Big Finish Productions returns to the travels of the Eighth Doctor, starring Paul McCann, with an eclectic and entertaining set of Doctor Who audio dramas entitled Echoes. Nicola Walker and Hattie Morahan are also accompanying this Doctor as Liv Chenka and Helen Sinclair. Ken Bentley directs this trilogy of adventures and continues to prove himself more than capable of continuing in that capacity for future releases. The guest cast includes Derek Griffiths, Jane Asher, Fiona Button, and Dan Starkey.
Tim Foley starts off the set with his story, Birdsong. The TARDIS arrives on a world where there are apparently two women who were scouting it out for an arriving colony. There are peculiar birds in the distance but coming closer. One of the women the TARDIS encounters is strangely ill. Something in the woods appears to be watching.
Foley has become one of Big Finish’s more prolific and reliable scriptwriters, and this story is a pretty good example as to why. It’s a pretty spooky story with an interesting twist toward the end. The main cast is once again in top form with their performances. Fiona Button and Jane Asher are the only two guest actors, and they are more than capable foils for the well-tuned main cast of this particular TARDIS crew.
Lost Hearts is the second story and is written by Lauren Mooney and Stewart Pringle. The Doctor, Liv, and Helen have been investigating strange disturbances emanating from an ancient university. Phantoms have been seen, and something odd seems to have an important message for the Doctor. They are assisted by a nervous undergraduate and a writer of supernatural phenomenon. The student has a profound connection to Helen Sinclair, and the writer has an important destiny on the world’s literary stage.
Timothy Bentinck and Steve Brody are two of the guest actors and, as expected, well chosen. Bentinck goes a little over the top with his performance in the climax, but the whole episode is still quite enjoyable. The revealing of the full identity of the Brody’s character, Montague, is kind of a nice treat. The story takes place in a university containing a lot of shadows and dark corners, which is almost always a great place to begin a Doctor Who episode.
Dan Rebellato is the writer tasked with bringing this set to a close with Slow Beasts. The Doctor and his companions arrive on a planet with an amazing sight to behold. A settlement is watched over a group of enormous alien figures standing in the plains. The Renn gain some benefit from the tourism arriving in their midst to see this strange arrangement. It does not take long for the Doctor, Liv and Helen to discover there is a dark secret behind the majestic view. When the secret comes to life, the Renn find themselves facing a retribution that may be well deserved.
The final story is also quite compelling, although there is not a lot of detail about how the Slow Beasts look other than their immense size. Derek Griffiths, Maya Saroya, and Dan Starkey are part of this guest cast. Rebellato is a pretty new writer to me, but this story is a promising introduction. He is not a new writer overall, but he seems to be a pretty recent addition to the Big Finish stable. The story raises some engaging moral dilemmas and questions. I thought Griffiths take on the settlement leader, Mathryn, was very interesting. Mathryn does have some undoubtedly selfish and immoral motivations, but the audience is left with a sense of possible redemption.
I have to say that Echoes pretty much gets high marks from me all the way down the line. It’s hard to say which episode is my favorite because I was pretty impressed with all three of the stories, which is a rarity as much as I love Big Finish and Doctor Who. There was not reliance of old adversaries. Yes, Big Finish has visited its fair share of shady universities in its long catalogue before, but the second episode is still imaginative enough for me to forgive that trope. McGann remains as compelling as ever as his version of the Doctor. The chemistry and banter between Morahan and Walker remain on point, which is particularly impressive since this group of writers haven’t written much in this range. Although this TARDIS team have been around a good number of years for the Big Finish consumers, this collection of stories seems to have found a way to ensure that audiences want more of this particular TARDIS team.
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