Weapon of Choice: Fronting a series with Lalla Ward and Louise Jameson is so intimidating to the other spin offs I’m not sure why they bothered! This is a very strong start for the Gallifrey series, it takes no time in establishing its own identity and it juggles some really juicy ideas about. Plus unlike the Excelis series it leaves a lot of intriguing threads dangling to be followed up later; what happened to Andred, who tried to set up Romana, what will be the result of the forthcoming judicial enquiry…? It’s a sharp, intelligent piece of writing by Alan Barnes and the chosen regular cast share fantastic chemistry. Witty lines and characters keep the piece even and the overall effect is a series that you want to follow with some enthusiasm: 8/10Full Review Here: http://docohobigfinish.blogspot.com/2010/09/gallifrey-weapon-of-choice-written-by.html
Buy it from Big Finish here: http://www.bigfinish.com/11-Gallifrey-Weapon-of-Choice
Square One: A thoroughly enjoyable second instalment, one which establishes time as a dangerous and malleable force. Steve Cole is an extremely undervalued author and his best work (Ten Little Aliens, Plague Herds of Excelis, Timeless) has proven to be thoroughly entertaining. Square One is one of his best scripts, taking Gallifrey’s role in the universe and suggesting there are far more secrets in the planets history that we haven’t yet discovered and that perhaps even Gallifrey itself has been privy to a little temporal nip and tuck. One thing Cole always captures well is dialogue so he is perfectly suited to the audio format and his handling of Leela is especially strong, the noble savage developing a very welcome presence in the series. The plotting is rock solid and dazzles with some clever twists and once again we are left with the impression that these stories will have consequences: 8/10
Full Review Here: http://docohobigfinish.blogspot.com/2010/09/square-one-written-by-stephen-cole-and.html
Buy it from Big Finish here: http://www.bigfinish.com/12-Gallifrey-Square-One
The Inquiry: A superb script, extremely wordy and almost flat for its first half but coming to life with a vengeance in its conclusion. Justin Richards is the perfect writer for the Gallifrey series, like its inhabitants his prose is often cold and clinical, he wields high concepts like a weapon and his plotting is tighter than a gnat’s ass. Here he manages to run with the threads of the series (the TFD, Romana’s political nightmare, Leela’s search for Andred), bridge a gap in continuity for a much loved character he created (Brax’s Collection), add some weight and juicy disclosure on a much derided story (Underworld) and provide a classy analogy of Oppenheimer’s nuclear detonation. It’s a class act and the performances are superb, although there is little in the way of atmospherics. Very clever stuff. With Romana furious that someone attempted to hold the Time Lords to ransom and rewrite their history I am eager to see what happens next: 9/10
Full Review Here: http://docohobigfinish.blogspot.com/2010/09/inquiry-written-by-justin-richards-and.html
Buy it from Big Finish here: http://www.bigfinish.com/13-Gallifrey-The-Inquiry
A Blind Eye: How could Alan Barnes and Gary Russell be responsible for perhaps the greatest travesty in the Doctor Who canon (yeah you know I’m talking about) and then follow it up with something as intelligent, clever, twisted and heartbreakingly climatic as this? It beggars belief! A Blind Eye ends a nourishing first year of Gallifrey on a real high dishing out brilliant twists that prove how intricately this season has been plotted. What’s more it gives Lalla Ward, Louise Jameson and India Fisher the chance to really impress with some top dramatic material. I’ve always thought there was a great story waiting to be told in the Doctor Who universe set on a moving train and it proves to be as atmospheric as I imagined. I loved the spoilt bitch fascist Sissy Pollard. I loved the timey wimey madness with the two Torvald’s. I loved Romana’s bossy, angry tirade. And I really loved the truth about Andred. I was gripped from the first moment to the last: 10/10
Full Review Here: http://docohobigfinish.blogspot.com/2010/09/gallifrey-blind-eye-written-by-alan.html
Buy it from Big Finish here: http://www.bigfinish.com/14-Gallifrey-A-Blind-Eye
Gallifrey Reborn: Sometimes the departure from the norm is refreshing (for me Bernice Summerfield: Epoch worked in that respect) and all series four of Gallifrey had to do was prove that this was the case. I’ve gone into the strengths and weaknesses of the alternative universe concept above (erring on the side of the weaknesses unfortunately). The idea of the ‘Two Romanas’ is so delicious it deserved another airing and its handled with far more sensitivity than the last attempt. Continuity junkies will be delighted because they will be showered in fanwank (Draconians, the Galyari, the Killorans and the Monan Host are all referenced in the same scene) but those who prefer original ideas are going to be left feeling short-changed (the alternative idea is such old hat it might be in fashion again). This must be Gary Russell’s dream come true, a chance to not only cherry pick all manner of Doctor Who mythology but to deconstruct it as well and reshape it into something very different. His twisted vision for series four is controversial but for once continuity is being used not for its own sake but to offer a skewed vision of a Gallifrey that never came to be. I have often complained about his reliance on past elements rather than championing original storytelling but let’s give him this season long diversion to get it all out of his system. There are some grand ideas in Reborn (regenerations as party poppers, TARDISes mass marketed) and the premise of box set has great potential if it leads Gallifrey somewhere important but this initial story does come across as feeling inconsequential. Which probably isn’t the right tone for a comeback. Next week we aren’t going to give two hoots about the Gallifrey we have visited this week and going from a serialised narrative to cotton candy standalones is quite a big ask: 6/10
Full Review Here: http://docohobigfinish.blogspot.co.uk/2012/12/gallifrey-reborn-written-by-gary.html
Buy it from Big Finish here: http://www.bigfinish.com/releases/v/gallifrey-series-4-box-set-389
Gallifrey Disassembled: At first I was nonplussed at Justin Richards’ opening gambit because it didn’t seem to be at all different from the Gallifrey that our regular characters spring from Although that did get me excited that they might be home for a moment. Then I realised that this was the devious shield, keeping us from the appearance of the alternative versions of Leela and the Doctor and that is where this tale scores its big win. Dissembled works better than any of the other stories in this set because it takes the dodgy central premise and lets the regulars learn something interesting (Romana discovers the Brax was her Burner and what Richards dares to suggest about the pre-Unearthly Child Doctor makes the set worth buying alone). Ultimately its little more than a run-around (the characters always seemed to be on the move) but with such outstanding performances and the chance to explore the darker side of some of the best characters in the Doctor Who universe it is practically unmissable. Richards gives this story a dramatic force that the others are lacking, generating excitement not only from the contrast of characters but also the claustrophobic world they have found themselves on. The only thing that mars this is the muddying of the Bernice/Brax continuity although I’ve heard that this might be resolved at some point in the future. Oh and the agonisingly long and nonsensical prelude to the next adventure that feels like it goes on for the length of a bible. That aside, this is vintage stuff: 8/10
Full Review Here: http://docohobigfinish.blogspot.co.uk/2012/12/gallifrey-disassembled-written-by.html
Buy it from Big Finish here: http://www.bigfinish.com/releases/v/gallifrey-series-4-box-set-389
Gallifrey Annihilation: Annihilation shows the massive gulf between Gary Russell’s talent ‘behind the microphone’ and his talent ‘behind the typewriter.’ With the former he is practically unbeatable; assembling an impressive cast and encouraging extraordinary performances, generating a potent audio atmosphere and working his ass off to make sure that the story is marketed to the hilt and the audience are there licking their lips with anticipation. With the latter he is flogging a dead horse; amassing a paceless bore, packed with uninteresting characters and tedious pontificating, injected with needless continuity and poisoned by a tired premise. I don’t know where Scott Handcock came into this but it is so packed full of Russell’s trademarks faults as a scriptwriter I can only imagine any creative worth he injected into the story was completely swamped. Gallifrey Annihilation feels like we are coming in at the end of the season of a show that we haven’t seen and missed all the best bits. The insidious vampiric conversion of Gallifrey (Spare Parts style) would have been a much more exciting prospect than its demise and since we are only dropping in to see this wrapped up it (once again) feels as if we haven’t been invited to the right party. I don’t really want to say anything more about this story because I feel as though I have twisted the knife in enough already but needless to say I had something of an allergic reaction to this story. Not since my days of reviewing Star Trek Voyager (check them out if you have the stomach for it) have I been so baffled that a story which has so much talent at it (some lovely direction, an intimidatingly good cast) could be so unravelled by its defective script. My least favourite Big Finish story in some time: 2/10
Full Review Here: http://docohobigfinish.blogspot.co.uk/2012/12/gallifrey-annihilation-written-by-scott.html
Buy it from Big Finish here: http://www.bigfinish.com/releases/v/gallifrey-series-4-box-set-389
Gallifrey Forever: Its better than Annihilation but considering my allergic reaction to the previous story don’t take that as a indictment that Forever is any good. I realised going into this story that we have lost the two most impressive aspects of the first half of the Gallifrey IV box set and that that might be another factor in my growing disillusionment; Leela’s blindness and Brax. But things that are missing are hardly the only faults on display here; the script is garrulously verbose to the point of not making any sense during the technobabble scenes, Romana’s character has perversely been twisted into a immoral time meddler, Narvin continues to make no impact whatsoever (even when there are two of him around) and the story blunders along from one lengthly dialogue scene to another refusing to gel into a narrative with any momentum. Its telling that the final story of this box set fails to cohere any of the ideas or themes that have been explored throughout the season and instead it just brings things to a jarring halt with no sign that things will be any different next year. It feels as though this has all been made up as it went along and that so much effort has gone into ensuring that the mammoth cast were available at the same time that nobody charted out the narrative or knew where the story was heading. Was there any point to introducing the threat from another dimension at the climax? Will we ever see Braxiatel again? Was there any point in blinding Leela only to wave a magic wand and cure her again? Will Romana ever pay for her misdemeanours? So many unanswered questions and what bothers me more than anything is that if I have to endure another season like this I don’t even know if I am interested in learning the answers. Forever feels like an amateurish first draft of a story that needs several revisions before it is bashed into any kind of recordable shape and it closes a disappointing season on a real bum note: 3/10
Full Review Here: http://docohobigfinish.blogspot.co.uk/2012/12/gallifrey-forever-written-by-david-wise.html
Buy it from Big Finish here: http://www.bigfinish.com/releases/v/gallifrey-series-4-box-set-389
Emancipation: ‘If I’m right we could save our Gallifrey!’ Either Gary Russell is brave for sticking to his guns and letting this story play out as he originally intended (ie not returning to Gallifrey Prime at the first available opportunity) or that he is stubborn for refusing to admit that the least series went down like a cup of cold sick and trying to steer things in a more popular direction. For the time being at least Gallifrey is staying on the alternative world set up in last season’s Forever and that’s just how it is. The fact that the series is clinging onto one location is a massive plus because at least if this reality does prove to be another pointless deviation from the main plotline it at least has the time to be set up and explored in some depth. Last season there was a stronger feeling of getting the gang back together for a good laugh over creating an enduring four chapters of the Gallifrey legacy (seriously, go and listen to the special features disc of Gallifrey IV which is the most self congratulatory thing you will ever experience) and what was needed here was a back to basics approach to show a doubtful audience they should see this story through. This is hardly a return to form for the simple fact that it takes ages for anything to happen (there’s eventually an assassination attempt on Leela) and the consequence is merely more incessant squabbling and bickering. The series seems to have lost its engaging penchant for politicking, replacing it with people standing in rooms bitching at each other instead (and no they are not one and the same thing). There’s a slight thread running through this story that suggests that long overdue plot resolutions are on their way (talk of the Dogma virus being cured and a return to the Axis) but I don’t think a range should dine out on the positive hints that the current situation will soon to be tossed away. You can’t exist on an empty promise. Most of the positives in Emancipation are characterisation of Romana and Narvin but Leela is awkwardly written, and none of the new characters make much of an impression (remember the golden days of super-bitch Darkel?). I remember a time when each chapter of a series was a self contained story in its own right (to be fair to Gallifrey IV that was the case even there) but this latest box set seems to be playing a long game, laying down seeds here but playing out as one, long, three part story. Which wouldn’t be a problem if it was an interesting three-part story. I used to love this series and I want to love it again, it frustrates me that I don’t. A shame, I was hoping a fresh writer would bring a fresh perspective: 4/10
Full Review Here: http://docohobigfinish.blogspot.com/2010/09/square-one-written-by-stephen-cole-and.html
Buy it from Big Finish here: http://www.bigfinish.com/12-Gallifrey-Square-One
The Inquiry: A superb script, extremely wordy and almost flat for its first half but coming to life with a vengeance in its conclusion. Justin Richards is the perfect writer for the Gallifrey series, like its inhabitants his prose is often cold and clinical, he wields high concepts like a weapon and his plotting is tighter than a gnat’s ass. Here he manages to run with the threads of the series (the TFD, Romana’s political nightmare, Leela’s search for Andred), bridge a gap in continuity for a much loved character he created (Brax’s Collection), add some weight and juicy disclosure on a much derided story (Underworld) and provide a classy analogy of Oppenheimer’s nuclear detonation. It’s a class act and the performances are superb, although there is little in the way of atmospherics. Very clever stuff. With Romana furious that someone attempted to hold the Time Lords to ransom and rewrite their history I am eager to see what happens next: 9/10
Full Review Here: http://docohobigfinish.blogspot.com/2010/09/inquiry-written-by-justin-richards-and.html
Buy it from Big Finish here: http://www.bigfinish.com/13-Gallifrey-The-Inquiry
A Blind Eye: How could Alan Barnes and Gary Russell be responsible for perhaps the greatest travesty in the Doctor Who canon (yeah you know I’m talking about) and then follow it up with something as intelligent, clever, twisted and heartbreakingly climatic as this? It beggars belief! A Blind Eye ends a nourishing first year of Gallifrey on a real high dishing out brilliant twists that prove how intricately this season has been plotted. What’s more it gives Lalla Ward, Louise Jameson and India Fisher the chance to really impress with some top dramatic material. I’ve always thought there was a great story waiting to be told in the Doctor Who universe set on a moving train and it proves to be as atmospheric as I imagined. I loved the spoilt bitch fascist Sissy Pollard. I loved the timey wimey madness with the two Torvald’s. I loved Romana’s bossy, angry tirade. And I really loved the truth about Andred. I was gripped from the first moment to the last: 10/10
Full Review Here: http://docohobigfinish.blogspot.com/2010/09/gallifrey-blind-eye-written-by-alan.html
Buy it from Big Finish here: http://www.bigfinish.com/14-Gallifrey-A-Blind-Eye
Gallifrey Reborn: Sometimes the departure from the norm is refreshing (for me Bernice Summerfield: Epoch worked in that respect) and all series four of Gallifrey had to do was prove that this was the case. I’ve gone into the strengths and weaknesses of the alternative universe concept above (erring on the side of the weaknesses unfortunately). The idea of the ‘Two Romanas’ is so delicious it deserved another airing and its handled with far more sensitivity than the last attempt. Continuity junkies will be delighted because they will be showered in fanwank (Draconians, the Galyari, the Killorans and the Monan Host are all referenced in the same scene) but those who prefer original ideas are going to be left feeling short-changed (the alternative idea is such old hat it might be in fashion again). This must be Gary Russell’s dream come true, a chance to not only cherry pick all manner of Doctor Who mythology but to deconstruct it as well and reshape it into something very different. His twisted vision for series four is controversial but for once continuity is being used not for its own sake but to offer a skewed vision of a Gallifrey that never came to be. I have often complained about his reliance on past elements rather than championing original storytelling but let’s give him this season long diversion to get it all out of his system. There are some grand ideas in Reborn (regenerations as party poppers, TARDISes mass marketed) and the premise of box set has great potential if it leads Gallifrey somewhere important but this initial story does come across as feeling inconsequential. Which probably isn’t the right tone for a comeback. Next week we aren’t going to give two hoots about the Gallifrey we have visited this week and going from a serialised narrative to cotton candy standalones is quite a big ask: 6/10
Full Review Here: http://docohobigfinish.blogspot.co.uk/2012/12/gallifrey-reborn-written-by-gary.html
Buy it from Big Finish here: http://www.bigfinish.com/releases/v/gallifrey-series-4-box-set-389
Gallifrey Disassembled: At first I was nonplussed at Justin Richards’ opening gambit because it didn’t seem to be at all different from the Gallifrey that our regular characters spring from Although that did get me excited that they might be home for a moment. Then I realised that this was the devious shield, keeping us from the appearance of the alternative versions of Leela and the Doctor and that is where this tale scores its big win. Dissembled works better than any of the other stories in this set because it takes the dodgy central premise and lets the regulars learn something interesting (Romana discovers the Brax was her Burner and what Richards dares to suggest about the pre-Unearthly Child Doctor makes the set worth buying alone). Ultimately its little more than a run-around (the characters always seemed to be on the move) but with such outstanding performances and the chance to explore the darker side of some of the best characters in the Doctor Who universe it is practically unmissable. Richards gives this story a dramatic force that the others are lacking, generating excitement not only from the contrast of characters but also the claustrophobic world they have found themselves on. The only thing that mars this is the muddying of the Bernice/Brax continuity although I’ve heard that this might be resolved at some point in the future. Oh and the agonisingly long and nonsensical prelude to the next adventure that feels like it goes on for the length of a bible. That aside, this is vintage stuff: 8/10
Full Review Here: http://docohobigfinish.blogspot.co.uk/2012/12/gallifrey-disassembled-written-by.html
Buy it from Big Finish here: http://www.bigfinish.com/releases/v/gallifrey-series-4-box-set-389
Gallifrey Annihilation: Annihilation shows the massive gulf between Gary Russell’s talent ‘behind the microphone’ and his talent ‘behind the typewriter.’ With the former he is practically unbeatable; assembling an impressive cast and encouraging extraordinary performances, generating a potent audio atmosphere and working his ass off to make sure that the story is marketed to the hilt and the audience are there licking their lips with anticipation. With the latter he is flogging a dead horse; amassing a paceless bore, packed with uninteresting characters and tedious pontificating, injected with needless continuity and poisoned by a tired premise. I don’t know where Scott Handcock came into this but it is so packed full of Russell’s trademarks faults as a scriptwriter I can only imagine any creative worth he injected into the story was completely swamped. Gallifrey Annihilation feels like we are coming in at the end of the season of a show that we haven’t seen and missed all the best bits. The insidious vampiric conversion of Gallifrey (Spare Parts style) would have been a much more exciting prospect than its demise and since we are only dropping in to see this wrapped up it (once again) feels as if we haven’t been invited to the right party. I don’t really want to say anything more about this story because I feel as though I have twisted the knife in enough already but needless to say I had something of an allergic reaction to this story. Not since my days of reviewing Star Trek Voyager (check them out if you have the stomach for it) have I been so baffled that a story which has so much talent at it (some lovely direction, an intimidatingly good cast) could be so unravelled by its defective script. My least favourite Big Finish story in some time: 2/10
Full Review Here: http://docohobigfinish.blogspot.co.uk/2012/12/gallifrey-annihilation-written-by-scott.html
Buy it from Big Finish here: http://www.bigfinish.com/releases/v/gallifrey-series-4-box-set-389
Gallifrey Forever: Its better than Annihilation but considering my allergic reaction to the previous story don’t take that as a indictment that Forever is any good. I realised going into this story that we have lost the two most impressive aspects of the first half of the Gallifrey IV box set and that that might be another factor in my growing disillusionment; Leela’s blindness and Brax. But things that are missing are hardly the only faults on display here; the script is garrulously verbose to the point of not making any sense during the technobabble scenes, Romana’s character has perversely been twisted into a immoral time meddler, Narvin continues to make no impact whatsoever (even when there are two of him around) and the story blunders along from one lengthly dialogue scene to another refusing to gel into a narrative with any momentum. Its telling that the final story of this box set fails to cohere any of the ideas or themes that have been explored throughout the season and instead it just brings things to a jarring halt with no sign that things will be any different next year. It feels as though this has all been made up as it went along and that so much effort has gone into ensuring that the mammoth cast were available at the same time that nobody charted out the narrative or knew where the story was heading. Was there any point to introducing the threat from another dimension at the climax? Will we ever see Braxiatel again? Was there any point in blinding Leela only to wave a magic wand and cure her again? Will Romana ever pay for her misdemeanours? So many unanswered questions and what bothers me more than anything is that if I have to endure another season like this I don’t even know if I am interested in learning the answers. Forever feels like an amateurish first draft of a story that needs several revisions before it is bashed into any kind of recordable shape and it closes a disappointing season on a real bum note: 3/10
Full Review Here: http://docohobigfinish.blogspot.co.uk/2012/12/gallifrey-forever-written-by-david-wise.html
Buy it from Big Finish here: http://www.bigfinish.com/releases/v/gallifrey-series-4-box-set-389
Emancipation: ‘If I’m right we could save our Gallifrey!’ Either Gary Russell is brave for sticking to his guns and letting this story play out as he originally intended (ie not returning to Gallifrey Prime at the first available opportunity) or that he is stubborn for refusing to admit that the least series went down like a cup of cold sick and trying to steer things in a more popular direction. For the time being at least Gallifrey is staying on the alternative world set up in last season’s Forever and that’s just how it is. The fact that the series is clinging onto one location is a massive plus because at least if this reality does prove to be another pointless deviation from the main plotline it at least has the time to be set up and explored in some depth. Last season there was a stronger feeling of getting the gang back together for a good laugh over creating an enduring four chapters of the Gallifrey legacy (seriously, go and listen to the special features disc of Gallifrey IV which is the most self congratulatory thing you will ever experience) and what was needed here was a back to basics approach to show a doubtful audience they should see this story through. This is hardly a return to form for the simple fact that it takes ages for anything to happen (there’s eventually an assassination attempt on Leela) and the consequence is merely more incessant squabbling and bickering. The series seems to have lost its engaging penchant for politicking, replacing it with people standing in rooms bitching at each other instead (and no they are not one and the same thing). There’s a slight thread running through this story that suggests that long overdue plot resolutions are on their way (talk of the Dogma virus being cured and a return to the Axis) but I don’t think a range should dine out on the positive hints that the current situation will soon to be tossed away. You can’t exist on an empty promise. Most of the positives in Emancipation are characterisation of Romana and Narvin but Leela is awkwardly written, and none of the new characters make much of an impression (remember the golden days of super-bitch Darkel?). I remember a time when each chapter of a series was a self contained story in its own right (to be fair to Gallifrey IV that was the case even there) but this latest box set seems to be playing a long game, laying down seeds here but playing out as one, long, three part story. Which wouldn’t be a problem if it was an interesting three-part story. I used to love this series and I want to love it again, it frustrates me that I don’t. A shame, I was hoping a fresh writer would bring a fresh perspective: 4/10
Full Review Here: http://docohobigfinish.blogspot.co.uk/2013/02/gallifrey-v-emancipation-written-by.html
Buy it from Big Finish here: http://www.bigfinish.com/releases/v/gallifrey-series-5-box-set-784
Evolution: At one point throughout this adventure Romana uttered the immortal words ‘let us hope that this is genuinely interesting…’ You should never tempt fate like that. Evolution is not so much uninteresting but irrelevant. Its so hard to be engaged by the events that are taking place on this world not only because they are unfolding at a glacial pace, feature inadequately drawn characters and fail to provide any significant surprises but also because we’re constantly reminded that this isn’t where any of the main characters want to be. How can we get involved in the action if Romana is on the verge of a complete borderm (she mentions it about three times in this story), Leela is just killing time with a cause until she can go home and the populace of this planet are so gullible that they cannot see that they are being used in order to expedite their return to Gallifrey Prime. Is this what comes of digging your heels in and sticking around on an alternative Gallifrey when even the regulars point out that it is tedious to do so? Where nothing significant happens over three hours of storytelling? Who are these people on this planet? Do they have lives beyond the plot mechanics of these stories? Does anybody have a sense of humour? Why should we care? If an author as strong as Una McCormack can be strangled by the irrelevances of this arc there is something very seriously going wrong with this range. Once again nothing seems to have happened (check out episode one of Brotherhood of the Daleks where triple the amount of events and surprises occur in half an hour than has been achieved in Gallifrey V over four times that running time) but people standing around pontificating. Trust me, that really isn’t as interesting as it might seem if they aren’t talking about anything worth listen to. This never once feels like McCormack’s work or at least not the engaging fantasy tie-in writer that I am accustomed to. She’s much better than this. Evolution is an offensively bad audio, impenetrable to newcomers and an extreme distortion of anything that made this range great to its following. Even Louise Jameson sounds uninterested: 1/10
Full Review Here: http://docohobigfinish.blogspot.co.uk/2013/02/gallifrey-v-evolution-written-by-una.html
Buy it from Big Finish here: http://www.bigfinish.com/releases/v/gallifrey-series-5-box-set-784
Arbitration: Thank goodness that is over. I had to force myself to listen to the concluding part of Gallifrey V this morning because I knew if I left any reasonable amount of time nothing would compel me to return to this particular series. Given my allergic reaction to Llewellyn’s contribution to the previous series I didn’t hold out much hope and whilst there is nothing particularly abhorrent going on in this story its still nothing but lifeless running on the spot until the surprise cliffhanger. Leela is shown the error of taking on somebody else’s cause without thinking out her actions. Romana is exposed as an imposter. And Narvin…well he’s there but he doesn’t seem to be doing anything but telling everybody else how wrong they are all the time. These developments should have taken place in last seasons climax and there really hasn’t been a good reason to defer until now. It feels like this series has been a deviation from the storyline that Gary Russell has wanted to tell. As far as I can see nothing of worth has occurred across this entire box set in until the final five minutes of this installment and it genuinely feels as though this is where the producers wanted to take the series from the word go but an extended visit to this dreariest of Gallifrey’s has been foisted upon them. The Daleks were always going to be the major threat to this series given what the future has to offer (the Time War) and pretending that anything on this alternative Gallifrey has any relevance is nothing but self delusion and prevarication. Basically what I am saying is that if you have forced yourself to listen to Forever from Gallifrey IV then forget about listening to the first two hours and fifty-five minutes of Gallifrey V and just stick the last couple of tracks on. On my oath you wont have missed anything vital. None of the dwindling regular cast are developed in a significant way. There are no running plot threads that capture the imagination. And there is an extreme dearth of incident which instead is filled with endless dialogue scenes discussing dead end ideas that are going nowhere. Think of putting your fingers in your ears and going ‘lalalalalalalala…’ for over three hours before having a surprise sprung on your at the last minute. That’s what Gallifrey V feels like. I’ve just spent three hours in this universe and I sill have no proper understanding of the place and given its sparse sound design I haven’t even had a sense it aurally (its nothing but sliding doors and bleeping consoles…how boring). A crushing disappointment, not just for me but for the likes of Lalla Ward and Louise Jameson who deserve far stronger material than this. Let’s hope this new direction will provide some kind of fitting closure to the series. This two season diversion has long outstayed its welcome: 2/10
Full Review Here: http://docohobigfinish.blogspot.co.uk/2013/02/gallifrey-v-arbitration-written-by.html
Buy it from Big Finish here: http://www.bigfinish.com/releases/v/gallifrey-series-5-box-set-784
Extermination: That was…good. To say I had my reservations about Gallifrey Series VI is an understatement but despite my allergic reaction to the last two seasons I was still excited to learn that the final trilogy of stories had been released. Obviously a lot of my earlier love for the range hasn’t dissipated as I thought. I harped on about the Daleks being dragged out by Big Finish once again in my recent review of The Final Phase and my witterings about the conclusion of series V of Gallifrey. Whilst I do think they have been overused to the point of exhaustion, this is clearly the sort of dramatic threat that Gallifrey has needed for some time now to pull all the characters together, make them forget their differences and curtail the bizarre character development the regulars have been forced to endure (Romana – the destroyer of worlds?) and get on with telling some stories with a punch. And that’s what Extermination (great title, I wonder why it hasn’t been used before?) has in spades – energy, drama and conviction. As mentioned, another huge plus in it’s favour is the characterisation of the regulars who have gone from a disparate bunch of barely recognisable anti-heroes from the previous year to a beautifully formed unit of characters working together to fight a common enemy. Leela and Romana are the best of friends again, Narvin surprises at every turn, Braxiatel is back and even some of the original guest characters from Gallifrey V are starting to emerge as ones to watch. Handcock has a terrific grasp on all of them, it feels as though he has taken on board a lot of the complaints from the previous year (not necessarily mine before you think I’ve got a God complex) and decided to wipe the slate clean and return the characters to their (previously successful) factory settings. Or maybe things were always heading this way. Whatever, it is such a leap in the right direction I could kiss the man. Topping off a nourishing first part to this trilogy is the larger development within the series that sees the adopted Gallifrey (which never took off for me) fall to the Daleks before rising high and the series return to its proper time and place. Extermination isn’t the best Gallifrey has ever been (it is still is set on the one of the alternative Gallifrey’s) but it is the best it has been in a long while, a massive return to form for a range that I thought had lost the plot and offers a lot of hope for the rest of the concluding trilogy: 8/10
Full Review Here: http://docohobigfinish.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/gallifrey-vi-extermination-written-by.html
Buy it from Big Finish here: http://www.bigfinish.com/releases/v/gallifrey-series-6-box-set-785
Renaissance: A fascinating listen and pretty much everything I have wanted since the end of series three. Renaissance provides a foothold back onto Gallifrey Prime in a way that keeps everybody happy; those who wanted the series to pick up after series three can pretend that series four and five never happened because that is pretty much what this story does. And yet those who did like the two interim seasons have their faith justified because we witness the devastation on Gallifrey Prime and see that it was absolutely necessary to leave for a time to escape a terrifying fate. Win/win. James Goss is rapidly becoming one of my favourite of the current Big Finish contributors because he seems to understand the audio medium perfectly, that this is a world of dialogue (of which he has a good ear for memorable lines) and ideas (his imagination seems to be boundless). These were always Gallifrey’s strengths as well so handing him this assignment seems to have been the perfect union of series and author. Justin Richards is the other perfect Gallifrey writer, a man whose creative juices have been flowing in the Whoniverse for nearly two decades and guess who is writing the finale? Goss also understands that we cannot have an emotional connection to the concepts without relationships that appeal, excite and frustrate and characterisation is tops too. Leela and Romana haven’t been written this well in many years. Renaissance is the first opportunity to experience the new Romana that Big Finish are introducing and I am pleased to report she is a delight. Freshly played by Juliet Landau and hugely different from her predecessors, Romana III is a tactile and slightly kooky incarnation and all the more intriguing for it. With kisses to An Unearthly Child, The Dalek Invasion of Earth, The Three Doctors, The Face of Evil and Logopolis and daring to look forward to the Time War, this is both nostalgic and innovative. It builds to a climax that gave me goosebumps in a move that promises to change the fate of one character forever. What is so sad is that after flouncing around for two season that Gallifrey is coming to end in the next story just when the range has really found it’s groove again. Still at least they can say they went out on a high. Finally the events mean something again: 9/10
Full Review Here: http://docohobigfinish.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/renaissance-written-by-james-goss-and_18.html
Buy it from Big Finish here: http://www.bigfinish.com/releases/v/gallifrey-series-6-box-set-785
Ascension: Hang on…what the hell is this? All the events of Annihilation wiped away as though they never happened? Trey was never real but a Matrix projection? The entirety of season four and five took place in the Matrix (possibly, it’s never entirely sure about the fact)? What the hell is going on? This is exactly the sort of story Justin Richards wrote for the first three seasons of Gallifrey, one which opens slowly and builds up it’s requisite ideas before exploding with twists and turns in the second half and generating a great deal of excitement from his mind-busting notions. It’s not his fault the ideas are so nonsensical, rendering the events of the second (and superior) story of this set worthless. It seems entirely appropriate to me that Richards should be brought on board to finish the Gallifrey range because to my mind he was the most consistent writer to contribute to the series and the only one to make create anything of worth during the wilderness seasons (Disassembled was the one beacon of light in series four and five). A shame then that this is easily his weakest story of the six seasons, purely because the ideas in play are all vying for prominence and none them get a chance to breathe. It is confusing as an individual story but also manages to muddy what was shaping up to be a pretty straightforward and fascinating final series. It’s a story that is trying to be too clever by half…and I rather like too clever but there has to be some kind of internal logic to hang the narrative on. Which Gallifrey is real and which is an illusion? Are we still in the Matrix? Are the Daleks the be all and end of this series all along? Did they really create the Dogma virus? Is Narvin responsible for the Time War? I don’t think it matters very much anymore. And so what looked like it was going to be a renaissance for Gallifrey turns stumbles at the last hurdle. To my mind Annihilation would have made a much more impressive series finale with the explosive cliffhanger of the previous story a much more attention grabbing final twist than the open ended climax to this story. It breaks my heart to see a range that I once loved almost get the stunning ending it deserved and plunge over a precipice into madness during its climax. The fact that the Gallifrey rises… tagline is all down to the push of a massive reset button disguised as a quirk of technobabble means that the whole of series four, five and six (aside from this one tale) has effectively been an irrelevant distraction. They should have just jumped out of the Matrix and punched the reset and we could have gotten everything back to normal in record time. And worse, the first step on the road to the Time War was made to excuse a godawful joke at the tail end of this range. It’s time to put this old dog down: 2/10
Full Review Here: http://docohobigfinish.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/ascension-written-by-justin-richards.html
Buy it from Big Finish here: http://www.bigfinish.com/releases/v/gallifrey-series-6-box-set-785
Extermination: That was…good. To say I had my reservations about Gallifrey Series VI is an understatement but despite my allergic reaction to the last two seasons I was still excited to learn that the final trilogy of stories had been released. Obviously a lot of my earlier love for the range hasn’t dissipated as I thought. I harped on about the Daleks being dragged out by Big Finish once again in my recent review of The Final Phase and my witterings about the conclusion of series V of Gallifrey. Whilst I do think they have been overused to the point of exhaustion, this is clearly the sort of dramatic threat that Gallifrey has needed for some time now to pull all the characters together, make them forget their differences and curtail the bizarre character development the regulars have been forced to endure (Romana – the destroyer of worlds?) and get on with telling some stories with a punch. And that’s what Extermination (great title, I wonder why it hasn’t been used before?) has in spades – energy, drama and conviction. As mentioned, another huge plus in it’s favour is the characterisation of the regulars who have gone from a disparate bunch of barely recognisable anti-heroes from the previous year to a beautifully formed unit of characters working together to fight a common enemy. Leela and Romana are the best of friends again, Narvin surprises at every turn, Braxiatel is back and even some of the original guest characters from Gallifrey V are starting to emerge as ones to watch. Handcock has a terrific grasp on all of them, it feels as though he has taken on board a lot of the complaints from the previous year (not necessarily mine before you think I’ve got a God complex) and decided to wipe the slate clean and return the characters to their (previously successful) factory settings. Or maybe things were always heading this way. Whatever, it is such a leap in the right direction I could kiss the man. Topping off a nourishing first part to this trilogy is the larger development within the series that sees the adopted Gallifrey (which never took off for me) fall to the Daleks before rising high and the series return to its proper time and place. Extermination isn’t the best Gallifrey has ever been (it is still is set on the one of the alternative Gallifrey’s) but it is the best it has been in a long while, a massive return to form for a range that I thought had lost the plot and offers a lot of hope for the rest of the concluding trilogy: 8/10
Full Review Here: http://docohobigfinish.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/gallifrey-vi-extermination-written-by.html
Buy it from Big Finish here: http://www.bigfinish.com/releases/v/gallifrey-series-6-box-set-785
Renaissance: A fascinating listen and pretty much everything I have wanted since the end of series three. Renaissance provides a foothold back onto Gallifrey Prime in a way that keeps everybody happy; those who wanted the series to pick up after series three can pretend that series four and five never happened because that is pretty much what this story does. And yet those who did like the two interim seasons have their faith justified because we witness the devastation on Gallifrey Prime and see that it was absolutely necessary to leave for a time to escape a terrifying fate. Win/win. James Goss is rapidly becoming one of my favourite of the current Big Finish contributors because he seems to understand the audio medium perfectly, that this is a world of dialogue (of which he has a good ear for memorable lines) and ideas (his imagination seems to be boundless). These were always Gallifrey’s strengths as well so handing him this assignment seems to have been the perfect union of series and author. Justin Richards is the other perfect Gallifrey writer, a man whose creative juices have been flowing in the Whoniverse for nearly two decades and guess who is writing the finale? Goss also understands that we cannot have an emotional connection to the concepts without relationships that appeal, excite and frustrate and characterisation is tops too. Leela and Romana haven’t been written this well in many years. Renaissance is the first opportunity to experience the new Romana that Big Finish are introducing and I am pleased to report she is a delight. Freshly played by Juliet Landau and hugely different from her predecessors, Romana III is a tactile and slightly kooky incarnation and all the more intriguing for it. With kisses to An Unearthly Child, The Dalek Invasion of Earth, The Three Doctors, The Face of Evil and Logopolis and daring to look forward to the Time War, this is both nostalgic and innovative. It builds to a climax that gave me goosebumps in a move that promises to change the fate of one character forever. What is so sad is that after flouncing around for two season that Gallifrey is coming to end in the next story just when the range has really found it’s groove again. Still at least they can say they went out on a high. Finally the events mean something again: 9/10
Full Review Here: http://docohobigfinish.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/renaissance-written-by-james-goss-and_18.html
Buy it from Big Finish here: http://www.bigfinish.com/releases/v/gallifrey-series-6-box-set-785
Ascension: Hang on…what the hell is this? All the events of Annihilation wiped away as though they never happened? Trey was never real but a Matrix projection? The entirety of season four and five took place in the Matrix (possibly, it’s never entirely sure about the fact)? What the hell is going on? This is exactly the sort of story Justin Richards wrote for the first three seasons of Gallifrey, one which opens slowly and builds up it’s requisite ideas before exploding with twists and turns in the second half and generating a great deal of excitement from his mind-busting notions. It’s not his fault the ideas are so nonsensical, rendering the events of the second (and superior) story of this set worthless. It seems entirely appropriate to me that Richards should be brought on board to finish the Gallifrey range because to my mind he was the most consistent writer to contribute to the series and the only one to make create anything of worth during the wilderness seasons (Disassembled was the one beacon of light in series four and five). A shame then that this is easily his weakest story of the six seasons, purely because the ideas in play are all vying for prominence and none them get a chance to breathe. It is confusing as an individual story but also manages to muddy what was shaping up to be a pretty straightforward and fascinating final series. It’s a story that is trying to be too clever by half…and I rather like too clever but there has to be some kind of internal logic to hang the narrative on. Which Gallifrey is real and which is an illusion? Are we still in the Matrix? Are the Daleks the be all and end of this series all along? Did they really create the Dogma virus? Is Narvin responsible for the Time War? I don’t think it matters very much anymore. And so what looked like it was going to be a renaissance for Gallifrey turns stumbles at the last hurdle. To my mind Annihilation would have made a much more impressive series finale with the explosive cliffhanger of the previous story a much more attention grabbing final twist than the open ended climax to this story. It breaks my heart to see a range that I once loved almost get the stunning ending it deserved and plunge over a precipice into madness during its climax. The fact that the Gallifrey rises… tagline is all down to the push of a massive reset button disguised as a quirk of technobabble means that the whole of series four, five and six (aside from this one tale) has effectively been an irrelevant distraction. They should have just jumped out of the Matrix and punched the reset and we could have gotten everything back to normal in record time. And worse, the first step on the road to the Time War was made to excuse a godawful joke at the tail end of this range. It’s time to put this old dog down: 2/10
Full Review Here: http://docohobigfinish.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/ascension-written-by-justin-richards.html
Buy it from Big Finish here: http://www.bigfinish.com/releases/v/gallifrey-series-6-box-set-785
Gallifrey: Intervention Earth written by Scott Handcock & David Llewellyn and directed by Scott Handock
Result: In some ways a chance to re-invigorate the Gallifrey line and give it a chance to move on from the tangled web of the last three seasons and in other ways a disappointment that doesn't quite live up to its promise. The former is so rewarding that it almost renders the latter moot. On this occasion, but I am expecting a much more rousing follow up to Intervention Earth. If you were expecting Romana III, Narvin and Ace to team up and face the wrath of Omega in an epic spectacular full of action you will be heartily underwhelmed. They only come together in the last fifteen minutes. And Omega barely features if I am brutally honest. The story seems to dodge dramatic situations rather than embrace them and ruminate rather than engage. It is only in the last third that it even remotely becomes the story that it suggests on the cover. As a chance to recreate Gallifrey the setting and introduce some new characters as a stage setter for what comes next, however, it gets a thumbs up from me. Bizarrely (despite all my gripes about her overuse) Ace works rather well in this setting and I still want to hear more from Landau's Romana because I don't think we have had the best of her yet. Outstanding sound design deserves recognition after so many Big Finish releases and the aural atmosphere brewed up in Intervention Earth deserves a huge round of applause. Scott Handcock directs with much more vigour than he writes on this occasion. This isn't the Gallifrey of the first three seasons, political machinations and complex scientific ideas. Or the Gallifrey of the Axis seasons, alternative universes and character perversions. This a new cerebral Gallifrey that wants to think about things but one that can build to a rousing finale (as is the case here). And the closing scene promises great things for the future with the return of an old, old friend (my favourite character in two ranges no less). Overall, a prologue to something more substantial next time around but with a job to do that it performs admirably. Looking at the cast list for the next box set I am at a loss to see how the two stories will tie up: 7/10
No comments:
Post a Comment