Heard some Doctor Who

While I get all the books and, of course, watch the TV show, my interest is cooled towards audio content. That said, I have just listened to some of the audio books of the Eleventh Hour.

The Ring of Steel by Stephen Cole, read by Arthur Darvill (although it doesn't feature Rory). It is set on the Orkney Islands, and has them fighting pylons. And chemicals. Really. However, it is quite good, despite my intentionally bad description of it. It keeps going, it keeps up the interest of what is happening, and has interesting characters. It is also well read by Arthur Darvill, without going over the top on the voices.

The Runaway Train by Oli Smith, read by Matt Smith. There was a train in this? Oh yeah, maybe for a little bit. Not really. Pretty basic plot (these are only one hour audios, so not a lot of time for building complex story structures), but there's an alien device, the Doctor gets it on a train, and... it's not 'runaway' more 'stolen'. And something happens with Amy... I couldn't keep interested enough to track everything. And, this sounds like a terrible thing to say, but Matt Smith doesn't seem to be able to do the Eleventh Doctor well. He sounds like him, but doesn't bring the enthusiasm and passion he has when on the screen. Meh.

The Jade Pyramid by Martin Day, read by Matt Smith. Historical Japan, alien device in a pyramid, guarded by big robots. However, it does feel like there were a few missing sections of plot. You can guess what the gaps are, but never quite sure what exactly happened, and if it was intentional or bits were cut to get the audio to fit on a disc. Matt Smith does a better performance here too. This isn't as good as Ring of Steel, but far better than The Runaway Train.

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