The reasons as to how I ended up buying 'The Davros Mission' is worthy of mentioning. There was a page on the Big Finish forum which was querying the price tag given to this release which was in the region of £10,000,000 which is slightly out of my price range. Thankfully it was reduced to a more reasonable price and so I quickly bought it before it changed and it was part of the Davros DVD box set released back in 2007. It is set immediately after the events of Revelation of the Daleks and features Miranda Raison. I honestly thought that her appearance in the Toms Tardis Award winning story ‘The Wreck of the Titan’ back in 2010 was her first foray into Big Finish so I was pleasantly surprised to hear her in this release.
I was curious to see how this would end because if it did indeed fall between Revelation and Remembrance then Davros obviously wouldn’t be killed. So with the in my mind I just let myself get involved in the story and it’s a very interesting one because it mirrors in effect the Doctor’s quest in Genesis where he has the chance to destroy the Daleks. In this Miranda Raison’s character Lareen has the chance to kill Davros who is been taken to Skaro for trial and then execution. Instead of doing what she set out to do what she does is engage in a series of scenes where they discuss things and whilst this would normally be very dull its due in a large part to both Raison and Molloy that make these scenes the highlight of this story.
The story doesn’t just work because of Raison and Molloy but there were Gus and Raz who were played by Sean Connolly and Gregg Newton respectively. They seemed to be added to brighten things up because after a very tense and downbeat scene between Lareen and Davros, what was needed was some comedy or lighter scenes. Both Connolly and Newton this this job very well and the characters served their purposes very well.
There was a sense that this story was loosly linked to the I,Davros series which would have been released the year before. I realised whilst listening to it that the series was during a trial so its reasonable to assume that this may be set before I,Davros. There was also a lovely moment when he was talking about pressing his fingers down to break a capsule which seemed like a nod to Genesis of the Daleks. It’s something that long time fans would get but new fans wouldn’t and it just comes and goes and doesn’t impact on the story which is probably for the best but I certainly liked it.
I am really glad that I bought this release as it manages to make it worth while without over-complicating things. The central performances are solid and the story is typically Nick Briggs. The ending was tied up in a satisfactory way that meant it managed to do what the TV series never did and that was come up with a nice story as to how Davros went from having his hand blown off in Revelation to being in the White casing. Good stuff.
March 29, 2012
March 25, 2012
Binary (2012)
I have a bit of an issue with Liz Shaw stories because I can’t say that I have been totally bowled over by them. There are things that I like and always happy that Caroline John gets a story but after the last story (The Sentinels of the New Dawn) I was slightly weary when I knew there was a Liz Shaw story coming along. However my dread disappeared when I realised that this Companion Chronicle wouldn’t be like previous stories from this release as it doesn’t have any linking narration and its happening. Pretty much like a main range release but with just a couple of actors. Eddie Robson has written this story and his recent track record hasn’t been quite as strong as when it started. Recently he wrote Prisoner of the Sun (2011) which I really didn’t like and before just after that was Industrial Evolution which wasn’t a great story. However I approached this story with an open mind. Liz Shaw is on the verge of leaving UNIT but will stay and sort out a machine which was been kept hidden from the Doctor.
The story takes the nice direction of being set inside a computer which lets be honest is always going to be an interesting concept providing its done properly. There is a wonderful sense of how new computers were to the likes of Liz Shaw in 1970 and the idea that computers could take up entire rooms is only something that seems strange nowadays when you can surf the internet on something the size of your hand. The story does its best to make sense however at the halfway mark I started to lose track of what was going on and it was only a brief explanation towards the end that redeemed it for me. One thing I did like was how there seemed to be something forming a satisfactory reason why Liz left the Doctor, how she felt she wasn’t been utilised enough and by the end she had performed a u-turn and decided to stay however there is no way of us knowing how many more adventures there are before she does eventually leave the Doctor for good. Hopefully further adventures will go into this area. I also liked how it seemed to be a bit like the very first set of Companion Chronicles where we don’t have the Doctor. There are some moments when the Doctor is typing something but he’s not physically involved in the story and I did like that as it was Liz’s story.
It’s always great to hear Caroline John in these plays as she voices it exactly as Liz sounded back in 1970. I like how she makes her performance seem effortless and how in the interviews she seems to be enjoying herself. As the two ‘supporting cast’ members I thought that both Joe Coen (Childs) and Kyle Redmond-Jones (James Foster) do their best to help give Caroline John someone to act against however they do just enough to allow John to shine as the lead star.
Whilst its not my favourite Companion Chronicle it isn’t the worst. I think that there are interesting things that are going on and Caroline John is very good throughout but I cant deny that I just didn’t connect with this story and it may be me or it may be this story. I do think that this is a partial return to form for Eddie Robson and Lisa Bowerman does her usual high standard. She has directed at least 75% of these stories and she has a knack of making each story feel different. It’s certainly better than Sentinels of the New Dawn but I still think that Blue Tooth remains the best Liz Shaw story.
The story takes the nice direction of being set inside a computer which lets be honest is always going to be an interesting concept providing its done properly. There is a wonderful sense of how new computers were to the likes of Liz Shaw in 1970 and the idea that computers could take up entire rooms is only something that seems strange nowadays when you can surf the internet on something the size of your hand. The story does its best to make sense however at the halfway mark I started to lose track of what was going on and it was only a brief explanation towards the end that redeemed it for me. One thing I did like was how there seemed to be something forming a satisfactory reason why Liz left the Doctor, how she felt she wasn’t been utilised enough and by the end she had performed a u-turn and decided to stay however there is no way of us knowing how many more adventures there are before she does eventually leave the Doctor for good. Hopefully further adventures will go into this area. I also liked how it seemed to be a bit like the very first set of Companion Chronicles where we don’t have the Doctor. There are some moments when the Doctor is typing something but he’s not physically involved in the story and I did like that as it was Liz’s story.
It’s always great to hear Caroline John in these plays as she voices it exactly as Liz sounded back in 1970. I like how she makes her performance seem effortless and how in the interviews she seems to be enjoying herself. As the two ‘supporting cast’ members I thought that both Joe Coen (Childs) and Kyle Redmond-Jones (James Foster) do their best to help give Caroline John someone to act against however they do just enough to allow John to shine as the lead star.
Whilst its not my favourite Companion Chronicle it isn’t the worst. I think that there are interesting things that are going on and Caroline John is very good throughout but I cant deny that I just didn’t connect with this story and it may be me or it may be this story. I do think that this is a partial return to form for Eddie Robson and Lisa Bowerman does her usual high standard. She has directed at least 75% of these stories and she has a knack of making each story feel different. It’s certainly better than Sentinels of the New Dawn but I still think that Blue Tooth remains the best Liz Shaw story.
Wirrn Isle (2012)
I'm sad to say that we have come to the final story of the Sixth/Flip trilogy. I have grown to like the character despite how every fibre of my being should want to dislike the character. We have the return of the Wirrn who first appeared in The Ark in Space in 1975 and surprisingly made a return in 2009 to go up against the Eighth Doctor. In the interviews, Nicholas Briggs recalls how Jason Haigh-Ellery was surprised that Wirrn Dawn was the one of the best selling stories of that series and so what is surprising isnt that this was the case but that its taken three years for them to return. Written by William Gallagher who had penned Doing Time which was one was of four stories to form the release 'The Demons of Red Lodge and Other Stories' from 2010 and was given the idea of bringing back the Wirrn. The story is set on Earth in 16,127 where we meet the descendants of the Nerva Beacon (two Nerva related stories in the space of three months - note). There is a family that have suffered a tragedy years before but are trying to get on with their lives.
The story does have a link to ‘The Ark in Space’ and it seems that after the Fourth Doctor helped the in habitants of the Beacon they returned to Earth but things aren’t as straight forward as they had hoped. Along with the humans, it seems the Wirrn have also beamed down and have set themselves beneath the Ice in Scotland. The thing about the Wirrn is that they are a visual creation and so there has to be something about their voices which makes them a credible threat. There also has to be an emotional link to one or more of the characters that we meet and in Wirrn Isle that is done because one of the Wirrn is the son that the family we meet lost. I quite liked the idea of their been a lake full of Wirrn and think it would be realised well on TV.
Lisa Greenwood is very good in this story and has continued her strong performances from the other two. This is her best performance to date because she has to go through so much in the space of four episodes. At times I think she outshines Colin Baker which is a very rare thing to do. Speaking of Baker I thought that he has had a better run of stories this year than the Thomas Brewster series. Baker revels in this story. They have a very good chemistry which has the potential to be up there with Six/Evelyn. The ‘big’ name in this release is Dan Starkey who has clocked up a number of Doctor Who appearances over the last coupld of years most notably as a Sontaran. I also quite liked Tessa Nicholson who plays Toasty Buchman, I thought that she was a very good character and Nicholson played her very well. She was like a younger version and possibly more innocent version of Flip.
I quite like Wirrn Isle. It feels more like a classic Doctor Who adventure and ends the series on a very high note. Had this been any other series then this would be a stand out story however due to The Curse of Davros and The Fourth Wall it doesn’t quite become the best however it is still one that could be listened to on its own and still be enjoyed
The story does have a link to ‘The Ark in Space’ and it seems that after the Fourth Doctor helped the in habitants of the Beacon they returned to Earth but things aren’t as straight forward as they had hoped. Along with the humans, it seems the Wirrn have also beamed down and have set themselves beneath the Ice in Scotland. The thing about the Wirrn is that they are a visual creation and so there has to be something about their voices which makes them a credible threat. There also has to be an emotional link to one or more of the characters that we meet and in Wirrn Isle that is done because one of the Wirrn is the son that the family we meet lost. I quite liked the idea of their been a lake full of Wirrn and think it would be realised well on TV.
Lisa Greenwood is very good in this story and has continued her strong performances from the other two. This is her best performance to date because she has to go through so much in the space of four episodes. At times I think she outshines Colin Baker which is a very rare thing to do. Speaking of Baker I thought that he has had a better run of stories this year than the Thomas Brewster series. Baker revels in this story. They have a very good chemistry which has the potential to be up there with Six/Evelyn. The ‘big’ name in this release is Dan Starkey who has clocked up a number of Doctor Who appearances over the last coupld of years most notably as a Sontaran. I also quite liked Tessa Nicholson who plays Toasty Buchman, I thought that she was a very good character and Nicholson played her very well. She was like a younger version and possibly more innocent version of Flip.
I quite like Wirrn Isle. It feels more like a classic Doctor Who adventure and ends the series on a very high note. Had this been any other series then this would be a stand out story however due to The Curse of Davros and The Fourth Wall it doesn’t quite become the best however it is still one that could be listened to on its own and still be enjoyed
March 19, 2012
The Wrath of the Iceni (2012)
The latest story featuring the Fourth Doctor and Leela sees the TARDIS land in Britain at the height of the Roman occupancy. This a purely historical story which hasnt been done very often. The best one that Big Finish have done was the 2007 adventure 'Son of the Dragon' and a close second would be the 2005 adventure 'The Council of Nicaea'. It shows that just because there arent any aliens or anything that could be perceived as modern, doesnt mean that it cant be entertaining. It seems obvious that Leela should meet Boudica because they are so similar in that their attitudes to battle are pretty much the same. With a purely historical story you know that there is going to be the inevitable rules of not changing history which the Doctor has with Leela. There has to be a conflict and a reason why the story is set here and that is Boudica finds out that the Doctor knows how she will die and is trying to force the Doctor into confessing. Leela sides with Boudica and its only as the play progresses she realises that she might not be the person she was hoping she would be.
Ella Kenion is the best of the small guest cast as Boudica and she plays the character as a very strong character who tries to come across as the leader of the free but actually comes across as someone who isnt as nice as they think they are. Kenion had previously appeared in the 2011 episode 'Let's Kill Hitler' and she has also appeared in shows such as 'The Green Green Grass' and she is very good in this story. It's not very often that women get to be the lead like this and its commented on in the interviews at the end but its refreshing that this is the case and Kenion does it well. Tom Baker and Louise Jameson are both very strong in this and its an interesting direction that the show has taken because we never got to see Leela educated and this series has shown there are many good adventure to be had going down this particular road.
The Doctor's reluctance to get involved and Leela's determination to help out Bodicea causes the most significant split that there has been for quite sometime. Despite Leela siding with Boudica, she doesnt want the Doctor harmed which shows that there is still some feeling from her despite how she disagrees with the Doctor so much. This soon leads Leela to realise that Boudica isnt quite the woman that she thought she was. It's the old adage that you should never meet your hero because you'll only be disappointed. Leela might never have heard of Boudica before this adventure but she soon became someone she could relate to and in some ways admire her.
I really loved this story and found it to be thoroughly compelling from start to finish. I was worried that it was going to get bogged down in something dull but to be fair there is a sound reason for the story being in its setting and a strong plot which makes me wish that this were a slightly bit longer because I thought that there was enough to pad this out to be a four parter. John Dorney has written another solid story and its a return to form after a mixed previous story.
Ella Kenion is the best of the small guest cast as Boudica and she plays the character as a very strong character who tries to come across as the leader of the free but actually comes across as someone who isnt as nice as they think they are. Kenion had previously appeared in the 2011 episode 'Let's Kill Hitler' and she has also appeared in shows such as 'The Green Green Grass' and she is very good in this story. It's not very often that women get to be the lead like this and its commented on in the interviews at the end but its refreshing that this is the case and Kenion does it well. Tom Baker and Louise Jameson are both very strong in this and its an interesting direction that the show has taken because we never got to see Leela educated and this series has shown there are many good adventure to be had going down this particular road.
The Doctor's reluctance to get involved and Leela's determination to help out Bodicea causes the most significant split that there has been for quite sometime. Despite Leela siding with Boudica, she doesnt want the Doctor harmed which shows that there is still some feeling from her despite how she disagrees with the Doctor so much. This soon leads Leela to realise that Boudica isnt quite the woman that she thought she was. It's the old adage that you should never meet your hero because you'll only be disappointed. Leela might never have heard of Boudica before this adventure but she soon became someone she could relate to and in some ways admire her.
I really loved this story and found it to be thoroughly compelling from start to finish. I was worried that it was going to get bogged down in something dull but to be fair there is a sound reason for the story being in its setting and a strong plot which makes me wish that this were a slightly bit longer because I thought that there was enough to pad this out to be a four parter. John Dorney has written another solid story and its a return to form after a mixed previous story.
The Dark (2012)
The final part of this second series had a lot riding on it. It had to tell a good story whilst giving the listener a satisfying payoff. The previous story ended with Abbey and Zara being confronted by their daughter who we thought had perished in the first story.
This story is very much a character piece which did put me off at first because I was sort of expecting a big bang explosive ending not a story that we would get in the middle of the series. Once I thought about it I loved the story because it was dealing with something that doesnt get talked about very often and that is that everything has consequences and you have to be accountable for them. The person we thought of Joy tells us this story how she and Marek went from world to world before dieing and that she has a son. The troubling issues about threesomes and stuff like that continued to surface every so often which is possibly the biggest flaw that I can find with the story as I continue to maintain that it doesnt do the series any favours. I also found the fact that Abbey was going to 'get friendly' with Joy's 'son' was a tad bit unnecerary.
The story moves along at a reasonable pace which again was unexpected as this is suppose to be a series finale I was expecting more tension but instead what we got was the four characters moving from place to another and talking alot about how Zara wasnt a good mother and how both Abbey and Zara have been trying to mend their ways. Before I realised what sort of story this was going to be I was wondering when the more dramatic stuff was going to start and just what the threat was. The last ten minutes were absolutley brilliant because it explained what was going on and showed the main characters to be in danger and there didnt seem any way that they could be saved. The fact that Kreekpolt's daughter was happy enough to die on this world knowing what she had done to Abbey and Zara was something that is unusual to listen to but I felt that it make the character more psychotic than we had witnessed before.
In an plot twist which I didnt see coming, we learn that the woman who was pretending to be Joy was infact the daughter of Kreekpolt. The planet they were on was the rain planet that 'The End' and also 'The Chaos Pool' was set on and that the daughter had spent a ton of money making sure that the sisters could get on the planet but not off it. I absolutley loved the ending and its obvious even to a blind spielsnake that there will be a Graceless 3 but how it will be resolved will be very interesting to see. I also liked how Marek was the last voice that we heard. I cant believe I am going to write this considering that I wasnt a Marek fan but I actually missed Fraser James in this story.
As a story I must say that this was the best Graceless story EVER! I found it to be very emotional and the performances were very strong with Janson and Doddington to be on fine form. I always like Susan Brown ever since I saw her in Torchwood and her foray into Big Finish/Doctor Who has always been something entertaining. As a series this is much better than the first. It seems that things had settled down and the characters had been padded out so that they seemed more likeable and the performances were stronger as well. When Series 3 I would like there to be more stories because I think that three isnt long enough and also for different writers to be involved because as much as I enjoy a Simon Guerrier story I think that new and different writers will be able to take this series into different directions. But as it stands I enjoyed this second series and look forward to the third.
This story is very much a character piece which did put me off at first because I was sort of expecting a big bang explosive ending not a story that we would get in the middle of the series. Once I thought about it I loved the story because it was dealing with something that doesnt get talked about very often and that is that everything has consequences and you have to be accountable for them. The person we thought of Joy tells us this story how she and Marek went from world to world before dieing and that she has a son. The troubling issues about threesomes and stuff like that continued to surface every so often which is possibly the biggest flaw that I can find with the story as I continue to maintain that it doesnt do the series any favours. I also found the fact that Abbey was going to 'get friendly' with Joy's 'son' was a tad bit unnecerary.
The story moves along at a reasonable pace which again was unexpected as this is suppose to be a series finale I was expecting more tension but instead what we got was the four characters moving from place to another and talking alot about how Zara wasnt a good mother and how both Abbey and Zara have been trying to mend their ways. Before I realised what sort of story this was going to be I was wondering when the more dramatic stuff was going to start and just what the threat was. The last ten minutes were absolutley brilliant because it explained what was going on and showed the main characters to be in danger and there didnt seem any way that they could be saved. The fact that Kreekpolt's daughter was happy enough to die on this world knowing what she had done to Abbey and Zara was something that is unusual to listen to but I felt that it make the character more psychotic than we had witnessed before.
In an plot twist which I didnt see coming, we learn that the woman who was pretending to be Joy was infact the daughter of Kreekpolt. The planet they were on was the rain planet that 'The End' and also 'The Chaos Pool' was set on and that the daughter had spent a ton of money making sure that the sisters could get on the planet but not off it. I absolutley loved the ending and its obvious even to a blind spielsnake that there will be a Graceless 3 but how it will be resolved will be very interesting to see. I also liked how Marek was the last voice that we heard. I cant believe I am going to write this considering that I wasnt a Marek fan but I actually missed Fraser James in this story.
As a story I must say that this was the best Graceless story EVER! I found it to be very emotional and the performances were very strong with Janson and Doddington to be on fine form. I always like Susan Brown ever since I saw her in Torchwood and her foray into Big Finish/Doctor Who has always been something entertaining. As a series this is much better than the first. It seems that things had settled down and the characters had been padded out so that they seemed more likeable and the performances were stronger as well. When Series 3 I would like there to be more stories because I think that three isnt long enough and also for different writers to be involved because as much as I enjoy a Simon Guerrier story I think that new and different writers will be able to take this series into different directions. But as it stands I enjoyed this second series and look forward to the third.
March 15, 2012
The Flood (2012)
The second installment picks up straight after The Line which saw Marek and Joy wiped out of history. No time to mourn their loss because they find themselves on a ship that it in trouble and the story settles in a little bay/town where the residents are been evacuated except for two who become close to Abbey and Zara. There is a danger in the sea which at first seems to be killing people but are in fact actually are transporting people. In the end, everyone lives happily ever after the sea creature turns out to be pregnant and will have babies and then leave. The nice thing about these Graceless stories is how they link into each other and this one is perhaps the best one because we are introduced to a woman who turns out to be Joy but as an older woman which is quite an achievement consider how the character was left in the last story.
The Flood has a curious journey because it seems at first like it doesnt know quite what sort of story it wants to be and then once the sea creatures get into it then it finds its feet and it gets stronger but there was a good portion of the story where I wasnt quite sure what I was suppose to make of it. However due to the performances I was willing to go along with it.
Whilst I might not have been totally wild about the story at the beginning I felt that the one thing which was constant throughout the story were the performances. Michael Cochrane was a totally unexpected addition (I didnt look at the cast notes beforehand). His voice is instantly recognisable and his character was a very likeable and well acted role which is totally different to the sort of roles that Cochrane has played for Big Finish in the past. He seems to be well liked by the cast which is why there seems to be an ease when the characters are talking especially at the first scene they are all together.
Normally I dont mention the extras but I feel like I have to because the interviews with the story were the funniest that I have heard possibly ever due to Michael Cochrane. If you dont normally listen to them then I encourage you to do so because its the only time your going to get comedy in a Graceless story. The Flood is an odd story that only really finds its feet in the latter half of the adventure but it does lead to the a fantastic ending which came totally out of left field and sets up the final adventure nicely.
The Flood has a curious journey because it seems at first like it doesnt know quite what sort of story it wants to be and then once the sea creatures get into it then it finds its feet and it gets stronger but there was a good portion of the story where I wasnt quite sure what I was suppose to make of it. However due to the performances I was willing to go along with it.
Whilst I might not have been totally wild about the story at the beginning I felt that the one thing which was constant throughout the story were the performances. Michael Cochrane was a totally unexpected addition (I didnt look at the cast notes beforehand). His voice is instantly recognisable and his character was a very likeable and well acted role which is totally different to the sort of roles that Cochrane has played for Big Finish in the past. He seems to be well liked by the cast which is why there seems to be an ease when the characters are talking especially at the first scene they are all together.
Normally I dont mention the extras but I feel like I have to because the interviews with the story were the funniest that I have heard possibly ever due to Michael Cochrane. If you dont normally listen to them then I encourage you to do so because its the only time your going to get comedy in a Graceless story. The Flood is an odd story that only really finds its feet in the latter half of the adventure but it does lead to the a fantastic ending which came totally out of left field and sets up the final adventure nicely.
March 12, 2012
The Line (2012)
Ok so now I have caught up and have arrived at the second series which was suppose to be released in late 2011 but was delayed. The sisters are on a course of trying to do good. The story moves to where Marek grew up. It's here where people died but the oppertunity is there to change history. However before we get to the nitty gritty of this we get to some of the more adult stuff out in this review. I know that this is a more grown up series than other stuff that Big Finish produce but I dont know why that has to involve the sort of talk that we get from them.
Fraser James is very good as Marek and has come on quite a lot since the last series. He is more central to the storyline than he had been in previous stories because we get a bit of back story to him and learn what his dad was like. I also found Ciara Janson and Laura Doddington to also be on good form. It seems that they as well as Simon Guerrier seem to have got a hold of the characters and as a result the story felt more structured than the previous series and that's why I thought that this story was better than 'The Sphere'.
The point where Abbey and Zara start to transport the inhabitants from place to place is the prime example of why the Doctor is an important part of a sci-fi. As they were suppose to die the Doctor wouldnt change history yet Abbey and Zara do it with reckless ease. Their determination to do good would obviously have knock on effects and we have the most obvious result. Both Marek and Joy disappeared moments later. I do find it odd that neither Abbey or Zara didnt twig this would happen. Did they never go to Timeline 101 at school? This persumably gets rid of the baby which would have proved a heavy weight around the neck of the series, however this may be a red herring with two more stories in the series to go.
I liked this story as it was like the first series but seemed better structure wise and as a result was a better start to the series than the first and I have high hopes for the other two adventures.
Fraser James is very good as Marek and has come on quite a lot since the last series. He is more central to the storyline than he had been in previous stories because we get a bit of back story to him and learn what his dad was like. I also found Ciara Janson and Laura Doddington to also be on good form. It seems that they as well as Simon Guerrier seem to have got a hold of the characters and as a result the story felt more structured than the previous series and that's why I thought that this story was better than 'The Sphere'.
The point where Abbey and Zara start to transport the inhabitants from place to place is the prime example of why the Doctor is an important part of a sci-fi. As they were suppose to die the Doctor wouldnt change history yet Abbey and Zara do it with reckless ease. Their determination to do good would obviously have knock on effects and we have the most obvious result. Both Marek and Joy disappeared moments later. I do find it odd that neither Abbey or Zara didnt twig this would happen. Did they never go to Timeline 101 at school? This persumably gets rid of the baby which would have proved a heavy weight around the neck of the series, however this may be a red herring with two more stories in the series to go.
I liked this story as it was like the first series but seemed better structure wise and as a result was a better start to the series than the first and I have high hopes for the other two adventures.
March 07, 2012
The End (2010)
The final part of this series is a very different tale compared to the previous two. This episode seeks to try and tie up all the loose ends. The story has to achieve a lot in just sixty minutes. The one thing that has bugged me slightly about these stories is the lack of any obvious story arc. However what we get in The End is the return of Marek and also a fair amount of stuff from what happened in The Sphere. The story sees Marek return after taking Abbey and Zara to meet Kreekpolt who wants them to bring his daughter back to life. He has spent a fortune trying to go back in time to do this and despite knowing that it would pretty much kill the sisters, he still wants them to help.
I liked how there seemed to be a potential story arc for series two where the Kreekpolt's daughter seems to be wanting revenge for the death of her father. I think the series would benefit a female villain. I also liked how at the end, once they had resurrected Kreekpolt's daughter that they decided to turn good and only do good which seems to show that things will settle down for series 2. This was effectivley a look back at the events of the previous two stories, I thought that the moment when they realise that in the bar the crowd are the people who died on the sphere which forced Abbey to realise and acknowledge that her actions have consequences.
This was the best performance from both Ciara Janson and Laura Doddington. I thought that this story really showed what they can do. I actually quite like Marek in this which is a complete u-turn from The Sphere. I cant quite put my finger on what has happened to change my mind on him but his performance was pretty good. David Warner's appearance in this story was highly welcomed as I always think that Warner is a great actor and brightens up any story he is in.
I listened to this after purchasing the second series so I knew there would be more adventures but even at the time of release I would have suspected that there would be a second series because the ending was left open that was so wide you could park a bus through it. This story was a good way to end the series and as I get ready to listen to Series 2, I can honeslty say that I see why people were getting impatient about the delayed release of series 2.
I liked how there seemed to be a potential story arc for series two where the Kreekpolt's daughter seems to be wanting revenge for the death of her father. I think the series would benefit a female villain. I also liked how at the end, once they had resurrected Kreekpolt's daughter that they decided to turn good and only do good which seems to show that things will settle down for series 2. This was effectivley a look back at the events of the previous two stories, I thought that the moment when they realise that in the bar the crowd are the people who died on the sphere which forced Abbey to realise and acknowledge that her actions have consequences.
This was the best performance from both Ciara Janson and Laura Doddington. I thought that this story really showed what they can do. I actually quite like Marek in this which is a complete u-turn from The Sphere. I cant quite put my finger on what has happened to change my mind on him but his performance was pretty good. David Warner's appearance in this story was highly welcomed as I always think that Warner is a great actor and brightens up any story he is in.
I listened to this after purchasing the second series so I knew there would be more adventures but even at the time of release I would have suspected that there would be a second series because the ending was left open that was so wide you could park a bus through it. This story was a good way to end the series and as I get ready to listen to Series 2, I can honeslty say that I see why people were getting impatient about the delayed release of series 2.
March 05, 2012
The Fog (2010)
The second story in this Graceless series starts off with a mystery. How can Abbey and Zara be responsible for anything when they have only just arrived in their current location? Abbey and Zara find themselves in a village called Compton which is under attack from something that is hiding in the fog. The story spends a fair amount of time at the beginning really holding back on what's going on but this only goes on for a little while and then things start getting more interesting and we learn more about the fog. I quite liked this story as opposed to The Sphere. Partly because the setting and partly because the plot because I found it to be something that felt more like a Big Finish adventure. The idea that something hidden is affecting people is something that I love the idea of because I instantly want to know what or who is causing this and I must say that the answer was very good.
David Warner is quite simply a fantastic actor and its a shame that he's not in more things. He has a wonderful voice and a story is instatnly lifted just by his mere presence. As Daniel he is an important character which has been well written and complements Warner's style. I also like Patricia Brake as Nan, I thought that she was very good and together these two characters bought a lot of drama and tension to the story. Both Ciara Janson and Laura Doddington were quite good in this story with a much more balanced story for them than there was in The Sphere. The story benefits from not having Marek in it. I thought that just having the two main characters on their own was much better, thus proving the two's company saying.
The Fog is a nice story that has some great performances and hopefully the final story of this series will complement these stories.
David Warner is quite simply a fantastic actor and its a shame that he's not in more things. He has a wonderful voice and a story is instatnly lifted just by his mere presence. As Daniel he is an important character which has been well written and complements Warner's style. I also like Patricia Brake as Nan, I thought that she was very good and together these two characters bought a lot of drama and tension to the story. Both Ciara Janson and Laura Doddington were quite good in this story with a much more balanced story for them than there was in The Sphere. The story benefits from not having Marek in it. I thought that just having the two main characters on their own was much better, thus proving the two's company saying.
The Fog is a nice story that has some great performances and hopefully the final story of this series will complement these stories.
March 02, 2012
The Renaissance Man (2012)
After a great start with Destination Nerva and getting use to how the Fourth Doctor stories would work, I settled down to listen to this second stories with some excitment. It's written by Toms Tardis Award winning writer Justin Richards and it is an interesting story because it features Ian McNeice who has appeared in a Big Finish story before namely 2007's Immortal Beloved and of course recently appeared as Winston Churchill opposite Matt Smith's Doctor. The story sees the Doctor trying to continue Leela's education (which is something that never really got done on TV) and arrives in a quite little English village, its the second story in as many releases to have the setting of a lovely little village.
When listening to this story I did have a feeling that this was similar to the 2005 story 'Dalek' where a collector basically keeps everything locked under the ground but collects things because he likes it. In this story we have Harcourt (McNeice) who collects things to assume knowledge, persumably thinking that knowledge is power. I thought that this area of the story was what made it stand out for me. I thought that despite the unoriginal setting and the link to Dalek the whole story flowed pretty well. As this story is a two parter it means that some padding which would be required for a four parter isnt needed and so as a result time is short and everything has to matter but in the early stages I think that sufficent time was made to lay down the bits and pieces that would make up the story and Justin Richards did this very well.
Tom Baker continues to impress in these stories. His voice might be quite different from his time on TV but there are certain mannerisms and tones that help the listener believe that this is the Fourth Doctor. He doesnt sound like he is making that much of an effort yet it still sounds like he is having a lot of fun playing the Doctor (despite those Hornet Nest stories away from Big Finish). It's a times like this that I wish that Baker would have done Big Finish stories years ago but will embrace the fact that he's doing them and be happy with that. Louise Jameson is better than she ever was in these stories and continues that in this story. Ian McNeice is the best thing in this story because like Baker he is effortless and his performance is enjoyable throughout. As Harcourt, he is someone who thinks he is smarter than he actually is. It's hard to imagine McNeice without thinking of Winston Churchill. It's something that slightly marred the performance for me which isnt McNeice's fault but it's true. The rest of the supporting cast were also good Laura Molyneu (Beryl and Professor Lutthewaite) being another enjoyable performance.
The Renaissance Man is the story that I would really start to evaluate the series because Destination Nerva still had the novelty of the new series about it. Overall I liked this story, it was well written adn several of the characters were well written and well performed however I must admit that I did think it started to get a bit bogged down around the 2/3 mark but it managed to pull it together at the end and as a result was a good adventure and shows that this series has some even better moments going for it.
When listening to this story I did have a feeling that this was similar to the 2005 story 'Dalek' where a collector basically keeps everything locked under the ground but collects things because he likes it. In this story we have Harcourt (McNeice) who collects things to assume knowledge, persumably thinking that knowledge is power. I thought that this area of the story was what made it stand out for me. I thought that despite the unoriginal setting and the link to Dalek the whole story flowed pretty well. As this story is a two parter it means that some padding which would be required for a four parter isnt needed and so as a result time is short and everything has to matter but in the early stages I think that sufficent time was made to lay down the bits and pieces that would make up the story and Justin Richards did this very well.
Tom Baker continues to impress in these stories. His voice might be quite different from his time on TV but there are certain mannerisms and tones that help the listener believe that this is the Fourth Doctor. He doesnt sound like he is making that much of an effort yet it still sounds like he is having a lot of fun playing the Doctor (despite those Hornet Nest stories away from Big Finish). It's a times like this that I wish that Baker would have done Big Finish stories years ago but will embrace the fact that he's doing them and be happy with that. Louise Jameson is better than she ever was in these stories and continues that in this story. Ian McNeice is the best thing in this story because like Baker he is effortless and his performance is enjoyable throughout. As Harcourt, he is someone who thinks he is smarter than he actually is. It's hard to imagine McNeice without thinking of Winston Churchill. It's something that slightly marred the performance for me which isnt McNeice's fault but it's true. The rest of the supporting cast were also good Laura Molyneu (Beryl and Professor Lutthewaite) being another enjoyable performance.
The Renaissance Man is the story that I would really start to evaluate the series because Destination Nerva still had the novelty of the new series about it. Overall I liked this story, it was well written adn several of the characters were well written and well performed however I must admit that I did think it started to get a bit bogged down around the 2/3 mark but it managed to pull it together at the end and as a result was a good adventure and shows that this series has some even better moments going for it.
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