is the Myrka, of which The Doctor and an injured Tegan are now isolated and trapped in its fierce company, during the Part Two cliffhanger to Warriors of the Deep.

"That thing's gonna kill us!"

The rushed to production story, and its 'pantomime horse' operated creature (which I originally thought looked good in close-up and some front side shots), proved a disappointment to many fans on its original transmission, and was most likely the story that initiated the ever malignant Michael Grade into wanting to cancel the show for good beyond 1985. Now, with the remastered, re-edited story as part of The Collection - Season 21 Blu-ray set, with its now more fearsome Myrka, we hope fans minds are more positively directed towards the story. And we hope Michael Grade has received a viewing copy too!

The all-new fearsome Mykra of the Warriors of the Deep - Special Edition, from 2026.

Great work by Chris Stephens Creations and the BBC team.

Get The Collection - Season 21 here:

Doctor Who: The Collection Season 21 Limited Edition [Blu-ray] [Region B]: Amazon.co.uk: Peter Davison, Janet Fielding, Mark Strickson, Nicola Bryant, Peter Davison, Janet Fielding

WILL THE REAL SARAH JANE...

With the alien Kraal's plan of Earth conquest revealed via its specially created training ground recreation, the Doctor confronts an android version of his faithful companion Sarah Jane Smith, who soon shoots at the the escaping Time Lord. A memorable and spooky moment, developed by Phillip Hinchcliffe, from the fun Terry Nation duplicates yarn, The Android Invasion.

INTRUDER ALERT!

Two of the previously captured Martian Ambassadors resolutely make their way to the British Space Centre, ready to help the Doctor expose the mad, war-mongering machinations of the human General Carrington, during the memorable finale to the excellent The Ambassadors of Death, a story that was restored as best it could be during its recent inclusion with The Collection - Season 7 set release.

'SLIPBACK' - OUT NOW FROM BBC PHYSICAL AUDIO...

It could be the end of the universe (again) as the bolshy Sixth Doctor Who and his American companion Peri Brown find themselves trapped on the Vipod Mor survey spaceship, full of diverse shady characters (including an on-the-run criminal and a vile, disease-ridden captain), plus a hideous carnivorous monster that's running amok in its ventilation ducts. All this, whilst later caught in the deadly machinations of an unstable split-personality computer. The Slipback has begun...

Not regarded by fans as one of Classic Doctor Who's finest spin-offs, nor one of writer Eric Saward's finest scripts either, Slipback proves a cannibalised mish-mash of previous ideas from his mostly excellent time as series Script Editor, here trying too hard to emulate the kind of humorous universe building prior done better by Douglas Adams ten years earlier. Nonetheless, this adaptation of the original 1986 Target novel isn't too bad, of which actor/former Spitting Image puppets impersonator Jon Glover (who also starred in the original radio series) does an effective job of telling the lengthy story, handling the numerous characters' vocal interpretations well, especially Colin Baker's lead incarnation.

Slipback is definitely for the completist's collection only, with far better classic tales in the range for overall fans to listen to and enjoy first.

Get it here:

Doctor Who: Slipback: 6th Doctor Novelisation: Amazon.co.uk: Saward, Eric, Glover, Jon: 9781529975178: Books

'Z-CARS' IN SPACE!

Within the busy command hub of Space Corps cruiser V-41, top intergalactic policemen Major Ian Warne (Donald Gee) and General Hermack (Jack May) keep an eye on the space lanes and the ongoing threat of evil, cargo stealing pirates, during the long but underrated Troughton tale, The Space Pirates.

THE TERRORS OF DIDO!

Stranded on the lost world of Dido, its once civilisation mysteriously deceased, the young Earth girl Vicki must survive within a crashed spaceship, looking after its injured pilot, Bennett, and dealing with the harsh, mysterious creature known as Koquillion that regularly visits and torments her. Maureen O'Brien would have an excellent introduction to the series as new companion Vicki within the effective David Whitaker written two-parter, The Rescue.

The original audio soundtrack for this story comes with crisply efficient linking narration from O'Brien, a natural choice to helm this LP given its importance as her character's introductory story. Now available (18th April, 2026) from Demon Records, it also includes an all-new, near ten minutes long interview with the actor on how she got the memorable part.

'The Rescue' comes to vinyl for Record Store Day 2026 | Doctor Who

WHEN SEVEN MET EIGHT!

A memorable change-over publicity image from the TV movie.

The day worldwide Whovians never thought would happen, but actually DID back in 1996! The one-night only return of Doctor Who as an all-new Universal-BBC co-production which saw the Seventh Doctor of Sylvester McCoy regenerate into the all-new Eighth incarnation (as played with charm and energy by Paul McGann). It's an adventure that was mildly controversial at the time, but has since become much more appreciated over time. Now, the adventure returns this month in an all-new superb 4K transfer, overseen and re-edited from the original film elements in the US!

Doctor Who: The Movie has been newly restored for 4K and Blu-ray | Doctor Who

A couple of images from the superb new transfer.

Sylvester McCoy makes a notable appearance in the story.

Celebrating its Thirtieth Anniversary, Doctor Who - The Movie is available from May 31st- it's never looked or sounded better, alongside a ton of old and new accompanying extras.

Available on UK Blu-ray. Art by Lee Binding.

The 4K Steelbook cover art by Lee Binding.

Get Doctor Who - The Movie on 4K here:

Amazon.co.uk : dr who the movie 4k