The Blue Tooth (2007)

The Blue Tooth sees Liz Shaw tell us of an adventure with the Third Doctor that we don’t yet know. This is a story that I was looking forward to because it was Liz Shaw and I thought that her time in the show was far too short. She only ‘travelled’ with the Doctor for one series in 1970. Also she never met either the Daleks or Cybermen so in this story she gets to cross one of them off her list. There is also the matter of the fact that the Doctor never met the Cybermen on TV. This story isn’t the first to have Caroline John in it. She previously appeared in the 2001 adventure Dust Breeding as Madame Salvadori. In that she wasn’t recognisable as Liz Shaw but knowing that she was in the story all I could think of when I heard her speak was that it was the Doctors companion acting not Madam Salvadori.

The story doesn’t insult the listener by pretending that this is Liz Shaw circa 1970 but sometime afterwards. She sounds older and we get to hear of a different side of her than we knew on TV. The story is quite focused on Liz’s friend Jean who has disappeared and this leads for The Doctor and the Brigadier. Its interesting when Liz Shaw states that she didn’t like Jean to begin with when they met at Cambridge in the 1960’s as she found her irritating.

There are some lovely moments in this story such as The Brigadier and the Doctor clashing over the electricity bill that the Brigadier has had which is very high due to the Doctor’s experiments with the TARDIS. The Doctor storms off as he is getting frustrated with the Brigadier’s military mind not understanding what the Doctor is trying to do.

It could be argued that this story is her final adventure before she leaves UNIT and the 1971 series begins with Jo Grant replacing Liz Shaw as the companion. This is given some proof with Liz Shaw stating at the beginning when she first decided to leave UNIT. It was always a matter of time before she left as she was dragged in by the Brigadier in Spearhead From Space.

Caroline John puts in a good performance as Liz Shaw. Even though she is older she still retains some of the elements of Liz Shaw that we have all seen on DVD and VHS. We only got 4 stories of her and so its nice that she gets one more as I thought that the character of Liz Shaw was a strong one because she didn’t scream and was actually on the Doctor’s level in terms of intellegance. Nicholas Briggs makes his second appearance in these stories as the voice of the Cybermen. Briggs again puts in a good performance and makes the Cybermen sound truly menacing.

Nigel Fairs has written a very good story. This is perhaps the strongest one so far and uses the Cybermen much better than Patrick Chapman used the Daleks in Fear of the Daleks. Mark J Thompson directs his best story so far in this series. He keeps the pace going at a nice steady pace and doesn’t rush the ending. He keeps the feeling eerie and uses the most common phobia of dentists and uses that to its full potential.

The Blue Tooth is the best one in the series and hopefully with one more release to listen to I might be saying the second best story of the series. However I feel that there is nothing that can upstage this story as with Caroline John putting in a superb performance and the Cybermen anything better seems unlikely.

Fear of the Daleks (2007)

Fear of the Daleks is the second story from the first series of Companion Chronicles sees an iconic enemy inserted into the story. The Daleks are talked about by Zoe Heriot who had travelled with the Second Doctor between 1968 and 1969. This story was written by Patrick Chapman who as far as I am aware is making his first contribution to the series. There are two questions that are raised instantly about this story. The first being How can Zoe remember an adventure with the Daleks when (on tv at least) she never encountered them? Secondly, The Timelords wiped her mind of all adventures she had after The Wheel in Space so how could she remember any adventures she had with the Doctor and Jamie? Thankfully both these questions are answered.

Zoe remembers leaving Jamie and the Doctor in The Wheel in Space. However in her dreams she remembers stowing away on the TARDIS and the Doctor trying to tell how of the dangers they encounter similar to the sequence of events at the end of that story. The story is set on Lavonia which is a city built inside a protective dome on an asteroid. I think that this is quite a good setting as most people don’t think of people living on such a unknown thing as an asteroid. Zoe is fascinated with the different alien life forms presumably because she hasn’t encountered any in her time on the wheel. The use of the Daleks in this story isn’t the best. There just wasn’t any sense of any menace and ultimately I think that the Daleks are wasted. Cliffhangers are something that I think will get better as this series continues. The cliffhanger in this story was quite good considering. The Daleks circle the Doctor and prepare to exterminate him. Even though there is only about 45 seconds before the action is resumed there is a brief sense that you try and figure out what is going to happen to the Doctor. The ending was quite well done with the Zoe hearing the Doctor’s voice and telling her that the Daleks really have met their end. Zoe stops having the nightmare but has the feeling that the Doctor may be wrong about the Daleks.

Wendy Padbury puts in good performance as Zoe. I always like this character because she wasn’t like a normal female companion and by that I mean wasn’t screaming every 3 minutes and getting into danger. She was smart and also wasn’t annoying. The combination of her, Jamie and the Second Doctor was perhaps the second best of the 1960’s. Nicholas Briggs does another good job as the voice of the Daleks but then again that’s not exactly revelation of the year is it? It’s good that there is at least a minimum of threat from the Daleks and Briggs is able to bring a real sense of

The main problem with this story is that at the end of the release I had a feeling that nothing really happened and that the plot just casually went along filling up the 60 minutes or so. Sure there were some entertaining moments such as the cliffhanger but I don’t think that it was perhaps as good as it could have been. That said it was structured a bit better than Frostfire and its worth a listen as it has the Daleks in it.

Stealers from Saiph (2009)

The Stealers from Saiph is the final stories from this extended series and like The Mahogany Murderers before this story has something that is a first in this range. This is the first story to just feature one actor throughout this story. Mary Tamm returns to the role of Romana after playing her during the Key to Time series in 1978 and 1979. She returned in the Gallifrey series but as she puts it in the CD Extras segment it’s the first time she’s played the original Romana for 30 years. I liked Mary Tamm’s version of Romana because there was something stylish and likeable about her despite the way she thought she was better than the Doctor and perhaps people that they encountered. This story also is the first story from Nigel Robinson. Robinson previously wrote for the Target Novelisation’s, writing up The Sensorites (1987), The Time Meddler (1988), The Underwater Menace (1988) & The Edge of Destruction (1988).

The setting is quite a good one because it wasn’t one that had been done before. It also something that suited the first Romana’s character. The story sees a Parasite that has crash landed on Earth and is using the inhabitants to get their ship back up to full strength and use the Mediterranean. The plot does have a slight comparison to The Time Warrior where Linx uses scientists to help repair the damage to his ship. Having said that I did quite like the story and thought that there was something about it that I quite enjoyed. There was the impression that all this takes place over a wide area which is something that gives it a sense of scale and a greater sense of the danger that faces the people of that area.

My only complaint about this story was that it did take quite a long time for story to get going but once it did I found myself enjoying it. Mary Tamm did a good job doing the different accents and did well distinguishing her character from the Doctor’s. It would also have been nice if they did a special voice for the parasite to try and make it sound more dangerous and menacing. What we got was just Mary Tamm talking in a slightly sinister voice but ultimately they did nothing to make it sound alien.

Nigel Robinson has written what was in reality quite a simple story. It was a brave attempt to rely on just one person to do other voices as with another actor the main star has someone to act against and I think it was a test to Tamm’s acting to see whether she could pull it off. As it were she does but it still would have been nicer to have another voice to go along with. Lisa Bowerman did a good job as director, she didn’t rush the story along and allowed it to simmer and once it got up to speed she kept it at the race pace and it never felt rushed. It got to the stage where I kept thinking “Oh theres more”. A lot gets done in this release.

Overall this is an enjoyable story. Its not one of the best from this series but considering some of the gems that there have been like Home Truths, The Mahogany Murderers & The Transit of Venus, I don’t think that The Stealers from Saiph is a bad release. Certainly one that should be listened to just to hear Mary Tamm. Hopefully she will do another one quite soon because I would like to hear more from the first Romana.

The Beautiful People (2007)

The Beautiful People is the final story of what has been a very interesting series. This story sees the second incarnation of Romana played by Lalla Ward. Ward appeared in the show in The Armageddon Factor at the end of the 1978/79 series playing Princess Astra. She would play Romana proper in Destiny of the Daleks and would stay until Warriors Gaet in Tom Baker’s final season in 1980. I liked the second incarnation of Romana because unlike Mary Tamm’s version, this Romana wasn’t snobbish and didn’t think that she was smarter and better than the Doctor and everyone else. Of course she knew she was smart but Ward’s Romana didn’t ram it down anyone’s throat.

The thing that strikes me about this story is that it seems to be have devised by the thin brigade who laugh at anyone who is fat and mocks them for their unwillingness to do any exercise. Its not quite as serious as the previous stories in the series and shows that it isn’t taking itself too seriously. From the opening line where the Doctor is disgruntled at the lack of Doughnuts around we know that this is a story that would be ideal for the 4th Doctor. The Cliffhanger is a good one in this story. The music and Karna help create a little bit of action and the cliffhanger is quite good considering how difficult they can be in these sorts of stories.

Lalla Ward is very good in this story. She doesn’t sound that much older than when she was in the show but she still sounds like Romana and that is what is most important about these Companion Chronicles. Whilst Ward may not do a good job in impersonating Tom Baker she does do a good job doing a voice for the character of Sebella Bing. Just that voice alone creates an atmosphere of a sort of Health Spa. Ward tells the story in a entertaining way and always puts in a pleasing performance throughout. The only other star of this story was Marcia Ashton who plays Karna. She has some really good speeches and makes the character worthy of being in the story. I think that it’s a good thing that Karna was so unlikeable because that gave Ward the chance to play Romana as someone who had an enemy to battle against.

Jonathan Morris has written a good story and a fitting end to the series. There is a good base for a story along with some interesting characters. He has managed to set the stall of this story out quite quickly. He doesn’t make the listener try and wonder what type of story that we are going to get. Mark J Thompson has done another good job with this story. It was going to be difficult to do a story that was as good as The Blue Tooth but to be fair to him over the last four releases he has had to deal with different types of stories and has managed to deal with them some success.

Overall this is an enjoyable release which isn’t the best of the series but is still an enjoyable one that has a good cast and an interesting story setting. Well worth a listen.

The Great Space Elevator (2008)

The Great Space Elevator is the second offering from the third series of Companion Chronicles, this newly extended series from four to twelve. The previous Second Doctor stories have been a mixed bag. Fear of the Daleks from the first series and featured Zoe was a mess with not much to take from it. Whereas Helicon Prime from the second series was my favourite story of that series. This story sees Victoria return to the series, she was played by Debroah Watling from 1967 to 1968. She was a very interesting character in that she was from a time in history when time travel wasn’t as known about as it is today and so taking someone from a primitive time and thrusting them into a more modern age. It’s happened in Big Finish who with Erimem but Victoria was 40 years before.

The story sees the Doctor, Jamie and Victoria land in Sumatra. They are captured by guards and find themselves an elevator up to the space station above them. When they get there they find themselves confronted by an alien force wanting to create chaos on Earth.

As a story its very enjoyable because it feels like a Second Doctor adventure. For most fans they will have enjoyed (or not) the Second Doctor stories on audio due to the fact that the majority of his stories have been wiped, so this story just blends in well with them. My main issue with this story is the alien itself. It just doesn’t have a menacing threat that we come to expect, you would think that an alien force would not go through all the palaver of using the space station when it clearly has the power to just wiped humanity off the face of the Earth.

Considering it’s been so long since she played the role its amazing to see how easily Watling took to bringing back the character. The actress and the character have obviously aged and that shows because the character was certainly not as annoying with her screaming and irritating as she was on TV. Helen Goldwyn is the only other actor in this story as Tara Kerley. She is a very good character and contributes a nice sense of what is going on. Goldwyn has been in other Big Finish stories but this is her first in the Companion Chronicles range. The character of Kerley had the feeling of being this brutish nasty woman but then slowly mellows and by the end of the story she becomes a nicer character.

Cliffhangers are a difficult thing to try and get right, it is important the companion pitches it just right because no matter what the writer does if there is a poor delivery then the cliffhanger is just flat and meaningless. The cliffhanger in this story wasn’t brilliant but wasn’t poor either. It involved Victoria (obviously) who got pushed into a corridor and then the lights went out and moments later there is a crackling noise and Victoria feels her skin starting to tingle and it was in the room with her. Again not bad but not brilliant. The music and sound effects are also worthy of a mention. David Darlington has done very well in creating a scenario that at times feels eerie.

This is a minor issue because what we are left with is a story that makes us for the average previous story Here There Be Monsters. The Great Space Elevator shows what is needed to make a very good story. I have nothing further to say about this story other than it finally feels like this series has got started.

Exotron (2007)

Exotron is the first story for the fifth Doctor to get the three plus one treatment. Following on from I.D this story is much more enjoyable and seems to fit this format better. This story has been written by Paul Sutton who has a good track record, his previous works include Thicker Than Water and Arrangement for War. This story is essentially about a colony with some big robots and totally out of left field, a love story. This is also the first Fifth Doctor and Peri story (without Erimem) since Red Dawn. It makes a change to not have Erimem in the story but that’s not to say I want it to be a permanent thing. The single best thing that stood out for me was the revelation as to where all the exotrons have come from. We soon learn that they are actually humans that are keeping their lives going but not as was intended. I found this a totally bizarre plot point but somehow it doesn’t seem silly.

Peter Davison is very good in this story. In fact I would go so far to say that its his best story for quite sometime. He seems to enjoy himself as he winds up Taylor. He also has a natural friendship with Nicola Bryant which shines through. To be honest it would probably be better for Davison’s Doctor that he does have more stories with Peri on her own because it would freshen things up and we would get a different performance from Davison. Nicola Bryant is also very good as Peri. She sounds exactly the same as she did back on TV. She does seem to have lost a bit of her whiney nature but it is still essentially Peri.

John Duttine is just one of the big names in this story, having appeared in the Day of the Triffids he plays Hector in this story. He is very good in this because he plays the typical leader but ultimately has a weak side and Duttine revels in the role. Isla Blair plays his ex-wife Paula who starts off disliking her former husband for perfectly rational reason slowly starts to fall for him again and this was quite a sweet thing. Blair plays the role really well and was a joy to listen to. Nick Brimble plays Shreeni. Brimble has recently been in Emmerdale but perhaps is best known for appearing in the House of Cards series. Shreeni like all the other characters is a well written and nice character. Other people worthy of mention include Richard Earl as Corporal Mozz and Claire Wyatt as Weiss.

The single part story sees three people from the Gallifreyan Celestial Intervention Agency plotting the death of the Doctor. They reminisce on the circumstances of their encounter with the Doctor and each version is different to the other. It was more of a comedy than in Exotron which was nice. It was strange to see a different side to Peri and the Doctor. As the listener we know that what the Doctor is being accused of isn’t true so we are able to enjoy it for what it is.

Steven Wickham, who has appeared in several Big Finish plays in the past is playing the CIA officer called Harom with Douglas Hodge as Edge and Nicola Lloyd as Kettoo. Also there is Barry McCarthy as Palgrave and Clare Calbraith who appears as Trooper.

Paul Sutton has written a really nice sold play. I had my doubts following Urgent Calls but this has restored my faith (almost). I do think that this is his best work to date but obviously there may be other people who disagree with that. Barnaby Edwards has done a good job with this story and been able to work on the problems that showed up in I.D. Edwards hasn’t directed a story since Doctor Who and the Pirates back in 2003. The gap didn’t really show as he managed to keep the pace going and the interest at top level throughout.

As a release I think that both stories are really really good. Exotron has a nice plot with some well written characters and it goes along at a nice pace which is helped with the three part format. Urban Myths is a superb story which manages to work within the restrictions of 25 minutes. I didn’t like Urgent Calls and still think that 25 minutes isn’t long enough to tell a really good story but Urban Myths I think will be the exception rather than the rule.

Valhalla (2007)

Valhalla is a story which sees the Seventh Doctor on his own. Companionless stories are more interesting because we know that the majority of this story will be led by McCoy. There hasn’t been any since the series of Davros, Master & Omega adventures back in 2003. We also know that with this story being written by Marc Platt will not be a simple straight forward story. Platt has a very good track record for writing a story that could never be classed as bland. In the past, Platt has written Spare Parts which many fans regard as the best story that Big Finish ever and also he wrote Loups Garoux, and also the first story in the Companion Chronicles series. He also wrote Ghostlight which is really weird story that even 15 years after I first say it I still don’t understand it. Anyway that’s all irrelevant as I sat down to listen to this story.

There were some things that I liked about this story. The dark tone of this story was quite a breath of fresh air, there was a dark tone to it throughout and at times there were moments of tension. The story sees a slightly different Doctor to the one that we have grown to know. There is a sense that he is heading towards the end of his time and there are several moments where he feels like he is trying to save himself and not just the people around him. I quite liked the idea that the Doctor wants to open a hotel. It just doesn’t seem him somehow.

Sylvester McCoy puts in a very good performance in this story. He seems content with his loneliness and is considering settling down. This gives McCoy a chance to play a different side to his Doctor that he has now been playing for 20 years. I particularly enjoyed the scenes that he did in the job centre. Michelle Gomez is the one off companion in this story. She plays Jevan and to be honest she doesn’t really shine in the role for me. I know that there isn’t much point in establishing a character in a companion like role but for me without Ace or Hex it was important to have someone that you could feel would stay with the Doctor if asked. There were some moments where she has to do some serious acting and then moments where she has lighter scenes. She performed these scenes well. Susannah York plays the Termite Queen. She seems to go for it and that was what made the role seem well played. She was believable in being this larger than life leader. As a menace she was just right and considering the atmosphere and the setting of this story it was a performance that was spot on. There were a lot of other characters that were in this story played by many different actors. Too many to mention but they all played their part. Perhaps that is a problem that I have, if there were just four or five (apart from the Doctor) then things would have been better but there were 16 characters which is just too many.

This isn’t Marc Platt’s finest script. Characters are there and so is the setting but somehow it just doesn’t gel for me. I have to be honest and say that he isn’t one of my favourite writers but I do admire him for his attempt at doing something different. John Ainsworth unfortunately didn’t quite get it right on this occasion. I think he’s a good director but what let this story down was that it didn’t gel and some of that would fall into the director’s chair. The setting was well created the music were something that I have high praise for. Simon Robinson (Music) and Steve Foxon (Sound Design) did a great job. After I finished listening to this story I felt a little disappointed. There wasn’t really anything that stood out for me and it all felt a bit flat and just not worth the time. It wasn’t that it was bad but just normal. With this being the first companionless story for the Seventh Doctor since Master back in 2003, this really should have been better.

Frozen Time (2007)

Frozen Time is another companionless story for the Seventh Doctor. Another thing about this story is that it features the Ice Warriors. They last made an appearance in the 2000 story Red Dawn and their appearance in this story was a total shock. There was a slight hint in the bottom left hand comer of the cover but apart from that it gave me the only shock that I have had in the many years that I have been listening to these plays. This story was written by Nicholas Briggs who has a good track record when it comes to writing good plays. The Nowhere Place is a very good effort. The Ice Warriors have been a very underrated monster in Doctor Who history. They first appeared in the self titled story back in November/December 1967, this was followed by The Seeds of Death in 1969. They would return in 1972 to star opposite the Third Doctor in The Curse of Peladon with a final TV appearance in The Monster of Peladon in 1974. The first thing that I noticed about this story is how it has a Tenth Planet/Moonbase feel to it. By that I mean that a group of people cut off and face a alien threat. This story is quite clever in that it leads you to believe one thing and then it turning out to be another. In this story we have Lord Barset's Grandson leading an expedition to find traces of the original quest and uncover The Doctor who has been frozen. As the story unfolds we have the classic Ice Warriors who are trying to wipe everyone out and everyone just trying to escape from the Antarctic. What I liked about this story is that in this story the expedition is trying to look for Silurians which would be a fantastic plot point but then it's replaced with the accidental find of The Ice Warriors.

Sylvester McCoy is on good form in this story. He performs well with or without a companion and was in an unusual position in this story in that he was the one being rescued and not the rescuer. Its nice to see how McCoy's Doctor would interact with the Ice Warriors and it was a refreshing adventure. Without Ace of Hex it falls on Maryam d'Abo to play the stand in companion. In this story she plays Genevieve who is a woman who is very stem at the beginning but by the end of episode four she has a new found sense of respect for the Doctor. Anthony Calf does a very good job in this story as Lord Barset. It's hard to have a definitive point of view of him. I wasn't quite sure whether to hate him for what he has done or whether to feel sorry for him. Esther way it's because of Calf s acting that we have a character that isn’t boring or wasted. Greg Newton is very good as Ben who acts like he could be a companion. Then we have Tony Milian who stars as Professor McIntyre and the Gwynn Beech who plays Harman. Both of these characters whilst not the most important ones do play a part in this story and are likeable characters and are well acted.

Nicholas Briggs has managed to maintain his successful writing form with this adventure. There is the build up to the revelation of the Ice Warriors which (night have been the peak but the enjoyment just carried on and the plot never got tiresome and all the characters were spot on. Barnaby Edwards has done a brilliant job with this story creating an atmosphere that just hits the right note and makes you believe that all these characters are stranding in the middle of nowhere. I know that there has only been one other Ice Warrior story but whilst Red Dawn wasn't a bad story there were faults and Frozen Time is the better story I think that with this story has so much going for it that it could be in contention for story of the year. The surprise return of the Ice Warriors isn't the main selling point what there is a collection of well written and well acted characters along with some superb music and sound effects from Steve Foxon and also brilliant job from Mr. Edwards adds to the reason for this great story.

After all this just three words will sum up my feeling for this story, Buy it now!

Storm Warning (2001)

Storm Warning is the first story to feature the Eighth Doctor since the TV Movie in 1996. The first Big Finish play was back in July 1999 so it’s amazing that it’s taken this long for McGann to surface as the Doctor. It good that he has done this series of adventures because this enables us to see what the Doctor would have been like had the TV Movie been turned into a series. The story was set on board the R101 which crashed on her maiden overseas trip on October 5, 1930. I honestly didn’t know about this and so I thought that it was just something that Alan Barnes thought of. When I discovered that this was based on something that had been based in reality the story took on a different feel for me. The opening scene set sets the stall out for this release, newsreels are always a good way to start a story as it gives a sense of realism to it.

Paul McGann is truly magical as the Doctor. This is what he would have been like had he been given more time not just in the TV Movie but beyond. There have been books based on the Eighth Doctor which have given fans some more adventures with the Eighth incarnation but Storm Warning is the first story that enables McGann to give his slant on the character. McGann gives a completely fresh approach to the Doctor and there are little mannerisms which are essentially the Doctor such as talking to himself a lot. McGann seems to have fun throughout mixing with the personnel of the R101 and also Charley who seems to be hiding something. India Fisher makes her debut as Charlotte ‘Charley’ Pollard though she made her first appearance in an earlier story. The character of Charley is quite an interesting one being that she is a stowaway but also she is also part of a wealthy family but in this story we don’t get any information as to whether she is important in any way. With the blend of her social standing along with the way that she got on board she was always was destined to be an important character. Fisher played her really well and she was believable throughout. I think that Fisher interacted well with Paul McGann and as a duo these two are strong and it will be interesting to see where they go after this.

Other characters in this story include Gareth Thomas formerly of Blake’s 7 fame plays Lord Tamworth. Tamworth is a very noticeable character that stands out in every scene that he is in. Then there is Nicholas Pegg (writer of The Spectre of Lanyon Moor) who plays Lt-Col Frayling who is a nice if typically authorities type character. Between the pair of them they give off a great impression that the R101 is the impressive and will become the pride of the world. Hylton Collins plays Chief Steward Weeks who is a light character but played with a lot of effort and that shows. Barnaby Edwards puts in a good performance as Rathbone which is on par with other characters in this story.

Alan Barnes has written a very good story that uses a historical setting but puts a science fiction part into it. It was going to be difficult to write a story that stood out and a good piece for the Doctor. Barnes wrote a story that has a cliffhanger at the end which is something that you just know wont end well. Gary Russell is very good as director. He manages to keep the story going at gentle pace at the beginning but then in the second half of the play he speeds it up to the thrilling conclusion.

Storm Warning is a truly superb offering. There are strong characters and also a strong debut (sort of) from Paul McGann and it bodes well for the rest of the stories in this series. The setting was a good choice and it was nicely handle how the tragedy had a sensible impact on the live of Charley and gave the Doctor a moral dilemma which isn’t something that the Doctor has had to deal with for a long time especially in these audio adventures. If you are choosing a story to just sit back and enjoy then Storm Warning is as good a place to start. It has a Vortisar called Ramsey for goodness sake!

Assassin in the Limelight (2008)

Assassin in the Limelight is the third script to come from the mind of Robert Ross. In 2004 he came up with Medicinal Purposes which was a truly superb effort with everything you could possibly want from a Doctor Who story. Then in 2006 he bought Pier Pressure to us which wasn’t as good but still enjoyable. This story sees the return of Leslie Philips who plays Doctor Robert Knox from Medicinal Purposes and also the aliens that were in Pier Pressure. What was a surprise in this story is that both elements were used in this story, the return of Knox wasn’t a great surprise since his face was on the cover but the elements from Pier. I wasn’t quite sure about the setting of this story, April 14th 1865 was when US President Abraham Lincoln was assassinated at the Ford Theatre in Washington. To me it wasn’t a particular smart thing to do because it was an event in history where someone was murdered. Thankfully it takes a back seat in the story telling and it is dealt with in a dignified manner. Essentially the story centres around the fact that the Doctor and Evelyn have to put history back as it was and allows the events of Friday 14th April 1865 take place, but being Doctor Who its never that simple.

Colin Baker is on good form in this story which isn’t a massive revelation. Baker has a whale of a time when he is trying to get to Knox. In the TV series, Colin Baker had the Rani as his intellectual even and in these audio plays it is Knox that gives Baker the best chance to have a great set of scenes with. Maggie Stables puts in a good performance as Evelyn. Its been a long time since she was last in a Big Finish play. Her relationship with Colin Baker is one of the highlights of this range and is always a joy to listen to.

It was brilliant to have Leslie Philips back in Doctor Who. I thought he was one of the best things about Medicinal Purposes and so the thought of his return was one of the reasons I was looking forward to it. However saying that there was something of a disappointment because I felt that it was as good as his first appearance. He was ok to begin with but seemed to decline towards the end. I really liked how Knox’s TARDIS seemed so much…well better than the Doctor’s. It had a lift which to my knowledge the Doctor doesn’t have. Eric Loren who plays John Parker also has the distinction of being the second actor to have appeared in new Doctor Who and also Big Finish Who. He played Mr Diagoras and also the Dalek Sec Hybrid in Evolution of the Daleks/Daleks in Manhattan. The role of John Parker was a well written one because in the events of the assassination, it was Parker who was one of the Abraham Lincolns bodyguards on that fateful day. Other roles in this story were well written including Clara Harris who was played by Lysette Anthony. Harris was an important character in this because she accompanied Abraham Lincoln and his wife to Ford’s Theatre. Lysette Anthony puts in a good performance that stands out for me. Madeleine Potter was very good as Lizzie Williams which was another good character that worked well with the rest. However there was a weak link in this otherwise fairly strong chain and that was the role of Henry Clay Ford who was the proprietor of the Theatre. I just found the voice of Alan Marriott. Some of this blame must be placed at Marriott’s feet because it just irritates and grates me.

The main issue with this story is the use of American accents. Even with the use of genuine American accents its hard to not cringe at them. They seem like they have to exaggerate the accents in order for the listener to create the impression of 19th Century America. I found the American accent that was used in Renaissance of the Daleks an annoying one that ruined the character in that for me. Another issue I have is that it just doesn’t seem to have a threat to it. They spend four episodes just making sure that history gets back on track and that an assassin happens as it should. It would have been better if it had taken place on another planet and sees Knox trying to change the events of a war on another planet with grander things at stake. Robert Ross seems to have just plucked an idea out of thin air and run with, to his credit he makes good use of it but to me it just seemed like the wrong choice for this story. Barnaby Edwards was ok as director but I think that he did the best that he could. The opening scene was well done and the scenes Knox’s TARDIS are well done.

Overall this is an ok but nothing amazing. It seems a far cry from Medicinal Purposes in terms of standards. The characters are all well acted and well written but they just don’t gel to me on this.

The Haunting of Thomas Brewster (2008)

2008 TOMS TARDIS AWARDS WINNER - BEST MAIN RANGE STORY, BEST DIRECTOR (BARNABY EDWARDS)

The Haunting of Thomas Brewster is a story that is sadly memorable for one reason and its not what you would expect. This story is the first to feature the Fifth Doctor and Nyssa in over a year in the story Renaissance of the Daleks. This story is written by Jonathan Morris who had previously written the fantastic Bloodtide (2001) but also wrote the very poor Flip-Flop (2003). This story is as the title suggests is about a young lad called Thomas Brewster.

Peter Davison is on usual good form in this story. He seems to be having a good time and was given a different job to in this story which seems to be trying to get by without the TARDIS a lead a normal life. He seems to enjoy leading the academic life and it feels at times like he is resigned to the fact that he has Davison works really well with Sarah Sutton and I think that this combination is the best from this era. Sarah Sutton is also very good as Nyssa. Nyssa is my favourite companion from the classic series and that in this story she excels because she gets on very well with Thomas Brewster. There is almost the same relationship as Nyssa had with Tegan. Leslie Ash is the biggest guest star name of this story. She previously appeared in the BBC sitcom Men Behaving Badly. I thought that she was fantastic in this as Brewster’s mother. She had a very important part in this story and she very effective throughout this story. I do hope that this isn’t the last that we hear from her because I think that Ash was superb. Jon Pickard has appeared in the BBC Sitcom 2.4 Children and more recently can be seen in the Channel 4 soap Hollyoaks. Pickard is the first actor from a soap to appear in Doctor Who whilst still in their soap. Pickard who was 30 years old when he recorded this story manages to play a Victorian youngster which on TV would be a hard sell. Pickard is very good in this story as Brewster, he has to struggle with having lost his mother at a very early age. Brewster is very much like the Artful Dodger in Oliver which is perhaps where they got the inspiration for the character. Christian Coulson is perhaps the dark horse of this story, his character doesn’t seem to have much going for it but as the Doctor becomes stranded it his Robert’s relationship with the Doctor was what stood out for me. Coulson worked very well with Davison and as the story went on I was hoping that at the end the Doctor would ask Robert to travel with him in the TARDIS, alas he didn’t and we file Coulson’s Robert under the ‘Nearly A Companion’ file.

The opening scene is quite a morbid one as we have a young Thomas Brewster who has to listen to apparently friends or relatives bitching about how his mother would still be alive were it not for Thomas. You immediately have to have sympathy for him and as the story progresses that sympathy does wane a bit but ultimately you still have a soft spot for him. The biggest fault that I have with this story is the music. There is just too much and I mean way too much. At times I got really frustrated listening to it because you would have an important scene and then interrupted with 10 seconds of music. If the story was under running I’m sure that they could have come up with some extra dialogue that whilst might not have moved the plot on very much but at least it would have been better than the music. Jonathan Morris has written a nice solid script and it’s nice to see him back on form. Bloodtide is a superb story which I listen to time and time again and then he wrote Flip Flop which is more of a flop than anything else. Barnaby Edwards does another good turn as the director. He manages to keep the story going at an interesting pace throughout and in between the music interludes/marathons he manages to gets things all wrapped up at the end with the obvious cliffhanger.

Overall I think that this is quite a good story. If you get past the music debacle what you are left with a story that is intriguing to begin with and then downright entertaining to finish off and we have a thrilling cliffhanger which leaves you wanting more. This story is a triumph in terms of storytelling and in character development and as the theme tune plays for the final time you get the impression that it is building to something that will take months to reveal itself.

The Angel of Scutari (2009)

The Angel of Scutari is the third story in this mini series. After encountering the Toymaker and the Daleks, it was time for the Doctor to meet a historical icon. Florence Nightingale was the lady in the lamp who was a nurse during the Crimean War. Nightingale was born on May 12, 1820 and died on August 13, 1910. During this time she became a pioneer in medicine and we got to see Florence Nightingale as a person instead of the icon she would late become. I learnt about her at school but that was a long time ago but at least I remember her significance in history and so it was this little bit of knowledge that I took when I pressed play on Track 1. This story is written by Paul Sutton who has written for the main range in Exotron, Thicker Than Water, Arrangements for War and also wrote No More Lies back in 2007.

First thing that strikes me is how it doesn’t glorify war in any way. From the moment that William Russell starts talking we get a grim reminder of what war is like and ultimately how its essentially a waste with no real winner. It is a sad an unapologetic piece that really shows what the boundaries are for this story. The story is about giving Hex a chance to make himself feel like someone who could be helpful. Following directly on from the Enemy of the Daleks we see a Hex that seems quite content to be on his own and without the Doctor and Ace for a short time. Hex gets to me what appears to be an idle of his and he spends a short time with her. Meanwhile the Doctor gets captured and we are led to believe that he was killed by the Brigadier-General but this is revealed at the end to just be a lie because the Brigadier-General can face to say what really happened. Seeing the TARDIS dematerialise is what set his mental unbalance off. There was also the matter of the TARDIS being used as firewood but we know just moments before this revelation that the TARDIS went away. This is revealed (from what I understand) that the cannon ball hit the TARDIS thus reawakening a device never heard before in Doctor Who and this meant that the inside of the TARDIS separated itself from the main exterior and was linked to Ace.

Sylvester McCoy performs well in this story. He doesn’t give dud performances unless the script is poor. Whilst this story isn’t poor ultimately all the McCoy has to do is just bide his time and isn’t allowed to be heroic or have that big scene that shows us what McCoy can do. The final scene with him, Ace and Hex was perhaps the best that it got for McCoy. Philip Olivier seemed to have the most to do and the story was centred around him and it was for his benefit that they go to and meet Nightingale. However I felt that it slightly got away from Hex as the story got on and I wish that it would have stayed with Hex because it made him for the first time since he joined the series like a human being with a history and ambitions. Sophie Aldred spent most of the story trying to get back to the Doctor but flirting with Lev Tolstoy. This wasn’t the most important story for Ace but again like McCoy she wasn’t really allowed to show us the Ace that we all know she can be.

The supporting characters are what help make this story enjoyable. The first being Sir Sidney Hulbert who was played by Hugh Bonneville. Now Hulbert was a character that I really liked because he seemed to be a nice guy. He seemed to be the sort of character that the Doctor could do business with and trust him. Bonneville plays Hulbert in quite a nice way but also plays Tzar Nicholas I brilliantly. Nicholas was a character that you just got the sense from way he interacted with the Doctor. Both characters were very well written and its Bonneville that makes both characters equally enjoyable.

Jeany Spark plays Florence Nightingale with a feeling of here is someone who is willing to put her life and potential happiness to make other lives better. You know in you heart that there is a line that you draw and you think that you would do your job up to a that point. Spark simply played the character beautifully, there was complete dignity in the performance from start to finish and at certain points you feel sorry for her even though you know what she would go on to do. Alex Lowe plays the superbly named Brigadier-General Bartholomew Kitchen. Lowe plays the Brigadier-General as a slightly unbalanced figure who spent most of the story shouting “collaborator” or “spy”. I really liked the character and felt that Lowe had played him with a certain feeling that you just couldn’t forget because the character was so instrumental in the proceedings of the story.

Sean Brosnan plays Sir Hamilton Seymour who was a sort of background character who ultimately lets the Doctor go to resume history. You know that he doesn’t really understand what is going on but is still willing to help the Doctor. Its not a massively big character considering you have the Brigadier-General and Florence but its still a good performance from Brosnan. John Albasiny plays Lev Tolstoy who sort of becomes a love interest for Ace, he starts off as this cold soldier who is just doing his duty and over the course of the four episodes would be someone who would desert the army for her which just shows how fickle love can be. John Paul Connolly plays William Russell who is a journalist but his voice gives the impression that he is a sort of Phil Mitchell type who could beat you up if that was what he felt like doing. His deliverance of the monologue at the beginning was just brilliant and that just left a great impression in my mind and throughout this story the character was just a really good character.

The ending was quite a shock because whenever we have a companion that is hurt or injured during the story there is quite a tendency for everything to be sown up at the end and so with Hex’s impending death we are left with a cliffhanger that will take several months to resolve itself and that is an issue I have. Whilst its good to have a cliffhanger with a companion that is easily expendable, was it really wise considering the next scheduled 7th Doctor story isn’t till January 2010. By which point most people will have forgotten what was going on and it will take 5 or 10 minutes to remind people of what is going on.

To be honest, this story was always going to struggle against the fantastic Magic Mousetrap and even better Enemy of the Daleks. It was a story that is really split into two parts, the first being episodes one to three and then the fourth episode. That feels rushed to me, I spent most of this story wondering whether I was going to understand what was going on and though it might have been another Brotherhood of the Daleks type of story but thankfully it was all explained. Ken Bentley has directed another good story which manages to use the music and Sound Effects to great effect. This story had a lot of time travel going on and where I thought it was going to get out of control, Bentley managed to keep it together and put together a story that was smart and one that everyone could understand. Paul Sutton has written a very smart and intelligent piece that sort of uses the idea of war when its needed to be but allows the characters that live it and breathe it the chance to tell the listener that war isn’t glamorous and is in fact a dirty and pointless encounter. The main characters don’t really shine for me and its Hex that is the best out of the three but I think that it’s a story with a lot going for it and pushes limits of what a Doctor Who story can be.