Just War (1999)

The final instalment of this Time Ring trilogy is perhaps the most downbeat Bernice Summerfield story so far. Written by Lance Parkin (Primeval) this story takes place in occupied Guernsey. Now any story that features Nazis isn’t going to be a laugh a minute. The story takes place during 1941 where Bernice is (yet again) stranded from Jason. The story is basically that the Nazis have technology which would help them win the war and Benny has to try and stop them. Well it was never going to be that simple otherwise it would be rubbish. This story features Maggie Stables who would go onto play the lovely Evelyn Smythe alongside the Sixth Doctor just a short time after this was released.

Whereas the stories that we have had from this series have varied in terms of tone but they have all remained pretty well light. This story is very dark. It’s very grim at times and almost uncomfortably so. The thought of the main character being beaten up is not one that I would say is suitable for children. It was a brave thing to have the lead character actually murder someone. I know he was a Nazi but even so it was not something that I was expecting to happen. This story doesn’t hold back its punches which is quite refreshing.

The performances in this are fantastic from top to bottom with Lisa Bowerman giving her best performance to date. She plays the scenes where she is being held captive by the Nazi’s particularly well and shows that even when not being an archaeologist the character of Benny is a strong one. This isn’t the sort of story where she can be normal everyday happy Benny but she has to play the broken character and it’s clear that by the end of the story she has some emotional scars which may never heal. This is also Stephen Fewell’s best story so far as he is given the best stuff to do since he was introduced to us. As the stories have been developing, so has the importance of Kane. In this story we get to see both sides of Jason’s character and Mark Gatiss’ performance is also very worthy of high praise. As Standardtenfuhrer Joachim Wolff, he is pretty recognisable but his character was very good and it’s the same with the other Nazi characters.  Maggie Stables is very good in this and the character of Ma Doras isn’t too far removed from that of Evelyn Smythe. It’s always nice to hear Stables as she has a wonderful voice for audio and it works really well here.

I like that it seems it is the events of ‘Just War’ that persuade Benny to never use the Time Ring. It’s certainly sound reasoning and the horrors of this adventure would put anyone off.  Out of the three stories in the trilogy it’s fair to say that this is the best and it’s also fair to say that this is the best Benny story so far but I suspect that the final story of this opening series will have a hard job to avoid it coming across as mediocre coming right after this thoroughly enjoyable adventure.

Rating – 8/10

Corruption (2006)

The I,Davros series enters the final half and this is where the story gets serious. Lance Parkin has written this story who wrote the 2003 story Davros which was a brilliant offering. So I had high hopes on that basis and also because the first two parts were strong episodes. The Davros we meet in this is slightly unhinged. He is hungry for power and his hunt for knowledge leads to him involved in an accident. This is where the story starts heading in a great direction. We know that Davros is in a chair when we meet him in Genesis of the Daleks. But until now it’s never been known how it happened. Parkin could have blown this moment but the build up is brilliantly done. Whereas the first two parts saw a gradual development in the character of Davros it seems that the fast forward button was pressed on this was but instead of a rushed effort it was a well structured piece.

Terry Molloy is on brilliant form again. The Davros he gets to play is closer to the Davros we all know and love. The Davros he plays in the first two stories were good but weren’t really what we wanted. Carolyn Jones is brilliant as Lady Calcula. There is something about this women that just screams evilness on a whole different level. It almost makes you feel sorry for Davros. When she witnesses the Thal massacre her reaction was unexpected but totally what you would expect from her. John Stahl was another actor on fine form. As the Kaled supremo he is a character that is totally believable and its hard to believe anyone else could play the part.

Corruption is everything that I expected it to be. Its dark and grim but totally engaging. There are characters in this series that are some of the strongest that I have ever heard. It sets up the final part up brilliantly and if there is ever another story about Davros then Lance Parkin should be asked to write it because he has definitely got a handle on the character.

Primeval (2001)

I have to say right now that I loved Primeval. It pushes Nyssa to the centre of the story and as this character is one of my favourites. It also sees the Doctor taking Nyssa back to Traken obviously some time before it was destroyed in Logopolis. Now the thing about Nyssa was that her potential was never met. She got trapped in the three companion system and only got her breath of fresh air in Arc of Infinity.

Nyssa’s life is in peril and according to the blurb on the back of the CD will die at dawn. This is due to her exposed to too much evil. However despite this fact it has very little to do with the actual story itself. The story is actually about Kwandaar Rebels who are trying to take control of the source. They may be Nyssa’s only hope of survival. The Traken is not the one that we saw in The Keeper of Traken but its actually quite darker. Almost like it was made for the new series. In fact there are several references to older TV stories but not to obvious to make the listener loose track of what is going on.

Peter Davison is very good in this story. There is genuine desire to try and get things going quickly enough to try and help his friend. I cant think off too many time when Davison’s Doctor is put in this kind of situation. Sarah Sutton is brilliant and gives the best performance for Big Finish. I think that this combination should have been given longer on TV. Its just as good if not better than the Third Doctor and Liz Shaw.

When I finished listening to this story I found myself loving it. Lance Parkin has written a story that is highly enjoyable. The characters were all really good and the pace of it wasn’t too fast but just right considering the plot. A story that should be listened to on a nice slow Sunday afternoon.

The Company of Friends (2009)

The Company of Friends is unofficially Big Finish’s 10th Anniversary story. They don’t acknowledge this anywhere in the release. Back with the 100th release they did 100 which saw four single part stories, then in November 2008 to celebrate the shows 45th Anniversary they did Forty-Five which again was four single part stories so it’s a logical conclusion to see this as a special. This is also the first Eighth Doctor adventure since The Girl Who Never Was back in December 2007. This release involved four companions who have at some point travelled with the Eighth Doctor. For those who have read the books with the Eighth Doctor will know who Fitz and Izzy are but for me I had no idea who they were but what writers have done is to start each episode with a monologue that explains their live and their involvement with the Doctor.

The first part was Benny’s Story. Everyone who has listened to Big Finish over the last 10 years will know of Bernice Summerfield. The thing that struck me about this story was how it felt like a Bernice play. It had the same quirky pace to it and it actually felt like the Doctor was a guest and it was Bernice who was the star not the other way round. The story was a relatively straight forward one which had nice characters in it. I particularly liked the role of Venhella who was your typical rich heiress who used her wealth to get what she wanted. Su Douglas was very good in this role as was Richard Earl who played Klarner. It was just a shame that he was killed off. Lisa Bowerman played Bernice like she normally does and by that I mean with a enthusiasm. She still seems to enjoy playing her even though she’s being soing it for over 10 years. Highly enjoyable story.

The second story was Fitz’s story. This one was ok but wasn’t anything to write home about. I think it might have had something to do with the role of Fitz being a cockney jack the lad. Its not very original and it just didn’t seem to be as strong as perhaps Bernice or Evelyn. The story itself was another enjoyable piece of 25 minutes. I thought that Matt Di Angelo was particularly good. I think that he made it a likeable character that worked well with the Doctor. Fenella Woolgar was the second big name of this story having appeared in The Unicorn and the Wasp (2008) and in this she gave a solid performance as Commander Hellan Femor.

The third story was my favourite. It was Izzy’s story that featured Jemima Rooper in the lead role. I though it was the best because it just had the best plot of the four. The idea that someone wants to go back in time to find out what happens in a missing comic is such a ludicrous idea that it actually makes sense. I noticed the mention of Stockbridge (which will be visited late in the year) but it was the second half of this story that I liked because it was that the comic was based on real life and the creatures were all real and had been censored off their own planet. Jemima Rooper was just superb as Izzy and I pray that she the character is bought back because she played it like a geeky version of Lucie Miller or even Rose.

The final story was perhaps the most intriguing as I wondered how a real person would figure in a science fiction show in a companion basis. The story itself was relatively simple and saw two versions of the Eighth Doctor. What I did like was how we learnt about the sadness of Mary Shelley’s life and how she took the offer of travelling with the Doctor without even thinking about it. Julie Cox plays Mary Shelley with the sense of the time she was in but willing to accept this extrodinary situation that she found herself in.

Paul McGann was superb in this story. This is the best performance that he has given for quite sometime and it was a chance for him to be put in a different situation. He seems to enjoy himself in all four episodes and does well creating a different relationship with each companion. Top stuff.

The writers all deserve praise. Lance Parkin wrote the Benny story and hopefully will write a full story in the future. Parkin previously wrote Primeval (2001) and also Davros (2003). Stephen Cole wrote a nice story that unfortunately falls down the list of enjoyment. Cole wrote The Land of the Dead (2000), The Apocalypse Element (2000) and The Wormery (2003) and only the second story was what I would consider to be a quality story. Alan Barnes is the best writer in this story. Unlike Brotherhood of the Daleks (2008) I understood Izzy’s story and so enjoyed it immensely. Finally Jonathan Morris wrote another good story like he did with The Haunting of Thomas Brewster (2008) and more recently Hothouse (2009). Nicholas Briggs was in the directors chair this time and he did a fantastic job and managed to make all the story flow and let seem alone at the same time.

I was very against single 25 minute stories when they first became normal back in 2007. I just found that they didn’t work however recently that has changed and I hope that they do more of these stories in the future because they are highly enjoyable and offer the listener something different. I wrote at the beginning that I though this story was the celebrate Big Finish’s 10th anniversary of doing Doctor Who stories. What a brilliant way of celebrating.

Davros (2003)

This story is the second story to form part of a trilogy of adventures featuring aliens that have featured in the Doctor’s past. Last month it was Omega and this time it is Davros, the genius/evil creator of the Daleks. Having appeared between 1975 and 1988 there is always room for bringing him back. This story was written by Lance Parkin who’s previous work for Doctor Who was Primeval (2001). This is by far a superior piece of work that unites one of the most iconic characters from the series.

This story centres around a corporation called Trans-Allied Ink. It is run by Arnold Baynes and his wife Lorraine Baynes. Both characters are very well written and well acted by Bernard Horsfall (who has appeared in several TV adventures during the 60’s and 70’s) and former companion Wendy Padbury (Zoe Heriot). Together they just gelled and acted like a couple. It was in particular Lorraine that interested me as she was a historian who was just asking for trouble by trying to put a sympathetic slant on the Daleks. As a couple they were both greedy and don’t care how or who they use to get results.

To say that Colin Baker and Terry Molloy are superb with each other would be understatement of the century. Truly they are superb and seem to revel in one ups-man ship. The Doctor seems to enjoy winding up Davros which is entertaining to listen to. They had previously appeared together in Revelation of the Daleks (1985). In that the scenes that they were on screen together were some of the best of the story. The story is a very good one that slowly unravels and over the course of the story we are lead to believe that Davros is a changed being. There was something in my mind that says this was an act because characters like Davros don’t change their spots. No matter what may have happened before there is no way someone like Davros would change and it was only a matter of time before he showed his true colours.

If there is a fault with this story it is the length. Episode 1 is nearly 74 minutes long and Episode 2 is 78 minutes long. To me there were moments that I felt it needed a break. As much as I loved hearing the Doctor and Davros bicker I just felt that it perhaps would have been even better as 4 x 45 minute episodes.

What Lance Parkin has done is to Davros doesn’t need Daleks to prop him up and that the character itself is strong enough to be able to cause menace on his own. The role of Davros kind of got a bit insane in the 1980’s but that sort of got pulled back a bit in this story but it was essentially the same Davros. Gary Russell does his usual very good job as director I think he does have to share the blame for the length of each episode. That aside I think that all the scenes that mattered and the actual flow of the story is very well done.

Aside from the slight issue with the duration, I think that this is a thumping good story with characters that enjoyable and a plot that is structured well that is executed in the correct manner. I think that the following story will have to do something pretty big to outshine this story.