Big Finish Doctor Who 117 - The Key 2 Time - The Judgement of Isskar

On a planet where Time stands still, the Doctor meets a woman who is just a few minutes old. She is a Tracer, sent into our Universe by her makers to locate the six segments of the Key to Time. This being without a name wants the Doctor to be her assistant, but she doesn’t tell him the whole truth. Not at first.

Their first port of call is Mars, where a society that one day will become Ice Warriors lives in peace and civility. But the Doctor’s arrival will change all that. The universe is dying, a choice must be made, and the Judgement of Isskar will be declared. The price must be paid - even if it takes centuries…

Big Finish kick off 2009 with the release of the ‘Key 2 Time’ trilogy, starring fifth Doctor, Peter Davison. However, if you are after a more in-depth look at certain characters then check out the companion chronicle release – ‘The Prisoner’s Dilemma’. Even though it acts as a prequel to the trilogy, you’re not missing out on any of the story if you are unable to purchase a copy. However, if you’re a stickler for the development of a characters back story, then by all means - check it out! The story stars Sophie Aldred as Ace and like all companion chronicles – it’s a great listen!

Anyway back on the main subject! Let’s go back to 1978 and we are introduced to Romana and the mysterious Guardians, who are both after ‘The Key To Time’, which is a crystal made up of six different segments that can give the holder the power to rewrite the state and balance of the universe. However each segment has been scattered throughout time and space and could be disguised as anything! So the poor old Doctor has to find them and restore the balance. Don’t worry – it isn’t as confusing as I’ve told it!

I think it’s a good move by Big Finish to do a sequel to that classic series. This first story – ‘The Judgement of Isskar’, is a wonderful start! We’ve got Ice Warriors, before they where ‘Ice Warriors’, insect people who are at war with each other and of course a new companion – Amy (played by Ciara Janson). Amy is a humanoid ‘tracer’, which was the device which the fourth Doctor used to find the Key last time. However this time, the Key is decaying and Amy and her sister Zara (Laura Doddington) have been tasked to find three segments each by their masters – 'The Grace', before the key destroys itself - and the universe!

From start to finish, this audio just pulls you into the narrative. The pre-Ice Warrior Mars is a fascinating concept, which has never been explored by the television series before. There is also a nice nod to ‘Red Dawn’, an early Big Finish audio, with The Ice Warriors. But it’s the performances of the two sisters, Amy and Zara that I’m most impressed with. It’s like listening to a long-established partnership between the two characters, which in reality is just barely over an hour long!

Another partnership I was impressed with was the one between Amy and The Doctor. I felt that the new-born and naive Amy was great foil for Davison’s ‘old man in a young person’s body’-type Doctor. It was almost like being back in 1963 and William Hartnell’s old professor-type Doctor I wonder, what with Peri stuck on ‘a planet of rain’, which starts the story off and no Erimem anymore, will Amy get to stay on with The Doctor, beyond this trilogy? I hope so but its very early days!

Overall, this is a great start to what could be an epic story. All credit to everyone involved for producing yet another Big Finish masterpiece! I’m very rarely disappointed with a monthly release, so let’s hope this continues for the next 12 months - as there is some very intriguing stuff to come!

5/5

Next Time: The Doctor and Amy continue on their journey, this time they encounter ‘The Destroyer of Delights’!

Big Finish Doctor Who - 2008 Subscribers Special - Return of The Krotons

The dead planet Onyakis is being plundered by the last survivors of the human race, and their leader, Commander Cobden, will stop at nothing to get what he wants. Already there are rumours of those who stand against him mysteriously disappearing. But when the Doctor and Charley find themselves on the side of those trying to expose Cobden, they discover something far more sinister.

Deep in the mines of Onyakis, alien technology is reactivating. Power is flowing. Something is forming in the darkness…

This years Big Finish ‘Subscribers Special’ sees the return of classic Doctor Who monsters ‘The Krotons’!

The Krotons only appearance on television was in December 1968, in a serial that ran until January 1969 – exactly 40 years before the release of this audio. The Krotons themselves are a strange ‘crystalline lifeform’ that need people to use ‘learning machines’ to power them.

I would advise you getting hold of a copy of ‘The Krotons’ before listening to this. I believe it is available on VHS and on ITunes. Surely it won’t be long before a DVD release?

In the audio, The Doctor and Charley find themselves lost. Not for the first time, the TARDIS is knackered and they’ve been left with no clue where (or when) they are. It turns out that this story shares some nice parallels with the 4th Doctor serial ‘The Ark in Space’, which was about human colonies. The ‘ark’ that appeared in that story (Nerva) gets a couple of mentions, which should keep old school fans happy! The story does build up rather nicely but the finish is quite disappointing.

Overall, the audio is just a bit of harmless fun that offers a good insight into The Krotons. I was a little disappointed with the pace of the story, which as mentioned, built up very well but the way everything was resolved was disappointing. However, the performances of the actors (including the legendry Philip Madoc) really do stand out rather well.

2.5/5

Big Finish Doctor Who 116 - The Raincloud Man

Having just defeated the Krotons, the Doctor is treating Charley to a hearty English breakfast, when an intriguing mystery suddenly presents itself. And to solve it, they must plunge back into the criminal underbelly of Manchester, where an old friend is up to her neck in alien trouble.

But what seemed like a mere mystery ends up being a life or death struggle at the centre of an interplanetary war in which the stakes are so high, the Doctor or Charley must gamble and lose their identity. And throughout, the lone figure of the Raincloud Man may hold the key to success or failure.

The guys over at Big Finish bring out their final story of 2008, which sees the return of Manchester and DI Menzies (played by Anna Hope) in ‘The Raincloud Man’.

One thing I can say about it, is that it is pure classic Doctor Who! The story takes a while to get going but that really makes it all the better to listen to!

With it being set after ‘Return of the Krotons’ (the subscriber’s release which is reviewed here) The Doctor and Charley find themselves having breakfast in a café. But when Charley spots something strange, about false £1 coins and Manchester, The Doctor looks up an old friend.

This turns out to be the tireless DI Patricia Menzies, who apart from doing her day job is now taking care of the aliens who ask her for help, after the events of ‘The Condemned’. She agrees to help The Doctor, any way she can but she herself is busy investigating a number of strange deaths. When Charley accompanies her on a visit to an alien who can see the ‘possibilities of time’, she is told that she must tell The Doctor the truth about herself. But when the alien turns up dead, Charley is arrested for murder…

It’s another intriguing story that adds more mystery to Charley’s story. It can run the risk of being a little bit tedious but for how its okay! The audio also takes a nice twist after the second part and the story benefits from it.

Once again Anna Hope was outstanding and here’s hoping she can return again. Michael Fenton-Stevens also offers great support as the mysterious boat-owner, Brooks.

Overall it’s a very good story that is a little slow in places but still manages to make you listen to every word!

3.5/5

Next Time: It’s the start of ‘The Key 2 Time’ trilogy as the Fifth Doctor is joined by new companion Amy in ‘The Judgement of Isskar’

Big Finish Doctor Who - The Stageplays - The Curse Of The Daleks

The space ship Starfinder is taking two dangerous criminals for trial on Earth. En route, they crash through a meteor storm and have to make an emergency landing on Skaro – the planet of the dreaded Daleks. But Captain Redway and his faithful crew don’t anticipate any trouble. After all, the Daleks were defeated fifty years ago and now they are completely inactive. But when a crate full of mysterious devices is discovered and the Daleks start to come back to life, it becomes clear that there is a traitor amongst the Starfinder’s crew… A traitor intent on reactivating the power of the Daleks!

Doctor Who: The Stageplays concludes with the Doctor-less ‘Curse of the Daleks’ and it’s just as good as the previous two!

Originally performed in 1965, the play is notable for being Terry Nation’s first attempt at performing 'live Daleks'. The original play was performance at the Wyndham's Theatre in London. Elements of this story were used in the Second Doctor’s first full serial - ‘The Power of the Daleks’.

Much in the style of the excellent ‘Dalek Empire’ series, we are given a tale of how a group of people are forced to land on a now-deserted Skaro. The Daleks are believed to be long dead, despite there still being Dalek casings scattered across the planet’s ruins. But when a mysterious crate is found on board the ship, it is long before the Dalek’s rise again. What is in the crate and who is behind the rise of the Daleks? Is it the two prisoners? The passengers? Or even the flight crew? Or is it the Daleks, up to their old manipulative tricks?

Despite there being no Doctor, the play is still as good as a normal Big Finish play. Linking narration is provided by Nick Briggs, who as always voices the Daleks. Despite hearing his voice again, Briggs’ is an excellent narrator and puts a nice touch on the play.

I especially enjoyed the performance of Michael Praed, who played the mysterious prisoner Ladiver. I thought his performance really held the play together and the whole thing certainly hinged on that!

4/5

Overall, I’ve been very impressed with this series of stageplay adaptations, I do hope that Big Finish will adapt more spin-off stuff. I would love to hear some of the Virgin New Adventure books, being adapted!

Happy 45th Birthday Doctor Who! 23rd November 1963 - 23rd November 2008

45 years and still as good as ever. Doctor Who is not a television programme, it’s a hobby, a job, an obsession, whatever you want to call it. It has taken over people’s lives, their childhoods, relationships, marriages and children. Who would have thought that in 1963, a science-fiction educational program, aired on the BBC was going to turn into the huge fandom monster it has created? These fans could be anyone, mainly nutters but there’s always someone who can appreciate the production values of ‘Sliver Nemesis’. Or is it just me?

These fans kept the flame alight during the barren years since 1989 and are now reaping the benefits in this golden age for Doctor Who. The children’s educational program from 1963 is now the UK’s best loved drama.

Each decade of the programme has had a special anniversary episode(s). We’ve had the ‘Three Doctors’ in 1973, ‘The Five Doctors’ in 1984 and the unforgettable (in many ways) ‘Dimensions In Time’ in 1993. However, perhaps the most celebrated anniversary was the 40th. Just a month beforehand the fans received the best news ever – Doctor Who would be returning!

It isn’t just the television episodes that are eagerly awaited though, audio dramas, books, magazines, toys, conventions and many other things are at the top of any fans list. But for this particular anniversary, it is Big Finish who are celebrating with the release of their special audio, made up of 4 one-part stories, the mind blowingly named - Forty Five!


This audio sees Sylvester McCoy taking on four separate stories, following the releases of Peter Davison’s ‘Circular Time’ and Colin Baker’s ‘100’ (which was to celebrate Big Finish’s 100th Doctor Who release). Each of the four stories, in this audio, are linked by Forty Five or its numerical version. It becomes apparent, whilst listen to this, that it’s another example of quality planning by Big Finish and thier writers.

The CD kicks off with ‘False Gods’ where we meet Howard Carter in Egypt, some years before his major discovery of Tutankhamun. The Doctor, Ace and Hex are forced to materialise there, after they hit a time distortion. The trio land and soon encounter Carter and his students. But they are soon spilt up and divided in different periods of time. It’s a nice story that ticks along nicely but the last 10 minutes in particular are excellent.

Part two of this audio is the story ‘Order of Simplicity’, which sees the trio land on a windswept island in the year 3380 after The Doctor receives a coded transmission. He learns that a professor based on the island, needs help to crack a code. But something sinister seems to be behind it, what is the code really for and why is The Doctor so keen to crack it? This story is designed to be very creepy and the apparent 19th century décor in the professor’s house, for the year it’s set in, does seems a little strange! It’s an interesting enough story but its one of those that you’ll have to listen to carefully – it has a sort of ‘Ghost Light’ feel to it!

Part three is ‘Casualties of War’ and is the best 20-odd minutes on the CD! It’s VE Day but The Doctor is busy tracking the signal of an alien device. It seems that a local thief has got his mucky hands on a large quantity of alien artefacts and is already using one to great affect. The Doctor needs to find him quickly, apart from the device being dangerous, some ‘old friends’ from a couple of past Big Finish audios are on his trail and are determined to get back the artefacts, at any cost. This story sees Ace given more back-story and it also seems that the Hex ‘arc’ is getting ready to unravel itself. All in all, it’s a wonderful story that will leave you wanting more!

The final story of the audio is also as well delivered as the previous three. Although, ‘The Word Lord’ is the most strangest story I’ve listened to for a while, its well worth it just for the David Tennant impression – you’ll know what I’ll mean if you’ve heard it! The story starts with the trio under arrest for materialising in a high-security bunker, just when a Russian politician is murdered. But thanks to a UNIT link, they end up helping the people there but they have only – 45 minutes to do it. You probably can see where this is going but quite surprisingly, it doesn’t get annoying!

We may or may not see certain characters again, something which could be interesting next year, as each Doctor will have a trilogy of audio releases in consecutive months! As always, the pairing of the 7th Doctor, Ace and Hex remain one of my favourite’s and they pull each story off particularly well. I think we’ll be delving into Hex’s back-story soon but don’t hold me to it!

4/5

Next Time: It’s Christmas, so The Doctor and Charley are in – Manchester. Don’ worry, I’m sure the ‘Raincloud Man’ will be good!

Bernice Summerfield 9.4 - The Diet Of Worms

Series 9 of the Bernice Summerfield audios concludes with ‘The Diet of Worms’ and it isn’t as strange as it sounds!

Even though this series has been hit by delays, you still get the feeling that we haven’t really got anywhere in developing the characters of Benny and Peter. Yes, Peter has grown up but we haven’t really pushed his character enough, ditto Benny. It should be interesting to see what Big Finish do next year, with hopefully a much longer series than just 4 stories!

Back to this audio, where Benny finds herself applying for a job at a ‘depository of knowledge’, which holds almost every written artefact that comes from Earth. However, after learning that the job is no longer open, as the depository is having finical difficulties, Benny gets set to leave. But in the vaults of the depository, something is hiding in the books. Something that repeats out loud the text of the book, before the reader can read it. Can Benny solve the mystery and help to save the timeless artefacts from going missing, forever?

It’s a rather better listen than I have described it, to be honest! It doesn’t really kick in until halfway through, then you’ll enjoy it. It has some nice moments, Mrs T. the robot cake-lady steals the show, as she at one point babysits for Peter! The last couple of minutes in particular are really good and should lead us into series 10, when it comes along. I for one can’t wait!

Overall, ‘The Diet of Worms’ is a bit of old fashioned Benny fun (if there is such a thing!), it really complements this season well, as a couple of stories that aren’t really content heavy. I’m hoping that the writers will step it up a gear when series 10 arrives!

4/5

Next Time: There’s no word yet on the details for series 10 but keep your eyes peeled on the Big Finish website for all the latest news!

Big Finish Doctor Who 114 - Brotherhood of the Daleks

The TARDIS materialises. Despite console readings to the contrary, the Sixth Doctor and Charley step out, unexpectedly, into an alien jungle, where they find themselves stalked and then ambushed. They have landed in the middle of one of the Dalek wars, and this time the tactics used by both sides are threatening the very nature of reality.

I don’t know how to review this audio. On one hand its one of the most landmark Dalek stories that Big Finish has done. On the other, it’s the most bizarre pieces of writing this side of ‘Ghost Light’!

Okay, you can actually follow the story so the Ghost Light comparison is a bit harsh but imagine if Terry Nation based the Daleks on Communists instead of Nazis – that is what ‘Brotherhood of the Daleks’ is basically about!

The first disc (or two parts, whichever you prefer) pulls you into the story brilliantly. The Doctor and Charley land on what The Doctor thinks is an ice planet but instead its Spiridon, first seen in Jon Pertwee’s ‘Planet of the Daleks’ in 1973. But is it Spiridon? The TARDIS doesn’t think it is!

The Doctor and Charley meet a team of Thals who are waiting to be rescued, whilst they are on the run from Daleks. One of their member has been killed and they seem rather trigger-happy and after the TARDIS disappears, will The Doctor, his ridiculous deerskin apparel and Charley, get out alive?

It’s a gripping listen but once you get to part three, that’s where it all goes bonkers! At times you’re not sure what is real and what is not real. Considering this is a fiction anyway, it gets all the more confusing! Add to that the fact that the Daleks seem to remember Charley (from the audio) ‘Terror Firma’ - you’ll struggle to keep up!

It’s quite interesting to see what this story does to the Daleks. I suppose it ratifies the fact that the Daleks will never change but I would like to see a continuing arc of different Daleks, with a different agenda. Big Finish toyed with this in the ‘Dalek Empire’ spinoffs (which are a great listen, if you’re into Daleks) but I would like to see a change in direction with future Dalek stories. Let’s stop using them as joke devices, which is what the television series has done and make them into the menacing threat they should be!

As always, Colin Baker and India Fisher are on top form as the 6th Doctor and Charley. The Charley story arc is also getting that little bit more interesting. Although I do hope we have this pairing for a few years yet, I hope this plotline isn’t done to death! It isn’t surprising to listen how easy the two have settled down together. I do get the feeling that the 6th Doctor could fit in with every one of his past and future companions and that is all due to Colin, who apart from being loveable, has the best name in the world! Me and him and so much in common!

Michael Cochrane (who plays Murgat) is the main guest star in this audio. He has appeared in the television stories ‘Black Orchid’ and, (surprise, surprise!) Ghost Light’. He also appeared in the 7th Doctor audio, ‘No Man’s Land, which is well worth digging out!

There are also over 30 minutes of extras, which are also well worth a listen. If only to hear people trying to talk normally, but having the Dalek sound affect on their voice! As always the behind the scenes stuff is very informative and adds that little bit of gloss to each release. Just hearing about how India Fisher wanted to re-record a scene because she wasn’t happy with it, just shows how much work everyone puts in and that’s just great to hear. It does make you wonder how a small company like Big Finish, gets all its releases out and at the same time, maintain the high quality they have set themselves.

Despite the strangeness of this release, it’s still a good story that has plenty of twists and turns, more so from part three onwards! You may have to listen to it at least twice to understand what’s going on, though!

4/5

Next Time: its “HAPPY 45th BIRTHDAY DOCTOR WHO!”, as Big Finish will be celebrating by releasing ‘Forty Five’, with the 7th Doctor, Ace and Hex.

Bernice Summerfield 9.3 - The Adventure Of The Diogenes Damsel

I quite enjoy ‘historical’ stories, be it on screen, audio or in print, I like to learn about that particular time period and enjoy the story it spawns. The Bernice Summerfield range is no different from its parent (so to speak!) Doctor Who, in producing good historical stories. ‘The Time Ring Trilogy’, consisting the stories ‘Walking To Babylon’, ‘Birthright’ and ‘Just War’ are beautifully – and brilliantly, done (although to be fair the latter two are adaption’s of Doctor Who books!) I would recommend that you start your Bernice Summerfield education there, before going to listen to the other three in the first series (Oh No It Isn’t, Beyond The Sun and Dragon’s Wrath)

The latest offering is ‘The Adventure of the Diogenes Damsel’, which sees Benny stuck in Victorian London (or as the Victorians called it – London) after her time ring malfunctions. She enlists the help of Mycroft Holmes, the brother of a famous fictional detective, Sherlock Holmes. He employs Benny as his assistant and they investigate the movements of the mysterious ‘7 killer’, who murders people in the most bizarre ways. However, as Benny tries to help out, as well as work out a way to get back home, she is being watched by two strange men - a famed ‘collector of antiquities’ and his, to want for a better word, gofer!

I was a little bit disappointed that they included the Sherlock Holmes motif. What these historical do so well is that they always get history bang on. Sherlock Holmes was never real, so I didn’t understand why they played with it. Having Benny meet his brother, instead of Sherlock himself, was a nice touch though and its a break from the 'we'll do these really famous characters because we can' train of thought. Benny did meet Sherlock and Dr. Watson in a Doctor Who novel, so I suppose the writers are just keeping the continuity!

But once I got over that, I quite enjoyed it! David Warner played the very likeable Mycroft Holmes and seemed to have a good on-audio understanding with Lisa Bowerman’s Benny. The supporting cast, which includes Peter Miles, hold up the story well and its strange now not hearing the voice of Peter Summerfield (Thomas Grant), as he is only heard shouting ‘Mum’, very briefly!

As with any Benny audio, it’s a lot of fun and should be taken as so. There are plenty nods to the Time Lords and what is happening over at the collection but hopefully we can wait a while longer until this plot device is played out! We even have a guest appearance from another character from the Doctor Who range but whether or not this is set before or after the audios this character appears in, I don’t know!

4/5

Next Tine: We come to the end of a very short series, although thanks to the delay in July, it hasn’t been that short! ‘The Diet of Worms’ is the delightfully-named final story!

Big Finish Doctor Who 113 - Time Reef

A curse on this damned reef - and curse the Doctor who brought us here!

Drawn by the siren call of a distress beacon, the TARDIS crash-lands on an uncharted time reef. However, the Doctor, Nyssa and Brewster are not the only mariners marooned on this barren rock. Commander Gammades and his crew of returning war heroes have been similarly shipwrecked, as has the beautiful but mysterious Lady Vuyoki.

But there's something else here, too. A thing of darkness which crawls blindly across the surface of the reef hunting for prey: the Ruhk.

Big Finish just keep pulling rabbits out of hats with their audios! We’ve been treated to some great stories in the last couple of months and ‘Time Reef’ is no different.

Following on from the events of ‘The Boy That Time Forgot’, we are in the TARDIS as The Doctor and Nyssa try to find items that have mysteriously disappeared, and they believe that Brewster is behind it.

They learn that the dimensions of the TARDIS are closing in and with time running out, before it's destroyed, they land at the last journey the TARDIS made – a reef, in space, which is stuck in a ‘time bubble’! They are not the only ones stuck there, the rock is populated by the ship’s crew who are on constant guard against killer birds called ‘The Ruck’. And there’s even a sinister lady nearby, who seems to have wrapped the ship’s captain around her little finger.

It’s quite a bizarre concept but it makes sense when you listen to it! It’s brilliantly written by Marc Platt, even with a lot of Ancient Greece references (for more info on that – listen to the extras!)

Our usual team are joined by Nicholas Farrell, Sean ‘Harry Potter’ Biggerstaff, Beth Chalmers and Sean Connolly. As usual the supporting cast do a wonderful job!

The three-part ‘Time Reef’ is accompanied by the one-parter – ‘A Perfect World’. This is another truly wonderful story, which sees one of the TARDIS crew making a big decision as they have caused the whole earth to be perfect, which is a bad thing! It just puts the icing on the cake and it’s rather different from the one-parters that we are used to.

4.5/5

Next Time – Colin Baker and India Fisher are back in ‘Brotherhood of the Daleks’!

Big Finish Doctor Who 112 - Kingdom of Silver

The Doctor arrives on Tasak in search of refreshment, armed with nothing more than a kettle. But this is a time of crisis for a civilisation about to enter an industrial age.

Mindful that a devastating war is only recently over, the wise and revered Magus Riga will do almost anything to save his people from the follies of the past. But the road to hell is paved with good intentions. And the planet Tasak is host to ancient powers buried deep and long forgotten. Can visitors from another world avert disaster or will their intervention drag this innocent world into the Orion War?

After the last solo 7th Doctor story, I was a little bit worried. ‘The Death Collectors’ was a little bit disappointing but I should not have feared, as this month’s release, ‘Kingdom of Silver’ was superb!

I think it’s fair to say that ‘The Death Collectors’ downfall was the fact that it had a small cast. ‘Kingdom of Sliver’ has many more characters that accompany The Doctor and that allows for much more character development, which helps the story to ‘tick along nicely’ and not drag on, as parts of ‘The Death Collectors’, unfortunately, did.

I think it’s great that Big Finish continue to explore The Doctor’s life, just before the TV Movie, where he is travelling alone. It adds a whole new aspect to Sylvester McCoy’s Doctor and helps the character to move on from the ‘dark Doctor’ of 1989 and change into the lonely figure we saw in 1996. This and ‘Frozen Time’ do that well, whilst ‘The Death Collectors’ is interesting enough, it would probably work better with a companion or two!

The Doctor finds himself with company in the TARDIS, as Temeter (Neil Roberts) tracks a signal coming from the blue box. The Doctor is on the lookout for another signal, which he views as suspicious. He and Temeter work together to trace it but Temeter isn’t telling The Doctor what he’s really up to.

Meanwhile, the leader of the planet, Magus Riga (Terry Molloy) is preparing to throw a party for all the distinguished scientists on the planet and he even has a new statue to unveil - an artefact found at the planet’s ancient ruins – a silver statue…

The audio is beautifully paced and really grabs you, it just lacks that element of surprise as, thanks to the cover, you already know who the villains are and the plot is quite easy to figure out! It’s still an enjoyable listen and works well as a solo 7th Doctor story. It was also nice to hear Terry Molloy lending his voice to someone other than Davros!

The one-parter, included with this release, is ‘Keepsake’. It’s another compact but excellent little tale that contains some of the characters from ‘Kingdom of Sliver’. It’s a great listen and supplements the three-parter very well.

4.5/5

Next Time: Thomas Brewster joins The Doctor and Nyssa full-time as they hit a ‘Time Reef’!

Bernice Summerfield 9.2 - The Adolescence Of Time

After a long delay in post-production from Big Finish, we finally get the chance to listen to ‘The Adolescence of Time’.

It’s a story with a twist as Benny hardly features so her son Peter takes the starring role. Thomas Grant is great as the young Kiloran but it was perhaps too early for him to have a solo role. Going back to the ‘End of the World’ where Jason Kane had a solo story, we were used to his character as he had been a regular seen the first series. This worked well and that is one of my favourite Benny audios, in fact that series as a whole, worked really well. In this story, I just felt we didn’t really have much to ‘hang on to’ in respect of Peter.

There are some nice touches though and everything seems neat and tidy. Peter finds a time ring and is transported to a world where prehistoric animals still roam and someone wants to capture Peter for ‘The Worm’ but he’s far too busy trying to rescue colonies of Pterodactylsl-type creatures, which are based on standalone rocks – in the sky! It’s a stunning thought and I thought Lisa Bowerman’s direction worked well.

I did feel however that the story lacked the ‘feel’ we’ve become used to with Benny audios. Whilst this new music, production and everything else is good it’s something which is far withdrawn from early Benny audios, which really got me hooked on the sexy-27th Century archaeologist! It’s perhaps something we’ll have to get used to, as this era of Benny audios continues and Peter’s character continues to develop.

2.5/5

Next Time: Benny is back on Earth – in Victorian times – in 'The Adventure of the Diogenes Damsel'

Free Audio Drama Download From BIG FINISH: UNIT - The Coup

Big Finish are kindly giving away free downloads of the UNIT story - The Coup, originally given away with Doctor Who Magazine 351. Starring Nicholas Courtney as Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart.

CAST: Nicholas Courtney, Siri O'Neal, Scott Andrews, Matthew Brehner, Sara Carver, Michael Hobbs, Joseph Lidster, Mark Wright

SYNOPSIS: London, the near future; UNIT is finished. The UK division of the United Nations Intelligence Taskforce prepares to cede its authority to a new organisation... But who is attempting to sabotage the hand-over?

AUTHOR: Simon Guerrier
DIRECTOR: Ian Farrington
SOUND DESIGN: David Darlington
MUSIC: David Darlington
COVER ART: Adrian Salmon

Download here. Right-click and select 'Save Target As'

http://www.bigfinish.com/UNIT

Big Finish Doctor Who 111 - The Doomwood Curse

Curses and tombs, revenge from beyond the grave - and Dick Turpin!

England, 1738. On the trail of a lost book, the Doctor and Charley arrive at the beautiful country estate of Sir Ralph and Lady Sybil. But all is far from idyllic. There’s a murderer on the loose, and the nearby woods are the haunt of the notorious highwayman Dick Turpin.

And that’s not all. Something else has journeyed here. Something that could destroy the very fabric of reality. The Doctor and Charley have just forty-eight hours to solve the mystery before the whole world succumbs to The Doomwood Curse.

Fact: This was a great return to form for Big Finish. Good Fact: It also saw the return of the 6th Doctor and Charley. Even Better Fact: We had a returning monster from the Bernice Summerfield audios!

‘The Doomwood Curse’ is a gripping listen from start to finish. Set in the 1700’s and containing England’s most legendary highwayman, Dick Turpin, it has all the ingredients to be an absolute cracker.

We finally get part two of the 6th Doctor and Charley combination and it’s clear from the start that this combination will work very well. It’s also great to see the return of the Grel (“Glory to the Grel! Glory to the Grel!”), who where heard in the Bernice Summerfield audios ‘Oh No It Isn’t’ and ‘The Grel Escape’. They are one of my favourite monsters, if only for the campness that they ooze! My only disappointment is that they didn’t do their ‘Glory to the Grel’ chant!

The story begins with the Doctor and Charley returning an overdue library book, at a rather sadistic library. The Grel just happen to be there – on the lookout for (what else!) facts! They end up in the 1700’s, a time of ladies, gentleman, curses and highwaymen. Charley seems to recognise the setting but can she work it out before it’s to late….

The story is superbly acted, especially by the two main leads. It’s a lovely bit of fun and by the time part 4 arrives, you’ll notice that all of the actors aren’t really acting anymore – they’re having too much fun!

It’s also nice to see another period setting for the 6th Doctor. I feel that a lot of the Big Finish stuff is too ‘space tech’ but thankfully the majority of the 6th Doctor stuff is set in places and times we know a bit about, so it adds more to your imagination whilst you listen to it!

It’s a masterstroke by Big Finish by placing Charley with the 6th Doctor, it does bring out his good nature, which is far removed from his television incarnation. Although I would like to see more of the ‘dark side’ of the 6th Doctor, if only to keep some continuity.

5/5

Next Time: The 7th Doctor goes solo once again as he reaches ‘The Kingdom of Sliver’!

The Eighth Doctor Adventures Series 2 Episode 8 - Vengeance Of Morbius

Surely Nick Briggs, the ‘RTD of Big Finish’, could not keep up the amazing quality that the previous part of this ‘finale’ served up? Well unlike his television counterparts, he delivered an even better story and a gripping end to series two of the Eighth Doctor Adventures.

‘Vengeance of Morbius’ picks up immediately from where ‘Sisters of the Flame left’ off. Fans of the classic series will of course know who and what Morbius is. But for those who are new to the classic series and/or have never seen ‘The Brain of Morbius’, I would urge you to check it out, as the DVD has just been released. Of course the timing of this audio has got nothing to do with that, honest!

With the Doctor and Lucie facing the dilemma of being separated into particles – thanks to ‘The Sisterhood of Karn’, or ‘David Tennant’s fan club’ as I like to call them, things look bleak for the universe. Meanwhile Straxus and the winner of this months ‘underused character award’, Rosto, are trapped on the ship, as Morbius groupie and part-time richest man in the universe, Zarodnix, moves in….

I’ll go on record as saying this and its previous part, is among the best stuff Big Finish has done. Everything about this audio was just incredible. From the writing by the much-maligned Nick Briggs, the music, which was just superb and stitched each scene together perfectly, the acting, as always, was top notch. Morbius was superbly brought back to life by Samuel West and manic Zarodnix (Kenneth Colley) wasn’t too bad either!

But yet again, I find myself praising Sheridan Smith’s staggering portrayal of Lucie Miller. She just blew her other performances out of the water in this story! She just seems so at ease in the audio world and fits in with McGann’s Doctor perfectly. McGann himself has been constantly upstaged by Sheridan’s performances. Her strong willed, witty and compassionate character is already one of my favourite companions and judging by everybody else’s reactions, they more-or-less agree!

It was an interesting idea in bringing back Morbius and the Sisterhood. In fact the last two series of the 8th Doctor adventures have seen the revival of many of the classic monsters. Thankfully there have been no Daleks or Cybermen this year and I think the series has benefited from that. I just hope that they can introduce a few more original ideas to the mix for next year.

5/5

Next Time: It’s a long wait until next year! If only I had a TARDIS……

Big Finish Doctor Who 110 - The Boy That Time Forgot

A lost world. A prehistoric civilization. A dark secret.

The Doctor and Nyssa find themselves transported from Victorian London back to the dawn of time, accompanied by debonair adventurer Rupert Von Thal and no-nonsense novelist Beatrice Mapp. Together these unlikely heroes must brave primitive jungles and battle ravening insects as they make their way to the city of the giant scorpions, ruled over by... The Boy That Time Forgot.

It all started so well.....then came part 2! Still stuck in the 19th Century, The Doctor and Nyssa attempt an experiment which goes drastically wrong.

They end up in a prehistoric time, which is littered with giant talking scorpions. But precisely when, where and more importantly – how, even they don’t know! Joining them is their new friends, Mrs Beatrice Mapp (played by Harriett Walker) and explorer, Rupert Von Thal (Adrian Scarborough).

Part 1 builds up quite nicely and ends spectacularly but the follow up is quite disappointing. It seems that a few childish digs are aimed at a certain character called ‘The Scorpion King’ (Andrew Sachs), which where totally unnecessary, you’ll have to give it a listen to know what I’m on about!

The characterisation of the Scorpion King totally spoiled it for me, I just couldn’t get over it! They tried to gloss over it later but it was far too late for me, I was still hurting! Turning him into a sex pest didn’t help either! I also didn’t really buy the whole ‘City of the Scorpions’ and how it came to be. What should have been an epic adventure turned into a mess. There where also some unnecessary deaths, after spending so long building up characterisations. The effect didn’t work I’m afraid.

It wasn’t as bad as last month’s release but overall, I would say it’s the biggest disappointment I’ve had with a Big Finish audio, taking into account the quality of the first part and indeed the whole of ‘The Haunting of Thomas Brewster’, which leads into this story.

2.5/5

Next Time: Hopefully the 6th Doctor and Charley can ‘stand and deliver’ us back into ‘Big Finish Heaven’ as they meet Dick Turpin in ‘The Doomwood Curse’!

The Eighth Doctor Adventures Series 2 Episode 7 - Sisters of the Flame

"The richest man in the galaxy has just bought a backwards planet with no obvious mineral wealth in the outer reaches of the universe. An obscure mystical sect has been revived after centuries of neglect. A new race of aliens are hunting for prey. Why?

As the Doctor and Lucie attempt to discover the answer, it becomes clear that someone is attempting to resurrect the past - and they need a Time Lord to help them achieve it."

Well that's much better! After being slightly disappointed with last month’s offering, we reach part one of this year’s ‘finale’ and its brilliant!

Okay, it’s only the first part and part two could end up an absolute mess but everything about this story seemed to just fit into place rather nicely. Nick Briggs has easily justified his position at Big Finish after being criticized by fans, for the fact that he was ‘doing everything’.

For Tom Baker fans, the episode is pretty easy to figure out from the title. ‘The Sisters of The Flame’ refer to the ‘Sisterhood of Karn’, who first appeared in 1976 in the serial ‘The Brain of Morbius’. The Sisterhood are a cult of psychic woman, who have recently been unscrupulously ripped off in ‘The Fires of Pompeii’ (ooh controversial!). In this audio, they are no longer on Karn as a businessman - Zarodnix (Kenneth Colley) is buying up all the planets he can, even those that don’t offer anything. But why?

Meanwhile Lucie makes a new friend in Rosto (Alexander Siddig), a grasshopper-type creature called a Trel, after the Doctor is kidnapped. With The Doctor gone, Lucie has to investigate the mystery and find him. But with Time Lords sniffing around and a certain chant about ‘flames and fires’, will she ever get to the bottom of it?

The story is written very well and is probably the best ‘set up’ story that has come from the 8th Doctor Adventures range. The first parts of ‘Blood of the Daleks’ and ‘Human Resources’ are pretty decent, but they just don’t ‘pull you in’ as much as this first part. Nick Briggs has done a terrific job, just keep away from that mixing desk, eh Nick?

We are treated to more great performances. Sheridan Smith in particular is outstanding and this just tops everything she done so far, for me anyway! I can’t really wait for the second part, which is why I’m holding back on the top mark. I think these two-parters should be released on a double CD, rather than two single ones. Maybe it’s the month wait and the extra £££’s that the fans will have to pay? Oh well, hopefully the quality will keep for the next instalment!

4.5/5

Next Time: It’s the final audio of the year, as body-less Timelord Morbius returns. If he doesn’t then Big Finish should be done under the Trade Descriptions Act for naming the story ‘Vengeance of Moribus’!

Big Finish Doctor Who 109 - The Death Collectors

"There is only death"

A virulent disease that killed millions. A missing scientist. An ancient race of salvagers who collect and preserve the dead. The quarantined planet Antikon connects them all.

When the Doctor arrives on a sky station above Antikon, a single accident has already set in motion a chain of events that will mean the death of every living thing.

And the only way he can stop it is to die. Again.

Despite a decent cast (Alastair Cording and The IT Crowd’s Katherine Parkinson), I was a little bit disappointed with this month’s Big Finish release. Not that it was a terrible release by any means, I just couldn’t get into the story.

This was a solo 7th Doctor story, much like ‘Frozen Time’. But unlike Frozen Time, this story wasn’t as enjoyable. It seemed to be trying too hard to bring out the ‘darkness’ in Sylvester McCoy’s doctor, much like the final television series of his reign.

The story centres on a ship which is researching a planet. The professor onboard thinks he knows how to deify death. We are also introduced to creatures called ‘The Death Collectors’ who ‘collect’ death in trade for something else. It’s a plot which won’t keep you on the edge of your seat.

However there are some nice touches. The ‘Madam Butterfly’ opera song (the song that was playing when The Doctor ‘died’ in the TVM) was constantly used. That, his desperateness for a companion and references to his apparel, suggest that he his nearing the end of his regeneration. I would like to see his doctor with another companion, I’m really surprised that he hasn’t been given any new companions, in the Big Finish range, apart from Hex of course!

The saving grace of this release, is the one-part story ‘Spiders Shadow’. The story, which takes place on a distance planet on the eve of a war and deals with the jealously of a princess, isn’t necessarily told in the right order but I thought it worked really well. It was a very interesting concept that could only have worked in its 30 minutes, any more and it could have been a mess!

I really do like these three part and one part story releases. Although I think this is the weakest one to date, I think the concept has worked really well. ID & Urgent Calls, Exotron & Urban Myths and The Wishing Beast & The Vanity Box, are just some of my favourites from that range. I would strongly suggest you check them out.

2.5/5

Next Time: The 5th Doctor and Nyssa try to find ‘The Boy Who Time Forgot’

Bernice Summerfield 9.1 - Beyond The Sea

After leaving the Braxitel Collection, at the end of the last series, we wondered ‘what next’ for Benny Summerfield and her son Peter. ‘Beyond the Sea’ sees Benny resume her travelling after a couple of years based on the Collection. I feel that this is a good move by the team behind the audios as ‘Beyond the Sea’ is a bright enough opener.

Benny and Peter arrive on the ship, where Benny has took up a job for a major corporation, who want to make a planet an heritage centre. Benny’s job is to identify ancient underwater artefacts, so therefore the site will be given its heritage status. But after a number of strange deaths take place on the boat, Benny thinks that there is more to this job than meets the eye..

The action is a little slow to kick in but when it does, it’s like the Benny adventures of old! Her son is given a much larger role and Thomas Grant doesn’t disappoint. It’s going to be interesting to see what happens with Peter after the events of the last series. If you haven’t listened to it, I would strongly recommend you do so.

I would say that this audio is just a ‘warm up’ for things to come. I just felt it was missing that trademark ‘twist’ that we’ve come to expect from the Benny audios, the plot was easy to figure out. It does make a nice change not to have Benny involved with the Collection and I think the series will benefit from that. Although I do think that we will miss that consistency of having more than 2 regular characters.

Overall, it’s a decent start but hopefully the series will move up a gear with the next release - The Adolescence of Time.

3.5/5

The Eighth Doctor Adventures Series 2 Episode 6 - The Zygon Who Fell To Earth

It was always going to difficult to follow up one of the most iconic Doctor Who monsters, it was even going to be harder on audio. But I think ‘The Zygon Who Fell To Earth’ just scrapes through with credit.

Despite their cult status, The Zygons have only appeared once in Doctor Who. The 1975 serial – ‘The Terror of the Zygons’. There we had to contend with the deep-sea creatures that had a fetish for copying bodies and playing around with mythical monsters, in the Highlands of Scotland. Here we have the beautiful setting of The Lake District as the Zygon rallying point.

This audio sees the return of Lucie’s ‘Auntie Pat’ (Lynsey Hardwick) last seen in ‘Horror of Glam Rock’. She now runs a guesthouse with her husband and former pop star, Trevor (Steven Pacey). When two mysterious music moguls turn up, in order to lure Trevor back into the business, something is amiss. What are they really up to?

It’s a pretty decent effort but one aspect about the televised episode, that I didn’t like, was the use of a secondary monster. I think it distracted from the plot (and looked ridiculous!) and I believe the Zygons should have been more menacing. Here the Zygons do have an air of menace but it isn’t really enough for me to share the same love that some Doctor Who fans seem to have for them.

The performances, as usual are top notch. However, I didn’t feel that the audio was set in 1984. I just felt there was a lack of references that where there in the 70’s-set ‘Horror of Glam Rock’ There are a couple of nods to the original story, so classic fans will feel happy!

Overall, it’s a decent effort but not as good as it could have been.

3/5

Next Week: As the series is coming into its last story, we have the first instalment of a two-parter. ‘Sisters of Flame’ in July and then ‘Vengeance of Morbius’ in August. I wonder what those stories are about? (*slaps hand on forehead*).

Big Finish Doctor Who 108 - Assassin in the Limelight

Doctor Robert Knox returns in this story, set before the assassination of American president, Abraham Lincoln and it’s almost perfect, almost!

Colin Baker and Maggie Stables make a welcome return as they end up in Ford’s Theatre but someone is already waiting for them. Add to that a plot to kill the president and a little bit of corruption, we have ourselves a story!

We learn a lot more about Doctor Knox (Leslie Philips), who first appeared in ‘Medical Purposes’, alongside David Tennant (as ‘Daft Jamie’). I think the character is a lot lighter in this and the story benefits from that. We also get a look (or listen?) inside his TARDIS, which is, of course, better than The Doctor’s!

The story itself starts off brilliantly. I’m a big fan of historical stories and we get a really good insight into the goings on in that particular time period. However, I felt the story trailed off at the end and we weren’t given enough explanations about how certain things were done in the story. There is a nice link to the story ‘Pier Pressure’ too but I don’t think it really worked as the plot went a little flat. Despite this I enjoyed it immensely!

Eric Loren (Daleks in Manhattan/Evolution of the Daleks) and Lysette Anthony guest star. It’s Leslie Phillips who steals the show though. I honestly didn’t believe it was him, forgive me for being an ageist!

4/5

Coming Next: Sylvester McCoy runs into the ‘Death Collectors’. Star Trek fans (SCUM!) will collect anything won’t they?