Shockwave (2013)

Shockwave features Sophie Aldred and this is only the second time (to my knowledge) that she has narrated this type of the story. The last time was 2009’s ‘The Prisoner’s Dilemma’ and I haven’t listened to that since then so I couldn’t remember how she sounded but what I liked about this was the difference between Ace and Sophie Aldred. Aldred adopts a posher tone to her delivery whereas she slips easily into doing the London accent of Ace.

The story sees the Doctor and Ace arrive on Tarsus Six where the inhabitants are trying to evacuate the planet before the sun collapses. The whole pacing of the story is quite quick because of the impending doom and I thought that the story was brought alive by Ian Brooker who played Captain OhOne.

As with all of the stories in this range, the 11^th Doctor has to make an appearance and whereas in the previous release it happened quite early on in the story, here it happened quite late and it was getting so late that I thought that I had missed it but no it happens and its always fun to see the narrator trying to do an impression of Matt Smith’s Doctor. I thought that it was a good attempt from Aldred and I was also impressed with her attempt at doing a Sylvester McCoy accent. It’s simply not good enough to just have him pop up to match what he has done in previous stories but its good that Swallow has done his short scene in a way that fits the story and the story arc of the series.

James Swallow is an author who has written too little Doctor Who audios in my opinion. He has written the second Cyberman series and also the superb Kingdom of Silver. He is a writer that I rate highly and here he has written a solid story that didn’t get boring, didn’t get predictable and had some strong characters and I thought that Shockwave was another highly enjoyable release.

Rating - 7.79/10

Extinction (2006)

This series has been such a pleasure to listen to and I was really looking forward to this story but just as I pressed play I was wondering whether my expectations were too high. They weren’t. The plot sees Liam being returned to Earth to be executed but those plans are smashed to pieces by Yan, Hazel and co. Hunt was becoming more and more unstable. This is slightly deflected by Janice Webb (Hunt’s Assistant) who is starting to become disloyal to Hunt or so he thinks. I thought that Paul Hunt got an exit that was befitting of him. Having lauding around the place like a proper president, he finally got his comeuppance when the Cybermen converted him after they thought he was going to be assassinated. As he was trying to get the Cybermen to spare him I was actually feeling quite sorry for him. This made the Chessman character more horrid and less likeable than the Hunt character ever was. For Hazel’s character there was one of two ways her story was going to end. Either she was going to encounter her sister unharmed or she was going to be a Cyberman. Rather grimly the latter was the case. This seemed to unhinge the usually nice as apple pie style that we have known. However seeing her sister change along with the death of Yan was too much.

The conclusion of this story was quite unexpected. Essentially the Cybermen have been told that there a meteor that is heading to earth that will destroy them and working out that there is no way of stopping it decided that it would be better to retreat and go to another planet. They realise that they have been too focused on destroying the twin planet of their home planet Mondas. There were a few false ends when I had thought that Sam had executed her plan of releasing a virus in the Cyber-system. Her death was expected because once she announced her plan. The character of Sam was one of the unexpected highlights, well played by Hannah Smith. She was well supported by Mark McDonnell who has been brilliant throughout this series. During the scenes when he was been held by Hunt he was almost resigned to the fact that he was going to die.

As an episode it was brilliant. It was actioned packed from start to finish with some wonderfully emotional scenes. Some of which were the most dramatic that I have encounted. All the characters throughout were all sensible and all had links with each other which was unusual to find in a play. As a series its hard to praise this one without sounding like I’m rubbishing Series 1. This series has had an epic feel to it and whilst at times it has felt a little grim and darker than what you would expect from a normal Doctor Who story. The pace of all four parts felt a lot more structured than series 1 and as a result it had a faster feel and it felt like the story was heading to something whereas with Series 1 the ending sort of jumped out at me.

There was a near four year gap between series 1 and 2. Hopefully due to the success that this series should get it wont be 2013 before series 3. James Swallow has done a superb job and will get another crack at writing the next series.

Machines (2009)

The next instalment sees the story start to make a bit more sense. Now that we are in the business end of the series it is now that the series has to start making sense. Start to tie up all the loose ends that have been hanging around such as what is Paul Hunt upto? Will Hazel ever get to be reunited with Becca? The opening of this episode saw the resolution of what Hazel saw in the containers. We all know what it was but the reaction was well handled and acted out by Jo Castleton. Sam becomes involved with Yan and Hazel. Yet again she tries to hide the fact that she is an android. It was clever how she managed to deflect any interest in her by trying to help Yan. It was fairly obvious that this wasn’t going to last because it was Hazel that discovered Sam’s secret. However she (Hazel) decided not to tell the others. It was probably best that it was Hazel that discovered them because if it was one of the other then everyone would have known and that would wreck the story.

The spy was finally revealed and to me it was a nice surprise when it turned out to be Chessman. The moment that it was revealed the actor seemed to change, he was more like Paul Hunt. Speaking of Hunt, his involvement is starting to become more clear. He is trying to dispel the unrest at his administration and thinks that by setting Barnaby up as a war criminal and executing him on Earth he will become more popular. If he can make this work then he the Cybermen will be able to continue with their plan. Its nice now that they have finally started putting some meat on the character of Hunt in this series. So far it was only the Sam/Hazel and Barnaby/Richter stories that seemed to be going somewhere.

James Swallow yet again should be praised for what he has done in this series. The whole feeling of this series has really impressed me as it feels like some of the other spin-off series that Big Finish produces and that is a compliment because the standard feel is one where you can press play on your CD player or iPod and actually get to the end and not realise that 70 minutes or whatever has passed. For the first time in this series I have felt that things were really starting to make sense. I have to mention again how the monologues are really getting on my nerves. You could probably justify them at the beginning but by now they are really irrelevant. Apart from that what Machines did was to set up the final part brilliantly. I really don’t know what I will do when this series has finished.

Terror (2009)

Terror is the name of the second part of this new second series and I have to admit that I am very impressed with this series so far. The problem that I had with the first series was that it did seemed a bit rigid and there wasn’t much scope to develop the story and allow any different characters or stories to come. Whereas in this series that’s all changed. There are now three different plot strands. The first features Liam and the crew of the Novograd. Then there is Sam trying to get to Earth before its destroyed by the androids and then there is the third strand which is with Hazel and Yan. The bits with Sam were a bit redundant after a while. She communicates with someone (probably played by Nick Briggs) and discovers that they are going to destroy all life on Earth. This horrifies Sam and she then decides to get to Earth to try and stop it. I think that it was perhaps a mistake to separate Sam and Liam because they worked so well together. Time will tell whether this separation was worth it but at the moment I am not so sure.

After being abandoned by Sam, Liam seems to have hit a dead end. He is put in the brig of the Novograd as a traitor for helping an android on board. Its not long before he’s being released just to help over throw Louis Richter. Its clear that Liam wants to help but doesn’t like the way that evidence is being fabricated to get him out. I found this story to be the most interesting as this seemed to be the closest that we were getting to the main thrust of the story. I thought that the story took a decidedly adult tone when Richter either committed suicide or was murdered. If it was the former then its quite a departure for Big Finish to take this 24 style approach.

The story with Hazel and Yan sees them travel to Norway where the Cybermen have been keeping something secret. By the end of the story all we know is its something that is horrific judging by Hazel’s response. I’m not sure about this part of the story as it doesn’t really seem to be heading anywhere. Sure there is the emotional part of Hazel wanting to be reunited with Becca but I cant see how its going to tie in with the other strands.

I do have one issue with this series so far and it’s the monologue speeches that pop up ever so often. I really don’t like them and don’t care about them. For me they slow the action down and distract me from the main flow of the story. I lost count of how many exactly there were in this story but there were at least four or five such monologues. Hopefully as the story progresses they will be reduced in frequency. That said it’s the only problem that I have. The writing is really solid with characters that are very rounded and have I feel that they are likeable characters. Mark McDonnell and Hannah Smith continue their superb performances. Especially McDonnell’s Liam Barnaby is becoming a greater and greater character and I think this is slowly starting to become his series. Jo Castleton is also a great as Hazel. There is a dogged determination about her character that replaced a cheery personality. Toby Hadoke is another great piece of casting as Louis Richter. Hadoke doesn’t try and go over board with his voice and for that there is a desperation tone to the character. Sadly he came a cropper in this episode. Maybe he has twin or will come back in flashbacks. Who knows.

At the end of this story I was totally engrossed. The story is moving along at a great pace and bodes well for the second half of this series. Roll on part three.

Outsiders (2009)

It was January 2006 that the first Cybermen series concluded. Ever since then I feared that this second series would never come. Nicholas Briggs has decided not to write this series but hand this responsibility over to James Swallow who wrote Keepsake in 2008. How would he deal with the high level of expectation that I and countless other will have had. Its surprising that they decided to release all four episodes in one go instead of doing over four months. I personally think that this might be a mistake but only time will tell. This story is split into two parts. The first being about Liam and Sam who are trying to survive and then there is Becca and Hazel Trahan who are on Earth which is being run by Cybermen though no-one thinks that they are anything but soldiers dressing up. The Liam and Sam story seemed to start exactly where it left off in Telos, I found that this only worked because I listened to Telos the night before. Anyone else would probably struggle to remember why they are there. As soon as that problem is resolved then another arose and it created for me the impression that they were a team just trying to do the simple thing and get back to Earth. Mark McDonnell and Hannah Smith are brilliant as Liam and Sam. Smith in particular is a character that I have grown to like over the previous four parts and in this one she stepped up a gear trying to prolong the revelation that she is an android.

The other half of this was a nice new addition to the series. I found these two particularly interesting because they seemed to have a natural chemistry (being sisters that’s not a surprise), there was no bravado about them. Hazel was a taxi driver and Becca seemed to work in an office whilst being blind. With everything that is going on with Liam and Sam I found that these two gave a more human spin to things. Their story is not as developed as the other story but something tells me their story will be told. I thought that the best scene and also the most eerie was when Hazel caught by a group of Cybermen who were calling out a general speech but it started off quieter and got louder and louder. I thought that this was well played by Jo Castleton.

I recently listened to the last series and its amazing how this series is different to the last. The story seems to have a more traditional Big Finish main range feel to it. I liked how they mixed two strands together and continued the series one plot with Liam and Sam and introducing the new one with Hazel and Becca. James Swallow has done a good job starting this series after a near four year gap. The characters and pace seem fresh and gave me fresh incentive to start listening to the next instalment immediately, well the next day anyway.

Museum Peace

Museum Peace is a subscriber’s special which is about an adventure featuring Kalendorf. This is set some time after the Dalek Wars have finished and sees Lord Chancellor Kalendorf visit a museum not to have a face to face with a Dalek but for contemplation. The story was written by James Swallow and NOT Nicholas Briggs which considering Dalek Empire was Briggs’ creation was surprising.

I thought that the story was an enjoyable piece. I wasn’t aware that the Doctor was going to be in it, instead of it being the Seventh Doctor that Kalendorf encounters like he did in Return of the Daleks but the Eighth Doctor. The Doctor that we encounter in this story is a more emotionally battered character. It’s more like the Ninth/Tenth Doctors that we see on TV than what were use to. There’s also an usual use of the Daleks in this, well Dalek. The Dalek in this story is presented as a dead and inactive prop whereas over the course of the story we learn that it become active and has enough power to kill just one more person. Its typical, you wait for two enemies of the Daleks to appear and you can only get rid of one of them.

The story was a slow building one and the way that Briggs’ describes what is going on sounded like he swallowed a dictionary. I wasn’t so keen on Briggs’ Kalendorf voice. I think it was perhaps too far down the gruff voice and was a bit of a distraction at first. The ending was perhaps the most well written and most emotionally felt that I have ever witnessed. Briggs’ should be applauded for playing at such a high level.

I know that I got it for free and shouldn’t really grumble. So I’m not, this is a wonderful story and I would gladly have paid for this. I listened to this whilst stuck in a traffic jam on the M6 and this story made it the most bearable jam in history. If only it would have carried on for another 35 minutes.

As someone from the 1950’s would say “Bravo!”

Singularity (2005)

Singularity is only the third story in 6 years to feature the Fifth Doctor and Turlough after Phantasmagoria (1999) and Loups-Garoux (2001). The latter story wasn’t a total success but hopefully things would have improved greatly. James Swallow has written this story which is his first for the series. This is a different type of story because it is set in Russia and instead of falling for the easier job of hiring English actors and getting them to do Russian accents, they actually went to the trouble of getting Russian actors.

The thing that I like about this story is how much of an improvement it is for the character of Turlough. I think that Swallow has captured the essence of Turlough brilliantly. I liked how a bit more of his home planet was discussed and it showed how far he has come since his first tried to murder the Doctor back in Mawdryn Undead.

The story itself is a nice one that has a lot of mystery about it and it keeps the listener glued to want to know what is going on. There is a lot of mystery surrounding the Somnus Foundation who are some sort of corporation that don’t like people meddling in their affairs. Obviously they are up to something and its not long before we learn that they are trying to change their own past. Its not the most ludicrous plan ever devised by an alien force but its close.

Peter Davison is very good in this story. Its nice to see him have a story with someone that isn’t Nyssa, Peri or Erimem. It would be nice to have more Turlough stories because he is such an interesting character and has been shown by Big Finish since 1999, the companions we have in these stories are so much better than what we got on TV. Mark Strickson is given so great dialogue and I found it a joy to listen to. Turlough was given a purpose and worked well with the other characters.

This isn’t a straight forward story and may require a second listen from some people. I however found it quite a interesting story that confused me slightly but never spoilt my enjoyment. James Swallow has written a smart and clever play that uses different elements and the great combination of the Doctor and Turlough to produce a play that could work in the TV series.

Kingdom of Silver (2008)

There have been a large number of companionless stories as of late. There was Valhalla and then there was The Death Collectors and then there was Frozen Time and now there is this story. You may notice a pattern emerging and that is all the stories being mentioned are Seventh Doctor stories and this is largely because he works just as well with companions as he does without. Kingdom of Silver is a story is different because it features a familiar monster. In this story the Doctor travels to Tasak. The story is quite a good one as it tells of a civilisation that is progressing and using technology that is really evil. It turns out that the technology comes from Cybermen who have been in hibernation and have been woken up. It is a story that works well in a three part situation and I like three part stories because it means that you don’t have padding on the story which can at times be frustrating. Cybermen are the shows second most popular monster and perhaps they should be ahead of the Daleks because essentially the Cybermen are human but with just robotic parts instead of human parts like a heart and lungs etc. Whenever they appear in Big Finish plays they are always well used. The 2002 story Spare Parts in one of the best stories that they have ever done and whenever they appear they are always well used. The use of the Cybermen in this story was just right and they were used in a simple yet effective way. In many respects that is what makes this story work really well. Kingdom of Silver wasn’t complicated as I feared you knew what was happening and it was a simple solution to the conclusion of the story.

Slyvester McCoy was very good in this story. He seems to work better when he hasn’t got any companions. He does work well with Sophie Aldred and Philip Olivier but I think when the Doctor hasn’t got a companion to worry about then he hasn’t got any complications or any emotional drama to have to deal with on top of what is going on. What has worked really well in this story, Valhalla, Frozen Time and The Death Collectors is how he quickly creates chemistry with his temporary companion in those stories. The biggest name apart from McCoy was Terry Molloy who most fans of classic who will know as the third actor to play Davros from 1983-1988. He is credited with giving Davros the maniacal aspect to his character that is clearly been carried over with Julian Bleech in 2008. He has appeared in several stories for Big Finish over the years but this is the only time that I recall he gets to play a character that isn’t Davros. In this story Malloy plays Magus Riga who I imagine is some sort of old professor who is coming to the end of his life. Neil Roberts plays Temeter in this story and is one of the most vital parts of this story. In this story it was Temeter who was reluctant to believe the Doctor but soon came on side but it was his relationship with Sara that was somewhat predictable but added something to the story. Another important member of the story is Sara as played by Kate Terrance and she forms a great relationship with Temeter which will be important in a certain spin-off which is being planned for late 2009. Other characters work really well in the story including James George as Merel, Bunny Reed as Ardith, Holly King as Etin and of course Nicholas Briggs as the voice of the Cybermen.

This story isn’t flawless. The cliffhangers in this story were really quite weak. The cliffhanger should really give you an incentive to carry on listening like you would get when watching the TV series. Of course we are going to carry on listening because we have it all in one package but imagine if we had to wait a week there would be no real incentive to tune in. Having said that it was the only real niggling thing about this story which is quite surprising. With single part stories in the past they have tended to be pointless. This is due to my opinion that 25 minute single part stories just don’t work cause you cant tell a story in such a short amount of time. The only exception to the rule is Urban Myths which was entertaining. Keepsake was actually quite good. The thing that I noticed straight away from that it didn’t really have anything to do with Kingdom of Silver except that it featured Temeter and Sara. Listening to the extras it was a prologue for the second series of the Cyberman spin-off. The story was well constructed and well acted. It looks like the second series is going to be very good if they are going to keep Temeter and Sara as they are because there is so much potential for they characters and it’ll be great to hear them again.

James Swallow has written several stories over the last few years including Singularity (2005) and the Companion Chronicles story Old Soldiers. Those stories were not what I would class as top stories but that is not to say that they are poor. With this story Swallow has produced his best script that had all the drama and enjoyment that you would expect from a Cybermen story. Ken Bentley & Nicholas Briggs took turns in directing these two plays and to be honest their just as good as the other. I suspect that Briggs directed Keepsake because of the ties with his spin-off series and so he knows what he wants from it. Overall this was a good release with a good plot and cast, it was nice to see a ‘three plus one’ release that worked together and does show to me that this works however this is only the second one since they did these that this has happened. What I think they should do is to make the single part story slightly longer, maybe 30 minutes or even 35 minutes.

Old Soldiers (2007)

The third part of the companion chronicles sees Nicholas Courtney reprise his role for the first time in 19 years. The one thing that strikes me is how good his voice is, he sounds nothing like the Brigadier from the 1970’s but even so it is a nice voice and is easy to listen to like Tom Baker’s when he is narrating Little Britain. James Swallow has written this story and his previous contribution to the Doctor Who range was the 2005 story Singularity which was a slighltly dull adventure so I had a slight hesitation when I started to listen to it. The first thing that I noticed was the chronological setting of the story, it was set straight after the 1970 story ‘Doctor Who and the Silurians’ which made it feel like a proper adventure.

The main problem I have with this story is that it seemed to really lack a proper menace. I found myself really struggling to enjoy this apart from Courtney. In fact Nicholas Courtney was the best thing in this story as it feels like he is telling the story from experience and his voice works well on audio and should be encouraged to do more Big Finish stories in the future. Swallow’s story was not terrible but compared to Mother Russia and Helicon Prime which were fantastic stories this one is the weakest of the series so far.