Luna Romana (2014)

Luna Romana is the final part of a special trilogy to celebrate the 50^th Anniversary of Doctor Who. It’s also the first story of 2014 and what Luna Romana needs to do is to end the trilogy on a satisfying note so there is no pressure on Matt FItton.

This story features two Romana’s. The only problem is that this story was due to feature Mary Tamm however due to her sad passing away this meant that some quick thinking had to be undertook by the Big Finish team. Do they abandon their ideas or do they do what they have been doing with the Doctors for the last seven years and just get someone to pretend to be the character. Cleverly they chose the latter and I have to say that this was a great idea because they chose wisely about who they would get to play the first Romana. Julie Landau has a difficult job to do and try to be Mary Tamm which was always going to be a tall order and at first I just didn’t think it was going to work and the rest of the story was just going to be awful to listen to but after a while I forgot about this and got use to Landau being Romana and I thought that she could have been a good Romana on TV.

Terry Molloy has been really good in these stories and in fact I think he saved the best until last because the version of Stoyn that we here is very unhinged and became a great interest in the story. As the story progressed I thought that Terry Molloy should be given more non-Davros roles to play because he is a really underrated actor. Lalla Ward is always fun to listen to and she does a great job and has some great lines.

The main problem with this story is that it’s way too long. It’s 120 minutes which is double the length of a normal Companion Chronicle story. This means that there is an awful lot of time to fill. The first episode just didn’t grab me really and I couldn’t understand what purpose it had to the story. After that though the story did pick up and that’s when I felt like I was enjoying the story. I still think that the running time undermined all the good work that Matt Fitton had done.

I think that the way that Stoyn meets his end is rather sad. I cant help but feel sad for the character because of the way that he has been treated in the trilogy. The Doctor has been quite unpleasant to Stoyn and if it were the Master then it wouldn’t have been problem but because Stoyn isn’t the Master it just leaves a slight sour taste in the mouth.

Luna Romana isn’t my favourite story of this trilogy but I still think that there is a lot of like about this story and that is primarily the cast who all work well together and whilst the plot is good its slightly ruined by excessive running time. I want to end on a positive note and I will by saying that the brief clip of Mary Tamm at the beginning of the story was a nice touch and I thought that even though she wasn’t actually involved in the story

 

The King of Sontar (2014)

It’s hard to believe that we are on our third series of Fourth Doctor Adventures. When there was a time when we thought that Tom Baker would never appear in a Big Finish adventure, we have got more adventures coming and to kick off the third series of adventures we welcome back the Sontarans. The last time we had a Sontaran story it was in ‘Starlight Robbery’ which is to be fair not the most serious story that they have ever been in so one thing that I like about this story is that it uses the Sontarans really well.

The idea of Leela encountering a Sontaran is always a good one and its not the first time that this has happened but as I started to listen to this I knew that this was going to be better than that first encounter. It’s easy to imagine a Sontaran version of Leela due to the way that Leela is

Strang is a unique Sontaran and doesn’t need armour and doesn’t get affected when he is struck on the back of the probic vent. Due to a glitch during cloning, instead of several Sontarans being born its good to think that he has several Sontarans in him. The main plot point about this story is Strang’s plan to spread his clones across the galaxy. It’s a relatively straight forward plot but its done in a very creative way and what the story has is a nice dose of morals which play a significant part in the adventure.

When the Fourth Doctor started travelling with Leela, it was with the intention of educating Leela. It seems sometimes that Leela needs to go back to the classroom and it leads to one of the best scenes that I have heard from Big Finish for quite sometime. I like how the Doctor goes with the very real possibility of sending Leela back home. Even though I know that this wouldn’t happen its still an emotional scene and both Tom Baker and Louise Jameson are brilliant in this scene. The Doctor does his ‘not angry but disappointed’ thing. This scene makes a very good story even better. John Dorney has written a solid story and it’s a solid start to the third series. I think that out of the three series openers, this is by far the best story and it shows that the rest of this season is going to be very good.

As far as the performances go, they are all strong. Dan Starkey has become synonymous as a Sontaran in the six years since he first played one on TV. David Collings played Poul in ‘The Robots of Death’ and I thought that as Rosato was a nice character played really well. The character of Rosato was a conflicted character that had some good moments. John Banks, David Seddon and Jenny Funnell all put in good performances as well but unfortunately for them they are somewhat overshadowed by Starkey, Collings and the regulars.

I listened to this after ‘Antidote to Oblivion’ and I thought that that story was going to be tough to beat but ‘The King of Sontar’ has managed to achieve that and I think that there is much more mileage in the Sontarans and with if we get more stories like this then the Sontarans could be more popular than the Daleks in the Big Finish universe. Maybe.

I have to try and find a fault with this story and……erm…..I’ll get back to you on that.

Antidote to Oblivion (2014)

The first story from the main range of 2014 is one that I was looking forward to for several reasons. The first is that it is written by Phillip Martin who wrote the 1985 adventure ‘Vengeance on Varos’ and also has also written a couple of stories for Big Finish over the years. Another reason was that it sees the return of Nabil Shaban who plays Sil. The third reason is that it sees the return of the partnership of the Doctor and Flip Jackson. Flip last appeared in Wirrn Isle back in March 2012 and I was worried that we wouldn’t hear from Flip again. I think that the character of Flip is a strong one and Lisa Greenwood has been a sound piece of casting. Anyway, the story sees the Doctor and Flip leave their holiday (isn’t it terrible when that happens!!) and arrive on Earth where Britain is pretty much bankrupt. I can see that there are parallels to whats going on in the real world. It’s the sort of thing that Barry Letts would have done and whilst I was aware that this was what Philip Martin was doing, I didn’t mind it and thought that it was well done.

I like the idea that they have contaminated the water so that the residents don’t see how depressing things are. The moment when they do see whats going on, it’s comes at just the right time and helps speed things along. The wrap up of the story is rather good and done well. I was glad that Sil got away and thought that the sneeze at the very end was quite amusing and whilst it might indicate that he’s got the black death it also suggest that he will return. There was a moment when towards the end the Doctor seemed to have to go on a quest to destroy the Black Death and no sooner was this raised than it ceased to be a problem and I was glad because I would have felt that this was a plot extension too far but it ended at just the right time and in the right way.

I like how they have created some links to the part of ‘The Trial of a Timelord’ that featured Crozier. Here we get his daughter who for quite obvious reason has some resentment towards the Doctor although like most characters in dramas, has a change of heart when she hears the truth. I thought that it was a great performance from Dawn Murphy and she was more than a match at times for Nabil Shaban. I could literally hear Shaban all day and not get bored. One of the things that I enjoyed about this story was that we got a lot of Sil. I think that Sil is a great character and that little laugh that he does is just as good as Frazer Hines’ impression of Patrick Troughton. I hope we get more adventures from Shaban because it would be a great source of entertainment.

I really enjoyed every aspect of this story. It’s a great combination with a great plot and it’s a strong start to the year. I thought that the main performances were solid and also the supporting characters were just as strong. I would be surprised if it weren’t in my top 5 stories in the main range. A strong start to the year and also the series of the Sixth Doctor and Flip.

The Dying Light (2013)

The final Companion Chronicle of 2013 and the middle of this special trilogy of stories to celebrate the 50^th Anniversary. Written by Nick Wallace who is (as far as I am aware) making his debut for Big Finish. Being the middle story in the series it has to continue the main story arc of Stoyn but tell a story in its own right.

The Doctor, Zoe and Jamie land on a world that is dying. The story is called The Dying Light so it was obvious that the world wasn’t going to have much of a future.

In the early stages of the story, there was mention of ‘the abbot’ which had the same feeling of when people use to talk about the Master and you knew who they were talking about and it’s the same here. We know that they are talking about Quadrigger Stoyn. When Terry Molloy does make his appearance in this story it’s in a wonderfully dramatic sense as he starts to relay the information about Jamie and Zoe with a metallic thump after every sentence. I like the idea that he has created black holes to try and capture the Doctor.

There are things that I like about this story and that’s principally the performers in this. I think that Terry Molloy is an under-rated actor and its nice when he’s given something other that Davros to do. Stoyn is very bitter and angry in this and gets to do what he does really well. Both Frazer Hines and Wendy Padbury are very good. It’s always worth listening to a second Doctor story because it will usually have Frazer Hines and he does a fine Troughton impression. Both Hines and Padbury are very good with this story.

As much as I want to like this, I just cant say that I loved it. I think that there are things to like so its not a terrible story by any stretch of the imagination and I dare say that if I listen to this in the future then I will think differently of this but at this moment in time I think that it suffers from following in the footsteps of the brilliant ‘The Beginning’. Hopefully we will get more stories from Wallace in the future because he should be allowed to write for the main range.

2013 Tomstardis Awards

BEST DOCTOR - Peter Davison
BEST COMPANION – Mary Tamm (Romana 1)

BEST MAIN RANGE STORY – 1963: Fanfare for the Common Men)
BEST MAIN RANGE WRITER – Eddie Robson (1963: Fanfare for the Common Men)
BEST MAIN RANGE DIRECTOR – Barnaby Edwards (1963: Fanfare for the Common Men)
BEST MAIN RANGE COVER DESIGNER – Anthony Lamb (1963: Fanfare for the Common Men)
BEST MAIN RANGE MUSIC & SOUND DESIGNER – Howard Carter (1963: Fanfare for the Common Men)
BEST SERIES – 1963 (Fanfare for the Common Men/The Assasination Games/The Space Race)

BEST COMPANION (COMPANION CHRONICLES) – William Russell (Ian Chesterton)
BEST COMPANION CHRONICLES STORY - Mastermind
BEST COMPANION CHRONICLES WRITER – Jonathan Morris (Mastermind)
BEST COMPANION CHRONICLES DIRECTOR – Louise Jameson (Ghost in the Machine)
BEST COMPANION CHRONICLES COVER DESIGNER – Damien May (The Beginning)
BEST COMPANION CHRONICLES MUSIC & SOUND DESIGNER – Richard Fox & Lauren Yason (The Scorchies)

BEST LOST STORY - The Queen of Time
BEST LOST STORY WRTIER – Brian Hayles & John Dorney (Lords of the Red Planet)
BEST LOST STORY DIRECTOR - Ken Bentley (Lords of the Red Planet)
BEST LOST STORY COVER DESIGNER – Alex Mallinson (The Queen of Time)
BEST LOST STORY MUSIC DESIGNER – Steve Foxon (Lords of the Red Planet)

BEST JAGO AND LITEFOOT STORY – The Skeleton Quay
BEST JAGO AND LITEFOOT WRITER – Jonathan Morris (The Skeleton Quay)

BEST FOURTH DOCTOR ADVENTURE STORY – The Justice of Jalxar
BEST FOURTH DOCTOR ADVENTURE WRITER – Jonathan Morris (The Auntie Matter)
BEST FOURTH DOCTOR ADVENTURE DIRECTOR – Ken Bentley (The Auntie Matter)
BEST FOURTH DOCTOR COVER DESIGNER – Alex Mallinson (The Justice of Jalxar)
BEST FOURTH DOCTOR MUSIC & SOUND DESIGNER – Howard Carter (The Auntie Matter)

BEST GALLIFREY STORY – Renaissance
BEST GALLIFREY WRITER– James Goss (Renaissance)

BEST COUNTER MEASURES STORY – The Fifth Citadel
BEST COUNTER MEASURES WRITER – James Goss (The Fifth Citadel)

BEST BERNICE SUMMERFIELD STORY – In Living Memory
BEST BERNICE SUMMERFIELD WRITER – Alexander Vlahos (HMS Surprise)

BEST DESTINY OF THE DOCTOR STORY – Babblesphere
BEST DESTINY OF THE DOCTOR WRITER – Jonathan Morris (Babblesphere)
BEST DESTINY OF THE DOCTOR PERFORER – Nicholas Briggs (Night of the Whisper)

PERSONALITY OF THE YEAR – Big Finish

Afterlife (2013)

Afterlife returns us to the Seventh Doctor moments after 'Gods and Monsters'. It's been 15 months since that story and they have done this before. Back in the June 2009 story 'The Angel of Scutari', Hex's life was in the balance again and it wasn’t until September 2010 (another 15 months) before we got to see what happened to Hex. The dynamic between the Doctor and Ace has changed significantly. It seems odd that the month after they were getting on in The Assassination Games they are now not speaking to each other. At the end of their last story Hex died and this was always going to be an interesting story. 

 

It's similar to how Charley felt after C'Rizz had died at the end of Absolution. Ace blames the Doctor for Hex's death. I don’t know if I like the fact that the Doctor and Ace aren’t getting on but its rather well done as Sophie Aldred goes for it. The first episode sees us go back to some of the adventures that occurred between stories featuring these three. They are designed to show us how much Hex has helped in the adventures that he has been in. The nice thing about this letter that Ace found is that its read by Olivier and there is a rather sad feel to it and its hit me just how much a part of the team that Hex has become since he debuted in 2004. The end of the first episode really sums up the sadness of the story when the Doctor sounds genuinely broken over the death of Hex.  

 

The second episode sees the story change direction when the Doctor visits Hex’s Gran at the request of Ace. This is where the Doctor has to actually face the consequences of the actions that he takes or feels that he has to take. Whilst the Doctor is visiting Hex’s Gran, Ace finds her own adventure to have when she witnesses Lily Finnegan who is in the middle of a turf war in Liverpool. It’s like the PG version of Shameless. At first it seems like it’s a completely random storyline which has not relation to either Hex or the Doctor. As the story progresses it becomes clear that this plot strand has more to do with the main plot that at first glance. 

The moment when Lily sets fire to the thugs was a quite surprising moment. But that’s not the only time something surprising happens in this story. Another surprising moment when Mr. Thomas is revealed to be the other person that Lily is having the turf war with. Mr. Thomas is voiced by Philip Olivier and is completely different to Hex. I like how Ace’s grief makes her wish that it was the real Hex  and at first it seems that this is a case of someone having a twin but one of the things that I like about this story is how just when you think that you know which direction the story is going in, it changes and I like the idea that Hex has earned the opportunity to spend a year on earth but doesn’t have any of his memories.  

 

The true identity of Lily Finnegan was something that I didn’t see coming and totally transformed my opinion of the character although it does make the whole human combustion thing obvious (after it was pointed out you'll understand). The moment that we learn how and why Hex has come back to earth is the moment where I feel that some new energy was put into the story and it felt like the story had got a new lease of life.  

The Doctor is a huge punching bag from the very beginning and its rather off-putting to see the Doctor in this position. He gets to be back to his best at the end when Lily is begging for mercy and he gets to show us a bit of the Doctor that we got in McCoy's final series on TV. 

 

It’s good to have Amy Pemberton back as Sally Morgan. I loved the little jingle that sounded when she first appeared. It’s a this point that things seem to be changing for the Doctor and the kicking has been stopped. Its good how by the time she appears in the story she’s been on Earth for sometime and is working for the police trying to figure out about Mr. Thomas. The fact that she leaves the story to spend more time with Hilda. It might not be the most exciting way for a character to have departed from a show but its nice when someone leaves in a nice lovely way. 

 

I didn’t expect the story to end the way that it did. I expected the story to end with either Hex being killed off for good or back to his old self and the trio going off into the universe. The fact that there seemed to be left in the air is somewhat unnerving but at least we know that we are going to get more stories with Hex and that cant be a bad thing. Afterlife is the perfect way to end what has been a superb year from Big Finish. The story took my expectations and juggled with them and still managed to give me something else and not disappoint me. The performances were all really good and the writing and direction were just as good. Enjoyable. 

 

The Time of the Doctor (2013)

Well as the continuity announcer said during the credits for Call the Midwife, it’s the Regeneration Game. That’s about as funny as this episode would get I suspect. It’s the final episode for Matt Smith as the Doctor and introduces Peter Capaldi as the Doctor (not getting stuck in number cycle issue). This is the 800^th episode of Doctor Who and so that’s another reason to celebrate.

The opening scene where the Doctor lands on the Dalek ship and it goes from darkness around him to all their eyestalk lights appearing is a great opening scene and it immediately goes to the Cybermen and what is most curious of all is that the Doctor has a Cyberman’s head with him and I would have liked an explanation as to why and how he got it. Moffat uses a rather unusual (but festively obvious) way of getting Clara back into the TARDIS. This being a Christmas episode, Clara is trying to cook Christmas dinner and boards the TARDIS with the cold turkey.

It’s like this episode is a greatest hits for the Eleventh Doctor. The first to appear are the Silence. From the moment that the Silence appear its clear they have been to the tailor and it’s a better look for them than the white shirt and black tie they had before. Next up are the Weeping Angels who are now able to fight their way through the snow, they are always good. Next up we have the crack in the wall from his first series and this perhaps has the most significant part of the story. Then of course we have the old school references. I did love the reference to ‘The Five Doctors’. We have the Monoid puppet. These are done in a way that they will make sense to fans like myself yet wont confuse the newer viewer. Finally I have to say that wooden Cybermen are a brilliant idea and they look really creepy.

We get the speech about how many regenerations the Doctor has had though I’m still not convinced.

The eye stalks coming out of peoples head that first appeared in ‘Asylum of the Daleks’ return here in another greatest hits nod. Silence with eye stalks are a weird but good look. For the second time in a row there is a very impressive battle sequence and its well shot and looks like a fair amount of money and effort went into it.

As the Doctor was getting older I got a feeling like this was trying to get the newer fan use to the idea of the Doctor being older. As Capaldi is a fair bit older its probably wise thing. I think that at times Smith looked like William Hartnell which I found amusing. I don’t quite get why the crack appeared in the sky and it started the Doctor regeneration. That said I thought that it was a great scene and I liked how the Doctor used the regeneration power to destroy the Dalek spaceship.

The final scene between the Doctor and Clara is really nice and I thought for a moment that when the Doctor appears that it would be Capaldi’s Doctor with a hologram face but thankfully that didn’t happen and Smith got a fine goodbye speech which wasn’t as soppy as Tennant’s final scene. I didn’t expect Amy to return but that was a nice touch.

Capaldi’s opening scene was just as barmy as Smith’s opening scene. I just like the idea that the Doctor doesn’t like the colour of his kidneys. I don’t think anyone and I mean anyone can judge what sort of Doctor Capaldi will be based on this short scene but what I can say is that it will be different to Matt Smith’s performance.

Matt Smith’s performance is very good from start to finish. I’ve always rated Smith as a good Doctor and he shows it again here. For those who disliked him should hopefully have eat their words during this episode. Jenna Coleman’s performance was spot on. She was involved in the story but didn’t try and steal the limelight from Matt Smith. Again she’s been strong in every episode she has been in.

I like the fact that despite their being a giant plot, what we got was a fitting end to the Smith era. I think that it was the perfect way to end. It didn’t feel like it was building itself up to something that it couldn’t live up but knew what it had to do and did it well. Roll on episode 801 but we will probably have to wait until August or September.