Whenever I try to get people into the Big Finish Doctor Who audio dramas I always tell them to start with the Eighth Doctor and Lucie Miller because they are the closest thing to the revived show in terms of length, pacing and content. However, fond as I am of the Eighth Doctor Adventures line it really isn't as good as Paul McGann's previous work in the main range that preceded it. Before Lucie and Tamsin Drew and Molly O'Sullivan was Charley Pollard, the Edwardian adventuress played by India Fisher and she remains one of the absolute best ever.
So today I'm going to buck he trend and lay out the ten audio plays with Eight and Charley that you simply have to try at least once. Note: this list is in order of chronology, not least amazing to most amazing.
Storm Warning Truth be told the first story to feature Eight and Charley is not really all that great. The setting is awesome, with The Doctor landing on the doomed airship R101 and rescuing Charley, who had stowed away as a male crewmember to see the world. However Alan Barnes's writing is somewhat limp and the villain is rather forgettable. All that aside, the events of this story color everything The Doctor and Charley do together in the future and is therefore required listening.
The Chimes of Midnight In what could be considered the first Eighth Doctor Christmas special he and Charley land in a posh house on Christmas Eve and find themselves embroiled in a murder mystery. At first the play is a little ridiculous as the supporting cast does little but deliver very stock lines, but the reason for that becomes clear when the house turns out to be a far more terrifying place than it appears. Robert Shearman writes some great dialogue for The Doctor that will make you laugh out loud, but also masters some real horror that will have you cringing. You have to be patient with the story, but by the second episode I promise you will be hooked.
Solitaire Technically this story is part of the Companion Chronicles line and not the proper main range of stories but it's very different from the other Companion Chronicles in that it is happening in real time as opposed to a companion remembering an adventure with The Doctor long ago. In fact, The Doctor barely features in the story at all, having been turned into a ventriloquist dummy by the Celestial Toymaker. Charley is forced to outwit the Toymaker on her own in a magic shop that threatens to crush her if she doesn't solve the game in time. David Bailie is brilliant as the Toymaker, coming across as part Willy Wonka and part Jigsaw. It's probably the best "Doctor-lite" adventure outside of "Blink" and for a personal endorsement is the favorite story of my daughter after "The Doctor, the Widow and the Wardrobe".
The Time of the Daleks "Time" sort of a spiritual sequel to "Evil of the Daleks", what with the mirror theme, the appearance of the Dalek Emperor and the way it plays with the idea of mixing human and Dalek. The special seasoning in the story is the inclusion of a plot to save Shakespeare before he is erased from history. You have never heard anything as darkly radical as a Dalek quotingRichard III. The themes of many of the Bard's plays as well as a ton of subtle in-jokes makes the story both hilarious and fun as well as serving as a strong recurring motif throughout the story. The only downside is that it's a continuity nightmare regarding the many times The Doctor has messed around with Shakespeare's timeline, which is an article for another day.
Neverland Here follows a trilogy of connected stories that are in and of themselves the No. 1 reason to listen to Big Finish audio in the first place and stand as some of the best Doctor Who adventures in any medium. First is "Neverland", where The Doctor is arrested by the Time Lords for his meddling in the web of time by saving Charley on the R101. They plan to use Charley's existence as a paradox to open a portal to an anti-time universe where they believe may lay the body of the legendary Rassilon. Lalla Ward joins them as Romana as the Tardis crew delves into the cruel and bloody history of Gallifrey. The ending is a white-knuckle ride that will leave you screaming, "Oh no!"
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