Big Finish - Black and White

Right up to date with the very latest monthly release from Big Finish. Number 163 Black and White by Matt Fitton, directed by Ken Bentley.

Taking up right where Protect and Survive finished Ace and Hex find themselves in the black Tardis with two characters from previous stories. Captain Lysandra Aristedes was a member of the Forge in Project: Destiny, and Sally Morgan was "recruited" by the Seventh Doctor at the end of The House of Blue Fire. There is confusion as both pairs believe they are the Doctor's current companions, nobody can explain why there are now two Tardises of different colours, and the Doctor himself is nowhere to be found.

While the companions squabble the Black Tardis deposits them in the land of the ancient Danes and right in the middle of the tale of Beowulf and the monster Grendel. This is another Doctor light story recorded while Sylvester McCoy was in New Zealand filming the Hobbit. He does appear but for much of the time the great mystery is where the Doctor is and what is his cunning plan? Even when he is absent the master manipulator seems to be influencing events but maybe this time he has gone too far.

The two Tardis crews get re-arranged  allowing Hex to flirt with Sally while Ace and Lysandra argue. In fact after some recent more grown up stories for Ace this is a bit of a return to the petulant hothead from the 1980s. The pairs get separated in time and space and to be honest it does get a little confusing as to what is happening and when, although having two actors playing the young and old Beowulf does help. Interweaving the legend of Beowulf with a Doctor Who story is done quite cleverly by the writer Marc Fitton and I particularly enjoyed a nice little joke about Grendel's mother.

Quite an interesting story which sets up the final part of this mini series. It never reached the heights of Protect and Survive for me and I did get lost from time to time, so 3 out of 5 Tardis outer shells for me. Next up will be another Eighth Doctor and Charley Pollard adventure.

Big Finish - Project: Destiny

Big Finish number 139 Project: Destiny by Cavan Scott and Mark Wright, directed by Ken Bentley.

Hex has been shot during the Crimean war in The Angel of Scutari. The Doctor and Ace rush to get him to the familiar medical surroundings of St Garts, the hospital they first met him in. However something is very much amiss, London is empty and quarantined because of an infection that turns its victims into huge insectoid "Contaminants", and the mysterious department C4 are investigating. Except that C4 is The Forge by another name and soon the Seventh Doctor is locking horns with Nimrod again. Meanwhile Hex is discovering some unpleasant truths about his family history.

At the end of Thicker than Water I said I wanted more bangs and crashes and this story delivers. Right from the start the Doctor and his companions are dealing with an army of the infected trying to get in at them, helicopter gunships, and the malevolence of Nimrod and his Forge troops. Stephen Chance is more restrained as Nimrod and appears all the more more evil for it. I liked that all his Forge agents have codenames from Greek mythology, Maggie O'Neill plays a character called Aristedes. The story also dips in to the Dracula mythology from Hammer horror films to regenerate agent Artemis who appeared in earlier Forge stories.

Continuity is a knotty problem for fans of any long running characters. We like history to be respected, and for elements from older stories to be referred to in newer adventures. But we also want to hear new stories, and to conveniently ignore some of the more outlandish moments from the past. Personally I have a fairly flexible approach to continuity but it is fantastic how Big Finish is building their own version of the Whoniverse with recurring characters and groups like The Forge. This continuity comes back to haunt Hex, almost literally in this case.

This is a terrific conclusion to the Forge arc of stories and I hope it is not the last time the Doctor will encounter them. 4 out of 5 phials of the Twilight virus antidote. Next will be the story this has all been building up to: A Death in the Family has a lot to live up to. Will it meet the challenge?

Big Finish - Project: Lazarus

Big Finish main range monthly release 45 - Project: Lazarus by Cavan Scott and Mark Wright, directed by Gary Russell.

The Dr Smythe and the Forge arc continues. The Doctor believes he has found a cure for the Twilight virus so they return to Norway to find the young woman he and Evelyn left there at the end of the last story. But two years have passed and the good Doctors soon find themselves prisoners of the mysterious Forge organisation. And while the villain Nimrod tries to extract the secrets of regeneration from the Doctor, Evelyn is giving up some secrets of her own.

The Forge are an evil version of Torchwood, collecting and studying alien technology. They are fascinated by the legends of the Doctor and seize on the opportunity to strap him to the examination table. As the cover image shows there are two Doctors for the price of one in this story, which involves some time hopping and a face to face disagreement. There is also a twist which is a bit obvious I'm afraid.

Terrific performances all round. I was particularly impressed by Maggie Stables who has some very difficult moments to convey and does a fantastic job. I also liked Rosie Cavaliero as Cassie, and Colin Baker and Sylvester McCoy are as good as ever. I had high hopes for the character of Nimrod but unfortunately he was more of a stereotypical villain in this episode, and Stephen Chance didn't get the opportunity for the philosophical clashes with the Doctor that I listen for in these dramas.

It goes without saying that the production values and sound design are great, I did find the incidental music slightly obtrusive in places but on the whole this was another cracking instalment of this developing arc. Project: Lazarus gets 3.5 out of 5 Cardigans and Cat broaches. Next up will be release 57 - Arrangements for War.

Big Finish - Project: Twilight

This is Big Finish monthly release number 23 - Project: Twilight, written by Mark Wright and Cavan Scott, and directed by Gary Russell.

Now this is more like it. The Doctor and Evelyn are in South London to visit the Doctor's favourite Chinese take-away. They stumble across a body, closely followed by another body, some thugs, a secret underground medical laboratory, and their first encounter with the shadowy organisation known as the Forge.

Project: Twilight really kicks off an arc of stories about the Forge that I will be listening to over the coming weeks. Now that Evelyn is a regular companion with the Sixth Doctor the tension has moved up a notch and there is a really sinister and monstrous presence to deal with. The Doctor has to makes some tough choices which put Evelyn in harm's way.

I was beginning to wonder if Big Finish had ever created a recurrent villain to match the Master or Davros. This story develops a couple of potentially recurring characters and the mysterious organisation that created them. Colin Baker and Maggie Stables are on fine form, and are matched by creepy performances from Holly De Jong and Stephen Chase. The sound design is up to the usual high standards and apart from one or two moments when the villains choose to deliver stereotypical monologues instead of action the writing and direction are excellent.

This was a terrific, fast-paced introduction to the Project series and I am looking forward to the next one. I am trying to be tougher with my marking but I can't give this any less then 4 out of 5 question-mark embroidered shirts. Stay tuned for Project: Lazarus.