Well all good things must come to an end. After 29 adventures Lucie Miller bows out. Being the only companion that I know of in Doctor Who history to have a story named after them. This is the first of a two parter written by Nicholas Briggs. The story is where all the seemingly random elements from the series come to fruition with the Daleks thrown in. A lot of the early part is more like a companion chronicle with Lucie Miller talking about her story after Relative Dimensions which involves her going to Thailand with Alex and then going blind in one eye and having problems with her legs. There is a link to the Dalek Invasion of Earth (1964) which is set some 30 years before this story. There is a plan by the Daleks to decimate the earth, mine out the centre of the earth and use it as some spaceship.
What Nicholas Briggs has done is write a story that doesn’t have much in the way of big things happening but still makes it exciting. There is a fair amount of time spent telling Lucie and Alex’s story before Susan comes in and then more people in that we’ve never heard of before, then the mighty Daleks appear. We also have the return of the Time Controller Dalek who was thought to have been blown up in Patient Zero (2009). The story moves along at a steady pace with moments reminding us of the Daleks Invasion of Earth. There is a wonderful sense of being pushed to the edge and not having the Doctor around to act as a safety net. The fact that this story is split into two hour long (ish) parts means that there is no break in the flow and it can build up to just the one cliffhanger. Speaking of the cliffhanger, its obvious the Doctor’s not dead but the way that it happened and how it ended was a bit of a surprise and well acted. It’s going to be interesting to see how its resolved.
A lot has been thrown into this story and it all works well. It’s Sheridan Smith’s story in many ways but she handles it well. She’s come a long way since Blood of the Daleks (2006/07). I was also quite impressed with Jake McGann. He’s definitely improved since An Earthly Child. In that story he was a sort of supporting cast member to Carole Ann Ford’s Susan but in this he stands out away from her and the double act of Smith and McGann Jnr is a very strong one. As one of the TV companion, Carole Ann Ford is there for emotional linkage between the Doctor and Alex. It’s always good to have her in a Big Finish audio. Giving her a son was a really good idea as it gave Susan something that we hadn’t seen before from her. She is stronger as a result. Hopefully she will feature more in the future especially with Jake because the two of them work well. It’s been a while Nicky Wardly was last in a Doctor Who because Tamsin went off with the Monk. I like her because she seems a bit normal and that’s not something we get often. I think Prisoner of the Sun would have been better with her in it. In this story its good that Tamsin saw sense (or started to) over the Monk. I suspect that she will shine in the final story. A quicker mention should also go to Graeme Garden who has been superb as the Monk this series. He is very cool and calm in this story but its clear that the Monk will come unstuck but Garden make it memorable.
It’s difficult to properly review this story until ‘To The Death’ comes out but judging this story on its own the story the thing that stands out in my mind is how dark it feels at times but there is more to come.
What Nicholas Briggs has done is write a story that doesn’t have much in the way of big things happening but still makes it exciting. There is a fair amount of time spent telling Lucie and Alex’s story before Susan comes in and then more people in that we’ve never heard of before, then the mighty Daleks appear. We also have the return of the Time Controller Dalek who was thought to have been blown up in Patient Zero (2009). The story moves along at a steady pace with moments reminding us of the Daleks Invasion of Earth. There is a wonderful sense of being pushed to the edge and not having the Doctor around to act as a safety net. The fact that this story is split into two hour long (ish) parts means that there is no break in the flow and it can build up to just the one cliffhanger. Speaking of the cliffhanger, its obvious the Doctor’s not dead but the way that it happened and how it ended was a bit of a surprise and well acted. It’s going to be interesting to see how its resolved.
A lot has been thrown into this story and it all works well. It’s Sheridan Smith’s story in many ways but she handles it well. She’s come a long way since Blood of the Daleks (2006/07). I was also quite impressed with Jake McGann. He’s definitely improved since An Earthly Child. In that story he was a sort of supporting cast member to Carole Ann Ford’s Susan but in this he stands out away from her and the double act of Smith and McGann Jnr is a very strong one. As one of the TV companion, Carole Ann Ford is there for emotional linkage between the Doctor and Alex. It’s always good to have her in a Big Finish audio. Giving her a son was a really good idea as it gave Susan something that we hadn’t seen before from her. She is stronger as a result. Hopefully she will feature more in the future especially with Jake because the two of them work well. It’s been a while Nicky Wardly was last in a Doctor Who because Tamsin went off with the Monk. I like her because she seems a bit normal and that’s not something we get often. I think Prisoner of the Sun would have been better with her in it. In this story its good that Tamsin saw sense (or started to) over the Monk. I suspect that she will shine in the final story. A quicker mention should also go to Graeme Garden who has been superb as the Monk this series. He is very cool and calm in this story but its clear that the Monk will come unstuck but Garden make it memorable.
It’s difficult to properly review this story until ‘To The Death’ comes out but judging this story on its own the story the thing that stands out in my mind is how dark it feels at times but there is more to come.
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