Tag: tv

Doctor Who Audio Review: The Destiny Of Mondas Revisited

~ Peter Kanelis ~ Leave a comment

Doctor Who: Genesis of the Cybermen is an audio drama from Big Finish Productions that revisits the origins of the Cybermen, a feat accomplished already in a previous release entitled Spare Parts. This story was originally conceived by Gerry Davis and adapted by David K. Barnes. Peter Davison returns yet again to the role of the Fifth Doctor and is accompanied by Janet Fielding as Tegan, Sarah Sutton as Nyssa, and Matthew Waterhouse as Adric. The director is David O’Mahoney. Nicholas Briggs again fires up the voice modulator to portray the Daleks. The remainder of the guest cast is comprised of Michael Abubakar, Nuhazet Diaz Cano, Kelly Price, Colin Tierney, and Evie Ward-Drummond.

The TARDIS has crashed on a world where a king is dying, and one of his sons is trying to save his civilization from a catastrophic shift in the planet’s orbit. The Doctor and his friends offer their help, but he soon realizes that he has arrived on the planet of Mondas at the birth of one of his greatest foes. The Cybermen are about to rise yet again and plan to survive by any means necessary.

This release is one in the range known as The Lost Stories. It was a script that was considered for the television series many moons ago and was ultimately scrapped.

Although this one isn’t bad, I still prefer Spare Parts. Genesis of the Cybermen is still worthy of a purchase and a listen though. The performances of the main cast members remain strong and distinctive. Davison still puts in a compelling performance even is he sounds noticeably older than he did forty years ago. The banter between the main cast is still compelling and amusing at times.

The guest cast is also well-chosen as is usually the case. Colin Tierney in particular has a complex role as the one who is fiercely loyal to this people and creates the Cybermen, one of the most horrific races in Doctor Who lore. It’s a suitably complicated story without going overboard. There are some interesting themes involving family and leadership explored.

The descriptions conveyed of the conversion process to become a Cybermen are as horrific as ever. Genesis of the Cybermen still does better than merely getting the job done as a source of entertainment. More Fifth Doctor is never a bad thing anyway.

Doctor Who Audio Review: The Early Days Of Exile

~ Peter Kanelis ~ Leave a comment

Doctor Who and the Brain Drain is a Doctor Who audio drama from Big Finish Productions with great performances but a bit too long of a running time for the plot. Nicholas Briggs serves as director and co-writer alongside Richard James while Tim Treloar returns as his version of the Third Doctor as originally played by the late Jon Pertwee. Daisy Ashford portrays Liz Shaw, who was originally performed by her mother, Caroline John. John Culshaw once again fills in for the late Nicholas Courtney as Brigadier Alastair Lethbridge-Stewart.

The talented guest cast is comprised of Mark Elstob, Susan Harrison, Rosalyn Lendor, Glen McReady, Callum Pardoe, and Milo Ratter.

This story begins soon after the Doctor is forced to regenerate by the Time Lords and sent to earth in exile where he joins forces with UNIT alongside his old friend, the Brigadier. He has yet to obtain his antique car he had named Bessie. The Master has yet to make his first appearance.

The Doctor, Liz and the Brigadier attend a symposium that introduces a new revolutionary treatment for memory loss and dementia, however there are also peculiar reports of sightings of mythical creatures around the site in Scotland. The Doctor suspects a malevolent alien influence at the heart of the mystery. The supposed miracle cure appears to be anything but. The Doctor disappears, and Liz and the Brigadier have to conduct their own investigations.

There seems to be an enemy who knows the Doctor, but he has yet to meet them.

This was an effort to recreate the seven-part episodes that were prevalent in the program’s seventh season which introduced the Third Doctor. The problem is that even in Doctor Who, those serials can feel a bit of a drag.

Treloar’s version of this Doctor is still quite compelling. Culshaw and Ashford also do well with their roles, which they have taken over from previous actors.

I also liked that the Doctor was absent for a couple of episodes, giving Liz and the Brigadier a chance to shine a bit as they proceed with their search for answers. I enjoyed how the Doctor re-entered the fray toward the climax of the story which seems to draw inspiration from The Hound of the Baskervilles when Sherlock Holmes is also left out of much of that story.

The story’s exploration of dementia is handled with some appropriate sensitivity in spite of the science fiction elements. It does demonstrate the heartache experienced by family members and caregivers of those afflicted effectively without slowing the pace of the story much. Other aspects slow the story down but not that.

There are some flaws that have more to do with the bloated length of the story, but it’s still pretty good. I just wish that Big Finish did more to represent the era without feeling like it needs to copy every aspect. I mean, it’s okay to have shorter stories.

This particular release is pretty good, but I don’t know that it’s the most shining example of the talent available to the company.

I don’t really like to quibble too much about a new Third Doctor adventure from Big Finish. This story is better than what the title would indicate. Pertwee’s era did have a few clunkers when it came to titles, but this is still a more than adequate release in many ways and certainly worth the time it takes for a listen.

Doctor Who Audio Review: A Carriage To Chaos

~ Peter Kanelis ~ Leave a comment

The Lord of Misrule is a Doctor Who audio novel from Big Finish Productions that is kind of an average story that is helped by a masterful narration and performance by the incomparable Jon Culshaw. Paul Morris is the writer and manages to craft a decent if unremarkable tale for the range.

The adventure features the Fourth Doctor, who would have been portrayed by the equally incomparable Tom Baker is this wasn’t an audio novel performed by Culshaw. It takes place starting off in 1901 and also features popular Victorian denizens Professor George Litefoot and Henry Gordon Jago. The Doctor is accompanied by Romana, as portrayed by the late Mary Tamm.

The story in London 1901 where the Doctor and Romana are visiting friends, Jago and Litefoot when they are made aware of people being taken off in a ghostly carriage. Other people with scattered memories appear in their place. It seems the carriage is ferrying people between the years of 1901 and 1801. When Romana and Litefoot are counted among the mystery, the Doctor and Jago pursue them and find themselves in a strange predicament with an alien influence at the heart of it. Also, an aristocrat wants to usher in an age of chaos and is wanting to be the one to choose the Lord of Misrule. The Doctor has his hands full with trying to find his missing friends, locate the alien influence that takes resides in the minds of unsuspecting humans, and trying to keep the fabric of society intact.

I usually don’t mind a lengthier Doctor Who story, but this one felt a little slower than usual. I also think that Jago and Litefoot run the risk of being overused by the writers.

The upside is Jon Culshaw is a masterful narrator. He has been doing impressions of Tom Baker for years and is the likely solution once Baker is no longer able to perform since he is now in his 90’s. He also really nailed the distinctive vocal range of the recently deceased Christopher Benjamin, who originally portrayed bombastic theater manager, Henry Gordon Jago. Unfortunately, he has a much harder time imitating Mary Tamm, but that is quite forgivable for obvious reasons. Culshaw’s enthusiasm for relating the story is infectious without feeling overacted.

The production of this release is first rate, but I had some trouble staying engaged with the actual story. It seems that Paul Morris has yet to be counted among one of my favorite Doctor Who contributors.

Still, it’s a release that doesn’t need to be ignored. I will likely revisit this one since it really isn’t a terrible effort. Culshaw’s performance really saves this one from a more pronounced rejection.

Doctor Who Audio Review: Fifty Years Of The Fourth

~ Peter Kanelis ~ Leave a comment

The Curse of Time is a Doctor Who audio drama from Big Finish Productions and is a special effort to commemorate fifty years of Tom Baker as the Fourth Doctor. Jonathan Morris writes a pretty good script, which is directed by Helen Goldwyn. Baker is joined by Sadie Miller as Sarah Jane Smith and Christopher Naylor as Harry Sullivan. The guest cast is comprised of Rosemary Ashe, Scarlett Courtney, Angus Dunican, Andrew French, George Naylor, and Terence Wilton.

While answering a summons back to Earth, The TARDIS is pulled through the time vortex into what is thought to be medieval times but is in reality in the far future after humans had fled solar flares that threatened the planet. They have returned, but they are dark secrets awaiting them as well These are the descendants of the humans from a certain Ark in Space. The Doctor and his friends have become legends, but a secret enemy is lurking in the caves, and he needs some help from the Time Lord and is not just going to ask for it.

An aspect of this story that I liked is that Morris doesn’t lean on the trope of bringing an old adversary out to face the Doctor. The story is a sequel to some of those in nineteenth season, however the plot is pretty original. It does a decent job of celebrating the Tom Baker era.

Sadie Miller is really sounding more and more like her mother, Elisabeth Sladen, who originally played Sarah Jane. Naylor is also pretty close to sounding like Ian Marter, who played Harry Sullivan in the television series. Tom Baker sounds pretty well and is as enthusiastic as ever, but I am starting pick up his nearly nine decades in his voice.

The episode isn’t spectacular, but it’s still pretty good. Even if it touches on some earlier stories in the television era, there is enough originality in the plot to feel like an unnecessary sequel.

This felt like a pretty good way to celebrate fifty years of the Fourth Doctor. Big Finish Productions avoided some of the usual trappings of such a milestone and gave its audience something more creative and unexpected in making this almost an ordinary Fourth Doctor romp.

Doctor Who Audio Review: A Celebration Of The Sixth Doctor

~ Peter Kanelis ~ Leave a comment
Doctor Who: The Sixth Doctor Adventures: The Quin Dilemma

Big Finish Productions releases an enjoyable Doctor Who audio boxset celebrating forty years of Colin Baker as the Doctor’s sixth incarnation. The Quin Dilemma contains six interlinked stories written by three authors and directed by Samuel Clemens. Bonnie Langford and Nicola Bryant reprise their roles of Melanie Bush and Peri, respectively. Miranda Raison and Lisa Greenwood return as Constance Clarke and Flip Ramon, a pair of companions created by Big Finish. Phil Labey accompanies the Doctor as a certain Herbert George Wells in one of the stories.

The Exaltation by Jacquelin Raynor kicks off the set and has the Doctor and Mel on the planet Arunopel where the Time Lord is checking out a temporal anomaly. The king is about to step down, but he is uncertain as to which of his five sons is going to inherit the throne. The king believes the Doctor responsible for the disappearance of his wife many years ago and sets his sons out to find him in various points in his timeline.

Chris Chapman picks up the story with Escape from Holy Island where the Doctor, Peri, and a young HG Wells are visiting an island in the year 739 on the eve of a Viking invasion, however the raiders that are coming may be something else.

It’s a pretty good continuation, and the idea of HG Wells being in the TARDIS beyond the one television adventure Timelash is a fun if rather predictable idea.

Robert Valentine brings in a two-part story featuring the Doctor now traveling with Mrs. Clarke and Flip Ramon on a planet in the midst of a civil war, and Sontarans interfering. Sibling Rivalry and Children of the Revolution are the titles of these two episodes. Also, the Doctor has to contend with potential kidnappers in the shape of two of the quintuplet princes on the hunt for him.

Chris Chapman returns to the story roster with The Thousand Year Thaw in which the Doctor and Peri encounter another of the Quin princes, a pleasant walk turns into another familiar fight for survival.’

This story is pretty notable because there is a very charming and enlightening scene in which the Doctor and Peri reflect on their friendship and recall the Doctor’s rather manic reaction to his regeneration. I always thought this Doctor’s introduction was one of the clumsiest introductions in the series. In The Twin Dilemma, the Doctor nearly throttles Peri to death in a fit of mania induced by the trauma of his transformation. Chapman comes up with a pretty plausible explanation as to why Peri decided to continue her travels with the Doctor after that horrendous episode. It was a great scene, and Baker and Bryant perform it masterfully.

Finally, we get the amusing pleasure of watching several versions of the Sixth Doctor interact with each other in Rayner’s The Firstborn. The various companions also meet up to find the answers to this potential paradoxical catastrophe.

Somehow the idea of four different versions of the same Doctor meeting up seems like it wouldn’t work on audio, but it comes off pretty well without as much expected confusion. Colin Baker sounds fantastic throughout this set.

Some stories are a little better than others, and I was rather pleased that some of the seemingly inexplicable choices that Peri made in the television series were addressed.

Jonnie Broadbent is the actor portraying the Quin brothers and does a pretty good job at vocally differentiating between the characters.

I have had mixed feelings about the Sixth Doctor before Big Finish rehabilitated him with much better writing that fleshed out the more appealing sides of his personality. Although much of his familiar brashness was kept, he also displayed far more moments of compassion and cleverness than in the television series.

There is a bit of muddling in the plot, but the performances and intended celebration of this Doctor makes it tolerable. Besides, Doctor Who is a bit of a muddle anyway.

The Quin Dilemma is a set that shouldn’t be passed over. May Colin still have many more years with Big Finish as well.

Doctor Who Audio Review: Doctors, Daleks, And Temporal Leakage

~ Peter Kanelis ~ Leave a comment

The Four Doctors is a Doctor Who audio drama from Big Finish Productions and is a pretty decent multi-Doctor episode, although there have been better. It is written by Peter Anghelides and directed by Nicholas Briggs and Ken Bentley. Peter Davison, Colin Baker, Sylvester McCoy, and Paul McGann all star as the Doctor. Nicholas Briggs also returns to voice the Daleks. The other members of the guest cast are David Bamber, Ellie Burrow, Nogel Lambert, andAlex Mallinson.

There is a vault with a dangerous secret, and the Fifth Doctor has discovered something called temporal leakage at this station run by biomechanoids known as the Jariden. A Dalek attack force is on the way, and a Jariden finds himself swept up in the Doctor’s timeline where he encounters several different versions of the Time Lord.

There are some interesting directions this story takes that differ from other multi-Doctor stories. The Doctors don’t really spend much time together other than kind of a tacked on final scene, which I am sorry to give that much of a spoiler. Most of the story deals with this Jariden military officer who is accompanied by a wrecked Special Weapons Dalek and pursued by the Dalek Prime. He encounters the Doctor in different incarnations as he gets swept up by some breaches in Time.

The main plot idea is solid enough, and the performances are more than acceptable. I guess I was a little let down that Anghelides felt the need to have the Doctors interact with each other without actually working together to solve a crisis. I just believe that one must have a multi-Doctor adventure, let him argue with himself and deal with the threat. If Anghelides wanted to have the Doctor work on some piece of the problem from various points in his timeline, that would be just fine because it would be something not really experienced by the audience all that much.

Doctor Who has a lot of silliness imbedded into its DNA anyway, but generally the multi-Doctor episodes tended to stretch that absurdity to the limit. They just are not usually written that well. Big Finish does do a better job with this type of episode than the television series could manage

Still, most of the major elements in this episode work quite well. Even if I feel the Daleks are a little overused, I didn’t mind their appearance here. The Doctors were still great. The main story had some creativity, and there were even a few profound moments that were kind of moving.

Even if I would have preferred a different final scene, it’s still an enjoyable episode on the whole.

Doctor Who Audio Review: The Time Lord And The Ghost Hunter

~ Peter Kanelis ~ Leave a comment

The Seventh Doctor shares a trilogy of audio adventures with an investigator of the supernatural known as Thomas Carnacki in the set entitled Doctor Who: The Doctor and Carnacki. Sylvester McCoy makes a welcome return to Big Finish Productions studio in a trio of macabre episodes. Joe Jameson and Dan Starkey share the role of Carnacki, who is presented in various stages of his lifetime. Samuel Clemens.is the director of this release.

Thomas Carnacki is the fictional creation of William Hope Hodgson, who was killed in 1918 during World War I. Carnacki is probably better known among the more dedicated readers of supernatural fiction. As mentioned before, there are three stories to discuss, so I will get on with it.

The Haunter of the Shore by AK Benedict starts this series off. Joe Jameson plays the younger version of Carnacki with Caitlin Joseph and Shogo Miyakita also lending their vocal talents.

Carnacki is called in to investigate the appearance of skeletons on a lakeshore near an estate inhabited by a recent widow and possibly strange spirits lurking in the shadows. A hermit is also discovered. He has a distinctive Scottish accent and surprising ideas about Time and where the spirits may originate. The Doctor and Carnacki meet for the first time.

Benedict gives the listener a pretty good start to this collection. McCoy still sounds great. Age has had little effect on McCoy’s vocal abilities and performance so far. It’s a pretty solid haunted house story; however, the Doctor discovers a more extraterrestrial origin to the troubles. There’s nothing too spectacular in this one, but it’s pretty good. The performances hold up, and now that I have read up a little on Carnacki, it’s a pretty good idea to have the Time Lord meet this guy.

The House by Georgia Cook has a rather unimaginative title, but the story itself is quite a bit better that it would suggest. Harry Hart plays a friend of Carnacki’s named Arkwright, who is haunted by a house in a most unusual way. His affliction goes back to his and Carnacki’s childhood, and the Doctor has arrived to help find the answers.

Starkey has taken over the role as an older Carnacki and is just as solid a performer as ever. It’s a unique take on a haunted house story since Arkwright is becoming the house or something.

Anyway, it’s a pretty good contribution to the set

Finally, Jonathan Barnes concludes this set with The Institute of Lost Souls. Rebecca Crinnion, Ewan Thomson, and Alan Cox are included in the guest cast with Dan Starkey continuing on as Carnacki.

Carnacki has a story to tell about a refuge for wounded soldiers that comes under attack by strange and savage creatures. The Doctor arrives again, but he is burdened with a terrible secret regarding Canacki’s fate.

The collection is quite enjoyable, largely because I appreciate a good ghost story even if there is an alien malevolence involved. Starkey is always a treat when he performs. He also is a compelling narrator. The last story is framed with a scene of Carnacki recounting his latest encounter with the Doctor to a group of close friends, which apparently was a common literary device used by Hodgson.

There is some real imagination at work in all three of the writers. McCoy remains in top form as the Doctor. The sound effects are great.

I appreciated the introduction to a fictional character of whom I know so little. The Seventh Doctor is a good foil for Carnacki, but I suspect I would have enjoyed it regardless of the Doctor’s incarnation.

Anyway, it’s a fun addition to the series and worth the time to sit back and listen.

Doctor Who Audio Review: The War And Fugitive Doctors Clash

~ Peter Kanelis ~ Leave a comment

Big Finish Productions brings the Doctor Who: Once and Future audio saga to a close with Coda: The Final Act which stars Jo Martin and Jonathon Carley as the two secret surprising incarnations of the Doctor. Tim Foley wrote the script which was directed by Ken Bentley. Lisa Bowerman reprises her role as Professor Bernice Summerfield. Chase Masterson returns as the glamorous galactic bounty bunter Vienna Salvatori. Nicholas Khan, Richard Reed, and Imogen Stubbs round out the guest cast.

The War Doctor has little time to recover from the effects of a degeneration weapon that had him flitting between prior incarnations when he has to rejoin the fray known as the Time War. A mysterious stranger in a TARDIS attempts to intercept him, but the woman at the helm is a fugitive from a time in the Doctor’s life that he cannot remember. The War Doctor is gathering some unexpected allies, and an old friend is caught in the crossfire as well.

First of all, I am not one of the fans who was overly enthusiastic about the creation of the iteration known as the Fugitive Doctor who first appeared on the television series during Jodie Whittaker’s era. This audio episode hasn’t really changed my mind all that much. Jo Martin in that role is not the problem. I am just one of those old school fans who had no problem accepting that William Hartnell played the First Doctor, and no prior incarnations needed to be invented for the sake of racial diversity or whatever. I know the television producers spin this rather differently, but I believe then to be rather disingenuous.

Saying that, it’s not a bad episode, although it feels somewhat just tacked on. Martin is a talented performer, but I just don’t find her version of the Doctor all that interesting. I have come to enjoy the War Doctor series, although I was a little exasperated with this idea of a sudden secret incarnation of the Doctor which seemed to like just ab excuse to have John Hurt in the role. Carley does a masterful impression of Hurt, and the War Doctor series is actually rather compelling. Maybe I need to give the upcoming Fugitive Doctor a chance before I write her off completely.

Anyway, it was rather interesting when Carley and Martin do get together. There are some amusing moments whenever the pair finally figure out how they are being manipulated by some mysterious opponent.

Even if I am not too keen on some paths the television producers have chosen to take, Big Finish does manage to take the ball, run with it, and come up with a pretty good episode. Any time Bowerman is involved does guarantee a few laughs as well.

Anyway, I am glad that I got to hear the conclusion of this saga despite my reservations, and Foley is a decent and imaginative writer and definitely needs to stay on with Big Finish as a regular contributor. I may even be curious to give the Fugitive Doctor a more serious try when more of her stories are released, but that’s still in up in the air.

This release didn’t really fire me up with unrelenting enthusiasm, but neither did it really bother me as much as I feared.

Doctor Who Audio Review: Escaping From Beyond

~ Peter Kanelis ~ Leave a comment

The Great Beyond is a Doctor Who audio drama from Big Finish Productions that is pretty interesting if a little confusing at times. The script is written by James Kettle and directed by Ken Bentley. Peter Davison returns as the Fifth Doctor and is joined by Janet Fielding, Sarah Sutton, and Matthew Waterhouse as Tegan, Nyssa, and Adric, respectively. It’s a pretty long story this time, so the guest cast is relatively lengthy and is comprised of Anna Crichlow, John Hopkins, Philip Hurd-Wood, Maggie Service, Paksie Vernon, and Andrew Wincott.

The Doctor and his companions encounter a sentient prison on a distant planet that changes and involves and moves over the surface. Tegan starts off trying to locate the Time Lord and her other two friends, however they have no memory of her when she catches up with them. The prison itself is not the worst of the threats that the Doctor has to overcome. He also has may have to sacrifice his freedom in order to save his friends and live a life of confinement that he has always fought to avoid.

The idea is pretty ambitious and impressive, but it is difficult to picture some aspects of the story in the mind’s eye sometimes. As usual, the performances are terrific. There seems to be some interest in stretching this incarnation of the Doctor into some creative predicaments, and this effort for the most part is worth the journey.

Kettle starts off in the middle of the adventure, and the audience has to go through some flashback sequences to get the proper context. It’s not a bad way to go here.

Big Finish’s intent is to give the Fifth Doctor a six-episode adventure, which was never done on television. There is a risk of the story dragging a bit, and that sort of happens here but it’s not too bad.

Kettle does manage to display something rather creative and unique in this story, which is hard to pull off considering how vast Doctor Who has become. It was nice to not have to rely on some of the old classic enemies to try to carry this longer than usual story.

Anyway, not every aspect of the story was easy to understand, but it was still worth the time. Big Finish continues to often outshine the television series.

Doctor Who Audio Review: The Cybermen Are Certainly Not Angels

~ Peter Kanelis ~ Leave a comment

The Quintessence is an excellent Doctor Who audio drama from Big Finish Productions and features the Third Doctor and Jo Jones. Nicholas Briggs directs this episode which is written by Stewart Pringle and Lauren Mooney. Nicholas Briggs provides the voice as the Cybermen, as usual. The rest of the guest cast is comprised of Chris Larkin, Felicity Cant, Emily Joyce, and Gary Turner.

Tim Treloar resumes his role of the Third Doctor with his steadily improving impression of the late Jon Pertwee’s performance. Katy Manning plays a much older Jo Grant, who is now Jo Jones, and has rejoined the Doctor in the TARDIS.

The story begins with a strange dream that Jo is having about a young girl in an isolated manor. She receives a set of coordinates and convinces the Doctor to check it out. They find the estate in the midst of a storm raging across a desolate planet known as Nethara Reach. They find that it is occupied by a couple with a sickly daughter who believe they have been communicating with angels. It doesn’t take long for the Doctor to recognize these supposed angels as one his most ruthless adversaries. The Cybermen have targeted the daughter for a horrifying purpose. The Doctor and Jo will have to embark on a rescue mission to save a family from a terrifying transformation.

The Daleks are apparently the most popular villains in the franchise, but my heart still goes with the Cybermen as the more chilling of the Doctor’s foes. The relentless of survival by converting anyone and anything into one of their numbers is effectively chilling…especially without all of the maniacal shrieking the Daleks like to cut loose.

The plot is actually pretty creative even if some old adversaries are brought out of the mothballs. Katy Manning gives one of her stronger performances. She is always good and obviously slips into the role with ease. Treloar is good. I also have to note that Chris Larkin as Arthur Pepperdine undergoes a compelling and convincing character transformation, which was quite wonderfully performed.

This is a six-part story, which has a tendency to drag, however the writers for this serial kept this one pretty interesting throughout. Nicholas Briggs handles the directing with his usual precision and skill as he voices the emotionless, unrelenting Cybermen.

Big Finish is reliably solid when it comes to casting and story ideas, however this particular release ended up surprising me with stronger than usual performances and a pretty fascinating use of common scenes and soundscapes. This story would be an unusual fit for the Pertwee era, however it’s a welcome departure and stretch of creative muscles.

The Quintessence is probably one of the top releases for the year, which is saying something since Big Finish is so consistent with the care and attention they put into these releases.