This is the first ever VNA and it is a very long jump to get into from the classic series. It is a very strong introduction to the Timewyrm arc and has lots of great exciting moments in it.

Although there are lots of continuity references with stories ranging from The Time Monster to Ghost Light and beyond, this does not detract from the overall enjoyment of the story. The writer, John Peel, is able to write for the Seventh Doctor and Ace perfectly and captures their personalities and speech patterns perfectly which allows you to quickly engage with the book. Ace gets some great stand out moments here which fits into her character very nicely.

The book overall is a great read with engaging characters, an interesting setting for Doctor Who (ancient Mesopotamia) with a great plot, even if there are some controversies.

The Enchantress of numbers is an unusual one for this series. It has no returning monster or plot which is connected to the story arc or is carried on from a previous story. Its an entirely independent story, which is why I think, it flourishes so much.

This story focuses on Ada Lovelace and her mathematical abilities which might sound boring on the surface but both Baker and Slavin give top-notch performances, some very interesting sci-fi concepts are introduced along with a time travel element and surprisingly good humour, this makes for an amazing release.

Even if you aren't tempted to pick up the rest of this boxset, pick up this story as it is brilliant.

Planet of the Drashigs is a thoroughly average, but very enjoyable, second part to this series.

Ann Kelso's character starts to meld with the doctor in this one and they really start to get some chemistry together with the Doctor. This episode is also the proper introductory story for K-9 Mark 2 which is something I love across this whole series as it shows him being slowly set up with different features and remarks are given to him being new every so often. This makes it feel like K-9 is here this series for a reason and not just tacked on cause he is a fan favourite.

Writers go to in Doctor Who is get an old Doctor Who monster, give them a base-under-siege and slap them on the front cover and sales increase. This time, the Drashigs make a return from Carnival of Monsters. The main problem with the Drashigs, unlike other monsters and villain which had returned like Sutekh and the Voc Robots, is that they were already a pretty simple, but fully fleshed out concept. Another problem is that they're massive. To solve both of these problems they introduce a new Drashig breed purely to allow the story to take place where they want, the Emerald Drashig. They are: Drashigs but smaller and Drashigs but more dangerous. I would have prefered them to work with the original Drashigs a bit more, but them this plot wouldn't have happened, so I'll just take the Emerald ones.

Overall this story is not really needed for the overall series arc, but it is neat in introducing K-9 Mark 2 and showing us the Drashigs again, if slightly different. Its an average, but enjoyable base under siege which builds the relationship between Ann and the Doctor brilliantly.

This is the start of the 8th Fourth Doctor Series and while listening to it it just felt very average. Its an OK introduction to Ann Kelso who is the Fourth Doctor's new companion for this series which, in my opinion, should have been done way sooner.

For this first episode, I didn't feel like Baker was pushed enough so his performance was just alright. This might be due to him being very comfortable around the new companions' actress- Jane Slavin, but it doesn't give the episode the punch it could have. Surprisingly as well, Frank Skinner's role is not very memorable in this, which is one of the main things I thought I would take out of this episode.

On a more positive note, I found the plot to be really engaging and interesting once part two came around and the pacing and plot really started to pick up. My favourite part about the boxsets is the strong story arc between some of the episode about the Syndicate which starts here.

Even though this episode is not as great as the rest of the serials, definitely get this one with the rest of the series as that will not disappoint.