Army of Death is the final story of the Eighth Doctor series and also of 2011. It’s a surprising decision to have a story so mired in the themes of death at such a festive month. This is Jason Arnopp’s first story for the main range after his highly enjoyable contribution to the ‘Recorded Time and Other Stories’ release back in December 2010. This story sees the Doctor and Mary Shelley arrive on the planet of Draxine where there are two citystates called Garrak and Stronghaven. Garrack is pretty much on its knees thanks to its leader President Harmon who as it turns out was the leader of a cult. Whereas Garrak is in physical ruin, Stronghaven is in the middle of a political upheaval. Their president has been assinated and the replacement is also in trouble. As you would expect, the Doctor and Mary are caught in the middle of the story.
Paul McGann is fantastic in this story. His character’s attitude seems to have changed since Lucie Miller’s departure and McGann has had his best year since joining Big Finish in 2001. I thought that his best scene was President Vallan but to be honest all his scenes were well acted. Julie Cox puts in her best performance so far with the adventure. I must admit that I wasn’t sure whether the character would work considering how short a time she had in ‘Company of Friends’ but to the credit more of Miss Cox than the writers, the character has worked and despite the uncertain conclusion for the character. Mary Shelley has been one of biggest surprises of 2011. The big name in this release was that of David Harewood who is perhaps best known in Doctor Who circles as playing Naismith in the David Tennant two-part finale ‘End of Time’. Some people have an instantly recognisable voice and Harewood is one of those. He gives a very good performance which fits in well with the mood of the story. Mitch Benn is another name that I was familiar with. His involvement in this story was leaked out somehow by the man himself. Benn is perhaps most recognisable to British listeners for his contributions to the BBC Radio Four show ‘The Now Show’. I have to admit that despite being a regular listener and fan of that show I struggled to notice him in this. Now I know who he plays I may go back and listen to it again
Army of Death might not be the chirpiest story of the year or of recent times but it has to be said that it’s a solid story and whilst most people might be going wax lyrical about The Silver Turk, I think that Army of Death is the more satisfying. Arnopp has managed to get the most out of the Mary Shelley character which has been something that hasn’t really happened in the previous stories. It’s been a rocky year for the Eighth Doctor (emotionally) but it looks like 2012 will be a good year for him and Mary Shelley looks like she could be a fine companion.
Paul McGann is fantastic in this story. His character’s attitude seems to have changed since Lucie Miller’s departure and McGann has had his best year since joining Big Finish in 2001. I thought that his best scene was President Vallan but to be honest all his scenes were well acted. Julie Cox puts in her best performance so far with the adventure. I must admit that I wasn’t sure whether the character would work considering how short a time she had in ‘Company of Friends’ but to the credit more of Miss Cox than the writers, the character has worked and despite the uncertain conclusion for the character. Mary Shelley has been one of biggest surprises of 2011. The big name in this release was that of David Harewood who is perhaps best known in Doctor Who circles as playing Naismith in the David Tennant two-part finale ‘End of Time’. Some people have an instantly recognisable voice and Harewood is one of those. He gives a very good performance which fits in well with the mood of the story. Mitch Benn is another name that I was familiar with. His involvement in this story was leaked out somehow by the man himself. Benn is perhaps most recognisable to British listeners for his contributions to the BBC Radio Four show ‘The Now Show’. I have to admit that despite being a regular listener and fan of that show I struggled to notice him in this. Now I know who he plays I may go back and listen to it again
Army of Death might not be the chirpiest story of the year or of recent times but it has to be said that it’s a solid story and whilst most people might be going wax lyrical about The Silver Turk, I think that Army of Death is the more satisfying. Arnopp has managed to get the most out of the Mary Shelley character which has been something that hasn’t really happened in the previous stories. It’s been a rocky year for the Eighth Doctor (emotionally) but it looks like 2012 will be a good year for him and Mary Shelley looks like she could be a fine companion.
No comments:
Post a Comment