Big Finish review-Torchwood: The Red List

The pandemic may have halted plans for the official seventh series of Torchwood, but producers James Goss and Scott Handcock have been anything but idle. In the past 12 months, they have delivered Torchwood tales ranging from mould to coffee shops, featuring the return of Yvonne Hartman, Zachary Cross, Billis Manger, and Adam Smith. While most of us have struggled to take out the trash, these two have continued to give us the best version of Torchwood on any medium.

Their latest release features Mr Colchester teaming up with a modern-day version of Ace, aka Dorothy McShane, for an adventure set in South America. Both are there to investigate a revolution but are stuck in a hotel under quarantine.

The story begins with a brilliant monologue from Paul Clayton, who plays Mr Colchester, conveying information to the audience without feeling forced or unrealistic. Clayton clearly enjoys reprising his role as the fan-favourite Colchester, and Sophie Aldred’s portrayal of an older Ace is great to hear, demonstrating the amount of effort she puts into her performance as a younger version of the character on the main range.

The chemistry between the two leads is great, and their portrayal of the mundanity that comes with lockdown is relatable. They are supported by Manuel Pacific, who plays Xavier, a hotel technician, and does a tremendous job despite having a small role.

Scott Handcock’s direction is fantastic, eliciting genuine and believable performances from the cast members. The sound design by Steve Foxon perfectly captures the Latin ambience and complements Blair Mowat’s music incredibly well.

While it is difficult to provide a complete review without spoilers, the audio is a lot of fun and features the best-written characters from both Torchwood and Doctor Who. The cliffhanger ending leaves listeners wanting more, and I hope this isn’t the last we hear from Colchester and Ace.

Torchwood: The Red List is available to purchase from the Big Finish site and goes on general release on the 31st January 2022.


⭐⭐⭐⭐

Episode 248: Sophie Aldred Interview (2021)

Martyn is joined by Sophie Aldred, they talk about the paperback release of her Doctor Who book ‘At Childhood’s End’.

Past, present and future collide as the Thirteenth Doctor meets classic Doctor Who companion Ace – in the first epic novel from the woman who played her, Sophie Aldred.

Once, a girl called Ace travelled the universe with the Doctor – until, in the wake of a terrible tragedy they parted company. Decades later, she is known as Dorothy McShane, the reclusive millionaire philanthropist who heads global organisation A Charitable Earth.

And Dorothy is haunted by terrible nightmares, vivid dreams that begin just as scores of young runaways are vanishing from the dark alleyways of London. Could the disappearances be linked to sightings of sinister creatures lurking in the city shadows? Why has an alien satellite entered a secret orbit around the Moon?

Investigating the satellite with Ryan, Graham and Yaz, the Doctor is thrown together with Ace once more. Together they must unravel a malevolent plot that will cost thousands of lives. But can the Doctor atone for her past incarnation’s behaviour – and how much must Ace sacrifice to win victory not only for herself but for the Earth?

The podcast is available from all good podcast services, such as but not limited to Spotify, Amazon Music, PodchaserPlayer FM, Stitcher, and Apple Podcasts.

We also have a Smartlink.

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Equipment used in the creation of this feature was purchased through a grant from Graeae and The Paul Hamlyn Foundation.

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Review-Doctor Who: Grey man of the mountain

Something haunts the peak of Ben MacDui.
Something with heavy footsteps, striking terror in the hearts of those who sense it. With climbers going missing, retired Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart visits Scotland to investigate.
But when some old friends join his ascent, he worries that they will make things even more dangerous. As the snows blow in, and mists surround them, the Doctor, Ace and the Brigadier will face the Grey Man of the Mountain…


This year’s Christmas offer from Big Finish is a pretty strong release, it’s more subtle than last year’s ‘Blood on Santa’s Claw and Other Stories’. Written by Verity’s Lizabeth Myles, it teams The Brigadier up with The Seventh Doctor and Ace. Jon Culshaw plays the role exceptionally well. He’s so pitch-perfect that, if you didn’t know this wasn’t Nicholas Courtney, you wouldn’t know this wasn’t Nicholas Courtney.




McCoy and Aldred are on top form as always. The setting and environment make for a tense and unnerving experience. The audio is so vivid, I could see the action playing out in my mind’s eye. This felt like a Seventh Doctor/Ace era storyline. The audio even plays around with Ace’s sexuality, by maybe possibly giving her a love interest with Lucy Goldie’s vlogger character. The pair of have such natural chemistry.
There are a few niggles though. Vivien Read slightly overplays the landlady. It’s like she’s in completely different story-at times she reminded me of David Walliams’ Scottish riddler from Little Britain.
The audio also overruns by about 30 minutes. This, plus a sizeable guest cast makes material thin on the ground, I found myself starting to drift a bit towards the end.


Those nitpick’s aside, Grey man of the mountain is an immersive, atmospheric and underplayed Christmas special. Which takes full advantage of its setting, cast and the medium of telling a story for audio.

⭐⭐⭐

Doctor Who: Grey man of the mountain is available to purchase directly from Big Finish



Sophie Aldred writes Doctor Who book

Doctor Who: At Childhood’s End is the first Doctor Who novel from Sophie Aldred who played the Seventh Doctor’s friend Ace, published 6th February 2020.

Once, a girl called Ace travelled the universe with the Doctor – until, in the wake of a terrible tragedy they parted company. Decades later, she is known as Dorothy McShane, the reclusive millionaire philanthropist who heads global organisation A Charitable Earth.

Dorothy is haunted by terrible nightmares, vivid dreams that begin just as scores of young runaways are vanishing from the dark alleyways of London. Could the disappearances be linked to sightings of sinister creatures lurking in the city shadows? Why has an alien satellite entered a secret orbit around the Moon?

Investigating the satellite with Ryan, Graham and Yaz, the Doctor is thrown together with Ace once more. Together they must unravel a malevolent plot that will cost thousands of lives. But can the Doctor atone for her past incarnation’s behaviour – and how much must Ace sacrifice to win victory not only for herself, but for the Earth? Past or future, which path do you choose?

Sophie Aldred said:

“I was thrilled and honoured to have been asked to create this opportunity for the Thirteenth Doctor and Ace to meet each other. I had always hoped to be able to offer classic fans an encounter between Ace and a current Doctor in some form or other and I hope fans of the present team will enjoy the blending of two eras of the most amazing programme in the Universe.”

At Childhood’s End will also be available as an audiobook in CD and digital download from 6th February 2020, narrated by Sophie Aldred.

Episode 215: Keith Barnfather Interview

Pete Fagan talks to Director / Producer Keith Barnfather about the release of ‘Sil and the Devil Seeds of Arodor’ on Blu-ray and DVD, as well as his new two-disc collection of interviews entitled ‘The Doctors: More Monsters.’

Buy now:

Launch events:

The podcast is available from all good podcast services, such as but not limited to Amazon Music, PodchaserPlayer FM, Stitcher, and Apple Podcasts.

If you’d like to support the show, then please shop via our Amazon link. A small percentage goes our way, at no extra cost to you.

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Episode 166: Strangeness in Space

In which Pete chats with Trev Neal, Simon Hickson and Sophie Aldred about their sci-fi comedy audio series Strangeness in Space.

Check out the Strangeness in Space website or visit Kickstarter to help them fund the second part of the season 1 finale.

The podcast is available from all good podcast services, such as but not limited to Amazon Music, PodchaserPlayer FM, Stitcher, and Apple Podcasts.

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If you’d like to support the show, then please shop via our Amazon link. A small percentage goes our way, at no extra cost to you.

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Episode 64: Cat Flap Fever

The Bad Wilf posse gather outside a pub to discuss the final ‘classic’ serial, ‘Survival.’ Gerrod has watched the first episode, Martyn has a cold and with guest appearances from members of the Who’s He, Nights at the round table and Pharos Project podcasts, what can possibly go wrong?

Trust me Midge, trust me.




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Episode 58: Animal and Earth Aid

Martyn and Pete look at the Big Finish audios Animal and Earth Aid.

The podcast is available from all good podcast services, such as but not limited to Amazon Music, PodchaserPlayer FM, Stitcher, and Apple Podcasts.

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Episode 57: Big Finish-Crime of the Century

In which Martyn and Pete look at the Big Finish production Crime of the Century.

Crime of the Century is the fourth release in the second series of Big Finish Productions’ ‘The Lost Stories’ range. It features Sylvester McCoy as The Seventh Doctor, Sophie Aldred as Ace and, Beth Chalmers as Raine Creevy. It was based upon a television story of the same name, which was not produced due to the series’ cancellation in 1990.



The podcast is available from all good podcast services, such as but not limited to Amazon Music, PodchaserPlayer FM, Stitcher, and Apple Podcasts.

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DWPA Valiant 2 Special

Martyn and Geeksyndicate’s David Monteith interview Doctor Who fans and guests for the DWPA at Fantom Films’ Valiant 2 event. In order of appearance:

  • Writers Joseph Lidster and Simon Guerrier
  • David Weston, Kenneth Cope and Clifford Rose (1980 story Warriors’ Gate)
  • Roy Spencer (sixties stories The Ark and Fury from the Deep)
  • Sophie Aldred (7th Doctor companion ‘Ace’)

Valiant 2: fantomfilms.co.uk
DWPA: www.doctorwhopodcastalliance.org
Geek Syndicate: geeksyndicate.wordpress.com

The podcast is available from all good podcast services, such as but not limited to Amazon Music, PodchaserPlayer FM, Stitcher, and Apple Podcasts.

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If you’d like to support the show, then please shop via our Amazon link. A small percentage goes our way, at no extra cost to you.

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Pictured below: Joe Lidster and Simon Guerrier, David Weston, Kenneth Cope and Clifford Rose, Roy Spencer, David Monteith and Sophie Aldred.