Flywheel Revolution (2015)

The original Short Trips was released in four volumes between November 2010 and August 2011 and each volume consisted of eight stories each featuring one Doctor. Now Big Finish have decided to bring the range back except release it one story at a time and obviously the first one is a First Doctor story written by Dale Smith who is making his Big Finish debut (as far as I am aware).

This story is one that is seen from the perspective of the natives rather than the Doctor or the companions. We are introduced to two robots called Frankie and Toby. They have basically have been left to rot on this planet. It’s hard not to feel sympathetic towards them.

The Doctor is seen as a monster which is quite amusing. The ‘monster’ basically does horrible things on the robots that are on the planet. I suppose from the perspective of the Doctor it might not seem such a bad thing and as a viewer/listener we always see/hear it from the Doctors POV but from the other side it seems so very different. There is the small matter of a wall which is referred to throughout the piece and the way that the wall was removed was quite a creative way and one that I thought worked well in this format.

The best thing about having Peter Purves narrate this story is that not only will we get a well told story but it means we get his very good William Hartnell impression. Purves performs from start to finish in a strong way and he has set the bar quite high in how the narration should be done for these stories. Flywheel Revolution is a welcome return for the range and I like the new 30 minute format because it means that there is going to be time for padding and that the story has to get going from the very beginning. Dale Smith had a tough job and handled it well and hopefully he will get a chance to write a full length and full cast audio because I think that he would do a good job.

Now before I sign off I have to address the pricing structure. For 30 minutes of fine drama all that you have to pay is £2.99. Doctor Who Magazine costs more than that, a bus ticket costs more than that so its fair to say that this is the definition of value for money. I am glad that the range is back and think that this new structure for the range means that it can go on for as long as Big Finish can find creative writers.