?¿?¿ WHAT DID I JUST LISTEN TO?! ¿?¿?Okay. Oh my god. I don't even know where to start. So... Scherzo is a love story. The Doctor and Charley go for a walk, have a picnic, kiss, and raise a child... Okay, no. But at its heart, Scherzo really is a love story. It's a character piece: deconstructing the entire relationship between the Doctor and his companion, it then rebuilds it into something horrifying. But it's more than that. Because, having relistened to it about three times in a row, certain...

An absolute masterpiece. There is literally no other Doctor Who story like it and it could not be done as well in any other medium than audio.Do understand, this story is unnerving and terrifying at points. It is also quite possibly the best exploration of the Doctor/Companion relationship ever, unflinchingly facing everything that is wonderful as well as everything that is uncomfortable about it.Turn down your lights. Turn on this story. Steel yourself for something difficult and fascinating an...

i LOVED this one. one of my favourite big finish adventures. takes up the bizarre bits of zagreus, and stitches together the doctor and charley's relationship in a beautifully transparent manner. this. THIS. very weird. very honest. very doctor who.

I have a feeling these Divergent stories are just going to get weirder and weirder.Parts were so difficult to listen to as it paints the Doctor as very cruel and Charley as lost and at his mercy, but I think that all ties into their manipulation by the "sound monster." The Doctor was his cruelest either during periods of heightened emotion or when all sensation was removed. If nothing else, this story was a fascinating conversation between friends going through some major mood swings.These McGan...

I've been meaning to listen to this story for years, and had very high hopes. A two-hander with the 8th Doctor and Charley (even though she's not a companion I know very well at all) seemed like a really exciting idea.And it is a very good idea but, for me, it's not executed well here. The relationship between 8 and Charley is quite difficult to listen to at times, and the setting is restrictive. It could've done so much - it has, literally, a whole new universe to create. Instead, we're stuck i...

Just, insanely good. I'd heard so many good things but was still unsure. Mostly because I had to spend a while rummaging on the floor for my eyes, after rolling them too hard at Charley's "aRe YOu dUmPIng MeE??" in the final minutes of Zagreus. I'm certainly not a fan of the lovesick companion trope and never have been. But Shearman turns this dynamic completely inside out. The story is an unsettling and abstract survival tale. Charley and the Doctor find themselves trapped together for what cou...

THIS WAS UNCALLED FOR. It's excellent, though.

An experimental, at times very disturbing two-hander played with considerable finesse by Paul McGann and India Fisher. The premise is to be lauded but lacks execution (at both script and production level). Though not incongruous, the unceasing background mosquito whine was ill-advised.

What I like best about this audio play is how meta it is. The Doctor and Charley are stuck in a new universe, with nothing but each other. They even lose their senses. All that remains, is sound. This makes the play very immersive, as the characters are basically in the same boat as the listener. Now, there's not too much going on story wise (and I'm not too sure what to make of the fairy-tale framing), but there's a lot of character development to be had as the Doctor and Charley are confronted...

Another great listen.

This is an eighth Doctor story with Charley Pollard as the companion, and is #52 in the Big Finish main range.This is the first of the Divergent Universe series of audios. At the end of Zagreus, the Doctor exiled himself into the universe of the Divergent, fully expecting to die there and definitely never to return to our universe. He wasn't expecting Charley to stow away aboard the TARDIS though. Charley stumbles upon the Doctor in what's left of the console room, the only part left of the quic...

This story is not easy to listen to, it is very depressing most of the time, but ultimately absolutely beautiful. One of my favorites, if not the favorite Doctor who audio. The Doctor is ready to die, but has to keep going because of Charlie. He is quite cruel to her, he pushes her away with words while holding her hand all the time. Both actors' performances are amazing. I wouldn't recommend starting with this story if you haven't listened to all the previous Doctor and Charlie stories, you rea...

The Doctor and Charley are stuck in an empty white void. Most boring doctor who premise ever however somehow one of the best I have ever listened to. The relationship between Charley and The Doctor is superbly written and Paul McGann's acting really benefits the audio. There is just so much in this audio to talk about yet such a strange and risky premise. For example, at the start of each part the Doctor directly speaks to the audience and tells a story of a king and I love it, there's also this...

‘Scherzo’ is probably the most genuinely terrifying piece of fiction I have ever experienced - and not just because of how skillfully it executes the profound existential horror of sensory deprivation and being utterly alone and helpless in a world so unlike your own - but because I can’t help but imagine myself going through it as Charley, so young and so in love, who sneaked into the TARDIS knowing she will probably never come back home, only to be told by the Doctor that she betrayed him, tha...

It's good but I hate it. It ruined both the Doctor and Charley for me. The idea is interesting but the claustrophobic story is too much, and they both show their very worst side. Charley is clingy, the Doctor is an utter bastard, and I find myself wishing for worse writing with a little more air in it.

A nice story about a couple that falls in love, moves in together, has a kid, and then, once the kid grows up and leaves, must once again define what it means for them to be together.Oh, and also a terrifying creature made of sound.

"Whatever part of me thought I loved you, that urge, it is dead to me now...”

Not my favorite Doctor Who audio adventure. This felt like one of the classic stories where they ran out of money. There are only two voiced characters in a mysterious void, the 8th Doctor (Paul McGann) and Charley (India Fisher), who engage in some of the most inane and meaningless dialogue of any story in the catalog. The music and special effects of the "monster" are sparse and sometimes downright silly. In the broader scope of the 8th Doctor and Charley run of stories, this entry serves no p...

This was simply brilliant! One of the best audio adventures I've heard. It was just perfect for the format. A two hander with just Paul and India and they were both amazing! And it was chilling and so emotional and disturbing. And everything was used so effectively. So pleased I got this.

WoAH. I thought Zagreus ended me with 4 hours of intensity, but Scherzo just topped it all. This story is sensory overload. Here we have just the Doctor and Charley in a new universe with nothing but blinding light, the occasional corpse they are forced to eat, and a sound monster. With their senses stripped away, all they have are emotions. Which means stuff gets said. And it’s emotional for the listeners. The Doctor hates Charley at first for following him into this new world- sacrificing hers...