Smoke and Mirrors (2013)

The latest instalment in the Destiny series sees the first classic element to come into this series. The story has been written by Toms Tardis Award winning writer Steve Lyons who has introduced the Master into the adventure. The story sees the Doctor answer a distress call and the TARDIS lands in a fairground in England in the 1920’s. The Doctor meets up with Harry Houdini.
The story plods along rather well and the introduction of the eleventh Doctor seemed to work better in this story. It seemed better thought out that in previous adventures and despite its brief but sudden appearance in the story it seemed to fit the style of the story. The introduction of Houdini is something that works really well as its always fun to hear about famous people that the Doctor has encountered. He is the worst name dropper in history but its still fun to hear the names that he has encountered.

The Master wasn’t physically in the story but trapped in glass whilst still seemingly being in Castrovalva. I thought this was a clever plot point and actually made the Master seem more menacing than he ever did when he was on TV during this era. It’s the first time that someone from the classic era has been bought into this series and its good that it was the Master as I think that he’s not perhaps used as effectively as he could be but here he’s used well.

Janet Fielding was very good in this adventure. I don’t remember her doing this sort of thing before so I found her delivery style to be soothing. It’s a shame that she doesn’t do more of these sort of stories (would have been great in a companion chronicle) because she manages to make the story seem engaging and enjoyable. Tim Beckmann was very good as Houdini. From the very early moments that Houdini is in the story its clear that Houdini is after something and Beckmann manages to make me feel sorry that the Doctor isn’t more forthcoming than he is.

I really enjoyed Smoke and Mirrors and it was a very good story with good performances from Janet Fielding and Tim Beckmann. Out of the five stories that we have had so far, this has been the most satisfying since Hunters of Earth.

House of Cards (2013)

The second story of the year sees Jamie and Polly reunite for a companion chronicle. This is clearly based on the success of ‘The Selachian Gambit’ which I enjoyed and that was for two reasons. One it was a good story and secondly, it got me over the disappointment of ‘The Anachronauts’ which I just felt was a bit weak. So for the second year running,  I am hoping that a Polly/Jamie story can get me over the disappointment of the previous story. The story despite its title, isn’t about someone manipulating people to become Prime Minister or forcing the new king to abdicate from the thrown but is in fact about the Doctor, Ben,Polly and Jamie. Written by Toms Tardis Award winning author Steve Lyons, the story sees Ben get into debt and put in a game that could see him die and Polly trying to agonise about what she is being asked to do. There are plenty of characters in this story that make this seem much more than a story set in a casino. The descriptions of the monsters is the first thing that grabbed me when it started. It wasn’t a particular scene but the description of a creature that gets it going which isn’t something that I recall happening before.

In the early releases of this range, the stories use to be from the companions point of view with the Doctor’s involvement being relatively light. Over the years the Doctors involvement has got more and more so this story felt like a throw back to those early releases. Thankfully this isn’t really noticed until the end because Anneke Wills and Fraser Hines are both splendid. Anneke Wills is clearly the driving force of the story as it felt like she was delivering the vast majority of the dialogue. The particular highlight came around the half way mark arrives when Polly has to pick a button which may kill Ben or save him. The idea creates some remarkable tension which mirrors the fourth Doctor’s dilemma in ‘Genesis of the Daleks’ and I think that its credit to Wills that it works the way that it does. It’s always a joy having Fraser Hines in these stories because he does the best impression of a Doctor in this range and he wasn’t just there to make up the numbers. He gave a very strong performance and despite having worked mainly with Wendy Padbury on these stories I think that the Polly/Jamie partnership works better.

Compared to ‘The Selachian Gambit’, I must  admit that I wasn’t as wowed with this story as I would have liked. I still enjoyed it though and there will be more stories featuring Anneke Wills and Fraser Hines so all is right with the world.  With the news having just broke that the companion chronicles will end its run in 2014, I think that stories like House of Cards will be used to show how far the range has come in the last couple of years.

The Selachian Gambit (2012)

The Selachian Gambit is quite like the previous release in that it features two companions in the same story. However unlike the previous story, this was not billed as a special story. Just a regular companion chronicle. This is the second story to feature the Selachians in the Big Finish world however for many they have appeared over many years. Their previous outing was in 2010 in the seventh Doctor adventure 'The Architects of History'. I quite liked them in that story however once I heard that were coming back I wasnt expecting this story to be as good because its the law of diminisioning returns and by that I mean that they lose their sparkle after every visit. Steve Lyons who won a Toms Tardis Award in 2007 for Son of the Dragon was given the job of using his own creation in this story which is set in a bank with the Selachians trying to get into a vault. The story has a pretty simple premise and its that simple premise that is what I quite like about this adventure.

Setting a story in a single location is always a good thing in my book because it reduces the chance for things to get a bit complicated. What I did quite like about this story was how the vault seemed like the TARDIS. This was explained in a story which the name of escapes me but essentially the exterior of the TARDIS/Vault might be in one place but the interior is elsewhere. I thought the actual story itself was very interesting and suited the Companion Chronicle format very well.

Frazer Hines' impression has become one of the highlights because it is so good. Not necersarily the tone of it but the mannerisms such as the coughs and the way that he delivers his lines. In the same way that Peter Purves' impression of the first Doctor is an enjoyable one, Hines does an impression of the Doctor which helps you get past the obviousness that its someone else doing Patrick Troughton's Doctor. I wasnt totally convinced with his impression of Ben. It must be quite a task for a Scot to do an impression of a Cockney and its the only time during the whole story that it falls apart slightly. Anneke Wills on the other hand does a very good Ben impression partly because she is more cockney than Hines. I thought that her impression was slightly more comical cockney than anything else but it was still the better of the two. As for their combined performance in telling the story I must admit that they are two very good readers as they make sure that even when very little was happening they kept the pace and the tempo of the story the same.

The Selachian Gambit was another enjoyable release from the Companion Chronicles. I think that out of the two stories this year to feature two companions, I would say that this was arguably the better of the two purely because the story was the right length and the plot was stronger though I still maintain that if they had cut the running time of The Achronauts then it would have been a better release but I have no doubt that the Selachians return to Big Finish however I hope it will be in the main range. A nice story.

The Ratings War (2002)

The Ratings War is another story that was given away by Doctor Who Magazine back in 2002 and written by Steve Lyons. The story sees the ‘return’ of Beep the Meep. I put it like that because I have never read/watched/listened to an adventure with him in it. I am however aware of him so the story wasn’t lost on me. The story seems to have a lot of its story based in reality TV which when this story was released was at its most popular. Big Brother was still relatively new and Pop Idol and other shows were fuelling peoples hunger for this new-ish format. The story is split between the final of a reality show and the Doctor and Beep.

This is the second free re-release that I have listened to (after Living Legend) and its not as much fun as that story. Primarily because I can’t really stand Beep. I think as baddie’s go he is rather feeble. Ok, he sounds cute but his plan is rather lazy and doesn’t have much sense of threat or menace. It’s almost like the Doctor could have saved the day with his eyes closed. The stuff with the reality show was rather annoying as the presenter is the sort of person that you would quite happily slap and it was only the stuff between Beep and the Doctor that was keeping me going. I think that they could easily have cut the reality stuff out and it would have been a much snappier adventure.

As I always say its hard to slate something that is given to us for free however I really cant lie about my feelings about this story and I think that whilst its not a terrible story neither is it a good one. I think that had this being a four parter then it would certainly have struggled and as it is the duration of this (nearly 35 minutes) is just the right length.

Insurgency (2005)

After the wonderful two-parter, I did have a fear that the series was going to return to bombarding a story with complex science stuff but I am glad to report that it wasn’t the case. Instead Insurgency continues to follow the path that I like because this story revels in the politics and the attempts of Darkel to take power from Romana. The story is about a group of students who are at the academy, some are gallifreyans but some are off-worlders and its these off-worlders who Darkel has an issue with. It’s almost a modern day feeling when it comes to immigration and people’s fear about outsiders coming in. Leela has been positioned in the Academy because one member has been exposed as a member of the terrorist group ‘Free Time’. It’s odd to see Leela as a teacher but she carries it off very well but Leela has her own story in this adventure as Andred tries to persuade Leela that he still the man she fell in love with back in The Invasion of Time. Something I liked the most blatant nods to Doctor Who that we have had when they mention the house that the Doctor belonged to as well as the Master but no mention for the Meddling Monk.

The performances in this story were all very strong and Insurgency is another strong character adventure. Lalla Ward is very good as her once unflappable nature starts to weaken a little. She becomes desperate and frustrated at times. I thought that bit where she is talking to the Imperiatrix Pandora (through K9) were very good scenes because they were almost a spoiler for Romana and the listener. Ward has played being President very well and I like how she holds herself despite all the political backbiting that goes on. The Romana we get in this series is not the one we got on TV, likewise I could say the same for Louise Jameson who has character wise been on a different course to Ward because the main thing in series one was finding out what happened to her husband and in series two we see her almost losing that fighting spirit we all know she has and trying to deal with Andred. What has happened to Lynda Bellingham? I ask that it a total sense of disbelief of how the character has improved over the series. I was watching The Trial of a Timelord the other day and its incredible how a pretty standard two dimensional character has grown into someone who has grown into the third most important character in this series. Her political views have been evident but it’s a this stage that they really step up a gear and it almost seems like her story because everything benefits her and Lynda Bellingham is superb as Darkel.

The final scene is a wonderful moment because it hopefully sets up the final story where there is a fight for power between Darkel and Romana. Darkel has been an increasingly big influence in these stories and her political fighting with Romana has been one of the highlights of the series and the coup d’etat is well and truly on the cards. Whilst this story may not have the action that Spirit or Pandora have but the story still has something that makes it highly enjoyable but still just as good as other stories from this series.

The Architects of History (2010)

After two stories that have been enjoyable it was important that this story ends this series of in style. After the great cliffhanger in Survival of the Fittest I was really looking forward to this story which just from the cover looked like it was going to be something special. Written by Steve Lyons (Toms Tardis Award Winner in 2007 for Best Writer) has been given the task of finding an ending that will satisfy everyone (or at least the majority). Its 2044 and Klein arrives on a Moonbase (some 30 years before the Cybermen arrive) and at the same time the base becomes involved in an invasion by shark looking creatures called the Selachians.

Klein has been going back to try and change history to how she wants it but every time she does this she is effecting another reality and this is causing problems with all the time strands. What she has managed to do is create a golden age where Fascism is running wild. It takes a while to get things straight in my mind as to what was going on in terms of timelines. The moment where the interior of the TARDIS has disappeared reminded me of the 2005 story Fathers Day. It does have quite a dramatic weight to what is going on because it basically strands Klein on the Moon where she doesn’t really want to be.

The Doctor that we have in this story is apparently not the same one that we had in Survival of the Fittest. He has appeared in a cell at the beginning of the story which is quite confusing. But to be honest in Klein’s story we learnt that the Eighth Doctor was always going to be Paul McGann no matter what reality they are in. There are quite a few things that are a bit strange. The first is that the Doctor went back in time to bring the Selachians to the Moonbase. I think that the Doctor’s plan was brilliant. There was a lot of planning that seemed to have gone into it. He gave them the things they needed to mount an invasion. Another thing that we learn in that Rachel Cooper has become a companion to the Seventh Doctor but mysteriously does remember her. The character of Cooper was a very strong character and well played. She has had adventures that we are not aware of yet the feeling that I got was that she has had countless adventures. It was a really sad moment when the Doctor left without her as the Doctor had abandoned her.

Lenora Crichlow is the big name in this story joining an elite group of actors who have appeared on both TV and audio Doctor Who. Crichlow appeared in the 2007 story Gridlock and has recently appeared in the BBC3 comedy Being Human as well as the BBC1 drama Material Girl. She gives the character a sort of normality whilst having some grit and determination about her. She would be a good addition to Doctor Who on a more permanent basis. Sylvester McCoy is very good in this story but does seem slightly in the background at times. He is held prisoner on the base and its only towards the end that he really seems to be involved more in the action. Tracey Childs is brilliant in this story as she has been in all three adventures. I think that she challenges the Doctor in ways that no other companion has done before. There were some moments in this story that really showed what a great actress Childs is. She manages to play a hard nosed Nazi and also a nice normal person at the end with equal enthusiasm. There were other characters that were very good in this story. Major Richter was quite an unpleasant character. Almost like Nyder from Genesis of the Daleks. Played by Jamie Parker, this character was one that would do whatever it takes to survive and that would involve killing people.

The Selachians are a wonderful creation. Admittedly they might look a bit silly on TV but I think that they would be a match for the Daleks. They sound really distinctive, quite like the Viyrans. Their willingness to listen to people reminded me of the Daleks and when the Selachians threatened to kill six people every half hour I thought even the Daleks wouldn’t be that brutal. I think that like the Viyrans they have potential and future stories would be good to know more about them because not enough was known about them. They have apparently been used in novels but seen as I have an allergic reaction to reading novels I don’t really know about them. The story is all about the Doctor’s actions. His actions in getting Klein trying to change things back to how they should be led to resentment on Klein’s part.

The destruction of the Moonbase effectively destroys the Galactic Reich which giving the amount of messing about that Klein did with the timelines was ineffivitable. But the ending is like Survival of the Fittest it’s the last five minutes or so that is what I will remember. The thing that I have really enjoyed over the last three stories are the scenes that the Doctor and Klein have had where they discuss the moralities of changing history have been good and they been quite thought provoking which is quite unusual for a Doctor Who story. The Doctor isn’t the sort that will murder someone so the idea that Klein turns up at UNIT and its not made clear whether her memory has been wiped and she has been placed on Earth to live out a life without knowing what she knew before or whether she is in a part of the TARDIS where this reality has been created outside of time. Normally this sort of confusion would be irritating to me however I think whichever version it is I think that to kill her would have been a waste of time in bringing her back and would have betrayed the Doctor’s core morals.

The Architects of History is a fitting end to the series. Steve Lyons has done a brilliant job in creating characters and a setting that works very well on radio. John Ainsworth should also be praised for directing a story that had a lot of pace and kept me enthralled from start to finish. Elizabeth Klein has been used brilliantly in this series and whilst the ending was the right one it does mean that we probably wont be treated to further Klein stories in the future. Though we might be able to have a Klein Companion Chronicle.

Oh, and as this story shows. Don’t live or work on the Moon as it will be blown up or invaded by the Cybermen or even abandoned due to the Dalek Invasion of Earth 2150.

Time Works (2006)

Time Works is a very curious story. Which is one word that I would associate with all of McGann’s adventures. Steve Lyons’ previous scripts were the very good The Fires of Vulcan (2000) and the very complex Colditz in 2001. As Big Finish is fighting to keep people interested in their product instead of the newly polished TV version, its bold stories like this that show why Big Finish are so good.

The Doctor, Charley and C’Rizz arrive where the people on this planet are frozen in time. When they start moving the Doctor learns that everyone is obsessed with time. They build their lives around it. Now normally something like this would bore me to tears but what Lyons has managed to do is create a world with characters that are very interesting and have a lot of things going for them. For one the minor characters in this are written so well that when they are killed I felt really sad.

A name that stood out to me when I read the casting list was Tracey Childs who previously starred in the Lyons written Colditz. She plays the Figurehead. The character has been created by the occupants of the old world who we learn we wiped out by a meteor because they essentially couldn’t be bothered to come up with technology to prevent it. Paul McGann, India Fisher and Conrad Westmaas all performed very well with a script that gives them lots to do. In fact the partnership between Charley and C’Rizz was one of the best that these two have had for quite sometime.

Whilst I don’t think that this was as good as Other Lives I do think that it’s a better offering than I thought it would be. All the main cast performed well and were well supported by the guest cast members. Whilst I felt that the first episode was the weaker of the four once you get past part one. Lyons has written another good story and Edward Salt has done a good job keeping the pace move at a nice steady pace.

The Fires of Vulcan (2000)

The Fires of Vulcan is the first story to feature Melanie ‘Mel’ Bush since Dragonfire in 1987. The companion isnt held in high regard by a large majority of Doctor Who fans and at times I understand why. The level of resentment that was aimed at her was almost unfair. So it was quite a surprise to hear that she came back to reprise her role. What also was something of note is that this is a historical story and despite my misgivings about historical stories ever since The Marian Conspiracy I have found a new love for stories set in the past.

There is a mystery as soon as the theme music stops. The TARDIS has been found buried in the ruins of Pompeii by UNIT. The Doctor and Mel land in Pompeii just one day before the eruption of Mount Vesuvius (and probably just avoiding the tenth Doctor and Donna). But he knows (thanks to his fifth incarnation) what will happen and because these events are set it means he cant go back and change his own timeline.

Sylvester McCoy gives a more solum performance in this story as he knows he is trapped in Pompeii. This is by far his best story to date and its largely due to his performance. Bonnie Langford is brilliant as Mel. I found her more engaging and likeable in this four part story than I ever did when she was on TV. This is effectively the rebirth of Mel. Together they are on fine form and it just about erases memories of series 24 which was woeful. All the other actors in this are very good and help create the impression of their surroundings. In particular Gemma Bissix (formerly of Hollyoaks and Eastenders) was very good as Aglae. I felt she was one of the few characters that could have been a companion had things being different.

I thought that the story itself was a nice story. Its not the crash bang wallop type of story that you would expect from this Doctor but its still an entertaining adventure which I thoroughly felt was surprising. A historical story with Mel that I liked. This was the first story to be written by Steve Lyons and hopefully it wont be the last. It was informative and it moved at a good steady pace. Its stories like this that show what the Seventh Doctor could have achieved had he being given the right stories.

Colditz (2001)

Colditz is a very strange story. Which isn’t such a big shock considering Sylvester McCoy’s Doctor revels in strange plots and weird stories. Having already done a Second World War story before with Curse of Fenric (1989) it was going to take something pretty big to make different to make this story work. Another reason is that Dust Breeding was such a strong story for the Seventh Doctor.

The two main guest characters of Klein and Feldwebel Kurtz as played by Tracey Childs and David Tennant respectively. I found both characters to be utterly bad and not likeable (as you would expect from Nazi soldiers). In particular it was Childs’ performance that I found the stronger of the two. It was of course the two main stars that stole the show. Sylvester McCoy had some wonderful scenes and it’s such a shame that he never got the chance to do this sort of story when he was on TV. Sophie Aldred seems to be at a turning point in her life. From now on she wants to be called Dorothy McShane. It’s a moment that shows how far she has come from her first story in Dragonfire (1987).

I did find the story to be quite difficult to follow towards the end which is a shame because three quarters of the story was enjoyable stuff. I think when there is a shift is whats going and it happens this late on in the story then it causes problems. It made it slightly easier to sit through cause it was Klein and the Doctor and those two really worked well against each other.

This story is a good story. There are elements that need to be listened to again to be fully understood but everything is there to have a good story. Again I was particularly impressed with Sylvester McCoy and Sophie Aldred who showed their wonderfully close relationship for everyone to enjoy. The Big Finish stories for the Seventh Doctor have certainly been the highlight so far and here’s hoping that it continues.

Blood of the Daleks (2007)

2007 TOMS TARDIS AWARD WINNER - BEST EIGHTH DOCTOR ADVENTURE

Blood of the Daleks is a two part story that opens up the Eighth Doctor and Lucie series. This is the first proper series that McGann has had since The Doctor, C’Rizz & Charley came back to our universe in The Next Life back in 2004. In this story we are introduced to a new companion, totally original and never before seen in either the classic or new series. Lucie Miller is a young brash Northerner from Blackpool who is on her way to a new job when she gets taken out of time and landed with the Doctor. This story was written by Steve Lyons who has written in the past The Fires of Vulcan (2000), Colditz (2001) and Gallifrey: Insurgency (2005).

The opening of this story is quite similar to the Christmas Special The Runaway Bride. I don’t believe that was intention able but seen as they both aired within two weeks of each other it’s a comparison hard to not make. This scene sets up what we can expect from the rest of the season. Due to the turbulence of Lucie’s arrival we find the Doctor and his new friend arrive on Red Rocket Rising which is a planet that has been devastated by asteroid strikes and the inhabitants are waiting for some sort of help. Inhabitants include Eileen Klint who is the acting president, Asha Gryvern who is a disgraced scientist and Tom Cardwell who is a bit nuts and also paranoid.

The story reveals that Gryvern who we were led to believe was assistant to a Professor Martez was actually Martez in reality and was creating a new race of Daleks. It’s also revealed that Gryvern is just occupying Martez’s body and it is slowly breaking down. We learn that the Daleks had created the asteroid strikes to try and destroy the new race of Daleks which they must see as some sort of an abomination. It was weird that the Doctor aligned himself with the real Daleks so that he could help destroy Martez’s Daleks. It wasn’t long before he gets help from Tom Cardwell to destroy both Daleks and thus have a happy ending. The Doctor tries to leave Red Rocket Rising without Lucie but soon finds out that he can’t because of the Timelords.

Paul McGann is given a new breath of fresh air with the introduction of Lucie. After five years of Charley and C’Rizz we know get the fresh scenario of a Doctor and a new companion. Having only started listening to Big Finish plays since late 2004 I have never been in this scenario where I am encountering a companion from the very beginning. McGann’s Doctor has to contend with the arrival of Lucie and the encounter of the Daleks. He seems to having a fun time with all the action going on. Sheridan Smith is someone that I have seen on TV from appearing in such shows as The Royle Family (1999-2000) and Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps (2001 to present). It seems that Lucie Miller is going to be a strong companion. She is a feisty individual but isn’t annoying, it’s a fine line which they have managed to get just right. She has some funny lines in this which helps a lot, such lines as wondering whether the Doctor’s hair is real or a wig which is funny because he wore a wig in the TV movie. Her line when they encounter Tom Cardwell for the first time and saying that Tin Hats “Not a good thing!” was also funny and made her seem more human and more real as a result. Anita Dobson is the biggest name of the guest stars. She appeared in the soap Eastenders as Angie Watts from 1985 to 1988, she is also married to Queen Guitarist Brian May. In Blood of the Daleks she plays embattled acting president Eileen Klint who has a hard time getting on with inhabitants. She is too willing to get on with the Daleks and due to the pressures of office she makes a monumentally bad decision. The character was written as weak and Dobson played that brilliantly. Hayley Atwell was perhaps the best of the guest stars as Asha Gryvern and Professor Martez. By creating a new race of Daleks she was the female version of Davros and she played that brilliantly. I was really impressed with the way that she played both roles and how she integrated with the other characters as well as the Doctor.

Other characters in this story include the Headhunter who is a character that will have such an important character throughout the series. The Headhunter is played by Katarina Olsson who also played the computer which is an ok role. Kenneth Cranham plays Tom Cardwell which is a character that is designed not to be taken seriously but obviously is ignored to the cost of the survival of Red Rocket Rising. I did find him a bit annoying but that shows what a good character he was and how he was right in his paranoia. Last but by no means least we have Gerry O’Toole who played Lowell. The character of Lowell wasn’t a particularly standout character but served a purpose and did well.

I thought that this was a really good opening story. There was the classic element of a planet under siege but with a different element. The introduction of a new companion was handled well and this should bode well for the future. Steve Lyons has written a highly enjoyable story which is amazing considering he had to bring in a new companion, bring in the Daleks and adapt to the new format of two 50 minute episodes. Nicholas Briggs does a superb job of directing this story. He managed to keep the intrigued at top notch throughout bout parts. Due to this story I have high hopes of the rest of the season and hope that Lucie’s story is told in a satisfactory manner.

Resistance (2009)

The extended third series of The Companion Chronicles finally sees Polly get a chance at telling an adventure she had with the Doctor. I listened to this story after listening to Anneke Wills narrate the Target Novelisation Doctor Who and the Cybermen and apart from the story it was Wills’ voice that made the release special for me. When Polly appeared in Doctor Who between June 1966 and May 1967 she was a good companion that seemed to work very well in the world of Doctor Who. When she left it was very sad but it was the fact that in the Faceless Ones she didn’t really have a proper send-off. I am quite surprised that it has taken all this time to bring Polly back to the Doctor Who world. The return of Polly was one that I looked forward too because I think that she is a companion that would do well in new Who. Even though when she originally appeared in The War Machines that she was a girl of the swinging 60’s she still would be able to work with the new style stories.

The story is set in February 1944 during the Second World War. This isn’t a setting that has really been used in Doctor Who for the simple reason that it was a terrible time in history that resulted in the death of millions and it can be quite easy to try and make light of it. This story sees Polly telling her story and then someone else would be telling their story. It’s quite an strange way of telling as story though it happened in The Prisoner’s Dilemma where Ace would have her scene and then Zara would have hers. It got me quite frustrated listening to it as the story was progressing as it hadn’t happened before. This time it wasn’t so bad and was expected. The thing that amazes me in this story as well as all other Companion Chronicles is how the writer manages to get the story feeling like that particular period in Doctor Who and also getting the relationship of the companions and Doctor right. This story manages to offer something new to the character of Polly and give a back story that has only really been happening to characters since Doctor Who came back in 2005. With Polly we learn that she had an uncle who died in a Prisoner of War. There begins the classic Doctor Who point of wanting to change history but being unable too. In this story it was unsure as to whether Polly would try and alter history or leave it be. Then we discover than this person we were led to believe is her uncle is in fact not and just someone impersonating him which was a nice twist.

The story itself is a nice one which doesn’t have an alien monster or someone trying to take over an alien planet but was perhaps the most personal of all stories. It makes a refreshing change when this is the case though it is not a practise I would like to see made permanently but in this case I am glad there were no monsters. We learn a lot about Polly in this single story than we ever did when she was on TV. We learn that her Uncle was a Prisoner of War and actually died there. When she encounters who she believes to be her uncle we are then pressed into the trying to change history story strand. Its something that has been debating and talked about since Doctor Who began and that is if you met someone from your past or your families past would you do something to change their future which would ultimately change your future or would you leave things as they stand. During this time we see a different side of Polly which is where she doesn’t feel like she needs the Doctor and she doesn’t need Ben or Jamie and knows better than they do. Once the Doctor, Polly, Jamie & Ben get back together you think that it is the end of their adventure and they leave with the moral message of leaving History alone but then there is another twist to the story and it the revelation that the person we think of as Polly’s Uncle is in fact not her Uncle and really someone who is pretending to be him. It’s a sad revelation as you feel the disappointment of Polly. Especially after she deserts the Doctor at the train station. The pace of the story is a slow burning one but by part two is moving at a quick enough pace to keep the listener entertained which is the way it should be in this particular story. As long as there is enough to keep the listener entertained then the pace can start as slow as it likes before speeding up.

Steve Lyons has written several Big Finish stories over the last few years. Since 2000 he has written The Fires of Vulcan (2000), Colditz (2001), Gallifrey: Insurgency (2005) the very good Blood of the Daleks (2007) and the 2007 Toms Tardis Story of the Year Son of the Dragon. So he has a track record of writing very good stories and with Resistance he keeps that trend going. Lisa Bowerman deserve credit for directing a story that uses Anneke Wills’ voice to keep the listener interested but soon allowing the story to take centre stage. Anneke Wills seems to be enjoying herself reading this story and whilst she manages to capture an essence of the Second Doctor it is Ben that she does best. The bond that the two characters have was always evident on TV but in the beginning of the story it is bought back to our attention. John Sackville is also very good in this story as the Pilot. He does well in making sure that the listener believes that the Pilot is in fact Polly’s Uncle right up until the end.

Overall this is a very good story. I wish/hope they would do more Polly stories as I think Anneke Wills has a very good voice for audio and she has shown in the Target Audios and her several appearances as Charley’s Mother that she has a nice warm voice which you would listen to even if she were reading the phonebook.

Son of the Dragon (2007)

This is the most eagerly awaited story of the year, I think that the casting of James Purefoy was partly the reason for the eagerness. Written by Steve Lyons this marks his fourth contribution to the range and Son of the Dragon proves to be his most successful attempt so far. In the past Lyons stories tended to be quite complex and difficult to understand but this story was quite simple compared to these stories. One of the biggest compliments that I can give to this story is that it has an epic feel to it like The Keys of Marinus. That feeling is something that doesn’t quite get done very often in audios but thankfully it was a refreshing change in this story.

The characters in this story are all very strong roles. Erimem returns to the type of role which she was best at in her opening story The Eye of the Scorpion and more recently The Council of Nicaea. In this story she seems to sacrifice her future happiness and travels with the Doctor and Peri. I prefer the role when she is in this situation because she is been stubborn or sacrifices herself because she feels that is the right thing to do. The Doctor does feel like he is in the background and when he is resting then you forget he's there. In this story he becomes a victim of circumstances whereas in most stories you know this but it is never admitted, in this story he does mention it and at that point you begin to accept it. It falls to Peri and Erimem to pick up the story and Steve Lyons does this by putting a lot more emphasis on Peri. Peri is very good in this story as she spends most of the story trying to contact Erimem from Count Dracula but obviously she doesn’t want to leave. The sisterly bond has been one of the main strengths of this combination but it is in this story that it shines as Peri has genuine distress when she thinks that Erimem is going to stay with Dracula. You genuinely think that Erimem is going to leave the TARDIS crew and even at the end you are still unsure but thankfully the writer didn’t go down the shocked route.

Peter Davison is very good in this role. When he is given the right material he can produce some fine stuff. With Son of the Dragon he is able to show why he is such a good Doctor. Nicola Bryant puts in perhaps her best performance of the year and for quite some time. Her relationship with Erimem is very strong and it gives her some fantastic emotional moments. Caroline Morris is the strongest of the three main stars. You get the horrible feeling that she may leave the Doctor and Peri but thankfully that doesn’t happen but thanks to the script and more importantly Morris herself that puts that fear about.

James Purefoy is the guest star of this story and he is given a starring role. Like Daphne Ashbrook in The Next Life (2004) and William Russell in The Game (2005), Purefoy’s presence is what stands out in this story. The way that he portrays Count Dracula is absolutely fantastic, his nice side and nasty rather gruesome moods are what strikes you most about the role. The way that he is willing to punish or torture someone without a moment of hesitation was quite similar to most bad guys in Doctor Who but yet is somewhat better than all of them. His role in the TV show Rome was Mark Anthony who was a man who did what he wanted to do and was able to snap for no reason but at the same time he manages to make the character of Dracula likeable. I had high expectations of James Purefoy from the moment that I found out that he was going to be in Son of the Dragon and I have to say that I wasn’t disappointed. Another credible role was Douglas Hodge who played the brother of Count Dracula Radu. The way that the role was written by Lyons made a perfect opponent to Dracula and the fact that their brothers only adds to the tension that both actors give to the role. Radu’s friendship with the Doctor seems heartfelt but ultimately only does a little in helping the story move along. When the Doctor leaves the camp that Radu’s men have temporally set up it then seems to lose momentum.

Whilst I loved this story there were a few things that could have been done. First of all there could have been a more obvious threat, the war between Radu and Dracula was good as a starter but after a while it just seems to lose a bit of momentum. There was no real menace, they could have done what they did in The Time Warrior and include a futuristic threat that didn’t seem too much like The Time Warrior. The ending was also a let down, because they didn’t have a attempt to change history or take over the world it seemed that the ending was a bit flat and it was like the Doctor and Peri turn up to the castle, rescue Erimem and give her the opportunity to stay with them or live a life with Count Dracula. Apart from those points there isn’t really anything wrong with the story.

Steve Lyons has written a very good script. The dialogue is very clever and very well written. As mentioned earlier Lyons script do have the tendency to be a little bit complicated however I found this one to very easy to follow. I thought that all the characters were well structured and very believable. Barnaby Edwards directing is solid throughout out this story. The pace was slow when it needed to be and it was speeded up when the action required it. Edwards is no stranger to directing and his experience shows. The music also deserves a mention in this story. The company is called ERS but there is no specific credit and that’s a shame because it is the music that helps create the atmosphere which is quite grim at times.

Overall this has to be one of the strongest stories of the year, not quite beating Nocturne or Exotron this is Peter Davison’s second strong story in a row and it is proving to be his year for Big Finish stories with only The Minds Eye and Return to the Web Planet to come in 2007 this story has to go into the Top 3 of best 2007 stories.