Reviews

Doctor Who: Seasons of Fear by Paul Cornell, Caroline Symcox

Only show reviews with written explanations

mrcoldstream's review

dark funny tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

✅75% = 👍🏼35 ✊🏼5 👎🏼3 = Good!

Thworping through time and space, one adventure at a time! This time: a date in Singapore, immortal baddies, and horns!

This story finally sees Charley get to her appointment in Singapore, which has been teased for a while, but it's also about the Doctor meeting one man several times across time. From the onset, as the Doctor narrates, we realise that there is a strange, eerie quality to this story (helped by the uneasy music that accompanies most scenes).

The story goes timey-wimey early on, once we learn that something in the Doctor’s future and the world’s past has messed up the time-space continuum, and it’s possibly connected to Charley’s rescue from the R101 crash. The Doctor and Charley investigate by travelling through Earth’s history to find the source of Grayle’s immortal power, beginning in the times of the Roman Empire and then moving to 1055 and 1806.

It's interesting how Part 1 ends with Grayle almost setting into motion the very things that doom the future, forcing the Doctor to track him down at another point in time to prevent him from getting another chance later on. This ends in a wonderfully tense cliffhanger that makes you want to continue listening.

Grayle serves as the common denominator, setting each episode in a different period. This allows the story to utilise time travel extensively while adding scope to the story and avoiding running stale. Each episode also wonderfully builds tension and excitement and releases it in an exciting final stretch before the cliffhanger.

Part 3 connects this story to Minuet in Hell; the Doctor and Charley once again clash with the Hellfire Club. This is the one that focuses most on Grayle and isn’t very interesting other than for the sword fight between him and the Doctor.

Grayle is another intriguing character faced by this incarnation: an immortal man with a strange past, played very convincingly by Stepehn Perrong, who captures his different stages very well. His many encounters with the Doctor are the crown jewels of the story. India Fisher also brings out a jollier Charley, which is fun to listen to.

The guest actors are fine but not very interesting.

The story makes frequent references to “the demon bull,” meaning that the eventual reveal of the Nimon (making their return since The Horns of Nimon) isn't too much of a surprise. I've never been a huge fan of the Nimon, and they don't leave much of an impression in this story either, despite featuring heavily in Part 4.

Part 4 doesn't do much with the Nimon, which ends up feeling like afterthoughts. It does, however, creatively use Grayle by having the younger Grayle kill the older one, thus saving the day. At the very end, we get some confusing but intriguing hints of bigger troubles coming for the Doctor and Charley.

ashs_doctorwho_library's review

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adventurous fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

I really enjoyed this one, I say this often but I adore Eight and Charley and their dynamic. It was really fun to jump to different points in time and also to see parts of the wider story arc get introduced as well

cyberarcanist's review

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adventurous mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

rebelbelle13's review

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4.0

Seasons of Fear was so refreshing after the last depressing Who EDA I read. The Doctor and Charley are together for this whole story, which is different from the majority of the other audioplays in this series. An immortal shows up to talk to the Doctor in Singapore to gloat that he's killed him in the future. The Doctor, intrigued by this, travels with Charley back along the mysterious man's timeline to try and thwart his mission for power and discover just who it is that has given him that gift. The banter in here is top notch, and I found myself smiling and giggling and just enjoying myself many times over. The writing was on point without being cheesy, and there was just enough action to keep the story moving. Charley is a fun and capable companion, and their relationship is a platonic one based on trust and respect. I can definitely see myself listening to this story again in the future!

mnstrmisha's review

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adventurous funny mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

i love this story so much god.
charley and eight’s chemistry is better than ever, and every line that comes out of their mouths is either pure comedic genius or the kost heartwarming shit i’ve ever heard.
and the ending with the overlapping arc coming together??? i’m obsessed, 10/10

eleanorflovver's review

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adventurous funny lighthearted relaxing fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

you know what?? this was fun, and what more do you want? not the most complex story in the divergent narrative but good quality and works really nicely as a standalone that still manages to contribute to the impending arc. it reminds me of moffat-era monster of the week eps. the roman scenes were so painfully inaccurate it was almost endearing but that's the beauty of who. high camp and flippant attitude to reality. beautiful.