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

Purity Undreamed

The Mindless Ones by Paul Magrs: I always look forward to a Paul Magrs script because he writes with such a deft sense of humour and creativity. You know you aren't going to get a Death to the Daleks ripoff with Paul, and he always remembers that audio is a celebration of language and that the dialogue is one of the greatest weapons of this medium. He takes a university setting, which series 10 proved to be a massive win for Doctor Who (mind we had already had a dry run with Evelyn Smythe), and makes it the ideal place for the Doctor, Mel and Hebe to have a stop off. Honestly, the plot is slight and plays second fiddle to everything that this story is setting up for this set but the characters are so much fun to be around that that doesn't matter one jot. Giving the sixth Doctor a set of regulars around him (there are four women at his side throughout this set) and doing surprising things with them is a brilliant coup on the part of Jac Rayner. Mel is smart and bolshie here, Hebe relaxes at last in her homecoming, and newbies Elise and Professor McBride are sweet and icy cold in turn. I particularly loved Imogen Stubbs' turn as the clinical and argumentative Professor, making no attempts to make you like her and yet you feel a certain affinity for her regardless. The Doctor is prepared to give her a chance, especially when she helps to save the day. This is all character and considering that is my in to Doctor Who I was in my element. I listened to this set on the beach with my fella and it was a wonderful day of audio surprises: 8/10

Reverse Engineering by Jonathan Morris: Using Professor McBride as a way of bringing the Doctor into the action was a stroke of genius. It gives the set a sense of coherence. And given the subject matter of this story (to try and create the perfect human) it makes absolute sense of the twist that is to come in the next set. The tale that transpires here is pretty familiar; part base under siege, part mad scientist. It features a lot of frenetic energy and some scary moments but what really stands out is the character work again. I'm really starting to like McBride now, despite the feeling that something is off about her. Hebe and Mel are working together brilliantly and make an enormously likeable pairing. This is the traditional filler in the middle of two glorious character tales and is probably needed for this to feel like Doctor Who rather than a spin off of Dr Who and his fabulous New Gang. Psychotic hominids are scary! Fun, and doing more work to make the last instalment hit: 7/10

Chronomancer by Robert Valentine: Oh boy. There is a scene in this story that I would love to tear out and hold up as exactly what Doctor Who can achieve when it is firing on all cylinders. Professor McBride's true colours are revealed and the Doctor, in an understated moment of riveting drama, tells her why she is exactly what he hates about the universe as a whole. I was sitting under the pier on the beach listening surrounded by people on a warm day and it was like everybody had vanished and only Colin Baker and Imogen Stubbs existed in this sequence of disquiet. When Doctor Who dares to make a point like this, to truly expose the worst of humanity and show its disgust and anger, I am often taken aback. When it is written and acted this well, I'm astonished that this silly show can make this kind of point this well. The rest of this story is enjoyable to listen to but the tale of SF antics really is only there to prop up the scintillating character work that has been laced through this set. Hebe gets an unforgettable moment with McBride too, and the last ten minutes leave you with gasping at how a character can go from being so resourceful to our new antagonist. It's effortlessly done and the cliffhanging ending left me desperate to hear more. What's that? This isn't out until next year, you say? Big Finish! The individual stories in this set play second fiddle. The character work is unbelievably good. On it's own merits, Chronomancer is worthy of a 7. McBride takes this to a: 9/10

Dalek Universe 1

Buying Time by John Dorney: Imagine taking all the staples of Terry Nation's obsessions in the sixties and turning it into a New Series series of adventures featuring the Tenth Doctor? How on Earth would that work? Imagine creating a companion for the Fourth Doctor who turned out to be a brainwashed Space Security Agent played by Jane Slavin who becomes a regular in this Big Finish spin off? Imagine cherry picking Mark Seven, mooted from the Dalek series in America in the mid 1960s and having him make up the third in this set of regulars. A trip to Kembel, avoiding terrifying predators, vacationing time travel and sinister businessmen. That's a ton of ingredients, both old and new, and for a moment it feels like this is (like so much of Big Finish) a massive nostalgia fest with a bit of audio polish. And yet this assignment has been handed to John Dorney, still one of the best that Big Finish has on its payroll, and he turns all this fanwank into something immediate, pacy, fun, and shocking. I really wasn't sure about this set of characters coming together at this point but somewhere along the line this becomes one of my favourite line up of regulars from ANY Big Finish range. It's a long game, this series, and it fleshes out the time period and the characters brilliantly along the way. Dorney kicks things off with a effortlessly enjoyable listen, and then just as you are starting to relax into the story, he punches you in the face with an unforgettable cliffhanger that floors you with its possibilities. Doctor Who cliff-hangers on audio are tenapenny and this is one of the very best. A strong beginning: 9/10  

The Wrong Woman by John Dorney: More magic, but Dorney turns this story on it's head and makes it a very piece about a massive con on both the audience and the characters. How he gets away with the cheat is exactly the sort of creative resourcefulness I have come to expect from this writer. Introducing another old character in such a funny way is genius and of course the Monk gets a Whittaker style spin, and Gemma Whelan is madly entertaining in the role. What's also important is how the characters start to form a team to bring down the threat of undisciplined time travel. Tennant is having an absolute ball with this, and it's exactly the sort of longform storytelling that his Doctor was afforded in the comics (remember the brilliant Magenta Pryce arc?) but couldn't really indulge in on TV where the episodes needed to be unique pieces of work with the trappings of serialisation each year. How Dalek Universe builds its own mythology using elements from The Daleks' Masterplan (this is essentially a massive love-in for that incredible story) and then runs with them, really, really works. Taken as whole, this is a showcase story for Big Finish. The most popular Doctor (in the eyes of the public), the return of an old foe, strong characters and concepts and a real sense of verve and confidence in the writing and direction. Anybody who has chipped out of Big Finish, this might be the perfect avenue back into the world of audio drama. I don't think you'd regret it: 9/10

The House of Kingdom by Andrew Smith: You know what you are going to get with Andrew Smith. A competent script with competent characterisation and functional dialogue. So imagine my surprise when I listened to The House of Kingdom and he has been touched by the Dalek Universe magic too. This is a dark little character tale that gives focus on Anya and her family. If you would have told me that Jane Slavin would convince as a space Security Agent with a heart of gold I might have laughed in your face (I would imagine her playing a character like Mrs Monyahan in The Spectre of Lanyon Moor) and yet this has turned out to be an inspired piece of casting. Her character featured in some memorable tales in the Fourth Doctor Adventures and transferring her into this range was a savvy move that takes everything that happened in that season and adds weight to it. The Varga plants were one of my favourite elements of Mission to the Unknown so it is glorious to see them getting some focus here in some memorably nasty moments. Tennant can play the empathetic Doctor so well and he gets the chance to get close to Anya here in an unexpected way. They are setting up the range for fireworks to come as secrets about the Doctor's past with Anya's family are kept under wraps for now but he is able to get to know her better. I walked away from this set with a huge smile on my face. I was expecting the usual Big Finish wank, and what I got was a fully formed spin off range with plenty of substance as well as style and lots of unforgettable moments. Go figure: 8/10 

The Sixth Doctor and Peri Volume One

 

The Headless Ones by James Parsons & Andrew Stirling-Brown: The weakest in this set and still very good indeed. The set up is a little protracted, and the conclusion seems to come around swiftly, but I thoroughly enjoyed all of the historical detail and the characterisation of the secondary characters. You can tell Scott Handcock's confident direction a mile off and the sixth Doctor and Peri have never felt more maturely played. It's a shame that this isn't a pure exploration of another culture and that the majority of the cast is English, because it feels like the story what's to have it's cake (be exotic) and eat it (not have to cast around). Props for the extraordinary sequence where the Doctor is attacked and Colin Baker plays every part of the sequence simultaneously. Not quite enough to keep my interest throughout: 6/10

Like by Jacqueline Rayner: What a superb concept, cherry picked straight from the Black Mirror episode Nosedive and given a Doctor Who spin. The aliens in danger giving the Doctor's actions a sense of immediacy reminded me of A Christmas Carol, but it does mean that we are always aware of the countdown as he tries to convince a society of social media obsessed drones to commit an altruistic act. Colin Baker and Nicola Bryant are having an absolute ball with this acidly funny script - one of Jac Rayner's best (and that is saying something) - with a smart and silly reading of the whole endorsement through likes idea. When it is broken down like this (and I don't think any of us has been immune over the years) it does seem absolutely absurd to take so much worth from other people pressing a button. To create a society that builds its hierarchy out of social media status is brilliant. To drop the Doctor, who doesn't give a fig about such things and watch him flounder, is hilarious. To have Peri, who understands how to manipulate the system, out think this society is genius. The story is intercut with hilarious ads and how the Yobulans are absorbed into this world says even more about how we mock and cajole things we don't understand to make them safe. I was very impressed with this story. It could have been worthy (because how it scathingly pulls apart online culture is very worth listening) but instead it is laugh a minute: 9/10

The Vanity Trap by Stuart Manning: A surprise win that I wasn't convinced about at all in the first third. It felt like this was going to be 'the Doctor and Peri visit Hollywood' with all the chuckles and shallowness that comes with that. Instead it becomes a dark SF tale and a very decent character piece, taking the vain and OTT character Myrna Kendall and doing some surprising and thoughtful things with her. Sarah Douglas gives a brilliant turn and how the time shenanigans converge around her means that we get to see her at various stages of her life, and the life she might have led. Halfway through it becomes Sapphire and Steel in Hollywood, and that is a far more enticing prospect. Props to the direction, which means the complicated story never loses you, and for the script that keeps the 'vanity is a weakness' concept at its heart but never falls into the trap of becoming a rip off of The Vanity Trap by Paul Magrs. Again, Sixie and Peri are superb. This set really does highlight them at their best: 8/10

Conflict Theory by Nev Fountain: An insane script, appropriately so, from the ever-reliable Nev Fountain. You know you're going to get something a little different and quirky from this writer but this time he has outdone himself by taking a Doctor Who story and turning it on it's head so 90% of what we think we are listening isn't quite what we think at all. It's also a brilliant summation of the sixth Doctor and Peri's relationship, with some surprisingly dark and freakish things to say about this initially toxic but ultimately loving friendship. There were moments where I thought they were both acting entirely out of character but so convincing was the psychology in play that I wondered if we were genuinely going to a place where the Doctor would go to extraordinary lengths to protect Peri, and that Peri might actually have to kill the Doctor. The setting is genius; a whole bunch of robotic Freud's divvying out cod psychology to a bunch of automated neuroses and the whole thing becomes a massive endorsement of the Doctor/Peri pairing as they ultimately take down a facility that has caused evil to spread into the universe. Brilliant turns from Colin Baker and Nicola Bryant (again), more excellent direction and an atmosphere of disquiet, and ultimately triumph. I loved this: 9/10