2005-05-21 Reasonable, varied anthology

Highlights are 'From Eternity', concerning an entity of a truly epic scale and it's unintentional destruction of entire species; 'Last Rites' where the 7th Doctor and Ace come up again a giant swarm of rats on a mined-out planet; and 'Trapped!', a simple but incredibly effective tale of the 6th Doctor and Peri combating a vampire.

Reasonable if unspectacular material comes in the form of 'The Touch of the Nurazh', where the 3rd Doctor and Jo get into a very typical traditional adventure with the Master and alien mind-parasites at a convalescent home; 'Flashpoint', where the 5th Doctor teams up with Liz Shaw to investigate an alien trapped in a marble bust of Nero; 'Categorical Imperative' finds all 8 Doctor's queuing up to kill a future mass-murderer as a child; 'Screamager' has Victoria and the 2nd Doctor encountering a Banshee in 14th Century Ireland; and 'The Colour of Monsters' is a basic but well-told take of an innocent young girl's encounter with an alien.

The only real misfires are opener 'Best Seller', a bland tale about the 8th Doctor encountering hysteria surrounding a book launch whipped up by dull aliens; These Things Take Time', a boring non-story about the 7th Doctor, Ace and Hex failing to get into an adventure, which fails completely to have anything even approaching a monster in it; and 'Not So Much a Programme More A Way of Life' a misjudged and obvious comedy featuring the 5th Doctor battling a group of aliens who brainwash humanity with a new TV science fiction series.

All in all a reasonable hit rate, and some varied stories - this is a marked improvement on Ian Farington's dire Past Tense anthology.