Doctor Who and The Horror of Glam Rock

‘The Horror of Glam Rock’

Written by Paul Magrs, directed by Barnaby Edwards
Story 1.03
Transmitted 14 January 2007

The Doctor is anxious to be rid of his unwelcome traveling companion, Lucie Miller. This leads the TARDIS to a motorway diner outside London 1974. The soon-to-be-famous brother and sister duo The Tomorrow Twins, find themselves stuck on their way to celebrity status on Top of the Pops, and a menace from beyond the stars is hunting them, killing any that get in its path. The Doctor is bemused and intrigued by the Stylophone Tommy Tomorrow obsessively plays in his lament to the cosmic creatures of his imagination, but Lucie is more interested in the counter worker Pat, whom she knows better as her aunt in the near future.

The Horror of Glam Rock is a love/hate story that once more utilizes the strengths of the Graham Williams era of the TV program; absurdity, humor and drama. Paul Magrs, who previously composed new adventures for Tom Baker’s Doctor on BBC Audio in addition to working on the Iris Wildthyme adventures and many more, brings a rich character to the Eighth Doctor that (in my opinion) had been lacking after his first audio series. I am a fan of Magrs signature style and of Bowie, T Rex and Roxy Music, so The Horror of Glam Rock is perfection for my ears. The long-haired and velvet-jacketed Doctor also fits right into the era. Even the manager of the Tomorrow Twins, Arnold Korns (a reference to Bowie’s pre-Ziggy persona) takes the Doctor as a rival glam rocker.

Once more the audio series echoes the BBC Wales TV series by placing the focus on the companion and having her meet her family in the past. Amusingly, there is no universe-shaking contradiction at stake if Pat believes her future niece. The story shrugs off the significance yet it retains a kind of touching humanity as Lucie mistakenly states her aunt is no one in the future… just Auntie Pat. In spite of this, Pat, formerly drummer for Methylated Spirits, proves Lucie wrong by showing she may not be an integral cog in the matters of the universe, but that doesn’t stop her from being a brave, resourceful and wonderful person.

The story is a rather standard ‘base under siege’ affair as the Doctor, twins and the rest attempt to not only survive the attack from the monsters outside but also unravel their mystery, but often the simpler plot ideas are the best as they leave room for character development and strong dialog. Luckily this story has both qualities in healthy doses. The guest cast are entertaining with Bernard Cribbins as Korns especially full of great moments. I also quite liked the solution involving the Stylophone (since I am a fan of the instrument and it ties into the music-heavy subject matter) and the revelation of ‘the Only Ones’ as being desperate under-handed aliens looking for a quick meal. The Only Ones exist in two versions, a base monstrous creature and an ethereal one that appeals to Tommy’s sensibilities. Using the music of the Stylophone, the Only Ones seek to merge the two and become whole then feast of the teenage fans of the Tomorrow Twins.

It’s a crass notion, but it works, especially given the theme of glam itself that is both visceral and cosmic. Magrs really penned a winner here and it is so weird that it becomes instantly iconic of this new Eighth Doctor era. After so much drudgery in the Divergent Universe adventures, it is delightful to see so much variety in this series once more.

When he arrived, Paul McGann was welcomed by all as the ideal man for the job as a new generation’s Doctor Who. His reign was of course cut short and even though comics and novels took up the mantle, he has found new life in the audio format. This revival of the Eighth Doctor is great fun, so much so that you can almost see it in the mind’s eye as a televised reality.

Doctor Who and Horror of Glam Rock can be ordered from The Book Depository with free shipping worldwide by clicking on the link below:

Doctor Who Big Finish- Zagreus

Zagreus

Story 050
By Alan Barnes and Gary Russell
Release date: November 2003
“That has to be the biggest load of old rubbish I’ve ever heard in all my lives.”

The Doctor has defeated Rassilon, the architect of Gallifreyan society, in his attempt to destroy the world that he helped make. He has also repelled the sentient forces of ‘anti-time’ as they threatened the entire universe. He also saved the life of his friend Charley, who could have been killed by Rassilon, the anti-time energy or the Gallifreyan Supreme Council as she was the living conduit through which destruction operated. The Doctor and Charley also expressed their love for each other which prevented the Doctor from sacrificing Charley. He did all of this, but at a price. Infected with anti-time, he vowed to depart from the universe he knew and never return. He asked Romana to take Charley back to Earth, to her home just before she was meant to die, and he left in his TARDIS, an exile.

Unknown to the Doctor, Charley had found a secret entrance to the TARDIS (with Leela’s help) and stowed away. But when she announced herself, it was revealed that the Doctor’s infection had transformed him into something else, the mythical force of evil known by the Time Lords as Zagreus. The Doctor was mad and determined to spread havoc throughout reality… if his best friend failed to stop him.

That may sound like a great story but… it’s the first two minutes of this three disc adventure. The remainder is absolutely absurd (and not in a good way). Assisted by the TARDIS, Charley is sent on a series of adventures throughout time and space, bearing witness to instances when anti-time threatened to break through into the positive reality. Playing the voice of the TARDIS is Nicholas Courtney, a lovely addition that brings a sense of comfort to the tale. However, that tinkly ‘magical moment’ music precedes nearly every line he has making what should be touching saccharine sweet.

The TARDIS also attempts to straighten the Doctor out by putting him in contact with his previous self, represented by sound bites of the late Jon Pertwee. This could very well be the worst of all the horrible ideas in this story. Pertwee’s dialog is barely audible and nonsensical. Never for a moment are you unaware that this is found audio material squeezed into the production.

The Doctor spends almost all of the three discs literally talking to himself and attempting to converse with entities that won’t reply. This means that McGann, who had just wrapped up an impressive run of adventures that endeared him to a fan base that finally had their 8th Doctor, was reduced to screaming ‘I am Zagreus!’ ‘Cat???!! CAT!!!??’ or ‘Ship!!! SHIP???!!’ over and over. It’s painful to witness.

Additionally, the adventure of Zagreus is mainly a psychedelic trip that gets more implausible as it progresses. The cast consists of nearly every voice actor who had featured in a Big Finish production for the Doctor Who series, all playing bizarre characters. This is the only saving grace of the entire incredibly long story. Nicola Bryant plays a thigh-slapping mad scientist, Peter Davison plays a religiously conflicted experimental genius, Maggie Stables plays a crazy high priestess of the Sacred Flame and Sylvester McCoy plays some kind of weird Walt Disney-type creator, alone on a planet populated by his creations who are engaging in a centuries long war in his name.

All that said, it makes absolutely no sense. After the Doctor engages on several soul-searching quests and Charley travels from 20th Century Earth to ancient Gallifrey and finally to the middle of a cartoon animal global war, the TARDIS is revealed to be the real enemy. Not only that, it pisses and moans about the Doctor’s many female traveling companions leaving their dirty pants in the hallways.

That really happens. Is it worse than the Doctor’s Wife? No… but after being given such a humanized representation of the TARDIS, it’s painful to hear it talk about women’s underwear.

In addition the incredibly impressive performances, there are some other bright spots. The first story about the exploration into the rift in anti-time is almost interesting but the middle story about ancient Gallifrey is actually incredibly interesting. If Gary Russell and Alan Barnes had jettisoned the other two ideas and stuck with this, the only one that made any real sense, Zagreus might work. In this part, Charley finds herself in Rassilon’s laboratory as it is invaded by one of the Great Vampires and a Holy Mother of the Sisterhood of Karn.

Loads of information is dropped about regarding Rassilon’s creation of another race called the Divergence, a powerful threat that could eclipse the Time Lords given the chance. The Great Vampires and the Sisterhood of Karn are eager to humble Rassilon by destroying his foundry but end up getting caught in its auto destruction. In the ensuing confusion, Charley witnesses anti-time slipping through, represented by a tribal war cry.

The debacle reaches a nadir of badness when the Doctor ‘dies’ and meets his previous selves (well, Peter Davison, Colin Baker and Sylvester McCoy) who bicker like old women about their lives and how they died. Then the Doctor somehow returns to life. Realizing he was manipulated by Rassilon to become  Zagreus and destroy the Divergence, the Doctor and refused to play along and cast Rassilon into the pocket universe where he had hidden the Divergence.

The day is saved and the Doctor is with Charley again, but they are in a different universe where time and space do not flow in the same way that the Doctor is familiar with. New and truly alien threats face the pair in this alternate reality, but they will face them together.

I should note that I had to listen to this story three times (not in a row) to feel comfortable reviewing it. I think I deserve an award… or therapy. Whichever.

A bloated product overcome with terrible dialog (Krotons, Yeti and Drashigs? Oh My! Not Drashigs! Anything but Drashigs!) and worse ideas (the Doctor having an actual conversation with himself that amounts to an empty experience in fannish continuity references), Zagreus is the point when many fans of the Big Finish line jumped ship and never came back. I can truly understand why as this was a celebratory anniversary story that was hoisted on a large body of previous work. Not only is it badly made, it feels crass and in bad taste at times (the McCoy character repeatedly tries to force himself om Charley). It makes The Five Doctors look like The Third Man in comparison.

I can say from an informed position that this is not the end of Big Finish’s high quality output, just an unfortunate mis-step. A really unfortunate one.

If you feel the need to be a completest, Zagreus can be purchased from Big Finish and from local retailers such as Mike’s Comics.

Celebrate the Eighth Doctor Who this month!

Romantic and dashing, the passionate and alien Eighth incarnation of Doctor Who only appeared on screen once in a story that may not even ‘count’ for fans or for the casual viewer who missed it. However, it introduced one of the more extravagant and interesting versions of the Time Lord to date.

The Eight Doctor was more fully developed in a line of novels and comic strips but when McGann himself returned to the part in the Big Finish line of audio stories, it felt like he had finally arrived. Even after several series of audio stories, McGann remains the Doctor with the most untapped potential and luckily he is still at work furthering the legacy of the time-tossed Bryonic hero.

The Big Finish series of Eighth Doctor stories embodied the wild abandon and fantasy of the Graham Williams/Tom Baker era and added a modern spin that gave depth and character to several concepts and story lines that run through the program’s long history from Morbius to Romana and even the Krynoid.

This month has been something of a celebration of the Eighth Doctor as Big Finish has promoted bargain priced packages of all four of his current series. There’s also this nifty sculpture that can sit at your desk so co-workers can ask who that is and you can tell them the long convoluted story of the 1996 TV Movie… and then direct them to Big Finish to listen to Storm Warning and watch them get hooked.

Eight Doctor maxi-bust – Click to order from Forbidden Planet

Titan Merchandise are proud to announce the latest item in their limited edition, high-quality Doctor Who Masterpiece Collection!

This beautifully-sculpted 8″ maxi-bust of Paul McGann’s unique incarnation of the ever-regenerating Time Lord captures the every detail of his performance as the adventurous and romantic Eighth Doctor!
Paul McGann starred in the 1996 BBC/Fox Network TV movie (and many subsequent Big Finish audio adventures) as perhaps the most individual and certainly the most outwardly-romantic incarnation of The Doctor! The Eighth Doctor and his frockcoat, waistcoat, cravat & signature timepiece is brought to life in this intricately-detailed three-quarter length sculpt standing 8″ tall.

For more info on upcoming Doctor Who memorobilia, bookmark Doctor Who Site

In addition to a spiffy maxi-bust, the folks at Big Finish are running a special sale, the ideal way to prepare for Paul McGann’s impending new series of audio adventures.

Fans can choose from individual stories via download or CD, or just buy the entire cataclysmic fourth season as the Doctor and Lucie Miller travel through time and space.

The Ice Warriors, Daleks and even the Doctor’s granddaughter Susan are featured in this highly acclaimed season. Need to catch up? This is the perfect opportunity!

4.01 Doctor Who: Death in Blackpool by Alan Barnes
Lucie Miller always loved Christmas back home in Blackpool. Her Mam running a still-frozen turkey under the hot tap at ten. Great-Grandma Miller half-cut on cooking sherry by eleven. Her Dad and her uncle arguing hammer and tongs about who was the best James Bond all through dinner. And in the afternoon, Aunty Pat, haring up to the house on the back of a moped weighed down with ridiculous presents. Christmas 2009 didn’t turn out like that. Christmas 2009, the Doctor turned up…
4.02 Doctor Who: Situation Vacant by Eddie Robson
TRAVELLER IN TIME AND SPACE seeks male or female companion with good sense of humour for adventures in the Fourth and Fifth Dimensions. No experience necessary. No time wasters, no space wasters please.
4.03 Doctor Who: Nevermore by Alan Barnes
A bizarre manifestation in the Control Room forces the TARDIS onto the Plutonian shores of the irradiated world Nevermore, whose sole inhabitant is the war criminal Morella Wendigo – a prisoner of this devastated planet. But the Doctor and his new companion aren’t Morella’s only visitors. Senior Prosecutor Uglosi fears the arrival of an assassin, after the blood of his prize prisoner. An assassin with claws…
4.04 Doctor Who: The Book of Kells by Barnaby Edwards
‘Anyone who’s prepared to kill for a book interests me.’ Ireland, 1006. Strange things have been happening at the isolated Abbey of Kells: disembodied voices, unexplained disappearances, sudden death. The monks whisper of imps and demons. Could the Lord of the Dead himself be stalking these hallowed cloisters? The Doctor and his companion find themselves in the midst of a medieval mystery.
4.05 Doctor Who: Deimos by Jonathan Morris
Millions of years ago, the noble Ice Warriors fled to Deimos, moon of Mars, hoping to sit out the radioactive death throes of their home planet. When the TARDIS lands on Deimos, the Doctor discovers that the Warriors’ ancient catacombs are now a popular stop for space tourists. But the Martian dynasties are more than history, and the Warriors are far from extinct. It’s not for nothing that ‘Deimos’ is the ancient word for ‘dread’
4.06 Doctor Who: The Resurrection of Mars by Jonathan Morris
Deimos, moon of Mars – where Lord Slaadek’s plans to revive the ancient Ice Warrior civilisation hang by a thread. Only the Doctor can stop him… but an old enemy, hiding in the catacombs, has an alternative plan. A plan that will test the Doctor’s heroism to its limits. Just how far will the Doctor go to prevent the destruction and resurrection of Mars – on a day when his friends become enemies, and his enemies have right on their side?
4.07 Doctor Who: Relative Dimensions by Marc Platt
Christmas is a time for family, they say – which is why the Doctor has invited his grand-daughter Susan, and great-grandson Alex for Christmas dinner in his time and space machine. But who, or what, is the spectre at their yuletide feast? Venturing deep into the dark heart of the TARDIS, Susan uncovers her past, Alex is told his future – and the Doctor finds himself caught in a deadly dangerous present!
4.08 Doctor Who: Prisoner of the Sun by Eddie Robson
Six years after being captured by the galaxy-spanning organisation known only as The Consensus, the Doctor lives inside a hi-tech complex at the heart of an unstable sun, condemned to an eternity maintaining its systems. But rebel eyes have their eyes on the sun, and its lonely controller – and are prepared to risk even a galactic cataclysm to secure the Doctor’s release…
4.09 Doctor Who: Lucie Miller by Nicholas Briggs
Lucie Miller needs the Doctor’s help. The whole planet Earth needs his help. But he is nowhere to be seen. While Lucie struggles to survive a terrible sickness, an even greater threat to the human race is about to be unleashed. And this will be the second Dalek invasion of Earth the Doctor’s grand-daughter has had to endure.
4.10 Doctor Who: To the Death by Nicholas Briggs
After a last, futile fight-back against the Daleks, Lucie, Susan and Alex are heading home to England in the desperate hope of saving the Doctor’s life. But the true, terrible nature of the Daleks’ plan is beginning to emerge and the Monk has blood on his hands. To defeat the Daleks, it can only be a struggle… to the death.

Peruse the entire range of Eight Doctor adventures here.

Doctor Who Big Finish- Time of the Daleks (Dalek Empire IV)

Time of the Daleks

“Think of your worst nightmare. Think of the most repellent, disgusting thing you can imagine. Think of pure evil made malignant flesh.”

“And that’s what it’s like?”

“No… it’s a thousand times worse.”

Story 32
Written by Justin Richards
Released May 2002

The final part of the inter-linking audio adventures tied to the Dalek Empire (consisting of The Genocide Machine, the Apocalypse Element and The Mutant Phase), Time of the Daleks reveals the devastating intention behind the various components of the Dalek’s temporal extinction device. Opening with a rather ominous sequence in which their experiment goes wrong, a Dalek fleet faces death and quotes Shakespeare in the same moment. THAT is the proper way to begin one of the weirdest Dalek stories I have read/seen/heard yet.

In the TARDIS, the Doctor discovers that his companion Charley has no knowledge of Shakespeare, but can easily roll off the names of his contemporaries such as Johnson and Marlowe. He recalls that upon their visit to Earth’s past, Orson Welles also had no memory of Shakespeare despite the fact that he had made films based on the bard’s work. Something is seriously wrong and the Doctor is determined to get to the root of the problem. He finds that there is a trail of temporal distortion running from Shakespeare’s period to the far future.

Traveling to one of the Earth Empire’s dictatorial periods, the Doctor and Charley pass themselves off as expected specialists and meet General Mariah Learman, a woman who refuses to relinquish control over her people and freely quotes Shakespeare, seemingly passing the prose off as her own thoughts. Her experiments in time have born strange fruit, yet she refuses to acknowledge that they have anything to do with the anomaly that the Doctor has tracked to her doorstep. Using a complex array of mirrors and clocks, Learman’s chief scientist Professor Osric admits that it would never work without the assistance of their benefactors, the Daleks.

Realizing that his most hated foes are scheming something so dangerous that it threatens the stability of time itself, the Doctor surprisingly puts on a winsome grin and strikes against their anxious cries of death with chirpy witticisms. It is one of the Eighth Doctor’s finest hours and also confirms for me where the Big Finish production team were taking this era. The mixture of comedy and violence so popular during the middle period of Tom Baker’s time is revived through a modern lens with the dapper and charming eighth face of the time traveling champion and it works so well that (like many others) I am crestfallen that we never got to see it on screen.

Time of the Daleks borrows from and pays homage to classic Doctor Who stories, reproducing key moments from Evil of the Daleks (such as Osric eluding to a mysterious benefactor and the Dalek entering the room to the Doctor’s dismay), Dalek Invasion of Earth and Day of the Daleks but it never really seems forced. This is more of a celebration through story than a contrived trip down memory lane.

Despite the Doctor’s insistence that the Daleks are evil, neither Learman nor Osric listen (referencing a similar moment in Power of the Daleks), as the Daleks claim to be scholars. The Daleks and Osric are working together to solve the crisis over the loss of Shakespeare, something that the Doctor finds hard to believe. Nicholas Briggs’ delivery of the line ‘The Daleks venerate Shakespeare’ is both hilarious and kind of chilling, furthering the absurdity of this adventure.

When the Doctor proves too troublesome to remain free, he is placed in a prison cell. Using his brilliant mind, the Doctor is able to deduce how the mirrors work as a method of time travel and reproduces the technique with some ‘odds and ends’ he nicked from the lab. Thus begins a weird chase through various periods of time and space through mirrors that connect like a spider’s web through the fabric of the temporal vortex (possibly an allusion to The Chase).

Time of the Daleks is not generally regarded well by fans and I can see why. It’s almost flippant sense of humor, overly complicated plot (time begins to splinter and heal, producing alternate versions of the truth) and the Doctor himself is at his maddest (Smith take note) as he seems to actually enjoy himself despite the gravity of the situation. He even refuses to take the Temporal Extinction Device seriously as its acronym is TED. However, I really like this one. Whereas the other three installments of this loosely connected plot are very serious and grim, this one is a horse of a different color yet the Daleks retain a certain dignity and do not fall victim to the absurdity (as they no doubt would should BBC Wales attempt something similar).

I was also impressed by the way in which Time of the Daleks touched upon previous stories (such as Invaders from Mars and Seasons of Fear) and also continues the thread of the time paradoxes that seem to be following the Doctor since he saved Charley from the doomed R-101. I have touched on this in my other reviews of the Eighth Doctor adventures, but it is astounding how well Big Finish has woven together this story without jeopardizing the integrity of each tale along the way (Moffat… you’re on notice.)

On a final note, I will never tire of listening to the Daleks on these Big Finish audios. When I first approached this series I thought that just listening to Daleks screech for an hour and a half would be impossible, but vocal master Briggs makes it gripping drama. The Daleks in these stories are also at their most cunning and devilish, a quality that had not been seen since at least the Troughton era. The Daleks in these stories affirm the threat and power that the dreaded pepper pots once had. It’s disheartening as the monsters return to the screen lately has been more groan inducing than exciting. But these stories bring back the experience when viewers were excited to see the Doctor’s most feared enemy return once more. This is aided by the superb and haunting music score and of course the script.

The Eighth Doctor may have only appeared on screen once, but his continued run in these audios is head and shoulders above much of the new program (though I have been told that after Neverland the quality drops considerably… which is why I am reviewing his stories so slowly). If you are unfamiliar with this era, I highly recommend checking it out.

Doctor Who – Time of the Daleks is available from local retailers and can be ordered directly from Big Finish.

Also recommended:

Dr. Who: The Eighth Doctor Collection, Vol. 1

Doctor Who - The Glorious Dead

Blood of the Daleks, Part 1

Doctor Who - Earth and Beyond (three stories read by Paul McGann)

Doctor Who Big Finish- The Stones of Venice

The Stones of Venice

“Fanatics never want to get their hands dirty. That’s why they all wear gloves.”

Story 18
Written by Paul Magrs
Released March 2001

The opening ‘season’ of Paul McGann’s Eight Doctor is a mixed affair. The first two adventures are quite good and rapidly establish the romantic and passionate character of the ‘George Lazenby’ of Doctor Who. Storm Warning was a rather traditional story combining the historic with fantastic while the second story re-introduced the Cybermen in a tension-filled story set in deep space. His third outing is an entirely different affair set in the doomed city of Venice on the eve of its destruction. The fourth installment ‘Minuet in Hell’ is where things really fall apart… but I’m saving that for later.

A rather flighty Doctor tries to convince his companion Charlie to enjoy the randomness of their travels, citing that he is determined to turn over a new leaf in his regenerated form. Finding themselves in the beautiful sinking city of Venice, the pair are met by an overly dramatic lady, Miss Lavish, wandering the streets as revelers drunkenly raise a glass to the demise of a once classical monument to romance and beauty. The mysterious Miss Lavish acts as an absurd source of back-story, imbuing the Doctor and Charlie with dread and urgency that only sets the Doctor’s sense of adventure on end.

The Stones of Venice is a strange mixture of Gothic adventure and comedy, much like an adventure from the classic series, ala Graham Williams. It provides McGann ample opportunity to show his acting chops as he dances the role of flippant hero and madcap wanderer, hearkening back to the best days of Tom Baker’s middle era. Forcing himself on the local curator of the Royal Collection, Churchwell, the Doctor is both charming and disarming, both impressing upon the stranger his mysterious knowledge while admitting to being unable to fool anyone at all. Yet as the Doctor learns the dangerous setting that he has landed within, what with the cult of the former Queen Estella searching the streets at night clad in robes and armed with knives, he realizes too late that he has left Charlie in the lap of peril.

The gondolier Pietro is at first quite friendly and eager to answer Charlie’s questions about life in Venice, but soon it becomes apparent that he has a secret plot and Charlie plays a vital role. After drugging Charlie and dressing her up as the missing Estella, lost for a hundred years, Pietro presents her to the Duke Orsino. Between the dreaded cult of Estella and the gondoliers seeking to make a coup against the ruling class, the Doctor and Charlie are in the middle of it. Unfortunately, after all of the parts of the story are established and the atmosphere reduced to canned music and the background chatter of the revelers, The Stones of Venice falls sadly flat. The frenzied cries of anxiety as the gondoliers assault the last remaining plots of dry land are rather silly. I mean, is the ‘monster of the week’ really mermen gondoliers?

I still greatly enjoy and recommend this adventure as it is uniquely witty and charming. It all falls apart 3/4 of the way through, but up until then it is a wonderful love letter to the classic days of Doctor Who complete with over the top villains, weird aliens masquerading as humans and some of the finest quips this side of City of Death.

Doctor Who – The Stones of Venice can be purchased at local retailers such as Mike’s Comics and online from Big Finish.

Read other Big Finish reviews at the Daily P.O.P. here.

Doctor Who Big Finish- Storm Warning

Storm Warning

“You’re a very persuasive fellow- I’d have you on staff… if you weren’t being shot.”

Story 16 Written by Alan Barnes
Released January 2001

The first Big Finish production featuring Paul McGann’s Eighth Doctor, Storm Warning is the initial step in constructing an ambitious legacy. As is well-known, McGann’s Doctor was only featured in the pilot TV Movie co-production in 1996. There are many opinions on this film and its success or failure, but what nearly everyone agrees upon is the inspired casting of Paul McGann as the Doctor. The most handsome and romantically inclined version of the character to date, much of the planned direction of the new Doctor was left on the cutting room floor as the pilot failed to attract a strong enough following in the US (scheduled against the final episode of the popular sitcom Rosanne, this was hardly a surprise). The Eighth Doctor had already received copious material in two mediums, the original novels published by BBC Books and the long-running comic strip in Doctor Who Magazine. But neither of these adaptations of the Doctor used the actor Paul McGann who had lent so much personality to the program.

Storm Warning is greatly assisted by Alan Barnes’ script and its understanding of Doctor No. 8. As the writer of the Eighth Doctor’s adventures in Doctor Who Magazine over five years, he had taken what was initially a shell of a character into a fully fleshed-out incarnation of the Time Lord’s latest persona.

Storm Warning finds the Doctor apparently in the same place we left him in the final scene of the TV Movie, puttering about the TARDIS. He is shaken from his reverie as his craft is caught in the wake of another time ship’s explosion in the Vortex. To add to the frenzy of activity, a swarm of flying predators called vortisaurs arrives, forcing the Doctor to land. He soon finds himself on the doomed airship R-101 and in typical Doctor Who fashion, all is not what it seems.

The adventure introduces a new companion, the brave and sassy Charley Pollard who is out in the world looking for danger and excitement only to collide head first with the Doctor. India Fisher makes for a sparkling addition to the long list of companions and matches the Eight Doctor’s enthusiasm for action and his romantic sensitivity as well. Another welcome cast member is Blake’s 7 alum Gareth Thomas as the blustering Lord Tamworth who proves to be far more complicated than the two-dimensional caricature he appears to be at first.

Art by Lee Sullivan

Discovered on the maiden voyage of the R-101, the Doctor is hardly welcome. Thinking quickly, he conjures up a hastily constructed cover story of being a German spy and even attempts a broad accent. This apparently does the trick as nearly everyone buys the story, especially since a mere stow away would have been shot while a political spy would demand more complicated treatment.

The Doctor is mostly concerned with tracking down and taming the rogue vortisor that followed him from the Time Vortex while maintaining the web of time and not getting involved in an historical disaster, but there are far more interesting things afoot aboard the airship, chiefly the mystery surrounding a special passenger restricted to his (?) quarters. Uncovering the identity of the passenger reveals that the Lord Tamworth’s presence isn’t just to provide a loud British presence to the journey, but to represent to the Crown on a special mission.

I won’t dwell too much on the ‘meat’ of the story to save the surprises for anyone who has not listened to this one, but it has so many more levels and provides opportunities for the entire cast to stretch and grow in the four installments (I still can’t figure out why these stories are separated with opening and closing music as I am listening to it at home rather than experiencing it as a transmitted piece, but never mind. I suppose it helps to carry the ‘mystique’ of the program and as this is generally regarded as ‘series 27’ following the McCoy era, it is perfectly sensible.

As I have said before, I had refrained from dipping into the Big Finish audio adventures for some time simply because I thought it a poor substitute for the ‘real thing.’ However, the more that I listen to these productions, the more I am impressed that the Big Finish team have a deeper understanding of the Doctor Who mythos than I at first imagined. All of the magic and intelligence of classic Doctor Who is present in these tales so if you are a fan of the old stuff, dig in!

Doctor Who – Storm Warning can be purchased at local retailers and online from Big Finish.

Read other Big Finish reviews at the Daily P.O.P. here.

Paul McGann returns for another series of Doctor Who on Radio 7

There is something about Doctor Who that sparks devotion from almost everyone who works on it. From the writers to directors and special effects teams, after establishing a connection to the program creative individuals are drawn back to it. When Doctor Who disappeared from the TV screen, it was reborn in print and later in specially produced audio adventures released on CD.

An eighth Doctor was introduced in 1996 as part of what was hoped to be a rejuvenation of the program. While the new series never took off, actor Paul McGann was officially the new Doctor (and was very happy with it as well). Appearing in print and in audio adventures, sadly this latest incarnation was absent from the screen. Unless fans were willing to delve into the bookstore or specialty shops, there was remarkably little to go on regarding this version of their iconic hero. With such a limited amount of time of screen, McGann nevertheless made a lasting impact. Even though I agree with the notion held by fandom that the 1996 TV movie is a mess I cannot help but think what a great Doctor he would have been!

Clip

Doctor No. 8 was in many ways an amalgamation of previous incarnations possessing the youth of the 5th Doctor, charisma and charm of the 4th and daring courage and inventiveness of the 3rd. Dressed in a dashing formal attire, the 8th Doctor was a new iteration of the character for a new millennium, appearing much the way that many fans of the program remembered him with the wild mop of curly hair and an air of distinction.

In 2001, McGann returned to his role as the Doctor on the air in a full series of audio adventures released by Big Finish. In 2006, a follow-up series was launched starting with Blood of the Daleks which introduced new companion Lucie Miller. This month the pair of actors with reunite for another series of adventures.

Details of the 2010 series below:

Orbis
Written by Alan Barnes and Nicholas Briggs. Directed by Nicholas Briggs.
Starring Paul McGann, Sheridan Smith, Andrew Sachs, Laura Solon.
The Doctor has fallen to his death. His companion, Lucie Miller, has returned to her life on Earth, grief-stricken. Then, one night, an alien visitor arrives at her front door and shoots her. Could it be that Lucie’s days with the Doctor are not over? She will only find the answer on the planet Orbis. A planet where all forms of life are facing violent extinction.
The Beast of Orlok
Written by Barnaby Edwards. Directed by Barnaby Edwards.
Starring Paul McGann, Sheridan Smith, Miriam Margolyes, Samuel Barnet
Germany, 1827. The town of Orlok is under a curse, haunted by the memory of a spate of grisly murders that shattered the community twenty years before. At the time, townsfolk blamed the legendary Beast of Orlok, a nightmarish creature from medieval folklore. And now, it seems, the Beast has returned. As the killings begin again, the people of Orlok are understandably suspicious of two strangers newly arrived in their midst. The Doctor and Lucie must face their darkest fears as they find themselves plunged into a decidedly grim fairytale.

Doctor No.8, Paul McGann

The Scapegoat
Written by Pat Mills. Directed by Nicholas Briggs.
Starring Paul McGann, Sheridan Smith, Samantha Bond, Clifford Rose, Christopher Fairbank, Paul Rhys.
Oh, but if you think you’ve seen and heard all that Paris by night has to offer… the exotic sights of Le Moulin Rouge, perhaps, or the horror tricks of Le Grand Guignol… if you think nothing could cause your mouth to dry and your heart to pound… you’re wrong. Ladies and gentlemen, mesdames et messieurs – not forgetting our honoured guests from the Gestapo – tonight, it is my privilege to present to you the star of the Theatre des Baroque! A man who has died on stage near ten thousand times! The Most Assassinated Man in the World… Max Paul! And joining him, in a playlet we call ‘The Executioner’s Son’ – from Blackpool, England: the enchanting Lucie Miller! Ah, la belle Lucie. She’s got no idea what she’s let herself in for. Heh. Should you feel faint, or nauseous – never fear. Tonight, we have a Doctor in the house! Just pray he lasts ’til the interval…

Lucie Miller (Sheridan Smith)

The Cannibalists
Written by Jonathan Morris. Directed by Jason Haigh-Ellery.
Starring Paul McGann, Sheridan Smith, Phil Davies, Phill Jupitus, Nigel Lambert.
From their high spire, looking out over silent streets and empty plazas, the Assemblers are waiting for the day when the humans arrive. Waiting. Waiting. Waiting… When the TARDIS brings the Doctor and Lucie to the Haven, it seems like Assemblers’ long wait might be over. Living beings! Without batteries! Protocol be praised! Except – they’re headed for the lower levels. They don’t want to do that. That’s where the Cannibalists live. And if the Cannibalists catch them – well, they won’t be living beings much longer…

The series starts on BBC Radio 7 on Sunday 16th May at 6pm with a repeat at midnight BST.

Radio 7 can be heard around the world via the BBC Website.

While I still hold out hope that we will some day see McGann on screen as the Doctor once more, the radio dramas may be the only real chance many of us will get to experience this version of the character.

Recommended:

Buy the 8th Doctor Audio Adventures Set

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Buy Blood of the Daleks