The Eternal Summer (2009)

2009 TOMS TARDIS AWARD WINNER

• Best Director (Barnaby Edwards)

The Eternal Summer is a story that takes place straight after Castle of Fear and it was a dramatic start. Then the strangeness begins. The Doctor can’t remember things and all the inhabitants act like they have known the Doctor “for as long as they can remember”. The thing about this story is how strange it seems to be. The scenes move forward and backward in time. It was a little confusing knowing what was actually going on. Whilst it was strange I did find it quite enjoyable. The more it happened the more I found it strange that it put me off this entire story.

The Stockbridge that we see in this story is the different sort than I was expecting. It was in a time bubble that goes over the events of the inhabitants lives. I quite liked how the inhabitants actually knew what was happening and were happy with it. The story then reveals that the Lord and Lady of the Manor that we hear so much of actually turns out be the Doctor and Nyssa or at least them in a million years time.

Peter Davison and Sarah Sutton are brilliant in this story. They get to play another version of their characters and sounded totally terrifying. Its great for them to get to play something different but what I liked was how these new versions of the Doctor and Nyssa weren’t over the top or stupid. Mark Williams and Pam Ferris are two big names for this story. They both played interesting characters but it was Williams’ character that I found funnier. He plays Maxwell Edison who appeared in the DWM comic strips. The reaction that he gave when Nyssa had been taken at the end of episode one was hilarious. Ferris’ character was quite charming and was typical of the characters that she has played over the years on TV. Susan Brown makes her second appearance in succession playing Alice Withers who was also a charming character along. Nick Brimble returns to the Big Finish universe after appearing in Extron (2007). His character was very well played by Brimble and added a lot to the drama. Roger Hammond also deserves a mention. He plays Harold Withers and gives quite an emotional performance when he is grieving over his wife’s passing away.

Jonathan Morris has a mixed track record with Doctor Who stories. He writes a brilliant story like Bloodtide (2001) and then he writes a poor story like Flip-Flop (2003). Morris recently wrote The Haunting of Thomas Brewster which wasn’t a simple story but was still entertaining. This is perhaps the best Fifth Doctor play since Son of the Dragon (2007). The story was had so many settings and went back and forward that it could have been a sequel to Brotherhood of the Daleks.

The Nightmare Fair (2009)

2009 TOMS TARDIS AWARD WINNER

• Best Lost Story

From the moment that I heard that Big Finish were doing the lost season there was only one story that I wanted to hear made and that was this story. Written by Graham Williams who was producer of Doctor Who from 1977 to 1979, this was originally meant to form the first episode of the 1986 season with the Doctor saying he was going to take Peri to Blackpool before the end was edited due to the hiatus. This story sees the return of the Celestial Toymaker who made his only appearance in the 1966 story of the same name. For this release John Ainsworth did the audio adaption and also directed what was for me the most anticipated story of the year.

The Toymaker is hiding inside a ride in Blackpool and is just waiting for the Doctor hoping to get revenge after what happened in their previous encounter. The story was itself a pretty standard one. It works along the line of simple revenge and nothing more. The Doctor discovers that the Toymaker is the only one of his kind. I thought that was nice and gave him a human side to his character. The Doctor that we encounter in this story is not the one that Big Finish have been using for a decade but more like the one that that we knew on TV. Nicola Bryant plays the Peri that she did on TV which whilst is annoying is quite pleasing that there is continuity taking place. Together Baker and Bryant manage to perfectly recreate their 1985 relationship and not their 2006 one.

David Ballie was fantastic as the Toymaker. I was hoping for some continuity from the actor who played the Toymaker in The Magic Mousetrap. Having said that I’m glad they went with Ballie because he added something to the role that Michael Gough didn’t. Ballie’s voice was truly wonderful and the moments when he was angry were some of his best. I also thought that the character of Stefan was well played by Andrew Fettes. He was essentially the Toymaker’s dogsbody but was still very good and believable. I also thought that the character of Shardow was quite sad actually. Having being a prisoner of the Toymaker for 200 years you feel that he should be set free in one way or another.

Had this story actually been made then I think it would have been a pretty decent story. I found this story to be pretty standard and nothing more. I thought that for most of the story not much happened apart from the Doctor being trapped in a cell. When he did meet the Toymaker that’s when the story really picked up. Even though this story was Graham Williams it was John Ainsworth who made the adaptation to audio and he did a good job managing to make what probably would have been a large visual piece into an audio story that made sense.

As an opening to the Lost Season it was the most well known but I think that it’s the ‘what would have been’ thought that has been circling in peoples head for 24 years that has elevated people’s expectations (including mine) and people should treat this as a normal story.

Real Time (2002)

This story was made by Big Finish but originally released on BBCi which is an interactive service. Admittedly I didn’t listen to it like this but when it was released on CD a few years later. Gary Russell is the man responsible for this as both writer and director. The story had a lot riding on it, for most people at the time (mid-2002) no one really knew about the Cybermen except for die hard fans of Doctor Who and/or Big Finish.

The story itself is very good. Its restricted by the length of each episode (15 minutes) but it was still a nice strong plot that felt like a proper Big Finish/Doctor Who story. It had a more adult feel to it with some quite dark and gory moments. This story works best when listening it with the images that were designed specially for the BBC website.

Colin Baker and Maggie Stables are on usual fine form. It’s only a short time since they started together and now it seems like they have been doing for more than 2 years. Maggie Stables arguably is given more to do and ultimately has the better story. Its nice to note that the Sixth Doctor has shed his horrible multi-coloured coat and gone for a more eye sensitive blue coat. But its Yee Jee Tso who appeared in the Paul McGann TV Movie (1996), his character of Doctor Reese Goddard was one that appeared to be nothing special but then there was a major plot twist that his character was involved with.

If I had to find a fault it would be with the logic of having to watch this on the internet. I think that most people wont have fast internet connection and so would struggle to enjoy it at all. Having said that if you were listening to it on CD your still going to enjoy the story and actually might come up with some different images in your head. Still an enjoyable release with that everyone should listen to especially if you like the Cybermen to be a bit darker than you have seen them on TV.

Medicinal Purposes (2004)

Medicinal Purposes is a story that I loved from start to finish. This story was one of the first that I listened to when I first started bying Big Finish releases. This story is the first to be written by Robert Ross and he has put together a superb adventure.

The characters are what I really like about this story. Two of the characters I knew from when I did history at Secondary school. Burke and Hare are known in history as the Body snatchers. Quite a grim duo to put in essentially a family drama. At first it looks like the story is a simple case of the Doctor and Evelyn stopping these body snatchers but then it’s only when Doctor Robert Knox that it really goes up a gear. Leslie Philips is absolutely superb in this. He is reknowned in British culture as a star of the early Carry On films and his legendary “Ding-Dong”. The character of Knox is portrayed as another Timelord because he is travelling with a TARDIS but this isn’t the case as he won it. I also found the character of Daft Jamie was well done. Played by David Tennant (what’s he done with his career since?) the character was given a child like way which part of me found irritating but then the other part found it quite charming because he wasn’t being vindictive or horrible but just being himself. The moment when you know he has to do to let history get back on track was really sad and hits home how these characters can affect you. That is what makes great drama.

What we get is a difference of morals from the Doctor and Evelyn. Obviously being an alien the Doctor will see things slightly different than Evelyn. The Doctor realises that things have to go as history says but Evelyn wants to try and do some good. Their relationship is one of the biggest successes for Big Finish and its nice to have a slight conflict between the pair but hopefully it will just strengthen their relationship and I don’t want every story to be like this.

Overall this story is a fantastic effort. The characters are well written, the music and sound effects are superb and also the directing helps move the story along at a regular but fast pace. I would recommend this story to anyone who loves a historical story with a little twist.

Arrangements for War (2004)

Arrangements for War is a story that has to deal with a lot of fallout from Project: Lazarus. Evelyn was affected a great deal by what happened in that story. We have had to wait for a long time for the conclusion of this emotional strive that has entered the relationship of the Doctor and Evelyn.

The thing that Evelyn seems to not be able to get past is that the Doctor’s morals are going to be slightly different. He may look human but his beliefs are not necersarily human. The Doctor takes Evelyn to the planet Vilag to try and give her some space to try and get over the death of Cassie. As if that isn’t enough the planet is in the middle of forming an alliance to fight off an invasion from the Killorans. The story paints an alternative way of life for Evelyn. Normally this wouldn’t be something that she would give a second thought about but follows recent events she does sees a different way of life. This is due to her friendship with Governor Justice Rossiter (played by Gabriel Woolf).

Gabriel Woolf is the big name of this story. He had previously appeared in The Pyramids of Mars (1976) as Sutekh and it was his voice that made the character so memorable which is why he was fantastic as Rossiter. Colin Baker and Maggie Stables were fantastic as two friends who’s relationship has been strained by recent events. Stables in particular was the star of the story because it was her character who needed to try and get over Cassie and perhaps spend a bit of time away from the Doctor.

Arrangements for War doesn’t quite have the dramatic feel that Project: Lazarus but what it does do is deal with the fallout of that story and does it in an emotional way. I thought that the characters and the setting of the planet was well done and whilst its not my type of story I think that it’s one that quite a few people would like.

The Nowhere Place (2006)

The first story featuring the Sixth Doctor and Evelyn since Pier Pressure at the beginning of the year. We are treated to a story that could pass as one of the best stories of the year. The Nowhere Place was written and directed by the marvellous Nicholas Briggs. A story carries a lot of weight when Nicholas Briggs has his name of the writer and director credits. It’s a far cry from The Sirens of Time (1999) when it was a weak story (compared to today) but nowadays it’s a very strong indication of how the story is going to be.

This story starts of quite simply enough on a starship called the Valiant where the crew having been going mad when they hear a bell. Things step up a gear when the Doctor then follows that bell to 1952 and more precisely a train. The character of Captain Oswin (played by Martha Cope) is a wonderful character because we haven’t had a character like her for quite sometime. The way she talks down to the Doctor without having any fear of retailiation from him is quite refreshing. Cope played the character very well.

The two is split into two halves really with the first two episodes taking place on the spaceship and the second half on the train. It’s the train that has the most action because its about finding the source of the bell. Then the story shifts back to the spaceship which did seem quite odd but ultimately I loved this story so much that it didn’t really matter.

Colin Baker is on usual good form in this story. His distress when Evelyn starts to hear the bell is well acted and shows how strong their relationship is. Baker also has some good scenes at the start with the Captain Oswin character who is the chalk to Baker’s cheese. Maggie Stables is also on very good form and it’s a story of two halves for her. Her role in the story really gets going after she starts hearing the bell, then it’s the drama gets cranked up and Stables plays to that brilliantly.

Once the music played for the final time I thought that this story was a truly superb story. The characters were great and well throughout and the main characters seemed to serve a purpose to the main plot. The execution of the entire story was sound and Nicholas Briggs should be applauded.

Return of the Krotons (2008)

It’s a tradition now that Big Finish seems to stick ‘Return’ at the beginning of a story for the subscriber special. We had Return of the Daleks in 2007 and Return to the Web Planet. Last Year Big Finish bought back an alien that appeared once in 1965 in the form of the Zarbi and I thought it was a bit of a weird choice but it did actually work. This release also got a similar reaction from me. The Krotons! What on earth can you do with an alien that didn’t exactly shine when it first appeared back in 1968? Thankfully Nicholas Briggs takes over the writing and directing of this story so it’s a little bit reassuring.

This story takes an awful long time to get going and that might have something to do with the 70 minute length. But it soon did and then really became a nice enjoyable piece. Big Finish has a reputation of doing something different with well known characters. This story was no different as we were treated to a different Kroton that we previously knew.

The casting was lead by Philip Madoc who is making his second appearance in the Big Finish/Doctor Who series. Having obviously appeared in the original Kroton story, 1976 The Brain of Morbius story he had appeared in the 2003 story Master. He was brilliant in both of those stories and he was brilliant in this story. Colin Baker and India Fisher were on good form as usual. This story has an unusual feel in the fact that the whole Sixth Doctor/Charley story arc is doing is progressing on the normal range but at the same time not everybody is going to listen to it until well after the arc is completed so this story does feel slightly different.

As a freebie for me I cant complain but if I had paid for it then I would still rate it quite high. The Krotons were used a lot better than they had been on TV and the whole story just had a better feel to it. I thought that as a freebie release it was better than Return of the Daleks or Return to the Web Planet.

The Spectre of Lanyon Moor (2000)

The Spectre of Lanyon Moor is somewhat of a landmark story in Doctor Who. It’s the first time that the Brigadier has featured in a Doctor Who story since Battlefield (1989). This means that he has worked with the first seven actors to play the Doctor.

The story (as the title suggests) takes place on a Moor sometime presumably after the events of Battlefield. It gives an almost idyllic setting which whilst maybe beautiful to look at would not work so well on audio. In fact as this is their second story as a combination its perhaps better for them to have encountered aliens in a future time on Earth or on another planet before returning to the Moor.

James Bolam (Likely Lads & New Tricks) was the second big name of this story and its amazing that he agreed to do this. He plays Sir Archibald Flint and puts in a sound performance which is what you would expect from an actor of his calibre. I must mention Mrs Moynihan (Susan Jameson) who I found to be an entertaining character and one that was played just right.

This is another fine performance from Colin Baker. He has a special story where he encounters a character from the show which he knows will attract a lot of fans and works well with Nicholas Courtney. Courtney himself sounds exactly like he always did as the Brigadier in the TV series. Its hardly surprising considering he’d been playing the role on and off for 30 years. Maggie Stables is perhaps left in the background as Evelyn as the Doctor forgets his new friend and works with his old one.

The Spectre of Lanyon Moor is an enjoyable story that is what would I would class as a Sunday evening play with a science fiction elements. All the actors worked well in this story and Nicholas Pegg wrote and directed a story that moved at a fair pace. Good stuff.

The Sandman (2002)

The Sandman is the first Sixth Doctor/Evelyn story for quite some time. In fact it was back in August 2001 (Project: Twilight) that we last had an adventure featuring these two. The reason for the extended absence was that the Eighth Doctor’s season was extended from four stories to six. This story also has the hard task of trying to match such modern classics as Spare Parts and The Chimes of Midnight.

I quite liked the twist that this story gave on the Doctor’s reputation. You would imagine that everywhere he goes, the Doctor is considered a hero or a saint. It’s the same around the world. There are people that you would consider to be good but to others would be bad and evil. There are faults with this story. The problem that I have with this story is that the voices are unbearable. I just found them really distracting and so it put me off a bit.

Colin Baker isn’t on his usual good form in this story. This isnt because of him but more to do with the writing. He seems very over the top at several times during the story. This story sees Colin Baker playing Doctor with a dollop of the Sandman thrown in for good measure. Maggie Stables isn’t used very well in this story, it was because of her acting abilities but because of what the writer has not done.

The guest star is Anneke Wills who played Polly during 1966 with the First and Second Doctors. She plays Director Nrosha who is interesting because she has a grudge against The Sandman. Ian Hogg is also a name from Doctor Who’s past to feature in this story. In that he played Josiah Smith in Ghostlight (1989) but in this he played something far different but nowhere near as entertaining.

At the end of the day this is one of the weakest stories to feature the Sixth Doctor. I think that it was a messy plot that didn’t really go anywhere and I felt a little disappointed when it finished.

The Holy Terror (2000)

The Holy Terror is as subtle comedy. What do I mean by that? Well it has a serious plot to it but it has sprinkles of humour. This is Robert Shearman’s first contribution to the audio series. It’s the first use of a companion that I was not familiar with but was well known to the Doctor Who fans. Frobisher is a shape shifting alien called a Whifferdill who preferred to stay as a penguin. He previously appeared in Doctor Who Magazine several times over the years but since I was never a fan of the comic strips I knew nothing of him.

I have to admit I liked Frobisher, I think that a prolonged tenure in the range would make me dislike him. He is a 1930’s style American private detective so he is thankfully something different from what we have had in Doctor Who. In this story he is rather amusingly seen as a god but there is a slight dig at organised religions as people are rushed into making the talking penguin this god as opposed to just thinking about it.

There isnt really much of a plot here but the story still manages to move along at quite a pace and is highly enjoyable. Colin Baker seems to be having fun alongside Rober Jezek’s Frobisher. Two big names are in this story in the form of Roberta Taylor (formerly of Eastenders) and Sam Kelly (Allo Allo). Both their characters are very good and very entertaining.

This is one of those stories that would never have worked on TV. The production values would have been poor and talked about in the same breath as The Happiness Patrol (1987) and Delta and the Bannermen (1987). Fortunately with this being radio it allows the listener to use their imagination to create this planet. The Holy Terror is an example of how Big Finish have taken a gamble on a different type of story and it working.

Jubilee (2003)

Jubilee is one of those stories that will go down as a classic story. Robert Shearman is fast becoming a steady and reliable pair of hands to write a damn good story. Its quite fitting that the first story of the 40th year of Doctor Who should be a Dalek story.

The story sees an alien creature who has spent centuries being tortured in the Tower of London. He is humiliated to the point where you actually feel sorry for it. The Doctor encounters Rochester and his wife who he frequently belittles who rule over the citizens of the country with an almost dictatorship feel. This story does start getting a bit too complicated and smart for its own good. The changes between the 1903 and 2003 scenes were coming close to being blurred and ruin the story. However it doesn’t quite get to that stage.

Its quite rare that a story would actually spook me. I found the scenes where the Dalek was being tortured to be very unpleasant. The violence that the Dalek is threatened with somehow is no less that they would threaten us with if the tables were turned. This conflict of morals is what makes this story stand out. Shearman has managed to ask ourselves if we would be willing to torture or humiliate something or someone if we had the power knowing for well that they wouldn’t give a moments thought before doing it to us.

Colin Baker and Maggie Stables put in their strongest performance since Project: Twilight. They were simply mesmerising. The moment when the Doctor first encounters the creature in the tower and discovers it a Dalek. It was well written and more importantly well acted out by Colin Baker.

Jubilee belongs in the top 10 of anyone’s favourite Doctor Who story. It has Daleks and more importantly it has four episode that has a lot of action and more importantly a lot of plot which is helped with some wonderful music and sound effects. Put simply Jubilee is a classic story.

Her Final Flight (2004)

Her Final Flight is a subscriber freebie that explores the Doctor’s regret at abandoning Peri on Thoros Beta at the end of The Trial of a Timelord: Mindwarp (1986). This is the first story to deal with such a subject and was given to a new writer. Julian Shortman was given the responsibility of writing this story but unfortunately falls a little short.

One of the things that I liked was how there was a small cast. Apart from Colin Baker and Nicola Bryant, there are only four other characters. Peri doesn’t really feature much in this story considering its set at her exit during The Trial of a Timelord. The story sees a mysterious figure trying to destroy the Doctor and his TARDIS. This figure puts the Doctor in a void of space where he is left with the option of destroying the TARDIS.

It’s not often that we see the Doctor in a state of self contemplation. New Who has the Doctor regularly feeling sorry for himself for the way that a companion has left him but this is the first time a Classic Doctor has felt like this. At the end of the day, if you were given this for free as a subscriber then you cant really complain. If you bought it then maybe you will feel a little short changed. Either way it was a bold story that is more of a character piece than alien invasions or something like that.

The Apocalypse Element (2000)

The Apocalypse Element is the second story to form a series of adventures to act as a teaser to the Dalek Empire series. The first part was The Genocide Machine which was a good story whilst being a little bit complicated. This story sees the return of Lalla Ward as Romana II. Ward played the second incarnation of the character from 1979 to 1980. Following on from Nicholas Courtney’s return in The Spectre of Lanyon Moor, it was going to be interesting to see how Big Finish would handle a proper companion of the series.

The events of The Genocide Machine haven’t happened yet for the Doctor but they have done for the Daleks. It’s because of what the Daleks have learnt from the Library in that story that leads them to understand about the Apocalypse Element. The way that Romana was introduced to the story was quite clever. She was kidnapped some 20 years ago.

Colin Baker was on good form again for this story. Not only is it his first Dalek story with Big Finish it is only his second story with them. Maggie Stables does slip into the background for the second story running. Yet another friend from the Doctor’s past comes back and carries on where they left off. She does have slightly more to contribute in this story but ultimately falls into the number three role. Lalla Ward was simply wonderful as Romana. I always thought that she was an undervalued companion and was the more natural companion out of the two actresses to play Romana.

The Daleks are better in this story than they were in The Genocide Machine. They sound better as well which is the issue that I had in the previous story. Thankfully whilst they don’t sound their usual self’s they are definitely going in the right direction. Their plan seems to be their usual conquer and destroy one but compared to previous plans this one is quite clever.

When I finished listening to this story I thought that it a more enjoyable story than The Genocide Machine but was still riddled with complicated plot points. It’s one that should be listened to as it has two things going for it 1) the return of Romana and 2) its has loads and loads of Daleks in it. Now that cant be bad can it?

...ish (2002)

...ish is a story that is one of those unusual stories that Big Finish produce from time to time. Sometimes they are good and sometimes they are bad. Unfortunately in this instance …ish is bad. This is the first story to be written by Phil Pascoe and new writers always try and be bold but this went to far off the mark.

This is only the second Sixth Doctor to feature Peri since Big Finish started to produce these stories. It’s a shame that there haven’t been more as I think that this combination were never given enough time to work well with each other once they got past the strangling each other phase.

The story (as you would imagine) is about words. The Doctor and Peri are attending a conference of lexicographers. Now here lies the problem because its just a who-dunnit and its not an alien invasion but just a murder. Its not Poirot. There were good elements about this story such as Colin Baker and Nicola Bryant who put in enjoyable performances. This doesn’t save the story sadly but it’s nice to hear Bryant and Baker getting along. Out of all the characters that were guest ones in …ish I think that the character of Warren was the best used. He had an admirer in Peri who was slightly different from what were used to.

…ish isn’t going to go down as a classic in any ones lists. Unfortunately though the story is one of those that could have done with a few more years of development to try and make it a more edgier piece of drama.

Year of the Pig (2006)

The last time we heard from the Sixth Doctor and Peri was in the modern classic The Reaping which was a 140 minute adventure which had everything that a Doctor Who story should have. Here we don’t. The first time I listened to this story I found it to be a slow boring affair. The second time I listened to it I had a different response. It was an enjoyable piece that whilst not up to the levels of enjoyment I had with The Reaping was still worthy of a listen.

Essentially the problem with this story is that its slightly too long. At nearly two and a half hours the story is stretched to breaking point and thus has a lot of padding which ruins it slightly. It’s a fun Christmas type of story which sees the Doctor interact with a talking pig. The story takes an awful long time to actually get going but once it does it moves along at a fair pace.

The most notable name of the supporting cast is Maureen O’Brien. She played Vicki during 1965 alongside William Hartnell’s Doctor. In this she plays Miss Alice Bultitude who is quite a posh upper class figure that is desperate to capture Toby the Sapient Pig. Another big name is Adjoa Andoh who played Martha Jones’ mum during the 2007 series. She was very impressive as Nurse Albertine who is Toby’s butler/carer.

Colin Baker and Nicola Bryant are as usual very good. Following from the emotionally draining story in The Reaping, Peri and the Doctor are given a slightly more emotionally stable story which is a typically normal (elongated in length) story. In particular Colin Baker gives a really nice performance and seems to have a wonderful time throughout.

At the end of the day this story has the unfortunate points of being about 45 minutes too long and also being at the tale end of some fine stories to be made from Big Finish. As I stated earlier I really didn’t like this story on my first listen but on a second listen I viewed it in a different way and saw the positive points.

The Reaping (2006)

The Reaping is something of a break from the norm for Big Finish. The Reaping is the first of a two-parter. The Gathering would follow next month and both stories would be written by Joseph Lidster and also feature the Cybermen. When Lidster’s name appears on a CD cover then you know your in for a treat.

The story is not structured to be a normal Doctor Who story. For one there are two 45 minute episodes and the beauty of this is that it allows Lidster to pile more action into the story. The story is set some four months after the events of Planet of Fire (1984). The early part of this story is about Peri and how she grieves over the death of Anthony Chambers who was her stepfather. It struck me at how upset she was considering they didn’t get on.

The Doctor and Peri in the early stages of part one go to time in their history where they are bickering at each other but it sounds more grown up than it used to be. There is a brief moment of humour in the form of the Gogglebox which is essentially an giant archive machine. Then there are the Alans who are clones tour guides. There is also a slightly amusing character in the form of Mrs Van Gysegham who sounds like a mildly chain smoking and bourbon drinking maid. I thought her performance from Denise Bryer was another highlight.

But what of the silver giants? They haven’t had many stories in the Big Finish universe (compared to the Daleks) but like Spare Parts (2002) they are stunning in this story. Their presence is felt throughout this story and they are the menace that they should be.

The story does descend into a bit of self pity and gets a bit down and for a split second I thought I was listening to a radio episode of Eastenders. Apart from that blip I found the whole two episodes to be absolutely fantastic. The story does quite a new series thing here where Peri tries to explain where she’s been. For the first time we are treated to a back story to the character. She has a family and also an ex-boyfriend. It fleshes out the character far more than in any other story.

I’m always full of praise for Colin Baker’s performances. Put simply he doesn’t do dud performances. When given the right dialogue he could knock all the other Doctor’s out. Nicola Bryant gives her best performance in the Big Finish stories. Its nice to see her be a bit more grown up and not doing the sister thing with Erimem. She has to do some pretty strong scenes and delivers them superbly.

This story at the end of the day is one of the best stories of the year and possibly the best of all time. It has everything that you would want from a story and leads to one of the most eagerly anticipated stories for quite sometime.

The Human Factor (2001)

The second instalment of Dalek Empire sees the plan to try and defeat the Daleks move up a gear. The events in this story take place around six months after Invasion of the Daleks and things have got even more desperate. Kalendorf and Susan’s relationship is starting to fall apart a bit. Kalendorf is with Susan to offer her hope however at several points during this story he’s distinctly not being supportive. It was nice the moment that Susan and Alby finally see each other on screen for the first time since the very beginning of Invasion. It had to happen sooner or later otherwise it would just become silly.

Susan’s development continues as she is known now as the Angel of Mercy. Bit of a curious title considering all she’s doing is to keep people alive so they can do the Dalek’s work and then will presumably be killed when its all done. For me the best part of this story involved Susan which sums up how she is someone that cant really be trusted to know who’s side she’s on comes when Morebi and his gang are exterminated by the Daleks after being ratted out by Mendes. She justifies this to Kalendorf by saying that if Morebi had survived then the Daleks would have got the truth out of him and their great big plan would have been found out. Its great working out whether she believes it in her own mind or that it is just a lie to Kalendorf to keep him on her side.

The Pellan/Alby partnership is quite a nice one. You could tell half way through that there is something quite odd going on with Pellan. However there isn’t much time to ponder on that as most of the action between the two takes place on Guria. A planet that with help from the music and sound effects makes it sound like a hopeless place to visit.

The main thrust of the story starts to come to the for front of this story as we learn that the Daleks are after Project: Infinity. This is what the Reinsburg Institute were working on before the Dalek’s attacked Vega 6. This episode was a brilliant one. It develops the characters and manages to portray the size of the Dalek Empire and how it has affected everyone. Nicholas Briggs continues to create an enjoyable story with characters that all have emotional baggage that you know will be instrumental of the main story sooner or later.

Invaders from Mars (2002)

After a very strong first series. It was really sad that the first story of the second series of Eighth Doctor/Charley stories is quite bad. This story is the fifth adventure to feature this combination and on the whole its been very good. With a wide range of stories the one thing that could be said about the Eighth Doctor is that their not normal adventures. Invaders of Mars is the second contribution from League of Gentleman member Mark Gatiss.

Unfortunately they decided to effectively turn this story into a comedy. If it had a darker tone to it then I would have found it easier to listen to. If there is one thing that I cant stand its American accents done by non-americans. I think that it’s the over the top way that there done, it ruins the whole thing for me as I just don’t listen to what their saying but how their saying it.

There were two big names in this story. Simon Pegg & Jessica Hynes are big names in comedy and were perhaps well suited for this story. It would have been nice for them to be in something a bit more substantial but hey-ho. Paul McGann definitely seemed to have a good time as did India Fisher. Their combination is definitely developing well and shows no sign of going downhill.

Overall this story wasn’t one that will get me wanting to listen to it again anytime soon. In fact I would be hard pushed to listen to it ever again. Mark Gatiss did a story that was perhaps to close to a pantomime story than a science fiction story.

The One Doctor (2001)

The One Doctor is a comedy that is actually quite funny. Its almost a pantomime but doesn’t quite cross that line. The story has quite a lot of jokes and funny descriptions of aliens and games that it is very enjoyable. Comedy stories are quite a risk as they either go to far or are just not funny so it was

The basic thing of the story is that there is a conman called Banto Zame who is pretending to be the Doctor. He also has an assistant called Sally-Anne. Zame uses hoax threats to scare people before coming in to save the day.

This story has quite a lot of big names. Christopher Biggins who has starred in such things as Porridge was very good as Banto. He gave quite an OTT performance but it was still enjoyable. Clare Buckfield was a wonderful assistant to Banto as Sally Anne. The pair could have had their own series. Matt Lucas who is now famous for being in Little Britain was very good as the Jelloid and also the Cylinder.

Colin Baker and Bonnie Langford were both brilliant in this story and acted in the way that the story was supposed to be. They didn’t treat it deadly serious or treat it like an episode from Only Fools and Horses but as a light hearted story. In the few stories that Bonnie Langford has done I have managed to change my opinion of her. She’s still irritating on TV but in future stories when I hear that she is doing a story I wont be so quick to moan.

The One Doctor is a perfect story to listen to if you want cheering up or stuck in a traffic jam.

The Pyralis Effect (2009)

When the Companion Chronicles first started back in 2007, Romana II was one of those companions that were used. The story wasn’t a particularly great one but that was largely due to Big Finish not knowing a) if it would work and b) how it should be structured.

There were several things that I really liked about this story. One was the early scare of a robot that was very dangerous. The robot was left in a locked room but Romana (as a typical companion) makes the mistake of letting the thing out. Another was how the story was set in the Kasterborous system which is where the Doctor and Romana come from. This is the closest that the series has come to the Doctor’s own planet. The crew want the Doctor to help them recreate their world. I liked how they didn’t believe that he was THE doctor.

Jess Robinson is a name that is gaining a bit of momentum. She previously appeared in the recent Charley series as Mila and got to play a series of roles in this story. Lalla Ward is simply brilliant in this. Admittedly she doesn’t do anything spectacular but to her credit she gives her best. She sounds exactly like she did back when she was on TV.

Not many stories have spooked me but this one did. The spooky sound effects and the music helped to add a massive amount of mystery. Richard Fox & Lauren Yason have done some great work on recent audios but this is their best effort to date. George Mann has written a very good debut script. This story has a nice central plot and some interesting characters. Lisa Bowerman has directed a nice paced story. Its not a dull piece or a rushed one but just a nice normal one.

When you take the sound effects and music out of this story then you are left with just a normal story but let’s take nothing away from this story. It’s a very good offering and will enjoy many.

Dalek Empire 1: Invasion of the Daleks (2001)

I first listened to this first series of Dalek Empire back in 2004 some three years after it was first released. I did wonder whether this series would work as it doesn’t have one ingredient of why they have been successful. The Doctor. Invasion of the Daleks has a lot to do as it has to set characters and also give an idea about what the series will be about. There are references to previous stories in the main range. The Knights of Velyshaa were mentioned in The Sirens of Time (1999). The Kar-Charrat Library was the setting for The Genocide Machine (2000) and the Apocalypse Element was the Sixth Doctor story of the same title (2000). The character of Susan Mendes is a likeable one. She starts of as just a normal researcher who is forming a relationship with Alby Brooks and then soon becomes an act of defiance for the Daleks. Its was inevitable that her defiance was going to get her noticed by the Dalek Supreme. It was almost like she had gambled on this and hoping that this was keep her alive. Kalendorf is a character that isn’t what he seems to be. When we first meet him he seems like an old man waiting to be exterminated. By the end of the story he is a Knight of Velyshaa who is an old hand of telepathy. The relationship between him and Suz was nicely done in this first story and there were trust issues which quickly dispersed. Alby Brooks is a character that I couldn’t quite make my mind up about. Half the time he seems to be a desperate romantic who has fallen in love with Suz and gets drunk soon into the story. Then suddenly he snaps and becomes action man in space. I think that if he continues in the latter then he will be a very good character.

The Daleks were very different in this story from what we are used to. They are being typical in terms of destroying and taking over Vega 6 but there is a cunningness that is more obvious in this story than in previous adventures. They are allowing everyone to eat and rest in the hope that it will make everyone more productive. It’s a logical plan but it does seem very un-Dalek like. But that’s what makes them seem a lot more sinister than in previous adventures.

At the end of the day this first part did exactly what a first story is supposed to do. It sets up the main characters and you firmly know where you stand with them. The Daleks are magnificent and set a new benchmark of how they should be used. Nicholas Briggs has written and directed a fantastic opening story.