Return of the Cybermen is a Doctor Who audio drama released by Big Finish Productions and is the latest from the range known as The Lost Stories. This story was going to be aired as a serial in the 1970’s, however this one was reworked into what the fans know as Revenge of the Cybermen. This is the original script by Gerry Davis and has been adapted to this audio drama format by John Dorney. Nicholas Briggs returns to the director’s chair as well as voicing the dreaded Cybermen. Tom Baker returns as the Doctor and is accompanied by old friends voiced by new performers. Sadie Miller takes on the role originated by her mother, Elisabeth Sladen, which is Sarah Jane Smith. Christopher Naylor steps in for the deceased Ian Marter and resurrects Harry Sullivan. The rest of the guest cast is comprised of Nicholas Asbury, Nickolas Grace, Amanda Shodeko, and Robert Whitelock. Okay, so that is the background and important credits observed.

The Doctor, Sarah, and Harry have been separated from the TARDIS for a bit and have returned to Space Station Nerva to retrieve it, however it isn’t going to be that easy. They have arrived in a different time zone and find a crew that has been decimated by a mysterious plague. The Cybermen were thought to have finally died out, however that it is not the case either. They have plans to return to their efforts of conquest and assimilating others into their stoic ranks. First, they want to destroy an asteroid made up of a precious metal that is their ultimate weakness.

Revenge of the Cybermen is not one of my favorite stories in the classic television era, and this version is not much of an improvement. Tom Baker does sound great in this one and seems to be having quite a bit of fun. Miller does not quite have the same vocal quality as her mother, but she does do a good job. There were a few moments where Sarah Jane Smith came through. Naylor’s version of Harry Sullivan is passable but could use some work. Although the plot is not all that impressive, I am rather fond of the idea of another important era in the series being explored. Sadie Miller has said that she took on the role to honor her mother, and I do think she has managed that well enough. I look forward to Sarah returning in more original stories. I like Harry Sullivan, and I appreciate Naylor’s attempt to being that role to life once again, but Miller does a little better on hitting closer to her character.

This may not be the greatest idea to recycle a story already well known to the fans. but I was still glad to get it. The performances were fine. Tom Baker had some great moments as usual. In spite of the flaws, enough elements are there to gain some pleasure from it. If nothing else, the history surrounding that era and this script is still quite fascinating.

The Time War Volume Four is a Doctor Who audio boxset from Big Finish Productions and stars Paul McGann as the Doctor. He is joined by Rakhee Thakrar as his companions, Bliss. Terry Molloy reprises his role as the mad, crippled scientist Davros, Nicholas Briggs returns as the Daleks. He plays the Dalek Emperor and the Dalek Time Strategist as well. Basically, he still just voices the Daleks. Helen Goldwyn directs this whole saga. There are three stories that comprise this collection.

John Dorney starts off this set with the two-parter entitled Palindrome. This focuses on Davros and his various guises throughout various realities. Molloy gets to play the role as a pleasant chap who was never injured during a war with the Thals on Skaro and therefore does not have the creepy mechanical voice. Not to worry though, that version of Davros shows up from another reality. The Time Strategist is making its own plans, which would explain the moniker. The Doctor and Bliss are caught up in various realities where they sometimes don’t surprise. It’s all gloriously confusing, but Molloy’s performance is compelling enough for me to not care that I am struggling to follow the plot. Of course, McGann knows his Doctor and is great as usual. I have no complaints about McGann and Thakrar. Bliss as a character is fine, but she does seem a little too similar to a couple of the Doctor’s previous companions. In particular, companions who have traveled with this version of the Doctor. I have yet to dislike a Dorney script, but he does go for broke on these epic confrontations. It’s a solid start to this collection, but it may take a couple of listening sessions to fully grasp what is going on.

A newer contributor to the Big Finish scripts is Lisa McMullin and is the writer of Dreadshade. Julia McKenzie returns as the Twelve, who was formerly the Eleven, the Time Lord whose previous personalities remain in prominence at the same time after each regeneration. McKenzie is considered an acting legend in England and was recently playing Ms. Marple on television not all that long ago. She’s great, although the Twelve isn’t my favorite Big Finish idea as a villain. The Doctor and Bliss arrive on Gallifrey with no memory of each other, and the Time Lords know some kind of war took place, however they had not memory of who they thought. Dreadshade is some woman frightened of Time Lords who is also a mysterious weapon. This was an intriguing story idea and may actually be my personal favorite in this particular collection. So I am hopeful that McMullin will have some further opportunities to add to the Doctor Who universe.

Restoration of the Daleks is the concluding episode written by veteran Doctor Who writer Matt Fitton, The Daleks have re-emerged from the multiverse and they and the Daleks go at it tooth and claw. The Doctor has a confrontation with both the Time Strategist and Davros. Once again, it gets a little hard to interpret what is exactly happening among the sometimes dizzying sound effects.

With this, The Time War saga concludes, however it also sets up the Doctor for further confusing and compelling adventures. This fourth volume had some ambitious ideas which are realized quite well. Of course, the performances and the post production work really gets the adrenaline going. McGann is still a compelling presence. He plays off well against Molloy, but the performers are old hats. The writing from all three stories varied pretty minimally in the quality. I may have enjoyed Dreadshade a bit more than the other two, but the whole set was an enjoyable ride. Fortunately, Big Finish is a long way from being done with Paul McGann’s version of the Doctor.

Reign of the Supermen is an animated superhero film that follows The Death of Superman. The film was directed by Sam Liu and was written by Tim Sheridan and Tim Krieg. Some of the cast lending their vocal talents here are Jerry O’Connell, Rebecca Romijn, Jason O’Mara, Rainn Wilson, Rosario Dawson, Tony Todd, and all sorts of other Hollywood folks.

So the film starts off six months after Superman died at the hands of the creature known as Doomsday. Metropolis is suddenly besieged by other supposed alternative versions of Superman. Superman’s remains are missing, so who knows if one of the four latest visitors is the genuine article? Except it won’t be that simple. In the meantime, another alien power is preparing to launch a new attack on Metropolis. The Justice League is there doing their best to make up for the loss of their most powerful member, but they may have further tragedy to endure.

So this is based on the events in the comic series that was written around 1993 or thereabouts. It’s a comic book movie, and Superman isn’t exactly my favorite superhero. This was still pretty entertaining but nothing I find too inspiring visit. Some of the fight scenes felt a little too dragged out. The acting was fin. The artistry in the animation was acceptable, although I am no expert there. The script was not terrible, but it also was not all that memorable.

The movie works well enough as an animated superhero movie that just retells a saga that was already well known to the readers of the comic books. In the end, it was fairly entertaining but nothing to write home about. It’s really only barely worthwhile to compose a blog over.

The Apostle is an antiterrorist geopolitical thriller by Brad Thor. Thor has a series that features counterterrorist operative Scot Harvath. Now this is the first time I have tried a Brad Thor novel, but I for some reason did not get the introductory one for this series.

Scot Harvath is engaged by the US president to trade a captured al-Qaeda terrorist for an American hostage who happens to be the daughter of a media mogul who was quite helpful to the recent presidential campaign. Harvath does not mind helping a lady in distress, but he does have some reservations about releasing terrorists, the very sort of people he has spent his life hunting down. What Scot does not know is that the president has a secret scandal that could be exposed by an intrepid Secret Service agent, and that his mission may have some dire political consequences along with the threat of his violent demise.

Well, Thor has been writing about this character and in this genre for quite a while. I have read one or two other authors in this field of literature as well. I may have to try out some of his other novels to get a better feel, but I did not find anything too extraordinary here. I did find that it was engaging and entertaining enough for me to not regret spending time with Mr. Harvath. It probably would have been better to start at the beginning of the series, but there wasn’t a whole lot I felt I was missing out on. The subplot of the secret service agent who started investigating the death of some woman who had been visiting President Arden was pretty interesting. I wouldn’t mind if Agent Elise Campbell were to resurface in later novels. Thor actually doesn’t really have Campbell and Harvath cross paths directly in this one, which was a rather interesting decision to make here.

Thor writes a satisfactory novel but nothing that keeps me hungry for more. Although since I do enjoy this genre and did not get completely turned off or frustrated by The Apostle, I will still likely catch up with Scot Harvath fairly soon.

It has been a while since I have dropped in the twenty-fourth century, so I think a Star Trek: Voyager novel will be the next port of call. Kirsten Beyer adds to the ongoing saga of the Starship Voyager with her latest installment entitled To Lose The Earth.

I Care A Lot is a film written and directed by J Blakeson. Rosamund Pike is in the lead as Marla Grayson, as an advocate for elderly people who may need to become wards of the state. Marla makes a bit of an extra living basically helping herself to her wards’ possessions and belongings. Peter Dinklage, Eiza Gonzalez, Dianne Wiest, and Alicia Witt are also included in the cast.

Marla decides that an elderly woman named Jennifer Peterson should be added to her collection of victims. What she does not count on is that Ms. Peterson’s son is a diminutive yet dangerous crime boss played by Dinklage. Marla has an impressive stubborn streak which prevents her from cutting her losses and letting the mother go. Roman Lunyov has his own stubborn streak laced with psychotic violence, but at least his love and loyalty for his mother seems genuine. He isn’t that bad of a guy apparently.

It’s a strong cast and a fairly decent plot idea. It does get to be rather absurd toward the end, but the film is classified as a black comedy. Dinklage seems to be oddly cast as a super gangster, but I kind of got used to it. I like Dinklage enough to actually want to go with it. Pike is quite good as the manipulative, conniving Marla. Really, the movie does work pretty well for the most part. It was pretty fun to watch Dinklage and Pike finally engage fully in their contest of wills.

Pike did win a Golden Globe for her performance, and I didn’t see any reason to object to it. The film isn’t going to top any listings of classics, but it has quite a bit that works in its favor.

Death Comes for the Archbishop is a novel written by Willa Cather and was first published in 1927. It takes place during the mid-nineteenth century in New Mexico. It centers around the efforts of one Bishop Jean Marie Latour to establish a diocese in New Mexico. He and his friend, Father Joseph Vaillant, meet all kinds of people and face challenges in the desert landscape of New Mexico. The novel was apparently based on a couple of historical clergymen.

I don’t have much to say about this one since I read it for the purposes of a book club participation. This is not my usual type of preferred reading. I can recognize that Cather is a talented a writer. She does well with description of the landscape at the time. I did not find the characters all that interesting. It is not a long book, but it is a slow read at times. Willa Cather is a very acclaimed writer and probably deserves it. She is just not my cup of tea. Anyway, the setting is somewhat interesting and there are a few moments that piqued my interest, but those times were not frequent enough for me to consider returning to this one anytime soon….if ever.

Next up, I will return to something quite a bit more recent and will have a bit more action. Time to check out the works of Brad Thor, starting with The Apostle.

The Dying Light is a Doctor Who audio drama and is an episode from the range known as The Companion Chronicles. Frazer Hines and Wendy Padbury star in this adventure which features the Second Doctor, who would have been played by Patrick Troughton were he still alive and fit enough to do so. The script was written by Nick Wallace, and Lisa Bowerman is once again in the director’s seat. Terry Molloy guest stars as Quadrigger Stoyn, who returns to challenge the Doctor for a second time.

The TARDIS brings the Doctor, Jamie, and Zoe to a world with a dying sun. A murder has occurred, and the Doctor encounters an old foe in the shape of Quadrigger Stoyn. Stoyn was first introduced in the play entitled The Beginning. Stoyn seems to have an objection to the Doctor’s sudden departure from his home planet and has been trying to track through time and space.

Hines once again does a solid job with narration and slipping into the role of Jamie McCrimmon. He also provides a satisfactory impression of Troughton’s version of the Doctor. Padbury also sounds good. Molloy’s character is a somewhat engaging and complicated opponent. The story itself is not bad, but it does not really stand out. It’s another adventure where I have little objection to it. but I also fail to find it all that memorable. It’s another one where the performances really help out with making it merely reasonably enjoyable.

The Fourth Doctor Adventures Series 10 Volume 1 contains two Doctor Who audio dramas from Big Finish Productions and stars Tom Baker alongside Louise Jameson.

The World Traders is written by Guy Adams and directed by Nicholas Briggs. The guest cast is comprised of Sara Powell, Sian Phillips, Adam Newington, Chris Porter. and Ramon Tikarah. In this one, aliens knows as Usurians make another appearance. The Doctor and Leela first encountered them in the television serial entitled The Sunmakers. The tax-loving, bureaucratic tyrants have come to Earth and have taken possession of the Doctor’s TARDIS. It sounds like a simple plot, but it gets a bit more complicated and sometimes confusing. The Sunmakers is noted as a classic story from the television series, but I was not that enamored with it. Even so, I tend to prefer the Doctor to encounter new adversaries. The story starts off a little slow but does get better. Baker and Jameson continue to present an engaging chemistry. Leela is better utilized by Big Finish writers. The performances once again make this worth a listen, but I was not all that enthralled with it. I was not entirely put off either, so the story just does well enough to stay in the middle of the lane.

The Day of the Comet by Jonathan Morris is directed by Ken Bentley. The guest cast here is made up of Jon Culshaw playing two roles, Sophia Carr-Gomm, Janet Henfrey, Mandi Symonds, and David Seddon. The Doctor and Leela arrive on a planet that is doomed beyond the Time Lord’s ability to save them. Culshaw is best known as an impressionist in England and does great voice facsimiles of Tom Baker and other notable Doctor Who alum. He also has resurrected the character of Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart in recent audio plays. I like that Big Finish is utilizing him for original characters as well.

Both stories had an eccentric elderly female in the cast of characters and they both did great. Baker performs well with both Sian Phillips and Janet Henfrey in each of the stories, although that really is no surprise since Baker is such an old pro working alongside other old pros.

Neither story is what I would consider a stellar adventure, but both are still worthy of some attention since there is nothing terrible about them. Baker and Jameson continue to provide sold entertainment in their familiar roles. There are two more adventures to discuss in what is considered the tenth season of the Fourth Doctor audio series, but I will have to get back to you on those.

The Forbidden Door is the fourth novel by Dean Koontz to feature renegade FBI agent Jane Hawk as she continues her fight to be reunited with her young son while evading capture from a group known as Arcadians. Her latest caper started with the inexplicable suicide of her husband. Jane Hawk sent her son off to hiding and started a campaign to discover the cause of her husband’s death. She has learned through the previous novels of a group within the government who have been using nanotechnology to control people’s minds. The Arcadians are just not nice people, but they are powerful and seemingly ubiquitous. The are all sorts of psychotic, nihilistic characters on the look-out for the elusive Mrs. Hawk.

Koontz has been writing of these shadowy rogue government agencies for some time. In some ways, this is more of the same. Not much new goes on here, but Jane Hawk is still a fairly interesting heroine. Koontz still has a pretty distinctive prose style that makes the repetition bearable. The story was still somewhat engaging. Much of the familiar elements were present. We still had the child who was much more insightful and wiser than his peers. Eccentric allies and clever canines were also there. Koontz continues to be fascinated by people who are not merely evil but completely disconnected from most societal norms.

I think I continued to read these novels more out of tradition than actual enthrallment. I believe there is only one more novel in particular series, but I shall defer the reading of that for a while.

Time to shift gears a bit in my literary journey and check out Death Comes For The Archbishop by Willa Cather

Ghost in the Machine is a Doctor Who audio play from Big Finish and is an episode from the range known as The Companion Chronicles. It takes place during the era of the Third Doctor, who was played by the late Jon Pertwee. Jonathan Morris wrote this script which was brought to life under the direction of Louise Jameson. Jameson is, of course, best known as playing Leela in the television series and has performed in several audio dramas as well. Katy Manning stars in this episode and is joined by Damian Lynch.

Jo Grant steps out of the TARDIS after discovering the Doctor was not on board. She finds a number of skeletons in an abandoned station and then see the Doctor in a rather unusual coma. He has a voice recorder with brief instructions. When she starts giving a vocal chronicle of her discoveries, she senses that she is not alone. When she plays back her recorded voice, she finds phrases on the tape that she did not utter. She also hears the voice of someone who has apparently been long dead, but Benjamin Chicoto’s status is a bit more complicated than that.

This one actually sets an effectively creepy tone. Manning really gets to exercise her eclectic vocal talents as well. The explanation for the spooky occurrences is a little confusing at the end since it involves various characters switching bodies and identities. I generally enjoy almost all of Big Finish output, but this episode ended up being one of the better ones in recent memory. It is a fairly creative notion to have a story that explores the notion of how some people dislike hearing their voice on playback. Anyway, if anyone else who encounters this blog is also a Big Finish collector, I would recommend that this story not be overlooked.