Reviews

Doctor Who: Phantasmagoria by Mark Gatiss

faiazalam's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.0

nwhyte's review against another edition

There was nothing very special about Phantasmagoria, except that it shared a plot twist with The Stones of Blood and I thought got away with it better. The soundscape of London was quite nicely done, though the writers seemed confused about who Queen Anne's father was (making me wonder for a bit if this was supposed to be some parallel universe; but no, it was just a mistake). Since I was never a huge fan of Turlough, his presence here didn't really excite me.

haunted_air's review against another edition

4.0

A solid period piece with good twists and characterisation of the Doctor and Turlough.

radka_ruseva's review against another edition

adventurous relaxing

3.0

meganmargoking's review against another edition

4.0

I really liked this one. It seemed just like an episode. Easy to follow.

kateofmind's review against another edition

4.0

A delightful, fop-filled historical set at the turn of the 18th century. Turlough's side adventure with a local is especially fun.

kmccubbin's review against another edition

1.0

5th Doctor, Turlough - My least favorite of the early batch of these. Davison is a wonderful Doctor poorly served by this oddly shapeless mess. The bad guy is telegraphed a mile away and it's sense of it's period of 1702 England(written by current TV who scribe, Mark Gattiss, who has made some real period stinkers over the last several years) is more Monty Python than anything else. I defy you not to think of Dennis Moore and his lupins while listening to this. Also, note to Big Finish, running around shouting and panting doesn't play so well in audio.

secrethistory's review against another edition

4.0

Phantasmagoria is another stunning audio drama from Big Finish, this time featuring the Fifth Doctor and Turlough stuck in 1702, where phantoms appear to be killing the living. I noticed a few similarities between it and a Gatiss story for New Who, The Unquiet Dead. The acting is top notch as always, as was the entire production quality. I found the story to be suspenseful, intriguing, and well written. Some clues were rather obvious to me, while others seemed like quite the logical jump. But in Doctor Who, the latter is pretty standard. The former, combined with me drifting off at one point, are what contributed to the loss of a star. Other than that it's brilliant, and I'd recommend it to any Doctor Who fan, especially fans of Five.