The second story of this first series to feature The Eighth Doctor and Lucie sees the Doctor travel to the 1970’s. It is also the chance for us to encounter a member of Lucie’s family even though it’s not quite the way the way that we expect which is not unusual for a Doctor Who story. The story is written by Paul Magrs who has written The Stones of Venice and The Wormery. Neither of stories are what I would class as enjoyable in my mind but I was going to reserve judgement until I heard this story. Whilst trying to get Lucie back to Blackpool in 2006, the pair ended up on the M62 in a blizzard in 1974. They walk to a service station where they discover a dead body that has been torn apart by a grizzly beast. Once they get inside they meet The Tomorrow Twins who are the next big thing. As they try and cope with the monster that seems to want to destroy them they have to deal with Tommy Tomorrow and his bizarre behaviour. It soon transpires that the controllers of this monster called The Only Ones are going to use Tommy and his stylophone as a bridgehead to Earth.
This story has a base under siege type feel to it which I actually really like because it cracks up the tension to a high level and providing the characters are played right then the whole story can be a classic. Such as The Tenth Planet and the similar name Horror of Fang Rock. In this story we find out that The Tomorrow Twins are set to record their appearance on Top of the Pops. It brings back a feeling that appearing on Top of the Pops was a big thing as opposed to the terrible meaningless acts that appeared towards the dying days of the show until it was axed in 2006.
Paul McGann is very good in this story. He is given a situation where he can thrive and show what a great Doctor he is. His first encounter with everyone at the service station was very entertaining and I like the second reference to whether his hair was real. This was of course due to the joke that he wore a wig in his 1996 TV Movie but I still cant see why that’s a big thing considering William Hartnell wore one for all of his time as the Doctor. Overall it was another good display from McGann. Sheridan Smith is very good in this adventure as she tries to get over the disappointment of being in 1974 but soon gets over that when she encounters her Aunty Pat. She seems to be on good terms with the Doctor and is starting to feel like a proper companion. The way that she just shrugs off the dead body that they encounter was well played and I like McGann’s reaction to it as he found it a little unnerving. She is very much like Rose but with a northern voice.
It’s the supporting cast that I think help make this story work. Una Stubbs is very good as the underwritten canteen cook Flo. Stubbs gives the role a very down to Earth feel and you can’t help but warm to her. It’s nice to have Bernard Cribbins in this story. He appeared in the second big Doctor Who movie in the 1966 film Dalek Invasion of Earth 2150AD. In this story he plays the manager of the Tomorrow Twins named Arnold Korns. Cribbins has a nice voice for radio and his character is one that is there solely to make sure that the twins get to where their potential takes them largely so he can make a fortune and retire in the lap of luxury. You just want to tell him to shut up every time he opens his mouth but that is what you would expect from this type of character. Stephen Gately is perhaps the biggest name that has appeared in these audios. It’s not everyday that a former Boy-band member appears in a Science Fiction programme. In this he plays Tommy Tomorrow whose behaviour is getting slowly more erratic. Despite his character being integral to the whole point of the story there is something about this character that doesn’t quite work. I don’t know whether it’s Gately or whether it is Tommy Tomorrow but it just seems a bit unnatural. It does seem that he has been cast purely so that he can sing the main song which he does very well.
Clare Buckfield plays Tommy’s sister Trisha who seems like the more adult of the pair and she puts in a nice strong performance. Buckfield interacts well with both Tommy Tomorrow and Arnold Korns. This is Buckfield’s second role in a Big Finish play having starred in the 2001 story The One Doctor. This is her better performance but that is because she is given better dialogue. Lynsey Hardwick plays Pat who turns out to be the future Aunt of Lucie is a well played role that is the hidden gem of this story. We don’t know much about Lucie and instead of going down the Rose route where we know almost every facet of Lucie’s family we get bits in this story. There is a lot of emotion as Lucie talks to her and it is Hardwick that makes this work. Katarina Olsson appears in this as The Only Ones but more importantly as the Headunter. It is the Headhunter that I found more impressive as she this character is well written and Olsson puts on a nice voice and gives the feeling that the future stories in the series are going to be amazing.
Paul Magrs has written a story that’s biggest strength are the supporting characters. The biggest being Tommy Tomorrow. His story was what the main plot point of this story is all about. The role of Pat helped add a bit of meat to the character of Lucie and the base under siege format helps create the extra bit of drama that makes this a more stronger story and much more enjoyable than Blood of the Daleks. This is the sort of story that Big Finish should be doing. Barnaby Edwards does a good job of directing this story, he helps keep the listener interested with a well paced story and actors that have a nice audio voice. A credit must go to ERS who have created the music and managed to make the story have the 1970’s feel to it without using any of the music associated with that era.
Overall I thought this story was a nice sold single story and its amazing what is achieved in just 50 minutes. This is the benchmark for all future McGann stories. This is ultimately Magrs’ best story to date.
This story has a base under siege type feel to it which I actually really like because it cracks up the tension to a high level and providing the characters are played right then the whole story can be a classic. Such as The Tenth Planet and the similar name Horror of Fang Rock. In this story we find out that The Tomorrow Twins are set to record their appearance on Top of the Pops. It brings back a feeling that appearing on Top of the Pops was a big thing as opposed to the terrible meaningless acts that appeared towards the dying days of the show until it was axed in 2006.
Paul McGann is very good in this story. He is given a situation where he can thrive and show what a great Doctor he is. His first encounter with everyone at the service station was very entertaining and I like the second reference to whether his hair was real. This was of course due to the joke that he wore a wig in his 1996 TV Movie but I still cant see why that’s a big thing considering William Hartnell wore one for all of his time as the Doctor. Overall it was another good display from McGann. Sheridan Smith is very good in this adventure as she tries to get over the disappointment of being in 1974 but soon gets over that when she encounters her Aunty Pat. She seems to be on good terms with the Doctor and is starting to feel like a proper companion. The way that she just shrugs off the dead body that they encounter was well played and I like McGann’s reaction to it as he found it a little unnerving. She is very much like Rose but with a northern voice.
It’s the supporting cast that I think help make this story work. Una Stubbs is very good as the underwritten canteen cook Flo. Stubbs gives the role a very down to Earth feel and you can’t help but warm to her. It’s nice to have Bernard Cribbins in this story. He appeared in the second big Doctor Who movie in the 1966 film Dalek Invasion of Earth 2150AD. In this story he plays the manager of the Tomorrow Twins named Arnold Korns. Cribbins has a nice voice for radio and his character is one that is there solely to make sure that the twins get to where their potential takes them largely so he can make a fortune and retire in the lap of luxury. You just want to tell him to shut up every time he opens his mouth but that is what you would expect from this type of character. Stephen Gately is perhaps the biggest name that has appeared in these audios. It’s not everyday that a former Boy-band member appears in a Science Fiction programme. In this he plays Tommy Tomorrow whose behaviour is getting slowly more erratic. Despite his character being integral to the whole point of the story there is something about this character that doesn’t quite work. I don’t know whether it’s Gately or whether it is Tommy Tomorrow but it just seems a bit unnatural. It does seem that he has been cast purely so that he can sing the main song which he does very well.
Clare Buckfield plays Tommy’s sister Trisha who seems like the more adult of the pair and she puts in a nice strong performance. Buckfield interacts well with both Tommy Tomorrow and Arnold Korns. This is Buckfield’s second role in a Big Finish play having starred in the 2001 story The One Doctor. This is her better performance but that is because she is given better dialogue. Lynsey Hardwick plays Pat who turns out to be the future Aunt of Lucie is a well played role that is the hidden gem of this story. We don’t know much about Lucie and instead of going down the Rose route where we know almost every facet of Lucie’s family we get bits in this story. There is a lot of emotion as Lucie talks to her and it is Hardwick that makes this work. Katarina Olsson appears in this as The Only Ones but more importantly as the Headunter. It is the Headhunter that I found more impressive as she this character is well written and Olsson puts on a nice voice and gives the feeling that the future stories in the series are going to be amazing.
Paul Magrs has written a story that’s biggest strength are the supporting characters. The biggest being Tommy Tomorrow. His story was what the main plot point of this story is all about. The role of Pat helped add a bit of meat to the character of Lucie and the base under siege format helps create the extra bit of drama that makes this a more stronger story and much more enjoyable than Blood of the Daleks. This is the sort of story that Big Finish should be doing. Barnaby Edwards does a good job of directing this story, he helps keep the listener interested with a well paced story and actors that have a nice audio voice. A credit must go to ERS who have created the music and managed to make the story have the 1970’s feel to it without using any of the music associated with that era.
Overall I thought this story was a nice sold single story and its amazing what is achieved in just 50 minutes. This is the benchmark for all future McGann stories. This is ultimately Magrs’ best story to date.
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