Following on from the shocking conclusion of Vengeance of Morbius this story had to start off with a bang and in the areas that it needed to achieve this in it worked. As the Doctor and Lucie had been separated all that was wanted was the reunion between them. After listening to Vengeance I was really looking forward to this story as I was hoping for an adventure which saw more Morbius however what we got was something completely different. This story is written by Alan Barnes & Nicholas Briggs who have both written for the Eighth Doctor series seem to want to try and combine their efforts because they know that people’s expectations are so high. Alan Barnes has recently written Brotherhood of the Daleks which many feel was the most complicated story that Big Finish have done. Also for this story there is a new format. Instead of 8 x 50 minute stories that were released once a month. There are now 16 x 25 minute episodes that are first downloaded every Saturday which with the absence of a new series on TV is a good move by Big Finish. Its unusual that Big Finish are doing this as they have never tried this before. For this series there is a bigger reason for trying to get the cliffhangers right.
We discover that the Doctor is in fact alive and living on a planet called Orbis. What’s unsettling about this is that there is something missing from the Doctor’s persona. It’s all tied in with what happened against Morbius and the fact that the Sisterhood transported the Doctor to Orbis. The relationship he forms with the inhabitants is one that shows the Doctor is smart but isn’t quite sure about himself as he is trying to make a TARDIS but not sure exactly what to do next. Meanwhile Lucie has been captured by the Head-hunter who is trying to operate the TARDIS.
The use of Headhunter has made up for the way the character was used during series 2. In the first series she was a very sinister character that had very few good points whereas in Series 2 in Grand Theft Cosmos she was more of a comedy figure which was wrong in my opinion. She was integral to the who point of the story and that was good to see. Hopefully it won’t be the last that we hear of her. Katarina Olsson has appeared several times in the last two series and her voice helps create a character that is sinister and is very dangerous. Paul McGann was very good in this story and this new version of the Doctor is sort of a reboot of his persona. The first meeting of the Doctor and Lucie was quite a downbeat moment in terms of emotional. He managed to seem the same but make it ever so slightly different. Sheridan Smith is still developing even after 16 episodes and she is becoming a strong character that could stand on her own two feet and not necessarily needs the Doctor. She played having a magical bullet in her head really well and was really good in one moment she was really overjoyed in seeing the Doctor again and then gutted when the Doctor didn’t recognise her. By the end they were back together and it wasn’t quite what we were use to as Lucie would have to show the Doctor why they were such a good team and that’s something that we haven’t had to encounter.
Of the guest cast the most notable is that of Andrew Sachs who is most famous (apart from a certain phone scandal with two BBC employees) is being Manuel in the Fawlty Towers series. In this story he played Crassostrea but I think that they tried to hard to disguise his voice. In his previous story The Boy That Time Forgot his voice was slightly different but you could tell it was him even if you didn’t read the credits. In this story however I had to read the credits and even then I could really tell. Laura Solon is very good in this story as Selta because she plays a companion like role in the absence of Lucie. Her confusing of the Doctor’s words and sayings I quite amusing and was gave a sort of innocence to the character. It was great to have Katarina Olsson back in the story as The Headhunter. I thought that the character was really well used in the first season and when she appeared in season two she was poorly used but that was more to do with the story. You knew that she was up to something that was more than trying to relocate the Doctor but it was going to take a while for the truth to come out. Olsson is very good as The Headhunter and this is the way that she should be used. Beth Chalmers was also very good as Saccostrea, Chalmers has been in several Big Finish plays and she always puts in a good performance. Other good performances include Barry McCarthy who had appears as Yanos.
Overall this story is an ok opening story. I still think the Blood of the Daleks is the best of the opening stories that has been done but the openings for Series 1 and 2 are structured differently and so it would be unfair to compare them. Alan Barnes & Nicholas Briggs did a good job keeping the pace of the story going and not rushing the reunion of the Doctor and Lucie. Barnaby Edwards who is one of the best Directors in Big Finish also did a good job trying to create an atmosphere and keep the listener engrossed in the story. This new format is quite interesting and also releasing it as a weekly download is a good idea as without a proper TV series this is going to be the next best thing. The only change that has occurred is that each story has cliffhanger so we get more cliffhangers for our money than before.
We discover that the Doctor is in fact alive and living on a planet called Orbis. What’s unsettling about this is that there is something missing from the Doctor’s persona. It’s all tied in with what happened against Morbius and the fact that the Sisterhood transported the Doctor to Orbis. The relationship he forms with the inhabitants is one that shows the Doctor is smart but isn’t quite sure about himself as he is trying to make a TARDIS but not sure exactly what to do next. Meanwhile Lucie has been captured by the Head-hunter who is trying to operate the TARDIS.
The use of Headhunter has made up for the way the character was used during series 2. In the first series she was a very sinister character that had very few good points whereas in Series 2 in Grand Theft Cosmos she was more of a comedy figure which was wrong in my opinion. She was integral to the who point of the story and that was good to see. Hopefully it won’t be the last that we hear of her. Katarina Olsson has appeared several times in the last two series and her voice helps create a character that is sinister and is very dangerous. Paul McGann was very good in this story and this new version of the Doctor is sort of a reboot of his persona. The first meeting of the Doctor and Lucie was quite a downbeat moment in terms of emotional. He managed to seem the same but make it ever so slightly different. Sheridan Smith is still developing even after 16 episodes and she is becoming a strong character that could stand on her own two feet and not necessarily needs the Doctor. She played having a magical bullet in her head really well and was really good in one moment she was really overjoyed in seeing the Doctor again and then gutted when the Doctor didn’t recognise her. By the end they were back together and it wasn’t quite what we were use to as Lucie would have to show the Doctor why they were such a good team and that’s something that we haven’t had to encounter.
Of the guest cast the most notable is that of Andrew Sachs who is most famous (apart from a certain phone scandal with two BBC employees) is being Manuel in the Fawlty Towers series. In this story he played Crassostrea but I think that they tried to hard to disguise his voice. In his previous story The Boy That Time Forgot his voice was slightly different but you could tell it was him even if you didn’t read the credits. In this story however I had to read the credits and even then I could really tell. Laura Solon is very good in this story as Selta because she plays a companion like role in the absence of Lucie. Her confusing of the Doctor’s words and sayings I quite amusing and was gave a sort of innocence to the character. It was great to have Katarina Olsson back in the story as The Headhunter. I thought that the character was really well used in the first season and when she appeared in season two she was poorly used but that was more to do with the story. You knew that she was up to something that was more than trying to relocate the Doctor but it was going to take a while for the truth to come out. Olsson is very good as The Headhunter and this is the way that she should be used. Beth Chalmers was also very good as Saccostrea, Chalmers has been in several Big Finish plays and she always puts in a good performance. Other good performances include Barry McCarthy who had appears as Yanos.
Overall this story is an ok opening story. I still think the Blood of the Daleks is the best of the opening stories that has been done but the openings for Series 1 and 2 are structured differently and so it would be unfair to compare them. Alan Barnes & Nicholas Briggs did a good job keeping the pace of the story going and not rushing the reunion of the Doctor and Lucie. Barnaby Edwards who is one of the best Directors in Big Finish also did a good job trying to create an atmosphere and keep the listener engrossed in the story. This new format is quite interesting and also releasing it as a weekly download is a good idea as without a proper TV series this is going to be the next best thing. The only change that has occurred is that each story has cliffhanger so we get more cliffhangers for our money than before.
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