Doctor Who: New Eighth Doctor box set Ravenous 3 released!
By James Aggas
Friends past, present and future of the Eighth Doctor team up, while the Doctor makes an unlikely ally, as the third volume of his current series, Ravenous, is out today!
This is a release I’ve been waiting for months now. Ravenous 3, the third volume in the current series featuring the Eighth Doctor, has finally been released. And it looks set to be something very special, particularly with its second episode.
The first box set in the series got things off to a bit of a difficult start. It directly continued from the previous Eighth Doctor series, Doom Coaltion, while also telling a relatively fresh story. As such, it was a bit of an awkward beginning to the new series.
However, things improved considerably in the second volume. The box set began with an effective sequel to The Robots of Death with Escape from Kaldor, but it was the two part Christmas themed story Better Watch Out/Fairytale of Salzburg that was the real highlight. Not just of the second volume, but of Ravenous so far.
It was a story so fantastic, and so gloriously Christmas-y, that it came second in our list of top five Christmas stories on audio. (And considering that The Chimes of Midnight isn’t just one of the best Christmas stories, but one of the greatest Doctor Who stories ever, that’s saying something!)
The Ravenous
The final episode of the previous volume, Seizure, was, for the most part, an effectively spooky episode. With the TARDIS crew finding themselves on a dying TARDIS, there was a strong sense of atmosphere to the whole story.
We were also introduced to the Ravenous in this one. Which is kind of surprising, considering that we were basically halfway through the series arc by this point! A creature not just hungry for life, but for Time Lord lives specifically, the monster is a pretty simple creature, in some ways. After eight episodes of build up, it seems a little too basic.
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However, the box set ended on an effective cliffhanger: the Doctor’s TARDIS stolen by the Eleven, and the Doctor, Liv and Helen stranded on a world, having just escaped one of the Ravenous…and now finding themselves on a planet full of them.
What happens next
Ravenous 3, unsurprisingly, is set to continue directly from that cliffhanger. But if that wasn’t enough of a draw, then the second episode definitely is: a Doctor-lite story featuring companions of the Eighth Doctor’s past, present…and future. Considering that River Song is about to meet the only companion we’ve heard the Doctor say he loved, this should be quite the meeting!
We also have the return of the Eleven, which isn’t surprising – he’s been something of a major antagonist for the Eighth Doctor in almost every box set of Doom Coalition and Ravenous so far. What is surprising is that somehow, he looks set to become a new companion for the Doctor. How? Well, perhaps his earlier self, the Nine, has something to do with it…
Regardless, Ravenous 3 looks set to be quite the exciting box set. One that I’ll be listening to straight away, so expect a review on the whole volume later this week. You can get it on CD or download directly from Big Finish’s website.
dark. Next. The one companion the Doctor said they loved
Are you excited about the release of the Eighth Doctor’s latest box set? Have you been closely following the Eighth Doctor’s adventures? Let us know in the comments below.