The Three Companions (2009-2010)

The Three Companions is a special Companion Chronicles story that was released in twelve separate parts to accompany the main releases starting with The Magic Mousetrap in April 2009 and finishing with Survival of the Fittest in February 2010. This was quite an unusual thing to do and I made the decision that I would wait until all twelve parts had been released. Written by Marc Platt, this story feature Anneke Wills as Polly, Nicholas Courtney as The Brigadier and Jon Pickard as Thomas Brewster. This was probably an advertisement to try and convince people to get buy the Companion Chronicles series but for people like me who already buy them this is just a subscribers special. The story starts with the Polly contacting the Brigadier and they start chatting about how they travelled with the Doctor before realising that it’s not the same Doctor. There was a nice link to a previous companion chronicle in the form of The Doll of Death. Polly starts to tell her story that she had whilst travelling with the second Doctor, Jamie & Ben. Polly’s story was quite interesting. It is cantered around this planet that is destined to be cremated. The story itself is a nice short one that would probably need to something else were it to be included in a full story. Anneke Wills gives a great performance and probably does a better impression of Ben than that of Jamie and the Doctor.

No sooner had Polly’s story finished than the Brigadier’s started. His story sees the Third Doctor and the Brigadier follow a distress call and ended up on what seemed to be the platform at Waterloo Station. One of the funniest lines in these companion chronicles popped up at this point when the Brigadier says “The Tardis made that dreadful sound like an elephant in labour”. It goes a bit weird when someone who looks like Polly pops up in his story as well as the Eiffel Tower and other familiar landmarks. Soon it seems like the whole place is in fact a museum on another planet. There was a similarity to Polly’s story in some sort of bug infestation. The Brigadier’s story was better than Polly’s. There was more of a mystery going on. It turns out that Jerry Lens (the voice of the distress signal) has the Doctor’s TARDIS, he also has taken the TARDIS away from Thomas Brewster. It turns out that the person who ran this world just got bored and left it to fall to pieces. It was an enjoyable story and it felt more action packed than Polly’s story.

The Coffin Loaders got mentioned of CFC5 in Polly’s story and then get mentioned in the Brigadier’s story. They only arrive when a planet is about to end like CFC5. Thomas Brewster talks to a Jerry Lens (or Mr L) and he appears in Polly’s story as well as the Brigadier’s. It’s about an hour (or the end of part six – Coffin Loaders) before Thomas Brewster really comes into this story with the revelation of him having the TARDIS which places his part of the story between The Haunting of Thomas Brewster and Time Reef.

It’s Part Nine (Many Meetings) before things start entering the interesting stage. It’s when Polly, The Brigadier and Thomas Brewster finally all meet. The rain is starting to become more central and as Polly and The Brigadier are talking, Thomas Brewster is telling his story but makes the surprising claim that he is the Doctor. Of course this didn’t fool either Polly or The Brigadier. Brewster told his story in Part Ten about how he was found after he stole the TARDIS and essentially there is a creature that is making it rain and Brewster is being used as a sacrifice.

I do have an issue with listening with this whole release whether you listen to it in one go or as it was released. The theme music ruins the flow of the story. It perhaps would have been better to have the theme tune on a separate track so that if like me you listen to it in one go there is a better flow to it. There was a nice sub-plot that started off quite quickly where it seemed to be raining quite a lot which obviously got explained during Part Ten. There was a nice link at the beginning to The Doll of Death which starred Katy Manning as Jo Grant and Jo contacted the Brigadier.

Anneke Wills and Nicholas Courtney were very good as Polly and The Brigadier. They both put in performances that were just like their companion chronicle stories that they both have done (Old Soldiers for Courtney and Resistance for Wilkes). Despite only appearing in 8 episodes back in 2008, I am glad that they managed to get Jon Pickard back to do some more stories. There is a lot of room for future adventures and this helped to partly fill the gap as to what was going on whilst the Fifth Doctor and Nyssa were in The Boy That Time Forgot. I thought that the best was Russell Floyd who played Gerry Lenz or Garry Lendler depending on how you prefer to think of him. He was a sort of Meddling Monk for the 21st Century. This was a well acted character that hopefully will appear in future Doctor Who adventures.

Unfortunately despite all the good building up the story did start to go downhill a bit towards the final 20 minutes. The story wasn’t bad by any stretch of the imagination because there was still enough action on the hunters ship to keep me entertained. I just think that too much time was spent building it up and then it felt like it was being rushed. In comparison to other Companion Chronicles this doesn’t quite match up. I liked it how three of the Doctor’s companions got together. It was like a Multi-Doctor story but with companions and this was the only time they were likely to meet up. I think that it has that epic feel to it but isn’t quite as strong as it could have been. Whilst the characters were very strong and well acted it was slightly let down by the ending of the story.

If they ever decided to this again then I think that they should reduce the time (spread it over 6 releases not 12) and personally I would listen to them as they came out instead of all at once. That was a mistake on my part.

The Criminal Code (2010)

The Criminal Code sees Lisa Bowerman actually starring in a Companion Chronicle as opposed to director. The story is written by Eddie Robson who has written some truly brilliant stories over the last few years. So I had high hopes of this story, especially as I was intrigued reading DWM and said it was “a rare and welcome return to the era of the popular New Adventures novels”. Now I am probably with a large majority of people who are fans of the companion chronicles and also of the seventh Doctor but to me that doesn’t really make much difference. Its also quite a departure for the CC series in that this is the first story to feature a companion that never actually appeared on TV.

The story takes place on Shanquis where the Doctor is playing negotiator trying to get a peace settlement between the people of Shanquis and a neighbourly planet. There was a clever little bit about why Bernice is with the Doctor and not Ace. In a nutshell The Doctor and Ace landed where Bernice was doing her thing and Bernice and Ace swapped places. It was something that made the reason why Ace wasn’t there more believable. The opening few minutes were good, it laid the groundwork and gave a purpose behind the story but then it really went downhill. I’m not going to have a go a Lisa Bowerman’s impression of the Doctor because impressions of the Doctor is something that is very rarely done properly. But for me there are more concerning problems that an impression.

The first part of the story was so boring that for the first time in quite some time (perhaps listening to Flip-Flop) that I thought about pressing stop. But I persevered and it’s a long 30 minutes. The problem was that the story was told at a very slow pace as if Bowerman was having a chat with a friend. Normally there is a pace to the story which is helped along by the actor as well as the writer but in this story neither of them help this story. Also where the hell did the cliffhanger come from. The Doctor had been kidnapped. Unless I fell a sleep how did this happen and the build up was weak.

The second part was much better (but then it couldn’t be worse). Its were the who purpose of the story got revealed. Its were the clever parts come to the story. There is a terror forming machine where people in the future can look at it and see what mistakes have been made and hopefully not make the same ones again. It’s revealed the Bernice has been talking to this machine. Other clever bits include the language that is illegal was actually English. Quite a revelation. I didn’t see that one coming. It was quite a clever thing to put in the story. Also the fact that Bernice used think for a force field to be created was quite smart.

It would be rude not to mention Charlie Hayes. This is her second appearance after appearing in Seven Keys to Doomsday back in 2008. Hayes is the daughter of former companion Wendy Padbury. I wasn’t so keen on the character because I felt the character was a bit dry and there was nothing really for Hayes to do with the character. When the ending finally came I have to admit that it certainly picked up. The first half was really bad with a very slow pace, hardly any music to keep my interest and a weak ending but then suddenly it hit top gear and became a much better story than it could have been.

Guilt (2006)

The final part of I,Davros is written by Scott Alan Woodard who like Lance Parkin has written a really story for the main range involving Davros. For Woodard it was The Juggernauts (2005). This is perhaps the most important story of the series as it has to deliver the big pay-off that’s been building over the previous three stories. It also has to link up pretty well to the events of Genesis of the Daleks. The Davros that we have in this story is pretty much the Davros that we meet in Genesis. Guilt is a perfectly dark episode and pushes the grimness to as far as it possibly could. Such a grim scene included the child protection plan which leads to the children been taken out of their homes. There is also where Nyder comes into Davros’ mad schemes. It was great that they were able to get Peter Miles to reprise the role he first played in Genesis. Now normally there would be a massive finale at the end and if there wasn’t one then I would find it a massive disappointment but there wasn’t one really in this story and its sensible not to have because there is a story yet to be told.

Terry Molloy is simply brilliant. His version of Davros is slightly more deranged to Michael Wisher’s version. Every time that Molloy has played Davros it has been one of the highlights of the story. His Davros is totally engaging. Peter Miles is also very good in this story. It’s difficult to try and reprise a role that you played once over 30 years ago and when you have to play it again it has to be at years 10 years before the first time you played the character. Miles does that very well and sounds just as sinister as he did before.

As a stand alone story it’s the best of the four. As part of the storyline of Davros is also did its job. These four episodes have given Davros a back story that has been screaming out to be told. Its difficult to get four writers to work together and create a history of a deranged creator. But all four writers did a perfect job. For anyone who wants to know about what made Davros the way he is.

The Next Life (2004)

The Next Life is the fitting end to the Divergent Universe story arc. Its interesting to see that this storyline is being wrapped up so soon to the return of the TV series. This is a six-part story which is the first time I think that this has been done by Big Finish. Alan Barnes & Gary Russell did an ok job with Zagreus which was the last big story for the Eighth Doctor and I was hoping that they would do better with this offering. The story does boast some familiar names. The first being Daphne Ashbrook who played Grace Holloway from the 1996 TV Movie. It was good that they got her back and also it was nice to have Anneke Wills returning as Lady Louisa Pollard. Also Don Warrington returns as Rassilon and Paul Darrow makes his first journey into Doctor Who. If this doesn’t raise people’s hopes then I don’t know what will.

The story sees the travellers finally get the TARDIS back. Their still in the divergent universe but at least the Doctor has his comfort blanket back. However things aren’t going well. Charley meets her mother again and also the boy that was pretending to be in her debut story (Storm Warning in 2001). C’Rizz meets someone from his past, he meets L’da. Daphne Ashbrook’s character is called Perfection (how appropriate). She effectively becomes the Doctor’s companion. I did think that the role of Perfection was more of a comedy role. The moment when Charley and Perfection meet in episode five was quite entertaining and her moments when she teams up with the Doctor were also enjoyable. It was a well written character and superbly acted by Daphne Ashbrook.

Paul McGann, India Fisher & Conrad Westmaas all give superb performances. They all have different journeys in this story and are all given a fair crack of the whip. Unlike Zagreus (which Conrad Westmaas wasn’t in) the main characters are given some good dialogue and are given intelligent stuff to say. But another big improvement on Zagreus is that the story isn’t overloaded with a load of actors and characters. This meant that all the characters were allowed time to develop.

The thing that I liked about this story is how it’s a slow steady build up for the first five episodes and then the last episode goes at 100mph. I also liked the revelation about what Perfection’s identity is. It was a nice plot twist and that is what sums up this story for me. When the TV series did six episodes or longer then the writers would very often struggle to fill them up but Alan Barnes & Gary Russell have done well to develop the storyline and make characters that are interesting and well acted. It’s the big epic story that I was hoping Zagreus would be.

Neverland (2003)

The final story in the current series is quite possibly the most complex story that Big Finish have ever produced. Which is saying something. The story starts off with a list of events that have occurred on Earth and then it changes to events that have occurred on Gallifrey. They are events that we are aware of as they happened in Big Finish adventures over the last two years. In fact that is what this story is about, ever since Storm Warning we have been made aware that there are consequences of Charley Pollard’s survival in contradiction of the timeline. After a while of listing events the voice starts stuttering which is a very clear sign that things are not right. Over the course of two 75 minute episodes we will hopefully get a satisfactory conclusion.

I loved how this story saw the return of President Romana. Last heard in The Apocalypse Element, its up to Romana to point out that due to the Doctor’s actions the very future of Gallifrey and possibly the universe is at threat. We also get the impression that the infamous Zagreus that has been mentioned in several stories recently is actually more than a nursery rhyme. There is a revelation that Don Warrington’s mysterious character is actually Rassilon. Its at this point being where I found it to be complicated. There’s a lot of big speeches some of which I felt went on a bit too long but it did help to add the massive feel that this story has.

Paul McGann and India Fisher put in lovely performances. The relationship that these two have had as the Doctor and Charley has grown over the last two series and its in this story that its at it most obvious. Fisher does a great dual job as she also plays Sentris which is quite a grim character who has stolen the form of Charley. Fisher does well making the two characters sound different. Lalla Ward is equally brilliant as President Romana. I have always been a big fan of Romana and thought that her explanation of what’s going on was a big help. It made sense of the whole for me. Don Warrington was also another great piece of casting. His voice works very well on radio. I quite liked the idea of the Never-People, they did a great job of adding another reason why Timelords are horrid people.

Neverland was the story that I was hoping it would be. Alan Barnes has just got the right balance between making it fit into the story arc but also making sense as a stand alone story. It’s hard to believe that its been six months since the dreadful Invaders from Mars but thankfully we have had some very good stories in the meantime. Neverland is a great adventure that is a fine end to the series. The only downside is that the ending leaves the listener wanting more. Goodness know how long it will be before the story is resolved.

The Time of the Daleks (2002)

The Time of the Daleks is quite an unusual story to say the very least. It’s the first time the McGann has ever faced the Daleks so it was a release I was quite looking forward to. Justin Richards is responsible for the Eighth Doctor’s first meeting with the metal monsters. The story starts off with Charley not knowing who Shakespeare which baffles the Doctor. With Shakespeare being one of the most famous writers in the history of the world its feasible to think that everyone would have at least heard of the Bard. The Doctor arrives on Earth and finds that no one else has heard of him either. This is partly due to Mariah Learman who rules Britain and despite being a Shakespeare enthusiast has also been doing time travel experiments. Now normally this would form the basis of a good story, trying to stop someone from damaging the time line would make a good four parter. Then Richards throws in the Daleks for good measure. Now I was expecting them to just try their normal invasion thing but the Daleks we get in this story are in fact fans of Shakespeare. Only in Doctor Who!

The Daleks in this story are used in perhaps the most original way for quite sometime. The mere thought that they are fans of Shakespeare stops instantly gets my concentration. The way that the Daleks interact with the Eighth Doctor was very well handled and that line that previous Doctor’s use that “They don’t feel like the Doctor until they’ve met the Daleks” now applies to Paul McGann. There is a mini twist that I didn’t see coming. The Kitchen boy that we meet in this story turns out to be a young William Shakespeare who is dislocated from his own time.

Paul McGann in a really good performance. It was always important that his first encounter with the Daleks went well. McGann really threw himself into this story and had some wonderful scenes with the Daleks. India Fisher also puts in a sterling performance. Of the guest cast I found Dot Smith to be the best as Mariah Learman. I found the Learman character to be a fine example of people who think they are very clever but are actually quite stupid when it comes to something like time travel. Jem Bassett on the other hand is not as impressive. It’s quite obvious that she is trying to play a character that is a pre-pubescent boy. I just found it slightly disappointing.

At the end of the story I found myself not entirely happy with it. I think that some of the elements about it worked quite well such as the setting with was something different but unfortunately aside from the Eighth Doctor’s first encounter with the Daleks there is nothing really in this story that grabbed me. Justin Richards has written a story that couldn’t never be classed as terrible but neither could be compared as good as The Chimes of Midnight or Embrace the Darkness. What he did do was extend the major story arc which was a relief. The Time of the Daleks is a story that should be listened to but ultimately its not going to rank as one of the best Dalek stories of all time.

Creatures of Beauty (2003)

Creatures of Beauty is a story that I just didn’t warm to. I think that the Fifth Doctor and Nyssa is a wonderful combination and there have been some brilliant stories in particular Spare Parts (2002) which is why when we get stories like this I get disheartened. Nicholas Briggs is the man that has written and directed this adventure.

The story made myself (and perhaps hundreds other people) that they put the right CD in and when I uploaded it onto my iPod that the track numbers hadn’t been jumbled up. The story is set on Veln which has been wrecked by the Koteem. Most Velns cant live without a mask. The Veln’s that have some money use surgery to make themselves beautiful. The Koteem have created bodies that have Koteem essences about them but look like Velns. I found the Velns to be very sad. By that I mean that they have had been through a lot and feel that they have to change to make themselves look better.

Whilst I enjoyed certain parts of this play I found the constant state of confusion to be the reason why I didn’t warm to this story. I think any story that requires more than one listen is one that perhaps should have something that you learn each time you listen to it. I didn’t get that with this story. A lot of concentration is needed to get through this story. Peter Davison and Sarah Sutton are let down by a script that seems to clever for its own good. They perform exactly like I would expect the Doctor and Nyssa to behave but unfortunately this isnt their finest script. Jemma Churchill was good as Lady Forleon and David Daker was

Creatures of Beauty is a story that isnt a Nick Briggs classic. The plot is ok but the way that its been structured and produced is what has let it down. The fifth Doctor adventures have all been very good one way or the other. Recently I have found the stories to be some of the best that Big Finish have produced but this one stops all that in its tracks.

Corruption (2006)

The I,Davros series enters the final half and this is where the story gets serious. Lance Parkin has written this story who wrote the 2003 story Davros which was a brilliant offering. So I had high hopes on that basis and also because the first two parts were strong episodes. The Davros we meet in this is slightly unhinged. He is hungry for power and his hunt for knowledge leads to him involved in an accident. This is where the story starts heading in a great direction. We know that Davros is in a chair when we meet him in Genesis of the Daleks. But until now it’s never been known how it happened. Parkin could have blown this moment but the build up is brilliantly done. Whereas the first two parts saw a gradual development in the character of Davros it seems that the fast forward button was pressed on this was but instead of a rushed effort it was a well structured piece.

Terry Molloy is on brilliant form again. The Davros he gets to play is closer to the Davros we all know and love. The Davros he plays in the first two stories were good but weren’t really what we wanted. Carolyn Jones is brilliant as Lady Calcula. There is something about this women that just screams evilness on a whole different level. It almost makes you feel sorry for Davros. When she witnesses the Thal massacre her reaction was unexpected but totally what you would expect from her. John Stahl was another actor on fine form. As the Kaled supremo he is a character that is totally believable and its hard to believe anyone else could play the part.

Corruption is everything that I expected it to be. Its dark and grim but totally engaging. There are characters in this series that are some of the strongest that I have ever heard. It sets up the final part up brilliantly and if there is ever another story about Davros then Lance Parkin should be asked to write it because he has definitely got a handle on the character.

Zagreus (2003)

Zagreus is the 40th release for Big Finish. It was also released in the same month that Doctor Who celebrated its 40th Anniversary. The Zagreus storyline has been building up for over a year and this was where it would all end. It’s an epic story that sees all four Doctors that have been doing the Big Finish plays since 1999 in one play. This isn’t a multi-doctor story that most would be expecting. Apart from McGann’s Doctor, none of the other actors to play the Doctor play their part. The problem that this story has is that there are way too many people in it. Normally a lot of characters would be played by three or four actors. In this story there are 26 actors playing 28 characters. Even at just under 4 hours long its difficult to understand why they decided to fill it with about 15 actors more than there needed to be.

The first episode is called Wonderland, a curious title. The story starts off quite interestingly by doing a very long recap. In all the years of TV there was never a recap at seven minutes and forty-six second. All the highlights from the previous story Neverland. Seeing as it was over a year before this story was released I can see why it was best to put it in but if you listen to these in quick succession it might be a bit pointless. Anyway that said the idea of a recap is quite different. When the action starts up again, there is an explosion in the TARDIS and when Charley wakes up she finds herself in Harley street with her mother Lady Louisa Pollard. Charley is being taken to see Dr Zagreus but meets a person that she recognises as the Brigadier. She knows something is not right as her mother has turned into a rabbit. This clearly isn’t a normal Doctor Who story. The Doctor is having problems of his own as he is trying to fight Zagreus and hears the voice of his third incarnation. This is a brilliant thing and one reason why I would happily listen to this story. The voice is that of Jon Pertwee but the recordings were used from a fan made movie. To be able to do that and make it fit into this story is quite a feat that is pulled of brilliantly.

When the story returns to Charley we meet more people from her life. Obviously there is her mother but we meet her teacher Miss Lime who is brilliantly played by Elisabeth Sladen. The first of the other Doctors is Peter Davison as Reverend Townsend. Nicola Bryant also puts a nice gentle performance but as the first part came to a close I was starting to wonder whether I was going to go off this one.

The second story is called Heartland. Unfortunately this is where the story starts to fall apart. The story moves to the wilderness of Outer Gallifrey but I was starting to get frustrated with this story very quickly. It was great to hear Colin Baker as Tepesh. Sylvester McCoy (Walton Winkle) was an average character but Maggie Stables’ character was slightly better as The Great Mother. The story does pick up a bit when Romana, Leela and K9 come back into things. Once we get t the cliffhanger I found myself starting to like it. I was regaining some of my lost confidence.

The third and final part is Wasteland and this is the best of the three parts. This is where essentially two years worth of storyline gets concluded. It is pointed out that Tapesh (Baker), Townsend (Davison) and Winkie (McCoy) have traits of the Doctor. This was sort of what I would expect and thankfully I wasn’t disappointed. We also learn that the voice that was talking to the Doctor and Romana in Neverland was as I expected Rassilon. He wants Romana to relinquish the presidency. Don Warrington is absolutely brilliant as Rassilon. His voice is commanding and is one of those that could read the phonebook and it would be worth sitting through.

The ending of the story was just as dramatic. There is a brilliant scene where the Doctor/Zagreus asks Charley to kill him. Knowing that this is the only way that Zagreus could be defeated. Shocking thing was that Charley actually did it. Actually it made some weird kind of sense because she loves him and if it would save the universe then she will do it. Then as the Doctor is dyeing he comes into contact with his previous four incarnations to chant as one and start chanting “I am Zagreus!” Then the Doctor is given a potion by the TARDIS which helps him control the anti-time infection. The Doctor then leaves for the Divergent universe to try and keep the infection at bay.

After an emotional goodbye between the Doctor and Charley we have Charley being a bit sneaky and stowaway on board the TARDIS. Despite the scene where they said goodbye you knew there was no way that they were going to separate. It just helped build up the tension. The final scene sees the Doctor travelling into the heart of the TARDIS library and hears voices of his past selves congratulating him on his success. I thought this was a brilliant way of ending it. But then we are reminded that he is not alone and that the Doctor wont be in the Divergent universe alone.

There are many things to like and dislike about this. The quality of the story changes wildly throughout these three stories. The pacing never got a steady feel to it which was frustrating. The ending was acted out brilliantly and was a fitting ending to nearly 4 hours of drama. The relationship between the Doctor and Charley is going in a new direction which is going to make the next series of adventure interesting. Despite the fact that I thought there were about 15 too many actors in this their involvement was clever. They could have done a thing where they play their characters but then that would have stretched the credibility too far and totally ruined the story.

At the end of the day I think that the 50th release is a bit of a score-draw. There are bits that work and I found to be fine stuff but then there are things that just didn’t work and the duration is one of those. Knock two hours or even an hour and a half and it would have been better. I think that there could have been a better way to celebrate the 50th Release/40th Anniversary. That said, this is what we have and I think everyone should listen to it because its one of those that people will talk about for years to come and it may be the only time that 26 people who appeared over 26 years on the best TV show ever. Its also possibly the only time that Peter Davison, Colin Baker, Sylvester McCoy and Paul McGann will be on the same release again.

Terror Firma (2005)

Terror Firma is a story is the first since the Doctor, Charley and C’Rizz left the divergent universe in The Next Life. This is the first story for C’Rizz outside of his own universe and is similar to how Adric was when he left E-Space. It was a conscious effort to take the eighth doctor out of the Divergent universe because they didn’t want new fans to be confused about the Doctor in the middle of a major story arc. Ok I don’t quite agree with that logic, you don’t stop a major storyline in Eastenders or Corrie because new fans might get confused. You look back and find out what happened. This story is written by Joseph Lidster and sees the return of Davros and the Daleks. The last time Davros was in Doctor Who was back in ‘The Juggernauts’ and the last time the Daleks were properly since Jubilee at the beginning of 2003.

The story sees the Doctor and his companions land in a tunnel and are instantly captured by the Daleks. But its not long before they are freed but tragedy strikes as Charley is shot dead (or so it seems) and this leads C’Rizz down one of his gloomy moods. Whilst Davros and the Doctor are having their chat, miles above ground there is a party going on where people are singing and enjoying themselves. A much alive Charley discovers this and finds it slightly disconcerting that people are having a good time when there are Daleks below them. Of course they know that there are Daleks about. The story has quite a lot of interesting elements which never really hit home for me. I’m referring to Gemma and Samson who are former companions of the Eighth Doctor who we have never heard of before. But as well as that ‘mystery’ there is also a connection to Davros.

The main cast give a brilliant performance. I must admit I was looking forward to seeing how C’Rizz would work out of his comfort zone and to be honest I wasn’t impressed. I think that Conrad Westmaas gave a good performance but was let down by a slightly feeble storyline. Paul McGann and India Fisher are on good form especially McGann who seems to have a new lease of life with his Doctor. Terry Molloy was the star of the show. He gave a superb performance in The Juggernauts and does an even better job in this story. Molloy plays Davros as a slightly mad person and as Davros with revenge for what I think happened in Remembrance of the Daleks. Molloy’s biggest strength was how he interacted with McGann’s Doctor. He shows he can work well with Davison, Baker and McCoy and in this story he shows how good he is.

Terror Firma is a great story that manages to re-launch the Eighth Doctor adventures in the same way that the show has been re-launched so successfully on TV. Everything in this story seemed original and whilst at times I did have trouble following what was going on that confusement didn’t last for long and I was able to enjoy this story and it bodes well for not only the future of the Eighth Doctor adventures but more importantly Big Finish and shows people why they should stick with Big Finish because when the show finishes on TV there Big Finish will be waiting.

Three's A Crowd (2005)

Its been nearly a year since we had a Fifth Doctor/Peri/Erimem story. But in the year that Doctor Who returns to TV after a way too long absence, there seems to be a need to inform new Who fans what Doctor Who was like before shiny special effects and Northern actors became the Doctor. Three’s A Crowd is written by Colin Brake that sees a former companion guest star. Debroah Watling played Victoria Waterfield between 1967 and 1968. The first thing that struck me about this story is how grim it seems compared to most Fifth Doctor stories. It about the residents on a colony that are effectively prisoners. The colony is being run by Auntie (Watling) who pretends that she is the friend of the colonists but really wouldn’t give two hoots about their welfare. Watling is great in the role and gives an almost love to hate spin to it. For long term fans like myself its just great to have her back in Doctor Who in any role but for new fans I think even they would like her and the way her voice sounds on radio is a big plus point.

The way that Auntie is portrayed is typically one sided. She is a leader who is more of a dicatator than a leader but then halfway through the story she is shown as someone who’s leadership is actually under attack from the Khellian. The other characters in this story were quite likeable. I particularly found Vidler (Richard Unwin) to be interesting. He was a conspiracy theorist who is the sort of person that you rarely get to witness in modern storytelling. I also liked how his character was totally opposite to Bellip (Lucy Beresford) who is quite a weak character. I do have one gripe and that’s with Butler (Charles Pemberton). No fault to the actor I just think that we’ve moved on in the Sci-Fi storytelling to have robots with hilarious lines.

All of the main cast performed very well. In particular Morris who I thought at one stage was going to leave the show. Thankfully she stayed. I think that this is the best combination for the Fifth Doctor because Peri and Erimem’s relationship is different to any other. Davison puts in another great performance. I thought he did really well in The Game but he has made it two in a row. Nicola Bryant shouldn’t be forgotten. I don’t recall the last time anyone spoke to Peri the way she was spoken to in this story. Bryant sold it really well. Three’s A Crowd isn’t the greatest story that the Fifth Doctor has had. It’s a good start for Colin Brake but ultimately there is nothing that seems original in this story and it’s a run of the mill adventure. Good characters and a good pace can’t help lift this story above the middle of the road feel that Three’s A Crowd has.

The Last (2004)

After a disappointing Faith Stealer, I was fearing that this series was going to ruin all the hard work that had been done in the divergent universe. Thankfully the Last restores my faith in the series. The story is written by Gary Hopkins who is making writing his first Big Finish play. The Last is a grim and dark adventure which sees the Doctor, Charley and C’Rizz arrives on the planet Bortresoye which has been ravaged by an atomic war. We learn in this play that Bortresoye is the name of the planet where the zones that the travellers are going through.

Paul McGann, India Fisher and Conrad Westmaas all give superb performances with Westmaas getting particular praise from me for his what he has to do. C’Rizz is tormented by the death of L’Da yet again. The moment when Charley asks whether C’Rizz would do to her what he did to L’Da was quite a massive moment which was well played. McGann also had an impressive moment when he hates Excelsior which considering he’s normally a passive person and never admits he hates anyone is quite a big moment. The guest stars are all very good in The Last. Carolyn Jones (Excelsior) plays her character which has quite an egomaniacal leader. Jones gives a performance that is more suited to a Bond baddie. There is an instant pickup in my enjoyment when her character got involved. The Kro’ka also adds a nice little bit of continuity at the beginning. Stephen Perring is also just as mad as Carolyn Jones in acting terms of course.

The ending seemed to be building up to something big. The Doctor is asked effectively to commit suicide and without hesitation presses the button. For a brief moment I wondered what would happen to the Doctor. That thought I always have that nothing would happen to the lead star just disappeared for a split second. The next moment the Doctor finds himself in the street with a cheering crowd and a victorious Excelsior who seems to be nicer than what we have known before. No one apart from the Doctor remembers what happened previously. The future of Bortresoye seems to be bright as the Doctor, Charley and C’Rizz head through the interzone.

I thought that the story was a brilliant four part adventure. All the characters are strong and the people playing them put in a superb performance. The ending is leading up to what hopefully will be another adventure. With the arrival of the new series, the ending of this particular was close and it seems that things are heading to a dramatic conclusion.

Other Lives (2005)

Other Lives is the second story in three releases for the Eighth Doctor, C’Rizz and Charley. Now the natural thing to do is to compare it to Scaredy Cat but that would be unfair as both stories are different in terms of what they are about. Other Lives is a light hearted adventure which sees the travellers arrive in London in 1851 during the Great Exhibition at Crystal Palace. The story is more about an accumulation of accidents as opposed to an alien invasion intent on wiping humanity off the face of the earth.

The story is about (as the title suggests) the other lives of the Doctor and his companions. Charley and C’Rizz have their doubles who are French aristocrats who have nicked the TARDIS. It’s not just the companions that have their own double but the Doctor does who is a missing married man. The Doctor spends his part of the story pretending to be Doctor Edward Marlow. The real Edward Marlow’s wife Georgina Marlow (Francesca Hunt) is on the verge of being thrown out of her house by Mr Rufus Dimplesqueeze. Charley pretends to be a French aristocrat to prevent a revolution. C’Rizz’s story is perhaps the most interesting and the most important. C’Rizz being a Eutermesan was always going to have problems when he sets foot on earth and when he goes outside of the TARDIS he is kidnapped by Jacob Crackles Esquire who runs a local freak show.

Out of the three it is the Doctor that has the lighter story. Essentially all he is doing is defending a woman’s honour which isn’t exactly challenging stuff. Paul McGann essentially has to take a back seat in this story, he has to play a different character for most of this story but it’s not totally different from the Doctor. Charley’s is also not exactly nail biting stuff but it is more enjoyable than the Doctor’s story. India Fisher does seem to enjoy the different role she has to play. Its not 100 miles away from the Charley that we first met in Storm Warning but it’s an enjoyable performance from Fisher. Conrad Westmaas is the driving force of this story. His treatment is terrible and he has to fight his inner demons to get him through. This is Westmaas’ best story so far and shows what can be done with the character if given the right script.

This story is in effect a character piece. It’s also more of a comedy in certain places. I think that it’s refreshing when Big Finish do this because with all the drama in recent stories then it’s nice to have a light hearted piece. The supporting characters were all very likeable and were all believable. Gary Hopkins has written a sound script and Gary Russell has directed the story with a pace that helps time fly by.

Unregenerate! (2005)

Unregenerate is the fourth release to feature Mel. A character which was derided on TV but has undergone a change and it’s hard to believe that it’s the same character. Bonnie Langford has silenced me and other people who thought that she was a terrible companion. Despite only coming a few months after Catch 1782 this story is a fine story for Mel. Written by David A McIntee the story sees Mel take the lead. The opening few minutes sets up the story very well. The Doctor is in a mental hospital but obviously we don’t know why he’s their (what caused it) and how long he has been there.

The people running the hospital are typically played to be sinister and there is an interesting story behind them. It then turns out that the Timelords are involved in the hospital. They take people out of time just before they are due to die. They are then taken to be hosts for TARDIS consciousness. They want to do this to control the use of time travel of other worlds. Mel is the one that moves the story forward at the beginning and immediately forms a partnership with a cab driver. It’s a character that doesn’t really seem like anything but soon becomes quite an impressive person.

Whilst Bonnie Langford drives the story it’s at a price. Sylvester McCoy takes a back seat in this story which is ok at the beginning but after a while I just wanted him to take over from Langford. Sadly McCoy doesn’t get the chance to show why he is such as good Doctor. Hopefully this is just a one off. Of the guest cast I found Jennie Linden to be very good as Professor Klyst. Linden for long time fans of the show will know she played Barbara in the 1965 Dalek film with Peter Cushing.

Unregenerate is a brilliant adventure. Very dark but it is the Doctor and Mel that are what I like the most about this story. It seems that Big Finish have got a firm grasp of Mel as this another strong story for the character. If Bonnie Langford could find time to record more then I think that she would become one of the best companions on the Big Finish/Doctor Who range.

The Axis of Insanity (2004)

Its been 14 months since the awful Nekromanteia. Its almost long enough for me to want a Fifth Doctor adventure with Peri and Erimem. Not that the previous story was their fault but their tainted by association. The Axis of Insanity is written by Simon Furman and he manages to resurrect the team that has become quite a nice combination. The Axis is something that was created by the Timelords to prevent alternate timelines from contaminating the primary timelines. This is quite a good idea and this is where my hopes for the story started to climb.

As with any Doctor Who story there is a bad guy and in this story it’s the Jester. The Jester is very well played by Garrick Hogan. It’s Hogan’s energetic performance that really sells the threat that the Doctor faces and you know he cant just con his way out of trouble like he normally would. There a grim moment when Jarra To is trying to con Peri into murdering. If Peri had been conned into murdering Peri then it would have been a truly shocking moment. Thankfully it would never have happened and so we can all move on.

All the main cast perform brilliantly and show why they are maturing nicely. Like a fine wine. Davison does a great job against the Jester and reminds me of the Doctor/Master relationship that we all know and love. Morris and Bryant are playing Peri and Erimem like sisters which is the best way for these two to go. The fact that Peri could have killed Erimem tested their sisterly relationship.

I liked the return of the idea about a Tardis graveyard. It was first mentioned in Omega (2003) and it was good that they continued with the continuity by mentioning this. The overall feeling that I have of this story was that it fully made up for Nekromanteia. The story was probably a bit mis-paced at times but that didn’t really bother my enjoyment as with the plot and the great characters along with some cracking music and sound effects I thought this was a very good story.

Time Works (2006)

Time Works is a very curious story. Which is one word that I would associate with all of McGann’s adventures. Steve Lyons’ previous scripts were the very good The Fires of Vulcan (2000) and the very complex Colditz in 2001. As Big Finish is fighting to keep people interested in their product instead of the newly polished TV version, its bold stories like this that show why Big Finish are so good.

The Doctor, Charley and C’Rizz arrive where the people on this planet are frozen in time. When they start moving the Doctor learns that everyone is obsessed with time. They build their lives around it. Now normally something like this would bore me to tears but what Lyons has managed to do is create a world with characters that are very interesting and have a lot of things going for them. For one the minor characters in this are written so well that when they are killed I felt really sad.

A name that stood out to me when I read the casting list was Tracey Childs who previously starred in the Lyons written Colditz. She plays the Figurehead. The character has been created by the occupants of the old world who we learn we wiped out by a meteor because they essentially couldn’t be bothered to come up with technology to prevent it. Paul McGann, India Fisher and Conrad Westmaas all performed very well with a script that gives them lots to do. In fact the partnership between Charley and C’Rizz was one of the best that these two have had for quite sometime.

Whilst I don’t think that this was as good as Other Lives I do think that it’s a better offering than I thought it would be. All the main cast performed well and were well supported by the guest cast members. Whilst I felt that the first episode was the weaker of the four once you get past part one. Lyons has written another good story and Edward Salt has done a good job keeping the pace move at a nice steady pace.

The Twilight Kingdom (2004)

The next instalement of the Eighth Doctor adventures in the divergent universe. In this story the Doctor, Charley and C’Rizz arrive in a jungle which is overrun by soldiers. I really liked this story the first time that I listened to it. This is a first story from Will Shindler and he has written a story that has to wrap up the Divergent Universe until it gets resumed in the next series.

The plot does have a big plot point which would be false to call it a plot twist seen as if you look at the front cover you will know what the caves are actual living beings. It was probably a bit of an own goal for Big Finish to do that on the cover. It was great to have the Kro’ka back. His absence in The Natural History of Fear was noticed and so to have him back even briefly was great. Stephen Perring was a brilliant piece of casting,

The acting is of the highest quality that there has been during this series. From the main actors to the supporting artists everyone provides a superb performance. Paul McGann is slightly different from recent adventures. The Doctor has now been without his TARDIS for a few adventures and quite ingeniously McGann portrays as the Doctor as someone who is starting to miss the TARDIS which is a part of his character. Off the supporting cast I found Alan Rothwell to be very good as Janto who is a scientist who has been isolated. C’Rizz and Charley do their companion thing brilliantly and are typically split up and do their best to help move the story along. India Fisher and Conrad Westmaas are gelling well.

This story continues the good run of adventures. Apart from Invaders from Mars which I thought was dreadful I think that we have now had a good run of stories which have all varied in terms of what they offer but still manage to hit the spot in enjoyment. This is the last story of the series so this story had to help move the overall story arc along a bit and if I had to make a criticism then it would be like the previous story and it didn’t really move the story along bar a little bit at the end. It should have been more. That said it’s still a damn good stand alone story.

The Natural History of Fear (2004)

The Natural History of Fear is the third story of the third series for the EightH Doctor series and also the third story in the Divergent Universe. What is quite unusual for this story is that there is a list of actors on the back of the CD but no credit for the characters they play. Obviously we know the roles that Paul McGann, India Fisher and Conrad Westmaas play but unless you know the actors personally you wouldn’t be able to attach their voices to a name. This is also the first story to come from Jim Mortimore who also does a Nicholas Briggs and does the Music and Sound Effects.

You know how the Philip Hinchliffe Era was essentially an homage/rip off of all the horror genre that be recreated on a modest BBC TV budget? Well it seems the Jim Morimore read George Orwell’s 1984. The setting is Light City and the Doctor, Charley and C’Rizz are in trouble for daring to ask question which is a crime according to the city laws. This is C’Rizz’s second story as a companion and he has to play a different side to the character. I don’t know how smart this was as it’s the first few stories that determines how successful the character is going to be.

I do have a problem with the choice of when this story has been used. The thing about Scherzo and Creed of the Kromon is that they could only really have been set in the Deivergent Universe but with this story it could quite easily have been set in a futuristic Earth or something similar. Also the story didn’t really do much with progressing the story arc very much. Apart from the beginning we are not treating to anything new. That said as a story its darn good.

As a part of the divergent universe it probably wont be up there because of how little it moves that particular story arc along but as a single stand alone story then its wonderful with a great plot really great characters and music and sound effects (done by the writer remember) that help create a wonderful atmosphere which falls under the should have been made for TV category.

Something Inside (2006)

Something Inside is one of my favourite Eighth Doctor adventures. After a run of hit and miss adventures, this was the first one that I loved from start to finish. From the opening moment where the Doctor doesn’t know what’s going on there is a lot of mystery going on. Trevor Baxendale wrote the very dark and grim The Dark Flame back in 2003 and manages to keep the dark tones in Something Inside but to a lesser extent.

The Doctor we get in this story has had his memory wiped so he doesn’t know who he is which allows for some interesting moments and we get to see a different McGann Doctor to what we are used to. There is a ‘Lost’ feel to it with the Doctor’s interrogation taking place in the present and the bits with Charley and C’Rizz taking place in the past. What we have is knowing what happens to the Doctor but we are then told in a agonisingly slow way how he got there. All the action takes place in The Cube which is a prison for telepaths. The prisoners have been genetically engineered to be telepathic who can kill with a single thought. Once they had served their purpose they were chucked in the Cube.

It’s very rare that real life events make it into a Doctor Who but I thought it was very strange how the Doctor whilst trying to spur on Charley and C’Rizz mentions how Liverpool Football Captain Steven Gerrard inspired his team to win the 2005 UEFA Champions League Final against AC Milan when they were 3-0 down. Possibly the most surreal moment in DW history. The music is also something that I found slightly odd. To start off with I found it very different and unusual but by part three it was starting to grate on me.

C’Rizz is on brilliant form in this story. Since they have left the divergent universe C’Rizz has gone on a different journey. Conrad Westmaas has really stepped up a gear over the last few stories. In this story C’Rizz almost goes mad due to being in the cube. India Fisher takes a back seat out of the three main actors. I think that whilst she did her bit in this story she wasn’t really given much to do like the Doctor and C’Rizz. John Killoran was probably one of the best guest stars in this story as Gordon Latch. The character was slightly unnerving which suited the setting of this story.

Trevor Baxendale has written a story that is better than The Dark Flame and will probably be difficult to beat if he writes story number 3. Nicholas Briggs was the director of this story which doesn’t really surprise me. Briggs is one of the best directors Big Finish has and did a brilliant job. Something Inside is a very strong script with well designed characters that are brilliantly acted. The cliffhangers are slightly below par but because the story is so good that its merely a blip. Nothing could ruin my enjoyment of this fine fine piece of sci-fi drama.

Embrace the Darkness (2002)

Embrace the Darkness is one of those stories that is going to divide opinion. I think that it’s a story that requires a lot of imagination from people. It falls on Nicholas Briggs to try and get what seems like a complex story and make it work. The Doctor and Charley travel to the Cimmerian system. The reason is simple enough, the Doctor wants to know what really happened to its sun. It seems to be a trait now that the Doctor goes where he wants to go as opposed to arriving somewhere by accident.

The story does have a flaw to it and that it doesn’t move the Charley story arc along any further. Admittedly with six stories in the series there is room to have just one that doesn’t deal with the main story arc however it would have been nice that they did something. Like The Chimes of Midnight, there is a lot of eeriness about this story. The sound effects and music help create a very dark image. The ROSM robots were a brilliantly thought of creation and fantastically used in radio. The moment where she tries to destroy Charley was quite a dramatic moment.

This is the third strong story in a row and McGann is fast becoming just as popular a Doctor as Davison, Baker and McCoy. India Fisher is also becoming just as good as any companion in the Big Finish range. She is becoming more and more strong and is a very good actress alongside Paul McGann. Nicola Boyce is one of the best guest stars. She plays Orllensa who is a very frightened leader who has her eyes removed and plays that brilliantly. It was quite a brave thing to do by Briggs but it paid off. Nicholas Briggs as well as writing and directing this story also did what he does best and that was the Cimmerian Voice. It was very spooky and I loved it.

Embrace the Darkness is an inspired piece of drama. It’s a really imaginative story. The plot was sound and the pace of it was nice and steady. Nicholas Briggs has done a superb job coming up with a story that relies upon sound. The ending could have done with a little bit of tightening up but apart from that it’s a nice release.

Nekromanteia (2003)

Nekromanteia is bad. There I’ve said it. It ranks as one of my least favourite stories that Big Finish have ever produced. It pains me to write this but it’s true. It’s unnecessarily grim. There are threats, murders but more shockingly implications of rape. Now this isn’t Brookside or Hollyoaks but Doctor Who where the worst thing should be an invasion by Daleks.

The Doctor, Peri and Erimem arrive in the middle of a war. The war is between the Corporation which goes without a name which not surprisingly cares more about improving its profits and depriving the workforce out of every penny. On the other side are the witches who like nothing more than to kill members of the corporation.

Peter Davison, Nicola Bryant and Caroline Morris are given absolutely nothing to work with. Granted Erimem has a slightly different journey in this story when she is nearly raped and beaten. Family stuff I think you’ll admit. Austen Atkinson have written a poor script had potential but throws all the good stuff and replaces it with truly awful stuff. I can’t believe that Davison, Bryant or even Morris objected to this stuff. There is nothing that justifies what happens in this story. Unless the story is Prime Suspect.

I think that this story should be listened to in order to be believed. It’s a shame that the Fifth Doctor wasn’t given a better story but ultimately it had to happen sooner or later I suppose. The corporation is unoriginal and the witches sacrificing member of the corporation just for the hell of it is also unoriginal.

Not a good story in any sense.