The Relics of Time [AUDIO/2010.9.2]

★★★☆☆

  I said it countless times before in my Hornets' Nest reviews, but Tom Baker is the king of narration. Just to hear him describe the Doctor and Mrs. Wibbsey walk along a patch of grass is ecstatically good; no wonder he's had so many voiceover roles over the years. This man's voice is totally unique.

  After the amount of fun I had with Paul Magrs' initial series, it was no rocket science that I felt compelled to visit its sequel. The Relics of Time, Demon Quest's first chapter, presents not a run-of-the-mill alien invasion story, but instead a rather peculiar story of the Doctor being led by mysterious artifacts of the past that seem to indicate his presence there, in the hopes of their being a clue to the whereabouts of his missing TARDIS components (which Mrs. Wibbsey unwittingly sold to an unknown entity). With such a delicious premise, it's only fair that this first installment gets to play with the notion of the Doctor and Wibbsey muck about in 46 AD Sussex, meeting Claudius and trying to fix history. It's not the greatest historical Doctor Who ever, I assure you, but it's still a great deal of fun!

*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ  

  Isn't this cover marvelous? I do so hope more Doctor Who audios (both from BBC Audio and Big Finish) would be this creative with their artworks. I like the typical epic photoshop style they incorporate of late, but covers like this that actually incorporate their narrative into the artstyle take my breath away.