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Big Finish: Monthly Range #107
Doctor Who: The Haunting of Thomas Brewster
Thomas Brewster is haunted by the ghost of his drowned mother. But she is not the only apparition to disturb his dreams. Every few years, he is visited by a mysterious blue box...
Helped by his new assistant, the young Scots scientist Robert McIntosh, the Doctor struggles to unravel the twisted knot of temporal implausibilities which bind the TARDIS to Thomas Brewster. Meanwhile, lost in the stews of Victorian London, Nyssa must face a host of spectral creatures gathering in the fog.
Helped by his new assistant, the young Scots scientist Robert McIntosh, the Doctor struggles to unravel the twisted knot of temporal implausibilities which bind the TARDIS to Thomas Brewster. Meanwhile, lost in the stews of Victorian London, Nyssa must face a host of spectral creatures gathering in the fog.
Audio CD
First published April 1, 2008
1 person is currently reading
85 people want to read
About the author
Jonathan Morris
214 books70 followersJonathan Morris is one of the most prolific and popular writers of Doctor Who books, including the highly-regarded novels 'Festival of Death' and 'Touched by an Angel' and the recent guide to monsters, 'The Monster Vault'. He has also written numerous comic strips, most of which were collected in 'The Child of Time', and audios for BBC Audio and Big Finish, including the highly-regarded comedies 'Max Warp' and 'The Auntie Matter', as well as the adaptation of Russell T Davies’ 'Damaged Goods'.
Recently he has started his own audio production company, Average Romp. Releases include a full-cast adaptation of Charles Dickens' The Chimes', an original play, 'When Michael Met Benny', and three episodes of a SF sitcom, 'Dick Dixon in the 21st Century'.
For details visit www.averageromp.com
He also originated his own series, Vienna and script-edited the Nigel Planer series 'Jeremiah Bourne in Time'. He’s also written documentaries and for TV sketch shows.
Librarian note:
There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name
Recently he has started his own audio production company, Average Romp. Releases include a full-cast adaptation of Charles Dickens' The Chimes', an original play, 'When Michael Met Benny', and three episodes of a SF sitcom, 'Dick Dixon in the 21st Century'.
For details visit www.averageromp.com
He also originated his own series, Vienna and script-edited the Nigel Planer series 'Jeremiah Bourne in Time'. He’s also written documentaries and for TV sketch shows.
Librarian note:
There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
November 10, 2022
Kind of an interesting plot about what's going on with the boy, (Thomas) but overall not terribly engaging. It took me ages to recognise Nyssa's voice and the Doctor is for some reason the quietest voice on this recording. Fun to listen to, nonetheless.
September 25, 2008
Thomas Brewester is an orphaned boy who keeps seeing visions of his mother, calling on him to "invent" various components of a mysterious device so she can return him. Or so it would appear.
Thomas is a bit of like the character of Adric, if Adric has stayed truer to his original character description of being Doctor Who's version of the artful dodger. Thomas is obsessed with bringing his mother back, despite the assurances by the fifth Doctor and Nyssa that she's really gone and he's being manipulated.
A lot of this story will require close attention to pick up on the details since events have a tendency to fold back on themselves. The TARDIS is central to the story as well as the concept of just how time travel could work.
The story does a good job of being keeping the mystery without becoming too confusing and the circular logic and nature of the story work well, again, as long as you're listening carefully. The performances by the cast are well done and it does end on a cliffhanger, assuring that most fans will be eager for the next installment.
Thomas is a bit of like the character of Adric, if Adric has stayed truer to his original character description of being Doctor Who's version of the artful dodger. Thomas is obsessed with bringing his mother back, despite the assurances by the fifth Doctor and Nyssa that she's really gone and he's being manipulated.
A lot of this story will require close attention to pick up on the details since events have a tendency to fold back on themselves. The TARDIS is central to the story as well as the concept of just how time travel could work.
The story does a good job of being keeping the mystery without becoming too confusing and the circular logic and nature of the story work well, again, as long as you're listening carefully. The performances by the cast are well done and it does end on a cliffhanger, assuring that most fans will be eager for the next installment.
March 5, 2023
This one was excellent. The (Fifth) Doctor & Nyssa have only cameo roles in the first episode, but things pick up pretty quickly after that and it all comes full circle by the end. Except … where did Thomas Brewster bugger off to … that damn little thief! Excellent, just brilliant.
October 1, 2015
Thomas Brewster, Dickensian scamp, is the kind of foil the Doctor has needed for a long time. The boy is very much of his time, uneducated but not thick, a survivor who sees his chance to escape a life of dreary, dangerous crime-to-survive and takes it, even if he doesn't really understand all the ghosts and gaseous aliens and time paradox mumbo jumbo the Doctor and Nyssa keep spouting. I'm so glad there are more stories with him!
August 13, 2014
One of my favourite Big Finish dramas in a while. Various time travel shenanigans, the Doc as a Victorian scientist, spooky spectral things. Can't wait to listen to the second part.
September 24, 2022
This was quite enjoyable, and kept me company while stuck in traffic due to a closed road.
I think my thought that I was thinking when listening to it is that it sounded like Sean Pertwee (or his Dad who was the Doctor Jon) but it was actually Peter Davidson, which amuses me even more.
The story was well done. The narration lovely. I'm not so familiar with that doctor, but what I have seen/heard I like.
I like that Thomas Brewster is going to pop up again.
And I did like the inclusion of LGBT, even if it didn't end well. (Unfortunately the trope.)
I think my thought that I was thinking when listening to it is that it sounded like Sean Pertwee (or his Dad who was the Doctor Jon) but it was actually Peter Davidson, which amuses me even more.
The story was well done. The narration lovely. I'm not so familiar with that doctor, but what I have seen/heard I like.
I like that Thomas Brewster is going to pop up again.
And I did like the inclusion of LGBT, even if it didn't end well. (Unfortunately the trope.)
April 2, 2023
Don't always like the 5th doctor but had fun with him here, at first the story focuses entirely on the origins of this new character but once it catches up to the doctor I really liked his place in the story. I did kind of get tired of how the villain enacted their plan and how multiple people were going along with it for no reason, but that's maybe the only major flaw here in my eyes.
February 20, 2023
Here’s another instance where The Doctor waits around for a bit, this time a year. I like when the Doctors are given lifespans longer than we originally thought. And Thomas Brewster is a nice way of bringing in a historical companion.
April 18, 2025
A decent story and a nice introduction to Thomas Brewster, who will be recurring to the Fifth Doctor and a brief sort-of companion of the Sixth Doctor. Definitely unique in terms of companion introduction stories and did make me interested in this Victorian orphan.
December 26, 2023
The story was okay, if a little dull, but the music and sound design really kept bothering me to the point that it was distracting
November 26, 2024
Got an extra star for the ending
June 26, 2017
This starts out as a Doctor-lite story, telling the tale of a Dickensian orphan sent to the workhouse, who keeps encountering the Doctor at various points in his life. From episode two onwards we see more of the Doctor's perspective of what's going on, and the story builds to a more traditional climax with London besieged by mysterious aliens.
The idea of the Doctor and Nyssa making only brief appearances in the first episode works well in setting the scene, and establishing some of the hooks necessary for the resolution later on. There is, perhaps, some overlap with the themes of The Unquiet Dead here, but the plot is satisfyingly different, and the title character interesting as someone who we have sympathy for, but is never quite heroic.
The story also has a number of time travel shenanigans, in the style of some of Stephen Moffat's TV episodes, which it handles admirably and without overdoing the complexity. Unusually, it ends on a cliffhanger, although the events of the story itself are largely resolved by that point. Overall, a well written, atmospheric, piece with some good acting.
The idea of the Doctor and Nyssa making only brief appearances in the first episode works well in setting the scene, and establishing some of the hooks necessary for the resolution later on. There is, perhaps, some overlap with the themes of The Unquiet Dead here, but the plot is satisfyingly different, and the title character interesting as someone who we have sympathy for, but is never quite heroic.
The story also has a number of time travel shenanigans, in the style of some of Stephen Moffat's TV episodes, which it handles admirably and without overdoing the complexity. Unusually, it ends on a cliffhanger, although the events of the story itself are largely resolved by that point. Overall, a well written, atmospheric, piece with some good acting.
Read
April 8, 2009The Haunting of Thomas Brewster introduces the eponymous Brewster, played by John Pickard who I understand is a soap star, as a new companion to the Fifth Doctor. The story ambitiously portrays a mid-Victorian milieu, and the script conveys the setting very well. Unfortunately there are several killer flaws in the play. The first is the incidental music, which starts out really good but becomes tired through over-use. The second is guest star Pickard as Brewster, who seems unable to tell the difference between commas and full stops in his lines. The third is the rather gratuitous way the Doctor allows other characters to be killed off. So plenty of marks for trying, but it didn't work for me.
October 11, 2014
The story jumps back and forth in time - no pun intended - as Thomas Brewster tells his story. Creepy in places and interesting 'villains', with a fair bit of timey wimey. Interesting to see the Dr stuck in one place for a year and how he adapts to his situation and surroundings.
August 30, 2014
In Victorian London, Thomas Brewster is haunted by his dead mother, as well as the Doctor...
January 21, 2016
The Doctor and Nyssa go running around trying to discover why they and the Tardis are linked to the life and doings of Thomas Brewster.
June 4, 2015
Yo, we heard you like TARDISes so we put a TARDIS in yo TARDIS. Five and Nyssa do some stuff. Adequate.
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews