Doctor Who and the Pirates by Jacqueline Rayner

Doctor Who and the Pirates Reviews

• 
  Lindsay

  This is a sixth Doctor adventure with Evelyn Smythe as his companion and is #43 in the Big Finish main range.
  
  This is a very strange but quite brilliant little Doctor Who story. Evelyn calls to the home of a former student and blusters her way inside, even though the student clearly doesn't want her there. Then she sits her down and tells her a story. It's very clearly a story within a story, and told with deliberate mistakes and humor, and eventually, a third episode that's mostly a musical pastiche of Gilbert & Sullivan and very cleverly done by the cast. (You can find a youtube video with Colin Baker singing A Very Model of a Modern Gallifreyan Buccaneer - it's actually very good). The pirate captain is played by Bill Oddie (I was raised on the Goodies, and he does one of his classic voices as Red Jasper).
  
  It actually ends up being very profound, so the silliness ends up being not only worth it, but critical to what's actually happening.
  
  If you're unlikely to listen to this, what actually is happening is that the Doctor and Evelyn just had a run in with the pirates that this story is based on and Red Jasper actually had the cabin boy that Evelyn had befriended brutally beaten to death. On returning home for a break, Evelyn finds that she has a letter from her former student and it's a suicide note. The Doctor then takes Evelyn back in time to the night that her student had written the letter, and Evelyn and the Doctor take it in turns to keep her up all night and entertained by the silly pirate story with the singing, and then eventually how upset and broken Evelyn feels about the cabin boy, all while making it very clear to Evelyn's student has people that care about her as well, even if it's just a former teacher and a crazy man in a many-colored coat. As the Doctor quips, a sort of reverse Scheherazade.
  
  I thought Jubliee was good. This one blew me away. Frankly, the Colin Baker audios are the standout in this range, particularly around the time these were done.
• 
  Mel

  Fourth listen to this! Definitely one of my favourite bF stories of all time! They don't make companions like this any more. History professor, knitter, and Evil Pirate Queen! The line about her blood red cardigan kills me every time! Brilliant and funny and sad. This is the first time I've listened to it since I've lost someone to suicide and that made it extra poignoint.
  
  Third time today as it's really the perfect thing to listen to in hot weather! Wonderful silly fun and sad at the same time too!
  
  Listened to this again today. I love how bad Evelyn is at the storytelling. She's just such a wonderful character. The Doctor and Evelyn squabbling is brilliant. I do wish she'd show up with cake to tell me a story! The pirates are hilarious. Bill Oddie was definitely the right choice for the villain, it took me back to my childhood. It does drag a bit in the 2nd chapter but still lots of fun overall. And the singing!!!!
  
  A silly story with an interesting message. Camp for the sake of being camp with some fantastic songs but I still throughly enjoyed this. Evelyn is just brilliant (as always) and Colin was truly wonderful.
  
  
  http://youtu.be/hIdDXQ2h1Pc
• 
  Taksya

  Abbiamo il sesto Dottore, Evelyn, pirati e un tesoro nascosto ed è un episodio musical, una parte su quattro almeno... come si può non dare il massimo del pallinaggio disponibile?
  La motivazione del perché Evelyn si metta a raccontare una sconclusionata storia su pirati e isole del tesoro ad una sua allieva lo capiremo nel corso della storia. Quello che conta, oltre alla colonna sonora a la Gilbert and Sullivan, è la leggerezza della trama, necessaria per sopravvivere ai drammi di alcuni audio che seguono e precedono questo divertissement.
  Ma, nonostante il tema leggero, assistiamo ad una presa di realtà di Evelyn, un riassestamento delle suo rapporto con le avventure vissute con il Dottore, che proseguirà anche nei prossimi audio della coppia.
  Anche se non amate i musical date una possibilità ai pirati, è divertente.
• 
  Polly Batchelor

  "It can’t possibly get any worse! The dialogue is totally over the top as well as anachronistic. Is there a story at all?"
• 
  April Mccaffrey

  DOCTOR, sung: Her name is Evil Evelyn,
  
  I've stuck with her through thick and thin.
  
  Her cardie is a shade of red that recollects the blood she's shed.
  
  These factors she will verify.
  
  Now could you try to terrify?
  
  EVELYN, sung: I'm doing my best.
  
  It's not my scene.
  
  Whose mad idea was this Pirate Queen?
  
  DOCTOR, sung: For she is a Pirate Queen.
  
  -
  
  
  
  If you're a fan of Gilbert and Sullivan, this audio is certainly for you.
  
  This audio was so much fun, but I also love the hint of themes about grief.
  
  Maggie Stables and Colin Baker are just simply a delight.
  
  
• 
  Susanne

  This was BRILLIANT!!! There’s a lot of comedy and THERE IS SINGING!!! If you like Gilbert & Sullivan musicals, you will like this. If you like Treasure Island, you will like this. I loved it.
  
  Caveat: The humor almost disguises the fact that this is a very dark story, in which multiple characters whom the Doctor and Evelyn meet die. TW for one character’s suicidal thoughts. The theme of the story is self-forgiveness, and reaching out to those who need emotional help. So it’s a good theme, but it has to be dark to get there.
• 
  F. William Davis

  This started off as a lot of strange fun but eventually devolved into a series of disjointed musicals. The pirate story was extremely silly but loads of fun.
  
  It seems obvious that Big Finish were trying to keep it fresh by experimenting with the range of story themes and production styles in the series, it has seemed evident for the last dozen or so releases and I generally commend the effort. I even think that adding an element of musical theatre was fine initially but eventually it overshadowed the rest of the production.
  
  I'd rate this as a good mediocre overall. The Doctor's and Evelyn's stories seemed to have a too obvious point of connection and the distraction of the musical interludes combined with that of the third story emerging from Evelyn's friend in the framing narrative were enough to reduce my enjoyment of the whole picture even though the core narrative was quite enjoyable. #LongAssSentenceAlert
  
  It's still recommendable because some of y'all are just going to adore the musical element.
• 
  Ritchie

  I really enjoyed this story but I hate musicals. The majority of musicals grind to a narrative halt when song breaks out and all I want is for the story to keep moving. Remove the songs and gain at least three stars.
• 
  Saturnberry

  "Ohhhh, nooooo! You ARE going to sing?!"
  - Evelyn to the Doctor
• 
  Stephen

  Doctor Who and the Pirates is an interesting little bit of audio for many reasons. First and foremost, I am fairly certain that this was the first ever musical Doctor Who episode. This is a prospect that normally wouldn’t make me too excited, as musicals really aren’t my thing, but somehow they make it work here. The key to their success is honestly the way this story is written, which is a variation of a classic embedded narrative. The story opens in a college dormitory of all places, when Dr. Evelyn Smythe outright imposes herself on one of her students and practically forces her to listen to a whimsical story about an adventure that she and The Doctor had facing off against ruthless pirates. What follows has to be heard to be believed! Starring Colin Baker as The Sixth Doctor and Maggie Stables as Evelyn Smythe, this was sure to be a fun story no matter what they threw at us.
  
  That opening scene is quite jarring at first, because as Evelyn starts narrating her adventure, one can tell that the student, Sally, wants absolutely no part of this intrusion. Evelyn makes it clear that she HAS TO listen to her no matter what. It takes a while for the audience to get an idea of exactly why she, and later The Doctor, are there in the first place. Evelyn is also, quite humorlessly, not exactly the most reliable narrator. She leaves information out and often fills gaps in with goofiness that is obviously made up on the spot. My favorite instance of this was a scene involving a crew of pirates basically introducing themselves, all with the same voice actor and named such imaginative names as John Johnson and Jim Jimson. Other characters are quite camp, voiced in a way that even John Waters would feel is a bit too much. While what we hear are voice actors putting on these voices, one can assume that Evelyn is sitting there doing her best community theater version of how a pirate would talk.
  
  Once The Doctor arrives, fashionably late of course, all bets are off. He apparently has a real itching for musical theater and has created his own versions of musical numbers from the HMS Pinafore by W. S. Gilbert and Arthur Sullivan. One of the cliffhanger stings is literally everyone being upset that he was about to start singing! The third episode is basically entirely a musical and the cast does a great job of making everything sound far bigger than what I’m sure the production was, as well as telling a compelling narrative. It is at this time that we finally learn why this episode is even happening, which involves Sally and is actually quite sad. I’m not one hundred percent sure that the light-hearted, often whimsical, nature of this story matches the overall tone of why it is happening, but by balancing the two halves the production staff did an excellent job.
  
  
  While Big Finish could have delivered a bog-standard Pirates of the Caribbean rip-off with this story, they went the extra mile to create something weird and off-the-rails and by doing so may have created one of the more enjoyable little experiments in the whole line-up. Despite not being a “musical guy,” I thought this was pretty enjoyable, largely due to the humor and absurdity of what was happening at times. There is a great bit of sadness involved with why the story is happening, but nothing ever feels oppressive or hopeless. Colin Baker and Maggie Stables once again cement the fact that they are one of the best pairings in the history of the franchise, and I really can’t get enough of them!
  
  
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• 
  Steven Shinder

  This audio has gotten a resurgence in popularity recently as it has been approaching its 20th anniversary. I can see why. Evelyn and The Doctor tell Sally a story of one of their adventures, with the unreliable narrator trope coming into play now and then, but not in an overbearing manner. Midway through, there's some fun singing, and there's even a nice rendition of the Doctor Who theme at the end. It's also funny how Evelyn mentions The Doctor having met Winston Churchill. I automatically imagined the Ian McNiece portrayal. Such a fun story all around.
• 
  Chris

  I really don't understand how this has almost 4 stars. After starting with Evelyn telling one of her students a pirate story for no apparent reason, it takes about an hour before we kind of find out why, and it still makes no real sense. Then at the halfway point this turns into a musical for a half hour. WTF! Plus you have an annoying dandy as the captain. Perhaps this works as a story for children, but for me, this ranks among the worst Doctor Who audios or TV episodes.
• 
  Pietro Rossi

  Evelyn goes to visit a student at home and starts to tell her a story about when she accompanied the Doctor when he met the infamous pirate Red Jasper. As the story progresses it becomes more preposterous as clichéd. But that's not the true meaning of this visit. It's about loss, guilt, acceptance.
  
  Everyone is on top form in this goofy story, with the gear change being very effective. 8/10
  
  Scoring: 0 bad; 1-3 poor; 4-6 average; 7-9 good; 10 excellent.
• 
  K

  教え子のサリーの元を訪ねたイブリンは迷惑がるサリーをよそにドクターと経験した海賊に遭遇した時の冒険の話を始める。途中からドクターもやってきてイブリンと共にその冒険について語り始める。
  
  
  当初、イブリンが話す海賊の話とサリーがどう結びつくのか謎だったのが、その理由がわかったとき、どどーんとイブリンの思いやドクターの優しさにやられる感じ。 Episode 3では突然ミュージカルモードになるのだけれども、すごく本格的で面白くそれだけでも聞く価値あり。当初、イブリンの語る物語の詳細を聴き取るのに苦労したけれども、そこを乗り越えるとわかりやすい話で、物語としてのバランスもよくとってもよかったと思う。ラストは希望を持っていいのだと信じたいところ。ドクターがめちゃくちゃかっこいい！ ドクター・フーのクリスマス・スペシャルとかでみたいようなお話。
  
  
• 
  Katrina

  I am a lifelong fan of Doctor Who. Literally been watching the show since infancy.
  
  And I am a HUGE musical theater fan. I see them all. I listen to cast albums on repeat. I am obsessed.
  
  But this book... I don't know what it's supposed to be... I feel like I SHOULD be its target audience. I was just confused the whole time. What is even going on here? And more importantly... Why!?
• 
  Sara Habein

  This is a mostly very silly one that reminded me a little bit of that episode of The X-Files with the vampires (and Luke Wilson), though this involves pirates. Part 3 is a Gilbert & Sullivan-style musical, but there are touching moments throughout, including the ending. The Sixth Doctor and Evelyn remain a great pair.
• 
  Kelly McCubbin

  THis has some charm at the beginning and the cliffhanger of the first episode, that The Doctor may SING is hilarious. Sadly, however, the promise of it falls apart after a few songs and it all becomes far too winky-winky clever for it to sustain the meta-narrative that is supposed to feel so deep.
• 
  Josh

  Evelyn and the Doctor tell one of Evelyn's students a tale set on the high seas to give them comfort after a traumatising time. With an entire episode of musical numbers. This one has everything, comedy, music, sadness, and a crazy pirate captain who is bloodthirsty and treasure hungry.
• 
  David Wardrop

  Yo ho ho and a bottle of fun.
• 
  Duckpondwithoutducks

  Doctor Who meets Treasure Island meets Gilbert+Sullivan bookended with a mental health message. After listening, I was just like, what was that? 😂 But it was great fun.
• 
  Luiz Santiago

  Crítica | Big Finish Mensal #43: Doctor Who and the Pirates:
  https://www.planocritico.com/critica-...
• 
  James Hynes

  Continued proof that the Evelyn Smythe era is some of the best stuff Doctor Who has to offer.
• 
  Elizabeth

  The musical parody threw me for a sec, but I love the frame story arc. <3 Evelyn is a great unconventional companion!
• 
  Marius

  This one's got everything. Pirates, silly comedy, serious drama, surprise musical third act...
  CW for all but explicitly stated suicidal ideation. That's technically a spoiler, I guess.
• 
  Viviana

  [Audiobook]
  Too much singing haha
• 
  K

  It was a good story until it turned into a musical.
• 
  Charles Mitchell

  For anyone who has wanted a musical episode of Doctor Who, here you go. Excellent fun with the 6th Doctor (Colin Baker) and Dr. Evelyn Smythe (Maggie Stables)... and pirates!
• 
  Ardens

  Loved the musical numbers
• 
  morgan

  There's a lot of padding in this. The pirate treasure map plot goes in circles at some points, and I get where the Susie character is coming from feeling frustrated listening to the Doctor and Evelyn tell this tale that seems to go nowhere. The sequences where Colin Baker sings has a certain charm, he has a talent for musical theater, and the ending is quite touching. The story structure with Evelyn and the Doctor as unreliable narrators is effective. I liked some of the dialogue where they wax poetic on the nature of stories/ storytelling.