Big Finish - Dark Eyes 4

The Dark Eyes series has been a huge success for Big Finish and here is the fourth and final box set, written by Marc Fitton and John Dorney, and directed by Ken Bentley.

Liv Chenka is back, as is the Master and the Daleks, and they are joined by Sontarans as well. Paul McGann is as engaging as ever as the Eight Doctor and Alex MacQueen attacks the bad guy role with his usual relish.

The final tale of Molly O'Sullivan and her dark eyes is all explained but along the way there are some interesting interludes most notably in the first story A Life in the Day which tells a remarkable time loop story with a touching love affair at its heart. It is probably the best thing in the whole box set and extremely well done.

Elsewhere a different actress plays the older Molly with considerable success and there are the final pieces in the jigsaw puzzle of the origin of the Eminence. I may have missed this in an earlier story but I was stunned when I realised how a scientific acronym gave the Eminence its name. Very clever writing indeed.

I've enjoyed each of the Dark Eyes box sets and this one was no exception. A solid 4 out of 5 time loops.

Dark Eyes 3

Big Finish keep pulling me in with their special releases and here we go again with Dark Eyes 3, written by Matt Fitton and directed by Ken Bentley.

Paul McGann is back as the Eighth Doctor and up against Alex McQueen as his nemesis the Master. Plus there's Molly O'Sullivan and the fearsome Eminence who is now set up as a major presence affecting several of the Big Finish Doctors. It rattles along with great verve and while some of it may have been a bit confusing in places it was still terrific fun.

McGann is as good as ever and McQueen gets the most out of his role as the villain with scene stealing relish. Not so much Ruth Bradley this time as she was off being busy elsewhere, but Nicola Walker makes a good companion instead. There will be a Dark Eyes 4 which will apparently wrap up this whole Molly O'Sullivan storyline, and I will probably be there for that one as well.

Four out of five stars.

Big Finish - Dark Eyes 2

The sequel to the award winning first Dark Eyes box set. Dark Eyes 2 by Nicholas Briggs, Alan Barnes and Matt Fitton, directed by Nicholas Briggs.

The Eighth Doctor returns as does Molly O'Sullivan, the Daleks and the Master. Four linked stories range across time and space and bring the Doctor and Molly to a final confrontation in 1970s London. Splitting up the story does mean that this is not quite the cohesive whole that the first set was and I did have to concentrate more to keep up with what was going on. Interestingly one of the characters meets the Doctor twice but the wrong way round in his time line and her confusion does help the listener understand what is going on.

There are rather too many bad guys for my liking with Daleks, Viyrans, the Eminence and the Master all involved. I know that Daleks and Dark Eyes seem to go hand in hand but personally I would be happy to see them take a rest on the subs bench next time. 

I had a few doubts about Molly O'Sullivan in the first set but she is great here. I do like a companion who doesn't let the Doctor get away with too much nonsense and gives as good as she gets. There has been some discussion recently on the Big Finish site about whether working class companions work with Doctor Who. Molly is Irish working class and she succeeds splendidly as a sparring partner for Paul McGann's Doctor. Ruth Bradley has a lovely voice and thankfully they have dropped the colloquialisms I complained about last time.

This box set also benefits from performances by Nicola Walker and the fantastic Alexander Macqueen who tackles the part of the Master with enthusiasm. The rest of the production is up to the usual high Big Finish standard, which almost goes without saying these days.

Splendid stuff, another 4.5 out of 5 leather jackets. I look forward to future instalments although hopefully they will give the Daleks a rest next time and explore some new bad guys.

Big Finish - The Light at the End

The Light at the End. Written and directed by Nicholas Briggs.

It's the 50th anniversary special featuring the eight classic Doctors, a host of companions, the Time Lords, and the Master, and it's all fantastic. Everything about this production just hits the right spot for Doctor Who's birthday celebrations. The music and sound effects are superb. All the Doctors are on fine form with Tom Baker and Paul McGann really standing out. And there's a terrifically creepy performance from Geoffrey Beevers as the Master.

I won't go into details of the story and how all eight doctors end up drawn back to an important event on the 23rd November, 1963. However it's all masterfully done, there is nothing like a good multi-Doctor story and this is a real stand out. It even features incarnations of the first three Doctors here played by William Russell, Frazer Hines and Tim Trealor. They are trapped in some sort of Tardis time pocket so their voices are a little distorted which allows the actors some leeway in their recreation of the original actors.

As well as all this there are two CDs worth of extras which are well worth listening to. It's a tremendous package from Big Finish and it is impossible to give it less than 5 out of 5 classic Doctors. Highly recommended.

Big Finish - Invaders from Mars

Big Finish have permanently lowered the price of their first fifty Doctor Who titles to just £2.99 a download. So there are bargains to be had and I picked up Invaders from Mars, written and directed by Mark Gatiss.

This one has it all. The Eighth Doctor, Charley Pollard, Orson Welles and a cast that includes Simon Pegg and Jessica Stevenson from Spaced. The story of the Mercury Theatre's infamous radio production of the War of the Worlds is fascinating enough, but throw in some real alien invaders, espionage and gangsters and how can you not get this story for a mere £3.

It's just fabulous all round. Paul McGann continue to vie for the top spot in best Big Finish Doctors. I love the character of Charley Pollard, and David Benson does a pretty good Orson Welles impression. The inevitable separation of the Doctor and his companion works quite well, especially when he teams up with a woman called Glory Bee. Clearly Mark Gatiss loves the source material and all the legends that have developed about that radio broadcast.

I have difficulty finding any faults with this production which was over too quickly for me. A short review but a great Big Finish story. 4.5 out of 5 tripod war machines.

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 Girl who Never Was

From 2007 The Girl who Never Was by Alan Barnes, directed by Barnaby Edwards.

A ghost ship. A girl with no memory, adrift in time. An old enemy. This could be Charlotte Pollard's finest hour - or her last. Set course for Singapore, 1931. Journey's end.

This is the finale of Charlie Pollard's time with the Eighth Doctor and my habit of listening to Big Finish releases in completely the wrong order continues. In my defence I can say that I am a subscriber now I keep up with current story arcs, but I'm still sampling their back catalogue here and there. And this is the second Charlie end story I've listened to after Blue Forgotten Planet which finished her run with the Sixth Doctor. 

The script by Alan Barnes is much more solid than the last one of his stories I listened to. It has a nice eerie setting on a ghost ship that seems lost in time and may contain a great treasure or a terrible threat. The setting reminded me of a strange little horror film called Triangle which is worth checking out. I enjoyed the unstuck in time aspects of this drama and it helps to have an older version of Charlie played with such distinction by Anna Massey. There's quite a big cast for a Big Finish production here, and they are all very good. There is even another small role for Jake McGann.

Paul McGann continues to rival Peter Davison as my favourite Big Finish Doctor. I don't think this is my favourite Charlie Pollard story but India Fisher is as likeable as ever. And the whole thing is brought together nicely by Barnaby Edwards' direction.

The Girl who Never Was is a Cyberman story which is given away by the above cover image, and that's a problem. Big Finish are caught in a cleft stick here, they know that putting certain enemies on the cover will increase sales, but that will also upset fans who don't like spoilers. It is the same on television show, we all know which baddies are returning this season before the Doctor does, and I can't remember the last time the series surprised me in the way that something like Unit: Dominion did. Anyway when the Cybermen are finally revealed here at the end of episode two it shocks everyone apart from the listener. Sword of Orion had the same problem.

I enjoyed the story despite all that, and the final post credits scene was good fun. Pity about the cover though. 3 out of 5 ghost ships.

Big Finish - Blood of the Daleks

Two recent sale offerings from Big Finish - Blood of the Daleks parts 1 and 2, written by Steve Lyons and directed by Nicholas Briggs.

 

A two part story which introduces the character of Lucie Miller and throws her straight into the fray with her sudden appearance in the Tardis. The Time Lords are interfering with the Eighth Doctor's life and have sent him a companion whose mission is to get him involved in events on the planet of Red Rocket Rising where a mad scientist is tampering with Dalek technology.

These adventures were clearly written for radio broadcast on BBC radio 7 as it then was (BBC 4 extra now). They are a perfect introduction to the Eighth Doctor and Lucie, and they have a suitably impressive cast to deliver the goods. I confess that after listening to so many four part stories recently I find that the rhythm of these shorter stories is slightly difficult to get used to. However they are very entertaining and listening to them one straight after the other did help.

I can't keep going on about how good Paul McGann and Sheridan Smith are (but they are), they just seem like natural occupants of the Tardis and their slightly spiky relationship is great value. Meanwhile Kenneth Cranham, Anita Dobson and Hayley Atwell are all splendid and Nicholas Briggs does his usual marvellous job as the voices of the Daleks and their mutant brethren.

I think that taken together this adventure gets a 3.5 out of 5 star rating from me. Obviously I have listened to the Luice Miller saga in completely the wrong order, Starting with the end of her character arc and then jumping all the way back to the beginning. I'm not sure if I have the time or money to explore more of her stories. I still have 14 more Big Finish dramas waiting for me to get through, and goodness knows what I will pick up at next week's Big Finish Day. I think a Fifth Doctor adventure is next on the list. Stay tuned.

Big Finish - Chimes of Midnight

A recent Big Finish special offer got me Chimes at Midnight for £3! Released back in 2002 and written by Rob Shearman with direction by Barnaby Edwards.

The Eighth Doctor and Charley arrive in a mysterious house and soon find themselves caught up in a nightmarish variant of Upstairs Downstairs. Someone is murdering the servants and unless they can solve the mystery they may find themselves trapped in this house forever.

Steven Moffat picked this story as his favourite Eighth Doctor adventure in a recent Doctor Who magazine article and the description sounded just perfect for me. It's a spooky tale of murders and ghosts in a haunted house with a clock ticking away in the background. And it turns out to be a little gem of a story. The Doctor soon gets cast as the great amateur detective who will sort out what is going on, while Charley gets to do that empathising with the working class victims that Doctor Who companions have been so good at in recent years.

Like many other Big Finish productions it has a small cast but they are used perfectly by Barnaby Edwards and even though the script requires them to repeat certain phrases over and over again they managed to do it in such a way that never becomes tiresome. McGann and Fisher lead things with aplomb. I prefer Charley as an Eighth Doctor companion rather than a Sixth and I am delighted that she will be coming back in the Big Finish 50th anniversary release The Light at the End.

I would single out one other member of the cast but that might be too much of a spoiler, let me just say that the actor who is revealed as the baddie does a a marvellous job. As do the sound design crew who turn in a lovely haunted house full of creaks, groans and that ticking and chiming clock.

I thoroughly enjoyed this play, I do like a good haunted house story. My marking might have been a bit generous of late so let's give this 4 out of 5 Edwardian adventuresses and then head for a rendezvous at Spaceport Fear. In the meantime if you know of any other good spooky Big Finish stories please let me know.

Big Finish - Lucie Miller - To the Death

Two Eighth Doctor stories that have to go together: Lucie Miller and To the Death, both written and directed by Nicholas Briggs.

 

The Daleks have returned to invade Earth again. First they bring a viral plague to weaken humanity, then they begin to mine into the Earth's core in a repeat of the events from the original Dalek Invasion of Earth. With the Eighth Doctor missing it is left to Lucie, Susan and Adam to lead the resistance  Meanwhile there's another Time Lord on the scene, the meddling Monk who appears to have struck a deal with the Daleks.

These two titles were also in the Big Finish Christmas sale and and they mark the end of a long story arc featuring the Eighth Doctor's companion Lucie Miller. They also set up some of the events, and the Doctor's feelings of hopelessness, at the start of Dark Eyes.

Like most stories Doctor Who can be reduced to the essentials of heroes and villains. The Daleks are the ultimate villains of these tales and, as ever, are brought to life with mechanical malevolence by Nicholas Brigggs and his ring modulator. They are assisted by Graeme Garden as the rogue Time Lord, the Monk, who adds some humour to the grim proceedings. Alongside him is his own conflicted companion Tamsin Drew, played by Niky Wardley. Tamsin believes she is working for the good guys and her gradual realisation that the Monk is not to be trusted leads to some powerful moments.

On the side of the resistance we have Susan who witnessed the original Invasion with the First Doctor. In previous stories I had some problems with Carole Ann Ford's performances but here she is on fine form, and is ably assisted by Paul McGann's son Jake playing Adam. McGann himself eventually turns up as we always knew he would, but even he cannot save the day this time. The Eighth Doctor may be my current favourite Big Finish incarnation, I like how natural Paul McGann sounds in the role. But here he is up against an insoluble problem which is directly related to events from one of his previous adventures in Patient Zero.

So that just leaves Lucie Miller. Sheridan Smith has played a companion to Jonathan Creek, Gavin and Stacey, and even Ronnie Biggs, but her best role may be here in these audio dramas. Lucie's narration has to carry much of the story until the Doctor's return, and as the enormity of the Daleks' plan threatens to defeat even him it falls to Lucie to save the day. I generally try to avoid spoilers in these reviews but the clue is in the title. Everyone knows what is coming and the resolute Lucie Miller goes out screaming her defiance against the Daleks. It is a powerful moment that comes at the end of a tremendous build up.

Nicholas Briggs writing and direction are perfect. There is a real sense of menace as the Daleks finally make good on all those electronic threats to "Exterminate!". People die in this story, they die at unexpected moments, and with unexpected poignancy. This invasion story restores the Daleks to their rightful place as the Doctor's most terrifying enemies, and it gives us one of the their most memorable opponents in Lucie Miller.

As you can tell I was impressed. It's a 5 star production all round. That's two top scores from the Big Finish Christmas sale. Good value indeed.

Big Finish - Relative Dimensions

Another Eighth Doctor adventure from the Christmas sales: Relative Dimensions by Marc Platt, directed by Barnaby Edwards.

Let me get another quick Eighth Doctor review out of the way. It's Christmas again but this time the Doctor and Lucie Miller are planning a celebration meal in the Tardis and there are some very special guests coming, the Doctor's grand-daughter, Susan Campbell, and her son Alex. Once again best laid plans go awry as the Tardis seems to have picked up a very fishy stowaway and they keep catching glimpses of the Doctor's future self battling for survival.

This is a bottle episode with its small cast trapped within the Tardis. It's fairly amusing listening to Lucie struggling with the Turkey and all the trimmings in the galley, while Susan and the Doctor catch up on old times and discuss Alex's future. But is all a bit small canvas again. And the mystery of the brief appearances of the Doctor wearing a survival suit and wrestling with the trans-dimensional fishy foe is no great puzzle. We know that he will eventually have to don the strange outfit and deal with the intruder.

So we are left with the performances of the four cast members. Sheridan Smith is effortlessly funny and enjoyable. I really sympathised with her efforts to get the Doctor to pay attention to her warnings, an often pointless task for a companion as is the case here. There is the neat twist of having Paul McGann's own son Jake play Alex and he acquits himself very well. His dad, on the other hand, sounded somewhat bored in this drama. Most of that is down to the script but do I catch hints that McGann was losing interest in the character at this time? Thank heavens for the re-vitalisation that Dark Eyes has given him.

That just leaves Carole Ann Ford returning to the role of Susan which she played nearly 50 years ago in the very first season of Doctor Who. I know she has done some previous Big Finish stories but this was my first encounter with her and I had the same problem that I had with her slightly stilted performance on television. It is somehow very 1960s with her perfectly clipped dialogue and speech patterns. Acting has moved on and become much faster and looser. I suppose it suits the character of Susan but it bothered me when heard next to the more natural sounding Smith and McGann.

One more negative point was, again, the lack of a break in the story. There was a perfect point half-way through for a break, cliff-hanger and the theme music but there was obviously some deliberate production decision not to do that for this series. Possibly because they were also being packaged for broadcast on Radio 4 Extra?

My least favourite of my Christmas presents so far. 2 out of 5 Dimension hopping fish monsters. However something much darker is coming up for the Eighth Doctor. Stay tuned.

Big Finish - Death in Blackpool

Another Christmas sale present to myself: Death in Blackpool by Alan Barnes, directed by Barnaby Edwards.

The Eighth Doctor returned for the start of his fourth Big Finish series with this seasonal story featuring Sheridan Smith as companion Lucie Miller, and all she wants to do is get home for a traditional family Christmas in her home town. But events conspire to leave her fighting for her life while the Doctor has to deal with some loose ends from a previous adventure and the Zygon who fell to earth.

This is one of those trapped inside stories where the Doctor and his companion adventure in a psychic landscape. It is also a single CD like the rest of the Eighth Doctor adventures. Strangely It doesn't even split the story into two parts but just trots straight on to the end. Surely all Doctor Who fans love a cliffhanger leading into that famous electronic scream of the theme music? It is one of the features that I enjoy in the four parter monthly releases and I missed it here.

On the plus side Paul McGann continues to impress me as the most naturalistic of the actors currently playing the Doctor for Big Finish. I'm not sure if I can choose between him and Peter Davison as my favourite incarnation at the moment. Their recent outings in Dark Eyes and The Burning Prince are my pick of the best releases from 2012.

Meanwhile what more can I say about Sheridan Smith that hasn't already been covered in all the Sunday colour supplements. She is flavour of the month on stage and screen and still manages to come across as a likeable and plucky girl next door in the Tardis

On the down side it is rather short and self-contained and lacks the broad canvas of something like Dark Eyes. It is possible that listening to the Eighth Doctor adventures would require a slight adjustment in my expectations. Not bad for my £2.99 in the sale but not one of my favourites. McGann and Smith lift it from a middle of the road score to a just above average 3 out of 5 Blackpool illuminations.

Big Finish - Dark Eyes

The Eighth Doctor returns in Big Finish's latest special release box set - Dark Eyes, written and directed by Nicholas Briggs.

The Doctor arrives in the middle of a World War One gas attack. As ever all is not as it seems and soon he and a young Irish volunteer nurse called Molly O'Sullivan are on the run across space and time, pursued by the implacable Daleks, and trying to unravel a strange plot involving another rogue Time Lord.

Phew! After the disappointment of Love and War I really needed a good Big Finish story to restore my faith. Thankfully Dark Eyes delivers. It helps that it mainly focuses on the Doctor and Molly and their headlong dash across the universe. There is some back story involving the Time Lords but the story doesn't try to cover too many different plot strands. And, of course, it has the Daleks in it, which is almost guaranteed to keep me entertained.

Paul McGann continues to impress me with his natural performance as the Doctor. Ruth Bradley is nicely feisty as Molly and I liked the way she refers to our hero as "THE Doctor", and the Tardis as his "Tardy-box". Peter Egan and Toby Jones are great actors with fantastic voices and I hope they do more Big Finish stories in the future. Having recently watched some classic Doctor Who I know that the original Dalek voices were not as good as I remember them, but Nicholas Briggs makes them sound like they do in my memories, mechanical and menacing.

I had one or two reservations about the scripting of Molly in the first episode where there were a few too many Irish colloquialisms used just to make sure we knew she was a working class Irish chambermaid. I was worried that she was going to say "to be sure" at the end of every sentence but fortunately this settles down as the pace of the story picks up. The background noises and special effects were top notch, and the CD extras were much more interesting than Love and War, although they did include another Big Finish lunch anecdote.

Despite my minor quibbles this is a fantastic adventure which justifies the special release tag. 4.5 out of 5 steampunk screwdrivers. Recommended.

Big Finish - The Company of Friends

From July 2009, Big Finish release 123 - The Company of Friends. Written by Lance Parkin, Stephen Cole, Alan Barnes and Jonathan Morris, and directed by Nicholas Briggs.

This is one of the regular releases which has four short individual stories instead of a longer multi-part drama. Four of the Eighth Doctor's companions introduce adventures they had with the Doctor. Let's consider them in turn.

Benny's story by Lance Parkin has the famous archaeologist Bernice Summerfield running into the Doctor while on a dig. Benny is a long running Big Finish character who was originally created by Paul Cornell in the Virgin new adventures books. This is a fast and furious adventure which involves a little jiggery-pokery with time travel to make it all fit. So fast that it sort of blurred past me. 2.5 stars and on to the next.

Fitz's story by Stephen Cole. Fitz Kreiner is another Eighth Doctor companion who originally started in a novel and this is his first appearance in a Big Finish story as far as I know. On the planet Entusso a new alien protection organisation is setting itself up a commercial business which is apparently promoted by the Doctor. Again this tale shot by me and probably needs another listen. Maybe It is because I have no familiarity with Fitz that it just seemed a blur. 2 stars

Izzy's story by Alan Barnes. Sticking with the theme of taking companions from other media Izzy Sinclair was the Eighth Doctor's companion in many of his comic strip adventures. Appropriately enough this story concerns Izzy's attempt to use time travel to secure a copy of the infamous missing last issue of Aggrotron, the most dangerous comic in the galaxy. Alan Barnes has edited the Judge Dredd Megazine and Aggrotron is a thinly disguised version of the greatest comic in the galaxy, 2000AD. Izzy desperately wants the last issue because it revealed the secret identity of the lead character Courtmaster Cruel, another thinly disguised nod to Judge Dredd whose face is never seen in the comic.

Izzy's story was a much more engaging story for me as a 2000AD fan, particularly as I am currently reading Thrill Power Overload - a history of the first 30 years of the comic. Izzy herself may be slightly annoying but the story is great fun. 3.5 stars

And finally, Mary's story by Jonathan Morris is the pick of the bunch. And it was the first Big Finish story I reviewed on this blog all the way back here. The way Morris introduces the Doctor to Mary Shelley and the other guests at the Villa Diodati while also showing her to elements of the Frankenstein story she will go to write is just fantastic. And it is backed up by the best all round cast of the four stories. Great stuff and still 4 stars.

Overall The Company of Friends averages out at 3 out of 5 precious back issues of Doctor Who Magazine. Next up will be some more 2000AD before I embark on the Key 2 Time.

Big Finish - Minuet in Hell

Big Finish number 19 - Minuet in Hell by Alan W. Lear and Gary Russell, directed by Nicholas Briggs.

The last in the initial Eighth Doctor mini-series and it is another weird coincidence caused by the strange order I am listening to all my Big Finish because this shares some similarities with The Magic Mousetrap. Once again the traditional format is set aside and we are plunged straight into three separate story strands. Charley Pollard is having problems with her memory and finds herself as well let's say a hostess in an American version of the Hellfire Club. Meanwhile Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart is on an undercover mission to investigate a rogue American politician and the strange machine he is using to launch his bid for the White House.

And the Doctor? Well he is an inmate in a secure psychiatric facility and is having even worse problems with his memory. And his cell-mate, a man called Gideon Crane, claims that he is really the Doctor and that somehow their personalities have been merged. Add in a female vampire hunter reminiscent of Buffy, plus a Demon who apparently has been summoned from Hell, and there is plenty to bring the story to a rolling boil.

So there is an awful lot going on here and it does take some time for all the strands to come together. There are two problems with this, firstly the Doctor isn't really himself for most of the story. And secondly we get an awful lot of American accents, and southern American accents at that. I go on about accents a lot on this blog but they bother me, and I say that in the full knowledge that I cannot do any different accents myself and my own limited attempts at radio acting were truly terrible. I know they are hard to do properly but if they are just slightly off then they stand out and take me out of the story. The script doesn't help as there is an awful lot of mumbo-jumbo psycho-babble going on.

The main leads' performances are all fine but it is a shame that Nicholas Courtney has to spend so much time narrating the emails he is sending back to base, which is a slightly clumsy trick the writers use to explain what is going on. On the other hand the confusion between the Doctor and Gideon Crane works better in audio drama than it would on television where the visual appearance of the actors would give things away (unless there has been some mind-swap device set up in advance). And it allows Nicholas Briggs to play the Doctor which is rather lovely.

Sword of Orion remains my favourite from the original Eighth and Charley series.
Minuet in Hell gets 3 out of 5 psionic interfaces. Next up will be some Gods and Monsters.

Big Finish - The Stones of Venice

Back in time again to release 18 from March 2001, The Stones of Venice by Paul Magrs, directed by Gary Russell.

Charley Pollard joined the Eighth Doctor because she wanted travel and adventure, so it seems appropriate for the Doctor to take her to Venice. However this is a future Venice that is on the point of sinking beneath the waves for ever. Meanwhile party-goers celebrate the last days, a religious cult search for their most precious icon, and a mournful Duke waits and hopes for his lost love to rise from the dead. Of course the Doctor and Charley are soon up to their necks and while the Doctor investigates some strange artwork is it possible that Charley may somehow be the actual reincarnation of the long dead Lady Estella?

Unfortunately after the high points of Sword of Orion this story is all over the place. Only the Doctor and Charley seem to be speaking sense, and in Charley's case that is only when she hasn't been drugged. The rest of the cast spout portentous nonsense with perfectly annunciated received pronunciation. It sounds like a bad village hall Shakespeare production. Not even the talents of Michael Sheard, Barnaby Edwards and Mark Gatiss can save it. There is a fair bit of running backwards and forwards and the good old capture - escape- recapture game that was so beloved of Doctor Who writers on television.

I just didn't care for it. It never captured my imagination and has to go down as a bit of a dud really. 2 out of 5 Venetian masks. What I need is either a really good ghost story, or some Daleks. Any suggestions?

Let us see how I get on with The Raincloud Man.

Big Finish - Sword of Orion

Back to February 2001 for release number 17 - Sword of Orion, written and directed by Nicholas Briggs.

The Eighth Doctor and Charley Pollard are on deep space salvage vessel which encounters a huge, and seemingly abandoned, star destroyer. It could be the biggest salvage haul ever but it also contains the dark secret of a deadly deal made between humanity and some of the Doctor's oldest foes.

The Doctor and Charley work well together as a team and India Fisher more than holds her own against Paul McGann. I felt that Nicholas Briggs made Charley sound like a genuine Edwardian adventuress, and her vocabulary was more convincing than in Storm Warning. This adventure starts immediately where that left off and if I had a criticism of the writing it would be that Charley seems more familiar with the Doctor's methods and abilities than I would expect at this stage. She came across as a long-standing companion and not one who had only just met the Doctor.

The cover image reveals who are the bad guys here but I had not really looked at it, so the slow reveal of Cybermats and Cybermen was very enjoyable. A seasoned Doctor Who fan would not have much trouble identifying them from the characters' descriptions and by the sound effects, but you can't beat a good Cybermen story. I did find it rather easy to spot who the human villain was but that might just be because I am listening to so many audio dramas at the moment and my ears are becoming attuned.

On the subject of ears I have to give high praise for the music here which is a mixture of weird electronic sounds which took me back to the black and white era of Doctor Who on television. And that is appropriate because these Cybermen are contemporaries of those locked in the Tomb of the Cybermen, although Nick Briggs gives us some very spooky voices that are more like the Cybermen from the 1980s. As well as Briggs himself the cast also includes Big Finish stalwarts Toby Longworth, Barnaby Edwards and Mark Gatiss.

Apparently this is one of Big Finish's top selling stories and I can see why. It never quite hits the heights of Spare Parts but it is very good indeed. 4 out of 5 Cybermats. Next up is the Return of the Krotons!

Big Finish - Storm Warning

Big Finish release number 16 from January 2001, Storm Warning. Written by Alan Barnes and directed by Gary Russell.

It is October 1930 and the Eighth Doctor finds himself on board the airship R101 where he meets the young adventuress Charley Pollard. There is a mysterious passenger in a locked cabin, a storm is coming, and the Doctor knows that the R101 has a terrible date with destiny.

This was the first time Paul McGann returned to the role of the Doctor since the 1996 TV movie, and he instantly slips straight back in to the part with no difficulty. Obviously McGann has the advantage over the other actors in that he had the shortest gap between his television appearance and his Big Finish audios. So his voice has changed the least, but McGann may be the most natural sounding of the actors and is completely convincing as the mysterious traveller in space and time. He is ably backed up by India Fisher in the first of her several appearances as his new companion Charley. There was another performance that stood out for me but for a while I could not place the voice until I realised that the actor playing Lord Tamworth was Gareth "Blake's 7" Thomas.

The story itself is a tricky one and I was perhaps spoiled a bit by having recently listened to Cryptobiosis which has a similar set up although it was written much later. In both adventures the Doctor is on a ship which is heading into a storm and cannot escape because his Tardis has been, inconveniently, lost over board. Both have mysterious passengers in locked rooms who require special equipment to keep them alive, and again the two stories involve the Doctor negotiating a settlement with some form of alien race. It may be a little hard on the writers but I would quite like a story which doesn't involve a meeting with a new set of aliens. There are plenty of existing creations in the Whoniverse that could be used. Likewise I am getting a little bored with writers creating new forms of radiation or particles for the Doctor to encounter but that is an argument for another time.

I also had a few problems with anachronistic language in this episode. In particular I am not sure that an Edwardian adventuress who was travelling to Singapore for an assignment with a young man would refer to it as "a date", but that is just minor quibbling on my part. At least the inevitable destruction of the R101 with the tragic loss of everyone on board provides an acceptable explanation for why the alien contact does not have lasting repercussions for the British empire. It was also nice to hear the Doctor quip about Mary Shelley knowing that she will later turn up briefly as a companion.

A slightly variable story but a great reintroduction of the Eighth Doctor, and a promising start for Charley. 3.5 out of 5 Vortisaurs. Now back to Ace and Hex and the problem of the two Tardises.

Big Finish - Shada

A Big Finish bonus release, Shada by Douglas Adams. Directed by Nicholas Pegg and starring Paul McGann, Lalla Ward, James Fox, Susannah Harker and Andrew Sachs.

Where to begin with Shada? Originally conceived as a Fourth Doctor adventure for the 1979-80 television series and written by Douglas Adams. Filming began but was interrupted by industrial action at the BBC and never completed or broadcast. Various incomplete versions have been stitched together over the years and some of the filmed scenes were used when Tom Baker declined to appear in the The Five Doctors. Adams himself recycled some of the characters and the Cambridge university setting into Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency.

Finally in 2003 Big Finish adapted it into a complete Eighth Doctor story and it was available on the BBC website with a Flash style animation of the story. And here is the full cast audio drama in six parts as originally intended, and with an all-star cast. As well as all the actors I mentioned above it also features John Leeson as K-9 and Hannah Gordon as the voice of Skagra's ship, and all of this for £5 on the Big Finish site.

The performances here are great. Paul McGann continues to sound completely at home in radio drama and it is nice to have the return of Lalla Ward and John Leeson. James Fox turns in a delightfully dotty performance as Professor Chronotis, forever muddling his tenses and making endless pots of tea. Andrew Sachs turns the villainy dial up to eleven as Skagra, and I enjoyed hearing Susannah Harker and Hannah Gordon. If I could have one voice for the computer and sat-nav in my car I think I would choose Gordon's.

The story is complex but I didn't feel it needed to be six episodes long. There are several examples of the classic Doctor Who scenario where the villains have the Doctor and his companions at gunpoint but decide to explain their plan rather than pulling the trigger. Once per story is acceptable but hearing repeated examples rather strains credulity. However on the plus side the special effects are so much better on the radio than they ever could have been on television in 1980.

If this was the first time I had encountered the story of Shada I think it would have scored higher but as I was familiar with the plot and it rather dragged on a bit for me this is going to score 3 out of 5 Robotic dogs.

Next up will probably be The Butcher of Brisbane unless I splurge out more money on the Klein stories special offer.

Big Finish - The Four Doctors

Every year Big Finish produce a special bonus CD as an exclusive reward for their subscribers. The 2011 Christmas bonus was The Five Companions which I have already reviewed. I have just extended my subscription for another year and got a free CD as a result so was able to get the 2010 CD The Four Doctors.

Written by Peter Anghelides and starring Peter Davison, Colin Baker, Sylvester McCoy, Paul McGann and Nicholas Briggs as the Daleks. There is something irresistible about a multiple Doctors adventure and this single CD story has got the lot. The Eighth Doctor sets up a time loop which will involve his past selves as they attempt to overcome their oldest enemies.

It is a fairly short adventure compared with the usual two CD four parters so my review is correspondingly brief. This was a terrific romp with four great radio actors (five including Briggs as the voices of the Daleks) giving their best. It gets an appropriate 4 out of 5 temporal paradoxes. Next up is a trip into the past for Big Finish, the Doctor and Ace in Colditz.