Big Finish - The Renaissance Man

Big Finish The Fourth Doctor adventures number 2 - The Renaissance Man, with Tom Baker, Louise Jameson and Ian McNeice as Harcourt. Written by Justin Richards and directed by Ken Bentley. And what's the point of going to Big Finish day and getting my CD cover signed if I can't use the image for this post? Voila!

Here's the synopsis straight from the Big Finish site: To continue Leela’s education, the Doctor promises to take her to the famous Morovanian Museum. But the TARDIS lands instead in a quiet English village, where they meet the enigmatic collector Harcourt and his family.

Taking up where they left off last time and it is almost exactly like Saturday tea-time in the 1970s all over again. There isn't a creepy monster for the Doctor to defeat, this is more of a mental struggle for him to overcome. But Doctor number four has always done well in battles of willpower, I'm thinking of his classic encounters with Davros and Morbius. Ian McNeice makes a suitable villain of the piece as Harcourt which, interestingly, was the name of the character he played in the great BBC drama Edge of Darkness.

This was another good story. I think I prefer Destination Nerva for its monster, but this one has got Tom Baker and Louise Jameson's signatures on the front cover! I'm going to be tough with my rating and give this 3.5 out of a possible 5 wide-brimmed Poet hats.