The Doctor and Lucie go glam when the TARDIS makes an unexpected landing in 1974. Slade, The Sweet and Suzi Quatro are Top of the Pops - and brother-and-sister duo The Tomorrow Twins will soon be joining them, if the starmaking Svengali Arnold Korns has his way. But will their dreams turn to dust at a service station somewhere on the M62, besieged by a pack of alien monsters?
This was so much fun! Really enjoyed this one and loved hearing Unta Stubbs and Bernard Cribbs who plays a completely different character to Wilfred Mott.
This was quite fun. The Doctor (Paul McGann) & Lucie Miller get into trouble in 1974 when Doctor Who meets Glam Rock - quite the mash-up. There's even a song recorded by the late Stephen Gately (formerly of Boyzone), who provides the voice for Tommy Tomorrow (don't tell DC that the name was borrowed) a Bowie-esque styled singer, and an appearance by Bernard Cribbins as his manager. So jump behind the couch or The Only Ones will gobble you up! Like I said: lot's of fun.
While trying to get Lucie home, the Eighth Doctor arrives at a motorway café in the early 1970s. But when monsters attack, it looks like they and a host of glam rockers are on the menu, in ‘Horror of Glam Rock’!
A very nice little story that follows Blood of the Daleks, it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be and Bernard Cribbins who we all know from series 4 and the movie version of the early Daleks stories is as funny as ever trying to get the tomorrow twins on top of the pops.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
The Premise of this 8th Doctor adventure is very interesting. A slightly mad singer believing he is getting his music from the stars and his sister trying to help him make it. I think the acting is a bit poor and if the run time was longer I think the quality of writing could of been better. I had trouble with the late Bernard Cribbins character because I struggled not to hear Wilfred Mott in his performance and not long after it was released he made his performance on the show.
I love the Eighth Doctor and Lucie Miller, but this audiobook was a bit of a disappointment. The acting was good, the basic plot was average, but the monsters were underdeveloped and really confusing, the characters got all jumbled up and the book in general didn’t make much sense.
This one was campy and horror filled. Two elements that you could use to describe the fun movies in the 1980s. Loved this one. Bernard Cribbins as a more villain-like character is so weird considering a couple years after this was made he was Wilf, everyone's tv granddad. Rest in Peace Bernard Cribbins.
A Fun, Unique And Rocking Awesome Doctor Who Audio Adventure.
My third big finish story and it for sure did not disappoint. With a stellar cast and funky musical alien plot its highly entertaining. Doctor Who is as its best when it tries unique orginal sci-fi ideas and this story is no exception here. My mind has been blown.
Its absolutely perfectly the only nitpick I have is the pacing as it felt way too quick. I wish we had longer to introduce every character and get to know them before clashing straight into action. I absolutely get that they're trying to stick to the new who format but it's comes at the cost of developing interesting side characters. Would have much more cared about the character deaths if we had more time with everyone.
There's so much I could praise about this story from the villians, to the stakes and the setting but to limit it I'm gonna talk about only three of my highlights.
First I have to give praise to the music. For an audio drama called Horror Of Glamrock the music isn't very horrifying its infact beautiful. Songs and campy music isn't often featured in Doctor Who and it seems that Big Finish did it before the show and did it absolutely perfectly. It was so amazing, Tim Sutton deserves absolute credit and praise. The music was so soothing to listen to and very enchanting.
Secondly the performances. The whole cast was amazing. Paul MacGann once again absolutely shines as The Doctor portraying the role of a wise, adventurous and witty alien whilst also perfectly showing The Doctor's darkside when the stakes get higher. Loved Sheridan Smith As Lucie Miller even more here. She shines really well and portrays a young woman getting use to time travel perfectly. Bernard Cribbins, what a national treasure. It's especially emotional hearing his voice on audio considering his tragic passing in 2022. He portrays the role of a complex stubborn but passionate manager really well, his chemistry with each cast member is electric. Una Stubbs does absolutely brilliantly as the witty sever Flo. Stephen Gately and Clare Buckfield are absolutely fabulous as the star born Tomorrow Twins, they sell their dynamic perfectly. Lynsey Hardwick is absolutely perfect as the kind and hardworking "Auntie" Pat. Katarina Olson is also great as the spooky villians who communicate through a stylophone. Everyone is great and they all add to how entertaining the story is.
Finally Lucie and The Doctors dynamic. Having over come the sourness of Lucies unwilling entrance in Blood Of The Daleks the pair are back and better than ever in this story. They are so much less unbearable when they're together and actually really entertaining. I love how they work together and that The Doctor has learned to respect and trust her enough to go on her own. Its absolutely brilliant character development from Blood Of The Daleks. Definitely sold on this Tardis team now and I can't wait to listen to more of them.
Overall an amazing and well written adventure that's inventive, fresh, new and authentic. Its an absolute blast and a story I absolutely recommend.
All of S1 Of The Eighth Doctors Adventures With Lucie Miller are free on Spotify so money isn't an excuse. Definitely give this one a go.
#langolobigfinish L'ANGOLO BIG FINISH: “HORROR OF GLAM ROCK” (The Eighth Doctor Adventures 1.3)
Scritto da PAUL MAGRS. Con PAUL McGANN, SHERIDAN SMITH, BERNARD CRIBBINS, UNA STUBBS, CLARE BUCKFIELD e STEPHEN GATELY.
Il Dottore e Lucie diventano glam quando il Tardis fa un atterraggio inaspettato nel 1974. Slade, the Sweet e Suzi Quatro sono Top of the Pops – e il duo di fratello e sorella “The Tomorrow Twins” presto li seguiranno, se Arnold Korns, il loro manager Svengali, l'avrà vinta. Ma i loro sogni si sgretoleranno in una stazione di servizio da qualche parte sulla M62, assediati da un branco di mostri alieni?
Nonostante il gioco di parole nel titolo, l'episodio non ha nulla a che fare con i Rutans (purtroppo), ma presenta tuttavia un'impostazione simile con un ridotto numero di persone assediate in un luogo ristretto. Il tono è però più ironico, con i continui rifermenti alla musica glam sottolineati da una colonna sonora corrispondente. Il cast è stellare, e salta subito all'occhio Bernard Cribbins, che come sappiamo interpreterà più avanti il nonno di Donna, Wilf, ma che in questo caso dà vita ad un personaggio ben più antipatico, ovvero il manager senza scrupoli Arnold Korns. Un altro nome che riconosco è la recentemente scomparsa Una Stubbs (Mrs Hudson in Sherlock) nei panni della cordiale commessa della stazione di servizio. Il Dottore e Lucie hanno modo di conoscersi meglio e di appianare le loro divergenze. L'esperienza rappresenta anche la possibilità per Lucie di entrare in contatto con un membro della sua famiglia. Anche se l'interazione non è di per sé catartica o commovente, credo che acquisterà significato più avanti. Per quanto riguarda i mostri, l'idea era partita bene con una componente horror e violenta che tiene alta la sensazione di pericolo, e una più misteriosa ed eterea legata al mondo della musica, purtroppo è stata un po' banalizzata nel finale.
In terms of story, and the fact that it follows hot on the heels of the blindingly good two parter Blood of the Daleks, Horror of Glam Rock comes as a tiny bit of a disappointment. Paul Magrs can be patchy; when he's on form, his stories are among my favourites, however sometimes he misses the mark and sadly, that is the case here.
The Doctor (McGann) tries to return his companion Lucie Miller (Sheridan Smith) to the Earth of her time, however the closest he can get is 1974. They stop at a diner full of glam rock wannabes and managers which suddenly gets besieged by aliens. And we learn that Tommy Tomorrow (Boyzone's Stephen Gately) has been communing with them on his stylaphone....
The biggest selling point on this is its extraordinary cast. Sheridan Smith is brilliant and McGann is on top form, I'm liking him as the Doctor more and more. But it's the guest cast on this one that steal the show - Stephen Gately, Una Stubbs, Bernard Cribbins and Clare Buckfield - what an eclectic and talented mix! The production values really do the cast proud - It is just like watching an episode. And I have to say the glam rock who theme to end this is ace!
The story is fun and there's lots of music references and puns but it's not particularly 'Who-y' the aliens are generic and this doesn't offer any character development. I think my biggest disappointment are the aliens. I wanted Rutans - from the title you think this should be riffing 'The Horror of Fang Rock' and I suppose in its bare bones there are echos - Isolated, contained setting, alien siege - but that's it. I was rooting for there to be Rutans in this which would have tied in with the glam rock trope nicely - psychedelic disco lights and all. This just feels like a lot of missed opportunities. And the ghostbuster trap the Doctor McGyvers is rather silly.
Still it held my attention completely and is a fun listen, just not one of the best 8th Doctor, or indeed Paul Magrs stories.
I suppose quite flawed on paper - a slightly messy, underplotted, tonally wobbly attempt to compress the traditional base-under-siege formula into a 50 minute romp (to say nothing of one unfortunate throwaway line) - but as ever Magrs brings a sensibility and character-rich texture that charms me regardless. His preoccupations are on full display here; a sincere-yet-knowing enthusiasm for the kitsch and downright tacky, a Doctor Who that leans more fantastical than SFnal, a blend of heightened lyricism and kitchen-sink mundanity, with a melancholy undercurrent beneath the tinsel and whimsy, occasionally peeking through. This is a comedy, but also a story about people who feel trapped - in a motorway service station under siege by monsters, on planet Earth, in a life that seems to be leading nowhere - looking for a chance to escape that may never come, or have already passed them by. There's a quiet understanding here that art can seem utterly naff yet express real things, that a dream can be daft and mean something all the same. Hardly a bad thing for a Doctor Who writer to have.
Nothing in my life has ever pained me like rating Doctor Who does 70s Glam Rock low, but god I didn’t vibe with this. Eight is absolutely the Glam DoctorTM, and he was perfectly suited to this concept, but I feel like the story itself just wasn’t awesome.
There’s a ton of good moments. The alien designs were fun (their reaction to the Doctor made me genuinely laugh), I kept catching a lot of iconic lyrics passed as normal dialogue, and I loved the idea of a boxed in ‘bottle episode’ for audio.
But something just didn’t come together. I don’t think I can even pinpoint what, but as a guy who did his bachelor’s thesis on Glam and loves to talk Glam (the good the bad and the silly), there just shouldn’t have been any possibility of me being bored by a Doctor Who Glam Rock Episode! And yet!
The performances were well done. I’m not totally sold on Lucie yet, but I hear she’s one who grows on you. The bits with her Auntie Pat were neat, and I was interested enough in the supporting cast.
Ultimately, however, I just wasn’t impressed by this one. Quite sad!
EDIT: the cover gets five stars they made Eight look even fruitier than usual he’s got maxed out gender here. Camp!
This audioplay leans heavily into fan service for the 70's glam rock era, and I can see someone absolutely loving it if they lived through it or identify with it. It's definitely got the Paul Magrs whimsy; one of the characters actually communicates to the aliens through singing and playing a theremin-like instrument. The narrative feels like a combination of Tennant episode The Idiot's Lantern and Tom Baker's Horror of Fang Rock (for more than just the title, obviously intentional!). As it stands it was a fine story, although very short (about 40 minutes or so). Luckily there were a bunch of extras at the end, including the full song written for the play, and interviews with the cast, including Bernard Cribbins who does a fantastic job as the agent of the budding pop stars. This is clearly early in Lucy's run, so I'm glad to have caught her at the very beginning! I don't think I'd rush to relisten to this one, but it's definitely not bad at all.
I'm a fan of classic rock, so this was a fun story. Maybe not super complex, but fun. It even includes a song called "Children of Tomorrow" by Stephen Gately. And I like the rock rendition of the Doctor Who theme song.
This is a fun listen that was shared by the family. The plot is easy to follow and full of references to bands and TV shows of a bygone era. The inadvertent stop in 1974 while aiming for 2006 was classic.
Amusing dark comedy. The 8th and Lucie are a good pairing. The Diner weaves its way into theme and eats itself. Welcome to my Nightmare 1974. This was 3/5.
If you love mystery and you love The Doctor you will want to listen to this audio book Also if you love the actor who portrays Donna's Grandfather you will want to give this 8th doctor adventure a listen
This one was fun. We get to see a hint of Lucy's past. I listened to it on Spotify and there's Two additional tracks at the end with the Glam Rock Doctor Who Theme and a track called Children of Tomorrow. But I think the story was too fast.