6.1 The Beast of Kravenos, written by Justin Richards

6.2 The Eternal Battle, written by Cavan Scott Mark Wright

6.4 The Silent Scream by James Goss

6.5 Dethras, written by Adrian Poynton

6.5 The Haunting of Malkin Place, written by Phil Mulryne

6.6 Subterranea, written by Jonathan Morris

6.7 The Movellan Grave, written by Andrew Smith

6.8 The Skin of the Sleek, written by Marc Platt

6.9 The Thief who stole Time, written by Marc Platt

Starring Tom Baker, Lalla Ward, Jon Leeson and many others

Originally released : January, February etc 2015

Listened to: January and February 2026

Context: I appreciate that I didn’t review season 5, although I have listened to that season prior to this one, I need to do that one as a review really; however, that was a while ago, and this season is fresher in my mind right now. I had a wee gap in my listening schedule so I decided to smash through another Tom Baker series. I love Lalla Ward and John Leeson as well. So, onward.

THE REVIEW

What I thought:

The Beast of Kavenos is a great opening episode of the season, with a fantastic return of Jago and Litefoot. They are are simply PERFECT with this TARDIS team and this episode has made me really want to get into the Jago and litefoot series, maybe this could be one of my BF aims/goals for 2026. Anyway, to this adventure and it’s a classic monster in disguise type story, with the respective mini teams barreling around Victorian England. The whole team have a ball here, Jago transforming into a beast is a highlight, as is the 4th Doctor bantering with the hapless inspector Quick, great character. Great start to this season.

The Eternal Battle is a classic Sontaran episode in some respects, war themed, lots of sontarans blowing each other up etc but then this changes and ends up turning into a time scoop story! Fantastic idea and something which I wasn’t expecting. The Sycon are a great villain, god-like beings messing around with time scoops, almost for the sake of it. Great fun and Tom B is particularly good in this one. The Silent Scream is another great story from James Goss, one set in the 1920/30’s Hollywood, with an awesome idea of the 4th Doctor being a spectacular fan of silent films and Loretta, the silent film movie diva/star in particular, which leads to some fantastic scenes! The ‘monster’, a rogue time traveller trying to use celluloid monsters for his own aims, is a classic 4th Doctor villain. A really wonderful story which is great fun, nothing too complex but is all the better for it, great fun story.

The haunting of Malkin Place is back to Earth, with a real Ghost story, with a haunted house in the 1920’s set in a marsh (or near one anyway). It’s great fun, with the doctor and Leela heading via train to this place of ghosts. The haunted family, and stuff around the First World War, is great and sad, and the ending (where one of the main characters turns out to be a ghost is pretty cool). Subterranea is back out in space, with ‘drill stations/planets’ trawling across a world, chased by the villain of the episode, the cylex. The interactions between the Wagstaffs are great, and the reveal that one is a Cylex works really well. Not sure I was listening particularly well to this, so I am struggling to think what actually happened, but that’s on me, not the episode. It’s a good episode, and somewhat sad as well (not a bad thing). Lalla is brilliant in this one.

The Movellan grave then heads back to Earth, with the Docrtor snoring away in Baker street (great to hear another Doctor in residence at what I see as the 8th Doctors gaff). Then off to investigate an archaeological dig that seems to have dug up a Movellan power pack! The interactions with the archaeologists are fun, and it isn’t long until the Movellans start to turn up. The idea (and menace of a massive, giant beserker Movellan is great) and very effective on audio. This is a highlight story for me.

The Skin of the Sleek is getting to the business end of the season, with Romana taking a lead role in this one. The introduction of another Timelady is great fun, Sarita, who, of course, turns out to be not so nice after all. Not sure what exactly all the massive eel stuff was about but I liked it nonetheless. I really liked this one, and the cliffhanger is great, setting the season up for a great final concluding episode. The follow-up to this adventure, The Thief Who Stole Time, isn’t the best for me, as it all felt a little like overkill at times. its good fun but sitting here typing this I am very much struggling to remember what this was was all about. Sarita is a good protagonist here, and her plan kind of falls apart around here, the doctor and Romana doing their thing. Solid bookend to a great season.

Rating: 4 out of 5 scarfs: a very strong season in my opnion, Lalla, Tom and John Leeson are brilliant together (although K9 goes missing in quite a few of these episodes). The Movellans are a highlight for me, great episode, the return of Jago and Litefoot, Romana’s best friend from Gallifrey…to name a few of the many highlights of this season. Great stuff.

What I felt: amused, happy, slightly moved at times and always entertained.

What am I left thinking?

• Can this run of sourth doctor series continue to be this good!

Memorable bits

• A massive Movellan
• Marna!
• Jago and Litefoot are brilliant, full stop!
• Sontaran war games
• Drill planets
• Romana’s best ‘mate’ from the academy
• The Sleek are cool massive spcace eels