Well its all comes down to The Chaos Pool. What this had to do was conclude the biggest story that Big Finish have done for quite some time in a satisfactory manner. To help with this they enlisted Peter Anghelides who is new to Big Finish and that makes it good because then he isn’t bogged down with the expectations of fans. Whereas the Fourth Doctor had 26 episodes to try and find the six segments we only have 12 episodes and at times it might have felt a bit rushed but at least with all three scripts we have been offered things that have been very positive to the whole story arc.
The return of Laura Doddington as Zara helped to bring back the sense of the purpose of this story. When she left the Doctor and Amy in The Judgement of Isskar we never knew where she ended up or when. In this story she has ended up on Escaton which is some sort of research vessel which has a familiar passenger. It was well known that Lalla Ward was going to be appearing in that story however I just assumed that she was going to be Madam President Romana. When the Doctor hears her voice and assumes that it is Romana I was hoping for one of the reunion moments that we seldom get in Doctor Who. That’s because as with any drama things don’t always go to plan and we get the realisation that its Princess Astra.
I liked the idea that The Chaos Pool was this sort of magical place that even the Guardians couldn’t find. It was like it was heaven equivalent for Science Fiction. The idea that its where the main action would take place was well built up throughout this story and it didn’t disappoint. The arrival on the planet where in fact the whole story started was very atmospheric and you knew that the story had moved up a gear and you really were going to get your moneys worth.
Peter Davison was very good in this story. He was completely believable throughout the entire Key 2 Time story. Ciara Janson put in her best performance of this series because she was genuinely in stress when she was trapped in with the segments. As time went by she got more and more distressed which added to the tension that I felt when I was listening to this story. Janson has really been the best thing about this series. She has played Amy with an innocence that we seldom get with a companion and she hasn’t been annoying at any time throughout this series which is unusual because even Evelyn or Lucie have got on my nerves from time to time. Laura Doddington was really good in this story because she played Zara in this story with compassion and also a nice side which hasn’t been seen in this series. Her relationship with Par grave helped create the impression that she has managed to integrate herself in the ship which is quite similar to the master and how he was able to integrate and manipulate people to do the things he wanted.
Lalla Ward was superb as Madam President. She played the role like she did back in 1979 and I thought she really showed how good she was in the fourth episode. The way she was in this story just had me thinking to when she appeared in the Armageddon Factor back in 1979. She has a no nonsense attitude to anyone who attacks the ship and prevents the crew of the Escaton from doing their job. Ben Jones was good in this story as Captain Pargrave. He has an innocence which is ultimately forgotten as they get towards The Chaos Pool. At the beginning there was a sort of shyness to him where he seemed to bury himself in his job to try and forget his feelings towards Zara. Out of all the characters in this story it was the one of Commander Hectocot that I disliked. Toby Longworth is known for diversity of voices and in this one he manages to play the 80 year old with a bad hip very well however its when the Doctor wants the Satchel back and Hectocot refuses to give it to him and yet he never shows any desire of what he wants to do with it. I just thought that the character of Hectocot was good in theory but unfortunately detracts from the main story for me. David Troughton also made a welcome return to this story, the Black Guardian is a good character in this story and whilst I would like to have heard more from the Black Guardian not because I think it would add more to the story but because it means that we hear more from David. Also deserving of a mention is Cate Hamer who plays the voice. Computer voices are very underrated in Science Fiction I find but in this case the voice was very good and interacted well with the different members of the casts.
Peter Anghelides has written a story that lived up to my expectations. The conclusion to the Key 2 Time had to be something different and it really was different. I had to listen to it a few times to try and understand it but once I did it showed what a great story that Anghelides had written. Hopefully it wont be long before we hear from him again. Lisa Bowerman has directed another good story. Its nice that she is getting her fair share of the regular releases because before Destroyer of Delights she had only done a few of the Companion Chronicles which don’t really stretch a director. With this story she was able to show she can handle doing a story with has such a high level of expectations. Apart from the Hectocot bit which she couldn’t really do much about because it was a script problem.
This story was a fine conclusion to the Key 2 Time story and didn’t disappoint as a stand alone story. There were some fine characters and also the shift in setting helped maintain interest in the story.
The return of Laura Doddington as Zara helped to bring back the sense of the purpose of this story. When she left the Doctor and Amy in The Judgement of Isskar we never knew where she ended up or when. In this story she has ended up on Escaton which is some sort of research vessel which has a familiar passenger. It was well known that Lalla Ward was going to be appearing in that story however I just assumed that she was going to be Madam President Romana. When the Doctor hears her voice and assumes that it is Romana I was hoping for one of the reunion moments that we seldom get in Doctor Who. That’s because as with any drama things don’t always go to plan and we get the realisation that its Princess Astra.
I liked the idea that The Chaos Pool was this sort of magical place that even the Guardians couldn’t find. It was like it was heaven equivalent for Science Fiction. The idea that its where the main action would take place was well built up throughout this story and it didn’t disappoint. The arrival on the planet where in fact the whole story started was very atmospheric and you knew that the story had moved up a gear and you really were going to get your moneys worth.
Peter Davison was very good in this story. He was completely believable throughout the entire Key 2 Time story. Ciara Janson put in her best performance of this series because she was genuinely in stress when she was trapped in with the segments. As time went by she got more and more distressed which added to the tension that I felt when I was listening to this story. Janson has really been the best thing about this series. She has played Amy with an innocence that we seldom get with a companion and she hasn’t been annoying at any time throughout this series which is unusual because even Evelyn or Lucie have got on my nerves from time to time. Laura Doddington was really good in this story because she played Zara in this story with compassion and also a nice side which hasn’t been seen in this series. Her relationship with Par grave helped create the impression that she has managed to integrate herself in the ship which is quite similar to the master and how he was able to integrate and manipulate people to do the things he wanted.
Lalla Ward was superb as Madam President. She played the role like she did back in 1979 and I thought she really showed how good she was in the fourth episode. The way she was in this story just had me thinking to when she appeared in the Armageddon Factor back in 1979. She has a no nonsense attitude to anyone who attacks the ship and prevents the crew of the Escaton from doing their job. Ben Jones was good in this story as Captain Pargrave. He has an innocence which is ultimately forgotten as they get towards The Chaos Pool. At the beginning there was a sort of shyness to him where he seemed to bury himself in his job to try and forget his feelings towards Zara. Out of all the characters in this story it was the one of Commander Hectocot that I disliked. Toby Longworth is known for diversity of voices and in this one he manages to play the 80 year old with a bad hip very well however its when the Doctor wants the Satchel back and Hectocot refuses to give it to him and yet he never shows any desire of what he wants to do with it. I just thought that the character of Hectocot was good in theory but unfortunately detracts from the main story for me. David Troughton also made a welcome return to this story, the Black Guardian is a good character in this story and whilst I would like to have heard more from the Black Guardian not because I think it would add more to the story but because it means that we hear more from David. Also deserving of a mention is Cate Hamer who plays the voice. Computer voices are very underrated in Science Fiction I find but in this case the voice was very good and interacted well with the different members of the casts.
Peter Anghelides has written a story that lived up to my expectations. The conclusion to the Key 2 Time had to be something different and it really was different. I had to listen to it a few times to try and understand it but once I did it showed what a great story that Anghelides had written. Hopefully it wont be long before we hear from him again. Lisa Bowerman has directed another good story. Its nice that she is getting her fair share of the regular releases because before Destroyer of Delights she had only done a few of the Companion Chronicles which don’t really stretch a director. With this story she was able to show she can handle doing a story with has such a high level of expectations. Apart from the Hectocot bit which she couldn’t really do much about because it was a script problem.
This story was a fine conclusion to the Key 2 Time story and didn’t disappoint as a stand alone story. There were some fine characters and also the shift in setting helped maintain interest in the story.
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