I had very much enjoyed the fourth episode in this series, The Hexford Invasion, and had been hoping that the climax would reach the same standards. II had very much enjoyed the fourth episode in this series, The Hexford Invasion, and had been hoping that the climax would reach the same standards. It didn't, quite; the resolution of why there are two Doctors was pretty much as I had expected, though Tom Baker gets some marvellous carpet-chewing moments, and the resolution of the entire plot of the series does knit up the ravelled strands rather well. But it's vaguely satisfying rather than terribly exciting, and alas we have Richard Franklin returning as Mike Yates to try and carry the narrative. I rather hope that this marks the end of this particular run; it was good to get Tom Baker back in business, but the Big Finish plays he has been doing more recently show more promise....more
brings together the fantastic First-Doctor team of Peter Purves and Jean Marsh as Steven Taylor and Sara Kingdom, in a story set immediately after thebrings together the fantastic First-Doctor team of Peter Purves and Jean Marsh as Steven Taylor and Sara Kingdom, in a story set immediately after the Christmas episode of the Daleks' Master Plan; something mysterious is up with the Tardis, and the crew encounter the peculiar and violent survivors of another timeship. The best bit is the third of the four episodes, where Steven and Sara find themselves in a very well-realised 1966 Berlin, though nothing (and nobody) is quite what it seems. Purves does a very decent Hartnell, though the unfortunate consequence is that we hear less from Marsh as she is given less to do (though gets a cracking end to the Berlin subplot). The extra track is particularly squeeful, with Guerrier complaining that he lost much of the script in a computer crash and Marsh enquiring politely if he has ever thought of using an A4 pad. The recording must have been made just before her recent bout of ill health; I do hope she recovers and is able to do more....more
Alan Barnes has rarely disappointed me, and I'm glad to report that in his double story that ends this season, Trail of the White Worm/The Oseidon AdvAlan Barnes has rarely disappointed me, and I'm glad to report that in his double story that ends this season, Trail of the White Worm/The Oseidon Adventure, he is on top form. Geoffrey Beevers returns as the Keeper of Traken Master, the idea being that he absorbed enough energy in The Deadly Assassin to become a bit less putrescent as the Doctor puts it. (There's nothing in The Keeper of Traken to contradict an earlier meeting between the Fourth Doctor and the Beevers Master.) In fact the standourt performance in Trail of the White Worm is Rachael Sterling, daughter of Diana Rigg who is to appear with her mother in a Mark Gatiss episode of the coming New Who season, playing a posh woman with more to her than meets the eye. The two stories are more separate than one normally gets in two-parters, though each still has both the Master (Beevers has good rapport with Baker, but isn't quite as evil as most Masters) and a wonderful demented colonel played by Michael Cochrane (who appeared twice in Old Who, as Charles Cranleigh in Black Orchid and Redvers Fenn-Cooper in Ghost Light). The Oseidon Adventure, not surprisingly given its title, is to a large extent a remake of The Android Invasion, with a lot of the same plot elements but doing it much better - particularly the confusion of identity of working out if you yourself may not unwittingly be your own android double....more
I was re-listening to this at the same time as finishing Leviathan Wakes, a novel with a body-horror-in-space concept similarly at the core of the ploI was re-listening to this at the same time as finishing Leviathan Wakes, a novel with a body-horror-in-space concept similarly at the core of the plot, and given the difference in medium, Destination: Nerva pulls this off well, helped by the always excellent Raquel Cassidy (Matt Smith's boss in Party Animals and also the leader of both the Almost People and their human counterparts in last year's Who episode). [return][return]Unfortunately the decent performances are not helped by a confused plot. I listened to the first section, set in 1890, three times without really understanding its relevance to the rest of the story. The rest is set on Nerva, scene of the great Ark in Space and the so-so Return of the Cybermen, without really giving much sense of this being a known place other than Baker's rather weak "Well, I Nerva!" line. Minor characters and subplots wander into and out of the story without being resolved. It should either have been done at full length (it is only two episodes, which took me by surprise the first time I listened to it) or, perhaps better, been pared back to the core alien infestation story with more Cassidy, Baker and Jameson without trying to get us interested in the side details. A rather disappointing start....more
At last the new Fourth Doctor adventures have found their feet, with the prolific Justin Richards very much on form, delivering a brilliant weird taleAt last the new Fourth Doctor adventures have found their feet, with the prolific Justin Richards very much on form, delivering a brilliant weird tale for Toma Baker, Louise Jameson and Ian McNeice as the sinister Harcourt (which was also his character's name in Edge of Darkness back in 1985). The Doctor brings Leela to the famous Moravanian Museum for the sake of her education, but finds instead a peculiar manor house where nothing is as it seems. The setting is one that has been done in many Who stories, but rarely this well, and the particular twists here are inventive; also Baker is on top form as clown, magician and moral leader. If you just want to sample the new Fourth Doctor range, this is where to start....more
the only Fourth Doctor story I can think of which is a pure historical - no sfnal elements at all apart from the Doctor and Leela, turning up in firstthe only Fourth Doctor story I can think of which is a pure historical - no sfnal elements at all apart from the Doctor and Leela, turning up in first-century Norfolk to encounter Boudica in the battle against the Romans. The story is a particularly good one for Leela, who becomes fascinated with the warrior queen (once it's been done, you realise that Boudica is the most obvious historical character for her to meet); and we get some twists on the "you can't rewrite history" theme. The first time I listened to it I was doing the family supermarket shoopping, and it seemed to me that the character development for Leela was too abrupt; listening to it again, while changing trains on a long journey through France (which I guess meant I was less distracted) it seemed to work much better. So a bit of a health warning that it depends on your frame of mind, but having read and listened to literally all the spinoff stories featuring Leela, I feel that this is one of the best ones for her in terms of character....more
Energy of the Daleks was the first story Tom Baker recorded with Big Finish, but was released fourth in this sequence and also after the two Lost StorEnergy of the Daleks was the first story Tom Baker recorded with Big Finish, but was released fourth in this sequence and also after the two Lost Stories. It has some good moments - notably the return of the Robomen - but some silly bits as well - at one point several characters teleport into someone's *bed*. Baker, Jameson, and particularly Nicholas Briggs as voice of the Daleks, author and director are clearly having tremendous fun, but I think it was wise to shift this one down the release order....more
A Third Doctor audio story featuring Caroline John as Liz Shaw, with, unusually, two guest actors (Joe Coen and Kyle Redmond-Jones) playing UNIT troopA Third Doctor audio story featuring Caroline John as Liz Shaw, with, unusually, two guest actors (Joe Coen and Kyle Redmond-Jones) playing UNIT troops brought in to help her penetrate the mysteries of an alien computer, leading her to quite an interesting and well-played ethical dilemma at the end. A one-idea piece but the idea is a good one and Caroline John is in command of her material....more
It's a fairly routine romp of a futuristic bank being raided by aliens, a concept recently done much better in Naomi Alderman's Eleventh Doctor novel It's a fairly routine romp of a futuristic bank being raided by aliens, a concept recently done much better in Naomi Alderman's Eleventh Doctor novel Borrowed Time, but it's fun anyway. I have a feeling that the story of the Second Doctor encountering the shark-like Selachians here isn't quite consistent with that in the two novels which feature them, but as they are all by Steve Lyons I won't let it worry me too much....more
Well, after thirty-five years, the magic has come back. The first run of Leela stories from The Face of Evil to Horror of Fang Rock is in some ways thWell, after thirty-five years, the magic has come back. The first run of Leela stories from The Face of Evil to Horror of Fang Rock is in some ways the peak of the Tom Baker era, possibly of the whole of Who, and I have been a bit disappointed that neither the spinoff novels set in this period nor the Big Finish Companion Chronicles featuring a dying Leela reminiscing about untold adventures have quite captured the Zeitgeist. But Big Finish have now pretty much pulled it off. The Fourth Doctor Lost Stories box set includes a six-parter by Robert Banks Stewart, adapted by John Dorney, and a four-parter by none other than Philip Hinchcliffe, adapted by Jonathan Morris - this is already a super package, with ten episodes and a CD of extra interviews with writers and cast.[return][return]Nothing is perfect, of course; The Foe From The Future has quite a complex time-travelling plot, with some of the questions raised in early episodes not really answered by the end, and some really rather gory and visceral moments; and like a lot of six-parters from the original show, it could perhaps have been trimmed a bit. The Valley of Death is much more satisfactory plot-wise - indeed, as a story, it is very well constructed - though it would clearly have been preferable as a Fourth Doctor / Sarah story (alas, no longer possible) and has some dodgy stereotyping of South American tribesmen. [return][return]Whatever the flaws, both of them are carried by the soaring performances of Tom Baker and Louise Jameson; several of the guest cast comment on just how infectious their energy was for the rest of the team during the recording process, and it shows. Baker is still occasionally silly, but nowhere near as portentous as he has been in the Paul Magrs BBC audios, and also able to effortlessly switch from clown to genius to alien wizard as required. Jameson has finally been given Who material that treats her as an equal rather than as a mere sidekick, and is utterly convincing. And the chemistry between them is clearly several magnitudes better than it was when they were on TV; both stories feature moments when the Doctor thinks Leela is dead or dying, and Baker rises convincingly to the occasion. (The guest cast are all good too, but really it's the stars who I was listening for.)...more
God bless William Russell (real name Russell Enoch), who will turn 88 this year and is still doing well off a TV show he appeared in almost fifty yearGod bless William Russell (real name Russell Enoch), who will turn 88 this year and is still doing well off a TV show he appeared in almost fifty years ago. Big Finish have served him up a testing Richard Dimmick script where he has to play not only Ian Chesterton but also every other character bar one, in a tale of alien intrusion into a Russian village in the early 1900s. The local AB0@5F is played very convincingly by Tim Chipping, of whom I had not otherwise heard, and though I worked out his identity as soon as the character was introduced it is well executed. Russell's version of Hartnell is a homage rather than a portrayal, sounding actually like a much younger man (but of course Hartnell when he first played the Doctor was almost thirty years younger than Russell is now). The plot is fairly standard stuff but it is done very well; non-Who fans may enjoy it because of the historical tie-in....more
The three Road Trip audios take Bernice Summerfield, played as ever by Lisa Bowerman, to the edge of the universe in a quest for her son; they are faiThe three Road Trip audios take Bernice Summerfield, played as ever by Lisa Bowerman, to the edge of the universe in a quest for her son; they are fairly separate narratives (indeed, one mild frustration is that plot threads between the three are not really connected at all) which are reasonably penetrable even for listeners who have not previously encountered Benny, though the end of the third and final play is pretty heavy on continuity. All also feature actors who have appeared in televised Who or its spinoffs, notably Ayesha Antoine (who was Dee Dee in Midnight) as Benny's friend and travelling companion Ruth.[return][return]Brand Management by Christopher Cooper was my favourite of the three, with Benny landing on the world of Lyndyaz and encountering a culture where she is worshipped as a goddess. Anjli Mohindra, who played Rani on the Sarah Jane Adventures, turns up as one of a pair of evil siblings who are running the place, and there are lots of larks involving archaeology and explosions. [return][return]Bad Habits, by Paul Morris and Simon Barnard, continues the religious theme with Benny and Ruth going undercover as nuns in an order run by Jacqueline King (who played Donna's mother on TV Who) in order to get close to a vital relic. I went to a convent school so have heard all the nun jokes before, and several plot elements are wildly implausible even by the standards of Doctor Who spinoff stories, but at least everyone seems to be having fun.[return][return]Despite its title, Paradise Frost has no religious content, but instead features Benny, Ruth and their obnoxious pilot trying to solve the mystery of a frozen former resort with only three vaguely human inhabitants, of whom the most mysterious is played by Arthur Darville (Rory on TV Who) and the most evil by the ever-luscious tones of India Fisher (former audio companion Charley Pollard). There are also loads of sandroaches. I can't remember another audio with both Bowerman and Fisher, and they spark off each other beautifully, but I felt the means and motivation of Fisher's character didn't quite hold together. And then the last scene, where the main story is over and Benny reaches her destination, is basically an extended trailer for the next series. Which I look forward to....more
http://nwhyte.livejournal.com/2046702.html[return][return]Justin Richards seems to be on form these days; this is another tie-in e-book, intended as ahttp://nwhyte.livejournal.com/2046702.html[return][return]Justin Richards seems to be on form these days; this is another tie-in e-book, intended as a prequel to The Snowmen (though as far as I could tell it was not available outside UKania until after the broadcast), a tale of Madame Vastra, Jenny and Strax battling a smoke monster with the assistance of a small boy as viewpoint character. It is a pastiche of Victorian children's stories with a nod to Leon Garfield (though his Devil-in-the-Fog was set a hundred years earlier), spooky and enjoyable. When we first met Vastra and Jenny, fandom cried out en masse for spinoff stories about them, and I think this and James Goss's piece for last year's Brilliant Book shows that fandom was right....more
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