Doctor Who: Thin Time / Madquake

Two hour-long stories set during a gap when the Doctor is travelling without his companions, following the events of the audio Conversion. Unlike the previous anthology release, Time Alone, this one actually does explore what that means and ties a little better into the larger story they're setting up here.

Thin Time - The first story sees the Doctor arriving in a house in Victorian London on Halloween... and getting a rather different reaction from the one he usually receives. The result is a base-under-siege story with the house being threatened by an extradimensional force that's largely “off-screen”. It's a spooky tale, all the more effective for the lack of companions, which allows it to use more of its limited run-time exploring the guest characters and how one of them, in particular, is affected by what's going on. There's quite a lot of technobabble from the Doctor to explain what's happening, but it doesn't really matter and doesn't get in the way of the story itself, which is part mystery and part horror.

The coda at the end when the Doctor decides its time to rejoin his companions feels tacked on and out-of-step with the rest of the story. Still, at least it's linked in with events and was obviously a necessary step to get things back on track for future releases. 4 stars.

Madquake - The second story, unfortunately, does not work as well as the first. The premise is a good one, as we see what has happened to the companions while the Doctor has left them on a safe and tranquil planet. Which, as one might expect, does not remain that way for long... but it does mean that we get to see a story with the companions but no Doctor and to explore some of what they feel about the situation.

The focus, however, is mainly on Marc, the new companion introduced in the audio Tartarus, and how he is coping with what happened to him in the previous story to feature him. It may be plausible, but listening to him going through depression, and another character suffering from PTSD, accompanied by lots of sombre piano music just didn't work for me. Nor, to be honest, do I feel very invested in Marc as a character. Then, as is apparent from the cover, the Slitheen turn up, with all of their nastiest features on display and no hint of any levity. And then they basically just chase everyone about for 30 minutes. The psychological parts may be worthy, but despite the sense of danger, it all comes across as rather dull. 2.5 stars.