Audio CD / download review
BBC Audiobooks / Big Finish
Release date Out now

The 10th Doctor arrives on the maiden voyage of a new stardrive; the Seventh finds trouble in the tropics, and learns how to use language; the Sixth stumbles on a medieval world; while various companions face danger on Earth and the Cybermen's plans continue...

One of the best months for audio material in some time kicks off with the final 10th Doctor audio, at least for the moment, from the BBC.

Dan Abnett's The Last Voyage is a fitting send-off, set during the period when the Doctor is travelling solo, stumbling into perilous situations. David Tennant makes a strong narrator, practising his American accent in places, and ramping up the tension as needed. Listen out for the coda that sets out this Doctor's outlook perfectly.

VERDICT: 8/10

Big Finish also start strongly with Andy Lane's A Thousand Tiny Wings as the Seventh Doctor once again encounters Elizabeth Klein, the time-displaced Nazi from the nearly 10 year old story Colditz.

It has to do a lot of info-dumping in the first episode, but manages this neatly. Mixing genuine historical menace with an alien experiment, the story counterpoints Klein's National Socialist beliefs with the reality of someone putting them into practice. I would recommend relistening to Colditz first though.

VERDICT: 8/10

The accompanying instalment of The Three Companions is fast-paced as the plans for Earth become clear. Only the Brigadier, Polly and the fifth Doctor's erstwhile companion Thomas Brewster appear to stand in the way. With cameos from Cliff Jones (from the Pertwee story The Green Death), this moves things forward nicely.

VERDICT: 7/10