The Mighty 200

The Witch Hunters (1998)

The Witch Hunters is a story that I read about two years ago if I am being honest so my review is based on what stuck in my memory and maybe not what I was thinking about it at the time. The thing about this book which sticks in my mind all this time later is how intriguing this book is. It felt like it had come straight from that era. The idea that a prolonged amount of time seems to have taken place is something that wouldn’t have happened during previous stories.

This story sees Susan wanting to change the course of history instead of Barbara. In fact reading this means that you have to think about the events of The Aztecs. I think that the Susan on TV was horribly served and its only during the Big Finish audios and novels like this that have showed what the character can do. I thought that she the strongest of the regulars with the Doctor and Barbara a close joint second. Ian did seem to be a bit left out and wasn’t really allowed to be the Ian that he was on TV.

I return to how the setting and how it doesn’t feel like its rushing. It’s the longest book I have read in the PDA’s. It’s only six pages longer than Synthespians and 3 pages longer than Illegal Alien but it’s the one that feels like it is taking the story in its stride. It is allowing us to savour the history of America in 1692. I know that this might not to everyone’s satisfaction but there is a bravery to take things this slow in a book that was released in the late 1990’s. In Synthespians and Illegal Alien I have commented on how long it takes for the action to get started but because there isn’t a well known alien or an alien at all and so it saunters in its narrative.

Despite my enjoyment of this story, there is one aspect that was always going to trouble. Well two actually but the first is the most important. Whenever you do something in history you know that things cant change and so if you use certain characters, you are pretty much restricted with what happens to them. Secondly there is the issue of whether you know what the event is.  I didn’t know a great deal about what happens in Massachusetts in 1692 but in a way that wasn’t a problem because the characters were interesting enough.

I don’t know whether it’s the best PDA ever written but it’s the one that has left a warm feeling with me and that is a rare thing in a book.

Illegal Alien (1997)

After reading how the Autons get the BBC Books treatment, I was interested to read how Cybermen would work. This story takes place during World War 2 and the height of the Blitz. This was due to be made for TV so it would have done a good job in making up for Silver Nemesis.

What I like about this book is that it does a better job than Synthespians in getting the villain involved. Whereas it felt quite late into the book before the Autons became involved it was quite early into the book when the Cybermen were introduced into story. Ok its still later on into the book before they are properly bought in but throughout the entire book I got the feeling that this was a Cyberman story.

The thing about the writing of Mike Tucker and Robert Perry that the action never stops. Sometimes that is a problem especially when it comes to Ace. I felt that she was quite badly treated at times and there were a few occasions where if it had happened to me then as soon as the Cybermen were defeated I would have left the Doctor for an easier life.

The character of Cody McBride is quite interesting because he seems like a fish out of water. He becomes the second companion to the Doctor and is a very well written character. Other interesting characters include Major Lazonby, Patrick Mullen and Wall. I do think that it was a bit odd that he pretty much disappears quite late in the book. After being so involved in the story he just seems to wander off and returns right at the end. I think that this was because they wrote the story and then someone realised that we don’t know what happened to him. Limb is a character that is outsmarted over the course of the book and it’s a bit clichéd which is where the ending of the book comes unstuck.

The Cybermen are used perfectly well in this story and their plan is perfectly sound. Perry and Tucker use the setting as a way of keeping the Cybermen’s plan at bay until it was needed to take up the reigns of the story. I like that the Cybermats are used in this story and are quite dangerous. There is one scene where the Doctor traps one in a safe that springs to mind and this brief scene is one of my favourites in the book.

Illegal Alien is a good story but I think despite the promise that the story showed in the early part of the story, my expectations may have been raised so much and that meant that the second half of the book would only go on and disappoint. The setting is perfect and there are large chunks of the book that work quite well but I think that its in the characters that things start to get weak.

Snthespians (2004)

Synthespians is a story that features Autons as the villain and after being disappointed with their only appearance in new Who its good to see that they are used in a good way. The story sees the Doctor and Peri arrive on Reef Station One which appears to be a copy of Earth. What I like about this story is that at first it seems like it’s a question as to whether the people realise that they aren’t really on Earth but it’s a copy. His is answered after a reasonable amount of time but its fun to see how the Doctor and Peri have their own adventures and both aspects of the plot are well worked out.

The show Executive Desires is pretty much at the centre of the story and the shenanigans of the people involved in the making of it seem just as outrageous as the show itself. Its’ obvious (even without seeing the cover) that this is using the shows Dallas and Dynasty and Craig Hinton does a good job of transporting us back to that period whilst injecting the elements of Doctor Who that we all know and love.

I thought that some of the characters that feature in this book are rather good. Claudia is one that comes to mind because she starts off as this young girl who comes across as a rather spoilt brat but she becomes a rather brave and clever young lady. She forms quite a good working relationship with Peri and the two are quite entertaining on the page.

The book does spend quite a long time before it gets going into the action. The first half of the book is spent going between the Doctor’s story and Peri’s story. It was interesting enough so I am not too bothered by how long it takes for the Auton’s plan to get going. Once it does, it never stops and builds to a thrilling conclusion. It’s quite difficult to make the Auton’s work on the page but Craig Hinton manages to pull it off with limited success. I think that the difficulties of making this work mean that is why we have to wait for them to be involved in the story.

Synthespians TM isn’t a ground-breaking story but sometimes it’s fun to have a story than enjoys just being a story and I found this story to be enjoyable to read. It lets me wallow in some nostalgia whilst keeping me firmly interested in what was going on and more importantly what was going on with Peri and the Sixth Doctor.

Equilibrium (2015)

Being the middle story of a series which has a story arc running through it is never easy. So credit must go to Matt Fitton for at least giving it a go. The story sees the TARDIS land on Isenfel and they are after the interface stabiliser that was stolen in the previous story. It’s obvious from the front cover and the sound effects used that this takes place in the snow and ice but it’s the setting that should be more interesting and indeed it is.

There is a nice plot idea about there being a one in and one out policy that they have on Isenfel which does seem to be at least partly based on the rule that they had in China were they were not allowed more than a certain number of children. It does lead to a question being asked by Tegan as to why people bother to have children and Nyssa says that sometimes it can’t be helped. I thought that the performances from the regulars was quite good. Sarah Sutton is always someone that I think gives a solid performance. I think that Mark Strickson though is somewhat disappointing because all he does is moan and this is becoming somewhat tiresome in these adventures.

The supporting cast is interesting. Annette Badland is of course well know as Margaret Slitheen in the 2005 TV series and at the moment can be seen on Eastenders. In this piece she plays Queen Carlina and I thought it was a strong performance. Another strong performance came from Nikolas Grace as Lord Balancer Skarsgard. Skarsgard & Carlina work together with the general impression that what they are doing is in the best interest of the residents of Isenfel. It seems usual in these stories that they start off with this point of view but when the Doctor joins them then that opinion changes.

Credit should go to Richard Fox & Lauren Yason for creating a wonderful atmosphere. I think that I don’t give enough credit to the music and sound effects used in these stories but I was impressed with what they have come up with.

The problem ultimately is that I wasn’t wowed by this story and despite the best efforts of the cast I just didn’t find the story very interesting. I can’t quite put my finger on what the problem was. I think that it took a while for me to pick up on what the actual plot of the story was and by that time I had sort of given up on it.  As a middle story it does what it needs to do but I cant help think that if I listened to this again in the future that I might start to value this more.

 

The Exxilons (2015)

The Exxilons is the first part of the fourth season of Fourth Doctor Adventures and its weird that its already the fourth season. It seems like only five minutes ago that everyone was getting excited over Destination: Nerva. The title refers to the Exxilons who appeared in the 1974 adventure Death to the Daleks and I was intrigued to find out just how they would feature in this story. I think whenever you bring something from the classic era back there is always going to be a high chance that it doesn’t work however whilst Big Finish have a good track record in this department, there is always the possibility for it not to work.

The story hits the ground running as within five minutes we have Trexa (Daisy Dunlop) running into the TARDIS after being chased by a Tarl.  Over The course of the story there is a gradual add on to the back story of the Exxilons. The Tarl do sound a little bit like Ogrons which is somewhat unfortunate considering that I have only just finished listening to the Gareth Roberts audio versions.

I have to give credit to Jacqueline King. She previously appeared on TV as Donna Noble’s mom and she gives a very convincing American accent (convincing by my ears). Her performance in this is rather good and was a fine addition to the cast. Hugh Ross returns to the Big Finish world (previously in Nights Black Agents) and has a voice which does sound like Richard Franklin (a bit!). There is something about Gethal that I like from the very beginning. He has a sort of madness which Ross does brilliantly and it builds itself really well during the story.

Leela is known by Ergu as Warrior and the Doctor is known as everywhere man. Tom Baker seems to be having fun in this episode and it reminded me of the early days of the Baker era where he seemed to be having fun and the humour was well placed. Louise Jameson also manages to be really solid in this story. I even found K9 to be less annoying than he normally is. I am not very kind about K9 normally and that’s unfair on John Leeson but credit to Leeson for what he managed to do with K9 in this story.

The Exxilons isn’t the best series opening story that we have had in this range but there is something to enjoy about it and you can always rely on Nicholas Briggs to write a story that works just as hard to create strong and likeable characters and make sure that they complement the plot. Its not the best opening story (The Auntie Matter is) but its still a good offering.

Flywheel Revolution (2015)

The original Short Trips was released in four volumes between November 2010 and August 2011 and each volume consisted of eight stories each featuring one Doctor. Now Big Finish have decided to bring the range back except release it one story at a time and obviously the first one is a First Doctor story written by Dale Smith who is making his Big Finish debut (as far as I am aware).

This story is one that is seen from the perspective of the natives rather than the Doctor or the companions. We are introduced to two robots called Frankie and Toby. They have basically have been left to rot on this planet. It’s hard not to feel sympathetic towards them.

The Doctor is seen as a monster which is quite amusing. The ‘monster’ basically does horrible things on the robots that are on the planet. I suppose from the perspective of the Doctor it might not seem such a bad thing and as a viewer/listener we always see/hear it from the Doctors POV but from the other side it seems so very different. There is the small matter of a wall which is referred to throughout the piece and the way that the wall was removed was quite a creative way and one that I thought worked well in this format.

The best thing about having Peter Purves narrate this story is that not only will we get a well told story but it means we get his very good William Hartnell impression. Purves performs from start to finish in a strong way and he has set the bar quite high in how the narration should be done for these stories. Flywheel Revolution is a welcome return for the range and I like the new 30 minute format because it means that there is going to be time for padding and that the story has to get going from the very beginning. Dale Smith had a tough job and handled it well and hopefully he will get a chance to write a full length and full cast audio because I think that he would do a good job.

Now before I sign off I have to address the pricing structure. For 30 minutes of fine drama all that you have to pay is £2.99. Doctor Who Magazine costs more than that, a bus ticket costs more than that so its fair to say that this is the definition of value for money. I am glad that the range is back and think that this new structure for the range means that it can go on for as long as Big Finish can find creative writers.