Tag: doctor-who

Doctor Who Audio Review: Detective Orion Hood Is On The Case

~ Peter Kanelis ~ Leave a comment

Two pretty good stories make up the latest set of Fifth Doctor audio dramas just released by Big Finish Productions. Peter Davison is reunited with his original TARDIS crew portrayed by Janet Fielding, Sarah Sutton, and Matthew Waterhouse in a pair of audio dramas written by Tim Foley and Lizzie Hopley. Ken Bentley is in the director’s chair yet again.

The great Agatha Christie is channeled in Tim Foley’s The Merfolk Murders which kicks off this set. The guest cast includes Tom Alexander, Pearl Appleby, and Josie Lawrence. The TARDIS arrives in 1940 Scotland at the dawn of the Second World War. They encounter a little group known as the Merfolk Society, who meet to discuss murder mysteries. They are gathered to discuss The Casebook of Orion Hood, whose protagonist is quite familiar to the Doctor and his friends. It seems that the Doctor spent some time as an amateur detective in his previous incarnation, and those adventures were chronicled by one Sarah Jane Smith, who was using a pseudonym at the time. Anyway, a murder has occurred, and the Doctor has to slip back into the role of Orion Hood.to get to the bottom of the disturbing crime.

This was a pretty fun and interesting story. The red herrings were pretty effective. Apparently, this is a set-up for a future Big Finish project which is likely to star the great Tom Baker. I am a great fan of murder mysteries of this sort, so Doctor Who dipping into this genre is a bit of an extra treat. The main cast continue to display their usual chemistry. I do struggle with ignoring how much Peter Davison’s voice has changed over the years. He was in his early thirties when he first played the Doctor on television. Although he does not really sound bad in these new stories, his voice seems to have changed the most compared to the other Doctors participating in these recordings. His acting is still on par, and I still enjoy dipping into the range of stories regardless. This is still a pretty good addition to the Fifth Doctor catalogue of Big Finish stories.

Dream Team is written by Lizzie Hopley and brings back creatures first introduced in the new series known as the Dream Crabs. The Crabs latch on their victims’ face and puts them into a deep sleep, feeding on their brains as they dream. They’re actually rather effectively chilling. The Doctor and his friends arrive in a place that specializes in corporate bonding and find themselves experiencing some very vivid nightmares. There is no guest cast in this story, and it’s a two-parter. Hopley manages to pack in a lot in this relatively short episode which focuses solely on the main cast. It’s another one of the stronger episodes that Big Finish has been putting out recently.

I will also mention that there is a range included in some of the recent downloaded releases known as Interludes. This release included one of these episodes entitled Meanwhile, Turlough by Jonathan Blum and features the talented Dan Starkey presenting this audio short story. While the Doctor and Tegan Jovanka deal with a crisis on a planet where the TARDIS has recently arrived, Turlough has his own crisis going in that his escape from his exile on Earth has been noticed, and he has to contend with a monitor from his own planet who has recognized him. Starkey is pretty good as a narrator and actor, but his efforts to emulate the Fifth Doctor is not that good. He actually is closer to mimicking Mark Strickson, who plays Turlough in the series. It’s an interesting story, but I am easily intrigued by Turlough. He was definitely one of the Doctor’s more enigmatic and intriguing companions. Blum has a long history of writing Doctor Who stories, and I was reminded why he was one my favorite contributors.

The whole set is quite good. The main cast once again prevails in making any plot holes much less meaningful. Davison is getting older, and one can hear it, however he is still welcome to keep me entertained as I listen to his new recordings with Big Finish. I think the murder mystery at the top of the release is going to be my preference, but the whole collection is worth the time.

Doctor Who Audio Review: Sontarans In Ireland

~ Peter Kanelis ~ Leave a comment

Sontarans vs Rutans: The Battle of Giant’s Causeway is another triumphant beginning to a pretty fun series of Doctor Who audio dramas from Big Finish Productions. This year marks the fiftieth anniversary since the introduction of the Sontarans in Doctor Who, and Big Finish decided to mark the occasion by a short series of dramas that feature aspects of the ongoing war between the Sontarans and the Rutans.

The first episode features the return of Paul McGann as the Eighth Doctor. India Fisher reprises her role as Charlotte Pollard with Conrad Westmaas returning to the role of C’rizz after fifteen years since audiences heard the tragic departure of the character. This is basically a flashback story that sort of tantalizes the nostalgia for long-time Big Finish listeners. John Banks and Dan Starkey return to voice the absurdly militaristic Sontarans. Lizzie Hopley wrote the script, and Ken Bentley returns to the director’s chair. Michelle Fox and Amanda Hurwitz round out the guest cast.

A temporal tidal wave throws the TARDIS to Ancient Ireland, and the Doctor, C’rizz, and Charley encounter Sontarans behaving like Roman Legionnaires. They have landed in a region known as the Giant’s Causeway, and something has shut the TARDIS down, leaving the Doctor and his friends stranded in the midst of a brewing war between two alien forces who have been displaced and the savagery of those who are supposed to live in that time and place.

Doctor Who is a pretty strange show on the outset, and this script is up there when it comes to odd plotlines. Hopley is talented enough to make this work. The Sontarans are acting odder than usual, but Starkey and Banks still manage to make them compelling and amusing. McGann, Fisher, and Westmaas easily recapture the chemistry that made them a popular team in earlier times. I would not consider this script to be one the greats, but it’s still pretty enjoyable. Hopley shows some creativity in bringing in some fresh amusement in the depiction of the Sontarans and the Rutans. Yes, we’ll be hearing more from the Rutans in this little mini-series. Hopley gives this range a pretty decent kick-off.

Doctor Who Audio Review: Even The Doctor’s Memory Could Use Some Repair

~ Peter Kanelis ~ Leave a comment

Broken Memories is the title of the latest Doctor Who audio collection from the Classic Doctors New Monsters range, and Big Finish Productions once again releases an intriguing and enjoyable collection of tales featuring numerous incarnations of Time Lord.

The premise of this series, which is directed by Barnaby Edwards, is to have Doctors from the classic era face monsters and adversaries that were introduced in the current run that started in 2005. It’s an ambitious idea that almost always pays off. I tend to enjoy the series, and there are four in this particular set to briefly examine.

Tom Baker is up first as the Fourth Doctor in Invasion of the Body Stealers by Jonathan Morris. He is joined by Sadie Miller, who has taken the role of Sarah Jane Smith. Miller’s mother, Elisabeth Sladen, originated the performance, so Sadie is able to breathe new life into one of the most popular companions to enter the TARDIS. The Doctor and Sarah arrive in time to offer aid to crashed spaceship and encounter the body-swapping criminal organization known as Harmony Shoal. I am not that fond of the title, but the story is actually pretty good. Baker still sounds great, and Sadie Miller does a pretty job emulating her mother. There is a truly chilling moment when one of the supporting characters is about to have his brain ripped out of his skull, and the sound effects and score actually freaked me out a little. Anyway, it’s a promising start to this collection.

The Queen of Clocks by Jacqueline Rayner features Colin Baker as the Sixth Doctor, and he is accompanied by the always welcome Bonnie Langford as Mel. The Clockwork Droids are invading a kingdom with a peculiar obsession with time. The Doctor and Mel are about to learn of a tragedy that had started well before their intervention. In spite of the absurdity of the plot, there is a clever yet heartbreaking twist on the horizon. Baker and Langford, as usual, perform this one beautifully. There were some moments that were a little picture to pull into imaginary focus, but that’s always a risk when listening to Doctor Who in this manner. Rayner has contributed to the franchise in some form or another for many years, and this contribution affirms that she has earned the repeated invites to write something new. It has one of those revelations that I wasn’t expecting but felt that I should have been. Anyway, Rayner’s offering here is quite engaging, but there is little reason to expect anything less.

David K. Barnes has a two-part story featuring the race known as the Silence. Once someone turns away from a member of this race, they cannot retain the memory of that encounter. The Eighth Doctor arrives in the city of Sunset during the events of The Silent Priest and to find some solace from the Time War. Paul McGann delivers another masterful performance here. Two rival criminal gangs are at war, and a mysterious priest who no one can remember meeting holds the key to bringing peace. Nicholas Briggs voices the Silence with the correct amount of creepy, sibilant whispers and hisses. This was pretty good, and the Silent featured here was much more interesting than I remember from those in the television series. The overdone Eastern American accents were a little off, and that distracted me a bit. Overall, it was an interesting story and sets up the concluding story quite well.

Sylvester McCoy returns as the Seventh Doctor as he arrives sometime after his future self. The Silent City finds the Doctor looking into an unusually successful casino which has come into being after crime has apparently disappeared. The Doctor is facing the outcome of an adventure he has yet to experience. McCoy is back in all of his Scottish glory, and he also delivers his usual enthusiastic, r-rolling vocal talents. It’s great to see him, and this story ties matters up quite effectively.

I liked all of the stories, although the first one stands out a bit more in spite of its questionable title. All of the Doctors featured showed their formidable talents in spite of their advancing years. This is a collection that is worth the time.

Doctor Who Audio Review: The Doctor Finds The Union

~ Peter Kanelis ~ Leave a comment

Big Finish Productions has recently released the conclusion a Doctor Who audio saga entitled Once and Future. Paul McGann and Tom Baker are featured the most as the Eighth and Fourth Doctors, respectively. The conclusion does more to strum the heartstrings of nostalgia than actually aim for any real coherence in the story, but it’s still a pretty fun indulgence for the Whovians.

Ken Bentley returns to the director’s chair to coordinate the realization of the script written by Matt Fitton. Carole Ann Ford reprises her role of Susan, the Doctor’s granddaughter and the first companion he really wanted to impress. Alex Kingston also returns as the time travelling archeologist and the supposed wife of the Doctor’s. Maureen O’Brien, who would normally be playing the role of one of the Doctor’s early companions, Vicki, takes on the role of an adversary known as the Union. The Union turns out to be someone else who is quite familiar to the Doctor. Other Doctors also appear sporadically during this adventure since this was a release that celebrated the show’s fiftieth anniversary last year.

I have skipped out on reviewing the earlier episodes in this range, so I will offer a brief recap. The Doctor has been the victim of a weapon that destabilizes his regeneration cycle. As he has been trying to reconstruct what has happened to him, he has been suffering from something known as degeneration. He has been erratically returning to his past and sometimes his future incarnations as he has been chasing the cause of his condition through time and space.

Paul McGann and Tom Baker take on the bulk of this particular adventure. The Fourth Doctor rather amusedly referred to it as co-piloting. It was kind of touching and amusing to see Susan interact with other versions of her grandfather. Big Finish has already had the Eighth Doctor and Susan reunite in earlier episodes; however, it was pretty cool to get a taste of what she would make of the Fourth Doctor and his absurdly long scarf.

I have never been a real fan of multi-Doctor adventures like this because the story often takes a back seat to a quality plot. But I am still a fan and some of those scenes where the Doctor drags his other iterations is pretty funny most of the time.

There were times where I struggled to imagine what was going on based on the sound effects. It wasn’t always that clear as to what I should be conjuring up in my mind’s eye.

As usual, the actual performances were really good. McGann and Baker still portray their respective Doctors very effectively. It was still pretty fun to hear a bit of the other Doctors as well during the climax of the adventure even if the plot is a bit of the mess.

This is another sprawling, nonsensical episode that still manages to be entertaining just because the heartstrings of nostalgia are strummed with enough of the right notes. Multi-Doctor storylines do make less sense than a regular episode, but they are usually pretty fun, especially if Big Finish is on the job.

Doctor Who Audio Review: Elves, Daleks, Old Friends, And The Doctor

~ Peter Kanelis ~ Leave a comment

Big Finish Productions has continued their range of Doctor Who audio dramas with the Seventh Doctor in a reasonably entertaining release entitled Sullivan and Cross-AWOL. The Doctor is reunited with former companions, Harry Sullivan and Naomi Cross in two new episodes directed by Bethany Weimers.

Christopher Naylor returns to the role of Harry Sullivan, who was originally played by the late Ian Marter in the television series alongside Tom Baker’s Fourth Doctor. Eleanor Crooks plays a new Big Finish created companion named Naomi Cross. Nicholas Briggs is back behind the voice modulated mic voicing the Daleks in the second story. Sam Stafford, Saffron Coomber, Carly Day, and Hywel Morgan are included in the guest cast.

Long-time Big Finish contributor, John Dorney, provides the script to the first story entitled London Orbital. The story starts off with a young Harry Sullivan discovering a peculiar massacre at a house, which influenced his decision to join UNIT many decades ago. Harry and his colleague, Naomi Cross, have been misplaced in time several years in the future. Strange elves are appearing, and a killer is stalking the streets and recognizes Harry from a previous encounter. The Doctor has returned as well, but in a different form from which Naomi and Harry are familiar. They find a different London the shadows of the familiar one. Another dimension has crossed into ours, and the Doctor and his friends find themselves trying to head off an unearthly war.

Dorney has delivered a pretty reliable story here. I enjoyed the new dynamic between the Seventh Doctor and his two companions. Sylvester McCoy still sounds great as his iteration of the Time Lord. Familiar companions with a different Doctor never fails to intrigue a fan such as yours truly. It’s a fun story, but I didn’t find it to be all that memorable. Naylor does fine with his version of Harry Sullivan. Naomi Cross is supposed to be another fearless, no-nonsense, woman traveling with the Doctor. She’s fine too, but not much feels terribly unique or interesting about her character. There are some expected amusing moments with the companions, and Naylor and Crooks have pretty good chemistry. Dorney has some interesting ideas and threw in some decent lines, but I don’t consider this to be one of his better contributions.

Scream of the Daleks by Lisa McMullin is actually the better entry here even though the Daleks are a bit overused, in my opinion. The Doctor, Harry, and Naomi arrive during a Halloween festival in 1969 and find that nightmares are coming to life. The Doctor and Naomi trace the cause over centuries and find that the Daleks are trapped in some kind of dimensional portal and are trying to manipulate the Time Lord into lending a reluctant hand.

The second story is better, but it’s not really a standout among all of Big Finish’s output. It’s another reasonably enjoyable episode with a few clever quips that did actually make me laugh out loud. I like the plot for the most part. The performances are quite good, as usual. Of course, the sound effects are convincing. Nicholas Briggs does his usual compelling job voicing the Daleks.

On the whole, the set is enjoyable and has some interesting ideas and characters, but I doubt there is much I will remember in the next couple of days. As with all of my Doctor Who collection, I will likely listen to it again in the not-so-distant future.

Doctor Who Audio Review: The Doctor Joins Another Revolution

~ Peter Kanelis ~ Leave a comment

Revolution in Space, the latest Doctor Who audio drama to feature the Third Doctor and Sarah Jane Smith, is quite entertaining even though it does seem to drag on a little too long sometimes.

Big Finish Productions continues its efforts to bring new adventures for the Third Doctor, who is continued to be performed by Tim Treloar. Sadie Miller takes on the role of Sarah Jane Smith, who was originally portrayed by her mother, Elisabeth Sladen. Prolific Doctor Who contributor Jonathan Morris brings another solid script to the range with Nicholas Briggs returning to the director’s chair. The guest cast includes Juliet Aubrey, Richard James, Barry Aird, and Charlie Norfolk.

The story takes place on a colonized asteroid in the furthest reaches of Earth’s solar system. While the asteroid is being mined for vital minerals, a prisoner with growing and terrifying psychic powers is planning her escape. The denizens are also plotting a revolution to break the control that the Earth government exerts on them. The Doctor and Sarah Jane Smith arrive just in time to get swept up into the maelstrom of fear and discontent. The psychic abilities that some of the people, including Sarah, comes at a fatal price, and the Doctor has his hands full in his efforts to stop an unhinged prisoner from wreaking havoc and saving Sarah’s life.

There is a lot to appreciate about this release. Tim Treloar’s impression of Jon Pertwee as the Third Doctor continues to improve. Sadie Miller is able to emulate her mother as well, while showing her own acting abilities. Juliet Aubrey is perfect casting as the villain, Zyla Kalstein. The sound effects are, as usual, quite effective. The effort to emulate the Third Doctor’s is quite successful.

Big Finish Productions usually are quite successful with the quality of writing, and Morris is certainly one of their more reliable contributors. Revolution In Space is a solid addition to the range, and many elements work nicely, but it is not really a unique adventure. In some ways, I rather wish Big Finish would not necessarily stay devoted to the somewhat cheesy, grating musical score of the Third Doctor era.

This story has six episodes and does feel a little strained at times, which was often a problem noted in the television series. Still, there is a good chance I will appreciate it more when I listen to it again. Once again, the performances and some of the dialogue really helps with forgiving the downfalls here. Doctor Who does require some forgiveness and grace in order to properly enjoy it, but Revolution in Space, in spite of its flaws, is still one of the better adventures. Jonathan Morris still proves himself to be an interesting and capable writer, and I hope he still has plenty of time to bring many more ideas to the table of Big Finish.

Doctor Who Audio Review: Who’s Up For A Little Chaos?

~ Peter Kanelis ~ Leave a comment

Another pretty decent yet familiar sort of Doctor Who audio novel has been released from Big Finish Productions. Colin Brake is the author of The Chaos Cascade. One big twist is that there are three narrators this time as opposed to the usual single performer. Dan Starkey, Beth Chalmers, and Rebecca Root share storytelling duties and are directed by Nigel Fairs.

Reality is about to be destroyed yet again, and the Doctor is aided by one old enemy and a former companion in his quest to unite three pieces of a device known as the Triskelia. If this was an onscreen adventure, Peter Capaldi would be portraying his version of the Doctor. Michelle Gomez would be Missy, the female incarnation of fan favorite villain, the Master. Rebecca Root reprises another Big Finish role, Tania Bell. Tania has previously met the Eighth and Ninth Doctors, and is currently living another former companion, Liv Chenka. They have to contend with other parties searching for the Triskelia, and not everyone has the same altruistic motivations as the Doctor.

Brake is a solid writer and crafts a pretty decent adventure here. The problem is that the audience has seen the Doctor have similar quests. The banter between the Doctor and Missy is amusing, clever, and pretty close to how they would be if viewed on the television set. Brake clearly knows and can replicate the characteristics established onscreen and in previous audio episodes and is able to make it seem pretty fresh.

The narrators also do well, unsurprisingly, and are aided by the sound effects and musical score. I appreciate that Starkey can sound uncannily like Peter Capaldi. Since Capaldi has not shown any interest in revisiting his Doctor, Big Finish has a pretty solid path to representing the Twelfth Doctor without his participation.

Overall, this latest offering in the audio novel range is a solid enough contribution, but the whole galactic quest angle risks being overdone in spite of the new mixture of Doctors and companions.

Doctor Who Audio Review: Never A Box Of Delights For The Doctor

~ Peter Kanelis ~ Leave a comment

The Box of Terrors is a Doctor Who audio novel released by Big Finish Productions. Lizzie Hopley is the writer while Jon Culshaw steps up to the mic to perform this eight-hour behemoth of a story. It’s a really a behemoth by Doctor Who standard. Culshaw is a well-known impressionist in the UK and does quite an uncanny impersonation of both Tom Baker and Jon Pertwee.

The Doctor’s third and fourth incarnation unite against a threat that could release several powerful and malevolent forces into the cosmos. Also, the Doctor’s companion, Sarah Jane Smith, has the rather unique experience of encountering herself. The Master and Omega are at the heart of the chaos as well. They turn out to not be the only dangerous Time Lords to cause an intergalactic mess for the two iterations of the Doctor to unravel. Hopley throws quite a bit, including a metaphorical kitchen sink, into this story.

The release has some pretty fun elements to it. Culshaw is a fantastic narrator as well even when he isn’t slipping into the vocal impressions of the two Doctors featured in this story. His enthusiasm for the franchise and Big Finish is infectious and really helps out when listening to even the more average of stories. Big Finish always does well with the sound effects, and this one is no exception.

Hopley is a competent writer, and she had some interesting ideas, however the story here sometimes felt bloated with so many villains and different versions of the same characters running around. The basic idea is intriguing to fans sometimes, but this felt a little too busy at times and bit too challenging to keep everyone straight. Some of the descriptions and events were a little hard to picture in the mind’s eye, which was distracting at times. Fortunately, Culshaw’s performance really makes the experience worth the time.

To be fair, I am not a Doctor Who fan who just relishes multi-Doctor episodes. Big Finish usually handles these stories better than the television producers for the BBC, and this contribution is still better than what we would have gotten onscreen, more than likely. Fans now have an experience with these two particular Doctors, and that’s fine. I just wish I had found a bit more enjoyment out of it.