The Emerald Tiger (2012)

2012 Toms Tardis Award Winner
Best Main Range Story
Best Main Range Writer - Barnaby Edwards
Best Main Range Director - Barnaby Edwards
Best Main Range Music & Sound Design - Howard Carter

It’s hard to believe that this is the third series to feature the trio of Nyssa Tegan and Turlough. This trio has been the best for the last couple of years and in fact won the Best Series award in 2010. After a long time of waiting for Tegan to return in a full series of adventures, it’s nice to say that that wait has been worth it. The third series kicks off with The Emerald Tiger written by award winning writer and director Barnaby Edwards. It’s true to say when you know a story is written by a certain person you sort of know what to expect. This rule applies to Nicholas Briggs, Marc Platt, Alan Barnes and also Barnaby Edwards. Set in India in 1926, the story seems to have a start which owes something to ‘Black Orchid’ (1982) where in that story the Doctor, Nyssa, Tegan and Adric arrive at a train station and stumble across a cricket match. In this instance, they are there for a cricket match and before we know our LBW from our elbow the story moves onto a train where there is the for mentioned Emerald Tiger.

On the train we meet two people who have completely different stories. Firstly there is Lady Adela Forster (Cherie Lunghi) who has hired the train to go to a cave to blow up an entrance. Then there is Major Cyril Haggard (Neil Stacy) who is running away from the police after commiting a crime. It isn’t long before their seemingly random paths cross and it helps the early stages of this story move along until the second part of the story. It’s quite good set-up for the main part of the story which is done very well.

The final episode was different from what I was expecting. It seemed that we were going to get a reprise from part three but it starts off with Tegan who we haven’t heard from for a while and after a minute or so I thought that this was a great idea that this was going to be Tegan’s episode but after a couple of minutes it went back to being a normal episode which I was slightly disappointed with but the rest of the episode made up for it. Normally, I get annoyed when writers ‘kill’ off one or more of the companions because I think that it’s the stupidest thing to do because we know they make it and the idea that we are supposed to suspend our disbelief is pointless. However when it’s done right then it’s done well and what Barnaby Edwards does is use it help create some tension between the Doctor and Turlough and it also acted as an incentive to try and rescue Nyssa. So in this instant I found the idea of ‘killing off’ a companion a good one but it isn’t one that should be returned to in the near future.

The performances in this are very good indeed. I thought that Cherie Lunghi was very good because she started off as this quite stuck up and unlikeable character but as the plot moves on she becomes someone who has suffered tragedy and we understand why she is as she comes across. I liked how her character exited. It must have been tempting to kill off the character in some sort of self-sacrifice to save her newly discovered son but thankfully they decide to live in the jungle. I also liked Neil Stacey who played Haggard because he was sort of the person we love to hate and he pulled that off very well.

The Emerald Tiger is another good story from Barnaby Edwards. I thought that the story was plotted very well and it knew what it wanted to be and kept its eye on the prize and as a result its possibly one of my favourite stories of 2012 so far. The third series of Nyssa/Tegan/Turlough has kicked off in fine style and I’m looking forward to what the next two stories have in store. Good stuff.

RATING: 8/10

Energy of the Daleks (2012)

It's fair to say that there was a certain amount of expectation going into the fourth release of this inaugrial series of 4th Doctor adventures. Not only was it a Dalek adventure but it was the first time that Leela encounters them. This is the third time that the Fourth Doctor has encountered his greatest enemy but chronologically speaking, it was his second because this takes place before Destiny of the Daleks (1979). Almost immediatley this story felt like a Nicholas Briggs story because it was well paced and the initial 10 minutes were very highly enjoyable.

There wasnt anything particuarly spectacular about the Dalek's plan because it seems to fit in pretty well with their usual plans for the Earth. However that doesnt mean its not good because Nicholas Briggs manages to make a standard plot seem that bit more better. I've always been a big fan of Brigg's stories because they dont get bogged down in over complicated story lines and gets down to business and delivers a solid storyline, well crafted characters and its hard to dislike this story. It's not the greatest Dalek story that Big Finish has ever done, I still maintain the Enemy of the Daleks (2009) is the greatest Dalek story that BF have done but this story is in the top 5.

Mark Benton is the biggest name in this story. This isnt his first foray into the Doctor Who world as he previously appeared in the 2005 TV story 'Rose'. I thought that the character he plays was a pretty good one but made better because of Benton's comedic style. As Jack Colson, he is someone who when we first meet is someone who is suppose to be a force for good and against those that dont do good for society. However as the story progresses he becomes more likeable and does well as the Doctor's sidekick whilst Leela is having scenes with the Daleks. Louise Jameson is very good in this story. After having a story where she basically leads it in Wrath of the Iceni, she continues that strong showing in her first (and hopefully not last) encounter with the Daleks. This was the first story that Tom Baker recorded for Big Finish and its the first story that seemed to be closest to the 1977 version of the Doctor. The delivering of certain lines seemed to be delivered with the same sort of energy that it would have done on TV.

Energy of the Daleks isnt the best story of this series but I still think its a good effort. There is a lot to like about this story and its nice to say that Leela has met the Daleks. All we need is for her to meet the Cybermen and she's done the set. The Fourth Doctor adventures are still living up to what I hoped they would be and this story doesnt let the side down at all and Baker and Jameson are working well together and appearing to be having fun.

The Hourglass Killers (2012)

The final story of the fourth series follows on from the (not so) surprising revelation that Dark was in fact the Doctor. As Colin Baker appears so does Terry Molloy, making his first non-Davros appearance in a Big Finish adventure since 2008’s Kingdom of Silver. Written by Justin Richards, this final story is clearly designed to be the big finale which the previous three stories seemed to lack. This is the fourth story that Justin Richards has written for this range and he seems to the writer who has the best handle on what it takes to come up with a great adventure. His previous stories (The Bloodless Soldier, Litefoot and Sanders & Dead Men’s Tales) were the best stories from each of their respective series and this trend continues with The Hourglass Killers. The story sees the revelation that Mr Hardwick and Mr Kempston are after the Doctor or more importantly (?) after the TARDIS because they want time travel.

The truth about Mr Hardwick and Mr Kempston being sand was quite a surprise. I do think of that character in the third Spider-Man film which was made of sand and instantly thought this was better done. Their intention is not quite so much of a surprise but it was still fun. The plot is a good one though I was worried that the introduction of the Doctor would be a problem as it would blur the lines and also would turn Jago and Litefoot from leading characters to supporting ones. Thankfully this wasn’t the case though it did feel slightly strange finding that the Doctor was the supporting character but it didn’t last long as the story was good enough to maintain my attention.

I thought the departure scene was actually my favourite scene in the entire thing. I thought that Leela’s departure was well done and it was actually quite sad that after 8 adventures, Leela won’t be with Jago and Litefoot. However it got better when the Doctor offered Jago and Litefoot the opportunity to fly the TARDIS. Thankfully they accepted the offer because it would be nice to have Jago and Litefoot in an alien world or a futuristic setting. All the performances are solid. Both Trevor Baxter and Christopher Benjamin have not put a foot wrong and I thought the Benjamin was possibly the better of the two. It will be sad that Louise Jameson won’t be in these stories because she has added something different to the partnership of Jago and Litefoot and despite this being the eighth or ninth story to feature Leela that I have heard since the start of the year, I haven’t tired of Jameson or Leela. I think that Leela has suited Jago and Litefoot and the style of stories in this series very well. Colin Baker did a good job in not taking over this story. Normally he doesn’t have to try hard to be noticed in the main range stories but he did well in coming across as an equal to Benjamin and Baxter. Lisa Bowerman seldom gets a mention in these reviews and I thought she was great in this story. The character of Ellie has always been in the background in these stories but she has consistently been a very good character and I just loved the scenes where she and Benjamin had to pretend to be the Doctor and Leela. She managed to pull it off and if Louise Jameson ever decides to stop playing Leela then with a tiny bit of tweaking, Lisa could take over. Terry Molloy did a good job despite his character not being in it for very long. It’s always good to have Molloy in anything.

The Hourglass Killer ought to be the best story of the series and it should but that’s only because the previous three have felt like they were good but lacking something. Overall whilst this has been an ok series it hasn’t been as good as the previous three. Though I think that at some point the series was going to through up something that didn’t meet the high standard that the series has set for itself it was still worth the money and the future of the series looks as strong as ever.

The Lonely Clock (2012)

The penultimate adventure of this story is the first one that I truly feel delivers in terms of story arc payoff. Written by Toms Tardis Award winning author Matthew Sweet, this story continues straight after the proceeding story where they have been led there like livestock is led onto a truck. The story starts off in quite a curious way when we meet Winnie who has apparently killed someone. In this story we meet the duo of Mr Kempston and Mr Hardwick. The whole purpose of the train going nowhere was a trapped for Claudius Dark who has been a peripheral figure despite Big Finish’s attempts to make us thing he is someone big and important. However just when it looks like Dark’s involvement was going to be relatively small we get the final few minutes. As the plot goes, I must admit that I found it at times difficult to follow, it was quite a long time into the story before I got to grips with it but it was easier to understand than Sweet’s previous story for the series.

I must admit that I saw the revelation at the end of the story coming. If Baker wasn’t playing the Doctor then why not cast a different actor in the role. Like the previous two stories from this series, Baker’s involvement was somewhat restricted which is slightly infuriating. I liked this story a lot more than I did Sweet’s other story (The Man at the End of the Garden). I thought that this was more in keeping with the style of Jago and Litefoot. I thought that the mystery with what was going on with Jago and Litefoot and what was going on with Ellie and Leela. I loved how gradually the two plot strands seemed to be the same yet were still separate. The two double acts worked incredibly well. Jago and Litefoot always works but it was the Ellie and Leela relationship that I was most impressed with because even though they are from two time zones they are effectively the same intellect. I think that it was these double acts that helped me get through the story as the pace was relatively slow or at least slower than most Jago and Litefoot stories. With Jago and Litefoot, it was the first time this series that I felt they were even in terms of how much of the story they were given. This might have something to do with the fact they spend the entire story together and neither of them outshone the other which was nice to see.

I’m not totally sold on this story, there certainly are elements that work in this story and I can’t say that I was ever bored however as the story progressed and in the brief moments that I had time to think I was just wondering why I wasn’t as gripped as I should be. Whilst I mull over this particular conundrum, I finished listening to this story looking forward to the final story, hoping that this will be they have saved the best story till last because I am starting to worry that this won’t be the best series due to the underwhelming feeling that I have for this series.

Beautiful Things (2012)

The second part of this fourth series of Jago and Litefoot sees a literary classic individual enter the story. Thankfully we got a bit more of Colin Baker but it was more of a cameo than anything else. We learn that he and Leela were responsible for Jago and Litefoot being in Brighton in the previous story. The story does involve Mr Oscar Wilde which is someone that I never would have expected to be used in one of these stories. The story has a nice set up because we arrive at Litefoot’s house and it’s not long before Wilde is introduced into the story. Baker’s character instigates what happens in this story by giving Jago tickets to see Wilde who is someone that he likes/admires a lot. I liked how there was an instant dislike of Wilde by Litefoot and it seemed like it was going to be another story where Jago drives the story as Litefoot is resorted to spending time with corpses.

What writer John Dorney has cleverly done is to make several lines very wordy. By that I mean using words that wouldn’t look out of place in Stephen Fry’s head. I can’t remember what they were but there was a moment when Oscar Wilde was talking and was rattling off a list of very big words and it seemed after a while that Dorney was having fun with this and it became a funny thing because of it. As Oscar Wilde, Alan Cox is very good and is arguably the best thing in this story. He delivers the long words like he says it all the time and comes across as a credible and believable Oscar Wilde. The regulars are on fine form again with Christopher Benjamin coming across as being given the most to do for the second story running. I still enjoyed his performance and liked how he was pretty much having a hissy fit because of Wilde.

I thought that Beautiful Things was a nice story but not quite on par with Jago in Love. I found the story to be quite interesting and moves along at the right pace. There were interesting characters and the directing was also enjoyable because the final scenes were highly atmospheric. I did quite like the ending as this series seems to have some quite nice cliff hangers. The different feel that this fourth series seems to have is still taking a bit to get use to but I can’t say that I dislike them. It does feel like they are building up to something big which will hopefully come.

Jago in Love (2012)

Jago and Litefoot return for a fourth series much to the delight of people like myself who think that this spin-off has been one of the most enjoyable that Big Finish have ever done. It’s possibly when the series might struggle because very few series have got this far. Gallifrey and Dalek Empire are quite different from how they began and it was going to be interesting to see how this series would be compared to the first three. Louise Jameson is still in Jago and Litefoot which wasn’t the plan originally and Jago in Love is the sixth story to feature Leela this year but that isn’t a complaint more a statement. The story does a nice thing of replaying a few moments of the previous story because it had been a while since I listened to Chronoclasm and it was good that this was included so that I had a vague idea of where the story was coming from. Sadly my first complaint is that there isn’t enough Colin Baker. I know we will get more in future stories but I’m an impatient soul and would like more please. Well the story sees Jago and Litefoot deal with vampires of a sort but it’s the setting which helped make this more than just a normal vampire story (as if there is such a thing in the Dr Who world!). Moving the story to Brighton helped create a different feel to the story. Much in the way an episode of Eastenders or something that is based in one town changes when they go somewhere different this is what happens in this story.

I also liked how the first half of the story seemed to be told in a flashback. We learn how the three characters go from London to Brighton and we also discover that Jago is as the title suggests in love. Also as the title suggests, the story is led by Christopher Benjamin and he is given the lion shares of the story and also of the dialogue. This means that Trevor Baxter is rather like a spare part and only really comes into the story when he becomes possessed. There was a moment when they talk about his face and the reaction from the people around show that this would have looked great on TV. That’s the thing about Jago in Love is that I think it doesn’t try and big itself up and by that I mean whereas I have always found the opening story of the previous three series to be arguably the best and most enjoyable I don’t think that same about this one. That isn’t to say I don’t like this but I think that they have been clever in not putting all their eggs in one basket, they are simply telling a good story and introducing a few nuggets of a story arc. The story spends a while building up the drama and it’s a while before it really goes bonkers and that’s when the story really shows what it’s made of. I did suspect that there was something odd about Abigail Woburn because… well there wouldn’t be any point in ruining a perfectly good partnership otherwise.

The performances in this are all very good. Christopher Benjamin manages to make his performance seem effortless and it was actually quite nice to see Litefoot genuinely happy for once and Benjamin showed that in this story. Baxter as I have mentioned had less to do but still managed to make it seem like his contribution was just as big as always. Louise Jameson was also side-lined and I think that 2012 is her year and whilst this isn’t possibly as strong as her other stories with the Fourth Doctor, I still think that the Leela we get in for Big Finish is superior to what we had on TV. I also thought that Elizabeth Counsell was very good as the love interest. I believed in her character and found that she was the perfect person to try and ‘ruin’ the relationship between Jago and Litefoot, the sort of person that Henry Gordon Jago would go for. Nigel Fairs is a writer that sometimes I think is ok and sometimes isn’t. I found Time Vampire to be very poor but I have to say that this is his best offering so far. I think that it’s a completely different opening story to what we have had in the past and Fairs’ script has managed to be entertaining and different from what we have had in the past. I wondered at the beginning whether the fourth series would be where the it loses steam and starts to go off the rails but I’m glad to say that the dynamic duo of the Victorian age are as on form as ever. I look forward to the remaining story with the same level of excitement that I had before Jago in Love.