Four new adventures in space and time for the Seventh Doctor and his companions Ace and Hex.
1 Comment
Styre
on May 8, 2016 at 2:12 AM
FORTY-FIVE
The forty-fifth anniversary of Doctor Who in November 2008 was a rather low-key affair when compared to its predecessors — but then that only makes sense, with a new series on television! Nonetheless, Big Finish produced another anniversary release: four one-part stories starring Sylvester McCoy, Sophie Aldred, and Philip Olivier. As I didn’t detect much of a linking theme, I am reviewing the four stories separately.
FALSE GODS
The first offering, Mark Morris’s “False Gods,” is fairly traditional in style, with a downbeat ending. Egyptian settings seem to lend themselves naturally to drama, especially when they involve the exploration of unearthed tombs. Benedict Cumberbatch features as legendary archaeologist Howard Carter, and things look like they’re heading toward a suitably Gothic outcome — but then suddenly the play takes a sharp right turn and then we’re talking about time travel and rogue Time Lords. This isn’t inherently bad, but it doesn’t come across in a particularly interesting way — until the twist ending, which is rather surprising. Sylvester McCoy sounds angrier here than in any other audio save perhaps “Death Comes to Time,” and he actually sells it convincingly. An average, unmemorable, start to the anthology.
5/10
ORDER OF SIMPLICITY
I’m not sure who author Nick Scovell is, but Google seems to indicate that he’s written some Doctor Who-based stage plays. Anyway, “Order of Simplicity” in a word: bizarre. Okay, so there’s a cult that believes that technology is the root of all evil facing the universe — this is fine, but their solution is to try to reduce the IQ of every sentient being in the universe to 45? That’s not just crazy, that’s tap-dancing on the ceiling making dolphin noises. The plot is muddled, and much like the above story the creepy country house setting is treated as perfunctory rather than essential. There’s some fun Ace-Hex banter, though, and Jon Glover goes delightfully over the top as Dr. Verryman — he’s probably the #1 reason to listen to this episode. Of course, when overacting is the biggest draw, you probably haven’t hit on a classic Doctor Who story… but hey, the score’s great.
4/10
CASUALTIES OF WAR
Wow, didn’t see this coming. After the first two plays, which were little more than slightly-confused traditional Doctor Who plots, Mark Michalowski’s “Casualties of War” (not to be confused with Steve Emmerson’s novel) blows the status quo right open. A small-time crook has been stealing technology from the World War II-era Forge, and the Doctor and companions become involved — the plot itself is relatively straightforward, with an uneasy, troubling resolution, but where this story shines is in its character work. Ace again encounters her young mother Audrey, this time as a toddler, and for the first time in dozens of BF appearances, struggles with her past — and Sophie Aldred turns in a fine performance, as this time we hear a more mature Ace minus the teenage volatility. A truth device, meanwhile, almost forces the Doctor to reveal to Hex the secret we’ve known since “Thicker Than Water” — but at the last minute he avoids the revelation. This had better come out in the next few McCoy audios: BF has an infuriating tendency to introduce plot threads and then leave them unresolved for years at a time, for no apparent reason. However, that takes nothing away from this story, which is excellent, and a masterclass in structuring drama to a 25 minute time limit. The best one-part BF story yet.
9/10
THE WORD LORD
…and this one’s just as good! Absolutely fascinating choice of villain, with a “Word Lord” (Paul Reynolds) introduced as a parallel universe equivalent of a Time Lord, dealing with language instead of time. Author Steven Hall expertly ties together the “45” motif from the preceding stories, and makes a smart, believable character out of Nobody No-One. Linda Marlowe is also very effective as Claire, using just a few lines to endear her character to the listener. Sophie Aldred goes a bit over the top in her TARDIS scene, but it’s understandable given Ace’s frustration. My only complaint is with the behavior of Nobody No-One himself: he’s not cruel enough. Psychopathic villains with a cheery exterior only work if they’re absolutely ruthless, and this one doesn’t go far enough. But that’s a relatively minor complaint about an otherwise excellent play.
9/10
Two average episodes followed by two absolute belters. “Forty-Five” is recommended on the strength of the latter two alone, though certainly nobody should be offended by the first two.
FORTY-FIVE
The forty-fifth anniversary of Doctor Who in November 2008 was a rather low-key affair when compared to its predecessors — but then that only makes sense, with a new series on television! Nonetheless, Big Finish produced another anniversary release: four one-part stories starring Sylvester McCoy, Sophie Aldred, and Philip Olivier. As I didn’t detect much of a linking theme, I am reviewing the four stories separately.
FALSE GODS
The first offering, Mark Morris’s “False Gods,” is fairly traditional in style, with a downbeat ending. Egyptian settings seem to lend themselves naturally to drama, especially when they involve the exploration of unearthed tombs. Benedict Cumberbatch features as legendary archaeologist Howard Carter, and things look like they’re heading toward a suitably Gothic outcome — but then suddenly the play takes a sharp right turn and then we’re talking about time travel and rogue Time Lords. This isn’t inherently bad, but it doesn’t come across in a particularly interesting way — until the twist ending, which is rather surprising. Sylvester McCoy sounds angrier here than in any other audio save perhaps “Death Comes to Time,” and he actually sells it convincingly. An average, unmemorable, start to the anthology.
5/10
ORDER OF SIMPLICITY
I’m not sure who author Nick Scovell is, but Google seems to indicate that he’s written some Doctor Who-based stage plays. Anyway, “Order of Simplicity” in a word: bizarre. Okay, so there’s a cult that believes that technology is the root of all evil facing the universe — this is fine, but their solution is to try to reduce the IQ of every sentient being in the universe to 45? That’s not just crazy, that’s tap-dancing on the ceiling making dolphin noises. The plot is muddled, and much like the above story the creepy country house setting is treated as perfunctory rather than essential. There’s some fun Ace-Hex banter, though, and Jon Glover goes delightfully over the top as Dr. Verryman — he’s probably the #1 reason to listen to this episode. Of course, when overacting is the biggest draw, you probably haven’t hit on a classic Doctor Who story… but hey, the score’s great.
4/10
CASUALTIES OF WAR
Wow, didn’t see this coming. After the first two plays, which were little more than slightly-confused traditional Doctor Who plots, Mark Michalowski’s “Casualties of War” (not to be confused with Steve Emmerson’s novel) blows the status quo right open. A small-time crook has been stealing technology from the World War II-era Forge, and the Doctor and companions become involved — the plot itself is relatively straightforward, with an uneasy, troubling resolution, but where this story shines is in its character work. Ace again encounters her young mother Audrey, this time as a toddler, and for the first time in dozens of BF appearances, struggles with her past — and Sophie Aldred turns in a fine performance, as this time we hear a more mature Ace minus the teenage volatility. A truth device, meanwhile, almost forces the Doctor to reveal to Hex the secret we’ve known since “Thicker Than Water” — but at the last minute he avoids the revelation. This had better come out in the next few McCoy audios: BF has an infuriating tendency to introduce plot threads and then leave them unresolved for years at a time, for no apparent reason. However, that takes nothing away from this story, which is excellent, and a masterclass in structuring drama to a 25 minute time limit. The best one-part BF story yet.
9/10
THE WORD LORD
…and this one’s just as good! Absolutely fascinating choice of villain, with a “Word Lord” (Paul Reynolds) introduced as a parallel universe equivalent of a Time Lord, dealing with language instead of time. Author Steven Hall expertly ties together the “45” motif from the preceding stories, and makes a smart, believable character out of Nobody No-One. Linda Marlowe is also very effective as Claire, using just a few lines to endear her character to the listener. Sophie Aldred goes a bit over the top in her TARDIS scene, but it’s understandable given Ace’s frustration. My only complaint is with the behavior of Nobody No-One himself: he’s not cruel enough. Psychopathic villains with a cheery exterior only work if they’re absolutely ruthless, and this one doesn’t go far enough. But that’s a relatively minor complaint about an otherwise excellent play.
9/10
Two average episodes followed by two absolute belters. “Forty-Five” is recommended on the strength of the latter two alone, though certainly nobody should be offended by the first two.
Average score: 6.75, rounded up to 7/10