The Rotting Deep written by Jacqueline Rayner and directed by Helen Goldwyn

What's it About: A mysterious SOS summons the Doctor and Mel to an oil rig in the North Sea where a dwindling group of survivors awaits rescue from a lethal menace. One of their number is Hebe Harrison, a wheelchair-using marine biologist who is definitely more than she seems. Can our heroes escape the rig? And just what is killing off the rig's beleaguered crew?

Softer Six: We're at a point where the sixth Doctor and Mel travelling together for Big Finish is old hat and yet it still feels like a rewarding and exciting thing to me. I adore their chemistry; gently ribbing and intimate and they both have a real lust for adventure. The Doctor quotes Rosetti and a quote never sounds more poetic than in Colin Baker's plummy tones. Even better, he makes an Are You Being Served? gag. Jac Rayner really understands how to make this Doctor sing but given she was largely responsible for his second wind on audio (both The Marian Conspiracy and Dr Who and the Pirates feature some of his best ever characterisation) that isn't surprising.  The Doctor's coat reminds Hebe of a beautifully coloured sea slug (but to get to that lovely observation with have to endure the dreadful Ghostbuster gag: 'You aint afraid of no coat!'). Jac Rayner remembers to give the sixth Doctor some bite and in a pretty tense moment he screams at one of the guest characters that all they think about is themselves. He decides that he likes Hebe very quickly, and admires her smarts. The Doctor does pause before granting Hebe access to their adventures but it's clear he has been pretty bewitched by her already. 

The Intergalactic Bush: Mel is a great character to pair up with Hebe because she is precisely the sort of ultra polite sort that will walk on tiptoes around somebody in a wheelchair trying desperately not to offend them. Hebe bursts that bubble straight away by having a go and then instantly apologising and immediately there is a relaxed chemistry between the pair. Mel is shat on by a bunch of seagulls, which provides a moments relief. She manages to get on her high horse with everybody else on the rig, and nobody does moral righteousness than Melanie Jane Bush! Let's hope that Hebe doesn't call Mel Melanie Mel all the time - the last thing we need is another The Doctor in the Tardy Box. I remember reading that Bonnie Langford didn't want Mel to scream on audio but clearly she has changed her mind...and clearly Langford is a little more tentative about doing so because her voice doesn't have the welly it used to. It does allow for a wonderful gag about Mel's 'noise' being worse than the monster of the week. She has been stung by a jellyfish, it is completely justified. 

Newbie: Hebe, like the shrub. The reason that everybody is talking about this new set is fresh new companion Hebe and whilst I wouldn't want to be the person that says a companion has a USP, they have chosen to represent a disabled character in the TARDIS, which comes with many interesting logistical and creative possibilities. At first I feared that Hebe would be only about the wheelchair, which I have heard some people complain that she is, but if you put yourself in the mind of somebody who cannot walk I can only imagine that that would be on your mind predominantly. I thought it was handled with great sensitivity here, and whilst Hebe has something of a chip on her shoulder at first, she soon realises that she is in the hands of people she can trust and in an all important moment (one of the sixth Doctor's best on audio, I would go as far to say) he asks her to unburden herself of anger in a quite beautiful scene. She doesn't want anyone making decisions for her and it sounds like that has been happening for her entire life. As a child she was annoyed about the story of The Little Mermaid but it wasn't because she did a deal for a pair of legs but rather because she gave up the wondrous world under the sea to explore ('She gave it all up for some stupid Prince!'). It began Hebe's obsession with marine life, and subsequently her career. She doesn't run away, in any definition of the word run. When she was at university she created a group called the Lame Ducks, re-claiming the slur and owning it. They were united in their imperfections. 

Audio Landscape: My partner and I listened to this story on the seafront at Eastbourne, literally the perfect environment for this kind of sea-based story and the scenes of attacking squawking gulls left us looking overhead just in case the swarms in the sky were coming in for the attack.

Standout Performance: I realise Mandy Simmonds' Skye is supposed to be one reef short of a barnacle and under a great deal of strain but her insane laughter in episode two and hysterical breakdown stretch credulity to the limit. When her excuse for such murderous behaviour is because she loves the Earth more than anybody else, you know you are on pretty shaken ground with the character. 'Mother Gaia calls me home!' She couldn't have died soon enough. 

Sparkling Dialogue: 'Passion for the wonders of this planet is not something you need to apologise for.'

'I think you've fought very hard to be angry because angry is better than scared, or patronised, or infantilised. And I like anger. Anger can change the world. But would you allow me, and Mel too, to take that burden from you, just for a moment.'    

Great Ideas: How glorious that the SOS that we hear at the beginning of the story is so satisfyingly answered at the end of the story. I was wondering if this would be a mystery that would go unsolved but what Rayner does instead is tie the answer into a gloriously warm piece of nostalgia featuring an old favourite of the Big Finish world. It's beautiful how the two scenes bookend the story giving it a real sense of structure.

Isn't it Odd: I'm not sure that any of the guest characters manage to squeeze out of the caricature mould; being either obnoxious, bullying, frightened or morally explosive. Sometimes they were all within one scene. I couldn't remember anybody's name after my first listen, and I was unconvinced that they were genuinely in any peril because the tone of the performances was so heightened. The story also suffers from being quite a simple narrative but a pretty obscure threat until the last minute. At first I thought it was the seagulls, then the barnacles, then the jellyfish...before it turned out that the antagonist this week is the water itself. Which wouldn't be a problem if we hadn't already done that in the much scarier Waters of Mars in the New Series. 

Standout Scene: The scariest scene comes when Hebe is at the hands of the water when the fame hunter of the gang drinks some and is taken over and he taunts her viciously over her disability and threatens to make her the victim of his recording of the ordeal. It's really rather revolting. 

Result: The setting is perfect for a good old fashioned creepy base under siege story. That isn't quite what we get because the guest performances err on the side of comical, which occasionally takes you outside the action but there is certainly enough plot here to pass an hour amiably. The sound design is very strong and gives you an immediate sense of place. The focus is new companion Hebe, and she is given a strong introduction (although not as strong as Rayner gave Evelyn) because the story puts her front and centre and much like Russell T Davies does with Rose, she isn't always entirely likeable. There's a bit of ice to thaw with this character and fortunately the Doctor is at his most charming and that has begun already and by the end of the story they have reached an understanding and a commitment to each other. I liked her very much, not despite her occasional frostiness but because of it because I like it when we get to see all shades of a character. It's very easy to make somebody all smiles and gushing (actually that's Mel) but to offer up somebody this rounded in an hour is a real achievement. A story like The Rotting Deep sounds like it might dripping with horrific incident but instead this is quite a light affair, with one or two violent moments. As an introduction to Hebe it hits it's ambition but as a story in it's own right it suffers from the same problem I find with so many hour long Big Finish stories these days, it's passable, unambitious fare. This gets an extra point just for the love letter to Evelyn Smythe. Because Big Finish can't mention her enough, and it gets a beautiful reaction out of Colin Baker: 7/10