Audio Dramas – Well Eye Never

January & February 2024 Favourites

Welcome to my first Favourites post and video for this year! As I had a very busy Christmas that lasted until mid-January, it made sense to combine the latter half of that month with February for this roundup.

Recent weeks have been quite relaxed compared to the festive period, as hoped and expected, but there’s still quite a variety of bits and pieces to mention. These include an audio described gallery tour, a free meal, a special scenic view of the city, an important new audio play, things I’ve been watching that have been recommended by friends, and other entertainment I’ve enjoyed. Some of these items are PR-related, as indicated when appropriate, but all opinions are my own regardless. So I hope you enjoy!

AD | Extant – Unseen Interviews

Content Warning: Domestic abuse. There is support information at the end.

Unseen is an important and powerful audio drama about the impact of domestic abuse on visually impaired people. The free 45-minute production has been created by Extant, the UK’s leading performing arts company of blind and visually impaired actors and practitioners, and is inspired by the findings in the Unseen Report from the Vision Foundation.

I recently reviewed the drama in advance of its online premiere on Monday 4th March. But in addition to that, I was also invited to send in some questions to members of the team to find out more about how it was made.

So I’m delighted to share some interesting insights from sound designer Ian Rattra y, director Ben Wilson and actor Georgie Morrell. Many thanks to all of them for putting aside some of their valuable time to answer my questions!

AD | Extant – Unseen Review

Content Warning: Domestic abuse. There is support information at the end. I had early access to Unseen for review purposes, but all opinions are my own.

It can be easy to take dramas for granted, as just another form of entertainment. But recently we’ve all been reminded just how emotionally powerful the medium can be, for raising awareness and generating action around serious and devastating real-life issues. The Mr Bates series about the Post Office scandal, and Breathtaking about the NHS during the pandemic, pulled back the curtain to reveal shocking details about events that many people had little to no knowledge of.

The stories were told in a way that was realistic, relatable and accessible, without being sensationalised, so they were compelling and stuck in the mind very effectively.

Now a new audio drama by Extant, the UK’s leading performing arts company of blind and visually impaired actors and practitioners, takes a similar approach to another very difficult issue, in a uniquely creative way.

Unseen, a 45-minute drama which will be available to stream for free on Monday 4th March, shines a light on one of society’s most hidden and disturbing crimes – domestic abuse against visually impaired people (the lessons from which are applicable and adaptable to victims of all disabilities).

Did you know, for example, that at least 1 in 12 visually impaired people in the UK (around 188,000) are a victim or survivor of domestic abuse? Or that less than 1 in 5 domestic abuse professionals have had specialist training to support visually impaired victims or survivors?

No, me neither. These are just two of the alarming and sobering statistics in the Unseen Report by the Vision Foundation (using research commissioned from SafeLives), that are incorporated into this new production. It’s being released to coincide with No More Week (3rd-9th March), an annual event that raises awareness of domestic abuse and sexual violence, and educates individuals and organisations about how to take a stand against it.

Therefore, having reviewed some previous Extant productions, I was kindly invited to listen to Unseen this week, in advance of its public release, in order to share my thoughts on it.

Doctor Who At 60 Review – Radio Celebrations

Welcome to the second part of my trilogy celebrating 60 years of Doctor Who. Having reviewed the specials and the Blu-ray steelbook, I’m now going to talk about the various radio programmes I’ve been listening to on BBC Sounds, which have been a great mixture of documentaries, interviews and music. Then next time I’ll conclude with the various TV shows I’ve been watching in the Whoniverse on iPlayer.

As usual, none of this is sponsored by or affiliated with the BBC or anyone else connected with Doctor Who, and these are just my opinions as a big fan, so I hope you enjoy!

Doctor Who Review – 2008-10 Specials

The 60th anniversary of Doctor Who is finally upon us, with an exciting trilogy of specials about to air, and a wealth of goodies to watch in the Whoniverse and peruse in the archives on the BBC website. It’s a great time to be a Whovian, that’s for sure.

But before I delve into all of that, I just need to squeeze in one more of my extensive review posts for the modern era. In recent months I’ve written at far too much length about Series 1, 2, 3 & 4, so it’s only right to wrap up this first batch of reviews with the specials from 2008 to 2010 that concluded David Tennant’s run as the 10th Doctor and Russell T Davies’ role as showrunner. Like many people, I was very sad when David left, so it was great to see him return for the 50th anniversary later on, and I’m looking forward to seeing him again in the imminent new trilogy for the 60th.

So in these 5 episodes, David gets a big send-off, alongside some great guest stars and the return of some familiar faces. I have the Blu-ray steelbook edition of this mini-series, so that’s what I’ll be going through here, including all of the extra features. And I’ll be mentioning some related items I’ve picked out online as well, which can be seen on my Youtube playlist for these specials. So I hope you enjoy!

[Note: This post was edited on 30 November 2023 to mention the new Whoniverse collection on iPlayer and the Series 1-4 & Specials box set.]

Doctor Who Review – Series 4

Here we go again, on what is proving to be a very special day. As part of their celebrations of the 60th anniversary of Doctor Who, the BBC have just launched a massive Whoniverse collection of episodes and extras on iPlayer – including audio description, subtitles and sign language for the Classic series, New era and spin-offs, which is a huge win for accessibility. The extra features include the full-length episodes of Doctor Who Confidential and other documentaries, plus there’s an extensive archive of behind the scenes material as well. So I’m really looking forward to digging through all of that.

And with the anniversary specials now fast approaching, here’s the latest in my personal series of lengthy reviews about the modern era of the show. This time I’m looking through Series 4, using the Blu-ray steelbook edition that I own, following on from my previous deep dives into Series 1, 2 & 3. All opinions are my own of course, none of these posts are sponsored by the BBC, I’m just a big fan.

Russell T Davies is still showrunner and David Tennant is still the Doctor for this series, which is great news of course. And this time the companion is Donna Noble, played by Catherine Tate, returning after her guest role in The Runaway Bride. I’m not a fan of her sketch show, but her appearance in that previous Christmas special of Doctor Who had swayed my opinion a bit more in her favour. And now, in this fourth series, she gets a proper chance to demonstrate what she’s really capable of, both comedically and dramatically, doing a superb job in the process.

Donna is down to earth and isn’t afraid to stand up for herself or others, even if that means putting the Doctor in his place occasionally. But she still has fears and vulnerabilities like every human being, she’s keen to learn, and she also loves to have a good laugh. And she doesn’t fall in love with the Doctor, unlike Rose and Martha before her (who reappear in this series, along with a couple of other companions), so she has a much more relaxed connection with him. They’re just good friends exploring the universe together, and it works really well that way, especially as actors David and Catherine have such great chemistry too. So Donna’s a very well-developed character, who goes on a big personal journey throughout this series, in addition to her trips across time and space, until it all comes to a shocking conclusion.

So we’re treated to another fantastic set of stories in this series, with all the usual action, drama, humour, emotions, visual effects, music and everything else it throws at you. And therefore, alongside a big playlist of clips I’ve put together on Youtube, here’s my lengthy review of it all!

[Note: This post was edited in November 2023 to mention the new Whoniverse collection on iPlayer and the Series 1-4 & Specials box set.]

Doctor Who Review – Series 3

It’s time to continue my 60th anniversary celebration of Doctor Who by doing an in-depth review of the third series and its Blu-ray steelbook, following on from my posts about Series 1 & 2.

Russell T Davies continues in his role as showrunner here, overseeing David Tennant in his second series as the Doctor. But here the Time Lord is accompanied by the fun-loving, strong-minded, logical and brave medical student Martha Jones (played by Freema Agyeman).

Unlike Rose, who was looking for excitement and an escape from her everyday existence, Martha is actually quite happy and busy with her family, career and social life. But the temptation to travel with the Doctor wins out, naturally. The one similarity that Martha has with Rose is that she soon falls in love with him, but the Doctor is still hurting from Rose’s departure and views Martha as a good friend rather than anything more. He simply needs a caring companion to support him and stop him feeling too lonely, which he knows only too well, but he’s reluctant to admit that to himself, and initially insists that Martha won’t be a full-time passenger. But he changes his mind when Martha proves her worth in various ways, and she ends up saving his life, and the lives of others, on several occasions.

So there’s a different dynamic in the Doctor’s relationship with Martha compared to Rose, and she’s a different character to her predecessor – all of which is a good thing, otherwise it would have felt repetitive. Actors David and Freema have a great chemistry together, evident from the behind the scenes material as well as in their performances, which makes them enjoyable to watch. It’s also worth celebrating the fact that she’s his first full-time black companion (whereas Mickey Smith didn’t travel with the Doctor very much), and therefore Martha does encounter occasional racism when they travel back in time (as did Freema in real life from a small sector of the fanbase, sadly). So it’s good that the show acknowledges those attitudes in small ways, rather than pretending they don’t exist.

Ultimately, although Martha is sadly only in the show for one series, she does make a very big impact on the stories and the Doctor himself, and likewise it all has a huge effect on her, as she goes through quite the journey of development. She also makes a few guest appearances in the show later on (and could still do so), as well as appearing in the Torchwood spin-off and a more recent Big Finish audiobook, plus the character featured in the Tenth Doctor audiobook adaptations by the BBC, some of which Freema narrated. So this isn’t the last we see or hear of her.

Before we meet Martha, we’re also introduced to Donna Noble in the Christmas special, for what at the time was intended to be a one-off guest appearance by Catherine Tate, though that changed in Series 4. And in the finale Martha gets to meet Captain Jack Harkness when John Barrowman returns in the role, as well as John Simm in his first appearance as the Master. Plus there are some other great stars who appear throughout the series.

So it’s another fantastic collection of episodes, I hope you enjoy my look through them all, as well as the extensive playlist of clips I’ve put together on Youtube.

[Note: This post was edited in November 2023 to mention the new Whoniverse collection on iPlayer and the Series 1-4 & Specials box set.]

Doctor Who Review – Series 2

Recently I’ve started to binge-watch the modern era of Doctor Who again, given that the 60th anniversary is fast approaching. So following my extensive review of Series 1, where I also explained how I got into the show, it’s now time to move on to Series 2, by going through the Blu-ray Steelbook that I own.

This is the first series to feature David Tennant as The Doctor, and the second to be overseen by Russell T Davies as showrunner – which is significant given that they’re both returning in the same roles for this year’s anniversary.

David’s predecessor Christopher Eccleston is my favourite Doctor, because he was my first Doctor and he was absolutely brilliant in the role. But David Tennant is joint top of my list with him to be honest, as he was also excellent, as demonstrated right from the outset in this second series, where Billie Piper also returns as Rose Tyler. There’s such wonderful chemistry between David and Billie as their relationship progresses throughout the series, which makes the finale all the more moving.

So without further ado, and without all the preamble that I had to write for the first series, let’s get straight on with my review, for which there’s also an accompanying playlist of clips on my Youtube channel, and I hope you enjoy!

[Note: This post was edited in November 2023 to mention the new Whoniverse collection on iPlayer and the Series 1-4 & Specials box set, and in February 2025 to mention the new edit of Fear Her on iPlayer.]

Doctor Who Review – Series 1

Doctor Who is one of Britain’s biggest cultural phenomenons and needs no introduction. With stories spanning all of time and space, encountering an infinite variety of locations, species and scenarios, and promoting the universal right and desire for everything to co-exist in peaceful harmony, along with the ability to regenerate the lead character using different actors, the series has a scope and versatility unlike any other. And the adventures, characters, drama, humour, special effects, music and other elements have all come together to make the show continuously exciting to watch.

Of course, everyone has their own favourite (and least favourite) Doctors, companions, enemies, stories, writers, showrunners, etc, even if we don’t all agree on which ones. For many Whovians, the first Doctor they watch becomes their favourite Doctor by default, because you form a special connection with the one who hooks you into the show to begin with. That won’t be the case for every fan, but it certainly is with me.

Christopher Eccleston is therefore my favourite Doctor, with David Tennant a tightly close second, while Billie Piper as Rose Tyler is my favourite companion, and Russell T Davies is my favourite showrunner. But I’ve continued to enjoy the show very much since they all departed, and I’m always happy to give new people a chance. Whilst every change takes a bit of time to bed in and get used to, I like seeing the show evolve with new faces, places and ideas, as it helps to keep it fresh and interesting. After all, it would get boring if it always stayed the same.

But it’s still a joy to see former stars returning too of course. And so this year, for the big 60th anniversary, I’m delighted to see David Tennant is back as the Doctor for a special trilogy. And it’s great to see Russell T Davies as showrunner once again, 18 years after his big revival of the show in 2005.

Therefore, given the special circumstances, and because I’m a huge fan of the modern era of the show, I figured it’s high time I try and do detailed reviews for each of the modern series, which I own on Blu-ray. It’s certainly a good excuse, as if one’s ever needed, to rewatch the episodes and extra features yet again. So for this post I’ll be going through the Series 1 Steelbook Edition Blu-ray, as well as mentioning the music soundtrack and a few relevant items online. I’ll never be able to mention absolutely everything to do with the show, nor would I want to. I just want to pick out the things that stand out to me, of which there are many in this first series.

I won’t complete all the series in time for the 60th anniversary of course, but I want to try and tick off the old Christopher Eccleston and David Tennant episodes by then if I can. And I fully intend to review the other Doctors beyond that as well. So we’ll see how far I get.

This first post is a particularly lengthy one, because I discuss how I got into the series, explore the 13 episodes and the various Blu-ray extras in depth, and express a lot of admiration for Christopher Eccleston as he was my first Doctor. And there’s an associated playlist on my Youtube channel with clips, music, interviews and other things relating to the series. So I hope you enjoy!

[Note: This post was edited in November 2023 to mention the new Whoniverse collection on iPlayer and the Series 1-4 & Specials box set.]

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