The Jupiter Conjunction (2012)

After a highly enjoyable story last month, I knew as I started to listen to The Jupiter Conjunction that it would have to try very hard to beat that story. It is written by Eddie Robson who is someone that I rated quite highly when he first started to write stories for Big Finish but it’s cooled somewhat in the last year or so. Prime example is the 2010 release ‘Industrial Evolution’ which I wasn’t wild about whereas stories such as Human Resources, The Condemned and The Five Companions are stories which are enjoyable and very strong. The Jupiter Conjunction sees the TARDIS crew arrive on a comet near Jupiter and in no time at all the Doctor and Turlough are put on trial. It’s not long before the story moves into a political style conspiracy where Earth are being tricked into starting a war because of an alien species that they have never heard of.  

Rebecca Front returns to the Big Finish world after her appearance in ‘The Mind’s Eye’ back in 2007, the BAFTA winning actress played Patricia Walton. I thought that the character was very strong and well performed by Front. If I had to pick a fault then it would be that I wish she had made it through to the end. Another person that I thought did well was Zoe Lister who played Violet Silvaner. Again a well written character that was helped by Lister’s performance. The regulars are also on good form with the fantastic double act of Davison and Strickson shining through. Fielding and Sutton also did well and it showed that the Doctor/Turlough and Tegan/Nyssa splits are the best.

The Jovians are the alien presence in this story and whilst at first I was a little put off by the slow nature of their talking. By the end I had been totally won over by them and found them to be an interesting addition. They were interesting because they seemed very powerful but not egomaniacal. They weren’t interested in being the next Dalek Empire or Cyber force but they were still relevant to the story. Philip Pope deserves praise for coming up with a voice that stands out. I don’t know whether they have enough mileage to be used in future stories but I liked how Robson started them off as the bad guys but by the end their true points were shown I think this reinforced how much I liked them.

This isn’t on par with ‘The Emerald Tiger’ but then again I never expected it to be, it did seem to faulter a little part way through episode three but I think that by this point it had earned enough of my good will that I let it slide. It’s the best Eddie Robson story for sometime and there is something about the next story which I am quite excited about.

Test of Nerve (2002)

The third instalment of this short lived (relatively) series is the best so far because it seems like the best structured. It’s been ten years or so since this story was released and several months since I listened to the previous adventure but my impression of those stories is that they were ok but didn’t feel like Sarah Jane Smith was the main character. In the first story, the series was trying to find its feet and the second one was better but seemed at times like a confusing adventure. This adventure sees a potential nerve gas being released into the public. The story is a race against time and with a limited number of options for Sarah Jane, the series had the problem of how was it going to get out of the corner that the put itself into following the previous two adventures.

It’s quite sad listening to these stories with Elisabeth no longer with us but in this story I feel like she’s given a story that suits her character and is closer to what would become the Sarah Jane Adventures. Sladen gives a strong performance where SJ conflicts with Josh and Nat and at times this reminded me of the Doctor’s relationships with his companions. The sort of danger that the Doctor was putting his companions in is mirrored in these stories except this time its SJ putting people in danger.  As the ‘companions’ in this story, both Josh and Natalie enjoy their fair share of the story I think the death of Claudia might be something that the producers regret because I thought that the character was a nice little yet subtle plot device. It doesn’t mean that her death wasn’t sad but I think it’s just one of those things that could have been saved for another time maybe.

As the villain of the piece, Harris was a very effective one and quite a nasty bag of washing as my mom would say. He seemed to carry himself very well as Robin Bowerman pulled it off with a fair amount of ease. The death of Carver was quite a grim one, especially for Big Finish. The idea of someone jumping in front of a train is something that I find uncomfortable because the thought is so sad. It was clear that the character was going to die in some way, I just wish that it had been something else. I didn’t realise this but the character of John Carver was played by the one and only the late Roy Skelton. That just makes the character even better, there was something about the character that stayed just ahead of wasteful. It was clear that the character was a puppet as the early scenes made the character look unstable and not capable of pulling off such an ambitious plan.

The ending is the perfect way to end this strong release. We have the return of Miss Winters who previously appeared in the 1974 adventure ‘Robot’. It promises that the Ghost Town will be just as good. Whereas the previous two stories were clearly to designed to move introduce the new characters and introduce Sarah Jane Smith to a new(ish) audience, this story was the unofficial start to the series and raced away with a solid story, solid characters and a thoroughly enjoyable release.

The Wanderer (2012)

There is always something of a buzz when I hear that there is a William Russell Companion Chronicle coming out. It might have something to do with the fact that Russell is fantastic in whatever story he is in. Even in The Rocket Men which I wasn’t wild about I still liked Russell’s performance. The story sees the TARDIS crew arrive in Siberia at the turn of the century, the Doctor and Susan become ill and Ian has work with a mysterious wanderer (hence the title) called Grigory who believes that he has the power to heal people. Grigory goes by another name and that is Rasputin. The story also has a science element when there is an alien device that has the potential to do what the Doctor at this time in the shows history was unable to do and that is to take Ian and Barbara back to 1963.

The story starts off in quite a slow fashion but that suits the setting of the story. Normally I’m a bit slow to pick up on clues but even I managed to guess it was Rasputin but that doesn’t mean it was badly done. I’m just quite chuffed with myself for getting it before the reveal. The story deals with the issue of being a wanderer very well as of course the TARDIS crew are wanderers themselves. The fact that Ian and Barbara would look for any opportunity to get home and this was the closest that they had managed at the time to getting back to 1963. I thought that the alien aspect was rather well done but this definelty felt like a character piece as opposed to a sci-fi adventure. It’s this series that allows this sort of story to thrive and Richard Dinnick has written a sound story.

William Russell is brilliant in this and as mentioned in the extras, he could literally read the phone book and it would sell. Russell has a wonderful voice and manages to set the scene at the beginning far better than the music and sound effects. Ian Chesterton is one of my favourite characters and I suppose that I am slightly biased with my reviews but I think that Russell drives the story and makes it’s the main selling point. As the other cast member, Tim Chipping was really good as Grigory/Rasputin and he had some really good scenes. It’s a very intriguing character and Chipping does his best to show this. The two of them worked very well together and its this working relationship that is essential in determining whether a story will be poor, average or brilliant.

The Wanderer is a good story which has an engrossing plot, compelling and more importantly entertaining. If I had to pick a fault and it’s a tiny fault then it’s that William Russell’s impression of the Doctor isn’t as good as Peter Purves’ but Frazer Hines is king of the impressions.