The first part of the Key 2 Time is curious story that works but doesn’t quite hit the mark in terms of leaving me satisfied with the end result. The original Key 2 Time saw the fourth Doctor spend 26 episodes collecting the six segments. In this version of the Key 2 Time we have just 12 episodes, just what would or could Big Finish do that would compare with the 1978/79 adventure?
The first thing that strikes me about the new companion Amy is how similar she is to Erimem. Throughout the story she developed well and so that similarity with Erimem was still there but not as strong as it was at the beginning. Her opening scene was very well written and was just as good as the opening scene in The Ribos Operation. I liked the explanation that was given as to where Peri was, they could have easily just placed this story in another part of the Doctor’s timeline but instead they went for the idea that she is on the planet with the Doctor and that she is merely elsewhere. Amy as a character is well written. She could be a very good long term companion as long as the producers can develop the character beyond what they did with Erimem. I liked the moment when Amy was given the choice of going with Zara or stay with the Doctor and how despite the odds she decided to stick with the Doctor and that was quite a strong moment.
This is the second story to feature Zara after her opening appearance in The Prisoner’s Dilemma. This one she was better than in the Companion Chronicles which I felt was a bit hit and miss. The interactions between Amy and Zara were always well acted and have the potential to cause some more emotional scenes in the future. Zara really showed how manipulative she can be. When she managed to convince the Ice Warriors that she could help them it had trappings of the Master and how he can convince people into doing what he wants and that shows that Zara could have potential outside of the Key 2 Time series.
Peter Davison was also very good in this story however it did seem to taking the back seat with the Amy and Zara characters leading and pushing the narrative along. Davison is a really good Doctor and it took a while for him to really get into this story but once he did he started to develop a strong relationship with Amy and another strong relationship with Zara if not for different reasons. Ciara Janson is most famous for playing Nicole Owen in the Channel 4 soap Hollyoaks from 2004-2007 plays Amy which is a character that hits the ground running and within minutes you feel like she has been in the show for years. The idea that she is picking character traits up from the Doctor and others is different for a companion even though there has never been a companion quite like Amy. Its good that Big Finish have managed to get someone who is from a big TV show even though she has long since left that show and wasn’t really a big name. Laura Doddington is also someone who we know will have a big impact in these three stories playing the sister of Amy Zara. The role of Zara is one that doesn’t seem to be one of the best baddies in Doctor Who history but there is enough to create enough tension in the search for the segments.
It was quite a surprise to have four of the segments found in this story. I thought that they would find two in this one and then two in Destroyer of Delights and then the final two in the Chaos Pool. I don’t think it’ll be a problem depending on what they do in those two stories. It was obvious that the Ice Warriors were going to be involved but at one point when the Ice Warriors had been left after the second segment had been found I wondered if that was it and if it was then why bother putting the Ice Warriors on the cover. Then obviously they returned and things were back to normal. The beginning of Part Three was one of the strangest moments I have ever felt listening to Doctor Who. A short monologue by Davison followed from a scene with the Ice Warriors in the aftermath of the destruction of Mars was a superb few minutes that had me gripped and it is at times like this that prove to me why Big Finish are superb at producing audio dramas. One of the things I liked about this was how much of a positive light that the Ice Warriors were put in. Whenever you mention Ice Warriors to anyone they think of bad guys which clearly isn’t the case. Isskar was a nice character who showed wisdom and knowledge and didn’t over react which was a relief. It was quite sad that the Ice Warriors decided to go with revenge against the Doctor instead of trying to rebuild Mars after the capturing of one of the segments
The shock ending of Part Four was absolutely fantastic. The closing minutes were all based around the ship being destroyed and you are focused on how the Doctor and Amy are going to get off the Ice Warriors ship and then David Troughton comes in with booming voice comes into all of it as the Black Guardian. I don’t think that I was expecting the cliffhanger for this story to grab me like it did.
Simon Guerrier has written several Doctor Who & Bernice Summerfield stories for Big Finish over the last few years and has also written some of the best stories. Home Truths which is a Companion Chronicles story was a superbly dark story and also wrote The Settling (2006) which saw the Seventh Doctor, Hex & Ace encounter Oliver Cromwell and in my opinion a fine story. Guerrier had a tough task in trying to get this story arc off and running and I whilst I don’t think its his best effort that is more to do with the requirements that were expected of him. Had it been a normal single story like The Settling or Home Truths then it would have been a Top 5 story at least. Jason Haigh-Ellery who is the Managing Director and Founder of Big Finish has contributed to Doctor Who several times of the last few years and always in the Directing position. I wonder whether its really what he wants to do as I think that due to the different elements that are running through the story its let down by the organisation. Haigh-Ellery tries to do his best however I think that in this case he doesn’t quite hit the mark.
The first thing that strikes me about the new companion Amy is how similar she is to Erimem. Throughout the story she developed well and so that similarity with Erimem was still there but not as strong as it was at the beginning. Her opening scene was very well written and was just as good as the opening scene in The Ribos Operation. I liked the explanation that was given as to where Peri was, they could have easily just placed this story in another part of the Doctor’s timeline but instead they went for the idea that she is on the planet with the Doctor and that she is merely elsewhere. Amy as a character is well written. She could be a very good long term companion as long as the producers can develop the character beyond what they did with Erimem. I liked the moment when Amy was given the choice of going with Zara or stay with the Doctor and how despite the odds she decided to stick with the Doctor and that was quite a strong moment.
This is the second story to feature Zara after her opening appearance in The Prisoner’s Dilemma. This one she was better than in the Companion Chronicles which I felt was a bit hit and miss. The interactions between Amy and Zara were always well acted and have the potential to cause some more emotional scenes in the future. Zara really showed how manipulative she can be. When she managed to convince the Ice Warriors that she could help them it had trappings of the Master and how he can convince people into doing what he wants and that shows that Zara could have potential outside of the Key 2 Time series.
Peter Davison was also very good in this story however it did seem to taking the back seat with the Amy and Zara characters leading and pushing the narrative along. Davison is a really good Doctor and it took a while for him to really get into this story but once he did he started to develop a strong relationship with Amy and another strong relationship with Zara if not for different reasons. Ciara Janson is most famous for playing Nicole Owen in the Channel 4 soap Hollyoaks from 2004-2007 plays Amy which is a character that hits the ground running and within minutes you feel like she has been in the show for years. The idea that she is picking character traits up from the Doctor and others is different for a companion even though there has never been a companion quite like Amy. Its good that Big Finish have managed to get someone who is from a big TV show even though she has long since left that show and wasn’t really a big name. Laura Doddington is also someone who we know will have a big impact in these three stories playing the sister of Amy Zara. The role of Zara is one that doesn’t seem to be one of the best baddies in Doctor Who history but there is enough to create enough tension in the search for the segments.
It was quite a surprise to have four of the segments found in this story. I thought that they would find two in this one and then two in Destroyer of Delights and then the final two in the Chaos Pool. I don’t think it’ll be a problem depending on what they do in those two stories. It was obvious that the Ice Warriors were going to be involved but at one point when the Ice Warriors had been left after the second segment had been found I wondered if that was it and if it was then why bother putting the Ice Warriors on the cover. Then obviously they returned and things were back to normal. The beginning of Part Three was one of the strangest moments I have ever felt listening to Doctor Who. A short monologue by Davison followed from a scene with the Ice Warriors in the aftermath of the destruction of Mars was a superb few minutes that had me gripped and it is at times like this that prove to me why Big Finish are superb at producing audio dramas. One of the things I liked about this was how much of a positive light that the Ice Warriors were put in. Whenever you mention Ice Warriors to anyone they think of bad guys which clearly isn’t the case. Isskar was a nice character who showed wisdom and knowledge and didn’t over react which was a relief. It was quite sad that the Ice Warriors decided to go with revenge against the Doctor instead of trying to rebuild Mars after the capturing of one of the segments
The shock ending of Part Four was absolutely fantastic. The closing minutes were all based around the ship being destroyed and you are focused on how the Doctor and Amy are going to get off the Ice Warriors ship and then David Troughton comes in with booming voice comes into all of it as the Black Guardian. I don’t think that I was expecting the cliffhanger for this story to grab me like it did.
Simon Guerrier has written several Doctor Who & Bernice Summerfield stories for Big Finish over the last few years and has also written some of the best stories. Home Truths which is a Companion Chronicles story was a superbly dark story and also wrote The Settling (2006) which saw the Seventh Doctor, Hex & Ace encounter Oliver Cromwell and in my opinion a fine story. Guerrier had a tough task in trying to get this story arc off and running and I whilst I don’t think its his best effort that is more to do with the requirements that were expected of him. Had it been a normal single story like The Settling or Home Truths then it would have been a Top 5 story at least. Jason Haigh-Ellery who is the Managing Director and Founder of Big Finish has contributed to Doctor Who several times of the last few years and always in the Directing position. I wonder whether its really what he wants to do as I think that due to the different elements that are running through the story its let down by the organisation. Haigh-Ellery tries to do his best however I think that in this case he doesn’t quite hit the mark.
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