thatonestoreguy

[thatonestoreguy]

The Silurian Candidate

The Seventh Doctor lands the TARDIS in China, 2085, to take care of some minor business. Mel is happy to let him go off alone, but Ace knows better than to trust the Doctor when it comes to "minor unfinished business." Ace is of course correct, as soon the crew is wrapped up in a globe spanning adventure.

This adventure serves in part as a direct sequel to the Fifth Doctor TV story Warriors of the Deep. That adventure took place in 2084 and featured the world divided into two power blocs on the brink of nuclear war. It also featured the Silurians trying to exacerbate that war for their own ends. This adventure pics up both of those threads and runs with them. We’re introduced to the two power blocs leaders who are now on the brink of peace, but we are also introduced to the triumvirate rulers of the Silurians who are not ready to give up after a single failure. It takes a while there, but the political tension aspect of the original story is really dialed up here by the time we get to the peace conference and realize just how close the Silurians are to victory. The Doctor is of course the wrench in everyone’s plans, but just which side he's on is a debate throughout the adventure. As we’ve seen with this particular TARDIS crew before, Mel and Ace aren’t in agreement on which way the Doctor is likely to go. It’s like the two versions of the Doctor from their respective tenures on the show are competing and it’s never clear which one will show up this week.

The Silurians themselves are of course a classic enemy, but this adventure tries to complicate their image. It’s clear not just from the box art but from lines in the audio that these are the original three-eyed classic series Silurians, but the adventure aims to give them some of the new series' nuance. Unlike most Doctor Who monsters, the Silurians are not invaders. They are Earthlings as much as humans are and have just as much of a right to the planet. Of course it’s easy to hate them since they’re often working towards evil ends like destroying life on the surface. Here though we get the idea that each Silurian is as much their own person capable of good and evil as any human character would be. It makes them more than just a faceless threat to be defeated. In fact, it even raises the question: should the Doctor step in, and if he does, should it necessarily be on the side of humanity?

Even with a relatively small cast, this feels like a big adventure. There’s a lot to like here for fans of James Bond style spy thrillers and for fans of classic Doctor Who monsters. 

[thatonestoreguy]

The Blood Furnace

The Seventh Doctor, Mel, and Ace visit Northern England in 1991. The shipyards are all closed down except for one. The Dark Alloy Corporation have miraculously kept the doors open and the workers employed, but who are the Corporation’s mysterious benefactors and what personal connection could the company have to Mel?

This is another in Big Finish’s catalog of adventures that flesh out classic companions’ home lives. In this case, in the form of an old romantic partner from Mel’s college days. It’s also one of those stories that functions as a historical story even though it is in fact contemporary to the characters. Liverpool in the early 1990s is an area in an economic downturn, but Mel’s old friend Stuart wants to turn that around with his mysterious metal and even more mysterious benefactors. He also wants to bring Mel on to modernize the whole operation with brand new computers. It’s a tempting offer which adds some narrative stake to the story since this is still a Mel post her television stories and she could leave the TARDIS if she wanted.

Unfortunately, Stuart’s benefactories stand in the way of his offer due to their absolute insistence that no computers be used. It’s an odd request and they are an odd bunch. It’s no surprise they are the alien threat in this particular episode, but they do have some very unexpected methods. The whole adventure takes a turn into the macabre as the evocative title suggests. These aliens aren’t your standard invaders. They use blood magic and spells which might have a sci-fi explantation, but it’s more of a handwave. It’s a style of Doctor Who villain we’ve been treated to a few times. Most notably during the most recent run of the Fifteenth Doctor. This adventure plays into the idea which really twists the story in a few different directions.

The setting and personal connection to a companion really elevate this audio. Add an interesting and somewhat unique threat, and this is a fun and exciting listen.

[thatonestoreguy]

The High Price of Parking

The Seventh Doctor, Mel, and Ace are off to the beautiful planet Dashrah. Outside ships are strictly prohibitive, so they’ll need a place to stash the TARDIS. Lucky for them, the artificial planetoid known as Parking was designed for just that. What should be a quick pit stop escalates as events on the planetoid threaten the whole galaxy.

Doctor Who sure does love its cargo cults. This one is an interesting take on the common adventure set up. While it’s true the whole planet is one big car park, it’s also not fallen into barbarism quite yet and is still functioning mostly as intended. Even the locals, the Free Parkers who live on the fringes, are aware the planet is artificial. They just also forgot where they parked and have been trapped there for generations. The fact the structure of the planet is only starting to erode is the thrust of the whole adventure. Take off accidents are increasing and the Wardens who run the place don’t know why it’s happening or how to stop it before the reputation of Parking is ruined. Enter the TARDIS crew, who always serve as useful scapegoats in these sorts of situations. I think the adventure really does a great job digging into this setting and exploring it from many different angels. We never even see Dashrah, the planet this whole planetoid is apparently in service to, because we’re too busy exploring Parking.

Outside of its setting, the adventure itself involves a lot of hallmarks of a classic Doctor Who story. The TARDIS crew are falsely accused of a crime. There’s a secret war between different factions the crew end up in the middle of. And most importantly, there’s a secret threat beneath the surface the Doctor must uncover before it’s too late. The audio isn’t doing anything revolutionary with its structure, but what it does do it does well. The stakes get steadily raised over the course of the story and the solutions and reveals all make sense. Nothing comes out of nowhere and everything clicks together rather nicely by the end. 

A very fun setting makes for a fun if somewhat standard adventure. This particular team continues to be entertaining and highlight all the various sides of the Seventh Doctor. 

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Shadow Planet / World Apart

Ace and Hex want a break from the Seventh Doctor’s usual schemes. They decide to head to the relaxation planet of Unity where a cutting edge combination of psychic energy, technology, and Jungian psychology promise to make you a better you. Of course, nothing is that simple.

This adventure puts a sci-fi spin on the Jungian concept of the shadow self. To put it simply, the shadow self is essentially the hidden and dark part of your personality. It's the part of yourself that you find unappealing and repress. On Unity, they can separate that part of yourself out of you, allowing you to confront it. When the TARDIS crew arrive, things quickly get out of hand. Shadow self versions of the characters start running around as the planet cracks under the pressure the locals are putting on it. This setup could lead to long and deep emotional conversations, but the shorter run time means there isn’t a lot of time for that. Still, the audio does allow for a character study of our main trio while still being a big fun adventure.

More time might have allowed for the more psychological aspects of the story to breathe, but the audio still allows some character work between the action. It’s a novel concept and a fun story.

World Apart

The Doctor, Ace, and Hex find themselves on a planet that shouldn’t be there. The alien world of Nirvana appears out of nowhere leading the crew to investigate. Just as things start looking grim, the planet disappears and takes Ace and Hex with it.

The last story only touched on the idea of character study. This one is a full blown exploration of the characters and their relationships. I’m reminded of Protect and Survive, another story where Ace and Hex were separated from the Doctor. This story isn’t as dark as that one, but only by virtue of that being one of the darkest Doctor Who stories on record. The situation Ace and Hex find themselves in is very dire and it allows the story to shine a spotlight on not only their relationship with each other, but also their relationship with the Doctor. Ace has absolute faith in the Doctor, while Hex isn’t so trusting. The audio also slots in during an interesting time in these companions' journeys. It’s still early enough that Hex is actively crushing on Ace, but not late enough that the Doctor’s secrets about Hex’s background have been uncovered. It allows for more drama and adds an extra layer for listeners who have already heard the later parts of this companion’s story.

This audio really highlights how these shorter stories can still do a deep character study. I never felt that the story felt rushed in any way. The writing was excellent and really captured these characters at this specific time. Overall, this single adventure is probably my favorite out of the whole trilogy. 

[thatonestoreguy]

Vortex Ice / Cortex Fire

The Sixth Doctor and Flip follow a strange energy reading to a cave 700 feet underground. They’re not the only ones who’ve picked up on the exotic particles though and a team of scientists have also made the difficult climb down. No one is prepared for what they’ll find in the strange crystals below.

This is a classic monster story with a twist. The energy readings the Doctor is picking up are linked to the Vortex and a creature from the Vortex has similarly been trapped down here. The creature awakens and it’s a race to survive for the science team and our regular cast, but the twist is that the monster wasn’t the only one frozen. Flip and the Doctor are also frozen in the ice, but they haven’t yet been frozen when they arrive to investigate. This twist adds a neat time travel aspect to the story and also gives Flip a huge moral dilemma to deal with. It gets a bit complicated to follow at times, but basically Flip ends up in a position the Doctor often finds himself in. Flip needs to ensure that events unfold as they are meant to, even if that means knowing that some people will die. 

This adventure benefits from the faster pace of these hour long stories. It doesn’t waste any time and really hones in on the single focus on Flip and the conundrum she finds herself in. It’s a story that really benefits from a relisten after you have all the details.

Cortex Fire

The Doctor brings Flip to the planet Festin to watch a rare astronomical event. They quickly get accused of a string of strange terror attacks. The truth is there is no terror group staging these attacks, the people of Festin are simply exploding.

This is a much more straight-foward adventure after the last one. Once again, the shorter format leads to a more breakneck pace, but it still manages to build up a few side characters and create a compelling mystery. Without just spoiling the whole adventure, there isn’t that much to talk about with this one. It features a neat sci-fi world and has a neat sci-fi solution to the problem presented. It doesn’t ever get very deep, but it’s entertaining all the same.

This is the lightest adventure I’ve reviewed in quite awhile. Still, it’s a great listen and I don’t think you’ll regret the hour you spend with it. Just don’t go in expecting big themes or deep character studies.

[thatonestoreguy]

Alien Heart / Dalek Soul

The Fifth Doctor and Nyssa are following a trail of destroyed worlds leading towards the developing world of Traxana. There they find an alien outpost on the planet's moon and a deepening mystery tied to the Doctor’s greatest foe.

This is the first of a series of audios that are really two stories bundled together. This essentially produces two hour-long episodes bringing it more in line with Doctor Who post 2005. This first adventure does a good job of highlighting the benefits of the shift. The story is very focused around the central mystery of what is going on and each scene brings us closer to the answers while upping the tension. The pace isn’t as nonstop as some longer stories I’ve listened to, but scenes never overstay their welcome either. The story is also helped in this regard by having a very tight cast so the adventure doesn’t need to flush out a lot of different characters.

I found this story really fun. It’s very exciting and fast, but it isn’t action packed. The story just moves at a quick pace and cuts out all the chaff. It’s a great story to start this trilogy and showcases the pros of the format shift.

Dalek Soul

On the Dalek occupied planet of Mojox, Nyssa works for her Dalek masters to perfect a deadly virus. Meanwhile, the Doctor leads a group of rebels straight into a Dalek trap. What has caused the Doctor and his companion to willingly cooperate with their greatest enemies and is there anything left of their souls?

This story is a great contrast to the previous one in this duology. The last adventure was just that, a fun adventure. This story though is a lot slower and a lot more focused on the characters then on the action. The mystery here is what happened to make Nyssa and the Doctor suddenly so different. It’s a very interesting choice for a second adventure, because these are not quite the character’s we know. They don’t act like the Doctor and Nyssa anyway even if there is a little of them still there. It does showcase though how the shorter episode runtime doesn’t mean you can’t do a thoughtful and slower paced story.

Even though the last adventure leads directly into this one, it’s a big tonal whiplash. It’s a dark and slow story in contrast to the faster-paced and classic sci-fi romp of the first one. It definitely goes to show the range of stories that Doctor Who can tell.

[thatonestoreguy]

Zaltys

After a psychic assault on the Tardis, first Adric and then Tegan are abducted, leading the Fifth Doctor and Nyssa to the technicolor planet Zaltys. The isolationist population of the planet have seemingly all vanished and the Doctor and his scattered crew are on a tight time table to find out why. Extinction is on its way to Zaltys.

This adventure has some fun with a Hammer Horror slate of characters. Adric finds himself underground where the population of Zaltys are mostly frozen in anticipation of a coming disaster. They are watched over by a few Zaltians and a wolfman. Meanwhile, in space, Tegan is trapped on a ship with a fish-person while being hunted by vampires. Of course, each one of these classic monsters have a slight twist. The wolfman is both psychic and incredibly friendly. He’s there to protect the people of Zaltys even if they hate him for being an alien. The gill-woman is also Tegans only friend as the vampires hunt her for entertainment on their dark tomb ship. The vampires are played the straightest. They are the existential threat coming to bring destruction to Zaltys and to the TARDIS crew, but just why and how is a mystery the crew will have to get to the bottom of if they have any hope of surviving.

The TARDIS team is separated pretty early in this adventure and remains so for the majority of it. While this means we don’t get to hear them interacting very much, it also means we get to see this problem from a lot of different angels. No one has all the information the listener does until quite late in the story, allowing them to figure things out just a little bit before the characters themselves do. This dramatic irony helps to build a sense of dread which adds to the creepiness of the story. Tegan’s time on the vampires’ ship is particularly intense. The scenes demonstrate how tough and tenacious she can be. For an adventure with a lot of classic horror monsters, it isn’t particularly scary most of the time except when it cuts to Tegan and her quest to survive on her own. 

This is a very big story with a lot of moving parts that really work well together. It manages to give all three companions something interesting to do while still building out a complete world and problem for the Doctor to solve. 

[thatonestoreguy]

The Contingency Club

In yet another failed attempt to get to Heathrow Airport, the Fifth Doctor, Adric, Nyssa, and Tegan instead find themselves in 19th century London in the heart of clubland. Anyone who’s anyone is a member of a gentleman’s club and the newest most exclusive club is the Contingency Club. Except the Contingency is hiding quite a lot behind its walls. An army of identical servants, a Red Queen lurking in a secret galley, not to mention the bombs in the basement. 

Victorian London is a favorite setting for Doctor Who. What set’s this story apart, is that it drives down onto a single aspect of the culture of the time. Gentlemen clubs continue to exist in London’s West End today, but there is no doubt that the mid 1800s was the height of clubs in London. If you were a gentleman, you had to be in a club. This adventure takes the idea of the club and twists it into the setting for a madcap adventure. From the second the crew land inside the Contingency Club it’s clear something is very wrong. First, the TARDIS almost completely powers down and then Nyssa and Tegan’s appearance doesn’t seem to bother anyone in the strictly men only space. It becomes clear very quickly that the members of this particular club are completely inoculated against noticing any of the oddities of the Contingency Club, and if the crew has any hope of reactivating the TARDIS and getting out of here, they’ll need to figure out why.

This adventure really uses its setting and cast to their full extent. First the regular’s really get to bounce off each other in almost every configuration. We get a real feel for the dynamics of this particular TARDIS crew as they split up and come back together to investigate London. While the story takes place almost entirely in and around the titular club, we also get to see the construction of the first underground train railway and dig a little into the current cultural fascination with mysticism. The guest cast is also excellent this time. There’s really only three main characters outside of our regular TARDIS crew. The focus on a smaller cast lets the actors really dig into their parts while still allowing time for some fun side characters like a recurring hansom cab driver and the army of cloned servants. The servants even manage to bring some real pathos to the final act of the adventure. Altogether, though its cast and setting are narrow, the adventure really feels like a fully realized world.

I enjoyed this story a great deal. It’s funny, it bounces along at a nice clip, and above all it features a fun and interesting setting. The choice to explore just a single aspect of established history really grounds the setting. By limiting its field of view, the story doesn’t try to pack in too much and capture the whole of Victorian England and in doing so it captures the spirit of that time instead.

[thatonestoreguy]

The Star Men

The Fifth Doctor, Adric, Nyssa, and Tegan travel to Gallis Ultima, so Adric can brush up on his astronomical navigation. GU is a 53rd century research base where the first human intergalactic flight is meant to take place. Except, the test flight of the Johannes Kepler has gone terribly awry and the damaged ship is now hurtling towards the base with no sign of life on board. Time is being altered and the Doctor must find a way to set things right before it’s too late.

Matthew Waterhouse appears as Adric here for the first time in Big Finish's Main Range. Waterhouse returned as Adric a few years earlier in what at the time seemed to be a one off special box set. Waterhouse was hesitant to come back to Doctor Who which isn’t a surprise. The character of Adric was much maligned by the fans during his tenure, but more so, Waterhouse worried he wouldn’t be able to capture the character he had last regularly played when he was only in his early 20s. There is no disguising that his voice has changed, but he does do a great job of capturing the Adric's energy. The story puts Adric front and center and really highlights his character without smoothing over the rough edges. Adric can still be stubborn and bratty at times, but he’s also smart and brave. It’s a character I look forward to seeing more of, knowing how good Big Finish is at rehabilitating “problem characters.”

The adventure itself is quite the space opera. The mysterious Star Men are invaders with seemingly endless amounts of power at their disposal and a thirst for new star systems to conquer. The staff at Gallis Ultima are ill equipped to fend them off themselves, so it’s lucky the Doctor arrives to provide aid. What follows sees the crew split up between different planets, different galaxies, and even different dimensions, but still somehow work together to stop the Star Men and get time back on track. While Adric might be the central character of the story, he hardly overshadows anyone else. Once the adventure gets going it really has a breakneck pace right up till the conclusion. 

This story is both a great showcase for the return of Adric, and just generally an intense and exciting adventure. I’m glad that Matthew Waterhouse’s turn in The Fifth Doctor Box Set was successful enough for him to decide to return more regularly. I look forward to more of his appearances yet to come.

[thatonestoreguy]

Quicksilver

The Sixth Doctor attempts to drop Constance off back in 1944, but their parting is interrupted twice over. First by an overdue letter Constance receives regarding her husband Henry Clarke, and secondly when the Doctor is beseech by a refugee of an alien war. The duo put their goodbyes on hold and soon find themselves in post-war Vienna where both mysteries will collide and an unexpected old friend of the Doctor’s is waiting. 

Much like in Constance’s debut adventure Criss-Cross, the events of the Second World War are contrasted against an alien war. In this case, the setting is a Vienna where different portions of the city are controlled by different allied forces highlighting the very beginnings of the Cold War. The alien’s meanwhile are two warring factions where the losing side believes they can turn the tide with one desperate push and they are willing to put the lives of everyone on Earth at risk to do so. It’s an setup that’s rife with opportunity for tension and emotion and the audio takes full advantage of it for just that. Mr. Clarke has been keeping more than just military secrets. Constance’s confrontation with him makes up the bulk of the emotional weight of the episode and is handled very well. There’s a dash of comedy, but for the most part it is played for drama and ultimately gives closure to the character of Constance and opens her up for a fresh start and more journeys in the TARDIS. Constance won’t be alone on those journeys either.

This adventure also sees the return of Flip Jackson last seen way back in Scavengers. Flip is kidnapped on her wedding night by aliens who seek out a former companion of the Doctor for leverage. Flip left a lot of loose ends and while her departure from the Doctor was mutual, it’s clear she hasn’t exactly been thrilled by her return to normal life. The conflicting emotions Flip is feeling at the beginning of her marriage contrast very interestingly with the emotions Constance is feeling at the end of her own marriage. Indeed, the adventure spends a lot of time contrasting Constance and Flip. Constance is a little older, wiser, and more sure of herself while Flip is more headstrong, brash, and willing to take risks. Flip is also a more contemporaneous character being from 2012 which means her idea of what is polite or proper is very different from Constance’s. Despite all of these differences, after a brief bit of conflict born of a misunderstanding, Constance and Flip get along quite well. They feel like sisters in a way. While they might be put off by each other’s differences sometimes, they both can rise to the occasion when called on and will both do the right thing when the time comes.

This is a very big adventure for the character of Constance Clarke and really for the whole Sixth Doctor line at Big Finish. It creates a new status quo for the character of Constance and introduces us to a new TARDIS team that I am very interested to hear more of. On top of all that, it’s just a really exciting and well written adventure with a great guest cast. You really can’t expect more from Big Finish.

[thatonestoreguy]

Absolute Power

The Sixth Doctor and Constance find themselves among the ruins of the lost civilization of the planet Teymah. Two thousand years ago, the population of Teymah was wiped out in an AELE: an Anomalous Extinction Level Event. The Doctor and Constance aren’t the only ones on Teymah though. The rich entrepreneur Lyam Yce is funding a huge archeological dig on the planet, but he’s definitely looking for more than just some ancient relics. He’s seeking absolute power.

This adventure has a lot going on. There’s ancient ruins, spycraft, and a strange alien threat. In particular, this adventure really serves to showcase Constance. I mentioned spycraft, which we know Constance has experience in, but where she really shines is in her skills as a cryptography. The native Teymahian script is difficult for the TARDIS to translate since the last speaker of it died so many centuries before. So it becomes a sort of puzzle for Constance to solve instead. The clues she discovers serve as an early warning about the alien threat buried on Teymah. Constance is aided by Ammar Elkady, an associate of Lyam Yce who offers to show Constance and the Doctor around when they initally pose as academics. Ammar clearly has an immediate affection for Constance and it creates a great tension which allows us insight into the trouble in Constance’s marriage. Ammar ends up serving as a sort of companion alongside Constance, but the unresolved connection between them keeps Ammar out of the TARDIS. 

Besides highlighting Miranda Raison’s acting ability, the adventure has a lot more to say. This story touches on a lot of different subjects. There’s a criticism of corporate greed over historical and cultural preservation not to mention questions about the morals of genocide and the strength of empathy. The adventure jumps around a lot and has a lot of plates spinning by the midpoint. Miraculously, it doesn’t let any of them break. Everything moves at a natural pace and even though there are many twists and complications, the audio doesn’t short change any of its various plot points. It doesn’t necessarily say or do anything new for Doctor Who. At its core, this is a pretty standard adventure. However, it does everything very well and pulls you in for the ride.

This is a great adventure with some amazing character work. While it doesn’t break new ground, it is more than just light entertainment. It also ends with a great cliffhanger to lead into the final adventure in this trilogy.

[thatonestoreguy]

Order of the Daleks

The Sixth Doctor and Constance arrive on the planet Strellin to visit the reclusive montasic Brotherhood of the Black Petal. It seems their plans might be ruined by two agents of the Galactic Census who quickly find and scold the TARDIS crew for violating the Census's non-interference policy. Little do they know, they have far greater problems on the quiet planet of Strellin. The brothers of the Black Petal have new leadership: The Daleks!

As the title gives away, this is a Dalek story, but as the cover gives away, this is a very unusual Dalek story. The Daleks have crashed on this pre-industrial planet and immediately taken advantage of the devout monks who tried to help them. They’ve not only forced them to build them new casings, but it’s clear they have far deadlier plans. It’s a fascinating setting for a Dalek story. We meet a number of the brothers as well and they prove to be more complex characters than you might expect. There is resistance to the new Dalek masters, but the Daleks have a dark influence over the monks linked to the secret at the heart of their whole order. The Doctor and his new census taker friends certainly couldn’t begin to suspect just how dangerous a situation they’re walking into.

The way this story treats the Daleks is very interesting. Constance, who’s never met these iconic Doctor Who monsters, initially finds them strange and oddly beautiful. Certainly, the Dalek’s stained glass appearance in this adventure is not the standard, but they also lack the overwhelming strength they’re known for. The Daleks here barely survived their crash and are reduced to very little power. It allows the story to showcase some often forgetting or ignored dalek abilities, but also to demonstrate the Dalek’s cunning. It also helps to have characters in the form of the two operatives of the Galactic Census who can immediately recognize just how terrifying the mere presence of the Daleks is and act accordingly. Really, the supporting cast knocked it out of the park all around in this one, including, as always, the superb Dalek work of Nicholas Briggs.

This is a fantastic Dalek story which is elevated by its unique setting and a very game cast. It manages to do something new with the Daleks while still staying true to what makes the monsters iconic. 

[thatonestoreguy]

The Memory Bank and Other Stories

Turlough would like a nice quiet place to do some art, but the TARDIS has other ideas. Instead, the Fifth Doctor and Turlough are thrown into a series of adventures throughout time and space.

The anthology begins with the titular story, “The Memory Bank”. On a planet where being forgotten means you cease to exist, the Memory Bank offers people a way to avoid this fate. Turlough is very quickly thrust into the role of the Bank’s archivist, while the Doctor travels around the planet trying to get to the bottom of things. The story has a very interesting conceit that could be expanded into a longer adventure. As it is, this story crams all the standard aspects of an adventure into its shorter runtime, but doesn’t ever feel rushed. It could add more twists or complications in order to have more time to explore, but as it is, it's a fast paced but satisfying story.

In “The Last Fairy Tale”, the Doctor and Turlough find themselves in the middle ages to witness the last coming of the Storyteller. This one is very satirical in nature. The setting is never truly defined as a real time or place. It reads rather more like the fantasized version of medieval europe from fairy tales than anything like reality. Indeed, the line between the story and reality becomes even less clear by the end. I’m not sure this story will be everyone’s cup of tea, as it doesn’t seem to have much interest in really explaining anything so much as in the joy of simply telling the story.

Then in “Repeat Offender”, the Doctor and Turlough have just prevented the latest in a string of serial murders in 22nd century Reykjavik. Unfortunately, it appears to everyone else that they are the real criminals and they're going to need to act quickly if they want to capture the real perpetrator before they're locked up or worse. This story very much feels like the end of a longer adventure. We join the Doctor and Turlough in media res, as they believe they’ve reached the end of their quest to stop these murders. Instead, the Doctor is forced to think on his feet and piece together the final bits of the puzzle while being held at gunpoint by the police. It’s a story that manages to have a number of twists and turns and even some nice social commentary all in a very short period of time. 

Finally, in “The Becoming”, The Doctor and Turlough aid a young woman on a strange alien quest that they do not fully understand. On a planet very much unlike our own, the Doctor comes across Waywalker, a woman on a quest that all her people undertake when they come of age. The strangeness of the setting and characters are really interesting in this story and the Doctor and Turlough feel as much like observers as the audience. While the story seems like it will leave us unsure of all the details, it does manage to squeeze in one last second twist that colours all that came before. The adventure leaves some things unresolved in the end, but in a way that makes you understand that sometimes things can’t be understood (or fixed) easily.

Overall, I really enjoyed this anthology. I feel the second story is the weakest one, but even that one is fun in its own way. I like it when an anthology has an overarching theme and the pretty loose conceit of Turlough looking for a place to draw is fully abandoned halfway through. Still, those last two stories are probably the strongest overall, so I’d rather that than something thinly sketched. 

[thatonestoreguy]

Maker of Demons

The Seventh Doctor, Mel, and Ace make a rare return visit. Long ago, the Doctor and Mel brokered peace between the human settlers of the colony ship The Duke of Milan and the local mole-like Mogera of the planet Prosper. Upon their return, they expect to find a thieving society built on unity, but instead they find a warzone and it’s all the Doctor’s fault.

This story begins by highlighting the difference of the Seventh Doctor at the beginning and the end of his tenure. In the brief clip we get of the Doctor and Mel’s first visit, the Doctor is energetic and gleeful. He even plays the spoons! But when the adventure proper begins he spends most of it brooding. Ace is quickly captured by the now monstrous Mogera and it seems like a whole century of fighting was because of the Doctor’s own carelessness. We as the listener know fairly early that the Doctor isn’t really to blame, but that truth isn’t obvious to anyone until a fair deal into the adventure. When the inconsistencies in the settlers' story start to reveal themselves, then the mystery begins to come together, though the actual reason why is more complicated than it at first seems.

The setting takes a lot of inspiration from The Tempest. The Doctor explains that all style and fashion is circular, and so even though these human settlers have highly advanced technology, everything looks and everyone dresses like it's the 17th century. The story gets a little bit of comedy from this and that aspect of tone is an interesting one here. The story can be rather satirical at times, while at other times it is deadly serious. The idea of whether or not the Doctor’s methods of popping in to solve some societal issue and then popping out again is actually effective is an interesting one. Even if the events of the story aren’t as much the Doctor’s fault as we are lead to believe, he does hold some responsibility for abandoning these people to their own devices. While the final installment hammers these points home, I feel the humor at times undercuts the message. I’m not saying there isn’t any place for a comedic moment in an otherwise serious story, but this one feels like it flip-flops between extremes too often.

Overall, I did actually enjoy this story. I really enjoyed the bits with Ace and her Mogera capturer and felt the concept and final chapter were really well done. I just feel it could have been great if they explored the natural tension of the Doctor’s guilt more rather than trying to relieve that tension quite so much

[thatonestoreguy]

Fiesta of the Damned

The Seventh Doctor takes Mel and Ace to get “a taste of the real Spain." He of course lands at the worst possible time, 1938, the Spanish Civil War. Instead of beaches and sun, the crew is running from Franco’s bombs with Republic soldiers. However, it’s what the bombs reveal buried deep in the Earth that threatens all life everywhere.

Mel’s return to the Tardis dives right into a very traditional Doctor Who story. The Doctor and his companions find themselves in a specific time and place facing down an alien threat. What makes this adventure special is how it chooses to explore its setting. The end of the Spanish Civil War is given lots of time to be explored before the sci-fi aspects become central. The Doctor knows the whole history, and he knows the fascists are set to win and the Republic soldiers the crew find themselves with are already in a losing retreat. It’s a setting that seems rather hopeless at first, but the story does a good job of reminding us that even when there isn’t any hope, that doesn’t mean there can’t be good people and kindness. Even the Doctor needs this reminder occasionally.

The alien threat that comes doesn’t feel like it gets in the way of the more historical parts of the adventure either. It’s an interesting threat since it starts very slow. The Doctor knows this is an existential threat to the whole universe, but it’s also not functioning at full power. Rather than jumping in over his head and struggling to get out, instead the Doctor starts in a realtively comfortable place. The issue is that all the easy answers are slowly striped away due to circumstance or just bad timing. By the end, it really does feel rather hopeless and like all means are exhaustive. However, with some very clever twists the adventure manages to pull everything together into a neat bow that solves the problem at the last possible second. 

This is a very fun adventure that serves its regular and guest cast rather well. The setting adds a fascinating layer to events, but doesn’t get in the way of an interesting alien threat and vise versa. 

[thatonestoreguy]

A Life of Crime

Mel Bush arrives on the planet Ricosta, a haven for space criminals. She’s on the run and the last person she expects to bump into is the Doctor. Meanwhile, shortly before Mel’s arrival, the Seventh Doctor and Ace arrive on Ricosta looking for trouble. In a place like Ricosta, they’re sure to find it.

This adventure begins as a heist. Even when it develops into a full planet-wide apocalypse and then dives into some time travel shenanigans, it still maintains the feel of a classic heist movie. Part of that is achieved through the great guest cast. They could be nothing more than stock characters, but their performers really breathe life into them and the twists that come in the later part of the story wouldn’t be impactful if we didn’t care about these people. Another great aspect is the setting. Ricosta is a space Costa del Crime. It’s a semi-tropical getaway for those with spotty pasts to “retire” even as they continue to commit crimes elsewhere. Of course, these criminals are more than happy to commit crimes right here which upsets the delicate balance. It’s a very fun place to set a Doctor Who story.

Of course, the main thrust of the story is the reuniting of Mel with the Doctor and Ace. Mel left the TARDIS in the same serial that introduced Ace, Dragonfire. In that story, Mel left with the roguish Sabalom Glitz. It seemed like she would keep adventuring and maybe be a good influence on Glitz. This adventure presupposes that instead Glitz has been a bad influence on her. That question of just how much Mel has changed since she last left the TARDIS is a huge question. It’s also highlighted by how much Ace and the Doctor have changed in the same period. When they last met, Ace was a teen way over her head and Mel was the experienced companion. Exactly how much time has passed for Ace is vague, but by now she might be the most experienced companion in the whole of Doctor Who and she’s leap-froged over Mel. The uncertainty of just what sort of role Mel is going to play adds to the heist film feel of the story. Double crosses and unclear allegiances are staples of the genre after all.

This is a really interesting way to reintroduce a companion. It creates a new dynamic in the TARDIS with characters that only briefly came together before in the transition. Now, they have lots of time to really explore how these characters interact. If it continues being this fun, then it’s going to be fantastic TARDIS team

[thatonestoreguy]

The Two Masters

Time is very sick and the Master is the disease. Not just one Master either, but two different incarnations in conflict with each other. Into this all stumbles the Seventh Doctor. While investigating missing moments in time, he finds himself instead in the middle of the Masters’ war. Soon he will discover, the only thing worse than two Masters at war is two Masters united.

The story begins with the Geoffrey Beevers incarnation of the Master essentially kidnapping the Doctor to aid him in his mission to take on the Alex Macqueen incarnation. We get some flashbacks to explain where this hostility is coming from and explain away what might feel like inconsistencies in this and the previous two adventures. There’s an ancient cult with Gallifreyan origins whose goal is to regenerate the universe. The Master (that is to say Macqueen’s Master) makes a deal with this cult to aid them in their mission provided they ensure the universe regenerates in his image. They agree with just one request, the Master must kill himself. So begins a twisting series of double- and triple-crosses as the cult manipulates the two Masters. First, the Macqueen Master causes the Beever’s Master's accident which leaves him burnt and decaying. Then the cult swaps the Masters’ minds and sends them on their way to act as the catalyst for their scheme. It’s complicated and full of backstabbing as any good Master story should be. The cult also adds a nice third party for the Masters and the Doctor to play off of as both allies and adversaries.

Beevers and Macqueen both do an amazing job with their respective Masters. Both not only play themselves, but also play each other in a very fun way. It’s great to hear Macqueen be creepy and conniving and to hear Beevers be manic and unhinged. Beevers even gets to very briefly play a pre-accident version of his own Master. He does just enough with it to suggest he could have been very different if he didn’t spend most of his existence trying to extend his life. Of course this is still Doctor Who and Slyvester McCoy is a fantastic choice to take on these two versions of his greatest enemy. He starts off without a clue as to what’s going on, but this version of the Doctor is just as good at scheming and playing both sides as any version of the Master. By the end, he’s managed to orchestrate everything to defeat them both and set the universe right in a very satisfying way.

This is actually the very first performed multi-Master story. At the time, it was a big task for Big Finish to put together and I think they’ve done an extraordinary job. They’ve managed to tell a complete and interesting story while highlighting not only what makes two versions of the same character different, but what makes them the same. It does everything a great multi-Doctor story does, but with a lot more schemes and inevitable betrayal.