Starlight Robbery (2013)

The second story in this series sees the return of the Sontarans. It’s quite nice considering how long it took for the Sontarans to make an appearance in the Big Finish world that they are now regular visitors to it. The story picks up straight from Persuasion as Garundel is trying to sell the Persuasion machine along with the inventor’s body.  This story was written by Matt Fitton who’s previous seventh Doctor adventure wasn’t a great one if I remember right. I think that after Protect and Survive it was always going to suffer but this time it didn’t have that problem though I did enjoy Persuasion.  The story has a fun opening episode where all the characters are brought together

With Klein and Will mingling in with the crowd it does feel like it’s a newer version of Ace and Hex. It doesn’t quite have the same magic to it but I like Klein and Will and so enjoy the fact that they got to have much of the limelight in the early part of these stories. I thought that Tracey Childs has shown us that there is more to Klein that the Nazi scientist stuff and it’s a good performance from Childs. It’s appearing to be a sound move to bring the character back and she works well with Will Arrowsmith and it’s a good performance from Christian Edwards. I do hope that Edwards is bought back in future stories because I do think that the character of Will is rather good and fun to listen to.

I think that Stuart Milligan stole this story to be honest. He’s been in a number of stories over the last several years and he always puts in a great performance but in this story as Garundel, he is superb. I like the character and how he reminds me of Garron from The Ribos Operation. He isn’t trying to con people but he does have the gift of the gab and he’s great from start to finish. I also thought that Ziv was a great complimentary character to Garudenl. Jo Woodcock did well in being Garron’s number two and also being a romantic interest for Will.

The Sontarans don’t feature as much as I would have expected and normally that would be a big problem for me but due to the fact that I enjoyed this story so much I overlooked this and just went along with it. I think that Dan Starkey is great as the Sontarans and I thought that whilst they were a bit in the background at first they more than made up for it in the final episode and they were well used here and credit to Matt Fitton for making them seem different to what we’ve been used to. I  found Starlight Robbery quite fun. It could so easily have just been a very pedestrian story with the Sontarans being predictable or the story getting bogged down with whether Klein would find out about her past. I did chuckle at the line where WOTAN was mentioned. It seemed like a cheeky reference and I thought that it was the perfect ending to an enjoyable story.

The Alchemists (2013)

The only thing that I knew about this story before I started to listen to it was that it was due to come out earlier in the year but it got switched. The Alchemists arrives and its simply a historical story which takes place in Germany in the 1930’s where some of the greatest minds of that period are meeting. The history lesson was quite interesting as I enjoy history and especially this period so whilst there wasn’t a great deal of drama to speak of there was enough here to keep me interested.

I haven’t been a massive fan of the Susan stories in the companion chronicles as I don’t think that Carole Ann Ford has the same delivery style as William Russell or Peter Purves or even Anneke Wills and so I struggled to stick with this story. Susan never really takes the reigns of the story when the Doctor isn’t involved in the story. It’s one of the finer stories for the character of Susan because she doesn’t come across as annoying as she has done in the past and stories like To The Death and An Earthly Child for the Eighth Doctor shows what can be done with the character. Sadly this story doesn’t allow for that. Another problem with Ford’s performance is that when she has to do a German accent she cant do it. She seems to do a French accent and stick a few German words in there. It becomes a distraction which is a shame. Wayne Forester is quite good as Pollit though there are moments in the story where he’s not quite as nice and he delivers a rather disturbing performance.

I think that this is a perfectly fine adventure. It doesn’t have the dramatic feel to it that something like The Library of Alexandria has or Mastermind but I still found that there was something that was ok about this story. It certainly has the atmosphere to it and it’s a nice period of history and I think that different people will probably get something from it and some may even defend it but in this instance it isn’t one of my favourites.

Benjamin and Baxter (2013)

Anyone who has been a big fan of the Jago and Litefoot will have been looking forward to this release since it was announced. This is basically one of those sort of interviews that you would see on Sky Arts where actors talk about their life stories. Nicholas Briggs sits down with Christopher Benjamin and Trevor Baxter and they discuss how they met and how their lives ended up with them reuniting some decades later for Big Finish after only appearing in two episodes together.

The interview starts off with a nice introduction with Benjamin and Baxter showing how much fun they have together and its impossible to not find them complete charming. We also know what sort of interviewer Nicholas Briggs would be and its a good one. He allows Benjamin and Baxter to say what they wanted and asks interesting and direct questions. After the introductory section the dynamic duo are split up and we get a lovely opportunity to hear both actors without letting the humour get in the way. The first to be interviewed solo was Christopher Benjamin. Benjamin's story is lovely to listen to and he talks about it with the sort of style hat most interviewers would dream of. He talks about growing p during the Second World War and the early stages of his careers in the latter stages of the 1940s. He is quite frank when he talking, at one point he considers himself a poor father for being on tour so much. His whole story is very interesting and its a shame when his section was over.  When we get to Trevor Baxter's part I think this release goes from being good to excellent. I thought that not only did Trevor Baxter tell his story very well but his life story has been crammed full with a rich tapestry of theatre work. I knew nothing of his life (or Christopher's). We get a nice bit of plolitical discussion from Baxter which does come as a bit of a shock but its a nice moment as its clear that Baxter knows what he's talking about and hasn't got his ideas from a group of idiots in a pub. Baxtern then talks about how there are things in his life that he is disappointed about but he doesnt grumble and instead seems to have enjoyed his life and thatnrefreshing to hear someone talk about their life and not have any bitterness. Like Benjamin's story, I was sad when it ended as he could have carried on talking and I wouldn't have minded.

When they are reunited we get them talking about their time returning to the roles of Jago and Litefoot and whilst they enjoy doing the stories they could tell you one story from the other which normally would be a big snub but to be fair Baxter is 80 and Benjamin is 78 and so they can be forgiven for not being hot on what the have done. We get a nice bit of a wish list from Benjamin about looking into Jago's life before he met Litefoot. 

Nicholas Briggs is fantastic in this story and does a great job as the interviewer. He shows interest in their stories and asks interesting questions whilst allowing Baxter and Benjamin to answer the questions in full. He doesn't inteript them and instead of being Jeremy Paxman he is more like Michael Parkinson and that's a great thing. Benjamin and Baxter is one of my favourite releases of the year. I was hoping that this release was going to be a good release and that it would keep my interest and not only did it do that but I found myself totally engaged in their stories and wanting to spend more time in their company. I genuinely can't find any fault in this release and that's a rare thing in any release these days. Benjamin, Baxter and Briggs are a credit to Big Finish and I loved this release.

The Final Phase (2013)

The final story of the series is the final story from Mary Tamm who died shortly after this story was recorded. It was the story I was putting off listening to because I knew of this fact. It had been a while since I heard 'The Dalek Contract' and I was wondering whether I should listen to that again. On this occasion I decided against it and just ploughed back into this story. It's a decision that I would soon regret. This is mainly because I sort of lost track of what was going on and it was only the performances that really kept me interested.

One thing I like about this story is David Warner. As Cuthbert he is a wonderful character and its a great performance from him and the great thing about Warner is that no matter what role you give him, he will always deliver. Toby Hadoke's performance is also quite good and there is a wonderful sense of vulnerability. Tom Baker is on his usual lively self with particularly strong moments. Also Mary Tamm is on great form and even when you take out the fact that this is her last story, you are still left with a Romana performance which is way better than what we got on TV. Her only encounter with the Daleks has gone well.

Despite the story being largely grim, there are some funny moments in a very serous story. The bit where Tom Baker doing a Dalek impression is great and seems very much in keeping with the Fourth Doctor. Another funny moment is when K9 has stealth mode and Romana asks why he hasn't used it before and K9 responds that no-one has ever asked him.

The cliffhanger was relatively ok. I say ok because it does that thing that seems to happen quite a lot in these stories and that's one of the regulars appears to be dead and we clearly know that this isn't the case. It was a while before Tom Baker made a return and I had forgotten about him because the action was moving along at such a pace that when he did return it was a moment where I couldn't believe that I had forgotten about him.

I thought the final scene was good even though obviously in an ideal world we would have had a nice tidy end scene but obviously heindsight is a wonderful thing. What we have got is a nice scene which seemed to solidify the Doctor's relationship with Romana as they both seemed to realise they don't mind each other without actually realising it. As much as I want to say that I enjoyed this I must say that there was small sense of disappointment. It's not a terrible story by any stretch of the imagination but I think that when you compare it to other Dalek stories then the best that you can say is that its perfectly fine.

Enemy Aliens (2013)

  This release is something of a historic release. It's the first time that a Big Finish companion has been used in wha is effectively a non-big finish adventure. it's the only time this will happen and its more to do with the fact that his number companions is low and the two characters that they could use are unavailable so out comes Charlotte Louise Pollard as played by India Fisher who's last adventure was a couple of years ago.

I'm going to come out with it straight away and say that I reall enjoyed this adventure. From start to finish the story was highly enjoyable and what sold this adventure to me wasn't necessarily India Fisher though I will get onto that shortly. It was the actual story which I found quite charming and I liked how it uses the title in quite a clever way. When you read the word aliens you imagine aliens in the traditional sense but actually it means aliens in the international sense. 

There a several good moments throughout this release. The first of them and the one that made me instantly like this story was the death on stage and how it leads Charley to be accused of murder. There something of the 39 steps about this story which isn't a bad thing just an observation. Then Charley fleeing to Scotland manages to make me feel that this could have worked as a full cast adventure for the main Big Finish range.

India Fisher is very good in this, actually let me correct that and say she is superb. Anyone who watches MasterChef will be familiar with her voice and whether its telling us what some wannabe chef has cooked up or whether Charley is talking about the latest peril, Fisher delivers the lines brilliantly and with the same amount of enthusiasm. If this is the first time that you are encountering Charley then you don't need to have heard any of her adventures with the sixth and eighth doctors.

The story does start to run a bit out of steam towards the very end but I enjoyed it so much that I didn't mind it so much. With a running time of around an hour it zips along at quite a good pace and its easily the best of the range which when you consider how good and consistently good the stories have been then it shows you how good this release is. As the range is coming towards the end its probably the best time to say that this series has been a pleasant surprise because even though Big Finish have produced it, there was a possibility that with AudioGo being involved that it was going to fall flat and just not work but I'm happy to say that the series has workedn and in the shows 50th Anniversay that is a massive relief.

Persuasion (2013)

Persuasion is the first story in the Seventh Doctor series. It’s also the first time that we have a Klein story in the main range since 2010 and its been just under a year since UNIT: Dominion. There was always going to be a question as to whether you needed to have listened to UNIT: Dominion before listening to this adventure and to be honest I’m not sure that you really do. At the end of ‘The Architects of History’, Klein was left at UNIT as a scientific advisor and she has no memory of her past.

The story starts off with an interesting pre-title scene where we are about to encounter the end of the world. I always think that pre-title scenes should always have something to do with that episode and the problem (and the only real problem I can see) is that it doesn’t seem to have anything to do with the episode. Each time I was curious to know how it fitted in to the main story as it didn’t seem to have any relation to the main plot. It seems like it was being saved until the second half of the story and it was a great idea because I personally wanted to hear more of the Doctor and Klein before the rest of the story and Jonathan Barnes pitched it perfectly.

The story also introduces Christian Edwards as Will Arrowsmith. I instantly liked the character as the character seems to have stumbled out of a 1920’s BBC period drama. The fact that he wants to record everything on a Dictaphone is something that I thought was a nice character trait and his involvement in the story was one of the high points. It’s always good to have Tracey Childs in a Big Finish play. The character of Klein is a great one and Childs plays its superbly. She isn’t your typical Doctor Who companion in that she demands to know things and doesn’t like being left in the dark.

Sylvester McCoy puts in a superb performance in this adventure. I would say over the last couple of years McCoy’s Doctor has been getting better and better with the last series being a particular highlight.  Whether it is The Magic Mousetrap, Enemy of the Daleks, Protect and Survive, UNIT: Dominion or Robophobia, it’s clear that McCoy is enjoying the sort of good form that Colin Baker’s Doctor was going through a couple of years ago.

Miranda Raison returns to the Doctor Who world after appearing in Toms Tardis Award winning ‘The Wreck of the Titan’. I thought that she was better cast in this adventure than in Titan. One of the best things about those pre-title scenes is that Raison delivered the dialogue brilliantly.

I really enjoyed this adventure. I thought that the characters were spot on and they weren’t wasted or asked to do stupid thing. There was a nice plot between the Doctor and Klein and also the second plot was a nice  supporting plot which was resolved in a great final episode. I am looking forward to the two remaining stories of the series. Possibly early contender for story of the year.

Mastermind (2013)

Mastermind is the first story of the eighth and sadly final series of the Companion Chronicles. This is the second story from Yee Jee Tso and Daphne Ashbrook who reprise their roles of Ruth Matheson and Charlie Sato who appeared in the 2011 story ‘Tales of the Vault’, I thought that it was a good story but I can’t say that I thought it was screaming out for a sequel. Any doubts that I may have had about this release were quickly dispersed when I discovered that Geoffrey Beevers would be returning as the Master. The first thing about this story is that it doesn’t actually feature a Doctor.

There is a wonderful build up to Sato and Matheson’s scene with the Master. There are basically rules to how they should be with him and there seem to be water-tight precautions to prevent the Master from escaping. When the Master does finally appear we get a nice explanation as to what happened to the Master after the TV Movie. It’s an interesting one which works well and would have looked great on TV. Once that explanation has been given then the story moves on a bit more to the Master being on the Titanic and how he ended up in Las Vegas. He wants to use Earth’s technology to become a Timelord again but had to wait for the technology to get up to the standard that he wanted but didn’t want to help otherwise he would attract the attention of the CIA and also the Doctor. It’s quite a good excuse as to why the Master doesn’t speed up the technology.

The idea of the Master running casinos is quite a fun idea and also the scene where the he is left to die is a great scene and is played well between Beevers and Tso. The whole theme of the story is about the Master’s survival and how he leaps from one body to another. At the end of the story he has escaped from what seems unescapable and it hopefully means that we are going to get more Master stories in the near future. I like what Jonathan Morris has done with the Master because we get a lot of the story from the Master and its all really fascinating stuff and well done.

I love that after all the speeches about how not to listen to the Master and to speak to him for only a short time and the other person watching them, they are still possessed into doing the Master’s bidding without even realising. It leads to arguably the best scene in the entire story (which is quite a compliment) where they realise that they have both been had and that they will be effectively imprisoned for the rest of their lives. They wont because Big Finish will find a way of getting them out because I get the feeling that this story will be very popular and will lead to another story but obviously it wont be in the companion chronicles series.

Geoffrey Beevers is one of those people that has a truly wonderful voice and every time he has featured in a Big Finish audio. Here he doesn’t disappoint and easily steals the show. Daphne Ashbrook and Yee Jee Tso are both really good in this and well in what is effectively a supporting role. They were always going to be in that position against Beevers but that doesn’t mean they are below par because we learn a bit more about their characters and they deal with it well.

Mastermind is a fine story and a great way to start the final season of Companion Chronicles. It’s a good story told well and it has an ending which some may have seen coming but it doesn’t mean that its not a great way of ending it and its crying out for a next instalment.