Planet Mondas

And so we reach the beginning of the end of another series of Fourth Doctor adventures and as is the tradition it is a two part story beginning with this months “The Skin of the Sleek” and finishing off next month with “The Thief Who Stole Time” – so reviewing this in isolation may be quite difficult but I will try to asses it on its own merits, though it may be better to take this and next months as a coherent whole.

This season I have been a bit of an old moaning Michael about this series though being nominally set in Season 18 feeling a lot more like Season 17 – not so this story, it feels pure Bidmead – a more morose, detached Fourth Doctor, a more independent intelligent Romana who is not so much the comic foil for the silly old Doctor, more an adventuress in her own right, and do you know this works particularly well in this story as we discover a lot more about Romana’s past….

Yes dear reader this story delves into Roman’s time at the academy as we meet one of her contemporaries Sartia (Joannah Tincey) – but school reunion this is not as the adventure takes place on the planet Funderell, a planet where the whole surface is a type of ocean, if you move the surface tension will keep you afloat, if you stay still then you sink which is a problem for the TARDIS which sinks without trace into the murky depths.

This is a very slow paced story, very in keeping with Full Circle of Warriors Gate and a complete wrench from the stories that have preceded because over the course of the two episodes not a lot seems to happen – there are some beautiful poetic words from the indigenous population and a moral dilemma when Romana and Sartia kill a sacred animal in self defence, and there is also a mystery as to why the Time Lords have become involved in the planet and why the sacred book of the indigenous people is written in Gallifreyan. And then there is the cliffhanger, which I really didn’t see coming, and it is crushing and it is cruel and it is terrible, I can honestly say it brought a lump to my throat and made me angry (I don’t often get angry) because how dare a certain character be treated like that by another character.

In summing up a slow measured beginning to an ending with some very very interesting moments (especially the ending of part two) but maybe this will work better when the whole story has been told as I found that the story lacked pace and focus. Hesitant to give a score but a cautious 6/10 which may go up on hearing the ending.

Written by Ed Watkinson

Synopsis

This title was released in August 2017. It will be exclusively available to buy from the BF website until September 30th 2017, and on general sale after this date.

On the planet Funderell you can walk on the ocean. The surface holds you when you move, but if you stand still, you sink. Lights shift in the fathoms and great shapes move beneath your feet – schools of giant electric eels known as Sleeks.

There is no solid land and the only locals are the Wavewalkers, hunters who live in floating villages. But recently some strangers have arrived, pursuing their own distinct agenda.

When the Doctor and Romana lose the TARDIS to the deep, they need help. Which makes finding a fellow Time Lord on the planet very useful. The fact that Time Lord is Sartia, an old friend of Romana’s, is even better!

But this is a planet of secrets. Be careful when you explore its depths. You may just drown.

Note: The adventure continues in Doctor Who – The Fourth Doctor Adventures: The Thief Who Stole Time

Written By: Marc Platt
Directed By: Ken Bentley

Cast

Tom Baker (The Doctor), Lalla Ward (Romana), Joannah Tincey (Sartia), Alan Cox(Eamonn Orensky), Kieran Hodgson (Klick Chervain), Des McAleer (Blujaw Skaldson), Alex Wyndham (Linnis Skaldson), Jamie Newall (Greygul), Jane Slavin(Frithra). Other parts played by members of the cast.

Producer David Richardson
Script Editor John Dorney
Executive Producers Jason Haigh-Ellery and Nicholas Briggs

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Only in Doctor Who could you get a story that begins with the gritty Scouse social realism of if not The Boys from the Blackstuff then definitely Brookside and ends with a battle involving intergalactic wizards using blood control and piloting flying ships. Endless possibilities, infinitely variable format check and check 🙂

This is an interestingly schizophrenic story careering from New Adventures style grit to panto style OTT cackling villains, sometimes in the same scene – Julie Graham as Carolyn is obviously having a whale of a time, not just chewing the scenery but cooking in a pre-heated oven for several hours. But what is this story about?

Arriving in a Liverpool Shipyard in 1991 The Seventh Doctor (Sylvester McCoy) Ace (Sophie Aldred) and Mel (Bonnie Langford) discover a dead body and are soon caught up in the investigation, the shipyard is owned by Stuart Dale (Todd Heppenstall) an ex University boyfriend of Mel who has developed a process to create an almost magical metal called Dark Alloy, he has rescued the shipyard from almost bankruptcy and kept local men in jobs – capitalism and social responsibility about 10 years before it was fashionable – but when something appears too good to be true it usually is but is Stuart in on the game or is he just an innocent bystander or is he willingly blind? All these questions and many more will be answered over the four episodes of the story.
But just how does the story go from murder in a Merseyside shipyard to alien mages, blood sacrifices and flying ships? By stealth is the answer because I for one could not see the join, the story flowed from one emphasis to the other and it was impossible to see the joins, it just seemed a natural progression from one to the other that is how well the narrative fits, like blood sacrificing alien mages were a natural part of 1990’s Liverpool (which they weren’t) – it also swings very well from dark to camp without it feeling jarring or forced, its just one of those stories you just have to go with.

McCoy, Aldred and Langford make an engaging TARDIS team with Bonnie particularly coming in for praise – she has completely thrown off the shackles of her TV persona and made Mel a real person with real motivations and not just a computer programmer from Pease Pottage and not much else. As I said before Julie Graham steals every scene she is in giving a performance worthy of the great Sir Brian of Blessed – but even all the camp over the topness of her performance does not feel out of place with the rest of the story – to misquote Sir Brian from Blackadder “this story has been as twere a mighty stew” and thats exactly what it is – lots of disparate styles and stories thrown together, they shouldn’t really work but somehow through the gravy of the writing and continuity and sound design seem to gel together rather nicely and give us a rip roaring adventure yarn as well as an introspective Seventh Doctor outing. Lovely stuff 8/10.

Written by Ed Watkinson

Synopsis

This title was released in August 2017. It will be exclusively available to buy from the BF website until September 30th 2017, and on general sale after this date.

The TARDIS brings the Doctor, Ace and Mel to a recently reopened shipyard in Merseyside. It’s 1991, the hardest of times – but now they’re shipbuilding once again, thanks to the yard’s new owners, the Dark Alloy Corporation. A miracle of job creation – but is it too good to be true?

While the Doctor and Ace go in search of an alien assassin at loose in the yard, Stuart Dale, discoverer of the near-magical Dark Alloy material, has an extraordinary proposition to make to his old college friend, Mel.

But who is the Corporation’s mysterious client? Who does she really represent? And what’s the secret of the Blood Furnace? Seeking answers, the Doctor and friends are about to find themselves in very deep water…

Written By: Eddie Robson
Directed By: Ken Bentley

Cast

Sylvester McCoy (The Doctor), Sophie Aldred (Ace), Bonnie Langford (Mel Bush), Julie Graham (Carolyn), Jade Anouka (Danuta), Todd Heppenstall (Stuart Dale), Clare Calbraith (Orla), Louis Tamone (Vinny), Ignatius Anthony (Lee).

Other parts played by members of the cast.

Producer David Richardson
Script Editor Alan Barnes
Executive Producers Jason Haigh-Ellery and Nicholas Briggs

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It is very very difficult to review this without giving away absolutely ENORMOUS spoilers, so forgive me please if my usual rambling flowery style becomes a deeper shade of vague rambling flowery style….

There is something wrong, something not quite right, it was on the tip of my mind all the way through episode one and two, a niggle which others may have picked up on. Let me put it this way, you know when you watched The Day of The Doctor and even though David Tennant was in it as 10, it didn’t feel quite like 10. Or when Rod Jane and Roger became Rod Jane and Freddy and the world felt slightly off kilter. Well its like that. Sort of. But not really.

What it is like though is good old fashioned and by that I mean series one and two Torchwood, all Cardiff based filled with sex, sleaze, tea, chips and adventure – and though the premise may be going back to the days the team have changed – joining the immortal Captain Jack Harkness (John Barrowman) & Cardiffs very own Gwen Cooper are Mr Colchester (Paul Clayton), wannabe Torchwood operative Tyler Steele (Jonny Green) and alien whim-monger Orr (Sam Beart) because the late 2010’s are where everything changes (again) and the new Torchwood have to be ready.

The premise is interesting and a parallel with the wired post truth world that we have been inhabiting since everything went wrong in 2016, you see Aliens have already invaded and have been integrating into Cardiff for a long time, and they are bringing wealth with them so even though there is a recession and the indigenous Cardiffians are suffering hard times, property prices are rising as the alien Sorvix buy up all the luxury apartments and their leader the brood Mother Ro-Jedda (Rachel Atkins) uses her wealth to exert her influence over her own people and the Mayor of Cardiff – this is the set up for the first box set of Torchwood Series 5, and the set is split in to four stories:

5.1 Changes Everything by James Goss

A play on the title of the very first episode of Torchwood – this episode introduces is to investigative journalist Tyler Steele (Jonny Green) making a new life for himself in Cardiff and investigating the Red Door terrorist movement and attacks on immigrants – is it post Brexit hate crime or is it being instigated by a third power for another reason? A great introduction to the cocky Tyler Steele and the paranoid landscape of 2017 Cardiff. Tyler is dead cert for Torchwood, cocky, arrogant but with a brain to get the job done and a complete counterpoint to the other new Torchwood recruit, the curmudgeonly Volvo driving Mr Colchester (Paul Clayton), surely the LEAST likely Torchwood operative all expense reports and balancing the books, but you know he works and he may just well be my new favourite character in the series.

5.2 Aliens & Sex & Chips & Gravy by James Goss

I always liked the “Cardiff Buddy Movie” format of the Torchwood series, you know where one of our heroes and A.N Other have a jolly adventure round Cardiff, well this is pretty similar, but the two having an adventure are Gwen and Mr Colchester, and Mr Colchester is a million miles out of his comfort zone as this particular adventure involves a hen night for Madrigal (Sophie Colquhoun) daughter of Sorvix Brood Mother Ro-Jedda. And hilarity ensues. And so does death an mayhem, but mainly hilarity. And as our heroes and Madrigal drive around Cardiff avoiding death squads and picking up copious amounts of Vodka along the way we learn a lot more about not only Mr Colchester but also the alien Sorvix and their plans, not through info dumps but through alcohol fuelled conversations and high jinx. And it was at the end of this episode that the penny dropped for me and the reasons for feeling a little off centre were apparent. And THAT is all I have to say about that.

5.3 Orr by Juno Dawson

So far in the proceedings Jack Harkness has taken a bit of a backseat but he is front and centre in this episode and it is a very different episode, very slow, very introspective as Jack and the team meet Orr (Sam Beart) a creature genetically engineered to appear as the perfect sexual partner of their beholder (well it is Torchwood 🙂 ) however Orr is in trouble BIG trouble, she is wearing a control collar which is rigged to blow in 24 hours and which will take Cardiff with it, so it is a race against time for Jack to try go get a the device defused or to get Orr far enough away from civilisation so that when she blows she causes minimum damage. There is much great dialogue between Jack and Orr and a touching moment where Orr strives to become Ianto for Jack – and for a character that could have been really limited in scope this episode gives Sam Beart a real chance to shine and make Orr more than the sum of her parts.

5.4 Superiority Complex by AK Benedict

What do you do to ingratiate yourselves into a city where most of the population are just about surviving? when you are guests from an alien world and want to fit in? Easy, you build yourselves a sever star intelligent hotel and ban all humans from entering unless they are staff. At least thats what Ro-Jedda and the Sorvix have done. but something is very very wrong in the paradise they have built in Cardiff Bay – Sorvix guests are being brutally murdered and as tensions rise the protests from the Cardiffians outside the fenced off hotels threaten to turn in to a blood bath as the manager of the hotel enjoys nothing more than killing humans for sport. Time for Torchwood to get involved. As the first box set ends this story had to provide a mid season cliffhanger (which it does) and be a season finale (which it sort of does) This is a new Torchwood team just getting to understand how each other works and this episode is about them flexing their particular skill sets to stop the body count getting out of control.

A paranoid beginning to a new series, Everything Changes all over again and in this cray paranoid and downright dangerous world we live in A man in a great coat, a Volvo Driver, an ex journalist, a genetic anomaly and a lady in a very nice weather jacket are all that stand between us and the world falling over the precipice into chaos. Its not pretty, its not perfect and at times it is very silly (internal lift anyone!), but it is all Torchwood – welcome back, you have been missed. 7.5/10.

Written by Ed Watkinson

Synopsis

This title was released in August 2017. It will be exclusively available to buy from the BF website until October 31st 2017, and on general sale after this date.

Big Finish picks up the events after Miracle Day with Torchwood: Aliens Among Us…

Captain Jack and Gwen Cooper have restarted Torchwood. But it’s in a very different Cardiff. Something terrible’s happened to the city. With every day getting darker, will Torchwood need to adopt a whole new approach?

5.1 Changes Everything by James Goss

Tyler Steele has washed up in Cardiff looking for a fresh start. A disgraced journalist, he’s looking into the Red Doors movement – are they really behind the terrorist attacks on immigrants? Who is stirring up the racism and hatred in the city, and what does outsourcing contractor 3Sol have to do with it? Tyler finds out that Torchwood – a secret organisation that everyone thought long gone – is back in business. Tyler realises that this is the second chance he’s been looking for, and he’ll do anything to be a part of it.

5.2 Aliens & Sex & Chips & Gravy by James Goss

Has Cardiff really been invaded by aliens? Tyler thinks he’s found a lead – the daughter of the mysterious Ro-Jedda is getting married and has booked a private party. If Torchwood can infiltrate it, there’s a chance they’ll end up closer to the truth. Free bar, canapes, and the chance to find out what’s really going on. What could possibly go wrong? Soon Torchwood are on the run for their lives, and learning more than they ever wanted to about alien life.

5.3 Orr by Juno Dawson

Vincent Parry is the most successful property developer in Cardiff. A while ago he made an agreement with the mysterious Ro-Jedda, and it is an arrangement he has come to bitterly regret. Something has to be done – but it’s going to cost him everything he loves. With time running out for Cardiff, Torchwood encounter an alien who knows them only too well.

5.4 Superiority Complex by AK Benedict

Poverty and homelessness are on the rise in Cardiff. The streets are full of the desperate and the dispossessed. So, of course, it’s the right time to open a 7-star luxury, all-inclusive hotel. And, naturally, the hotel is for aliens only. As the humans stand outside the gates and look hungrily in, there’s one thing that makes them smile. Someone is murdering the guests.

Written By: James Goss, Juno Dawson, AK Benedict
Directed By: Scott Handcock

Cast

John Barrowman (Captain Jack Harkness), Kai Owen (Rhys Williams), Tom Price (Sgt Andy Davidson), Paul Clayton (Mr Colchester), Alexandria Riley (Ng), Jonny Green (Tyler Steele), and Eve Myles (Gwen Cooper)

Stephen Critchlow (The Mayor), Rachel Atkins (Ro-Jedda), Ruth Lloyd (Vorsun), Sophie Colquhoun (Madrigal), Rhian Marston-Jones (Quenel), Lu Corfield (Brongwyn), Rhys Whomsley (Osian), Sharon Morgan (Mary Cooper), David Sibley (Vincent Parry), Sam Béart (Catrin Parry), Anthony Boyle (Hotel Manager), Sam Jones (Toobert Jailert), Wilf Scolding (Personal Trainer)

Torchwood contains adult material and may not be suitable for younger listeners

Produced by James Goss
Script edited by Scott Handcock
Executive Producers Jason Haigh-Ellery and Nicholas Briggs

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And here I am, after what feels like an eternity (although it was only four weeks) back in my newly refurbished kitchen – as long time readers will know this is my reviewing position of choice. So firmly ensconced in my comfort zone I embarked on a listen and a review of a most uncomfortable and unexpected episode of Torchwood.

Big Finish have really taken the premise of Torchwood and expanded it beyond Cardiff Bay in the twenty first century looking back on the institutes involvement in all aspects of the twentieth century, but this goes into a very very dark place, this episode takes us back to occupied France during World War 2, it takes us to The Dying Room of the title and to the blackest day for Monsieur LeDuc (Simon Russell Beale) as he is interrogated by SS Officer Grau (Mark Elstob) regarding his brief association with suspected resistance operative Madame Berber (Emma Cuniffe) and her association with Torchwood.

For the most part the story plays out as a two hander as Grau uses more and more extreme techniques to extract the information he needs from LeDuc – it is also told in flashback as the events that led up to LeDuc being imprisoned in The Dying Room being teased out a piece at a time – we learn that Paris is ravaged by a plague that is turning German soldiers into rampaging monsters – its almost like the inner ugliness of what they stand for is becoming real, that the horror that is Fascism is showing its true face. As more of the story is teased out we find out a lot more about both interrogator and victim and just how far each of them will go to protect their version of the truth.

This is an intense listen and pulls no punches, the Nazi’s are portrayed for what they are – no camp silly comedy goose-stepping with outrageous accents – they are cruel, single minded fanatics who see anyone who does not fit their world view as sub normal and expendable, where might is right and subjugation to the rule of the Fuhrer is all. And we are blessed in having Mark Elstob and Simon Russell Beale playing Grau and LeDuc – two actors at the top of their game that make the interrogation utterly convincing, Simon Russell Beale paints LeDuc as a picture of despair, a man who cannot comprehend why he is in this situation, a man who does not have the answers that Grau demands whereas Elstob as Grau is determined, a zealot, a man who will get his answers, any answers and who will win at any cost – the dance they partake in starts slow with the two participants encircling each other and like any good Paso Doble reaches a crescendo of drama and crisis and as the music stops and the dust clears we end up in a place we did not expect when the orchestra struck up.

A triumph of intensity and a masterclass in selling the drama, of drawing the listener in and making them hang on every single word that will stand up to several repeated listens to appreciate the subtleties of the script, the nuances of the direction and the truth of the acting. Another classic 10/10.

Written by Ed Watkinson

Synopsis

This title was released in August 2017. It will be exclusively available to buy from the BF website until October 31st 2017, and on general sale after this date.

“In this room everyone learns the truth. And neither of us will be quite the same when we leave.”

Paris, 1940s. The German-occupied city is in a state of turmoil – a plague ravages the streets, turning people into deformed monsters.

The city’s finest hotel is under siege. SS interrogator Grau has come here to find out the truth. Grau has one night to cure the plague and to unmask the mysterious Madame Berber and who she’s really working for. Herr Grau knows all about Project Hermod. And now he’s going to find out all about Torchwood.

Torchwood contains adult material and may not be suitable for younger listeners

Written By: Lizzie Hopley
Directed By: Scott Handcock

Cast

Simon Russell Beale (M LeDuc), Mark Elstob (Herr Grau), Emma Cunniffe (Madame Berber), Aly Cruickshank (Gabriel), David Sibley (The Manager)

Producer James Goss

Script Editor David Llewellyn

Executive Producers Jason Haigh-Ellery and Nicholas Briggs

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So there I was on Thursday night about to write my review of Flashpoint when Kitchen disaster took place, or more accurately Kitchen clearance took place, no table, no chair, no place to write my review in my usual Kitchen haven – the Men from Magnet are imminent and nothing will ever be the same again.

In a strange turn of events I sit hear on Sunday 16 July and the world of Doctor Who has just had the single biggest change in its 54 year history – Jodie Whittaker has been announced as Doctor Who number 13, and the show will never be the same again – a brave and bold move, a strong female role model, a hero to a whole new generation, wonderful times to be a fan and I cannot wait to join her on her adventures.

Jodie Whittaker may be the first female Doctor, but the series has had its fair share of strong female role models and Big Finish has had its hand in creating one of the very best – stand up Sheridan Smith as the magnificent and irreplaceable Lucie Miller, the lass from Blackpool and companion to the eighth Doctor over four magnificent series and now she is back to read this months Short Trips release “Flashpoint” and Lucie gets to shine as this release is what in TV terms would be called a “Doctor Lite” story, that is The Doctor is not in it for the majority of the story and this time it is up to Lucie to be the hero, but can she? Can she be The Doctor? Can she protect a little boy from cruel heartless gangsters who want him dead – when it comes down to it how far will she go to do the right thing?

Tense and dramatic and squeezing a lot in to its 35 minute running time – Lucie Miller can proudly stand shoulder to shoulder with Jo Grant, Sarah Jane, Romana, Rose Tyler, Donna Noble & Bill Potts as all time great companions – she is out of her depth, she is frightened, she is disorientated but she still keeps her sense of right and wrong, she puts the life of a complete stranger before her own safety, sh basically does what the Doctor would do, difference being he is 900 year old Time-lord who can regenerate, she is an ordinary girl from Blackpool to whom death means death.

16 July 2017 will always be remembered for the day Doctor Who became female, but Flashpoint celebrates the proud history of strong female characters that came before 13 and Lucie Miller is one of the strongest and one of the best and Flashpoint showcases her perfectly 10/10.

Written by Ed Watkinson

Synopsis

Doctor Who: Short Trips Monthly is a series of new short stories read by an original cast member.

Release #31 is an Eighth Doctor and Lucie Miller story.

Cerberin: the famous storm world. Seen from space, it’s a spectacle of light and colour that draws tourists in their thousands.

Escaping an attack by gangster assassins, and separated from the Doctor, Lucie Miller finds herself stranded on the surface. The killers are in pursuit, she has a child to protect, and lightning is striking all around.

Then a shape approaches through the storm, moving with heavy footsteps…

Producer Ian Atkins
Script Editors Ian Atkins & Nicholas Briggs
Executive Producers Jason Haigh-Ellery and Nicholas Briggs

Written By: Andrew Smith
Directed By: Lisa Bowerman

Cast

Sheridan Smith (Narrator)

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I have decided to rename series six of the Fourth Doctor Adventures. Well not quite the series but the season it is ostensibly set in. It may have the theme music of season 18 but thematically it feels a lot more like a progression of season 17, so from now on (in my mind at least) this is set in Season 17.5. Glad I got that off my chest 🙂

So Season 17.5 continues with The Movellan Grave, and more a-typical a Doctor Who story you could not wish for. It just feels EXACTLY like Who used to feel back in the 1970’s. Doctor and Romana discover something is not quite right, go and investigate, ingratiate themselves with the people involved, discover what is going on and have an adventure. This story follows that pattern almost to the letter, but do you know it does it with total panache and style that it feels fresh and new and exciting. It actually has a “New Who” feel about it as it is pacy whilst retaining the charm of season 17.5. It also does what 1970’s Who did very well and “borrows” or plunders or pays homage to sci-fi of the big screen, in this case Terminator 2, there is a scene in episode two that…. – but I get ahead of myself.

Yes Terminator 2, albeit Terminator 2 on a BBC budget (even on audio) and as I have not mentioned it already (although the title may give it away) it features the most Disco aliens ever to feature in Doctor Who – The Movellan’s.

You see a Movellan power pack has been found in an archaeological dig and this draws The Doctor (Tom Baker) and Romana (Lalla Ward) to the scene where they meet archaeologists Carrie Pierce (Camilla Power) and Robin Lyon (John Banks) who are very sceptical when The Doctor and Romana explain the power packs extra terrestrial origins, but soon there is a buried Movellan spaceship uncovered, and a Movellan secret weapon in the war against the Daleks, a mutant, augmented Movellan called Chenek (Chris Jarman) – an unstoppable force created to be the ultimate warrior and coming back to episode two he does a mean T-1000 chasing down Tom et al in a land-rover which brings back memories of the on foot chase after the motorbike n Terminator 2.

Its very exciting stuff but not all adventure, explosions and chases, underneath the window dressing this is a morality tale about the ethics of war and of methods used to develop weapons of mass destruction. And it also has spangly disco robots as well.
This was a story I was expecting to be a bit of a filler, the calm before the end of season two parter but it is nothing of the sort, it is a breath of fresh air and a complete redrawing of the rules on telling a more traditional Who story without breaking what makes stories of the era so special. Judgement day on this release gives a favourable verdict of 9/10.

Written by Ed Watkinson

Synopsis

This title was released in July 2017. It will be exclusively available to buy from the BF website until August 31st 2017, and on general sale after this date.

When an archaeological dig in 1980s England finds a Movellan power pack buried amongst Iron Age artefacts, the Doctor and Romana have no choice but to investigate. And what they discover worries them very much indeed.

A Movellan ship is buried under the ground. Soon the robotic enemies of the Daleks are making their way to the surface, but they are not the biggest threat humanity faces.

Because on board this ship is the greatest weapon the Movellans have ever devised. A weapon that could stop the Daleks forever… and anything else that gets in their way.

Written By: Andrew Smith
Directed By: Nicholas Briggs

Cast

Tom Baker (The Doctor), Lalla Ward (Romana), Camilla Power (Carrie Pierce), Polly Walker (Commander Narina), Chris Jarman (Chenek), John Banks (Robin Lyon), Jane Slavin (Mary). Other parts played by members of the cast.

Producer David Richardson
Script Editor John Dorney
Executive Producers Jason Haigh-Ellery and Nicholas Briggs

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Now don’t all run away when I say the next line. Promise you wont? You all trust me don’t you? – OK here I go “Season 24”……..

Tumbleweed. People walking away, disdain from my fellow Whovians – that is the legacy of said season 24, it doesn’t get much love, and it is easy to see why – garish stories with really broad (to say the least) turns from the largely light entertainment guest cast, a Doctor who hadn’t really found his feet and in Bonnie Langford the least popular companion since Adric – so why would Big Finish do an homage to it? Well maybe it wasnt intentional, but this months main range release “The High Price of Parking” feels just that – or more accurately feels like season 24 with 30 years of hindsight. If you want to know more and haven’t yet quit at the mere mention of said season, please read on….

OK  – So I have mentioned Season 24 more than is really healthy to do, but more specifically this one reminds me of Paradise Towers. It reminds me of Paradise Towers a lot, which is no bad thing as Paradise Towers is a bit of an overlooked gem (my resignation from Who fandom is in the post 🙂 ) no really, it is – the basic story is sound, “some” of the execution is good, the ideas are excellent on paper, it was just hampered by the production values of the time. And Richard Briers. But close your eyes and The High Price of Parking is all there, shot on video in Television Centre, overly lit, hopelessly over ambitious and not really coming off that well. But on audio it is in a grimy, run down, poorly lit, litter strewn planet sized car park – and that is the joy of audio because the pictures are in your head. I know its a cliche, but its true.

The High Price of Parking has The Doctor (Sylvester McCoy), Ace (Sophie Aldred) and Mel (Bonnie Langford) on their way to the Dashrah, a planet of exceptional beauty – but to get there they have to park the TARDIS on the planetoid known as Parking, which is basically a planet sized park and ride, complete with overly officious parking Wardens, this being Doctor Who though it is in no way as simple as a trip to a universal beauty spot – they get arrested by the wardens, led by the deliciously oily Kempton (Hywel Morgan) and the far more reasonable Cowley (Gabrielle Glaister of Blackadder “Bob” fame) and are accused of being “Free Parkers” – not that that means what you might think, that they have tried to avoid paying their parking fee, no the Free Parkers are a tribe who want Parking to be an independent planet. Yes tribes, a planet sized car park has indigenous tribes descended from those who just couldn’t find their vehicles and have gone native through the generations and have built their own cultures based on the rituals of Parking – think Kangs or the tribe of the free or the Sevateem and you wont be too far from the truth. And then there is Seraphim (Kate Duchene) a robotic voice that has set herself up as a God operating from Parkings oldest and lowest levels with a plan for universal domination. Stir well and cook on gas mark 1987 and we have a bit of a classic brewing. Seriously.

This story distills the elements of several of the tropes that make up a Doctor Who story and make something altogether better than the sum of their parts – it can sometimes feel like a bit of a greatest hits compilation, but one as carefully selected as this by a writer that really knows his Who and structured so well, trading the fine line between drama, camp and panto – with actors able to give a “turn” and chew the scenery because the tone of the story allows it and the leads on top form, McCoy being the Doctor he really wanted to be in 1987, Langford playing Mel as she should always been played and Aldred giving her best bolshy shouty Ace with attitude. Not a lot more to say but go out and buy this one, close your eyes (not if you are driving listening to it) and alternate your thoughts about how it WOULD have looked in 1987 and how it SHOULD have looked, definitely a story that hasn’t out stayed its allocated parking time – 9/10.

Written by Ed Watkinson

Synopsis

This title was released in July 2017. It will be exclusively available to buy from the BF website until August 31st 2017, and on general sale after this date.

The planet Dashrah is a world of exceptional beauty. Historical ruins; colourful skies; swirling sunsets…

Unsurprisingly, it’s a major tourist trap. So if you want to visit Dashrah, first you’ll have to visit Parking, the artificial planetoid that Galactic Heritage built next door. Parking, as its name implies, is a spaceship park. A huge spaceship park. A huge, enormous spaceship park.

When the TARDIS materialises in Parking’s Northern Hemisphere, the Doctor, Ace and Mel envisage a quick teleport trip to the surface of Dashrah. But they’ve reckoned without the superzealous Wardens, and their robotic servitors… the sect of the Free Parkers, who wage war against the Wardens… the spontaneously combusting spaceships… and the terrifying secret that lies at the lowest of Parking’s lower levels.

Written By: John Dorney
Directed By: Ken Bentley

Cast

Sylvester McCoy (The Doctor), Sophie Aldred (Ace), Bonnie Langford (Mel Bush), Gabrielle Glaister (Cowley), Hywel Morgan (Kempton/ Tribesman), Kate Duchene (Regina/ Seraphim), Leighton Pugh (Fulton), Jack Monaghan (Dunne/ Selfdrive), James Joyce (Robowardens).

Producer David Richardson
Script Editor Alan Barnes
Executive Producers Jason Haigh-Ellery and Nicholas Briggs

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We’ve all seen them but perhaps not noticed them, large glass and chrome monoliths, or drab grey concrete buildings lacking joy and empathy, bland corporate logos above the shining glass doors, staff packed in like battery hens as they try to “push the envelope” or provide “boots on the ground” – I am talking about office buildings – faceless corporate almost entity’s in themselves and an unavoidable part of our landscape. Pressure cooker culture with impossible ideals to meet, homes of one upmanship and targets and “dress down Friday  and staff nights out that no one really wants to go on. It was pretty inevitable that Torchwood would investigate one of these, and in this months release this is just what Ianto Jones (Gareth David-Lloyd) does. He doesn’t particularly want to, it is Friday night after all and he does have The Apprentice to watch, but investigate he does and for Ianto Jones this is a Friday night like no other, this is a Friday night where just once he should have gone home and watched The Apprentice, because the Office building that he is investigating seems to have been waiting for him….

There is something inherently creepy about deserted buildings, and even more creepy about deserted buildings that still seem to have a function – this one looks and feels like an office, but there is no one around, and Ianto is locked in. You can feel the tension and the building paranoia as Ianto explores his prison and discovers that perhaps this is a prison built specifically for him – but why? Why has he been lured here, and WHO is the girl that he meets (Bethan Rose Young) who claims to be in charge of security but cannot remember her name – can he trust her? Will he ever get to see this weeks (or any other weeks for that matter) episode of The Apprentice?

This story goes right to the heart of what Torchwood are and what they do, it deals with the consequences of those actions almost like no other story before it and lays Ianto’s soul bare – Ianto always was the softer side of Torchwood, this explores how he deals with the contradictions in his job and how those contradictions can devastate the lives of those who Torchwood sometimes only think of as all in a days work.

The special features for this story describe it as inspired by The Avengers episode “The Joker” and I can definitely see that – claustrophobic, dangerous and unpredictable and trending upwards (to use the vernacular of the Office) 8/10.

Written by Ed Watkinson

Synopsis

This title was released in July 2017. It will be exclusively available to buy from the BF website until September 30th 2017, and on general sale after this date.

There’s an empty office block in Cardiff. That’s nothing special – plenty of businesses go under, clear out, cease to exist. All that’s left behind is an empty building. But there’s one office block that refuses to be forgotten about.

There have been stories about that building – strange lights, funny goings on, faces pressed up against the glass. Enough to get the locals worried. Enough to ask Torchwood to get involved.

It’s Friday night. Ianto Jones has better things to do with his time than look round a haunted building. But he goes anyway, and it turns out that The Office has been waiting for him.

Torchwood contains adult material and may not be suitable for younger listeners.

Written By: James Goss
Directed By: Scott Handcock

Cast

Gareth David-Lloyd (Ianto Jones), Bethan Rose Young (Girl), David Shields(Oliver)

Producer James Goss

Script Editor Steve Tribe

Executive Producers Jason Haigh-Ellery and Nicholas Briggs

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“memo: to the board of the Darkon Corporation

re; recent events regarding “The Monk” and his suitability as our strategic invasion planner

 Its not gone very well has it? foiled at every turn by that mysterious traveller in time and space known only as “The Doctor” this lecture he is about to give is his final chance to show us just what he is made of and that he is definitely and undoubtedly THE man for the job of ensuring our galactic domination and we were right to pick him and not that mad woman dressed like a Nanny for the job….

 Memo ends.”

 Ah Rufus Hound, what a performance – he now IS the Monk having squared off on audio against Doctors 2,3,4 and 8 but in this particular Short Trip Mr Hound takes centre stage (Literally) as he delivers his presentation to the Darkon Corporation. The whole story is set as a corporate lecture full of awful business speak, peppy and banal and just flipping marvellous as the Monk regales us with tales of his failures at the hands of the Fourth Doctor, Harry and Sarah Jane – marvel as his plans to own all property on earth fall over, revel in his plan to change the outcome of the Russian Revolution becoming an away day on a beach and prepare to be amazed as his turn as a professional foreteller of all things leads to a surprising win on Strictly Come Dancing. Sounds crazy, well it is and it is all the better for it because basically, deep down, I think the Monk isn’t really that bad a guy – no one who is that bad at being bad can really be that dedicated can they. Of all the Doctor Who “villains” he was almost the most loveable in his Peter Butterworth incarnation, not evil, just a bit mischievous and constantly out of his depth, and Rufus Hound channels  this beautifully – he almost seems to see being evil as a game he is playing and is almost pleased when he fails – a bit like the baddies in “The Web of Caves” (not seen it? what sort of fan are you? check it out HERE).

 Thirty five minutes is almost too short for a story of this quality, it feels just like the “Doctor-Lite” stories we used to get on TV back in the day, a completely different approach and a chance to do something very different with the structure of the Short Trip – and by jingo is it a success (unlike The Monk’s plans) If I were appraising I would say something along the lines of “full of blue sky thinking, with out of box aspirations and all boxes ticked” and I would award a big bonus and 10/10.

Written by Ed Watkinson

Synopsis

Doctor Who: Short Trips Monthly is a series of new short stories read by an original cast member.

Release #30 is a Fourth Doctor, Harry and Sarah story.

9AM: Registration

10AM: Our Opening Guest Speaker discusses Strategic Invasion Plans, including things to look out for, Time Lords to avoid, and tips on crushing the lesser races

11AM: Biscuits and Coffee

12PM: Continuing on from his opening talk, our Guest Speaker discusses bringing the universe to its knees

1PM: Lunch

A dynamic talk with slides. The Meddling Monk has lectured widely for several centuries, and his wisdom is contained in the following bestsellers: The 7 Habits of Truly Terrible People, Who Moved My Sun?, Feel the Fear and Detonate It Anyway, The One Million Year Manager and Ice Men Are From Mars, Karate Is From Venus.

Producer Ian Atkins

Script Editor Ian Atkins
Executive Producers Jason Haigh-Ellery and Nicholas Briggs

Written By: James Goss
Directed By: Lisa Bowerman

Cast

Rufus Hound (Narrator)

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So here we are, six months and approximately twelve hours of drama later and the end is upon us. We have followed our heroes from the court of Korvosa through desert to haunted fortresses in their quest – and now, the final chapter beckons and we are back to where we all began its the final showdown between heroes  Ezren (Trevor Littledale), Harsk (Ian Brooker), Merisiel (Kerry Skinner) and Valeros (Stewart Alexander) and the evil Queen Ileosa of Korvosa (Kate Brown).  The Queen has grown in power, her body now harbours the soul of an undead Dragon making her virtually indestructible – luckily Valeros wields the magic sword which is the only thing capable of defeating her – surely it cant be that easy though?

A suitably pumped up epic finale to the season with the kitchen sink thrown in – Pathfinders couldn’t do subtle if it tried and literally everything from the series is thrown in – there is treachery, battles, deception, magic, double dealing and several punch the air moments – and characters from the last six instalments all turn up to help make sure that good wins out. Which it does, its that sort of story, we know the good guys are going to win, but it is just so much fun going along for the ride.

This is very much what I expected the finale to be and I was not disappointed. Pathfinders isn’t the range to seek out for deep meaningful life changing stories, if you want that check out Dorian Gray or Graceless – but what Pathfinders is is good old fashioned swashbuckling good versus evil blockbuster action – and as that it does not disappoint. The story is almost told in flashback as Valeros states in the pre credits that the Queen has won, we know she wont have done, but the journey to get to that point is exhilarating and fun and does not take the path that the listener might expect.
With thrills and spills aplenty this is a fitting ending to a very entertaining series, it wont change your life, it won’t make anyones story of the year but it WILL entertain, and after all that is the purpose of listening. 8/10.

Written by Ed Watkinson

Synopsis

Korvosa withers in the grip of a mad monarch! Beaten down by riots, disease, and the ironclad enforcers of a cruel despot, the people shudder in their homes and pray for saviors. The time has come to rise up against the crazed Queen Ileosa Arabasti and put an end to her vicious rule.

Yet within the walls of Castle Korvosa waits an army of soldiers, bodyguards, and diabolical monstrosities – to say nothing of the seemingly invincible queen herself. Can Valeros, Merisiel, Ezren and Harsk put an end to the tyrant’s reign? Or will an ancient evil claim Korvosa once and for all?

Written By: David Bryher, based on a story by Tito Leati
Directed By: John Ainsworth

Cast

Stewart Alexander (Valeros), Trevor Littledale (Ezren), Ian Brooker (Harsk), Kerry Skinner (Merisiel), Evie Dawnay (Kyra), Sean Connolly (Vencarlo Orsini), Imogen Church (Sabina Merrin), Kate Brown (Queen Illeosa), Wraith Johnson (Neolandus), Ken Bradshaw (Sermignatto)

Producer John Ainsworth
Script Editor John Ainsworth
Executive Producers Jason Haigh-Ellery and Nicholas Briggs

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This is a fairly downbeat set – I will admit that from the beginning. Four stories all dealing with the worst of humanity and alien-kind, of the cruelty that we can impose on each other for wearing a different coloured uniform or speaking a different language – fear bred by ignorance, superstition and design from those with a vested interest and the effects that it has on those caught up in the mania and the violence that inevitably follows. A horrible mirror held up to the times that we live in now, a set of cautionary tales, a wakeup call that we are better than this, yes we ARE better than this. And then there is the final act of the final story and a beautiful use of some of the most beautiful words ever strung together and do you know – the ordeal of the first three and a half stories seem almost wth it, the dark places seem worth visiting, the ending seems earned the lesson given and hopefully learned.

 Its bleak isn’t it? A bit too downbeat. I do these stories an injustice because in each and every one of these stories there is a very special ingredient – the perfect antidote to all the awful things happening and that ingredient is hope – from revolutionary France to the planet Shade to Lewes to Renaissance England and beyond far in to the future there is always hope.

 Four stories make up this set and they are:

 1 Fields of Terror by John Pritchard

 Landing in revolutionary France at the height of the Reign of Terror, The Doctor, Vicki and Steven are caught up in the middle of an awful situation. Revolutionary soldiers are killing all whether they be revolutionaries or royalists, the bloodshed and human suffering is appalling, and then trapped in an inn with these butchers something begins to terrorise them a strange hooded figure that scratches and beats at the windows, a figure who is immune to bullets and soon the terrorisers become the terrified. So we have a base under siege story set about two years before they became fashionable – Maureen O’Brien gives a great performance as the petrified Vicki and several of the other characters whilst Robert Hands sneers and bullies his way through as the leader of the French Soldiers “Lagrange” in a story light on laughs but heavy on seat edge drama.

 2. Across the Darkened City by David Bartlett

 Steven Taylor has lost. he has been captured by The Daleks and is on the Planet Shade, separated from The Doctor and Vicki – things look desperate. And then he forms an alliance, an alliance born from mutual need, an alliance no one would have thought possible – Steven forms an alliance with a very special Dalek, a genetic variant who thinks differently from other Daleks – an injured Dalek who needs Steven’s help to get it to a transmit through a city in perpetual darkness – a city teeming with the Chaons, unspeakable monsters who have even forces the Daleks to retreat. Desperate times, desperate measures – but can a Dalek, even a very special Dalek be trusted or is a Dalek always a Dalek? Edge of seat stuff, knowing that death can be at any turn (forget that you know Steven survived this and it is even better) – we see a side to a Dalek we have not seen before, this one seems more “human” and in fact this story can be seen as a prequel to a Dalek epic…..

Peter Purves really delivers the goods as a desperate Steven, and a “punch the air” moment when he gives his wonderful Hartnell impersonation is a lovely reward for the listener. In a word “intense”

 3. The Bonfires of the Vanities by Una McCormack

 I always found the news stories of the Lewes Bonfire parades and effigy burnings rather distasteful – something of the unthinking mob mentality and making a bogey man and scapegoat rather than actually taking the time to find out about that person. In this story the First Doctor, Ben & Polly arrive in Lewes in the late 1950’s and the Bonfire revelries seem to be a lot more out of hand than they usually are. Again the intensity is there, at the Doctor is ill, near death, his regeneration being held back by sheer force of will meaning that it is left to Ben and Polly and librarian Mary to tackle the immediate problem of the gangs of “Bonfire Boys” and the alien Guys that have come to life. A story of hate breeding hate and this being perpetuated by tradition and a cautionary tale for the uncertain era we live in.

 4. The Plague of Dreams by Guy Adams

 And then there is this. Possibly the best Companion Chronicle I have ever had the honour to listen to, beautifully written, beautifully framed and set, perfectly pitched by Anneke Wills & Elliot Chapman this is a story unlike any other told in the vast pantheon of Doctor Who, and proof positive that the “infinitely variable format” is as alive and well today as it was back in the 1960’s – this adds layers of mystery and clarity the first Doctor’s regeneration and his part in the great scheme of things that leads to….. Well, I will let you find that out. Utterly compelling, magical and wonderful.

 So there is always light, there is always hope – even in the darkest places, there has to be and this set proves that there is, but sometimes it really does need to be looked for. Beginning with the cruelty of revolutionary murder and ending with a bow – as varied a tapestry as the first Doctor era ever was condensed into four stories – a well deserved 9/10.

Written by Ed Watkinson

Synopsis

This title was released in June 2017. It will be exclusively available to buy from the BF website until July 31st 2017, and on general sale after this date.

Four new stories from the First Doctor’s era…

1. Fields of Terror by John Pritchard

The TARDIS has brought the Doctor back to Revolutionary France, a place that’s always fascinated him. But this time he, along with Steven and Vicki, are drawn into a devastated land, caught between the soldiers who are burning all before them and a monstrous shape that follows in their wake.

2. Across the Darkened City by David Bartlett

On the planet Shade, The Chaons, an invading race of strange, amorphous creatures that ravenously absorb energy, have reduced the city there to a desolate ruin. Separated from the Doctor and Vicki, Steven has to join forces with an unexpected ally to find his way back to the TARDIS. Ahead, lies a nightmare journey through the dark – a test of endurance and trust.

3. The Bonfires of the Vanities by Una McCormack

When the Doctor, Polly, and Ben arrive in Lewes in the late 1950s, they’re just in time to celebrate Guy Fawkes’ Night. But there’s no fun on the streets tonight – the town is in the grip of fear. There are imps on the loose in Lewes, the Bonfire Boys are on the march, and nobody is safe from the fire.

4. The Plague of Dreams by Guy Adams

“Pray welcome, one and all, to this, a fantasy in two acts, presented, most humbly, for your pleasure. We bring you drama and magic, angels and demons, a tale of mysterious plague… of nightmares made flesh… of a war fought both in this world and those immeasurably distant. A war, in fact, fought through the mists of time itself. It will make you gasp! It will make you weep! It may even make some of you wake-up…”

Written By: John Pritchard, David Bartlett, Una McCormack, Guy Adams
Directed By: Lisa Bowerman, Helen Goldwyn

Cast

Maureen O’Brien (Vicki), Peter Purves (Steven Taylor), Anneke Wills (Polly), Elliot Chapman (Ben Jackson / The Player), Robert Hands (Lagrange), Helen Goldwyn (The Chaons) and Nicholas Briggs as the Daleks

Producer Ian Atkins
Script Editor Jacqueline Rayner
Executive Producers Jason Haigh-Ellery and Nicholas Briggs

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Now dear readers, I know what you are all thinking – “Ed, you haven’t provided us with a musical interlude for a while, isn’t it about time for another?” And do you know I think you are right, not since last November or so have I delved into the old musical interlude – but for this months Fourth Doctor release I think a musical interlude sets the tone, so sit back, relax and enjoy Underground by Tom Waits

There you go, that was fun want it? and it ties in very nicely with Subterranea – a story of a world going on underground, a story of mole people and sort of Cybermen-like monsters called Silex all driving around in giant mining machines called drill towns – and it is rather fun. Again it may look like a Season 18 story, it may have the theme tune from season 18 and Tom may be in burgundy but this story is pure season 17 in its ethos. The supporting cast of Maxwell Wilberforce Bell (Matthew Cottle), his wife Lucretia Bell (Abigail McKern) and Mr Jelicho Wigg (Robbie Stevens) are pure panto and chew the scenery almost as well as their mining vehicles chew the earth that they travel through.
Tom and Lalla seem to be having a ball with the script and you can just see them on screen with “Underworld” level of production values mugging to the camera for all they are worth and playing the script for laughs, because believe me this is a script in which all the players get to “give a turn”and it is all the bette for it. Maxwell bell COULD have been played completely straight, but as a slightly camp Captain who insists on wearing his hat all the time he is a memorable addition to the story rather than a forgettable bit part, and his wife Lucretia may not have written the book on arch but she has certainly bottled the ink.

The weak link in the story is in fact the monster o the month – as a steam powered derivative of the Cybermen the Silex are meant to be a terrifying threat but come across as a distraction – I wanted to hear more of Maxwell Wilberforce Bell and his drill town not a rampaging converted monster (maybe its just me, but think of it like The Stones of Blood, wouldn’t you have fathered Tom & Amelia Rumford waxing lyrical rather that the actual plot? well its like that)

But overall its a fun romp, not earth shattering (no pun intended) but a fun little runaround with some peril, some thrills, some spills, some explosions and some very funny lines.
The story fails as a season 18 pastiche, but rewind a year to the glory years of Graham Williams and this would fit rather nicely alongside The Creature From the Pit and is all ht better for it. A steam powered, slightly silly 7/10.

Written by Ed Watkinson

Synopsis

This title was released in June 2017. It will be exclusively available to buy from the BF website until July 31st 2017, and on general sale after this date.

The TARDIS is going underground. When the Doctor and Romana find themselves buried beneath the surface of an alien world, they’re soon swallowed up by a giant burrowing machine. This is where the inhabitants of this planet live – in huge, constantly moving, Drill-towns, chewing up the fuel and resources of the planet in order to survive.

But something else lurks in the earth. Something that feeds on the Drill-towns. Something that is relentless and will not stop.

The Silex are hunting.

Written By: Jonathan Morris
Directed By: Nicholas Briggs

Cast

Tom Baker (The Doctor), Lalla Ward (Romana), Matthew Cottle (Mr Maxwell Wilberforce Bell), Abigail McKern (Mrs Lucretia Bell), Robbie Stevens (Mr Jelicho Wigg/ Mr Wilfer Wagstaff), Jane Slavin (Miss Arabella Wagstaff/ Mrs Betsy Wagstaff), John Banks (Silex/ Mr Stoker). Other parts played by members of the cast.

Producer David Richardson
Script Editor John Dorney
Executive Producers Jason Haigh-Ellery and Nicholas Briggs

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Ok, so Doctor Who post 2005 – whats the first thing that comes in to your head? Well obviously David Tennant, thats a given and Bille Piper too – they are the poster boy and girl for the glory days of the RTD era, but coming not too close behind and definitely not a Pointless answer (Jimmy Vee would be a pointless answer) is one Captain Jack Harkness played by the irreplaceable John Barrowman. From his debut in The Empty Child, Captain Jack has firmly cemented himself as a fan favourite, so popular that he even got his own spin off series in Torchwood (but thats another story) this story, or more accurately set of four stories are about Captain Jack post Parting of the Ways, pre Empty Ccild and post Children of Earth. Confused? then please read on.

If this were Trial of a Timelord I would describe these four stories as four “epistopic interfaces of the spectrum” but its not so I won’t 🙂 – what we have here are four stories about Captain Jack when he is at his most vulnerable, friendless, alone almost crushed and how he copes with the situations he finds himself in from a devastated Earth following the events of Parting of the Ways we follow Jack on a personal journey seeking acceptance above all else and trying to be the bet man he can, we even go back to his origins as a time agent and discover many things about his past – but I am getting ahead of myself. We begin not at the beginning of Jack’s life but the beginning of his time after the events on the Gamestation….

1. The Year After I Died by Guy Adams

A very good place to start. Jack is seeking solitude but a young journalist Silo Crook (Shvorne Marks) is determined to tell his story and elevate him to the position of hero. Jack wants nothing to do with this. But as the story progresses we see Jack as the good person we know he can be as the very worst in humanity prey on the weak and forlorn personified by Sarah Douglas in a scenery chewing performance as the very Theresa May like Vortis Trear. This is a story of the rich doing whatever they like to survive, of the desperation of the survivors of the Dalek attack and of Captain Jack coming to know himself a little bit better.

2. Wednesdays For Beginners by James Goss

You cant beat a bit of Jackie Tyler can you? Camille Coduri take a bow, its like you have never been away and boy have we missed you. Playing almost like a Companion Chronicle this two hander sees Jackie just a little bit enamoured of the handsome new American resident of the Powell Estate, and when they meet its, if not exactly “moider” then its actually the end of the world. Jackie & Jack are a double act made in heaven, a comic pairing that just writes itself no matter what the peril Jackie seems to think the resolution is a nice cup of tea or a bit of a knees up. The laughs keep coming as Jack tells Jackie the name of the threat (sorry, too spoilery) and the only music for the knees up is pan pipe east end classics. Sounds camp and cheesy? Well the execution is but the threat is actually huge but it is Jackie’s response to it that grounds this story in reality and in pure RTD pastiche.

3. One Enchanted Evening by James Goss

On his final lap of honour The Tenth Doctor introduces Captain jack to one Alonso Frame (Russell Tovey) – a hot date being set up we all thought? But there is a lot more to it than this because the station that they are on is about to be invaded by the evil Mother Nothing (an unrecognisable and decidedly menacing Katy Manning) and forms a basis for a will they/wont they? escapade involving some excellent action set pieces. It feels like a bit of a blockbuster with Russell Tovey stealing the show coming across as a cross between his character in Being Human and Michael Baker from Count Arthur Strong. High on humour, high on peril and escapade this is the heart and soul of the set.

4. Month 25 by Guy Adams

Ever wanted to know Captain Jack Harkness’s real name? Intrigued? You will be. This goes back to the beginning, before The Empty Child when Jack was a time agent and lost two years of his life. And Thats all I am saying about that. Suitably intriguing isn’t it and well worth a listen.

So there you have it Jack sans Torchwood. Its very RTD era which is to be expected and there are some wonderful pieces of character in the quieter moments, the ending of One Enchanted Evening will bring a tear to the eye of even the most cynical of fanboys. It felt frothy and perhaps a little bit shallow in places – a bit like the man himself, but it is a beautifully polished box set that adds to what we already know about the man known as Captain Jack Harkness and leaves the audience wanting to know a bit more. I salute this set at 8/10.

Written by Ed Watkinson

Oddball or experimental or brave or edgy or creative or just plain different are just some of the adjectives that could be used to describe torchwood_cascade_cdrip.tor. And they would all be right, because this is a very very different release in the Torchwood canon playing with expectations, playing with the audio medium and pushing it just as far as it can be pushed without quite irreparably damaging it. Part story of unrequited love from two lonely people, part urban techno thriller, part cautionary tale on the consequences of acquiring media from non standard (read illegal) sources this is as different a story as Big Finish have released in any of their ranges – and coming from the pen of the creative genius behind the sublime Dorian Gray series Scott Handcock – could we really expect anything mundane and straightforward? Of course we couldn’t.

So what is it actually about? Well, that would be telling, but the about is not really as important as the “how” – and it is the structure and the storytelling method of this release that makes it truly striking and unique, this is pieced together found footage of a corrupted media file illegally downloaded, it skips, it jumps about from perspective to perspective, it is non linear, it is a difficult listen but it is a rewarding listen to those who give it their full attention – and after two listens I got two distinctly different interpretations of what I had actually listened to and experienced – its that sort of story, the more engaged the listener is the more rewarding the story is.

Naoko Mori takes top billing in this story as Toshiko Sato, invited to London by an old colleague from Torchwood One called Stephen (Robbie Jarvis) who has been investigating the disappearances of people of the same age at the same time in different parts of the world – what is the link and why are they being hunted and why does Stephen think he is newt on the list and why did he ask Toshiko to help? these questions and many more will be posed and as with all good fiction the answers are there but are open to interpretation.

Scott Handcock brings in some of his trademark macabre, claustrophobic style of story telling that he is rightly praised for in Dorian Gray – the story is horror dressed up as a techno thriller and an ethical conundrum  on the evils of illegal downloading and has that dreamlike ambiguousness that makes the listener doubt what they have just heard and give it a second third and fourth listen to get the most out of the story.

Naoko Mori slips back in to the character of Tosh effortlessly, a conflicted character at once brilliant but wracked with social awkwardness and self doubt and this is an exceptional “Show don’t tell” performance, it really is a privilege to have Toshiko back in Torchwood again.

There is no way that this release could be called “easy listening” its probably as far away from easy listening as you can get, what it is in almost equal measure is disturbing, upsetting, challenging, intelligent and quite quite brilliant. Hats off to Scott Handcock, Naoko Mori and all at Big Finish for pushing the boundaries on what a Torchwood tale can be. 10/10.

Written by Ed Watkinson

Synopsis

This title was released in June 2017. It will be exclusively available to buy from the BF website until August 31st 2017, and on general sale after this date.

WARNING: The unauthorised reproduction or distribution of this 
copyrighted work is illegal.Your downloads are monitored. 
Internet piracy is a crime and is punishable by up to 5 years in 
prison, a fine of £250,000 or death.

Come on, we’ve all done it. We’ve all downloaded a cheeky little something we shouldn’t have. After all, what’s the harm, eh? You never get caught. No-one knows. No-one knocks at your door and tells you you’re about to die.

Turns out, there’s something hiding in the internet. It knows what you’ve done. And it’s going to stop you.

Torchwood contains adult material and may not be suitable for younger listeners

Written By: Scott Handcock
Directed By: Scott Handcock

Cast

Naoko Mori (Toshiko Sato), Robbie Jarvis (Stephen), Ashley Kumar (Max), Rachel Handshaw (Nikki)

Producer James Goss
Script Editor David Llewellyn

Executive Producers Jason Haigh-Ellery and Nicholas Briggs

BUY YOUR COPY HERE

Change is the essence of life, we never stay the same, we move on, fast friends become ghosts of memories, new friends are made and can any of us truly say we are the person we were 20 years ago?

Polly Jackson (Anneke Wills) that one time companion of The Doctor is going trough a change – she is moving house with all the apprehension and uncertainty that brings and as she sifts through her old forgotten belongings on the morning of the move she uncovers a keepsake from her time with The Doctor, she finds a green feather and this unlocks a plethora of hitherto forgotten memories about the time just before the antarctic and Cybermen and regeneration – she remembers a time when she met an Angel.

The ending of this story is described by Polly as an interlude – and that is exactly what it is, not a great adventure but a small amount of time that foreshadows a great change to come – in a way this is The First Doctor’s Watcher or her will knock your times moment because the Angel foretells the Doctor’s regeneration…..

Anneke Wills brings a world weariness to Polly, a woman uncertain about where her new phase in life will take her perfectly mirroring the events that happened to the Doctor on that unnamed planet. The Angel obviously isn’t an Angel in the religious sense, but is a being almost as old as the universe itself, a being who can see beyond the dimensions that bind us calling the young Polly by her married surname years before she married Ben, but it is the effect that this encounter has on the Doctor that defines the encounter, her seems to visibly age and become more frail as the Angel describes his fate and the inevitability of what must happen to him.

A rather poetic lesson in balance and symmetry given  life and context by Polly’s apprehension at something as everyday as moving home told beautifully and lyrically by Anneke Wills  as she draws you in to Polly’s world and makes the listener hang on her every word. A rather poetic 9/10.

Written by Ed Watkinson

Synopsis

Doctor Who: Short Trips Monthly is a series of new short stories read by an original cast member.

Release #29 is a First Doctor, Ben and Polly story.

Long, long ago, Mrs Polly Jackson travelled in the TARDIS with her friends, the Doctor and Ben. Together, they saw many remarkable things – some magical, some terrifying, some filled with awe and wonder. Only one incident, however, was truly inexplicable, a single encounter which failed at the time wholly to make sense. At least, that is, until today…

Producer Ian Atkins
Script Editor Ian Atkins
Executive Producers Jason Haigh-Ellery and Nicholas Briggs

Written By: Jonathan Barnes
Directed By: Lisa Bowerman

Cast

Anneke Wills (Narrator)

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Oh now this one is rather good, I may go so far as to say that it is the jewel in the crown of this particular series of Pathfinder Legends. I don’t know what it is but this one sort of “flows” wheras the other entries in to the series so far have really betrayed their roots and felt like a series of set pieces, this one feels like an organic developing story where the outcome has not been pre-decided, there is a sense of real as opposed to staged danger and the characters really are allowed to breathe and develop.

So whats happening in The Skeletons of Scarwall? Well our heroes Harsk (Ian Brooker), Valeros (Stewart Alexander), Ezren (Trevor Littledale) and Merisiel (Kerry Skinner) are continuing their quest to find a weapon capable of defeating the evil Queen Illeosa and have been directed to Scarwall Fortress, home of Undead Lord Kazavon and his horde – this dread fortress is said to hold a magical sword that may just have the power to defeat the Queen. So far so generic RPG? Well you would be right in thinking that, it sounds just like an RPG romp that folks like me used to play in the 1980’s – but it is the presentation that makes this stand head and shoulders above its peers. The danger seems real, the characters feel truly out of their depth and then things step up a gear when possibly my favourite character in Pathfinder Legends Laori Vaus (Ashleigh Loeb) shows up.

Laori is a complex multi layered dangerous and rather sad character. A Forlorn Elf, that is an Elf brought up by humans and spent her life watching them die of old age as she lived – she became obsessed with pain and death and fell in with the worshippers of the “Midnight Lord” – Zon Kuthon, God of evil, suffering and pain. Laori delights in the suffering of others and of herself and has a disturbing sing song innocence to her voice, she and her companion Siel (Fanos Xenofos) are also on their way to Scarwall to take out the “heathen” who have defected from their fealty to Zon Kuthon. Can an alliance between Laori and our heroes work for mutual benefit? The answer is to be found by listening and it really is one shock revelation after another. The story really feels it is building to a climax and that the victory over Queen Illeosa (if it happens) will be earned by adventures like this one where no one is quite the same again, characters act out of character and the rules are constantly changed.

Ending on a cliffhanger which will lead us into next months finale, this episode feels like the dark before the dawn – tonally very different from what has come before and all the better for it. 9/10.

Written by Ed Watkinson

Synopsis

Condemned by a history of horrors, an army of the living dead stands between Korvosa and its only hope for salvation. Within the grim fastness of haunted Scarwall, the lifeless legions of the ancient warlord Kazavon guard the same accursed halls they’ve stalked for more than 700 years.

Crossing a forsaken land to reach the infamous citadel’s dreaded gates, Ezren, Merisiel, Harsk and Valeros must explore the foul castle’s haunted halls, and confront otherworldly terrors to purge the taint of Kazavon’s final days before having any hope of finally breaking the Curse of the Crimson Throne.

Written By: David Bryher, based on a story by Greg A Vaughan
Directed By: John Ainsworth

Cast

Stewart Alexander (Valeros), Trevor Littledale (Ezren), Ian Brooker (Harsk), Kerry Skinner (Merisiel), Ashleigh Loeb (Laori Vaus), Fanos Xenofós (Shadowcount Sial), Harry Myers (Mithrodar/ Uri), Helen Goldwyn (Ravenka), Wraith Johnson (Kleestad/ Ildervok)

Producer John Ainsworth
Script Editor John Ainsworth
Executive Producers Jason Haigh-Ellery and Nicholas Briggs

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