Survivors Series 02

Welcome back to the Company's most adult and terrifying series as we embark on the second series of Survivors. After the meteoric success of the first year that managed to not only capture the fatalism and despair of the TV series but also transfer it to audio and make it sophisticated in a whole new way is there any way they can replicate that kind of triumph in series two? The answer is yes and no, because what you get is pretty much more of the same but it manages to continue to be just as well written, acted and executed with just as many disturbing moments and a feeling of disquiet that simply isn't there with other ranges. It appears there is a scattershot approach to the storytelling this time around (where the first set very much felt like a continuing story) but by the time you get to the last story it is tying up elements that were introduced in the first and it does feel like a coherent story. The cleverest part of this is episodes two and three which tell different stories at the same time and feature all the female characters in one story and all the male in the other and explores the different kinds of stories you can tell with a certain gender at the helm. 

Dark Rain by Ken Bentley kicks off the set in suitably intense style and features the two strongest of the original characters, Jackie (Louise Jameson) and Daniel (John Banks) having to fight for their lives and being rattled by the experience. It's a great way to catch up with the characters and remind us what their fears and motivations are and this is effectively one of those submarine stories where the water rises up around their waists and the characters no that they are going to die. Jameson and Banks deserve massive kudos for the work they do here, I have seen this situation played out loads of times before but never quite as raw and as real as it feels here. We spend a nice amount of time with our regulars from the TV series too, and this box set really integrates both extremely well (without ever going back to The Grange because the TV series is currently occurring there) and the search for Abby's son Peter is the focus, and Jenny, who is pregnant with Greg's baby. The most shocking moment in this story was Jackie's confession about her children and how she feels she doesn't deserve to die. I think she is the most uncomfortable character to be around because she is so kind and gentle and yet is clearly suffering from PTSD in a massive way. 

Mother's Courage by Louise Jameson is a lot of peoples favourite from the set and I can see why because it takes a very simple idea (what would happen if there was a refuge run completely by women in a post apocalyptic world) and forces our characters to face the consequences of that. I was hard on the Eighth of March set and this story goes someway to explaining why because it is a much more mature celebration of women working in Big Finish; a smart script, hard hitting themes of motherhood, friendship and female strength and terrific performances from the actresses involved. My two complaints about this story are that the idea of a community that rejects men to such an extent that it would kill Jenny's child if it was a son isn't taken quite far enough (I almost wish that the pregnancy was further along so she did have the baby and we could have all the suspense of what the sex is) and so this is all talk and no action. But also that this is very similar to the story that played out last year with our heroes stuck in a twisted community that could offer them salvation if they leave their morality to one side. However, the reactions of all the characters to this set up is excellent, the dialogue is frequently hard hitting and Jenny and Abby really come off brilliantly in this, as strong as they ever were on TV. It somehow manages to be a celebration of men and everything they bring to society, and a firm reminder of their evils too. Thoughtful stuff. 

My personal favourite of the year was The Hunted by Ken Bentley and that seems to be for all the reasons that other people didn't like it so much. It has a thin plot - the men of the group are hunted out in the woods by a wild animal and meet up with a hunter who can help them track it down - but it soon becomes the equivalent of a horror movie as it transpires a group of survivors are taking advantage of the hunt and posing as animals in the dark to murder people. This really scared me (my other half can attest to that who had to hold my hand for the whole second half) as the boys face the laughter and mockery of murderers out there in the dark. There's a beautiful conversation between Tim Treloar's Russell and Daniel that leads to a horrific murder scene and from that point on it plays out like the horror movie Them with a life or death struggle. I genuinely was uncertain if our regulars would get out of this, even though I knew Greg couldn't be killed. The idea that people might take advantage of the collapse of society and the absence of rules to play with people and kill them really struck a chord with me. I really appreciated Ken Bentley's use of sound in the direction, and how he trusted the audience to keep up with the action without having to explain what is going on in awkward dialogue. It means you are there in this situation with Greg and Daniel, and the threat is all around you. Bernard Holley's voice is unforgettable, and he will get a bigger role in the next story. I can't remember a Big Finish that put me through the wringer more than this in quite some time. 

Savages by Matt Fitton brings this set to a close and is probably the biggest endorsement of the 'not suitable for children' tag that this range gets on the Big Finish website. Before I say the few things that let this down I want to say this is a strong conclusion to the set, once again featuring set pieces that set me on edge, brilliant performances and some character conclusions (Daniel finally makes a choice that crosses a line and Molly's attempted suicide is understandable, inevitable and very dramatic) that will need dealing with in the future. What made the murderers so scary in the last story was that they seemed to be enjoying themselves and the fact that there was nobody to stop them. Fitton (probably wisely) gives George Ridley a motive for why he has turned to cannibalism and because it was an act of desperation that has become a need makes him much less frightening. I can't say I felt empathy for the man (he's played a little broadly like a villain too) but his backstory, and giving him a murderer pal who does all the dirty work before he gets the pots boiling takes the edge of the violent chaos of the promise of these monstrous characters. I got strong Countrycide vibes from Torchwood, and this plays out in as vicious and unpleasant a manner. You actually hear characters eating human flesh so prepare yourselves for that. Also, the ending where both the killer and the butcher are killed means the series gets to duck away from the riveting question of what to do with these people in a society with no rules. We could have had our audio equivalent of Law and Order. 

I might have more complaints than the previous set but the standard is still very high. Big Finish has caught something very dramatic and vivid with this series. I'm in awe of the convincing performances and sound design. It makes me weep that I have head back to silly old Doctor Who at some point. This is real audio drama: 8/10 

Survivors - Series 01

Result: A plausibly real and graphic series depicting the take down of the human race by a virus that ravages the world and murders a huge chunk of the population. That absolutely should resonate with the bulk of the population of this planet. Of course this first series was pre-pandemic, which makes it chillingly aware of where things are going and just how disturbing things could have ended up. Terry Nation often had his finger on the pulse. There is an air of disquiet throughout this releases that automatically elevates it above the majority of Big Finish's other ranges, a sense that this could actually happen. That the desperation of the human race to behave in appalling ways if the basic structure of society and law and order fell apart is chillingly accurate. The tension is palpable. Especially in first episode, Revelation by Matt Fitton, which is essentially a remake of the original pilot of TV series but introduces us to a whole new set of regulars (and brilliantly, not ALL the regulars, which means people come and go in these pockets of survivors, just as would happen in real life) and people still have a sense of hope that this illness will sweep through the population and life can be resumed once it has done its work. We know where this is heading and that life will never be the same again and so much of the tension is waiting for the other characters to catch up. There's a swift pace to this episodes, the deaths of the characters friends and family comes fairly rapidly and whilst it is contained to England there is still a real sense of spread to the setting. There is definitely a sense of don't get too close to anybody because if the sickness doesn't get them, the human beings exploiting it will. Chase Masterson and Terry Molloy make the strongest impression here, trapped in an airport with the sick and trying to figure out the scale of the situation. 

Exodus by Jonathan Morris ups the ante considerably in turns of character drama and doesn't have the purpose of introducing the concept of the series and can just show people reacting to the situation they have found themselves in. I thought it was the strongest of the four, and the one that truly revealed the depths of horror and emotion of the scenario that goes above and beyond the norm of BF's Doctor Who releases. Jackie Burchall is memorably introduced caring for her family (who we never hear talk) and I was just waiting for the moment when the episode told us that her husband and children are already dead and there was a frightening inevitability to that expectation. Louise Jameson's raw and devastated reaction to hearing the words said aloud is something that you will never forget. She's the strongest of an incredible cast that has bought into the reality of this horror completely. The twist later that she killed them herself to spare them from the plague and committed suicide never expecting to wake up is bleak in a way that Terry Nation excelled at. It feels like a very real reaction to a horrible situation, but is shocking operatic drama at the same time. I had goose bumps. Two characters that you think might be regulars are wiped out here too, as a community that has risen up out of the nightmare and is prepared to go to any lengths to ensure that their way of life isn't threatened. Having our heroes find salvation only to have it snatched away as they realise that a new kind of terrifying martial law a hold of this community with a chilling figure at its core, James Gillison, who will go to any lengths to keep control and things working his way. As two characters that we thought were regulars are shot in the back and one barely gets away with her life you realise that nobody is safe anymore. This is the most overtly scary instalment. I genuinely feared for the characters lives. 

Gillison gets real focus in Judges by Andrew Smith, a drama that brings characters from the TV series into the fold. He's astonishingly played by Adrian Lukis, who gives him a sense of moral righteousness and true belief that he is right to behave in the way that he is. I absolutely believe that this kind of egomaniac would seize control if this scenario played out, that somebody would wind a community around their finger and murder anybody that threatened to even doubt it let alone act out against it. The communities in England are exchanging food and Gillison suspects that the group they are trading with are trying to poison them and thus begins as tense sequence where he goes to trade with a plan to wipe them all out. The Survivors need to try and warn them and a plan is hatched to try and stop the raid. Just who reveals to Gillison what they are planning might surprise you. It shows that this show isn't going to take the easy route. The raid takes place and lots of people die and I realised this wasn't Doctor Who territory where things tend to end well. I thought this was the weakest of the four - it wasn't setting up the story, it didn't have any overtly interesting character work (although this does flesh out Gillison more) and it doesn't have the claustrophobia of the finale - but it is still a brilliant listen. Let that be an endorsement of how good the set is as a whole. This also where they successfully integrate the new audio characters with the TV ones and it feels like a perfectly natural fit. I'm pleased they left it this long to allow the original characters to bed in. 

Things come to a head in Esther by John Dorney, where the Survivors (both old and new) are trapped within Gillison's community and facing execution. Essentially this is an hour of this nightmare within a nightmare and it looks like nobody is going to get out alive. Gillison is willing to go without a fight and I really liked how the series refused to salvage the character, whilst it still gave him a motivation for why he was behaving so appallingly. Sometimes people have gone too far and they cannot be brought back to edge. 

There's something palpably exciting about a first series that gets things as right as this that means that that excitement can never quite be captured again and Survivors starts on such a strong and unforgettable series of stories I cannot see how they will top this for sheer drama in the future. Ken Bentley deserves huge kudos for his bravura direction of this piece. He has executed so many Doctor Who's at this point that he understands the medium completely but this is a cut above even his very best work elsewhere. There's a conviction to the sound design, a willingness to deliver this in as a real a fashion as possible with minimal (and well chosen) music and a willingness to cast outside of the box. Chase Masterson shows know signs of Vienna as Maddie Price, Louise Jameson couldn't be further from Leela as the tortured Jackie Burchall but the standout turn for me was Adrian Lukis, who injects Gillison with real steel and believability. That could have been a ranting villain role and he is chillingly real. 

Bravo to everybody concerned, this is brave in a way I haven't seen from Big Finish in years: 9/10 (8/10, 10/10, 7/10, 9/10 respectively)

Old Friends

Fond Farewell by David K. Barnes: I can remember when I first heard Ravagers and being quite appalled that Big Finish should introduce Christopher Eccleston to the world of original Doctor Who audio drama with such an uninvolving script. As a result I ducked out the range immediately and didn't return until almost a year later with this set. Had things began with something as weird and witty as Fond Farewell I would have been much more interested. This is a really tight bit of storytelling with a glorious premise; the deceased being able to attend their own wake and it milks that idea for every drop of humour and poignancy that it can. It's a murder mystery too boot and a has a lovely thread of character drama running through it too, just as you might expect from a story that is aping series one. I'm not sure about the 'old friends' premise because this is one of those acquaintances that the Doctor has met off screen (of the sort that was so prevalent in season 22) that we are visiting but it does give the set a hook to hang itself on I suppose. Helen Goldwyn is one of the safest pair of hands that Big Finish has directed stories these days and I do not mean that in a derogatory way at all. She has a lightness of touch that means her stories are bouncy and easy to listen to but she casts brilliantly too and so the words come alive in unexpected, memorable ways. I thought this rattled along at a hell of a pace and not even the prolonged flashback to explain the whodunnit reveal ruined the momentum. I can remember turning to Mark at the end of this and saying 'more please.' Best of all, Eccleston is every bit as a brilliant as he was during his TV run. Without a companion at his side he is funny, charismatic and impossible to ignore. A breath of fresh air for being short and very sweet: 8/10

The Way of the Burryman/The Forth Generation: I don't think Roy Gill is discussed nearly enough as a Doctor Who writer and he is quietly one of the more assured and creative people that Big Finish has on its staff. He's one of those writers that can dive into any series and get the tone and the feel of the range just right, and characterise the regulars brilliantly too. I especially loved his take on the tenth Doctor and Donna and thought the vinyl release of The Creeping Death was more than justified. This, however, is his best story yet, and perfectly illustrates why he isn't just your regular Doctor Who hack. It takes two of the most cliched ideas (the Doctor meeting the Brigadier and the return of the Cybermen) and conjures up a story that is ghoulish, emotionally stirring and beautifully characterised. Bringing in Warren Brown's character from the UNIT series is a lovely touch and giving him a meeting with the Doctor before his great adventure sets off (and a justification for it too) adds a lot of depth to the character. The Scottish setting that is seeped in myths and legends and atmosphere is a superbly evoked in both the writing and the direction, and Gill does something that is truly chilling with the Cybermen (leaning into the idea that people who have suffered so terribly would welcome the chance to be converted) that tapped into my fear. The first episode takes its time to get to know the characters (and it isn't a massive guest cast) and to establish the setting and ideas, but come the cliff-hanger we are in horror/tragedy territory with the Cybermen on the march in what would some of the most frightening scenes had this been on the telly. I'm not the biggest fan of the Cybermen at the best of times (all too often writers tap into the idea of them being scary robots rather than the walking dead) and Gill gets them just right. Real body horror and unsettlingly tragic. Eccleston is on fire here. He has mastered the humour in the role at this point but he was always going to be a wonderful dramatic actor in the part and he dances through relationship drama, exposition and reunions here with real aplomb. I listened to this story sitting outside in the sunshine but every time I shut my eyes I could see the shattered zombie Cybermen coming out of the fog. Kudos to Jon Culshaw who has really embraced the part of the Brigadier despite any fan resistance there might be and Gill taps into just how effective this pairing can be professionally as well as personally. There's no doubting they adore each other but they have a job to do and lives to save. There wasn't one part of this that I didn't think wasn't firing on all cylinders. This walks that delicate line between nostalgia and delivering something fresh and atmospheric: 9/10

Vienna Series Three

Big Society by Ian Potter: Every season of Vienna seems to up the ante on the previous one and this is no different and as a result it seems to surprise me more and more by being one of the most agreeable spin offs that Big Finish has spun. A huge shout out to Chase Masterson from the off because she has taken hold of a character that was a little sketchy on the page (a glamorous space bitch assassin) and turned her into one of the most layered, and the most fun of Big Finish characters. She's dangerous and funny and has a heart of gold underneath it all and Masterson is pure charisma at this point. Samantha Beart is still playing her sidekick Jexie Reagen with a bizarre accent but the chemistry between the two actresses is so strong at this point that I barely noticed. I mention both of the leads because so much of this second set, and especially this first story are successful because of their really enjoyable interplay and some real effort has gone into making it feel as though they have been working together for some time at this point and that they make one hell of a team. Instead of murdering people for money, Jexie has turned Vienna to protecting people for money and in a wonderfully revealing moment at the end of Big Society, Vienna admits to her partner that sometimes performing a good deed is its own reward. It means she is far more likable than we have previously found, and given the extra dollop of humour in this set, so much funnier too. This is a furiously paced SF tale with some great ideas and creepy moments. Potter includes a chilling notion of algae and waste clone matter amalgamating into a sinister new lifeform and the Good Day drug that essentially powers all three stories this season is not only a wonderful notion in its own right but given some authenticity and considers the consequences of such a drug being available. With Scott Handcock in the driving seat the story sounds amazing and he brings all manner of impressive guest actors with him. I finished this one with a huge smile on my face and raring to go with the last two and you can't ask for much more than that from your opening salvo: 8/10

Big Society by Guy Adams: I'm perfectly convinced that this is one of the best scripts I have heard from Big Finish in quite a few years. This is absolutely bonkers, and brilliant. Not only is it a scathing attack on reality TV shows that put people through the wringer for the entertainment of others but it is also a hilarious action adventure feature some of the  weirdest characters and fights that you will ever experience. I was laughing my head off when Vienna and Jexie meet a sarky, bitchy escalator but by the end of the story entire buildings are coming to life and attacking other buildings with entire musical concertos compressed into a couple of seconds of devastating sound. That is the level of madness we are dealing with here. It would have been a horrible mess too if this was in the hands of a lesser director but Handcock has a delicate handle on how to bring this to life, with absolute seriousness, with superbly timed jokes hitting their mark throughout. By the end of the story where Vienna is cleverly using the logic of the competition against the villain and manipulates the villain into exposing just what an asshole he is, I was cheering. Throughout I was laughing at the smart jokes and biting commentary. And the soundscape on this one is just extraordinary. If Douglas Adams was to write a Big Finish script, it would be very like this one. Devastatingly cruel to corporate greed, hilariously characterising the strangest of people and putting the leads front and centre and allowing them to smart and silly and brilliant. If you are looking for a more realistic sort of audio then you are going to look elsewhere (but then I would question why you are listening to the adventures of a busty space assassin) but if you're here for a great time with some quirky set pieces, unforgettable dialogue and most of all a chance to truly laugh at some of the most absurd television that exists out there then you are in for a treat with this one. Confident as hell, and absolutely insanely enjoyable listening: 10/10 

Impossibly Glamorous by Steve Lyons: A step down from the previous adventure but that was so good that was perhaps inevitable, but this is still a very decent end to the set and climax to the overall narrative. Any story that features Sophie Aldred camping it up as a corporate monster that is exploiting the reverse engineered Good Day drug to make millions from a depressed population cannot be a bad listening experience, and I love how the set makes Vienna and Jexie heroes by exposing the monstrousness of holding back on marketing and producing something that could make such a positive impact on this society. It's doing what the second series did, making Vienna a force for good, but with far less labyrinthine plotting and engineered twists, and thus making it feel like a more fluidic piece of storytelling. Like Big Society there is an attack on big business and how it exploits people when it could help them, and I couldn't agree more with what it is saying. The first half of this story is a little confusing and perhaps a little too comedic for its own good. There was a ton of running about and a quick succession of gags that felt a little too farcical but the whole piece rouses in the second half as Vienna emerges from her deceit to claim the day. I can't say this enough but I had a lot of fun with this and the more I am exploring the spin off ranges of Big Finish, the more I am coming to the conclusion that that is where the most original and enjoyable material is to be found. Doctor Who comes with a wealth of nostalgia and clichés but that is a finite pool of creativity. Brilliant writers like Guy Adams and James Goss are finding their voice elsewhere where they can be truly original. Vienna series three really surprised me at just how very good it is. Not because I wouldn't expect that from these writers but because I wouldn't expect to find this much talent in such a niche range. Bravo: 7/10

Master!

Faustian by Robert Valentine: I'll be honest, I went into this with HUGE expectations. You cannot understand the level of devotion for the TV Movie that goes on in this house. Mark and I once acted out the entirety of the Movie in a hotel room, I got Daphne Ashbrook to do a cameo appearance and our long held ambition is to head to San Francisco (or Vancouver) and visit the locations of the film. So the idea that this set features Eric Roberts' unforgettably camp and outrageous Master has his main star is enticing from the off. Add in Vienna Salvatori, who we both adore from her own Big Finish spin off series (which I previously mentioned is far, far better than it has any right to be) and you have a level of flamboyance from the off that is hard to imagine. Basically imagine if Doctor Who was hijacked by Americans in the most entertaining way possible. I thought I was in for a fall. Surprisingly, this was a delight to listen to. The entire set and the individual stories. You're in very safe hands with Robert Valentine opening the set and as a story in its own right, this is probably the best of the set. The key word is suspense. We're all waiting for Eric Roberts to turn up and start chewing the scenery and Rob makes us wait an agonising amount of time before that happens but when he does finally emerge it is a fantastic takeover bid of the entire planet Earth. It's great. Before then, and this is what I think is the most impressive aspect of the series, this corner of Earth history is carved out in some detail and it is not a desirable place to be. The previous Dalek invasions have weakened governments and resources and the Corporations have taken over. It's a smart reading on the consequences of The Dalek Invasion of Earth & To the Death and proves a dramatic backdrop to the series. It means the Master doesn't need to take over the planet through brute force, but through business. His takeover bid is through a Company, rather than an Army. The script cleverly tells its story through one character, Lila Kreeg, and I was certain that at some point she was going to see the error of her ways and pull back from the experiments that could free the Master. Instead her Faustian pact with the Devil becomes a marriage of minds and promises much for the remaining two stories. This is a deliciously creepy opening gambit, really well paced and with a final ten minutes that we have all been waiting for. The icing on the cake is Eric Roberts himself. I don't want to damn him with faint praise by saying that he can't be arsed to give a performance...but there is a certain lazy indifference about how he plays every line. If this had been a role that demanded huge presence he might have been in a bit of trouble but the script and production has done so much to give him such an identity that when he shows up and starts murdering people and toppling business giants sounding like this is all a bit beneath him...well he couldn't sound more cool. This isn't a Master who is going to enjoy killing you, he's going to be a bit bored by it. Somehow that is effortlessly cool, and chilling: 9/10

Prey by Robert Whitelock: Enter Vienna. I've heard some complaints that people don't want these two spin offs colliding and would rather than something more original was done with the Master than prop up another range. That's fair but what works against that argument is the story itself, which uses both Vienna and the Master in such a fun way as they play a game of cat and mouse with each other. Vienna has been hired to kill the Master and how they are constantly outsmarting each other is a delight to listen to. The big mystery is who paid her to do it and that is satisfactorily paid off too. Taking the baton from the first episode, this story also continues to explore the Earth in this miserable dystopian future and we head into the Undercity where the people forage like rats and play their own festering game of politics. Huge kudos to Chase Masterson who owns the character of Vienna at this point and has really turned her into a fun and thoughtful character. Her scenes with the drone are the highlight of this story; funny and ultimately rather touching. She brings an energy and humour to the story, as does Eric Roberts and their scenes together really sizzle. I listened to this on a 90 minute train journey into London this week and I enjoyed it so much it felt like I was there in no time. The cliffhanging ending will leave you hungry for part three: 8/10

Vengeance by Matt Fitton: I've been burnt in the past by a Matt Fitton written finale but this turned out to be an extremely satisfying and enjoyable finale. It feels very Big Finish to bring the Master and the Daleks together and I expected little but enormous dollops of fanwank and nods to the past. What I got was a lot more substantial than that. There's Vienna, Lila, Drake and the Master all offering surprises and character reversals. It's a small cast of characters but they have all ben set up so well it affords a number of twists (I wasn't sure who could trust who halfway through this) that I didn't see coming. Masterson continues to shine and is often given the best lines and this really shows Vienna at her improvisional best having to negotiate a Dalek invasion and the Master's attempts to see her off. Then there is the delicious idea of the Daleks choosing to invade the Earth when the Master is currently in charge and the carnage that comes with him taking them down. Nicholas Briggs offers his best Dalek performance in years as the Dalek Litigator - a role I thought was absurdly uncharacteristic for the Daleks (why would they need a legal system when they just go around killing people) but actually turned out to be a fantastically devious and smart character who was a joy to listen to. And it suddenly hit me that the Movie starts with the Master on trial by the Daleks, which everybody lamented at the time, but Fitton turns into a strength here. The scenes where the Master confronts the Litigator are the best of the set and Roberts finally wakes up to explain why the Master wants to take over the entire universe. The Litigator's reaction is genuinely hilarious. I finished listening to this set and felt gorged on action, suspense, high campery and wit. The guest cast all impressed and surprised, and the setting really came alive. Chalk this up as ANOTHER Master series that Big Finish has aced: 8/10

The Eighth of March

Emancipation written by Lisa McMullin: Let me say first off all that I think this box set is a marvellous idea. To celebrate the women of Doctor Who in both fictional and a creative terms is a wonderful idea (although I still think a lack of Jacqueline Rayner and Lisa Bowerman in the writing and directing is a baffling omission) and the cover promises that is going to be a rousing set with the likes of Leela, River, Kate Stewart, Ace and Benny at the helm of these stories. Nurturing female talent is something that Big Finish has been criticised for in the past because the opening years of the company were very much a Boys club but fortunately the tide has turned and we are at a point now where with pretty much every set that the company brings out that there is a female voice in there somewhere. So far, so good. But you know when I have to start with a caveat like that that something has gone horribly wrong with the set itself. The Eighth of March, celebrating National Women's Day, is probably the least impressive release I have heard in some time and whilst there are some moments of fun to be had the overall experience is one I would not care to repeat. Emancipation has some energy and wit about it but this pairing of River Song and Leela is a little jarring. I'm fast coming to the conclusion that River brings the worst out in everybody. Posing as the Doctor (of course), she attends the Galactic Heritage Conference and prevents a Royal kidnapping with Leela at her side. They dance around each other, initially suspicious, but ultimately coming to see each others strengths in a dashabout timey wimey adventure that genuinely feels as though it has leapt from Steven Moffat's Doctor Who. Maybe that is why I wasn't so keen. There is a smugness and overconfidence to this. It behaves as though it is City of Death. Really it is more The Android Invasion. There are funny lines, and Kingston and Jameson acquit themselves well, but like so much of the River set it feels like bringing in classic elements of the show to get somebody to listen to River. Disposable fun: 6/10

The Big Blue Book by Lizzie Hopley: Or when everything that could go wrong with an audio adventure does go wrong. I'm not sure where to start with the bad. The one thing you should never do with your audio script is to give Sophie Aldred protracted scenes of dialogue talking to herself. I have found her to be a notoriously unreliable performer and this explains why. She's shouting her head off, awkward, unnaturalistic and has no idea of how to pace the dialogue so the audience feels as though they are solving the mystery with her. Why, when you have other characters (and better characters like Bernice), you would have your protagonist talking to herself for over ten minutes baffles me. Lisa Bowerman is conspicuous by her absence (was she originally supposed to be in this more?) and her time is eaten up by a pair of alien characters so annoying, so ill characterised and so badly performed that is difficult to see how such characters could come to be. Surely somebody would have told the actors to tone it down a bit? They screech and hiss their way through the terrible dialogue with baby voices in a really unpleasant way. Next up is the sound design and music, which are probably the worst I have heard in a while. The very least you can expect from Big Finish is a polished production but this feels like it has come out of the early days of the company with ugly, unpleasant music and sound effects so loud and discordant that I was constantly taken out of the story trying to figure out what was going on. At one point there is some very loud ticking - a clock or a bomb? Beats me. Nigel Fairs recently bombed a couple of the Vienna releases and is similarly ineffective here. Lastly, the script. Hopely is a proven talent elsewhere so goodness what went wrong here. The story confines itself to a library and a spaceship where Ace tries to figure out the mystery of what has happened to Bernice. The trouble is it is all done through a long series of questions, confrontations and exposition that never once sounds like words that people would actually say aloud. There's a good idea buried inside this story somewhere (people being turned into books) but it is thrown away because it is never explored imaginatively. Just lots of shouty scenes of people threatening each other. This was so bad that I was longing for it to be over. I cannot believe that anybody signed off this story for release. Let alone for a celebratory release like this. The rarest of things, an audio entirely without merit: 0/10  

Inside Every Warrior by Gemma Langford: Much better, but far from perfect. As a backdoor pilot for The Paternoster Gang I thought this was a really effective little piece. I've never been too enamoured with this set up - mostly because they are a bit of a one joke lash up and the joke was flogged to death over and over again on the TV series. Vastra and Jenny are a crime fighting couple with their comedy Sontaran stooge at their side. I thought they were most effective in The Crimson Horror where the show forgets for 20 minutes that it is Doctor Who at all and instead pretends it is a macabre horror series about this trio. Kudos to Langford then, who took this set up and dragged some emotion out of it. By the end of the story I felt that Vastra and Jenny were genuinely in love (rather than a political point, which is how the series often portrayed them) and just why they keep Strax around. On a character level, this really worked. The story, however, lacked any interest. Plenty of running around and kidnappings, an annoying turn from Nigel Fairs (not a strong set for him), and a lack of any serious engagement. At least there was the Victorian London setting that the sound designer could home in on to make this an atmospheric experience and the music, while distracting (it was really trying to push the jolly adventure tone) was a million times more enjoy able the previous story. It whetted my appetite for the Paternoster set, which I never foresaw: 5/10

Narcissus: The best of this set belongs to the UNIT team and given my allergic reaction to the only UNIT set that I have heard so far, that was unexpected. This script is everything that Extinction wasn't: focussed, engaging and well paced. It's lovely to hear Jackie McGee back for more fun and her part in the investigation of the dating agency revealed new colours to her character. I'm not sure how far into the UNIT series this is but Jemma Redgrave seems much more at home playing Kate Stewart on audio and Ingrid Oliver (always fantastic) gets a chance to play both Osgood and her Zygon double in some fascinating scenes about identity and how that can get skewered when there are two of you about. The plot rattles along with some nice surprises and whilst the resolution is nothing revelatory, the whole piece feels like a confident audio drama being created by a company that is a well oiled machine. Unlike the rest of this set. I'm pleased we ended on a strong note: 7/10

Lady Christina Series One

It Takes a Thief by John Dorney: I wasn't the biggest fan of either Planet of the Dead or Lady Christina on television so I was wondering if this would be for me at all. These are spin offs I probable wouldn't have touched had my partner not brought an entire set of Big Finishes with him when he moved in...and after listening to the first release of this set I am so glad he did because I would have missed out on some top quality Big Finishes because I was wrong. This is really perky and fun, always waiting to spring a twist on who is who and at the halfway point I thought I had called it and thought that Ivo was the villain of the piece but John Dorney is a much smarter writer than to leave his central twist in plain sight. I was wondering if the series would be bold enough to take the one element of Planet of the Dead that I loved the most (the flying bus) and Dorney waits until the stakes are high to re-introduce Lady Christina's bizarre and brilliant form of transport in a delightful sequence. Big Finish's Running Man (Warren Brown as Sam Bishop) turns up again - this the third spin off that I have heard him in in as many weeks and he is moving up the list of favourite returning characters. He's so earthy and resourceful and fun to be around and has slipped in next the ninth Doctor, Kate Stewart and Lady Christina effortlessly. This is a globe-trotting, fast paced, witty story that flew by as I was listening. I think I was expecting glamorous parties and Lady Christina's appallingly rich family to turn up in this opening story but instead what I got was Bond at its most effervescent with alien artefacts thrown in for good measure. A delightful beginning: 8/10 

Skin Deep by James Goss: A brilliant piece of character work that does unexpected things with both Lady Christina and Sylvia Noble whilst keeping them precisely in character with how they were portrayed on screen. I especially liked the use of Sylvia, because she is portrayed as an absolute monster of a mother and yet this is the most touching exploration of her aspirations to improve on her social status and meeting her match with people that are far more monstrous than she could ever be. It's a very clever piece of writing that manages to make a character fairly loathsome and thoroughly sympathetic at the same time. That's not to skip over the work that is done with Michelle Ryan, whose Christina has her own stakes in manipulating Sylvia, embarrassing her even, and then recognising what a force of nature she is. Her father proves to be the biggest monster of all, which throws sympathetic light on Christina. The finale scene between Alfred and Sylvia where she talks about her own relationship with Donna and asking him to repair his relationship with his daughter is superbly written and acted. That's not to take away from the wry satire on the beauty industry and and how this is an icky and fun monster story too. It has something for everyone. But the characters shine through the brightest. I wasn't counting on this range having much to say. I was wrong: 9/10

Portrait of a Lady by Tim Dawson: There are definite plusses to this tale. More Sam Bishop is a bonus because with every appearance I am liking him more and more, the brother and sister art theft duo with a warm motive for their crime is a lovely idea, the action is relentless and well scored, and Jenny Lee gives an unforgettable performance as the villainess of the piece - strait out of the Graham Williams era! But this is a pretty standard tale that feels like a mediocre Doctor Who story that has been beaten into a Lady Christina tale. About halfway through I was struggling to care about what was going on because I was zipping from location to location, and it wasn't until we went underwater (brilliantly realised) that I perked up again. This was okay. I've certainly heard far worse Big Finishes but it felt like a first draft of a script rather than a polished final version: 5/10

Death on the Mile by Donald McLeary: Again this is pretty good, if unspectacular proving that the most worth is in the first half of this set. I am a massive fan of the Slitheen but even I thought they were a little bit overdone here (and I loved the farting in Aliens of London). There's gas exchange and death by vinegar and nothing is particularly fresh about the race. Boom Town shocked by offering an empathetic look at the race but this isn't looking to redeem or explore the race. This is like a Big Finish reunion because it brings in both Sam Bishop but also Jacqui McGee from the UNIT range. She's no Sarah Jane Smith, but this bothersome reporter proves to be more resourceful than you might think. Helen Goldwyn directs with her usual energy and panache so it is a smooth listen but I can't say I remember much about it other than it was an agreeable, if unmemorable way to spend an hour. Not exactly the note you want to go out on: 5/10

Graceless Series One

The Sphere: Simon Guerrier is a writer of some aplomb. He became the strongest voice in the companion chronicle range, which in turn was one of strongest Big Finish ranges. His Sara Kingdom and Oliver Harper trilogies were justly lauded as being ambitious, packed full of great concepts and dialogue, and heartbreaking to boot. To give him his own spin off series was an obvious choice, and after listening to this set, a successful one. I did not know what to expect from a series that was going to feature the two female Tracers from the Key2Time trilogy in the main range, especially since that particular trilogy hadn't landed with me as well as I had hoped (and that it was the trilogy that kicked off the trilogies!) except that Guerrier was a sure pair of hands. The Sphere defied any kind of expectation I might have had by being so strange and discordant that as I was experiencing it I didn't quite know how to form an opinion about it, only that I was enjoying it. It has a brilliant central concept; an insidious, self sufficient sphere that lets you in but doesn't let you out...and worse, it gets you to enjoy the experience of being trapped by addicting you to the gambling and allows you to win big, but never enough to afford to get away. That's pure Simon Guerrier, right there. We get up close and personal to Abby and Zara in their living arrangements with Marek and really get under their skin and see what makes them tick. That's what I really like about this set and these characters, no matter how big the story is, it never forgets to let you experiencing how the protagonists are feeling, which means you as a listener are feeling something about the events too. Janson and Doddington are excellent in all three stories but I thought they started strong and got better with each release. My only complaint about this first release is that the music is a little loud at times, and I do not know why any writer (and it is particularly a problem in the early Star Trek seasons) would show the regulars out of character this early in the run. You know, before we have gotten to know them. But this is a slippery, memorable first step for Graceless. I was rather beguiled: 7/10

The Fog: Wowzas! This is absolutely superb. One of the best 'quiet' Big Finish releases I have heard in a some time and making me hanker for the days when the company would release economic, small cast stories with this amount of atmosphere and heart month in, month out. Such a simple idea; a small town shrouded in fog that doesn't let anyone out (sounds a little like The Sphere, right?). What could be trapping the inhabitants inside, and why? It's a great mystery and wisely, Guerrier lets us get close to the townsfolk before we realise the extent of the danger they are in, so we really care about them when we start losing them. David Warner is typically phenomenal as Daniel and has a voice that is rich and plummy and made for audio. The quality of Guerrier's characterisation is thus; Daniel comes across as officious and unlikable initially and I thought we might be in for a 'burn the witches' style character but then the layers of his backstory are unpeeled and he is in turns tragic, thoughtful and very brave. By the end of the story he is an ally, and I really felt his loss. That is a hell of a journey to go with a character in less than an hour and Warner acquits himself with absolute class. Nan is great too, and once the reason behind the vice of fog is revealed she really comes into her own as she manages to encourage the rest to accept their fate and step into the other side. Abby and Zara are at their best too, figuring out the mystery that is both chilling and fascinating. A word for the post production and music, which blew me away in The Fog. Some scenes, such as the one where they all hold hands and head out in the woods to try and escape the fog really captured me in a way that an audio hasn't for a while. Top notch direction from Lisa Bowerman. I was going to give this story a 9 but I went into this set with such mixed expectations and I was so moved by the whole piece I it absolutely deserves full marks. A brilliant listen: 10/10 

The End: There was a possibility that this might have been the last we saw of Abby and Clara and so Guerrier clearly felt a necessity to give them some kind of closure and an optimistic future ahead. He achieves that in spades with this cunning piece of writing that dashes off in an new direction whenever you might start getting complacent. Think this is going to be about Marek getting his revenge? Think again when Earl Kreelpot turns up to chew the scenery and proves to be a much bigger threat. Think he is going to be the villain of the pieces? Think again when he has the most tragic backstory and backstory of the entire season. Think this is going to be about a spaceship of fools heading into terrible danger? Think again when the Graceless turn up! Think this is going to be about the Gods being benevolent? Think again when they are big sacrifices of those they are going to help. It's a story that is never quite in your grasp and it covers a lot of ground from the intimate to the epic whilst always playing with just a handful of characters. It isn't as uncomfortable a listen as the first release or as focussed as the second but a twisting SF piece that features some very memorable scenes with the two sisters having to determine what they are willing to sacrifice for the things they care about. Had this been the end of the road for this pair it would have been an excellent set to see them out on and a lovely note to say goodbye - Abby and Zara as the equivalent of human TARDISes off to help people in the universe: 8/10

Dalek Universe 2

Cycle of Destruction by Roy Gill: I know people who have struggled with this one but I thought it was pretty involving for the most part. We've had a two parter about the Doctor, then a homecoming for Anya and now the same is true of Mark Seven and through these tales the core regulars are being fleshed out wonderfully, and coming to understand each other much better. It feels like a merging of classic (so much The Daleks' Masterplan is present in the tone, atmosphere and plotting of these stories) and new (the deeper characterisation and time spent developing these people). There's the suggestion that with the right programming, Mark Seven could turn from ally to foe in a heartbeat as he appears to here. Joe Sims has the hardest job of acting in this range because he has to keep that cool logical demeanour and still try and suggest some personality and he walks that fine line beautifully. This is one of those high concept science fiction settings that could feel like your average Star Trek The Next Generation world but thanks to Gill (and director Ken Bentley) it is a much more hostile and creepy location than that. Some sets start with a a bang, others with a quieter character piece. This set starts and ends in that way, which might suggest that this is the difficult middle album but I don't think there is a weak link in Dalek Universe 2: 8/10

The Trojan Dalek by John Dorney: You're in safe hands with John Dorney and if this isn't one of his absolute knockouts (to be fair to him he delivered that in the previous set), it is at least a very tidy and morally ambiguous piece of storytelling that raises some interesting questions. The twist that humans are being turned into Daleks might not be a new one, but its still a grisly one and it means that Tennant can gnash his teeth as he expresses the Doctor's horror about the whole affair. I've been impressed that so far in this 'Dalek Universe' that we have been spared too much of the main protagonist, which might seem like a strange comment to make since they are right there in the title but Big Finish has flogged the Daleks to death by now and the thought of Tennant powering through three sets of Nick Briggs screaming his head did not appeal. Instead they have added a little background colour to some terrific character tales. So their use here, and in such a horrific way, is welcome and rather refreshing. Kudos to the production team for forcing the listener to endure the horror of the process. I didn't think Big Finish had the nuts to push visceral horror that far anymore. Like The Daleks' Masterplan, this series has a bite. On a lighter note, the Doctor, Anya and Mark Seven are really coming along as mates and bantering like the best of them. In the previous John Dorney story he was stressing how these people have just come together. Now he is portraying just how comfortable they are together. Congrats on the shock ending that I did not see coming: 8/10

The Lost by Robert Valentine: This was wonderful, and a complete change of tone. The Doctor and Anya in a strange, beautiful, eerie realm walking around and failing to find any kind of plot. That is essentially the first half of this set that is eerie in its complete lack of incident and how it forces the pair of them to try and confront their feelings about Mark and how his loss has affected them. Tennant and Slavin are fantastic together; awkward and kind, unused to sharing this sort of pain. The landscape that they find themselves in is beautiful and odd, a far cry from the fast paced science fiction settings we have enjoyed to date and the contrast is jarring, deliberately so. Then, everything turns on its head as The Lost emerges and starts playing with their heads and for motives of its own tries to corner the Doctor and Anya into staying. It's not cod psychology that is deployed her but instead the series has held its cards to its chest with the Doctor's past experiences with Anya's family and now an unforgiving light is thrown on his part in their deaths and it seems like things might never be the same again. This might have played out like some dreadful old soap but what it provokes instead is a serious, mature discussion about keeping secrets, the weight of losing people you care about and as a result Anya and the Doctor are much closer and understand each other better. At this point I think we're looking at some of the best character development in a spin off range for some time. Leighton Pugh acquits himself extremely well. He reminded me of House from The Doctor's Wife but with a more sadistic edge to his voice. This is an extremely economic Big Finish release but instead of feeling like the cheapie of the set it uses its minimal characters to strip them bare and let us see new colours. This kind of quiet character drama is right up my street, especially when it is acted this sincerely: 9/10

Vienna Series Two

Tabula Rasa by James Goss: What is going on with these spin off series'? You've got the creative dregs of Big Finish bringing Christopher Eccleston and Tom Baker in their first box sets with the audience scratching their heads as to how such prestige release can be so bereft of imagination. Conversely you have the best minds that Big Finish have to offer bringing to life niche ranges like Vienna and giving them an insane amount of merit. It's just bizarre, and rather wonderful. James Goss opens this set on it's best instalment and easily the best story in this range to date. It starts with the clichéd premise of everybody having lost their memory and so we learn WITH Vienna precisely what the new set up of series two seems to be - complete with a new job for the space assassin, a potential new partner and a boss. The opening scenes could have been agonising as everybody wanders around asking who they are and what is going on but Goss is smarter than that and puts them down in the middle of a crime and has Vienna and Doran go at each other like cat and dog. It is their sparky relationship that makes this so much fun. Chase Masterson is having an absolute riot with this role now, and has really embodied the character. As usual there are twists and turns but Goss keeps the plotting clean with only one major surprise and ultimately everything is tied up satisfactorily, with a brand new role for our lead and a new direction for the series. I laughed along with this a great deal and had a wonderful time listening. This has been the spin off that has really surprised me because I was expecting so little after The Shadow Heart but what has transpired is a fully realised world with some perky, surprising stories: 9/10

Underworld by Cavan Scott: Spoke too soon. This isn't terrible but it is exactly what I was expecting from Vienna when I started listening to the first set. The Mean Streets of Space City with Buxom Babe Vienna Salvatori on the case. What we have had from the first six releases has been much smarter and more labyrinthine than that. This is a very linear plot (which should be refreshing after all the over plotting elsewhere) and it focuses on the relationship between Vienna and her new partner Jexie. It's baffling then that Samantha Beart should be saddled with the most ridiculous accent I have ever experienced from a Big Finish character that makes every line of dialogue she says quite laughable. She's certainly impossible to take seriously. Add to that the sudden drop in quality of the sound design and music, and this was a bit of a chore to get through. It's an action packed story that is playing out like an Eric Saward Doctor Who; lots of tunnels and monsters and weapons. It's disposable fluff, and in no way offensive but the production choices on this one really hold it back: 5/10

The Vienna Experience by Jonathan Morris: Here we go again, I thought, as this story started out and there were familiar beats from Morris' Vienna script from the previous season. Playing about with the nature of reality and using technology to add layers of plot within that premise. The first fifteen minutes played out as you might expect from a story that is about using Vienna's life as a thrill ride for a corporate business to exploit and market. What impressed me was just how layered the deception went in this series. There is an assumption that you have heard the first series of Vienna and so you know how these stories go with their Shyamalan style twist endings and so now you are programmed to look out for them. Imagine then that they went to the lengths of hiding the twist for the the last story in the first one with an audacious move of wasting the entire middle adventure to lull you into a false sense of security? Colour me astounded. That is some serious plotting there, and it works too. Even better it takes hold of the new format of the show, shows its ugly underbelly, and gives Vienna something tangible to defeat. So when the climax hits it feels not only satisfying to have been duped in such a smart way but that this has all been for a reason, rather than just a fun audio experience. It turns Vienna into a bit of a hero, albeit one who is willing to expose corruption but also leave the society indulging in it to pick up the pieces. Coming out of this set I felt that the universe that Vienna inhabits had been coloured in in a lot more detail and that she had emerged as a pretty awesome character. It made me want to go back and listen to The Shadow Heart with that in mind. They played a long game with this season and it paid off: 8/10

Torchwood One: Before the Fall

New Girl by Joseph Lidster: If there is one thing that you can count on with Joe Lidster is that he wont just churn out another nostalgia fest and if I feel that Big Finish might have lost its edge as it has become a formidable engine of storytelling then it is this writer that waves the flag for more dangerous creative times. He also brings something dynamic and unique to the table (even with The Rapture, which I am growing increasingly fond of over the years for its willingness to be completely different to anything else Doctor Who has ever done) and marrying him up with Torchwood, where he chalked up one of his impressive television credits, is a Promethean matrimonial bliss. This is the best instalment of the set because it isn't going for bangs and whistles but instead focuses entirely on character. It has the unenviable job of bringing to life Torchwood One after it's demise in Army of Ghosts/Doomsday and has to make it a credible environment to tell further stories in after they were painted (ambiguously) as the villains in Doctor Who. Lidster creates an entire cast of characters and paints them sensitively and likably, and in having Rachel Allen live out a first day in Torchwood exactly like Gwen in Day One he pulls off a deceitful narrative trick. It's unlike me to guess a twist before it hits but I cottoned on about halfway through the episode and this was a party trick so strong that I had figured out the who and not the how so when the fraud unfolded I was still in awe of how everything was carefully thought through. It's very much the Russell T Davies approach to the Doctor Who spin off universe; character first and I really appreciated that. Tracey Ann Oberman's Yvonne is immediately one of the coolest characters to appear in a Big Finish and this might be unkind to say but I think she is a far more engaging head of Torchwood than either Jemma Redgrave's Kate or John Barrowman's Jack. There's inscrutableness there in her modern day approach to management and I felt as though she is as likely to shoot you in the head as give you a promotion and she'd do both with a smile. Sassiness is the order of the day and so to see her position under threat before the first episode is out is another fantastic touch. The more I think about it, the smarter this script is. It celebrates a version of Torchwood that RTD created but gives it a unique identity and a lease of life for future storytelling...AND it is a great story in its own right too. Fantastic: 10/10 

Through the Ruins by Jenny T Colgan: It entirely depends on what you are looking for in Torchwood. Mark preferred this instalment whereas nothing was going to top the opener for me. There's a confidence to this range which comes from Scott Handcock, who oversees much of this, but also this is being brought to life by Barnaby Edwards who I think is one of the strongest Big Finish directors. Add the gorgeous voice of Jenny Colgan to the mix and you have a trifecta of talent that is impossible to deny. My one disappointment was that the fallout of Yvonne being deposed feels a little quiet after the brilliant cliff-hanger ending and the team away day initially feels like a very odd direction for the story to take. I was just waiting for the moment when trudging through the forest and getting to know each other turned sour and when it did it had that Torchwood nastiness to it that I rather admire. The best scenes feature Yvonne and Dave, who become the odd couple on the run together, attempting to figure out just what the masterplan is and how it factors into planet XXX (can you think of a more Torchwood name for a planet?). This is comedy gold but its dealing with all the exposition too and Oberman is having the time of her life playing up the jokes. What I love is how Yvonne, whilst clearly the superior intellect, refuses to demean Dave. She needs him and there is a respect there as he has his world turned upside down by exposure to the extra-terrestrial. Mark guessed Rachel's motive and I guessed that her plan was going to come to fruition at the end of this episode (dramatically it was the only place it could naturally hit) but that didn't make it any less satisfying. She's not a monster but she's behaving in a monstrous way and all that is left is to see how or if Yvonne can bring her down: 8/10

Uprising by Matt Fitton: Satisfying, but mostly because Yvonne gets to sassily walk into Torchwood and take back her position in a sequence of effortless cool that left me applauding. I think it was always going to be a matter of time before she usurped Rachel but it is a ten minute sequence that proves why the character is perfect to lead this arm of the spin off. She does everything but file her nails as she sits back in the big chair with nothing but her force of personality. Like Torchwood Believe it is the final few scenes that hit the hardest. Yvonne makes a decision that left me wondering if I am supposed to like her. Rachel is superbly characterised and has been given some time to let her true colours and motivation shine and to have that all taken away from her when it is so much a part of who she is just so she can be used as a resource feels...wrong. But in a way where I am left questioning my reaction to the decision. That's the sort of ambiguity I like. Otherwise this does run on the spot a bit waiting for the climax and I wasn't at all convinced about the secondary plot on an alien world that we never get to visit. It's there to up the plot stakes and provide some word peril but I never really connected with hat side of the story at all. As such this probably could have been a much tighter two story narrative which focussed entirely on its (excellent) character work. What I took from this as whole is just how viable this period of Torchwood is as an avenue for more stories and how pleased I am that that was allowed to continue. And more Yvonne please. She's just the best: 7/10

Torchwood: Believe

Believe by Guy Adams: A near impossible task to try and get right is handed to Guy Adams. The entire Torchwood cast brought together for one recording session and a script needs to be fashioned that satisfies the hordes of fans that want more of the season one/two era of the show. It's exactly how I figure Peter Anghelides felt when he had to write Warship, which featured all of the Blakes' 7 cast that were still with us at the time. To Adams' credit, he does a stunning job of writing a Children of Earth style epic that involves everybody, has something to say, feels like a properly modern piece of storytelling and feels every bit as edgy and dark as Torchwood ever did. No part of this feels like a stunt but rather precisely the sort of measured storytelling that should have been told when Chris Chibnall was spearheading the show. Instead of giving us everybody all at once, Believe is split very smartly into three segments as the Torchwood team split up and investigate the Church of the Outsiders. Tosh and Owen own the first disc and take the espionage route by getting close to the one of the Church leaders, Gwen and Ianto take the reins in disc two and try and infiltrate the Church and get close to one of it's disgraced ex members and Jack is saved for the last disc after a brilliant cliff-hanger that I'm sure John Barrowman adored bringing to life. Am I allowed to mention John Barrowman anymore since Big Finish cut their ties with him? This material exists, and he is a part of it and I am able to separate the character from the actor, so I have decided that yes, I absolutely can. Jack is used brilliantly in the last segment when it appears that he has gone rogue and is ready to expose his true nature in order to stage a coup in the Church. The only scenes that I really object to (and it is VERY Torchwood) are Owen and Tosh and their disturbing power games during a sex scene with Layton. Owen has always been a bit of sick puppy but there are some uncomfortable gender dynamics happening here that didn't sit well with me. Everything else is pretty much gold and it leans into that brilliant Children of Earth cloak and dagger atmosphere of everybody pulling in the same direction to defeat a genuine threat to the planet. The Greys are a chilling (and slightly comical) idea and the scenes where they invade the Hub are genuinely unsettling. What surprised me was where all the best scenes landed. After the plot had finished and the Church had been foiled. You get fifteen minutes of character scenes that deal with the fallout of a three hour treatise on faith and organised religion. Jack condemns Val in an angry scene that speaks for the family of every person who has been sacrificed to a cult, there is an unforgettable scene between Ianto and Erin that shows the hopelessness of somebody who has given themselves to an exposed cause and Gwen gets the best moment of all where she makes scathing remarks about the despondence of the human race that would rather focus on the mundanities of their own lives than the glorious of outer space. It's downbeat and reprehending in the best Torchwood fashion but brought to life with dialogue this sharp and by actors this good it doesn't feel like it is just shitting on the human race for the sake but that it genuinely has something to say. Of the cast I thought that Naoko Mori and Gareth David-Lloyd acquitted themselves the best and I will certainly be seeking out more of their individual stories in the future. This is a huge undertaking; slick, thoughtful and dramatic. Colour me impressed: 9/10

Classic Series, New Monsters: The Stuff of Nightmares

The House that Hoxx Built by Tim Foley: Genuinely unsettling, and given I thought this was going to be the weakest of the set, imagine my surprise when it turned out to be my favourite? What you have here is two hoary old clichés, smart technology and a haunted house and it merges the two together with a massive sprinkling of characterisation that makes the whole piece sing. Who would have thought a carbon clone of The Moxx of Balhoon would transpire to be one of the more likable guest characters we have had in a while? And brought to life by Dan Starkey you have no sign that Strax is anywhere to be seen. Tim Trelor and Sadie Miller really impressed me too; I was listening to this by candlelight in the garden and kept grabbing my partners hand every time there were serious echoes of the third Doctor and Sarah. I think his hand was sore by the end. There's slight hints that the Doctor's time is coming to an end but like Hartnell in his last gasp of brilliance, Treloar still plays him with maximum charm and moral outrage. He's brilliant, and I could absolutely believe this was season eleven team. Massive kudos for that. Barnaby Edwards is here so the atmospherics are on point (this is the man who gave us The Chimes of Midnight) and the story unfolds with plenty of spooky incident, explanations and an uplifting climax. I came away feeling I had listened to one of the most refreshingly unpretentious and original horror tales from Big Finish in some time: 9/10

The Tivolian Who Knew Too Much by Robert Valentine: I've never really rated the Tivoli as an alien race; the concept is fun enough but this is the sort of thing that Douglas Adams would throw away with a devastatingly witty line and what has happened is that we've a handful of stories that labour the point. So again, big surprise that Rob Valentine (who is emerging as a real find from Big Finish) manages to forge a gorgeous character out of this premise and the simple but sunny idea that Timble Feebis just wants to have a holiday away from alien invasions. He wants no part in this madcap caper in Rome that the Doctor and Leela keep dragging him into, has no desire to be a hero of any kind and tries to escape their dangerous clutches as much as possible. It's a star turn from Robert Daws as Timble, who gets to go on a great journey and discover the joy of finding his confidence and ability. That's the character work running through this like a stick of rock but the periphery elements are just as bubbly too. A terrific location (I want every alien invasion to come to Rome from now on), the Doctor and Leela at their most irreverent as they relax into this pacy comic adventure and some glorious stereotypical gangsters. There is a serious side to this story, involving potential mass murder and enslavement, but what I really took away from this story was the pleasure and wit of the escapade and that Tom Baker seemed to be having the time of his life. And you can't help but be dragged along with that: 8/10

Together in Eclectic Dreams by Roy Gill: Big Finish isn't above dropping a companion in our lap without explanation (and strangely it seems to be the sixth Doctor that is gaining friends by the bucket load, hence Gill's clever use of the same idea here) and so I was prepared to accept that she was the genuine article as long as she was characterised robustly. She was, and yet Mark wasn't convinced at all. Given this story is about Dream Crabs, guess which one of us ended up with egg on our faces? The thing that you would imagine this story would be built around - the sixth and eighth Doctors meeting - barely registers and I think this is deliberate because the idea of multi Doctors has been flogged to death by now. It's a perfectly fun scene that is part of the larger story. Doing these 'what is real and what is flimflam?' stories are tenapenny these days and so you have to either go for a brilliantly constructed script (which Moffat does with Last Christmas) or really attempt to subdue your audience with the freakishness of the unreality, which both Gill and director Barnaby Edwards really achieve here. I was never sure from scene to scene what was real and what wasn't and more disturbing concepts dripped into the story and the reactions of the cast were disturbingly accurate and discomforting. Like the third Doctor tale I got the sense that this was at the end of the Doctor's life and so being handed one last adventure by the crabs with a kind and loyal friend was rather touching. This was all atmosphere and weirdness but I thought the entire cast acquitted themselves beautifully: 8/10

If I Should Die Before I Wake by John Dorney: This is the celebrated story in the set and I have confession to make - I fell asleep while listening to this. Ironically when it is about the power of storytelling and dreams. That is no way an a deprecation of this tale, which is a typically genius script from John Dorney, but just that my memories of this tale are scattershot because I have heard it in pieces (going back to listen to what I missed after I listened to the end when I woke up). I can say this; it's like Paul McGann and India Fisher have never been away and this is back to their series two charisma, driving the story with the sheer force of their personality. The dialogue is thick and fast and Dorney manages to take the idea of telling a narrative and pick it apart like the master craftsman that he is. At first the Doctor is in control of the story that he is telling and making the smart remarks but slowly Charley takes the reigns off him, picking apart the details and taking up the mantle. How the script leaps back and forth between the two of them is ingenious because it shows precisely how each character individually improvises within a story that they are telling but is running away and confounding them. I can only think of a few times where a script has self consciously thrown the limelight on the differences between two characters, their individual strengths and concluded that they absolutely belong together. The X-Files' Bad Blood comes to mind. If I'm making this sound like a dry intellectual piece then never fear, this is amalgamation of storytelling tropes drawn together with verve and conjured up vividly by Barnaby Edwards (perhaps the greatest contributor to this incredible set of tales) that leaves you feeling you've been on a hell of a ride. Top notch language at play here: 9/10 

UNIT: Extinction

By Matt Fitton & Andrew Smith: Can someone please enlighten me as to who this set is for? Because for the first two, eventless, episodes, I found myself hoping this wasn't just going to be a retread of Spearhead from Space. Meteorite showers, Auton dummies, great tentacled Nestene Consciousness. The only thing that felt truly original was that this story was being told on a grand world-spanning stage. But in terms of creativity this is following on beat for beat what happened in the 70s (even down to the human stooge - this time with a plastic skull) and I don't see the point in creating a series around an ultra modern version of UNIT if all you are going to put out are trips down memory lane. The recent Bambera set felt precisely like a 90s series of UNIT, with all the rampant action and madcap stories that would have come with it. This just trips through one cliché after another, barely bothering to disguise that it is after fanboys cash who want to hear Auton sound effects whilst Jemma Redgrave fails to emote around them. Some positives do emerge; Ingrid Olivier has a great naturalistic presence and Warren Brown (Big Finish's Running Man) brings a lovely earthy feel to one of the episodes and generally the production is solid and easy on the ear. Jemma Redgrave sounds like this is the last thing in the world she ever wants to be doing and I cannot for the life of me imagine why nobody gave her a note to wake her up a bit. In Flux she was practically ignored but showed more emotion in two scenes of Survivors of the Flux than she does in the four hours that this plays out over. It's a baffling turn, especially when getting the regulars right is pretty much the one thing you can always guarantee on audio. After hours and hours of talk about 3D printers, action set pieces and promises of world domination, Nick Briggs shows up as the most annoying news reader you've ever heard AND the Nestene Consciousness. And it finally all ends with the laziest rip off of Rose from Series One and left me thinking what on Earth the whole thing was about. There could have been a comment on consumerism, or our reliance on plastic, or even an exploration of a military force containing alien incursions. When I saw the names Andrew Smith and Matt Fitton on this I figured it would be back to basics for UNIT but I didn't in my wildest dreams think it would be quite this bare: 4/10

Vienna Series One

Dead Drop by Mark Wright: A more than reasonable opening for the first Vienna box set with plenty of incident, reversals and action. At times it might feel like you have dropped in on a particularly arc heavy episode of DS9 featuring cosmic super villains, space battles and, well, Chase Masterson. Vienna is not a character I expected to be able to get behind but in Masterson's hands she is sassy and smart, and thoughtful too. Personally I would rather listen to Vienna than River, and they pretty much have the same specs. Vienna is stuck in an impossible situation here, without all of her usual tactics to rely on and so we get to see how clever she is when she has to improvise. That was a smart move. I have no clue what the Judge Dredd style cityscape on the cover is all about since this does not feature in any of the stories in this set. I'm not too sure about the cliff-hanger ending though, especially when it has no resonance with the audience whatsoever: 7/10

Bad Faith by Nev Fountain: I wont get bored of saying that Nev Fountain is one Big Finish's best and his inclusion here adds some prestige to the set. Every now and again Big Finish go after religion (Faith Stealer) but this is the more thoughtful of the few I have listened to, and certainly the most labyrinthine. Clearly this is a series that is being run on a budget and there are only a few characters to play about with and this forces Fountain to be deceptive and use them all twice over, with some brilliant twists about their identity. Having two opposing religions attempting to bring each other down and somebody using the science fiction elements in the story to attempt to bring them together in a painful way really worked for me. There's a ton of funny lines too, because organised religion is very easy to take the piss out of, but Fountain focuses mostly on the absurdity of faith itself for his gags. I'd like to see more stories like this but it does seem that the Vienna series is trading itself on its shock revelations. Maybe the last story in this set will be a little less plotted and a little more character based. Strongest of this box set: 8/10

DeathWorld by Jonathan Morris: This wants to be Red Dwarf's Back to Reality and Hunger Games AND Vienna's backstory reveal, and more besides. That's my biggest complaint. This probably plotted to the hilt if I know Jonny Morris but the story is over stuffed with ideas and revelations and I felt overloaded halfway through and there was still a whole heap more to come. Sometimes simpler is better, but that doesn't seem to be this series' USP. A shame because the ideas are great and the direction of this story (and the set as a whole) is superb. Chase Masterson has to try and play Vienna in lots of ways in this story and really engages with the opportunities that it gives her. My other half is right, what Vienna needs is a partner to bounce ideas (and banter) off of. I hear that is the direction we head in set two. This is not a bad audio, it's just a little overwhelming for an hour. It feels like Morris wanted to write the whole set and instead put a whole sets worth of notions into one story. To his credit he makes it work. Just: 7/10