It’s that time of year again when I look back at the previous year of releases. Big Finish has continued to produce a high number of stories ranging several different spin-offs. We saw companions return and depart in some of the finest releases that Big Finish have produced. The year started of traditionally with January.
JANUARY – MARCH: THE THOMAS BREWSTER SERIES
Thomas Brewster finally returned in ‘The Crimes of Thomas Brewster’. It also marked the return of Maggie Stables after about two years out of the main range. The Crimes of Thomas Brewster wasn’t as good a starter story to the year as ‘A Thousand Tiny Wing’s. When we got to Feast of Axos, I found the series picked up as the Axos were a under appreciated story. The final story was ‘Industrial Evolution’ which I think was a disappointing end to the series. Ok it wasn’t a terrible story as it was written by Eddie Robson but I think that the whole series could be summed up as OK.
APRIL – JUNE: RICHTER 2
Due to the success of the previous Nyssa/Tegan/Turlough series in 2010. It was obvious and appreciated that they returned for a second series and actually I think that it was better. Heroes of Sontar marked the first appearance of the Sontarans in a Big Finish play and it was a brilliant adventure. This was beaten by Kiss of Death which I think is the best story of the year as it was about Turlough and was a wonderful story. The final story was the ‘weakest’ story of the series but only because the other two were so good. I still enjoyed ‘Rat Trap’ and would listen to it again if I got the chance.
JULY – SEPTEMBER: SEVENTH DOCTOR & ANNIVERSARY SPECIAL
This series of adventures featured the Seventh Doctor travelling alone. For the first time since 2008, the Doctor who likes to roll his R’s had to save the universe on his own. The first story ‘ Robophobia’ saw the return of the Robots from ‘The Robots of Death’ and whilst I questioned the decision to bring them back I rather enjoyed the story. The series took a brief break as the main range celebrated it’s 150th release with Recorded Time and Other Stories which were four single stories. I rather enjoyed this release but then it went back to the series and two fantastic stories in succession. I really enjoyed this story and House of Blue Fire and along with Kiss of Death formed three of my favourite stories of the year.
OCTOBER – NOVEMBER: THE MARY SHELLEY TRILOGY
With Lucie Miller having left in March’s ‘To The Death’ it meant that the Eighth Doctor was free to appear in the main range for the first time since 2009’s ‘Company of Friends’. In fact its one character who appeared in that story that was chosen to replace Lucie and it was a bold idea to use a famous person from history. The relationship wasn’t the same as any that we had known since McGann joined Big Finish in 2001. I wasn’t quite sure what to expect and by The Army of Death I had actually grown to like the companion as she had been played very well by Julie Cox.
The Silver Turk was the best story of the series and it was voted Best Main Range story in this years Toms Tardis Awards and its not hard to see why. I think that it was a different take on the Cybermen and uses the original design which I love. The next story The Witch from the Well is a perfectly standard story and Army of Death is actually the best story for Mary Shelley.
01) Kiss of Death (8.50)
02) House of Blue Fire (8.44)
03) The Doomsday Quatrain (8.38)
04) Heroes of Sontar (8.25)
05) Army of Death (7.99)
06) Recorded Time and Other Stories (7.88)
07) The Silver Turk (7.50)
08) The Feast of Axos (7.50)
09) Robophobia (7.50)
10) The Witch from the Well (7.50)
11) Rat Trap (7.25)
12) The Crimes of Thomas Brewster (7.13)
13) Industrial Evolution (7.00)
Average – 7.76
THE COMPANION CHRONICLES
The Companion Chronicles continued to be strong. It started off with a cracking CC in the form of Peri and the Piscon Paradox. It was a mad story which with any other writer would have been a terrible story but Nev Fountain found the right balance. 2011 saw a trilogy of adventures where we were introduced to Oliver Harper. He had a secret which turned out to be that he was a gay man in the 1960’s. Not the biggest secret but anyway but the end of the trilogy ‘The First Wave’ had a wonderful ending and was only beaten by the first story in the series ‘The Perpetual Bond’.
There were some stories which didn’t quite hit the mark. ‘The Sentinels of the New Dawn’ was the weakest story which was compounded by the fact that it was a Liz Shaw story. Another duff story was ‘The Forbidden Time’ which I just didn’t like at all.
This series shows no sign of getting tired and with the slight tweaks to the format, its nice to think where the series could go.
01) Peri and the Piscon Paradox (8.25)
02) The First Wave (8.20)
03) The Perpetual Bond (8.00)
04) The Many Deaths of Jo Grant (8.00)
05) Tales from the Vault (7.88)
06) Beyond the Ultimate Adventure (7.80)
07) The Memory Cheats (7.63)
08) Ferril’s Folly (7.50)
09) The Cold Equations (7.25)
10) The Rocket Men (7.00)
11) The Forbidden Time (6.75)
12) The Sentinels of the New Dawn (6.50)
THE LOST STORIES
The term Lost Stories was stretched somewhat in 2011 because we had the Seventh Doctor series which introduced the character of Raine to the show. I quite liked the character of Raine as she was well played by Beth Chalmers. The combination of Raine and Ace is a nice one and hopefully it will result in a main range adventure. We also had fifth Doctor series of adventures where it was just Nyssa and Tegan. It’s been a good year overall with 2012 looking to be another great year.
TOP 5 LOST STORIES
The Elite (8.38)
Thin Ice (8.31)
Crime of the Century (8.19)
Animal (7.69)
Earth Aid (7.56)
GALLIFREY
Gallifrey returned for the first time since 2006. I had listened to the previous three series in preparation to this series and I must admit that whilst this series was slightly more easy to understand than the other three it was still enjoyable. Some didn’t seem to enjoy it but I did and thought that the idea that the regular characters were looking for a new home was quite a good story arc. Hopefully it wont be another five years before we get Gallifrey V.
JAGO AND LITE FOOT – SERIES II & III
Jago and Litefoot returned for not one but two series of adventures and they got better with each series. Series 3 was my favourite of the two because Louise Jameson returned as Leela and it gave the series a freshness that some may feel it didn’t need but to me it made it seem like it was from the 1970’s.
Both series did have something in common and that was the best story was the first. Both Litefoot and Sanders and Dead Men’s Tales were the best stories of the series. It’s quite amazing that two characters that appeared once in the TV series back in the 70’s have managed to spawn so many stories with more coming in 2012 and hopefully beyond.
The overall feeling about this year is that its been a solid year. I don’t think the Doctor/Companion line up has been as solid as in previous years. I don’t think that it was necessary to have Thomas Brewster return and Mary Shelley was another curious if slightly better realised decision. 2012 is going to be a big year for Big Finish with the arrival of the fourth incarnation. I hope that when I do my review of 2012 that I will be saying it will be the best yet.
JANUARY – MARCH: THE THOMAS BREWSTER SERIES
Thomas Brewster finally returned in ‘The Crimes of Thomas Brewster’. It also marked the return of Maggie Stables after about two years out of the main range. The Crimes of Thomas Brewster wasn’t as good a starter story to the year as ‘A Thousand Tiny Wing’s. When we got to Feast of Axos, I found the series picked up as the Axos were a under appreciated story. The final story was ‘Industrial Evolution’ which I think was a disappointing end to the series. Ok it wasn’t a terrible story as it was written by Eddie Robson but I think that the whole series could be summed up as OK.
APRIL – JUNE: RICHTER 2
Due to the success of the previous Nyssa/Tegan/Turlough series in 2010. It was obvious and appreciated that they returned for a second series and actually I think that it was better. Heroes of Sontar marked the first appearance of the Sontarans in a Big Finish play and it was a brilliant adventure. This was beaten by Kiss of Death which I think is the best story of the year as it was about Turlough and was a wonderful story. The final story was the ‘weakest’ story of the series but only because the other two were so good. I still enjoyed ‘Rat Trap’ and would listen to it again if I got the chance.
JULY – SEPTEMBER: SEVENTH DOCTOR & ANNIVERSARY SPECIAL
This series of adventures featured the Seventh Doctor travelling alone. For the first time since 2008, the Doctor who likes to roll his R’s had to save the universe on his own. The first story ‘ Robophobia’ saw the return of the Robots from ‘The Robots of Death’ and whilst I questioned the decision to bring them back I rather enjoyed the story. The series took a brief break as the main range celebrated it’s 150th release with Recorded Time and Other Stories which were four single stories. I rather enjoyed this release but then it went back to the series and two fantastic stories in succession. I really enjoyed this story and House of Blue Fire and along with Kiss of Death formed three of my favourite stories of the year.
OCTOBER – NOVEMBER: THE MARY SHELLEY TRILOGY
With Lucie Miller having left in March’s ‘To The Death’ it meant that the Eighth Doctor was free to appear in the main range for the first time since 2009’s ‘Company of Friends’. In fact its one character who appeared in that story that was chosen to replace Lucie and it was a bold idea to use a famous person from history. The relationship wasn’t the same as any that we had known since McGann joined Big Finish in 2001. I wasn’t quite sure what to expect and by The Army of Death I had actually grown to like the companion as she had been played very well by Julie Cox.
The Silver Turk was the best story of the series and it was voted Best Main Range story in this years Toms Tardis Awards and its not hard to see why. I think that it was a different take on the Cybermen and uses the original design which I love. The next story The Witch from the Well is a perfectly standard story and Army of Death is actually the best story for Mary Shelley.
01) Kiss of Death (8.50)
02) House of Blue Fire (8.44)
03) The Doomsday Quatrain (8.38)
04) Heroes of Sontar (8.25)
05) Army of Death (7.99)
06) Recorded Time and Other Stories (7.88)
07) The Silver Turk (7.50)
08) The Feast of Axos (7.50)
09) Robophobia (7.50)
10) The Witch from the Well (7.50)
11) Rat Trap (7.25)
12) The Crimes of Thomas Brewster (7.13)
13) Industrial Evolution (7.00)
Average – 7.76
THE COMPANION CHRONICLES
The Companion Chronicles continued to be strong. It started off with a cracking CC in the form of Peri and the Piscon Paradox. It was a mad story which with any other writer would have been a terrible story but Nev Fountain found the right balance. 2011 saw a trilogy of adventures where we were introduced to Oliver Harper. He had a secret which turned out to be that he was a gay man in the 1960’s. Not the biggest secret but anyway but the end of the trilogy ‘The First Wave’ had a wonderful ending and was only beaten by the first story in the series ‘The Perpetual Bond’.
There were some stories which didn’t quite hit the mark. ‘The Sentinels of the New Dawn’ was the weakest story which was compounded by the fact that it was a Liz Shaw story. Another duff story was ‘The Forbidden Time’ which I just didn’t like at all.
This series shows no sign of getting tired and with the slight tweaks to the format, its nice to think where the series could go.
01) Peri and the Piscon Paradox (8.25)
02) The First Wave (8.20)
03) The Perpetual Bond (8.00)
04) The Many Deaths of Jo Grant (8.00)
05) Tales from the Vault (7.88)
06) Beyond the Ultimate Adventure (7.80)
07) The Memory Cheats (7.63)
08) Ferril’s Folly (7.50)
09) The Cold Equations (7.25)
10) The Rocket Men (7.00)
11) The Forbidden Time (6.75)
12) The Sentinels of the New Dawn (6.50)
THE LOST STORIES
The term Lost Stories was stretched somewhat in 2011 because we had the Seventh Doctor series which introduced the character of Raine to the show. I quite liked the character of Raine as she was well played by Beth Chalmers. The combination of Raine and Ace is a nice one and hopefully it will result in a main range adventure. We also had fifth Doctor series of adventures where it was just Nyssa and Tegan. It’s been a good year overall with 2012 looking to be another great year.
TOP 5 LOST STORIES
The Elite (8.38)
Thin Ice (8.31)
Crime of the Century (8.19)
Animal (7.69)
Earth Aid (7.56)
GALLIFREY
Gallifrey returned for the first time since 2006. I had listened to the previous three series in preparation to this series and I must admit that whilst this series was slightly more easy to understand than the other three it was still enjoyable. Some didn’t seem to enjoy it but I did and thought that the idea that the regular characters were looking for a new home was quite a good story arc. Hopefully it wont be another five years before we get Gallifrey V.
JAGO AND LITE FOOT – SERIES II & III
Jago and Litefoot returned for not one but two series of adventures and they got better with each series. Series 3 was my favourite of the two because Louise Jameson returned as Leela and it gave the series a freshness that some may feel it didn’t need but to me it made it seem like it was from the 1970’s.
Both series did have something in common and that was the best story was the first. Both Litefoot and Sanders and Dead Men’s Tales were the best stories of the series. It’s quite amazing that two characters that appeared once in the TV series back in the 70’s have managed to spawn so many stories with more coming in 2012 and hopefully beyond.
The overall feeling about this year is that its been a solid year. I don’t think the Doctor/Companion line up has been as solid as in previous years. I don’t think that it was necessary to have Thomas Brewster return and Mary Shelley was another curious if slightly better realised decision. 2012 is going to be a big year for Big Finish with the arrival of the fourth incarnation. I hope that when I do my review of 2012 that I will be saying it will be the best yet.
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