Time Apart


Like any other anthology, Time Apart has it’s highs, and it’s lows. It’s another anthology release where bafflingly, they decided to make the best part of it a freebie (Ghost Station) so you almost don’t even need to pick it up, but it’s much more consistent than most anthologies, there was only one story I didn’t really like. I’ll try to be brief here - this is a Main Range, not a boxset, and I could probably waffle on, but the point is is that each story is thirty minutes, not an hour, and as such, each is a lot more tightly compressed. Plus these stories are a bit surface level, they are good, but there’s less to analyze than you might think.

Ghost Station by Steve Lyons

This is a two-hander. I don’t think I’ve ever disliked a Big Finish two-hander. They’re very deft at what they do, and they do sort of have their own formula now in that one of the characters will probably be the secret villain of the piece or something, but Ghost Station is very moody and eloquent in what it’s doing, so it deserves special attention. Peter Davison is the best part of Ghost Station, he’s for once doing a horror episode, and although this isn’t necessarily usual for good old Fivey, I have to applaud him for being so really weirdly good at it. It’s one of those performances that makes you wonder - why don’t they do more of this??  For once, I refuse to say any more, because I’ve done my job as a reviewer: this one is free. Do you hear me?? FREE. YOU HAVE NO EXCUSE. GO LISTEN.  10/10

 The Bridge Master by Jacqueline Rayner

I always view these anthologies as "short stories on audio," and that's always proven to me to be the best perspective. The Bridge Master is sort of doing the right thing because it's got a very small scale idea for a short story that resolves itself very quickly, and as such it's sort of got less pitfalls to deal with right off the bat than a story that's concerning itself with big ideas - but that being said, it's not got those big ideas to necessarily hook you in as easily. The plot is all about a bridge that steals someone's shadow, and then they die a few days later. It's really simple, and you won't be surprised by anything it does, so I want to mark it low, but it's actually really competent, so I want to mark it high. So, I mean, I enjoyed it, but maybe I'm spoiled by Robert Shearman's short stories or something because it didn't impress me an enormous amount. Oh well, I did enjoy it, and Jac Rayner does have a writing style I've always loved, so based on the fact that you can do so, so much worse in terms of short stories out there, I think I'll look back on this one with appreciation. 7/10

What Lurks Down Under by Tommy Donbavand

I put reviewing this one off, because well, the sad truth is that it's a posthumous release from Tommy Donbavand, and I was really anxious about it not being good and me having to say something mean about a dead person. Don't speak ill of the dead and all that, I was sort of brought up that way. Luckily, it's really good, so I don't have to shit on a dead man's writing. What Lurks Down Under is worth applauding for it's glorious focus - it's about a historical figure, Mary Wade, who I guarantee you have not heard of, and is only really famous at all because she was really young when bad things happened to her. She's really an interesting historical figure because she is a completely ordinary, very real person, and yet she did some cool things, and so this story treats her like a Doctor Who companion and introduces her in a very appealing, very nice fashion. She's got a proper brilliant characterization, and the plot is thin, it's just us getting to know Mary and Five together, and by the end of it, I was heartbroken that she wouldn't be a permanent companion. I really, really, liked her as a character, and so the fact that we wouldn't get any more Mary - or we wouldn't get any more stories by this really nice writer, made me leave this with a feeling of melancholy. Great job, this: 9/10

The Dancing Plague by Kate Thorman

I opened this review by promising to be brief, and then I really wasn't. That's the problem with these review things, I only do one draft. Anyway, um, so I will be brief on this one: I did not like anything about the Dancing Plague. The Concept is cool, but we never get to see any of the people even dancing in a story called the Dancing Plague, there are just weirdly sudden time jumps and Five is just like "IT'S TWO WEEKS LATER AND I STILL HAVEN'T SOLVED THE DANCING PLAGUE" and the conclusion is just awful. I Do not like it, and I have nothing more to say about this story I'd just?? rather not think about. 4/10 

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