Doctor Who – Excelis Dawns

‘Excelis Dawns’

Written by Paul Magrs, directed by Gary Russell
Released February 2002

On the far off planet of Artaris, Warlord Grayvorn embarks on a quest for a holy relic with a strange traveler named the Doctor in tow. Arriving at the convent located atop Mount Excelis, Grayvorn finds the knowledge he seeks but at the cost of gaining two more companions, Sister Jolene and the rambunctious Iris Wildthyme who is unsuccessfully searching for calm in a mad universe of possibilities. Unfortunately, the unruly Iris is a disruptive bad influence on the other sisters and Mother Superior decides to be rid of her problem by saddling her with the treasure and glory hunting warlord. But what is the nature of the relic and what mysteries does it hold? Can the Doctor restrain Wildthyme and prevent the violent Lord Grayvorn from discovering the power he so desperately searches for?

Excelis Dawns is the first of a trilogy that continues with Excelis Rises starring Colin Baker and Excelis Decays starring Sylvester McCoy. Friends have told me that this is one of the stand-out Big Finish audio adventures and fan opinion holds that statement up. However, I have to say that my own reception was mixed. The script from Paul Magrs is inspired and he writes Iris with aplomb worthy of her colorful character in print. The first of many such adventures, Iris is played by Katy Manning who is of course more familiar to fans as the bumbling yet lovable Jo Grant. Here she exudes boisterous charm and comic timing that moves the entire plot through its two discs’ worth of story.

The real downfall for me was Buffy the Vampire Slayer star Anthony Stewart Head as Warlord Grayvorn who sounds downright comical as the gravelly voiced warrior. Parts of the script poke fun at him, so in places this fits, but the role is such a broad caricature that he comes off as annoying and grating. He sounds like he’s wearing underwear that is two sizes too small and speaking through a mouthful of marbles. After ten minutes of his muttering about glory and his army of followers (who are noticeably absent), I was ready for him to drop the act and move on. Unfortunately, it was here to stay and extended into narration (Grodd help us). Not being a fan of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, I have never understood the appeal of Anthony Stewart Head and this story didn’t help. Knowing that he would feature over the next two installments did not fill me with much excitement.

Aside from Manning’s Wildthyme, the other big appeal for this story is Peter Davison who has mainly been given stories that take his character as written on screen and run with it. Magrs instead chooses to explore the depth of the Fifth Doctor and his maturity in a violent and uncaring galaxy of danger. It has been exciting to hear Davison journey down new avenues with his rendition of the Doctor in audio, but I have to admit that not much had been added to his persona. By matching a somber version of the Fifth Doctor near the end of his incarnation with Wildthyme, it becomes apparent how much his outwardly youthful self has aged and sobered. When Iris points out how he is no longer fun, the Doctor remarks that he used to treat the universe of space and time like a massive pinball game but after the death of Adric all that has changed. Iris refuses to let the moment go and insists that is all the more reason to embrace the wild adventure of life rather. It’s a lovely moment that makes Excelis Dawns a moving story.

A familiar name to Doctor Who fans, Paul Magrs is one of the pearls of Big Finish’s bullpen. He later established an entirely new line of adventures for Tom Baker’s Doctor Who on BBC Audio. In those stories, the wit and humor along with a wildly imaginative plot fully fleshed out that Doctor in a new way. In Excelis Dawns, the goal is much simpler but no less enjoyable. It is essentially a road trip of misfits ending in a cataclysmic battle of wills against an army of the undead over a gold lamé handbag holding the secrets of life and death.

Katy Manning as Iris Wildthyme

Excelis Dawns is a very enjoyable story full of comedy, continuity and plenty of great character building moments. It’s a running gag that Iris is not only convinced that the Doctor is in love with her but that they had shared several adventures in the past. Hearing Iris retell The Three Doctor and the Web Planet with altered details is hilarious enough, but her version of the Five Doctors with ‘all the rubbish monsters’ is brilliant. It is a marvelous opportunity for Magrs to wave his Whovian flag without losing the integrity of the plot.

I was turned off initially by the silly sounding Anthony Stewart Head and the woeful music (along with the cutaways to the Zombie King who apparently missed out for the role of Gollum in Lord of the Rings) which made this two parter a challenge. But in time, the blend of Manning and Davison won me over.

Doctor Who Excelis Dawns can be ordered from The Book Depository with free shipping worldwide by clicking on the link below:

Doctor Who – Upcoming Big Finish Releases

After going off TV in 1989, Doctor Who has survived in various formats including comic strips and novels but the most productive and continuing range of new stories based on these existing classic series characters have been the Big Finish audios. Over 170 adventures, featuring five Doctors, numerous companions and a menagerie of monsters old and new, there really is nothing quite like these adventures.

The latest series extending into 2013 reunites the Sixth Doctor with Melanie Bush as Liz Shaw, Polly Wright, Jamie McCrimmon, Leela, Jo Grant and the Doctor’s granddaughter Susan all face evils from beyond time and space.

To pre-order, please visit the official Big Finish site.

Companion Chronicles 7.04. THE LAST POST (RELEASED OCTOBER)

Click to order

People are dying. Just a few, over a period of months… but the strange thing is that each person received a letter predicting the date and time of their death.

Throughout her time as the Doctor’s assistant, Liz Shaw has been documenting these passings.

Her investigation ultimately uncovers a threat that could lead to the end of the world, but this time Liz has someone to help her.

Her mother.

Written By: James Goss
Directed By: Lisa Bowerman

Cast

Caroline John (Liz Shaw), Rowena Cooper (Emily Shaw)

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170. SPACEPORT FEAR (OUT IN FEBRUARY 2013)

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Welcome to Tantane Spaceport – where the tribes of Business and Economy have been at war for all of four hundred years…

Welcome to Tantane Spaceport – where a terrible creature called the Wailer prowls the corridors around the Control Tower, looking to eat the unwary…

Welcome to Tantane Spaceport – where there is one Arrival: a battered blue Police Box containing the time-travelling Doctor and his companion, Mel…

Welcome to Tantane Spaceport – where there are no Departures. Ever.

Written By: William Gallagher
Directed By: Barnaby Edwards

Cast

Colin Baker (The Doctor), Bonnie Langford (Melanie Bush), Ronald Pickup (Elder Bones), Isabel Fay (Naysmith), Gwilym Lee (Pretty Swanson), Beth Chalmers (Galpan/Beauty Swanson), Adrian MacKinder (Rogers/Game Voice), John Banks (Wailers/Announcement/Mad Passenger)

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171. THE SEEDS OF WAR (OUT IN MARCH 2013)

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Humanity is emerging from a long, exhausting war. Against an enemy so powerful, so implacable, it seemed unstoppable – right up until the moment it stopped.

Now, despite its ‘victory’, the human race is on its knees. The Doctor and Mel join its struggle for survival to try to ensure it has a future.

A race against time takes them from the Great Tower of Kalsos to the Reliquaries of Earth. In an epic journey across the ten systems, their fates are intertwined with one family. The Tevelers are to feel the effects of war more than most…

The Doctor has a plan. Mel is sure he can save the day. But something is lurking. Watching. Waiting. A presence the Doctor knows of old. But just how far does its influence pervade?

The Eminence awaits…

Written By: Matt Fitton and Nicholas Briggs
Directed By: Barnaby Edwards

Cast

Colin Baker (The Doctor), Bonnie Langford (Melanie Bush), Ray Fearon (Barlow Teveler), Ony Uhiara (Sisrella Tevier), Stuart Organ (Helgert Teveler), Lucy Russell (Trellak), John Banks (Elkinar), Beth Chalmers (Announcer), David Sibley (The Eminence)

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Companion Chronicles 7.06. THE CHILD (OUT IN DECEMBER)

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“Tell me another story, Leela. Not the one about the walking doll or the creepy mechanical men. A new one. I want to hear a new one…”

Leela is dead but her soul lives on. She has been reborn as a young girl, Emily, whose ‘imaginary friend’ tells her amazing tales about a great Wizard and the warrior who accompanies him on his adventures through time and space.

Emily prepares to tell her parents the story of a cold, grey world whose people are ruled over by a Glass Angel. The Wizard is her prisoner and only the warrior girl and her three peculiar friends can save him…

Written By: Nigel Fairs
Directed By: Nigel Fairs

Cast

Louise Jameson (Leela), Anna Hawkes (Emily)

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Companion Chronicles 7.07. THE FLAMES OF CADIZ (OUT IN JANUARY 2013)

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The TARDIS materializes in Spain in the late sixteenth century. The country is at war with England – and the travellers find themselves on the wrong side of the battle lines.

When Ian and his new friend Esteban are captured by the Inquisition, the Doctor, Susan and Barbara plan to rescue them.

But these are dark days in human history. And heretics face certain death…

Written By: Marc Platt
Directed By: Lisa Bowerman

Cast

William Russell (Ian Chesterton), Carole Ann Ford (Susan), Nabil Elouahabi (Esteban)

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Companion Chronicles 7.08. THE HOUSE OF CARDS (OUT IN FEBRUARY 2013)

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The TARDIS has landed in a futuristic space casino, where the Doctor, Ben, Polly and Jamie find fun, games… and monsters everywhere. There are vicious robot dogs, snake-headed gangsters from the Sidewinder Syndicate and a mysterious masked woman called Hope.

In this place, time travellers are to be tracked down and arrested. Yet, as events spiral out of control, time may be Polly’s only ally…

Written By: Steve Lyons
Directed By: Lisa Bowerman

Cast

Anneke Wills (Polly Wright), Frazer Hines (Jamie McCrimmon)

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Companion Chronicles 7.09. THE SCORCHIES (OUT IN MARCH 2013)

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Jo Grant is in terrible danger – trapped inside a light entertainment television programme starring alien puppets that intend to rule the world.

While the Doctor and the Brigadier attempt to save her, Jo must fend for herself against an enemy that is merciless, made of felt… and sings big showtunes.

Written By: James Goss
Directed By: Ken Bentley

Cast

Katy Manning (Jo Grant/Scorchies), Melvyn Hayes (Scorchies)

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Companion Chronicles 7.10. THE ALCHEMISTS (OUT IN APRIL 2013)

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The TARDIS lands in Berlin in the 1930s, where Hitler and his National Socialist party are in the ascendant.

Some of the greatest scientific minds are gathering here: Einstein, Heisenberg, Planck, Schrödinger, Wigner. The people who will build the future of planet Earth.

But the Doctor and Susan have brought something with them. Something apparently harmless, something quite common. Yet something that could threaten the course of history…

Written By: Ian Potter
Directed By: Lisa Bowerman

Cast

Carole Ann Ford (Susan Foreman)

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Also on its way, the mega box set of new Eighth Doctor adventures, Dark Eyes

Click to pre-order!

In the aftermath of To The Death…

An epic, box set adventure, taking the Doctor on a desperate journey through space and time.

Part One. The Great War - The Doctor is heading to ‘the edge’ and beyond. But the Time Lords have other ideas. On Earth, during the First World War, Molly O’Sullivan works hard as a Voluntary Aid Detachment nursing assistant. How can her destiny be bound up with that of the Doctor’s?

Part Two. Fugitives

Part Three. Tangled Web

Part Four. ‘X’ and the Daleks

More details soon…

Written By: Nicholas Briggs
Directed By: Nicholas Briggs

Cast

Paul McGann (The Doctor), Ruth Bradley (Molly O’Sullivan), Peter Egan (Straxus), Toby Jones (Kotris), Tim Treloar (Lord President), Laura Molyneaux (Isabel Stanford), Natalie Burt (Sally Armstrong), Ian Cullen (Nadeyan), Nicholas Briggs (The Daleks)

Doctor Who Big Finish upcoming releases

The Doctor Who Lost Stories line continues this Summer with three installments from the Colin Baker Sixth Doctor era. These audios are based on ideas, proposals or in some cases full scripts that were submitted then dropped from production for various reasons (and why oh why were any of these passed up in favor of Timelash?).

Also, Sylvester McCoy, the Seventh Doctor, starts a new trilogy with Ace and Hex in what promises to be a major turning point.

Click image to pre-order

3.04 DOCTOR WHO THE LOST STORIES: THE GUARDIANS OF PROPHECY
CAST: Colin Baker (The Doctor), Nicola Bryant (Peri), Graham Cole (Ebbko/Melkur), James George (Mura), Nigel Lambert (Auga), Simon Williams (Guardian), Stephen Thorne (Malador), Victoria Pritchard (Felia), Glynn Sweet (Horgan), Duncan Wisbey (Escalus)

SYNOPSIS: The TARDIS materialises on Serenity, the last surviving world of the Traken Union. Peri expects a good place for a holiday – not tomb raiders, a labyrinth filled with terrifying monsters and a trap-laden necropolis.

For Serenity’s gentle name belies its history as the home planet of the Melkur, soldiers created to serve a long dead dark force, the embodiment of evil itself. Whilst they sleep, vicious thieves are after this force’s secrets, and will stop at nothing to find them.

But will they find more than they bargained for?

AUTHOR: Johnny Byrne, adapted by Jonathan Morris, Directed by: Ken Bentley

RELEASE DATE: 31 May 2012

Click image to pre-order

3.05 DOCTOR WHO: THE LOST STORIES – POWER PLAY
CAST: Colin Baker (The Doctor), Nicola Bryant (Peri), Deborah Watling (Victoria Waterfield), David Warwick (Dysart), Miles Jupp (Dominic), Andrew Dickens (Leiss), Howard Gossington (Weska), Victoria Alcock (Marion), Greg Donaldson (David), James Hayward (Sean)

SYNOPSIS: It’s been many years since Victoria Waterfield travelled through time and space fighting monsters and dictators. Now she’s back on Earth fighting for the future of the planet. But are her environmental campaigns so far removed from those former adventures in the vortex?

As trucks carrying nuclear waste start to vanish into the air, her friends are kidnapped by a dangerous alien police force and a nuclear power plant runs dangerously close to meltdown… Victoria spies a familiar blue box.

The Doctor. After all this time, the Doctor has come back.

And now… Victoria Waterfield is going to kill him.

AUTHOR: Gary Hopkins, DIRECTOR:Ken Bentley

RELEASE DATE: 30 June 2012

Click image to pre-order

3.06 DOCTOR WHO: THE LOST STORIES – THE FIRST SONTARANS
CAST: Colin Baker (The Doctor), Nicola Bryant (Peri), Dan Starkey (Jaka), Anthony Howell (Jacob), Lizzie Roper (Jane Ross), John Banks (Gentleman/Lork), Cameron Stewart (Major Thessinger)

SYNOPSIS: 1872. After finding a strange signalling device on the moon, the Doctor and Peri travel to the depths of the English countryside to track down the source of its transmissions. But they’re not the first aliens to arrive on the scene.

Old enemies of the Doctor are drawing their battle lines in the forest and the local humans will be lucky to escape the conflagration unscathed.

For hidden within this village is a deadly secret – a secret that could destroy the entire Sontaran race… and reveal the terrible mystery of their creation.

AUTHOR: Andrew Smith, DIRECTOR: Ken Bentley

RELEASE DATE: 31 July 2012

Click image to pre-order

162. DOCTOR WHO: PROTECT AND SURVIVE
CAST: Sylvester McCoy (The Doctor), Sophie Aldred (Ace), Philip Olivier (Hex), Ian Hogg (Albert), Elizabeth Bennett (Peggy), Peter Egan (Moloch/Announcer)

SYNOPSIS: If an attack with nuclear weapons is expected, you will hear the air attack warning. If you are not at home, but can get there within two minutes, do so. If you are in the open, take cover in the nearest building. If you cannot reach a building, lie flat on the ground and cover your head and your hands.

Arriving in the North of England in the late 1980s, Ace and Hex seek refuge at the home of Albert and Peggy Marsden… in the last few hours before the outbreak of World War Three.

Meanwhile, the Doctor is missing. Will there be anyone left for him to rescue, when the bombs begin to fall?

AUTHOR: Jonathan Morris, Directed by Ken Bentley

RELEASE DATE: 31 July 2012

Click image to pre-order

163. DOCTOR WHO: BLACK AND WHITE
CAST: Sylvester McCoy (The Doctor), Sophie Aldred (Ace), Philip Olivier (Hex), Stuart Milligan (Garundel), Michael Rouse (Young Beowulf), Richard Bremmer (Old Beowulf), John Banks (Weohstan), James Hayward (Wiglaf)

SYNOPSIS: The TARDIS arrives in the land of the Danes, where a young warrior seeks to rid the kingdom of Hrothgar from a cruel and terrifying demon. The brave young warrior is Beowulf; the monster is Grendel… or so his name will one day be written. But what’s written down in black and white is sometimes very far from the truth – as the Doctor knows, and his companions are about to discover.

AUTHOR: Matt Fitton, Directed by Ken Bentley

RELEASE DATE: 31 August 2012

In case you haven’t check it out yet, the Big Finish Sale is in its second day with the following stories available at the low price of $5 per download!

(click here for the Big Finish April Sale page)

Click on any of the titles below for reviews on these stories (no idea why I have yet to review Fires of Vulcan or Shadow of the Scourge yet).

The Apocalypse Element
The Fires of Vulcan
The Shadow of the Scourge
The Holy Terror
The Mutant Phase
Storm Warning
Sword of Orion
The Stones of Venice
Minuet in Hell
Loups-Garoux

Doctor Who Big Finish Sale

Are you a new fan of Doctor Who or a seasoned one who has watched the classic program on your local UHF channel in the US (or repeats on UK Gold in the UK)?

Are you a fan of the Fifth Doctor, wearing his signature stalk of celery as he dizzily traveled about time and space, challenging a sea of trouble?

Are you a follower of the multicolored Sixth Doctor who walks throughout eternity with nowhere to call home?

Perhaps you are a fan of the mysterious Seventh Doctor who, appearing to be little more than  a stranger in a funny jumper, dared the forces of darkness?

Does the Eighth Doctor intrigue you despite the dubious quality of the 1996 film?

Well, then… you have certainly listened to the Big Finish audio range of adventures, yes?

NO!?

This is your chance to experience some of the earliest forays into the audio landscape of Doctor Who. Taking place between televised episodes, these adventures re-unite listeners with Doctors from the past, reborn in the digital age in striking stories that are both new and familiar.

Hear the Fifth Doctor and Peri encounter the Ice Warriors on Mars!

Listen to the Seventh Doctor and Ace battle the Daleks on the universe’s largest library!

Experience the strange auditory menace that the Sixth Doctor and Peri face as noises become living deadly monsters!

All this and more are waiting for you in the highly acclaimed Big Finish adventures. New stories starring original cast members in adventures that expand the limitations of Doctor Who. For just $5 for an average 120 minute long download, it’s a steal.

Click here to visit the official sale site.

Click here to read reviews of Big Finish Productions. 

(Thanks to TardisNewsroom for the heads up!)

Doctor Who Big Finish- Scherzo

‘Scherzo’

Story 052
Written by Robert Shearman, Directed by Gary Russell
Release date: December 2003
“What good is being a Lord of Time in a realm where there is no time?”

Exiled in the Divergent Universe, the Doctor discovers to his horror that he is in a realm without time as he knows it. This is interesting as it makes the limitations of the Time Lords more implicit. As the Doctor writhes in agony, the TARDIS is reduced to ash before his eyes. Ironically, it is Charey who helps him through the experience, her reluctance to back down before a challenge and her undying love for her friend assists her in being strong enough to survive.

Part of the appeal for me of the Eighth Doctor audio adventures has been their innovation. Of all the audios, they have had the unique opportunity to chart new realms, unrestricted by continuity and mythology as seen on TV. His first era of stories was a mixture of traditional and bizarre, granting listeners a kind of nostalgic hint of the Graham Williams era along with some new ideas. The step into another universe where reality is entirely different adds a new spin… one that gets explored in great detail in Robert Shearman’s Scherzo.

To this point, the Doctor had been portrayed as an adventurous romantic with a touch of mania. In Scherzo, new facets are added and we see that he is a very very strange man. In the white void outside of the TARDIS, the Doctor cannot sense anything. The world around him is a blank slate. For Charley, however, her senses are filling in the gaps, supplying sounds, tastes, smells and even textures where there are none. Charley is overcome, but the Doctor is detached and alien, a distant stranger compared to the man that she had grown to love.

This is part of the genius of Big Finish, the transition from romance to alienation is of course the path that a relationship with the Doctor would take. It’s absolutely stunning to hear Charley realize that she has sacrificed everything that she knows for someone who ultimately rejects her, not out of callousness but out of his nature. The Doctor simply cannot love in the same way that a human being can. And like his being a Time Lord, a lack of compassion and intimacy is also a handicap for the Doctor.

Realizing that without the TARDIS, the Doctor and Charley are both going to die in a universe they should not even exist in. His act of bravery now a hollow gesture, the Doctor is furious and hurt, but also feeling new emotions that confuse him and make him more lost than his blindness caused by their surroundings.

Scherzo is a character piece, a wonderful and brilliant examination of the Doctor and what he relies on to exist. Shearman’s script consists mainly of Charley and the Doctor walking about in a circle, awkwardly trying to reach closure on their relationship, unable to make any real connection. Their only company is a half-mocking echo of their words played back at them. A disembodied entity has been attempting to communicate with them through sound, relying on the intonations in their words. It’s an interesting correlation to the Doctor and Charley’s lack of empathy.

For anyone thinking that this must be the most boring story ever, four episodes of two characters flapping gums in a void, I can sympathize. However, Scherzo is absolutely amazing. Their senses dwindling one by one, the travelers walk in a circle endlessly encountering a cadaver to give them sustenance, each time evolving more until they find that they are feeding off of a corpse in Charley’s image.

The pinnacle of the adventure is likely the moment when the Doctor and Charley find that they have been holding hands for so long that their flesh has become fused. At the Doctor’s suggestion, they push further and merge fully, becoming one being.

The start of what should have been one of the most amazing string of stories ever, Scherzo needs to be heard to be believed.

Scherzo can be purchased from Big Finish and from local retailers such as Mike’s Comics.

Doctor Who Big Finish -The Dark Flame

The Dark Flame

Story 42
Written by Trevor Baxendale
Released March 2003
“Ace, how nice to see you. I’m happy to see that you’ve found a nice big gun.”
“Happy?”
“It’s a figure of speech.”

The Doctor and Ace are on their way to reunion with Bernice Summerfield, a character from the New Adventures series in the 1990′s. They receive a psychic alarm from a good friend of the Doctor’s an aged Professor Remnex, warning the Time Lord of a deadly evil entity. Arriving on a facility hovering over Sorus Alpha, the Doctor is a VIP of sorts due to an upcoming controlled black light explosion that could use his input. However, the scientist Slyde seems ill at ease with the interference of the Doctor and does his best to make the visitors feel uncomfortable.

The Doctor is having something of a crisis, seeming to be overwhelmed by his current lifestyle full of galactic-level threats and god-like creatures threatening all of creation. He is doubting himself and his role in the scheme of things, making him all the happier to see an old friends like Remnex. Unfortunately, Remnex knows nothing of the psychic cry through time and seems oblivious to the Doctor’s concern.

One time companion to the Doctor and space-faring archaeologist, Benny is on the facility to meet an old colleague, but cannot find him anywhere and has made herself busy performing menial tasks such as refuse disposal via TRANSMAT. Unbeknownst to Benny, her friend Victor is hard at work excavating a relic with the help of a mechanoid named Joseph. Joseph is something of a know-it-all and is antagonistic with Victor which is completely sensible when you take into account they share the same brain pattern. The relic retrieved, Joseph and Victor are relinquished of their find by their employer, a mysterious figure who knocks Victor out cold when he asks too many questions.

Soon it becomes clear that the Black Light explosion and the skull are tied together by the cult of the Dark Flame, a mythical association with so many mentions throughout history that many scholars, including Benny, insist that they don’t exist. But the Doctor knows better. The Dark Flame is an evil entity of immense power from the future long after our universe has died. The impulse to destroy, control and murder are attributed to the influence of the Dark Flame’s flickering embers reaching out from beyond and its intention is to break through completely.

The Doctor and Ace combo in the Big Finish audios have left me sort of cold on occasion, especially the previous The Shadow of the Scourge which drew on the New Adventures series published by Virgin. This time around the blend of humor, fantasy and moralizing gelled just right for me. McCoy is a voracious actor with a deep appetite for emotional delivery. So many of his stories feature confrontations where he struggles with a villain in a argument rather than physical conflict. In some cases this backfires and looks rather childish, but here it really works.

It must be very difficulty for Sophie Aldred to pretend to still be a twenty-something when she has two kids at home but she finds her way there. The rebellious soldier with a fearless attitude and explosives to back it up is in full effect here, daring dangerous megalomaniacs to try and get her one moment and kicking him in the jewels the next. Ace can be a bit too over the top in some adventures but is used in just the right amounts here.

Likewise, Bernice Summerfield is lots of fun, voiced by the alluring Lisa Bowerman. Benny was a big hit with readers back in the day and even earned her own line of novels and audio adventures before Big Finish even branched out into full Doctor Who. She’s a fun character, equal parts rollicking adventurer and cranky scientist.

Lisa Bowerman (Bernice Summerfield)

The character of Slyde has an unusually smooth purr to his voice that makes him an almost iconic villain. This is of course due to the vocal talents of Michael Praed, familiar to some as the star of Robin of Sherwood and of course the title character from Blake’s 7 in the Big Finish audio revamp.

The story reaches a fever pitch as Remnex is murdered and used as a vessel by Slyde and Lomar to bring about the emissary of the Dark Flame, Vilus Krull. Krull is the former cult leader of the followers of the Dark Flame, thought long dead. But with his skull unearthed, he can begin again, reaching out with his mind and bending others to his will. Krull ‘turns’ Benny to his way and she violently attacks Ace before leaving with her new masters. The Doctor, Ace and a damaged Victor have a massive army of the dead to contend with, Krull’s revived followers who were burried all over the planet… with just an umbrella for defense.

Of course the Doctor extricates them from the dilemma with a cunning plan and is soon toe-to-toe with Krull again for the final show-down. No magic wand, no gunfire, no timey-wimey nonsense, this Doctor stands just about 5 feet tall and stares down the best of them with his cold steel gray eyes. BBC Wales take note. THIS is how it is done.

Having seen a few interviews with Sylvester McCoy I witness in him an old gentle soul who truly wants to believe in the betterment of Mankind and the value of life. This comes through in his dialog with both Lomar and Vilus Krull as he asks them why they would give into to such a dark hopeless force of evil. Vilus Krull insists that the Dark Flame burns in everyone, but the Doctor simply cannot accept that. One must give themselves over to evil in order to be ruled by it. This bears fruit when the Doctor and Krull have a soul/mind duel and the Doctor flat out refuses to give in. Just like his battle in the Curse of Fenric, the Doctor draws on his belief to defeat the evil force and even manipulate it to do some good!

The conclusion may be a bit pat as the Doctor rewrites history so that not only is Benny healed and Remnex granted a peaceful death but the entire research project removed from history. Benny and Ace chide the Doctor for interfering with the ‘precious web of time,’ but he impishly insists that he didn’t interfere, he just made a few small alterations. McCoy’s childlike enthusiasm shines through in this excellent adventure filled as it is with walking corpses, senseless murder and impending doom.

I cannot help but smile at the final line spoken by the Doctor as he surveys his work, “I love my job.”

Doctor Who- The Dark Flame can be ordered directly online from Big Finish Productions.

Doctor Who Big Finish- The Spectre of Lanyon Moor

The Spectre of Lanyon Moor

Story 09
Written by Nicholas Pegg
Released June 2000

The Doctor and Evelyn arrive in Cornwall near an archaeological survey of an ancient fogou. What’s more, the Doctor’s old friend the Brigadier is on the case incognito. What could be so interesting that it would attract so much attention and what could be so dangerous that it could put the Doctor’s skill to the limit? A thrilling adventure with plenty of colorful characters and bizarre yet inspired concepts, The Spectre of Lanyon Moor feels so much like a classic Doctor Who story. Sharing themes from the Image of Fendhal and other stories, the story is expertly paced and parsed out in four lovely installments.

The moment when the Doctor meets Brigadier is terribly amusing. After meeting so many incarnations of the Time Lord, I found it hilarious that he now just assumes the colorful weirdo in the wrong place at the right time must be the Doctor. It definitely gets around a lot of needless explanation. While it was a major disappointment to hear the departed Nicholas Courtney in the dire Minuet in Hell, he shines in The Spectre of Lanyon Moor and gels so wonderfully with Colin Baker’s Doctor. It’s almost heart breaking that this reunion isn’t something that fans can watch, but we have to be thankful for what we have and this is a fantastic story. As the professorial Eveleyn Smythe, Maggie Stables once again takes center stage as the spunky traveling companion. Intelligent and daring, she is unflappable when confronted by mad scientists and monsters alike.

The adventure concerns an imp stuck in time and space for thousands of years, fuming with anger and yearning for revenge against its brother who left him to die so long ago. By using strange technology and preying on the scarred psyche of the locals, the creature comes closer to wrecking his revenge and causing untold mayhem.

Writer Nicholas Pegg has worked on various Big Finish productions in several capacities and even appeared on screen as well inside a Dalek casing. He also contributed to the DVD set for the Key to Time with an impressive documentary detailing the reign of producer Graham Williams. Pegg’s love for the Graham Williams era is evident here as the script is peppered with witticisms and the brilliant devices. The alien ‘monster’ exiled on Earth with clues to his release in an ancient structure is very reminiscent of ‘Stones of Blood,’ even.

An exciting if traditional story, I highly recommend The Spectre of Lanyon Moor, especially for any fans of the classic program not sold on Colin Baker’s Doctor.

Doctor Who- The Spectre of Lanyon Moor can be ordered directly online from Big Finish Productions.

Doctor Who Big Finish- The Land of the Dead

The Land of the Dead

Story 04 Written by Stephen Cole
Released January 2000

In the cold seclusion of Alaska, The Doctor and Nyssa find themselves embroiled in the final moments of a very old tragedy, forever altering the lives of two men linked in their grief. Rich eccentric Shaun Brett is constructing an insane testament to his departed father, using the skills of his childhood ‘friend’ Tulung. Both of their fathers had perished in a violent event that the TARDIS briefly witnessed 30 years ago. A great mystery and a stronger sense of resentment and anger connects the two men who seem doomed to wallow in the same excavation site that served as a burial mound for their parents.

In the midst of the drama is the wise-cracking designer Monica Lewis who uses natural material in building themed rooms in a shrine to Brett’s father’s historic find. Revisited, the dig is a wealth of knowledge and all of it is being used as building material in rooms made of stone, earth and even in a grisly case, of bone itself. Fragments of an unknown race of creatures predating the dinosaurs, nick-named Permians by the Doctor, are becoming animated and hostile, tearing at whatever and whoever they find and using raw material to renew themselves.

Like Whispers of Terror, The Land of the Dead is a wonderfully brilliant and inspired piece of classic Doctor Who tinged with new ideas and heightened drama. In addition to a knock-out cast and well-crafted supporting characters, the story allows for Peter Davison’s Doctor to once again shine. A somewhat short-of-breath and scattered hero on screen, his depiction of the Doctor was often hampered by badly conceived companions and over-ambitious scripts.

In the Big Finish audios, Davison is given ample room to move and show what he is capable of without the BBC production team calling the shots. As indicated in several interviews, Davison had intended to inject a healthy dose of dry English wit into his version of the Doctor, but was kept from doing so by producer JNT who wished wished to distance himself from the sophomoric humor of the Graham Williams/Tom Baker/Douglas Adams era. In this instance, Davison is no longer restricted by any such demands and comes off as a sparkling personality. A brilliant, strange and whimsical personality, the Fifth Doctor of the audio adventures is an extension of the ideas that the actor explored on screen rather than an imitation.

Writer Stephen Cole comes from a long line of accomplishments in print including the highly acclaimed Doctor Who novel The Ancestor Cell. Of his three main Doctor Who Big Finish audios to date I have listened to this and the Apocalypse Element, an adventure steeped in action and technical jargon, but in my opinion little real substance in comparison to the Land of the Dead. A thrilling adventure full of charm and suspense, it comes highly recommended.

Doctor Who – The Land of the Dead can be purchased at local retailers and online from Big Finish.

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

Doctor Who Big Finish- The Sirens of Time

The Sirens of Time

“You have accurately identified some of my defining traits; compassion and a capacity for self-sacrifice. But you’ve made the mistake of bringing together three incarnations of the same personality. Each time I regenerate, the balance of those traits alters. I have always been pragmatic in all my lives, as I am in this regeneration. But… moreso.”

Story 01 Written by Nicholas Briggs
Released July 1999
Doctor Who started as an educational family-oriented program designed to fill a time-slot between Match of the Day and Jukebox Jury. During its 26 year-long lifespan on the airwaves, it developed into something wholly other, sometimes a national institution and at other times a cult program loved by a select few. When Doctor Who was finally canceled in 1989, its popularity had waned somewhat. A failed comeback in 1996, however, reinforced the notion that the concept had legs.

After years of pursuing the license, in 1999, Big Finish Productions began their long association with Doctor Who as a series of audio programs. Their first release would be an ambitious tour de fource, uniting three Doctors in one adventure, no small feat! A multi-Doctor story is always popular with fans, and something that had not been accomplished since 1985′s The Two Doctors. Sure, Dimensions in Time starred Doctors 3-7, but it was hardly a success. Sirens of Time is in essence a proof of concept on behalf of Big Finish, showing off not only the possibilities of revitalizing Doctor Who as an audio program with special effects and music that evoked memories of the classic BBC series but also that the actors that had made Doctor Who so successful had not lost their knack in playing the heroic Time Lord.

Starting their series with an anthology-style adventure starring three separate Doctors may seem like the wrong way to begin a new project and to be honest it does have a lot of problems, but by throwing Doctors 5, 6 and 7 together their distinct personalities immediately become clear. The sullen and intellectual Davison jars uncomfortably with the flamboyant Baker while McCoy plays the all-knowing clown to the trio.

The 1980′s was a period of change for Doctor Who. While producer John Nathan-Turner oversaw the entire decade on screen, the 80′s saw three actors play the lead role in drastically divergent ways, each with his own personality. Big Finish was able to work with all three actors, granting them a rare opportunity to expand on their legacy as the Doctor, unhindered by budgetary restraints and corporate interference from the BBC.

Despite all of the excitement and praise, The Sirens of Time’s failing lies in the story which is a convoluted mess.

Told in three parts, it begins on an unknown planet where the 7th Doctor meets a lady in distress named Elenya while the planet itself is under attack. As the Doctor begins to unravel the mystery of the planet’s sole inhabitants, a sadistic jailer and an aged war criminal, the High Council of Time Lords desperately attempt to contact him for help. Gallifrey is under attack by a powerful enemy that is overwhelming the planet’s defenses. Before this story can find resolution, it meets an explosive cliffhanger and the narrative shifts to 1915 aboard a British Naval vessel.

The 5th incarnation of the Doctor is stick outside of the TARDIS and again contacted by the Gallifreyan High Council for help. Before the Doctor can gain entry back into his craft, the vessel is struck by a U-Boat and sunk. With only a surly Liverpudlian named Helen for company, the Doctor attempts to outwit his German captors and get back to his ship, the situation seems dire. A German officer is taken over by the Time Lords whose message remains unclear and distorted. Helen fires on the officer, saving the Doctor’s life. Trapped in the crossfire of British and German crafts, the second cliffhanger arrives.

The third part opens with the 6th Doctor on a futuristic pleasure liner orbiting a cosmic anomaly. Befriending a stewardess named Ellie, the Doctor finds himself amongst the few survivors of a time quake emerging from the anomaly. From deep within the anomaly, a voice cries out for help. Again the Time Lords try to reach the Doctor by possessing the form of the ship’s android, but Ellie perceives the approach as hostile and kills it in the Doctor’s defense. Starting to see a pattern to events, the 6th Doctor perhaps begins to sense the experiences of his other selves. The Doctor realizes that at the heart of the anomaly is a creature called a Temperon, a mythical being from Gallifreyan lore, trapped and in extreme pain. By freeing the Temperon, however, the Doctor and his TARDIS are enveloped in a massive explosion that envelops them both.

After this series of confusingly disjointed events, the Doctor awakens on Gallifrey to find that he is both alone and in good company. Three incarnations have arrived at once in the Panopticon. The Doctor attempts to unravel the many mysteries such as who has attacked the Time Lords and why, how the events that his separate selves are connected and what role he plays in the mad scheme of the Sirens of Time… and it’s all a bit muddy from there.

The concept of Sirens of Time is actually quite inspired as the Doctor’s very nature is his undoing. In each instance he misread the situation and came to the aid of a person he believed to be in jeopardy. I enjoyed that element immensely, but unfortunately it is so mired in technobabble and exposition that it nearly missed me entirely. The sound effects and music are outstanding and really put the listener in the middle of the action, as it were. Davison, Baker and McCoy are all in top form and left me wanting more (fortunately there are over 150 additional releases), but in general Sirens of Time is a puzzle to me. It is so wrapped up in its own terminology and mythology that it can only appeal to die-hard fans of the program. As the first in a new line of stories, I cannot imagine why Big Finish chose to start this way.

Nevertheless, it is an enjoyable story and much better material was not far away. The more that I listen to the Big Finish series the more I adore it. Intelligently written, wonderfully acted and featuring sharp dialog, it is everything that new Doctor Who should be and acts as an ideal continuation of the classic program.

Many thanks to Jason LaBonte for helping me find these gems!

Doctor Who – The Sirens of Time can be purchased at local retailers and online from Big Finish.

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