Just before reaching the main body of the review, I want to say how much I agonised over the overall ratings of the stories in this boxset. For about the entire week of its release, I’ve been going back and forth on what to rate these stories and it was only yesterday when I decided to finalise the scores. On subsequent listens my thoughts and feelings on the stories will likely change and perhaps even differ wildly.

1) The Dreams of Avarice by Guy Adams

The second Fourth Doctor boxset of the year contains three separate stories coming in at around 5 hours and the first in the three-story line-up sees the Doctor chasing after a familiar foe, although not with the regenerative dissonance you were expecting.

The Dreams of Avarice has the Doctor come face to face with the Nine, a kleptomaniac regeneration who’s been going around the universe collecting and kidnapping anything he finds shiny and special. And that’s where we start the story, as the Nine’s stealing ambitions grow ever-larger he plans to use his newly stolen devices to wreak havoc on the planet Luxuriana.

Part one is a fantastic opener to the story where we find the Doctor arrested on suspicion of theft. He uses this opportunity to strongly warn the detective in charge about a worse criminal called the Nine who wants to steal the same device he was, only that he’ll use it for nefarious purposes.

DI Probert and the Doctor have some great back-and-forth moments throughout the first part and even throughout the entirety of the story. There’s some good fun to be had as the interrogation runs on and the Doctor becomes palpably more annoyed at the situation by the second. Even if Probert gets nowhere questioning The Doctor, at least the interrogation rooms will no longer have faulty AC or flickering lights!

The Nine is also introduced in the first part alongside his companion/hostage Thana as they come crashing into the facility equipped with glitzy weapons and East End bank robber robots. Heffernan’s take on the character is an instant hit and you can immediately tell that the only thing stopping the Nine from completely snapping is his endless quest for more shiny things. In this part, his quest gives him a device that can shrink and lighten objects alongside the Doctor’s TARDIS dimensional device creating the set-up for the first part cliffhanger.

Part two continues the strong pace of the first by setting up more of a cat and mouse type story as both The Doctor and Probert chase after the Nine, leading them to the planet Luxuriana.

Luxuriana is the Nine’s dream come true in planetary form. A symbol of exuberance and luxury, the planet is home to the ultra mega-rich, where the streets are quite literally paved with diamonds. Adams does well to realise this planet of opulence giving the listener a clear view of what the world would look like in their imagination, which in turn makes it easier to realise just how unpredictable The Nine would be on the planet. He is like a kid in a sweet shop, with so many things to steal it takes him a while to pick a target. Settling for an entire art museum at first, he uses his new technology to steal and miniaturise the whole planet, which even by his standards is pretty bold.

Unfortunately, after part two, the story never quite reaches the heights and the energy shown in the first two parts. Whilst the story is still pretty solid, it never quite reaches the stakes shown in heisting an entire planet.

Part three’s problem mainly lies with how The Nine is used. Upon stealing a planet, he sets about trying to grab a natural phenomenon in the form of a crystal, which also happens to be rather vampiric in nature. This requires him to be in his TARDIS, which limits how unpredictable he can be and the amount of chaos and mayhem he can inflict on others – one of the more enjoyable aspects to listen to. At least The Doctor and Probert get up to some fun (although Probert may not think of it that way!) as they employ the use of rocket boots to reach Nine’s TARDIS and set things right again.

Arriving in The Nine’s treasure vault, their unleashing of a bird that’ll literally eat anything prepares the story for its final part.

Under the crystals’ influence, the final part of the story takes place within The Nine’s dreamscape. I think the dreamscape is a little underdeveloped likely since it came so late in the story. It takes The Doctor and Probert far too short a time to figure out where they are and to solve the Nine’s crystal crisis.

Overall, even with its faults The Dreams of Avarice is still a strong solid story with planet heists, fun run-arounds and witty dialogue. A good start to the second half of the eleventh series.

My Rating: 8.5/10

2) Shellshock by Paul Morris and Simon Barnard

The second story in the boxset plays to Big Finish’s bread and butter, stories set during the world wars.

Having been injured due to a shell blast, The Doctor is taken to a field hospital on the German frontlines. Something foul is afoot, however, as the patients are suffering from more than just shellshock. Everyone is experiencing the same nightmares and those who endure Doctor Sturm’s treatment end up more battle-hungry than ever. As the battle of the Somme looms, something beneath the earth is hungry, hungry for blood!

The opening here is quite strong and does well to set up a creepy atmosphere and an intriguing mystery. The Doctor is quick to pick up on the strange goings-on and alongside nurse Schumann and Hans Hoffmann discover the influence of an alien being using Doctor Strum for its own nefarious purposes.

One thing I will say about this story is how well the characters have been written. From the very start, you become engaged with the characters and their plight. Schumann and Hoffmann are done particularly well with the writers quick to showcase a potential romance between the two. There’s also great chemistry between The Doctor and Schumann and I think they would have made a good Doctor/companion pairing had they decided to travel together.

Part two develops the mystery further, expanding it outside the confounds of the hospital. This alien force has been busy, spreading its influence both to the German camp and the British camp creating weaponry beyond the era’s capability in the form of self-driving tanks with lasers.

Moreover, by the end of part two, we discover that this entity has been building bloodlust between armies for centuries. With every battle that has taken place on the Somme the being’s influence has grown and now with the battle that’s about to take place and the number of people that’ll be killed, it seems as though the being is getting towards the final parts of its plan.

The alien being isn’t an actual being and is more of a concept. This is something I really like in Doctor Who and sci-fi series in general. Some of the best creations in the series have been ones without a physical body or presence, which means the concepts can be played with a lot more. They are more malleable in a way.

With the mystery more or less solved by the end of the second part, it leaves a big problem with the second half of the story and part three in particular, where do we go next? Unfortunately, part three mainly sees the main cast running around between the two encampments waiting for the end solution to appear. Honestly, a lot could’ve been cut here or even perhaps have the story shortened to three parts to make the pace a lot tighter.

The ending of the story is pretty much par for the course, The Doctor intends to cut off the being’s psychic influence by blowing up the tunnels beneath the ground. Influence gone, the tanks and the machines to turn people into battle maniacs melt into nothing and history can continue as normal.

Shellshock was decent overall. It started with a good mystery and some great characters. The second half needed to be tightened to keep the pace of the story going but I still think the story makes for an enjoyable 2 hours.

My Rating: 7.5/10

3) Peake Season by Lizbeth Myles

Peake Season is the final story in the set and also a boxset-only exclusive.

A fun little adventure to round off the series, the story sees The Doctor mistake Mervyn for Tolkein and as an apology takes him for a spin in space and time. As soon as they arrive on their first alien world, however, they end up in an explosion leaving them stranded and having to live out their days as newspaper cartoonists. On this planet there is more than one mystery to solve, why are the people so apathetic? What’s the deal with the constant explosions? And where is the queen?

There’s some wonderful world-building involved with this story and Lizbeth Myles has done an admirable job of setting out a pocket universe with interesting scientific concepts as well as lots of yummy-sounding cakes, which I think compliments the more simplistic story. It mainly revolves around two different parties searching for the missing Queen Alexandrina. The Doctor and Mervyn need her to escape the pocket universe, meanwhile, Valspierre is trying to coax her out so that she can face execution.

As it turns out, the pocket universe is made through a device connected to the queen. It’s used to ensure that the royalty of her nation can learn how to rule and respect their people. Although for Alexandrina, this only improves her artistic abilities.

There’s very little in the way of drama in the story likely due to its short 2-part length but it does have a nice happy conclusion as the Queen can finally pursue her passions in art and baking.

Overall, the final story in the trilogy is a nice hour jaunt, nothing spectacular but it’s fun to listen to and has some good world-building, which I hope to see more of as I listen to more of Myles’ stories.

My Rating: 8/10

Series 11B has a good solid selection of stories that would definitely please any Fourth Doctor fan. Facing familiar foes, locations and famous faces, the boxset makes for a good 5hr listen. The only point that I would make here is that there’s no standout story. Everything is good but nothing is spectacular, which is a real shame considering Blood of the Timelords from the previous set quickly became one of my favourites throughout the entire Fourth Doctor Adventures range. As the next series sees the return of Margaret Hopwood as a companion alongside Leela, I’m quietly excited as they’ll face off against one of my favourite villains, the Ice Warriors!

Boxset Rating: 8/10