Synopsis: The Tenth Doctor and Donna return in three brand new audio adventures. This time they’re joined by Donna’s mother, Sylvia, and her granddad, Wilf.
Review: In The Tenth Doctor Adventures Volume 03, James Goss, Jenny T Colgan, and Roy Gill bring Big Finish listeners stories that perfectly encapsulate the David Tennant/Catherine Tate season. As Tate’s Donna Noble is my favorite Tenth Doctor companion, I enjoyed this box set from beginning to end.
“No Place” by James Goss puts the Noble family dynamics on full display. Jacqueline King is spiky perfection as Sylvia. As always, though, Bernard Cribbins steals the show with every syllable as Wilf. Cribbins effortlessly grounds the Noble clan’s foray on to reality television’s ‘Haunted Makeovers!’ with layers of emotional depth. This allows for the pivot from aliens-presenting-as-ghosts narrative to the story of one human’s journey toward healing.
“One Mile Down” by Jenny T Colgan is thematically my favorite story in the set. The Doctor and Donna visit the underwater city of Vallarasee. What follows is unflinching allegory about the nexus between heritage preservation and commercial interests. As all is saved and lost simultaneously, listeners are treated to an enterprising young Judoon, an interspecies romance, and the best showcase for Donna Noble that Big Finish has come up with yet.
“The Creeping Death” by Roy Gill is a historical tale as only Doctor Who could do. Listeners get an interesting new alien serving as counterpoint to The Great Smog of 1952. The Doctor and Donna shepherd a group of Londoners through the travails of man-made toxins and extra-terrestrial meteorites. We learn The Doctor hasn’t forgotten the lessons of Pompeii, and Donna confronts her favorite dinosaur.
David Tennant and Catherine Tate slip back into their roles wonderfully. The only improvement would be more stories involving Bernard Cribbins’ Wilf.
You can purchase The Tenth Doctor Adventures Volume 03 here.
Cast
David Tennant (The Doctor), Catherine Tate (Donna Noble), Bernard Cribbins (Wilfred Mott), Jacqueline King (Sylvia Noble), Nicholas Briggs (Judoon Captain / Clo / Judoon), Rakie Ayola (Andrea), Kieran Bew (Richard Cooper), Lauren Cornelius (Ivy Clark), Stephen Critchlow (Malcolm Wishart), Eleanor Crooks (Patricia Derbyshire), Joel Fry (Justin), Helen Goldwyn (Alice Aiken / Fumifugium), Christopher Naylor (Pickus), Peter Singh (Jas), Theo Stevenson (Terry Hopkins), Robert Whitelock (Garth / Thispus)
Production Credits
Cover Artist Tom Webster
Director Ken Bentley
Executive Producer Nicholas Briggs, Jason Haigh-Ellery
Music Howard Carter
Producer David Richardson
Script Editor Matt Fitton
Sound Design Howard Carter
Written by James Goss, Jenny T Colgan, Roy Gill
- Story9.0
- Performances10
- Audio Production10
