The Company of Friends is unofficially Big Finish’s 10th Anniversary story. They don’t acknowledge this anywhere in the release. Back with the 100th release they did 100 which saw four single part stories, then in November 2008 to celebrate the shows 45th Anniversary they did Forty-Five which again was four single part stories so it’s a logical conclusion to see this as a special. This is also the first Eighth Doctor adventure since The Girl Who Never Was back in December 2007. This release involved four companions who have at some point travelled with the Eighth Doctor. For those who have read the books with the Eighth Doctor will know who Fitz and Izzy are but for me I had no idea who they were but what writers have done is to start each episode with a monologue that explains their live and their involvement with the Doctor.
The first part was Benny’s Story. Everyone who has listened to Big Finish over the last 10 years will know of Bernice Summerfield. The thing that struck me about this story was how it felt like a Bernice play. It had the same quirky pace to it and it actually felt like the Doctor was a guest and it was Bernice who was the star not the other way round. The story was a relatively straight forward one which had nice characters in it. I particularly liked the role of Venhella who was your typical rich heiress who used her wealth to get what she wanted. Su Douglas was very good in this role as was Richard Earl who played Klarner. It was just a shame that he was killed off. Lisa Bowerman played Bernice like she normally does and by that I mean with a enthusiasm. She still seems to enjoy playing her even though she’s being soing it for over 10 years. Highly enjoyable story.
The second story was Fitz’s story. This one was ok but wasn’t anything to write home about. I think it might have had something to do with the role of Fitz being a cockney jack the lad. Its not very original and it just didn’t seem to be as strong as perhaps Bernice or Evelyn. The story itself was another enjoyable piece of 25 minutes. I thought that Matt Di Angelo was particularly good. I think that he made it a likeable character that worked well with the Doctor. Fenella Woolgar was the second big name of this story having appeared in The Unicorn and the Wasp (2008) and in this she gave a solid performance as Commander Hellan Femor.
The third story was my favourite. It was Izzy’s story that featured Jemima Rooper in the lead role. I though it was the best because it just had the best plot of the four. The idea that someone wants to go back in time to find out what happens in a missing comic is such a ludicrous idea that it actually makes sense. I noticed the mention of Stockbridge (which will be visited late in the year) but it was the second half of this story that I liked because it was that the comic was based on real life and the creatures were all real and had been censored off their own planet. Jemima Rooper was just superb as Izzy and I pray that she the character is bought back because she played it like a geeky version of Lucie Miller or even Rose.
The final story was perhaps the most intriguing as I wondered how a real person would figure in a science fiction show in a companion basis. The story itself was relatively simple and saw two versions of the Eighth Doctor. What I did like was how we learnt about the sadness of Mary Shelley’s life and how she took the offer of travelling with the Doctor without even thinking about it. Julie Cox plays Mary Shelley with the sense of the time she was in but willing to accept this extrodinary situation that she found herself in.
Paul McGann was superb in this story. This is the best performance that he has given for quite sometime and it was a chance for him to be put in a different situation. He seems to enjoy himself in all four episodes and does well creating a different relationship with each companion. Top stuff.
The writers all deserve praise. Lance Parkin wrote the Benny story and hopefully will write a full story in the future. Parkin previously wrote Primeval (2001) and also Davros (2003). Stephen Cole wrote a nice story that unfortunately falls down the list of enjoyment. Cole wrote The Land of the Dead (2000), The Apocalypse Element (2000) and The Wormery (2003) and only the second story was what I would consider to be a quality story. Alan Barnes is the best writer in this story. Unlike Brotherhood of the Daleks (2008) I understood Izzy’s story and so enjoyed it immensely. Finally Jonathan Morris wrote another good story like he did with The Haunting of Thomas Brewster (2008) and more recently Hothouse (2009). Nicholas Briggs was in the directors chair this time and he did a fantastic job and managed to make all the story flow and let seem alone at the same time.
I was very against single 25 minute stories when they first became normal back in 2007. I just found that they didn’t work however recently that has changed and I hope that they do more of these stories in the future because they are highly enjoyable and offer the listener something different. I wrote at the beginning that I though this story was the celebrate Big Finish’s 10th anniversary of doing Doctor Who stories. What a brilliant way of celebrating.
The first part was Benny’s Story. Everyone who has listened to Big Finish over the last 10 years will know of Bernice Summerfield. The thing that struck me about this story was how it felt like a Bernice play. It had the same quirky pace to it and it actually felt like the Doctor was a guest and it was Bernice who was the star not the other way round. The story was a relatively straight forward one which had nice characters in it. I particularly liked the role of Venhella who was your typical rich heiress who used her wealth to get what she wanted. Su Douglas was very good in this role as was Richard Earl who played Klarner. It was just a shame that he was killed off. Lisa Bowerman played Bernice like she normally does and by that I mean with a enthusiasm. She still seems to enjoy playing her even though she’s being soing it for over 10 years. Highly enjoyable story.
The second story was Fitz’s story. This one was ok but wasn’t anything to write home about. I think it might have had something to do with the role of Fitz being a cockney jack the lad. Its not very original and it just didn’t seem to be as strong as perhaps Bernice or Evelyn. The story itself was another enjoyable piece of 25 minutes. I thought that Matt Di Angelo was particularly good. I think that he made it a likeable character that worked well with the Doctor. Fenella Woolgar was the second big name of this story having appeared in The Unicorn and the Wasp (2008) and in this she gave a solid performance as Commander Hellan Femor.
The third story was my favourite. It was Izzy’s story that featured Jemima Rooper in the lead role. I though it was the best because it just had the best plot of the four. The idea that someone wants to go back in time to find out what happens in a missing comic is such a ludicrous idea that it actually makes sense. I noticed the mention of Stockbridge (which will be visited late in the year) but it was the second half of this story that I liked because it was that the comic was based on real life and the creatures were all real and had been censored off their own planet. Jemima Rooper was just superb as Izzy and I pray that she the character is bought back because she played it like a geeky version of Lucie Miller or even Rose.
The final story was perhaps the most intriguing as I wondered how a real person would figure in a science fiction show in a companion basis. The story itself was relatively simple and saw two versions of the Eighth Doctor. What I did like was how we learnt about the sadness of Mary Shelley’s life and how she took the offer of travelling with the Doctor without even thinking about it. Julie Cox plays Mary Shelley with the sense of the time she was in but willing to accept this extrodinary situation that she found herself in.
Paul McGann was superb in this story. This is the best performance that he has given for quite sometime and it was a chance for him to be put in a different situation. He seems to enjoy himself in all four episodes and does well creating a different relationship with each companion. Top stuff.
The writers all deserve praise. Lance Parkin wrote the Benny story and hopefully will write a full story in the future. Parkin previously wrote Primeval (2001) and also Davros (2003). Stephen Cole wrote a nice story that unfortunately falls down the list of enjoyment. Cole wrote The Land of the Dead (2000), The Apocalypse Element (2000) and The Wormery (2003) and only the second story was what I would consider to be a quality story. Alan Barnes is the best writer in this story. Unlike Brotherhood of the Daleks (2008) I understood Izzy’s story and so enjoyed it immensely. Finally Jonathan Morris wrote another good story like he did with The Haunting of Thomas Brewster (2008) and more recently Hothouse (2009). Nicholas Briggs was in the directors chair this time and he did a fantastic job and managed to make all the story flow and let seem alone at the same time.
I was very against single 25 minute stories when they first became normal back in 2007. I just found that they didn’t work however recently that has changed and I hope that they do more of these stories in the future because they are highly enjoyable and offer the listener something different. I wrote at the beginning that I though this story was the celebrate Big Finish’s 10th anniversary of doing Doctor Who stories. What a brilliant way of celebrating.
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