Planet Mondas

I like character development, that’s why I am such a fan of “new” Doctor Who. The characters are so much more real than in the classic series, when, with the best will in the world, many were just ciphers to forward the plot onwards, luckily this has been redeemed by Big Finish with the Companion Chronicles, actors have been given the chance to play the characters that could have been on screen had there been the will back in the classic era.

Of all the characters to be developed by Big Finish, the biggest journey we have seen (or heard) is for the Eighth Doctor. From just over an hour of TV time, Big Finish have taken our floppy haired frock coated fop, put him through the emotional wringer, stood back and waited to see what emerged the other side – and what emerged was the Eighth Doctor of Dark Eyes, stripped down, shorn of his foppish hair, a man on a mission with a hard edge and a determination brought about by the realisation that the horror and evil in the universe MUST be dealt with. Gone are the soft frothy adventures, Dark Eyes has brought us almost a new man, forged from death and loss.

In Night of the Doctor we saw an Eighth Doctor unwilling to take part in the time war, but trying to help on the periphery, Dark Eyes sees an Eighth Doctor who has, for want of a better description “learned to stop worrying and love the bomb”, he’s almost the warrior Doctor he couldn’t quite bring himself to be for the time war.

So, Dark Eyes 3. It’s the Doctor versus the Master set against the backdrop of the Eminence War – for those of you unfamiliar with the Eminence, essential listening is Dark Eyes 2, Destroy the Infinite and The Seeds of War. A potted history, the Eminence is an omnipotent sentient gas, if breathed in the breather takes “the breath of forever” and is transformed into an infinite warrior in the service of the Eminence, and these infinite armies are waging a long protracted war against Earth alliance.

As with the previous Dark Eyes releases this takes place over four stories in a box set.

The Master, as in Dark Eyes 2 is played with camp menacing relish by Alexander Macqueen, his plan is as convoluted as ever, involving using Molly O’Sullivan (she of the Dark Eyes) genetically engineered resistance to the Eminence to spread an anti Eminence vaccination which can be used to him to exert control over humanity. Confused? I was too.
This is a very very in depth story with many twists and turns bluffs and counter bluffs.

Part 1 The Death of Hope is the set up – The Master rides into a frontier town where the remaining residents are tricked into receiving the Eminence vaccinate from Molly, the Master’s actions convince The Doctor to get involved and in Part 2, The Reviled, the Doctor meets up with old friend Liv Chenka (Nicola Walker) in a refugee camp for displaced humans, this is a really grim chapter, in fact the whole story has a grim doom laden hopeless atmosphere, events in his story convince The Doctor to try to prevent the creation of The Eminence, leading to part 3 – Masterplan, my personal favourite of the set. There are lots of great character pieces including a two-hander between The Doctor and the Master whilst trapped in a crashing ship, and Part 4, Rule of the Eminence, brings the set to a close and is suitably epic, with the Master’s plan coming to fruition, his willing army of humans about to wage war on the cosmos, and with an ally in the Eminence, things seem hopeless.

The ending is suitably downbeat and melancholic, very much in keeping with the tone of the whole set, and with Dark Eyes 4 ending the series in March next year, all bets really are off as to what happens next.

It’s the sort of set I appreciated more than enjoyed, all involved act their socks off, but special plaudits to Alex Macqueen as the Master, a sneering little bully who delights in petty cruelty because he can, and Nicola Walker as Liv Chenka, world weary and wise – and of course Paul McGann as the Eighth Doctor, a Time Lord with the weight of the universe on his shoulders. It’s startling how McGann’s incarnation has come on since his TV debut, he’s now a different man, but it’s been a completely organic character development, I can only assume that whatever befalls him in Dark Eyes 4 takes him off the dark path he is on and back to the path of pacifist, healer and saviour that we see in Night of the Doctor.

So appreciated rather than enjoyed, it’s just too grim in tone for me, but incredibly well written, hard hitting and truly epic in scale – and epic is something Who has been lacking of late.

Overall I give this an Emminently appreciated 8/10.

Written by Ed Watkison

SYNOPSIS:

“Molly O’Sullivan? Hello you.”

In his quest for universal domination, the Master plans to exploit the terrifying Infinite Warriors of the mysterious Eminence. The Doctor’s friend, Molly, is key to that plan’s execution, and now, aided by corrupted genius Sally Armstrong, the Master is close to success.

Paranoid and perplexed after his recent experience, the Doctor skirts the fringes of the fifty-year conflict between humanity and the Infinite Armies. Wary of changing the course of history, he fears that to fight the Eminence would be to do the Daleks’ bidding. But when Time Lord CIA agent Narvin provides the impetus for the Doctor to act, Liv Chenka joins him in a desperate race to save their friend and stop the Master.

As the Doctor goes head to head with his oldest and deadliest rival, this war is about to get very personal indeed…

CAST:

Paul McGann (The Doctor), Nicola Walker (Liv Chenka), Ruth Bradley (Molly O’Sullivan), Alex Macqueen (The Master), Natalie Burt (Dr Sally Armstrong), David Sibley (The Eminence), Sean Carlsen (Narvin)

1: The Death of Hope
Georgie Fuller (Hope Gardner), Geoffrey Breton (Leo Gardner)

2: The Reviled
Sacha Dhawan (Jaldam), Sarah Mowat (Gajeeda), Laura Riseborough (Sharma)

3: Masterplan
David Sibley (Professor Markus Schriver), John Banks (Captain/Lieutenant)

4: Rule of the Eminence
Jonathan Forbes (Walter Vincent), Beth Chalmers (Casey Carraway), Georgia Moffett (Engineer Tallow)

Written By: Matt Fitton
Directed By: Ken Bentley

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Cast your minds back to 4th October 1986, it’s one of those days I remember very well. Doctor Who was back after it’s 18 month hiatus, and Trial of a Timelord was in full swing. 4th October 1986 was the date of the broadcast of Episode Five, or if you like Episode One of Mindwarp.

It was a warm early Autumn day, and what makes it so memorable was the continuity announcement before the story. I was upstairs in my Grandfather’s house, watching on a black and white portable TV and the continuity announcer said something like “Now the return of an old enemy for Doctor Who”.  Now remember, in 1986 we had no internet, fanzines were beyond me, and I didn’t subscribe to Doctor Who Magazine, so this announcement fired my imagination and became the one I really remember. For those brief few minutes, the possibilities were endless – old enemy meant, Daleks, Sontarans, Cybermen! Or in this case, as my disappointed 14 year old self found out a few minutes later, old enemy meant Sil and the Mentors. These weren’t an old enemy, they had only been introduced the previous season! I was cross, very cross indeed, but over the next few weeks I was enthralled by episodes 5-8 or Mindwarp. It was a deliciously macabre dark story with a cataclysmic ending and to top it all it starred SIR BRIAN BLESSED. The confused ending left me confused at the time, but it was a fabulous exit for Peri, a real blaze of glory, until it was revealed she had actually been rescued by King Yrcarnos and yes, Peri was going to marry SIR BRIAN BLESSED and become a warrior queen of the Krontep.

Hmmm.

That makes no sense at all, and this months main range story from Big Finish “The Widow’s Assassin” carries on Peri’s story. For those who have not seen Trial of a Timelord, go and watch it now…

Are you back? Then I will begin.

This months story could be renamed “What Peri Did Next”. The story is beautifully framed as a fairy story – we meet up with Peri on her wedding day on the home-world of the Krontep. The Doctor turns up for the wedding, is given short shrift by Peri and is incarcerated in the dungeons.

Turns out that the Doctor has been feeling lonely since his companion Flip left him and he wanted to find Peri to ease his guilt at leaving her on Thoros Beta. The Peri he finds is much changed, cold, aloof, hurt and betrayed by being left behind. The world building is superb a sort of Gilliam/Pratchet/Pythonesque world with larger than life caricatures all giving a turn rather than going for realism, it stays just the right side of camp and is very much in keeping with the overall tone.

The story itself is a murder mystery which uses two very overused tropes, time travel and mind-scapes. I groaned when yet another virtual world was conjured up, but was completely wrong-footed, because this mind-scape actually gives a wonderful amount of character development for the Doctor.  The “lonely little boy” touched on in The Girl In the Fireplace is referenced again here, but this lonely little boy is The Doctor, and how he dealt with his loneliness is central to the story and to its resolution.

The supporting cast are again very Gilliamesque  – the first and second guards are actually called Guard One and Guard Two and their boss has been gene spliced with a sheep! It’s funny, but it’s also tragic and grotesque, imagine a Jabberwocky sort of look and you get the idea

So a great reunion of Ol’ Sixie and Peri – will there be more adventures for them? Spoilers sweetie, I am afraid… Suffice to say this was a joy to listen to, camp, silly, horrific, exciting, sad and moving – everything you could want from a Doctor Who story.

Highly recommended – a bit of a classic, really – and a well deserved 9/10.

Written by Ed Watkinson

SYNOPSIS:

Once, long ago, in a land of monsters and corridors, a fair maiden was captured, and placed in a deep sleep.

She was used to being captured, and she had a hero who rescued her on just such occasions. But this time the hero never came.

And the fair maiden slept on.

Eventually, a King rescued the maiden, and made her his bride, which many wise old women might tell you is just another way of capturing fair maidens.

And still the fair maiden slept on.

Then, the hero had another stab at rescuing the maiden from her prison, but he was too late. And, more importantly, he had forgotten the rules of fairy tales.

He didn’t slay the dragon.

CAST:

Colin Baker (The Doctor), Nicola Bryant (Peri), Tim Chipping (Constable Wolsey/Mandrake), John Banks (Baron Pteratrark/Guard Two), Andrew Dickens (Reverand Flitamus/Guard One), Fiona Sheehan (Princess Dirani), Glynn Sweet (Harcross The Ever-Patient/Pheen-Tu/Flunkey)

Written By: Nev Fountain
Directed By: Ken Bentley

(Anyone purchasing this story from the Big Finish site will be able to download the original Extras track on MP3, which is 8 minutes longer than the version on the CD which had to be cut down just to fit onto the disc)

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READ OUR WEBCHAT WITH NEV FOUNTAIN HERE

It’s not often I get wrong-footed by a TV show… having said that, here is a list of times I have been wrong-footed by them in the past:
Jonathan Creek – Satan’s Chimney, fooled me not once, but twice.
Doctor Who – Dark Water, didn’t see the Missy reveal coming.
Twin Peaks – got Laura Palmer’s killer completely wrong.
I solved Broadchurch, sussed out the ending of Breaking Bad, wasn’t Lost with Lost, but I digress…

This months Early Adventures story completely wrong-footed me, the wrong-footing was so complete that I didn’t even realise I was about to be wrong-footed – but stay with me as this is not the whole story.

The story begins with The Doctor making repairs to the TARDIS using the Monk’s directional unit. Things don’t go to well and soon The Doctor, Vicki and Steven are locked out of the TARDIS and in a sort of moonbase. It’s very very “Hartnell”, it’s slow, suspenseful and full of atmosphere.  We know what the characters know as they explore their surroundings and slowly, very slowly, the plot unfolds.

The pace is slow, almost sedate, and it takes two episodes for anything of note to actually happen. We find out our heroes are in a base on the Moon Ceres in an asteroid belt, a small crew is in charge of mining but not much else, then it all kicks off. Service robots go mad, a malign voice talks to the Doctor and one of the crew and the planet it seems is coming alive and seeking revenge for the pain that the mining has caused it.

Episodes Three and Four see the pace step up as the protagonists fight for their lives against the service robots and the dwindling air supply.  Then the rug is pulled out from under the listeners feet and the story you thought you were listening to isn’t quite that, it’s actually a lot nastier, contrived and spiteful.

Peter Purves is fabulous as Steven and his Hartnell voice is suprisingly good. Maureen O’Brien reprises Vicki with ease and the guest cast, especially Julia Hills as Qureshi, give great well-rounded and believable performances.  They are not heroes, just people at work having a very very bad day.

As I said before it is very slow to start, perhaps it would have been a better three-part story, and the almost cliche of a sentient planet is almost a cliche but any more would be spoilering.

So whilst definitely a bounty, the Bounty of Ceres is more of a Milk Chocolate Bounty than a Dark Chocolate bounty, and as such gets 7/10.

Written by Ed Watkinson

SYNOPSIS:

Ceres. A tiny, unforgiving ball of ice and rock hanging between Mars and Jupiter.  It’s no place to live, and it takes a special kind of person to work there.

The crew of the Cobalt Corporation mining base know exactly how deadly the world outside their complex is, but the danger isn’t just outside anymore. The systems they rely on to keep them safe are failing and the planet is breaking in.

When the TARDIS strands Steven, Vicki and the Doctor on the base, they have to fight a foe they can barely comprehend to survive.

CAST:

Maureen O’Brien (Vicki/Narrator), Peter Purves (Steven/Narrator), Richard Hope (Moreland), Julia Hills (Qureshi), Peter Forbes (Thorn)

Written By: Ian Potter
Directed By: Lisa Bowerman

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Post Apocalyptic dramas seem to be all the rage at the moment, from The Walking Dead to The Hunger Games to World War Z, to The Last of Us to Big Finish’s own superb reboot of Survivors. What is it that fascinates us about looking into a cracked mirror version of our own world where society has broken down? Of disparate bands of rag-tag survivors eking out a living against terrible odds? Putting ourselves into this situation what would we do to survive if we had to? Are we the good people we like to think we are if the rules of society no longer apply?

Back in 1964 Doctor Who touched on this area with The Dalek Invasion of Earth, we came in to the story at the end, Episode One aptly titled “World’s End” set in 2164, the Daleks had already conquered the Rarth and occupied the planet for 10 years. It was a bleak world of rebels, quislings, black marketeers and Daleks. The Doctor of course saves the day and sets the Earth back on to a course of freedom and hope.

This month’s main range release from Big Finish is set during The Dalek Invasion of Earth, in 2163, one year before the Daleks are defeated.

The Sixth Doctor and Peri arrive in the highlands of Scotland, and are soon split up as Peri is selected for forced labour in a Dalek oil refinery. What follows is three episodes of capture, escape, peril, and twists and turns as the Doctor, Peri and new friends Ross, Alan and Moira Brody, try to get to Orkney and a mythical resistance group. There are problems though, first The Doctor cannot risk interfering with events as this may undo the fragile web of time, and Moira Brody is a figure in history that the Doctor knows of as an inspirational resistance leader, so she needs to survive.

The first three episodes have it all, like a desperate road movie being thwarted by roadblocks, Dalek Patrols, Robomen, Varga plants, and a marine version of the Slyther. The peril and horror content mixed with the desperation of the protagonists is made even more dire when Peri is scratched and infected by a Varga plant. It’s gripping stuff, it really is, until episode four happens.

I was completely caught up in the race against time and desperate escape from the Daleks that when Episode Four happens and a characters motivations are revealed (spoilers I will say no more), I felt a bit let down by the resolution.  It just seemed do at odds with the first three episodes that it could have been from a different story, which is a shame as the first three episodes are so good. There is an interesting glimpse into how far the Doctor will go to protect the Web of Time, made more chilling by Colin Baker’s matter of fact delivery.

Can I just mention Colin for a moment, Ol’ Sixie is just superb here. Colin is incapable of playing the Doctor badly and still after all these years he is finding more layers to the Sixth Doctor’s personality – bluster tinged with pathos sums him up here, but also does him no justice at all. Great to see the old team of Peri and Six back together again they have such a history and are a great combination.

What could have been a classic, for me falls at the last hurdle, but the set up episodes are just superb, so I award this a not quite masterful, but still extremely passable 7/10.

Written by Ed Watkinson

SYNOPSIS:

The year is 2163. Ten years since the Daleks invaded the Earth. One year until the Doctor, in his first incarnation, will help bring the occupation to an end. But for now, their reign of terror goes on.

The TARDIS brings the Doctor and Peri to Scotland – enslaved, like everywhere else on the planet. But there are rumours of Dalek-free islands off its coast. Places where resistors and refuseniks are coming together, gathering arms and armour, preparing to strike back against the enemy.

When the Doctor falls in with an unlikely group of freedom fighters making that dangerous journey to Orkney, he finds himself trapped – but not only by the Daleks, their robotised henchmen and their human collaborators.

By history.

Because history shows that for another year, resistance is useless…

The rebellion must fail – and as a Time Lord, the Doctor can do nothing to help.

CAST:

Colin Baker (The Doctor), Nicola Bryant (Peri), Tracy Wiles (Moira Brody), Brian McCardie (Alan Weir), Sean Biggerstaff (Ross Nicolson), Hugh Ross (Kyle Inskip), Damian Lynch (Curbishly), Nicholas Briggs (The Daleks/Roboman)

Written By: Mark Wright and Cavan Scott
Directed By: Nicholas Briggs

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