Human Resources (2007)

Well all good things must come to an end. After six weeks of adventures the whole plot point of Lucie would be concluded. Human Resources is the final story of the season however forms the seventh and eighth story in the series and it begins at a very strange point because in No More Lies, Lucie has been taken by the Headhunter. This story was written by Eddie Robson who had penned the last 8th Doctor story in the regular range Memory Lane (2006) That story has something in common with Human Resources in that is complicated in some ways. I wasn’t a major fan of that story but there were some enjoyable elements. You have to really listen to these stories otherwise you are completely lost. This story has a lot to live up to after the great opening of Blood of the Daleks and the strong consistent stories in between it was important to make sure this story wasn’t a letdown. It’s hard to believe that its only been six weeks since the start of this adventure.

After using the Daleks to open the series it was only fitting to use the Cybermen to finish it off. The Cybermen are used in this story in a way that they haven't been used before in this audio range. The idea that they weren't looking for trouble but now are set on taking over Earth is like waking a sleeping giant in that it will get you into trouble waking them. There were several different plot points in this story and some of them worked and some didn't. The plot point that Lucie was working for a company that was secretly terror forming planets but using people like Lucie to work on the information was a good line, the other plot point that the reason for Lucie been paired with the Doctor was done by the Timelords who were removing her because they had made so many changes to her timeline that she needed to be taken out so they could sort itself out was also a clever part except until you realise that the Timelords or CIA got the wrong person was a bit of a anti-climax because your would have thought that a race of people who had developed time travel wouldn't make a silly mistake like getting the wrong person but that doesn't really spoil the story too much.

Due to the fact that there 100 minutes instead of the usual 50 it gave Robson and co a lot longer to develop some of the plot points. It enabled the relationship between Lucie and Karen. Within just a few well written scenes we got the feeling that these two characters would be going out on a Friday night in Blackpool.

The story moves along a quick pace over the two parts and the cast have a lot to do with that. Paul McGann is great as the Doctor because he has gotten to like Lucie and when you think of what their relationship was like in Blood of the Daleks then it has come a long way and mixed in with the threat of the Cybermen, McGann is given a lot to do and works well with the dialogue he is given. Sheridan Smith deserves a great amount of praise because she has consistently put in superb efforts in every story and the final two parts are where she really shines through. Over the past eight episodes she has shown what an important character she has been. I hope that this continues in future adventures. Nickolas Grace was very good in this story. Grace had previously appeared in the 2002 story Bang-Bang-A-Boom and also has appeared in the fantastic House of Cards, My Family and The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles (1993) appears in this story as the Timelord Straxus, The character is very much how you would imagine the Timelords to be and when he swans in to meet the Doctor it just has the air of arrogance which is how the Timelords have been portrayed. Katarina Olsson has been one of the best things in this series. In this series she played the Headhunter and puts in her best performance in this story as she is given some good dialogue. Roy Marsden who appeared opposite the Tenth Doctor in Smith and Jones plays Hulbert who is the owner of Hulbert Logistics which is where the story is set and the character is well rounded and has some good scenes in this story. Owen Brenman was very good in this story as Jerry. He is the David Brent of this story. He cracks terrible jokes and wants to be everybody’s friend which isn’t exactly original but is done well in this story. Andrew Wisher was also very good as Malcolm. Even though he entered in this story quite late he managed to contribute a lot to the story and interacted well with the other characters.

The Cybermen were very good in this story and they weren’t wasted at all. Big Finish always try and do something different with monsters that are familiar to all Doctor Who fans and they managed it again in Human Resources. Their sound is always different and I thought that it was the best one. Nicholas Briggs is the gov’ner of Cybermen/Dalek voices and yet again his made the Cybermen seem like a genuine threat.

Overall these two stories are well acted and well written if a bit over complicated but because of the length of each episode there is just enough time to explain all the plots and give enough dialogue to justify having each character in the story. The idea of the Doctor offering Lucie the chance to join him in the TARDIS after everything they have endured during these two parts was nice because it mirrors the 10th Doctor and Martha in the TV series but in the audio version Lucie accepts the Doctors offer and that means we will get some more adventures in this combination. Eddie Robson has written a superb story that delivered what we all hoped for and shows why he is becoming one of the best writers for the range. Nicholas Briggs also directed a story that maintained pace and enjoyment throughout.

I really like the series as a whole.

Bloodtide (2001)

'Following on from last month's release 'Dust Breeding' which saw the return of a classic enemy in the form of the master, it was time for another to appear and this time it was the Silurians. They have made appearances in Doctor Who and the Silurians in 1970 and in Warriors of the Deep in 1984. This story had the potential to be a great story.

This is Jonathan Morris's debut story and he has written a script that has a lot of pace and more importantly it had the entertaining factor. The Actors in this all work well and the use of Silurians are used in a constructive way and you get the feeling that the story isnt around just to say 'Hay, lets have the Siluairans, that would be good for a laugh'. They are integral to what makes the story what it is.

Colin Baker is very good as we have come to expect and it is interesting to see his version of the doctor develop to what it has got to now and it shows what could have been achieved with the role given the right people and scripts. Maggie Stables is excellent as Evelyn, this is now her fifth story and the role is a good companion. Daniel Hogarth is very good as Tulok and all the other cast members which included Jez Fielder who played Frobisher in the Holy Terror and the writer of Jubilee Robert Shearman.

The script is very good and moves along at a great pace and overall this is a very good story which was helped with a batch of good actors and good music. One of the all-time greats of the Big Finish series.'

Mother Russia (2007)

Mother Russia is the opening story of Series 2 from Companion Chronicles. Following on from the success of the first series it was important that they Learn from the mistakes that were made in the first series. This story is written by Marc Platt who wrote Frostfire which opened up Series 1 was an interesting story but largely ordinary. Marc Platt is a very good writer but he does have a tendency of writing stories that are just a bit too complex and as a result I don’t enjoy them as much, he penned the story Ghostlight for Slyvester McCoy’s Doctor in 1989. He went on to write Spare Parts in 2002 which is a fantastic story.

Read by Peter Purves who played Steven Taylor from 1965-66 lends his voice very well to this story switching from the scenes with the Interrogator and the main action. Purves is a very good actor not just obviously from his time in Doctor Who but from his presenting skills on Blue Peter. Whilst he does well with telling the story his impression of the Doctor is not as good but then again in the CD Extras part at the end of the story he freely admits that there not that good. It is something that has been quite consistent with all these stories is that the companion are not brilliant at doing the voices of the Doctors but then again if they could they would be giving Rory Bremner a run for his money. What strikes me about this story is that it feels like a William Hartnell story in that it seems to take place over several weeks which is what happens in quite a lot of the early William Hartnell stories. I rather like that because it feels like the characters are getting to know each other and that can change how they react with each other and it gives a lot more freedom to the writer to change the focus of a story though it doesn’t happen here.

One of the things that I noticed in this story is that the characters have been portrayed in a slightly different way to how they were on TV. Dodo who was utterly annoying when she travelled with the Doctor mainly because of Jackie Lane and because she didn’t do anything of any worth during her time was treated in this story in a slightly more appealing way. The character of Steven also had its drawbacks on TV. I often thought he came across slightly patronising to Dodo (even though she deserved it!). In Mother Russia he became the outsider and also became the moral compass of the story and that was a nice change for the character and that credit should go to Marc Platt. Mother Russia is a cracking script from Platt and sets up the series very well. The thing that strikes me about this story is how it doesn’t drag which is quite different from Frostfire. The level of enthusiasm that Peter Purves puts into telling this story is what helps carry the story along. For someone like me who doesn’t tend to read books that much it helps that the person who is reading the story is enthusiastic and doesn’t have a boring voice.

Overall this was a thoroughly impressive story which was entertaining in all senses of the word. Marc Platt wrote a very good story in Frostfire but Mother Russia does better in this story. What stands out about this story compared to Frostfire is that Mother Russia feels like it could have been made for the William Hartnell era whereas Frostfire would have been difficult to make.