I was absolutely delighted when I heard that we were going to get a Multi-Doctor story. It’s always a special moment when this happens though amazingly it’s been seven years since we had this (Project: Lazarus). Written by Peter Anghlides (The Chaos Pool), this story also features the Daleks and Robomen. The story follows Doctors 5-8 through a particular moment in their life. However the story is really driven by the Colonel Ulrik, for it is he who we spend more time with. Initially he starts out as this military figure and someone who betrays people to try and do a deal with the Daleks but that’s soon turned on its head where Ulrik is transported back in time before transported somewhere else. The problem with this story is that I think the writer tries to fit too much into this story. There is too much tooing and frooing for my likeing. If it had started with the Fifth Doctor and worked its way to the Eighth Doctor then it would have probably made more sense to me. I did like the fact that apart from the four Doctors there were only four other characters being played by two actors. David Bamber did a great job as Colonel Ulrik and also Whitmore. Ellie Burrow also put in a good performance as both Professor Kalinda and Lady Cowen. Both these guest stars were great and hopefully appear in more Big Finish plays in the future.
As for the Doctors, they were all good in their own parts of the story. I quite liked how the Fifth and Eighth Doctor interacted with the fifth not knowing that he was talking to his future self. All the Doctors played this story just as if it was their own story. I was expecting to be able to pick a favourite thinking someone would put in a brilliant performance but actually they all did a great job. The final scene with all four Doctors finally meeting each other was the best bit for me and I would suspect for most Doctor Who fans. It was explained how the 5th, 6th and 7th Doctors don’t remember any of what’s happened. That was what was running through my mind throughout this story and luckily they didn’t kop out. The moment where they were all in the same place and the Seventh Doctor commented that McGann’s Doctor was the most recent because “he didn’t recognise him” was something that that I found quite amusing.
As a special release this has to be one of the best in recent years. Peter Anghelides has written a good story with a restricted number of characters that all work well with the different Doctors. The few issues that I have with this story don’t really detract from how I enjoyed this. True, it wasn’t quite what I expected but it was still enjoyable. Unlike in previous years this release wont be available in twelve months which in a way is slightly disappointing and a tad bit unfair by Big Finish because it’s a shame that a only potentially small audience will get to listen to this historic story. Maybe they will change their mind in the future.
As for the Doctors, they were all good in their own parts of the story. I quite liked how the Fifth and Eighth Doctor interacted with the fifth not knowing that he was talking to his future self. All the Doctors played this story just as if it was their own story. I was expecting to be able to pick a favourite thinking someone would put in a brilliant performance but actually they all did a great job. The final scene with all four Doctors finally meeting each other was the best bit for me and I would suspect for most Doctor Who fans. It was explained how the 5th, 6th and 7th Doctors don’t remember any of what’s happened. That was what was running through my mind throughout this story and luckily they didn’t kop out. The moment where they were all in the same place and the Seventh Doctor commented that McGann’s Doctor was the most recent because “he didn’t recognise him” was something that that I found quite amusing.
As a special release this has to be one of the best in recent years. Peter Anghelides has written a good story with a restricted number of characters that all work well with the different Doctors. The few issues that I have with this story don’t really detract from how I enjoyed this. True, it wasn’t quite what I expected but it was still enjoyable. Unlike in previous years this release wont be available in twelve months which in a way is slightly disappointing and a tad bit unfair by Big Finish because it’s a shame that a only potentially small audience will get to listen to this historic story. Maybe they will change their mind in the future.
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