‘THE LEGACY OF TIME’
Please feel free to comment on my review.
Six Doctors and More – Celebrating 20 Years of ‘Doctor Who’ @ Big Finish
I need to write my own epic ‘Doctor Who’ multi-Doctor adventure for the 60th anniversary! 😀
2019 was a very big year for Big Finish! It was time to celebrate 20 years of making ‘Doctor Who’ audio adventures. Big Finish has meant a lot to ‘Doctor Who’ fans, including me. They’ve provided us with many wonderful adventures featuring our favourite Doctors and companions – classic and new.
To celebrate 20 years of making ‘Doctor Who’ audio adventures, Big Finish decided to produce an epic six-hour adventure featuring various Doctors and companions. Although not all my favourite companions are in this epic story, it’s still worthy to celebrate 20 years of ‘Doctor Who’ @ Big Finish.
It’s not just classic Doctors and companions of course. ‘The Legacy of Time’ also features characters who have been in the new series of ‘Doctor Who’ and have featured in their own spin-off shows by Big Finish. Thus, each of the six episodes of this adventure feature many crossovers with characters.
The limited edition box set of ‘The Legacy of Time’ has been presented in a similar style to ‘The Light At The End’ and ‘The Sixth Doctor: The Last Adventure’ limited edition box sets. This time however, the box set has extended to being an 8-disc box set with this being an epic six-part hourly adventure.
The six episodes are on the first 6 discs and there’s behind-the-scenes material on the last two discs of the 8-disc limited edition box set of ‘The Legacy of Time’. The story stars Paul McGann, Tom Baker, Peter Davison, Colin Baker, Sylvester McCoy and many more exciting ‘Doctor Who’ stars in it.
The six episodes are ‘Lies In Ruins’ by James Goss, ‘The Split Infinitive’ by John Dorney, ‘The Sacrifice of Jo Grant’ by Guy Adams, ‘Relative Time’ by Matt Fitton, ‘The Avenues of Possibility’ by Jonathan Morris and ‘Collision Course’ by Guy Adams. The directors here are Ken Bentley and Helen Goldwyn!
1. ‘LIES IN RUINS’
Alex Kingston and Lisa Bowerman in ‘The Legacy of Time’.
The first ‘Legacy of Time’ episode called ‘Lies In Ruins’ by James Goss stars Paul McGann as the Eighth Doctor. There’s also Alex Kingston as River Song and Lisa Bowerman as Bernice Summerfield.
This was an interesting way to start ‘The Legacy of Time’ as we don’t go in chronological order with the Doctors. We go in random order. There’s bound to be a reason behind this ordering later on. 🙂
It was also interesting to hear Bernice Summerfield meeting River Song in this episode. Although they have met each other before since Benny taught River at a university college before graduation.
Having Benny and River meet each other like this is like a perfect meeting. Both share a lot in common. They’re both archaeologists, professors at this stage and they both know the Doctor here.
They also clash with each other which is interesting. Benny has a more moral centre and considers the Doctor her best friend whilst River’s sassy and more daring, considering the Doctor her husband.
Benny and River come from their own spin-off shows in Big Finish audio. Benny stars in ‘Bernice Summerfield’ whilst River’s in ‘The Diary of River Song’. Interesting to see that crossover in this one!
I’ve not heard any of ‘The Diary of River Song’ audios beforehand, but it was easy to get into River’s character here. I also knew who Benny was after hearing her in quite a number of audios already. 😀
I enjoyed how they meet up with the Eighth Doctor who comes to this desolate planet as their beckoning call – they sent separate calls each I believe. The Eighth Doctor isn’t very cheerful though.
This is the Eighth Doctor from the Time War and he’s seen quite a lot already. I found how Paul McGann delivers an array of emotions in this adventure, especially when he gets very angry at times.
The theme music for this episode is an arrangement by Howard Carter which I believe is for the Time War audios with the Eighth and War Doctors. I would’ve used the David Arnold theme tune myself. 😦
I enjoyed how Benny and River share how well they know the Doctor. Benny is surprised to learn that River married the Doctor, but she doesn’t reveal to him who she is during this audio adventure.
That did puzzle me as I wondered had River met the Eighth Doctor already in her own spin-off series as well as the ‘Doom Coaltion’ audios. I’ll have to check those out to see if I have missed anything. 😀
Benny of course has met the Eighth Doctor before in stories like ‘The Dying Days’ and ‘The Company of Friends: Benny’s Story’. She’s surprised once she finds the Eighth Doctor isn’t as she remembered.
The Eighth Doctor also has a new companion with him – Alexandria Riley as Ria. I found Ria very annoying in this episode. She comes across as over eager and silly, especially in a screaming girl way.
Benny and River are better women compared to Ria when they notice the Eighth Doctor isn’t acting himself. It was so intriguing when it turned out that Ria was an android companion the Doctor made.
The story also features Okezie Morro as a scavenger captain and Beth Chalmers as a scavenger. These scavengers have come to this desolate planet which turns out to be ‘Gallifrey’. I was stunned!
It was tense when the Doctor became god-like and had powers to ward off the scavengers by building a forcefield and rebuilding Gallifrey. Sometimes the Eighth Doctor sounded pretty terrifying.
It was a thrill to hear the horn blaring from ‘The Five Doctors’ that I recognised so well. The dark tower even featured in the story I believe. I liked when Benny and River dealt with the Eighth Doctor.
Both in their own way persuade the Eighth Doctor to come out of his god-like mania. He eventually does and it transpires Gallifrey is not Gallifrey at all. It turns out to be the remains of a dead TARDIS.
I enjoyed how the episode ended with the Eighth Doctor taking River and Benny back home in the TARDIS. Overall, ‘Lies In Ruins’ was a strong start to ‘The Legacy of Time’ and I enjoyed it very much.
There’s a post-credits scene at the end of the episode where the Sirens reawakened to make sure Ria was killed. Remember the Sirens? I was keen to find out what would happen in the next episode.
‘Lies In Ruins’ rating – 9/10
2. ‘THE SPLIT INFINITIVE’
Pamela Salem, Sophie Aldred, Karen Gledhill, Simon Williams and Hugh Ross in ‘The Legacy of Time’.
In the second episode of ‘The Legacy of Time’, we go back in time to the Seventh Doctor era. This is ‘The Split Infinitive’ by John Dorney with Sylvester McCoy’s Seventh Doctor and Sophie Aldred’s Ace.
The episode also features the Counter-Measures team including Simon Williams as Group Captain Gilmore, Pamela Salem as Rachel Jensen and Karen Gledhill as Allison Williams. Superb they’re back!
There’s also Hugh Ross as Sir Tobias Kinsella who is the Counter-Measures team’s superior. The Counter-Measures team have featured in ‘Doctor Who’ before, first in ‘Remembrance of the Daleks’.
They also appeared in ‘1963: The Assassination Games’. Both times were with the Seventh Doctor and Ace. Though Sir Toby was not in ‘Remembrance’; he was definitely in ‘The Assassination Games’.
The Counter-Measures team have had their own spin-off shows including ‘Counter-Measures’ set in the 1960s and ‘The New Counter-Measures’ set in the 1970s. This episode has a blending of the two.
Yeah! This is a unique encounter with the Counter-Measures team for the Seventh Doctor and Ace, as they meet them both in the 1960s and the 1970s. It’s complicated, but I’ll try my best to explain.
Since John Dorney wrote for the Seventh Doctor, Ace and the Counter-Measures in ‘The Assassination Games’, it makes sense for him to write for them again. We have a thrill of a ride here!
It starts off in the 1970s where Sir Toby calls the Counter-Measures team for a meeting…at the Post Office Tower. Thankfully WOTAN wasn’t there to cause trouble. 😀 Sir Toby alerts the team to a danger.
Apparently there’s a man called Kazan who runs a crime gang including a member with time-bending powers. The Counter-Measures team recognise the Doctor and Ace in a photo during a presentation.
Very soon, their meeting is interrupted when Ace walks in. I found it very amusing that Ace happens to just walk into the Counter-Measures team during the 1970s. I woke up once Ace has walked in! 😀
At the same time, or not as the case maybe, another meeting takes place between the Counter-Measures team in the 1960s about the same thing. One major difference is that the Seventh Doctor walks in instead. 😀
This is a pretty complex timey-wimey episode that needs the listener’s full attention as to what’s going on. We keep jumping back and forth from the 1960s to the 1970s and back again for this story.
I did get a clear idea of what was going on by the end, but my goodness it was quite confusing! The highlight of the episode is how Ace and the Seventh Doctor interact with different CM teams in this.
I can’t claim to know about ‘The New Counter-Measures’ series in the 1970s as I’ve not heard it yet and I’ve only heard Series 1 of the ‘Counter-Measures’ series in the 1960s. But the two are similar. 🙂
Both time zones feature Counter-Measures interacting with each other and both versions of the team have good intentions. Ace works a lot with the 1970s team whilst the Doctor works with 1960s team.
Each has their moments including Gilmore who gets to fly about in a rocket pack; Rachel happening to be a good shot with a gun and Allison getting to flirt with someone to drug him to sleep. Naughty! 😀
Sir Toby is quite cool and aloof as he easily accepts the Doctor and Ace’s words to the team in both time zones. Gilmore, Rachel and Allison do their best in understanding the complex parts of this tale.
The episode’s villains turned out to be a surprise for me. They happen to be the Rocket Men. They’ve been in ‘Doctor Who’ before; though this was the first time I heard them in a Big Finish audio drama.
The episode’s climax was pretty exciting and tense, despite the complicated stuff. Ace gets rescued by the Doctor when falling through the sky. The two reunite with Counter-Measures in the 1970s. 😀
‘The Split Infinitive’ is a good instalment in ‘The Legacy of Time’. I enjoyed it very much especially with the Seventh Doctor and Ace reuniting with the Counter-Measures once again in two time zones.
I don’t usually talk about the episode’s end credits, but I noticed that Peter Davison was reading them once the episode had finished. I’m curious to why that is. He didn’t star in this episode, did he?
‘The Split Infinitive’ rating – 8/10
3. ‘THE SACRIFICE OF JO GRANT’
Katy Manning and Jemma Redgrave in ‘The Legacy of Time’.
The third episode of ‘The Legacy of Time’ has us going back in time again to the Third Doctor era. This is ‘The Sacrifice of Jo Grant’ by Guy Adams and it features Tim Treloar playing the Third Doctor. 😀
It also has Katy Manning as Jo Jones, Jemma Redgrave as Kate Stewart and Ingrid Oliver as Osgood. After listening to this episode, I found it a compelling and emotionally-gripping instalment of the set.
Like ‘The Split Infinitive’ beforehand, this episode does a similar thing with two time zones meeting each other. This time however, it’s 2010s U.N.I.T. crossing over with 1970s U.N.I.T. with Jon Pertwee.
I’ve not heard any of ‘The Third Doctor Adventures’ with Tim Treloar as Jon Pertwee’s Doctor at the time of hearing this episode. I did hear Tim Treloar voice the Third Doctor in ‘The Light At The End’. 🙂
I’ve also not heard any of the ‘U.N.I.T.’ new series audios featuring Kate Stewart and Osgood. But I knew who these characters were and with Jo being the focus of things, it was an easy one to listen to.
The episode begins with a message from the 1970s by Karen Gledhill as Allison Williams from ‘Counter-Measures’. She claims to be an eye-witness when she saw the ‘sacrifice’ made by Jo Grant.
I was surprised by that since shouldn’t this episode be called ‘The Sacrifice of Jo Jones’ instead. But it does get explained later on in the episode. Allison also makes a comeback later on in the episode. 😀
Anyway after that 1970s message by Allison, we cut to Jo and Osgood who are enjoying themselves at a water park of all places. They’re then summoned by Kate Stewart who says that they’re needed.
Jo has worked with Kate Stewart and Osgood before in U.N.I.T. in the anthology ‘Assembled’. It was easy to get into Jo’s interaction with Kate and Osgood and she seems to bounce off them pretty well.
Apparently there are pockets of temporal instability in a Dorset village. U.N.I.T. gets called in to investigate. Soon, Kate is drawn into one of these pockets with Jo following her. They end up in the 1970s.
Once there, Jo and Kate help save a man from a pirate and the man turns out to be…the Third Doctor. The Doctor seems to recognise Jo really easily whilst Kate keeps her identity a secret from him.
I love the interaction between Jo and the Third Doctor in this story. It was fascinating to hear an older Jo interact with her Doctor, as she hasn’t seen him in years. She shares a bit of what she’s done.
Mind you, this isn’t the first time Big Finish did something like that. There was the ‘Companion Chronicle’ called ‘Find and Replace’ where an older Jo went back in time to meet the Third Doctor. 🙂
Of course, this episode takes place before ‘Find and Replace’ from the Third Doctor’s point of view. I’ve also explored having an older Jo meet the Fifth Doctor in my own story called ‘City of Monsters’.
Katy Manning and Tim Treloar spark off each other very well. Due to this being the first time I heard Tim Treloar properly as Jon Pertwee’s Doctor in an audio adventure, I found him pretty good in this.
I also enjoyed Kate Stewart’s story in travelling back in time. She’s reluctant to make a call to her dad, who in her time zone would be dead. With enough prompting from Jo, Kate phones up her dad.
It was lovely to hear the Brigadier make a cameo in this episode, voiced by Jon Culshaw. I also liked the Doctor working out that Kate is the Brigadier’s daughter, echoing Matt Smith in ‘The Power of Three’.
Osgood has her moments in this episode, including when she contacts Kate and Jo in the past and is star-struck to be talking to the Third Doctor. Her moments when she’s breathing heavily were funny.
I found the ending pretty emotional, especially when Jo made the big sacrifice. It did seem like she was gone forever. I did wonder whether this was the definite end for Jo. Thankfully it works out fine.
‘The Sacrifice of Jo Grant’ is brilliant. I enjoyed how the Third Doctor met up with the new series version of U.N.I.T. in Kate Stewart and Osgood and how he reunited with an older Jo in this episode.
Things seem to be getting serious, especially when Kate wonders who was impersonating Osgood’s voice to tamper with the Doctor’s handiwork in closing the temporal pockets. Is this very significant?
‘The Sacrifice of Jo Grant’ rating – 9/10
4. ‘RELATIVE TIME’
Georgia Tennant and Peter Davison in ‘The Legacy of Time’.
It’s the fourth episode of ‘The Legacy of Time’! This is ‘Relative Time’ by Matt Fitton. It features Peter Davison as the Fifth Doctor and his real-life daughter Georgia Tennant playing the Doctor’s daughter!
As many of you know, I have my perception on how I see the Fifth Doctor era since I’m a huge fan of it. I’ve written my own ‘Fifth Doctor’ series on my blog. So I was a little anxious regarding this episode!
I was disappointed Nyssa and Tegan weren’t going to feature in ‘The Legacy of Time’. It was a big shame. I consider them as part of the Big Finish 20th anniversary of ‘Doctor Who’ as everybody else.
At least the Fifth Doctor was on his way back to meet up with Nyssa and Tegan in Amsterdam at the start of this episode. I would’ve liked it however if they had their names mentioned during the story.
Anyway, this episode might turn out to be great, right? I hoped so as it featured a pairing I wanted to hear in a Big Finish audio! Here’s the meeting of Peter Davison’s Doctor and Georgia Tennant as Jenny.
Jenny made her first appearance in ‘Doctor Who’ in the TV episode ‘The Doctor’s Daughter’ with David Tennant. And here she is meeting Peter Davison’s Doctor…before he had her as David Tennant.
Yeah, err… (Pause) Wibbly-wobbly, timey-wimey and all that! But hey, this is nice! Peter Davision actually gets to work with his real-life daughter playing the Fifth Doctor whilst she’s playing Jenny. 🙂
It was lovely to hear the interaction between Peter and Georgia in this episode as the Doctor and Jenny. They have worked before in TV and audio, but this was the first time for them as Five and Jenny.
Was it all worth it though? Err…um…sort of. I didn’t feel this episode had enough scenes featuring Peter’s Doctor and Georgia as Jenny. There seemed to be more scenes featuring the Nine than them.
Now, don’t get me wrong. Much of this episode is good especially when Peter’s Doctor and Georgia’s Jenny are in scenes together. It was fun how Peter’s Doctor coped with Jenny being his daughter. 😀
In many ways, Jenny is a lot like the Tenth Doctor when she interacts with Peter’s Doctor. Quite fitting considering Jenny was taken from the Tenth Doctor himself in that TV story she’d appeared in.
It also matches how Peter’s Doctor interacted with David Tennant’s Doctor in ‘Time Crash’ when he interacts with Jenny here. Also for the fact Georgia did marry David Tennant in real-life of course. 😀
Jenny of course has had her own spin-off series by Big Finish. I’ve not heard any of those audios yet here, but I’m assuming they take place after ‘The Doctor’s Daughter’ as much as this episode does. 🙂
It’s funny when Jenny’s clearly filled with enthusiasm whilst Peter’s Doctor is rather reserved and questioning of this stranger’s skills. He is quite surprised when he sees she has her own sonic key. 😀
Like I said, this episode fell flat for me when it came to focusing a lot of scenes on John Heffernan as the Nine. Don’t get me wrong, the Nine’s a superb villain – being a Time Lord with nine personalities.
But it does distract somewhat from the heart of the episode when it should’ve been character-focused on the Fifth Doctor and Jenny. A lot of the episode’s plot focused and is rather complicated.
I believe the episode has a passenger ship where the Doctor’s TARDIS and the Nine’s TARDIS are causing trouble within the time vortex. The Doctor and Jenny must stop the Nine in causing trouble.
The episode also features Ronni Ancona as Thana who becomes a companion for the Nine. There’s also Mandi Symonds as the captain of the passenger ship and Christina Brassington as Mr. Grigorian.
I was hoping for this episode to end with Jenny actually travelling with the Fifth Doctor. That would’ve been fun to hear. But instead, she’s left behind by him and perhaps with no memory at all.
I’m not sure what to make of that ending. I’ve no idea if Jenny forgot meeting her dad then. I don’t know if we will get another meeting between Jenny and her dad – perhaps both Peter D and David T.
‘Relative Time’ had some promise featuring Peter Davison’s Doctor meeting Georgia Tennant as Jenny. There were great scenes between them, but a lot of the episode became distracted from that.
‘Relative Time’ rating – 7/10
5. ‘THE AVENUES OF POSSIBIILITY’
Anna Hope, Colin Baker and India Fisher in ‘The Legacy of Time’.
Here we are on the fifth episode of ‘The Legacy of Time’! This time, it’s ‘The Avenues of Possibility’ by Jonathan Morris. This features Colin Baker as the Sixth Doctor and India Fisher as Charley Pollard.
I always like Jonny Morris’ writing in ‘Doctor Who’. So I knew I was going to have a good time with this episode. I’m not an immediate fan of it, but I did find this episode to be a pretty solid instalment.
In this tale, we have the return of Anna Hope as DI Patricia Menzies. Menzies has been in other Sixth Doctor audio tales like ‘The Crimes of Thomas Brewster’, ‘The Condemned’ and ‘The Raincloud Man’.
The episode begins with Menzies interrogating a man from 19th century London. He happens to be…Henry Fielding. Mr. Fielding founded the London police force known as the Bow Street Runners.
Both he and his brother John appear in this episode as well as their sister Mary. It was nice to be introduced to another historical figure from Earth’s history that I’ve never heard of before until now.
Duncan Wibsey guest stars as Henry Fielding whilst Richard Hansell plays his brother John. Duncan Wisbey has done many Big Finish audios in ‘Doctor Who’. Henry Fielding is one of many roles here. 🙂
It was interesting to learn a lot about Henry Fielding in one episode. As well as founding the Bow Street Runners, he’s also a magistrate and novelist. He wrote a well-known work called ‘Tom Jones’.
I enjoyed Henry Fielding’s interaction with Menzies in the episode and how they work as a team, despite some cultural differences. Apparently, Henry walked into a portal that led into London 2009.
It’s later revealed that Henry and his brother John met the Doctor before in their time period. First when he was the First Doctor with Dodo Chaplet and later on as the Sixth Doctor with Peri Brown. 😀
Whilst Henry Fielding is with Menzies in 2009, back where he comes from in London 1751, the Sixth Doctor and Charley arrive. Charley was once the Eighth Doctor’s companion in the Big Finish audios.
Here, it’s out of order as she’s travelling with the Sixth Doctor before he meets her. Charley still maintains to not reveal too much about the Doctor’s future while she travels with him in the TARDIS.
Anyway, it seems it’s not just a portal leading into 2009 that’s a problem in London 1751. There’s also a portal leading to an alternative London in 1951. A reality that has a lot of brutal military types!
It was disturbing to hear this alternative London in 1951 where military types have laser weapons threatening to get the Doctor in 1751. I was put in mind of the alternative military types in ‘Inferno’.
This episode features Sara Poyzer as Stables, who is in command of the military forces in alternative London 1951. There’s also Delroy Atkinson as Brigade Leader Wadmore. An ‘Inferno’ connection! 😀
I couldn’t help think of the passing through various portals into other time zones in London being similar to the comedy TV show ‘Goodnight Sweetheart’. Menzies even mentions Nicholas Lyndhurst!
It turns out Stables has a voice in her head from aliens who are controlling her to carry out violent acts to invade other time zones. The aliens happen to be…the Sirens of Time! Do you recall them? 😀
The Sirens of Time made their first appearance in the very first Big Finish audio of ‘Doctor Who’ called ‘The Sirens of Time’. It was a thrill to hear them in this penultimate episode of ‘The Legacy of Time’.
The Doctor needs to find a way to defeat the Sirens by using a huge amount of paradox energy. Charley inadvertently reveals the Doctor’s future to him by telling him about all the travels they had.
This includes Daleks, William Shakespeare, C’rizz, the Divergent Universe, etc. Thankfully the Doctor forgets all about this once the adventure is over and it sends the Sirens off to get distracted for a bit.
‘The Avenues of Possibility’ is an enjoyable instalment in ‘The Legacy of Time’ and it was good to hear Sixy and Charley with Menzies and the Fielding brothers. What will happen in the final episode?
Just to talk about credits again, Peter Davison read out the credits for his episode ‘Relative Time’. But he also reads the credits for ‘The Avenues of Possibility’ here. I wonder why! It is pretty peculiar!
‘The Avenues of Possibility’ rating – 8/10
6. ‘COLLISION COURSE’
Louise Jameson and Lalla Ward in ‘The Legacy of Time’.
I added this prequel scene here because it’s not included in ‘The Legacy of Time’ set. It’s exclusive to the internet. The scene can easily be heard before or after you’ve heard the ‘Collision Course’ story.
Anyway, here we are on the final episode of ‘The Legacy of Time’ – ‘Collision Course’ by Guy Adams. It features Tom Baker as the Fourth Doctor with Lalla Ward as Romana and Louise Jameson as Leela.
So this is the big one! This is the episode that wraps up everything that’s been going on in ‘The Legacy of Time’. It’s going to be the big episode that features all of the Doctors in this story together.
As a final result…um, it’s fine. Don’t get me wrong, there were lots of good moments in the episode. But most of the episode is complex and I wish the meetings of Doctors could be handled differently.
Am I being too harsh? Well…I’ll try and clarify what I mean. The episode begins on Gallifrey where Romana and Leela see the fallout of temporal distortions reaching them and the universe is at stake.
The Sirens of Time have also been unleashed. Romana and Leela need to find the cause of what’s going on as it connects to similar adventures they’ve had with the Fourth Doctor on the same planet.
We then have two adventures coalescing with each other. One is with a young Fourth Doctor and Leela and the other with an older Fourth Doctor and Romana. The two teams visit the planet Henlen.
This is at different points in time for them. The Doctor and Leela are visiting Henlen when it was younger with forests whilst the Doctor and Romana are visiting Helen when it’s desolate and barren.
It was a challenge to try and keep track of what was happening in the two time zones with two different versions of the Fourth Doctor. But it did all come together concerning Henlen’s significance.
It seems Henlen was the planet for the first TARDIS’ test flight. It involved six Time Lord pilots and three pilots include Alan Cox as Tompino, Richard Earl as Punshon and Rebecca Kilgarriff as Ankarrie.
But of course something went wrong. The Sirens of Time took control of the Time Lord pilots and used them to cause temporal distortions in the universe. Therefore this is all an attempt of sabotage.
It was baffling to get my head around the Doctor and Leela and the Doctor and Romana communicating with the ghosts of Time Lord pilots to try and fix things. It sadly may be too late here.
As the Doctor and Leela and the Doctor and Romana try to head back to their TARDISes in different time zones, both Doctors begin to fade away. I’m not certain how that issue was resolved in the tale.
In the future back on Gallifrey, with Romana and Leela remembering these adventures, they travel back in time to sort out the mess on Henlen. But they may be too late again with the six pilots dead.
Thankfully help is at hand as the Doctor’s TARDIS materialises in the first TARDIS’ console room and out step…Lisa Bowerman as Bernice Summerfield? That was quite odd. But she’s not alone though.
She’s brought the Doctors including Tim Treloar as the Third; Tom Baker as the Fourth; Peter Davison as the Fifth; Colin Baker as the Sixth; Sylvester McCoy as the Seventh and Paul McGann as the Eighth.
But those Doctors aren’t the only ones in this story. There are also surprise cameos of David Bradley as the First, Frazer Hines as the Second and David Tennant as the Tenth. It was so nice to hear them.
I was disappointed David Tennant’s Doctor as well as the Second and the First never got to interact with the other Doctors. They only had one scene where Leela and Benny checked up on them and that was it.
In fact, how come Nine, Eleven, Twelve and even Thirteen didn’t show up? Why was it just Benny who brought them? Jo, Nyssa, Peri, Ace and perhaps Charley could’ve brought their Doctors along. 😦
Eventually, the universe is saved and the Sirens of Time are dispelled for now. The various Doctors have gone back to their times and places and Leela and Romana soon return home back to Gallifrey.
‘Collision Course’ has been okay as a conclusion to ‘The Legacy of Time’, but it wasn’t entirely satisfying. I would’ve done the meetings of Doctors differently and made it less complex than it was.
Did I mention that Peter Davison read the end credits for this episode too? Well, it makes sense since he has been in this episode. He’s read the end credits for four episodes of ‘The Legacy of Time’.
There’s a track of incidental music to enjoy at the end of Disc 6.
‘Collision Course’ rating – 7/10
BEHIND-THE-SCENES PART ONE
Sylvester McCoy and Paul McGann in ‘The Legacy of Time’.
Discs 7 and 8 of ‘The Legacy of Time’ box set form a two-part documentary into the making of the six-linked-episode adventure. The documentary looks into each of the six episodes in turn with behind-the-scenes cast and crew interviews. First, there’s an introduction by the producer David Richardson.
David Richardson goes into detail on how ‘The Legacy of Time’ was prepared as far back as late 2016 for the 20th anniversary of ‘Doctor Who’ @ Big Finish. He also goes into the original synopsises of each episode which were very different compared to how they eventually ended up in the audios. 🙂
Disc 7 covers the first three episodes of ‘The Legacy of Time’. We first look into ‘Lies In Ruins’. This features interviews with writer James Goss, Paul McGann and Alex Kingston, Lisa Bowerman, Alexandria Riley, Okezie Morro and Beth Chalmers. All interviewees are enthusiastic in this segment.
I enjoyed how Paul McGann and Alex Kingston share their memories of becoming involved in ‘Doctor Who’ on TV and how Lisa Bowerman shares her experiences of playing Bernice Summerfield in audio. It’s so intriguing that Alexandria Riley has also done ‘Torchwood’ and ‘Doctor Who’ on audio.
After that, we look into ‘The Split Infinitive’. This features interviews with writer John Dorney, Sylvester McCoy, Sophie Aldred, Simon Williams and Pamela Salem; and Karen Gledhill. I’m surprised Hugh Ross didn’t get interviewed for this episode. Vince Leigh gets interviewed for this however. 😀
It was lovely to hear how Sophie Aldred, Simon Williams, Pamela Salem and Karen Gledhill enjoyed sharing their memories of making ‘Remembrance of the Daleks’ on TV and reuniting with them now and again. Sylvester shares how much he enjoys doing ‘Doctor Who’ professionally with Big Finish. 🙂
‘Part One’ of this behind-the-scenes documentary comes to an end with a look into ‘The Sacrifice of Jo Grant’. This features interviews with writer Guy Adams, Tim Treloar and Katy Manning; Jemma Redgrave and Ingrid Oliver; and Nicholas Briggs. It was so nice to hear anecdotes from these people.
Katy Manning and Tim Treloar clearly get on well with each other from making ‘The Third Doctor Adventures’ on audio and it was nice to hear Jemma Redgrave share her memories of watching ‘Doctor Who’ with Jon Pertwee. It’s interesting how Jon Culshaw’s cameo as the Brigadier happened.
BEHIND-THE-SCENES PART TWO
Tom Baker and director Ken Bentley in ‘The Legacy of Time’.
Disc 8 continues looking into the making of ‘The Legacy of Time’ box set. We start off with a look into ‘Relative Time’. This features interviews with Peter Davison and Georgia Tennant, John Heffernan, Ronni Ancona, Mandi Symonds and Christian Brassington. All interviewees are pretty enthusiastic. 🙂
It’s intriguing the story was originally written in mind to feature Amy/Abby and Zara from ‘Graceless’ with Peter Davison’s Doctor. That changed with future plans for ‘Graceless’ in mind and with reuniting Peter Davison with Georgia Tennant. Peter and Georgia interviewed together was brilliant!
Next we go on to ‘The Avenues of Possibility’. This features interviews with writer Jonathan Morris, director Helen Goldwyn, Colin Baker, India Fisher, Anna Hope, Duncan Wisbey, Richard Hansell, Delroy Atkinson, etc. Colin has such amazing enthusiasm for the people he works with in Big Finish. 🙂
It was very interesting to hear that ‘The Avenues of Possibility’ was originally going to have Colin Baker’s Doctor reuniting with Jago & Litefoot. Sadly that didn’t happen as dear Trevor Baxter passed away before recording could take place. 😦 Tributes are given to Trevor Baxter in this documentary. 🙂
We then have a look into the final episode of the set, ‘Collision Course’. This features interviews with writer Guy Adams, Tom Baker, Lalla Ward and Louise Jameson, Alan Cox, Richard Earl, Rebecca Kilgarrif, etc. Originally the adventure was going to have the Chronovores instead of the Sirens here.
I was disappointed David Tennant, Frazer Hines and David Bradley weren’t interviewed for this behind-the-scenes documentary. It would’ve been great to hear them and find out how they contributed to the story. It’s a great shame since the other Doctors get to be interviewed throughout.
The documentary finishes with contributions made by various people on what Big Finish has meant to them. This includes Paul McGann and Alex Kingston; Sylvester McCoy; Sophie Aldred; Simon Williams and Pamela Salem; Karen Gledhill; Katy Manning and Tim Treloar and Tom Baker himself. 😀
Even Hugh Ross contributes on how much Big Finish means to him. There’s also Colin Baker; India Fisher; Lisa Bowerman; Lalla Ward and Louise Jameson; and Peter Davision and Georgia Tennant. I did like Peter mentioning Sarah Sutton, Janet Fielding and Matthew Waterhouse in the documentary.
‘The Legacy of Time’ has been an enjoyable albeit flawed epic ‘Doctor Who’ audio adventure by Big Finish. My problems with it are that it doesn’t quite connect altogether with the episodes being standalone from each other and I would’ve handled the meeting of the Doctors in the finale pretty differently.
I would’ve liked to have included Nyssa and Tegan in the Fifth Doctor episode of the story myself. But with that said, ‘The Legacy of Time’ does what it set out to do in celebrating 20 years of ‘Doctor Who’ @ Big Finish. Although not all of my favourite characters were in it, the occasion was celebrated.
I’d like to close with sharing how much Big Finish means to me as a ‘Doctor Who’ fan. Big Finish embraced my love for the show by enjoying more stories in an extended universe. I never thought I would enjoy Fifth Doctor and Nyssa stories on audio and still continue to do so to this very day here.
As well as the Fifth Doctor and Nyssa stories, I’ve enjoyed quite a good number of Fourth, Sixth, Seventh and Eighth Doctor adventures. I hoped Big Finish would do some Tenth Doctor audio adventures and they did. I gained inspiration from Big Finish in writing my own ‘Doctor Who’ stories.
Big Finish also inspired me to meet the people who I’ve enjoyed watching and hearing in ‘Doctor Who’ including Sarah Sutton, Peter Davison, Colin Baker, Sophie Aldred and Wendy Padbury. I love meeting people like them at conventions and it’s thanks to Big Finish for inspiring me to go and meet them.
As I write this review, I’m inspired to write more of my own ‘Doctor Who’ stories and hope to attend more conventions. I enjoy hearing the stories Big Finish make in many ‘Doctor Who’ worlds and I enjoy reviewing them. Big Finish has maintained stability for me in ‘Doctor Who’ and I’m so thankful.
Big Finish also inspired me to set up my own blog, especially when they closed their forum in 2015. I wouldn’t have expected to create ‘Doctor Who Timelines’ that feature varying stories from TV, books and audios including by Big Finish. It’s nice Big Finish keep making tales to add to my timelines.
I’m planning ahead on my own 60th anniversary ‘Doctor Who’ adventure for ‘Bradley’s Basement’, inspired by ‘The Legacy of Time’. In the meantime, check out ‘The Prime Factor’ which features many cameos of past and future Doctors and companions meeting the Fifth Doctor, Nyssa and Billy. 🙂
‘The Legacy of Time’ rating – 8/10
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For the First Doctor was
For the Second Doctor was For the Third Doctor was
For Jo was For the Brigadier was
For the Fourth Doctor was
For Romana was
For Leela was
For the Fifth Doctor was
For the Sixth Doctor was For Charley was For the Seventh Doctor was
For Ace was
For Counter-Measures was
For the Eighth Doctor was
For River Song was For Benny was
For the Tenth Doctor was
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The next story
For the First Doctor is
For the Second Doctor is For the Third Doctor is For Jo is
For the Brigadier is For the Fourth Doctor was
For Romana was
For Leela was
For the Fifth Doctor is
For the Sixth Doctor is
For Charley is
For the Seventh Doctor is
For Ace is
For Counter-Measures is
For the Eighth Doctor is For River Song was
For Benny was
For the Tenth Doctor is
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| Return to The First Doctor’s Timeline | |
| Return to The Second Doctor’s Timeline | |
| Return to The Third Doctor’s Timeline | |
| Return to Jo’s Timeline | |
| Return to The Brigadier’s Timeline | |
| Return to The Fourth Doctor’s Timeline | |
| Return to Romana’s Timeline | |
| Return to Leela’s Timeline | |
| Return to The Fifth Doctor’s Timeline | |
| Return to The Sixth Doctor’s Timeline | |
| Return to Charley’s Timeline | |
| Return to The Seventh Doctor’s Timeline | |
| Return to Ace’s Timeline | |
| Return to The Counter-Measures Timeline | |
| Return to The Eighth Doctor’s Timeline | |
| Return to River Song’s Timeline | |
| Return to Benny’s Timeline | |
| Return to The Tenth Doctor’s Timeline | |
| Return to The Doctors’ Timelines Index | |
| Return to The Companions’ Timelines Index | |
| Return to Doctor Who Timelines | |
| Return to Doctor Who | |
| Return to Sci-Fi |
Bradley's Basement 
Epic phenomenal review, talk about attention to detail, Wow Tim I’m speechless, this review is hands down one of the best reviews you’ve written, the amount of time & effort you put into this is a credit to your writing skills & love for Doctor Who.
This puts my efforts to shame, there’s no way I’d have patience write a review thats as in – depth as this, blimey Tim you thrown everything but the kitchen sink into this one.
Your timelines are a godsend which helped me & many other fan’s with there chronological placements.
Astounding review. Big Finish wake up smell the coffee & hire this man.
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Hi Simon.
This was a challenge to review, but thankfully I took my time with listening to each of the 8 discs in turn for the limited edition box set. I enjoy reviewing ‘Doctor Who’ box sets that way and I’m glad you enjoyed how I tackled this review on this epic six-part adventure.
I’m glad you enjoy my ‘Doctor Who’ timelines and I’m pleased many have taken to using them to help guide their way into knowing which story is placed where. It isn’t always straight-forward, but it’s fun to keep updating each timeline with new stories as they come along.
Many thanks for your kind words, Simon.
Tim. 🙂
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P.s I reviewed BBC Audio Paradise Lost a Eleventh Doctor audiobook read by Jacob Dudman on my review page.
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Hi Simon.
Thanks for your ‘Paradise Lost’ review on your Amazon page. Greatly enjoyed it. Hope you enjoyed your birthday yesterday. Glad you enjoyed your latest ‘Doctor Who’ audios. I’m still waiting for some new ones to come in the post. 😀
I’ve done my ‘Daredevil’ 2003 film review as well as my ‘Resurrection of the Daleks’ novelization/audiobook review by the way.
Tim. 🙂
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