Big Finish Doctor Who 106 - The Dark Husband

"This whole wedding is like making a nuclear bomb with half the instructions missing!"

A week-long respite from a prolonged and bloody war, the Festival of the Twin Moons of Tuin makes Glastonbury look like a church fete... or so the brochure says. The Doctor and Ace are looking for rest and recreation. Hex is looking for the beer tent. But eternal enemies the ginger-haired Ri and the coot-bald Ir are plotting to turn their Festival truce to their own advantage. Only the Dark Husband might stop the celebrations turning to horror... but who is the Dark Husband? And what terror awaits him on his wedding night? If anyone knows any just cause or impediment... speak now.

The lives of billions depend on it.

This is a very intriguing audio. The 7th Doctor, Ace and Hex travel to the leisure planet of Tuin, to sample the ‘Festival of The Twin Moons’. Ace is looking for a rest and a bit of pampering, Hex, like all young lads, is hoping to get drunk at the nearest beer tent. However when they get there, they find that the planet is at war and has been so for years. What is going on, who are the Dark Husband and The Shining Wife and why is The Doctor behaving so mysteriously?

This is David Quantick’s first Doctor Who story and he does an excellent job. More at home writing comedy for television and radio, Quantick really does keep the old magic of Doctor Who going, with the action moving from serious to comedic and visa-versa, quite easily.

Danny Webb (Mr Jefferson in ‘The Impossible Planet’ and ‘The Satan Pit’) supplies his vocal talents for this story and, as usual, Sylvester McCoy, Sophie Aldred and Philip Oliver are all on top form. Well, to be fair, I’m sure Oliver is used to going off and finding beer tents!

This is also a key story in regards of the relationships between our three heroes, as this story continues the excellent standard that is set which each release. So much so, I’m now going to rate audios out of five. I think this will give them a fairer rating, as a poorer BF story would only be 5/10, for me and I can’t keep writing about how great each audio is, can I?

4/5

Next in the monthly releases is the 5th Doctor in ‘The Haunting of Thomas Brewster’. Scary!