Big Finish - Terror Firma

This was another pick-up from Big Finish Day, Terror Firma by Joseph Lidster, directed by Gary Russell.

The Eighth Doctor and Davros meet for another of their philosophical battles. Meanwhile his companions Charley, the reptilian humanoid from another dimension called C'Rizz, and two other humans Gemma and Samson, have to deal with the Daleks and an apparently conquered Earth where the survivors just want to have drinks parties and show no signs of any resistance. Desperate days on planet earth.

Davros is one of the best opponents for the Doctor. Their grim verbal confrontations work perfectly in an audio play. It's all very well using the theatre of the mind to summon up the image of a horde of deadly Daleks, but when you hear Paul McGann and the marvellous Terry Molloy do battle with their voices it's just splendid. There is a particular edge here as Davros believes he is dying and he may also have interfered with the Doctor's memories. So the playing field is not level, and all is not what it seems. Terrific stuff.

As ever I was less concerned about the fate of the companions. India Fisher does her usual marvellous job, I don't really have much experience with C'Rizz although he did turn up in another story I've reviewed, Memory Lane. The Daleks have marvellous Nicholas Briggs' voices but they don't do much. These are the all bark and no bite variety with lots of "Exterminates!" but no actual pressing the button. Unlike the much more menacing creatures we encountered in Dark Eyes or To the Death.

So McGann and Molloy get 5 stars but the rest is a bit dull although it is nice to hear Julia Deakin in there. There were one of two moments of dodgy sound quality but that might just be the discs I listened to. 3 out of 5 withered, claw like hands. Everything is a bit middle of the road at the moment. Can Sherlock Holmes or the Fifth Doctor ramp things up a bit?

Big Finish - The Curse of Davros

Big Finish monthly release 156 - The Curse of Davros with Colin Baker as the Sixth Doctor, Lisa Greenwood as Flip, and Terry Molloy as Davros. Written by Jonathan Morris and directed by Nicholas Briggs.

An escape pod crashes in London and the Doctor meets up with Philippa "Flip" Jackson and her boyfriend, Jared. Before they know it they are thrown back to 1815, a field in Belgium and the eve of Waterloo. As always there are complications, and Davros and the Daleks are out to change the course of Earth history forever.

Colin Baker and Terry Molloy are on top form here. So much so that some of the other actors seem a little overpowered. As ever the point of a Davros story is the battle of wills between him and the Doctor, and this is no exception. The clash of the two characters gives us some great scenes, and Nick Briggs backs them up with his usual brilliant Dalek voices.

I did have a slight problem with this particular audio drama but it is difficult to discuss without giving away too many spoilers for this story. Let me just say that there is a twist and I heard it coming. Normally I do not get twists, nor do I spot the murderer in crime fiction and am usually surprised when the big reveal happens. However this one is signposted early on, and when it turned out to be exactly what I thought it would be I was a little disappointed with the story.

For that reason this is only going to get 3 out of a possible 5 Technicolour Dreamcoats. Next up is Doctor of the Fourth and Leela of the Sevateem up against The Renaissance Man.

Big Finish - The Juggernauts

Big Finish release number 65 - The Juggernauts with Colin Baker as the Sixth Doctor, Bonnie Langford as Mel, and Terry Molloy as Davros. Written by Scott Alan Woodard and directed by Gary Russell. This was one of a bundle of Big Finish CDs that I picked up cheaply on eBay, and yes I did get it signed at Big Finish day.

The Doctor and Mel are separated on a mining colony, there's some strange new machines, and there is Davros. But it's a strange version of Davros who seems to have charmed everyone except for the Doctor.

I love a Davros story. There's something about his repeated battle of wills with the Doctor that is fascinating. All the monsters are great, but for many of them it's just about marching in and destroying everything in their paths. With Davros and the Doctor it's a clash of ideologies, two great minds that are destined to keep encountering each other and fight it out with words as their weapons.

Terry Molloy is fantastic, and Bonnie Langford is very good. I have no previous experience with her character Mel but she was fine here. And there's Colin Baker as the Sixth. So here is the thing, I still have not seen any of the Sixth Doctor stories from the television series. And yes, I am going to have to correct that soon. But I'm really learning to enjoy his character in these Big Finish stories.

Anyway, this is a great story and I haven't even mentioned Nick Briggs as the mechonoid voices. This gets a smooth rolling 4 out of 5 evil, robotic arms. Next up is another Eighth Doctor story: Memory Lane.