The Havoc of Empires (2015)

After being very impressed with Prisoner of the Lake, I pressed play on my generic MP3 device with higher expectations than before. Having got use to the fact that not every word that Tim Treloar says is going to sound as close to the way that Jon Pertwee spoke others words might do.

This story was written by Andy Lane who is another safe pair of hands and wrote the pilot for the Jago and Litefoot series and like Justin Richards is someone who can be trusted to write a story that feels like the era it’s supposed to be. The set up for the story is that the Doctor is taking Jo and Mike Yates to see a cricket match but obviously with this being a Doctor Who story it wasn’t going to happen like that and that is when the story gets going. There is a wedding going on between rival races and a whodunit. There are moments in this story which reminded me of Frontier in Space which is another example of how efforts have been made to invoke Jon Pertwee stories. I suppose if your relatively new to Doctor Who and haven’t seen many or any Pertwee this wouldn’t be a big thing but for people like me it was a nice bit of nostalgia.

What tickles me is how Mike Yates seems to have become a companion in the proper sense of the word. To the best of my knowledge Mike has never even set foot inside the TARDIS so to have an alien adventure seems like a bigger deal than the story gave it credit for. I quite like how Mike deals with what he is thrown into. By the end of this story I found myself hoping that there will be more stories involving Jo and Mike because one of the successes of this boxset has been the relationship between Jo and Mike which never went anywhere on TV. Like the previous story, Tim Treloar was very impressive in this story. The gamble has paid off for Big Finish because I could listen to this story and just enjoy the story instead of being so impressed with Treloar’s performance.

Due to the fact that Prisoners of the Lake is such a good story, I thought that this one wasn’t as good. That’s not that its bad or anywhere near that but I think that there was something about the previous story that got me more. I hope that sales of this lead to a lot more adventures. I know that its called Volume One but if sales were very disappointing then its unlikely that more would follow however I cant see that happening. There is a great deal to like as a boxset and different things in each story. The performances from Katy Manning and Richard Franklin are highly enjoyable but its worth the £25 for CD or the £20 for download purely for listening to Tim Treloar doing his performance of Jon Pertwee. The idea of recasting the lead role is always going to be controversial and some people may not listen because of this but quite frankly they aren’t being silly because everyone knows that Treloar isn’t really the Doctor but he helps plug the hole in a story that requires him to be in the story without having the Doctor either missing or Katy Manning pretending to be Jon Pertwee. A wonderful boxset.

Chronoclasm (2011)

The final story from this brilliant series sees the infamous Mr. Payne see out the end of the series. The story has a different feel to previous stories, as it is the final story its only right that the stakes involved are higher than what we have had before. This story is written by Andy Lane who’s previous contributions to Jago and Litefoot includes The Similarity Engine and The Ruthven Inheritance and also the Companion Chronicle that led to this spin-off ‘The Mahogany Murderers’.

The past and present melt into each other and the time leakages are getting more intense. The story sees the introduction of the Sphere who are massive creation that can wreck houses and this leads Professor Litefoot to have to stay at Ellie’s. The 2011 is a stable moment in time. It seems to be a tad bit convenient and had this story been released in 2013, they would have said the same thing. The Sphere things that appear are after Mr. Payne and we learn that they are after something from Payne. The Sphere taught Payne a trick which enables him to bring back his wife, Shania. They were orbiting an event horizon and she was pulled through it. He is trying to get her back by basically ripping the world apart. Payne promised to help them leave the black star to roam the universe to ‘eat time’. We learn that she has been killed and his mission to bring her back was futile and the sphere has been playing with him.

The whole plot isnt as complicated as the previous series finale. I’m not saying that as a bad thing because I think that making things complicated at an important stage of a series is a disappointing way to conclude the series and so this story is refreshing and at no point throughout did I get bored or confused and frustrated.

I never get bored of writing this but Christopher Benjamin and Trevor Baxter are absolutely, positively and unashamably brilliant. They give a contanst enthusiastic performance and with every scene the decision to give Jago and Litefoot their own series proves to be the right one. Louise Jameson is also brilliant and has been throughout this series. She could have been involved in the second story more but that’s not something that can be blamed on Louise Jameson.

It was set up that Leela was going to leave once the drama had ended and she goes off and it was at this point that I felt quite sad and then before I knew what was what she turns up and we are told that she is unable to leave. Then the biggest bombshell that I can recall in quite sometime. Mr Colin Baker appears at the very end and he introduces as Professor Claudius Dark. It’s a name that escapes me at the moment but I assume that in Series 4 it will come to be important. The thing about Leela is that I think that she has injected that bit of fizz to the series and I think that the series has certainly benefited from her involvement.

Overall this series has been the best. Apart from The Man at the End of the Garden which I thought was a bit weak, the whole series has been solid and has felt far better than the previous series. It feels like Big Finish have got the hang of the format of the series and found the right balance. When Series Four (cant believe were there already!) arrives in 2012, I feel that they will be able to raise the standard even higher. Well Done to everyone involve.

The Ruthven Inheritance (2011)

The final instalment of this brilliant series has a lot to live up to. Unfortunatley I missed the announcement on the Big Finish Website which said that episodes three and four mixed up. So I listened to the final story before I should have done. This story was written by Jonathan Morris who is one of the best Big Finish/Doctor Who writers and wrote what was voted for in the Tomstardis Awards for the Best Jago and Litefoot story.

The story sees Jago and Litefoot hit rock bottom. Jago sells his theatre but is still left with the debt and Litefoot stripped of his position at the hospital and his reputation in tatters. Things that these two see as their character above all else are taken away from them. With both of them down on their luck it seems there is no hope for either character, then Litefoot is given a job to investigate the remains of his relatives but not all is what it seems. Now that Sanders seems to be involved in the story arc of the series it was inevitable to hear his named mentioned. It arrived at the time that something needed to happen to make the story seem worth it. Ellie was given more to do in this story since the first story (unless Theatre of Dreams proves me wrong). Ellie is a likeable character and helps give a different slant to the feel of the series.

The best of the supporting cast was Simon Williams as Lord Cornelius Ruthven who was instantly recognisable (for me anyway) after his stint on Remembrance of the Daleks. The character is instantly sinister and it’s clear that there is something not quite right and its soon revealed that he is working for Sanders, his ancestors have been working for Sanders for thousands of years and it’s a that point that I really got a feeling that Sanders was a far more important character than I had previously thought. The rest of the supporting cast was great with Sacker being an enjoyable character who’s running time was harshly cut short.

With Sanders beaten yet again, everything is returning to normal and most importantly Ellie is back to her self and it seems like that is how the series would end but the story ends on a wonderful note. The truly shocking return of Leela who last met Jago and Litefoot in The Talons of Weng-Chiang. Jonathan Morris has written another fine story and it had everything I would want from the series. The series end on a wonderful note and I cant wait for the third series. I’m not saying that the first series was bad but series two was fantastic. The stories for each series were fun and enjoyable and the whole momentum of the series has been building steadily to a thrilling climax. Thankfully we wont have to wait too long for the third series with it being released in August.

Paradise 5 (2010)

2010 TOMS TARDIS AWARD WINNER

• Best Lost Story 

Now being over half way of the Lost Stories series it’s fairly easy to know what to expect with these stories. However the last story ‘The Hollows of Time’ was an appealing adventure. Totally devoid of anything enjoyable I would rather sit through Underworld that Hollows. I wasn’t aware of PJ Hammond before I saw his episode of Torchwood in 2006 and when his second story From Out of the Rain aired in 2008 I became a fan of his and when I saw that his story was going to form part of the series I became tremendously excited. Hammond being the busy guy that he is was too busy to be involved with the re-writes and so it was given to Andy Lane to take responsibility for this story. A few things were changed to make this work for radio. The first being that in the original Paradise 5, the original P5 was suppose to take place during the The Trial of a Timelord series and so there was quite a fair bit with the Inquisitor and the Valeyard but Big Finish felt that this wasn’t really relevant and also added to the budget. Another change was that in the original it had Mel as the companion not Peri.

The story is set on the holiday resort called Paradise 5 where the Doctor and Peri are trying to meet up with the Doctor’s old friend Professor Albrecht Thompson. Something is going on and its down to the Doctor (as usual) to find out what. Despite this it is Peri that is given a lot to do in this story and drives the plot forward. The thing that I am really impressed with about this story is how it mixes drama with dark humour. The cherubs sound like Gremlins but are nicer. For me they are on par with those little marshmallow looking things from Partners in Crime (2008 TV). The big shock came for me when it was revealed that Professor Albrecht who the Doctor was looking for was in fact a Cherub. A problem that I have is how things were tied up. I thought that the fact that Gabriel and Michael were just in it for money seemed to be a slight cop-out. I was expecting them to have their soles owned by the Elohim but this wasn’t the case. This made their eccentricity that less tolerable.

I think that the Elohim were well realised in this story and were a genuine threat throughout this adventure. Their purpose in the story was believable. The idea that there is a war between angels and demons and that people on Paradise 5 are being used to help fight this battle isn’t that dissimilar to certain plots in other sci-fi but thanks to the music and the direction of Barnaby Edwards it helps add to the dark tone that the story has. Colin Baker and Nicola Bryant both seem to be enjoying this story and in particular for Baker it was nice to see a more Big Finish type of Doctor. Alex MacQueen was probably for me the best of the guest stars. I’ve seen him in shows like Holby City and The Thick of It and thought that his portrayal of Gabriel was perfect for the story. The relationship that Gabriel had with Michael made suggestions that they may have been more that just friends.

PJ Hammond’s story is a good one but credit must also go to Andy Lane. Having written the best story of 2010 (so far – March) it was a good idea to get Lane to work on this and episode one is all of Lane’s work and to be honest, I wouldn’t have guessed because it all blended in together. After a poor Hollows of Time and a disappointing Leviathan it was nice to have Paradise 5 bring this series back to good form.

A Thousand Tiny Wings (2010)

Way back in 2001, the Seventh Doctor and Ace visited Colditz and also met Klein. Since then there have been fans on loads of forums asking for the return of Klein. Well those fans have got their wish as the next three stories that make the Seventh Doctor series will feature the Nazi Scientist. I’ll be honest and say that whilst it peaked my interest when I heard that Klein was coming back I will say that I would rather have had another Ace and Hex story than Klein.

The story is set in Kenya in 1950 during the time of the Mau Mau uprising. Not a particular moment in history that I am familiar with but as it isn’t instrumental in the plot of the story it didn’t detract from my enjoyment. The story revolves around a house in the jungle, they are cut of from civilisation and are under attack from a strange creature. The first strange thing is the discovery of a double jointed creature found near the house and being unable to speak is the first person to be blamed when something happens.

The character of Abraham is quite a strange one. He doesn’t say anything until Part four and nothing is really learnt about him. He is naked when he is found and it’s not until the flock cover him that we understand how important the character is. Abraham sacrifices himself to try and stop the control that the flock have had on him. The flock that have been heard throughout were trying to find Abraham because he is the host that they feed off. They are conducting a research about the Earth with perhaps the intention of invading. They in fact want to creature diseases so that they sell it to other civilisations that are involved in war. In the process they become wealthy.

The banter between the Doctor and Klein was enjoyable. There was a nice battle of morals as Klein tries to justify what she was doing in Colditz and what she was trying to do. She wants to set up a Fourth Reich which is ambitious. Even when Klein is on the verge of death, the Doctor still wants to help Klein and Klein is not thankful. Though the Doctor is quite willing to get in verbal attacks on Klein which I got the distinct feeling he was enjoying. But he is still willing to make sure that Klein survives being poisoned.

All the characters in this are very good and feel like they have come straight out of the 1950’s. Mrs O’Donnell made some comments that are a stark reminder how ignorant people were with their comments especially how they thought that Britain had a right to rule over others. They were gushing over Ann Bell in the extras but I had never heard of her before. That said she was very good and stood out as the matriarch of the group. Not being trusting of the Doctor and Joshua. My favourite character was actually Joshua Sembeke as played by Chuk Iwuji. I thought that he would make a very good companion for the Doctor but then the character turns in part four when it turns out he is actually working for the Mau Mau. He is angry at the way the British have treated the Mau Mau.

It’s not very often that I give credit to the music and sound effects in these stories which is something that I should start to redress but in this story I found the sound effects to be brilliant. The sound effects give the impression of being in the jungle. Richard Fox & Lauren Yason have contributed on countless stories but this time they have excelled.

Just Mrs O’Donnell is left at the end of the story. She is more sensitive than she has been after seeing Lucy attack Joshua before collapsing and dyeing. I had the feeling that this story was going to be Horror of Fang Rock on radio but thankfully Lane didn’t do that and decided to give her a change of heart. Despite what Klein has planned, the Doctor does an unusual thing and allow Klein to travel with him. I can only assume that this is reverse psychology. By spending some time with him, he can get Klein to change her ways and stop her plans for a Fourth Reich.

I’m developing a new found respect for the Seventh Doctor. After his series last year it’s great that the good stories have continued in this series. My concerns that I had about how Klein and the Doctor were going to work out disappeared after listening to this story. The next two stories are ones that I am looking forward to now. Andy Lane has written a superb story with great characters, a great setting and Lisa Bowerman directed her best story to date. A Thousand Tiny Wings is the perfect start to the new year.

The Mahogany Murderers (2009)

2009 TOMS TARDIS AWARD WINNER

• Best Companion Chronicle

The Mahogany Murderers is a unique point in the Companion Chronicles. This story is the first story in the Companion Chronicles series that doesn’t feature the Doctor in any shape or form. It is also the first time that a story from this series features someone who didn’t actually set foot inside the TARDIS or travel with the Doctor. However it’s a testament to the popularity of the characters of Jago and Litefoot that this story has been chosen to be released at this point.

This story does have a disjointed way of telling with Jago telling his side of the story and then Litefoot interrupting and vice versa. I quite liked the end of the episode because there is the revelation from Professor Litefoot and Henry Gordon Jago says “Your climatic ending was better”. Normally I would have been disappointed with such a strange ending but somehow due to the good feeling that I held this story in I loved it. The Professor’s story was entertaining as his reaction to the wooden mannequin and then for it getting up was priceless. It was however Jago’s story that was perhaps the more interesting as it in his side that we learnt more about what was going on. The two sides meshed quite well. I did like how they made references to The Talons of Weng-Chiang and also a brief mention of the Doctor. I think that failure to do this would have led to this story feeling a bit hollow but thankfully they stuck these references in to please the die-hard fans like myself but not alienate newer fans.

What we have is that the wooden mannequins are in fact prisoners who’s souls have been taken from their real bodies in prison and put them in these wooden dummies is a superb idea. It’s the sort of thing that is so bizarre that it works somehow. Its towards the end of the story that we discover that all this has been down to a Dr Tulip but we never know whether he is alien or whether he works for aliens. Then we have the introduction of Jack Yeovil who seems to be a big gang leader who is desperate to get out of prison.

It’s amazing that after 32 years that Christopher Benjamin (Jago) & Trevor Baxter (Litefoot) sound exactly the same. It seems hard to believe that they haven’t played these characters since 1977. I always liked Jago because I think that he is sort of cheeky chappy with a good heart. Benjamin has recently appeared in Doctor Who appearing alongside David Tennant and Catherine Tate in The Unicorn and the Wasp. In this story he slipped back into the role like a duck to water. Trevor Baxter also returned to the role of Litefoot like he only played it a month ago not 32 years ago. In the interview at the end of the story the pair of them as well as Lisa Bowerman seemed to get on which shines through.

Lisa Bowerman is the only other star of this story. She has a brief role as Ellie but it is her directing that is what I would like to write about. This is her best story as director because she manages to get the disjointed storytelling entertaining and with such eerie sounds and it helps that Benjamin and Baxter are so enthusiastic and clearly enjoying themselves. Andy Lane has written a superb story, getting the characters spot on and interacting so well with each other after 32 years. Compared to his first story in this series Here There Be Monsters, The Mahogany Murderers is a thoroughly entertaining and at times completely amazing story and that is what makes it a contender for story of the series.

Here There Be Monsters (2008)

2008 TOMS TARDIS AWARD WINNER

• Best Companion Chronicle Story

Here There Be Monsters is the opening story of the Third Series of Companion Chronicles. It’s safe to say that this range has become more popular than anyone could have imagined and its impact is felt through other ranges in Big Finish. Such as Highlander, Robin Hood and Dark Shadows have benefited from this simple yet effective format. The third series is going to be 12 stories long instead of the previous 4 releases which came out for Series One and Two. This first story sees the return of Susan Foreman who was the very first companion in Doctor Who way back in 1963 played by Carole Ann Ford. Ford played Susan from November 1963 until December 1964 and whilst is the first of the companions she isn’t the most highly regarded which is a shame because she did have potential and there were areas of her character that just were not explored. She was always written as a child that just got into scrapes as the adults did all the exciting stuff and that’s the main downside to the early years of the show is that they never really explored what a character could do. Nowadays you get companions with families and husbands or boyfriends but you got none of that stuff in 1963.

It is nice to hear Carole Ann Ford back in Doctor Who. I always wished she had stayed in the show for longer but I understand her reasons for leaving. I wish that they had bought her back in Series One or Two but at least they bought her back and gave a story that really showed a grown up Susan instead of a child like Susan. I also thought that Stephen Hancock put in a good performance as The First Mate. Hancock biggest role of his life is playing Ernie Bishop in the popular soap Coronation Street from 1969 until 1978. I didn’t realise this until I looked it up on other websites. It’s quite important that in these stories the supporting actor puts in a good performance. Hancock does this which is very well and his interaction with Susan is very gentle and sincere which I liked a lot.

This story is written by Andy Lane who is making his debut for the range and whenever we get a new writer it’s always quite difficult to judge what sort of story we are going to get and that can be quite exciting. Lane has written a very good script that whilst it is brilliant it is a good first attempt. What he has managed to do is capture the essence of the group and the dynamic that we all know from that period. Lisa Bowerman is making her directing debut with this story. She is really better known as Bernice Summerfield who she has been playing for 10 years but also appeared in the last of the Classic Doctor Who’s in Survival (1989). I don’t think that the story flows quite as well as it perhaps could. There are several moments especially early on where you are just praying that it will move on a bit quicker. By the latter part of the story it has got up to a good pace and enjoyable.

This is an enjoyable opening story for the third series of the companion chronicles. The music and sound effects really added to the action but it doesn’t dominate and allows the actors to take centre stage. The setting was very good and what it managed to do was feel like it was one of the many 1960’s Doctor Who stories that only exist in audio format.