Red Dawn written by Justin Richards and directed by Gary Russell

What’s it about? Ares One: NASA’s first manned mission to the dead planet Mars. But is Mars as dead as it seems? While the NASA team investigate an ‘anomaly’ on the planet’s surface, the Doctor and Peri find themselves inside a strange alien building. What is its purpose? And what is froze inside the blocks of ice that guards the doorways? If the Doctor has a sense of déjà-vu, it’s because he’s about to meet some old adversaries, as well as some new ones…

English Gentleman: Whilst Peter Davison gives a typically excellent performance I didn’t really feel much for his character, for good or for ill, throughout this production. He is damnably curious, doesn’t feel the cold and is extremely protective of Peri. His proven to be honourable by being able to open the Ice Warriors tomb. He forms a strong relationship with Zzaal, revealing to him why the Ice Warriors left Mars and the Ice Lord even sacrifices his life for him at the stories conclusion.

American Attitude: Justin Richards states that Gary Russell specifically wanted a strong role for Peri in this story so he splits the two of them up and lets Peri get to be wonderfully headstrong when dealing with dreary villain Paul Webster. She remembers her chemistry classes, moans an awful lot (nothing unusual there then…I will go on to prefer the Peri who delights in her adventures) and gets straight to the heart of the problem, exposing Paul in the first episode! She proves herself to be calm under pressure and able to ask the right questions when she is stranded in space on Ares One. Nicola Bryant gives another committed performance and it sounds like she has never been away. I’m not sure if she is always 100% convincing as Peri but her enthusiasm for the role is quite infectious that makes her rather magnificent all the same. Richards is turning into something of a Peri expert after Whispers, Grave Matter and this!


Great Ideas: Rather than simply shoehorning her into the plot for no apparent reason, Peter Davison’s daughter (who would go on to play the Doctor’s daughter) is given a strong role in Tanya. Believing she is a Webster and thus securing the legacy for her family she soon discovers she was infected with Martian DNA after the last trip to Mars and was brought along to sniff out more goodies that will make Webster incorporated an important factor in the arms race.
Everything surrounding the Red Dawn itself including epic walks across the surface of Mars and the noble self sacrifice of Zzaal under the brilliant sunlight of Mars. As an explanation as to why the Ice Warriors left Mars, sunburn as good as any!

Standout Performance: Nicola Bryant. Rarely given the kudos she deserves, she approaches the less than stellar material in Red Dawn with real gusto and proves Peri to be the best thing about it.

Sparkling Dialogue: ‘There is dignity in forgiveness just as it is noble to exact revenge.’

Audio landscape: Again a science fiction story that doesn’t have half the you-are-there feel of the Earth based ones. The only things that really stood out for me are the intercom helmets, the violent dust storms on Mars and the authentic sounding sonic canon.

Musical Cues: Finally I can lavish some praise on this story! Russell Stone proves to be a great find, easily as strong as Alistair Lock and providing some unforgettable music over his few years as composer. Red Dawn sees him as an enthusiastic newcomer, throwing everything he can at the listener with a bona fide 80’s score that mixes disco and atmosphere to incredible effect. To be honest I spent more time hum away to the music than I did listening to the events of this story! The opening of the story, the launch of Ares One has some magnificent music helping to create the illusion of the ascent of the craft. The music comes into its own in the three cliffhangers, in turns bombastic (the Warriors breaking from their tombs), exciting (Ares One being hijacked) and dramatic (Webster pointing a gun at the Doctor). The last track, Webster’s Gamble, is one of my favourites in any Big Finish story. I can still remember buying the Music from the New Audio Adventures and listening to this score over and over. Great stuff.

Isn’t that Odd: That Justin Richards, plot master extraordinaire has forgotten to include one! Rather like Ambassadors of Death he gets bogged down in lots of astronaut jargon and forgets that we’d like to be entertained as well, things like characterisation and a good narrative. I understand that Richards and Russell wanted to make this a genuine NASA story but everything is a little too talky and dull – the entire can be summed up in ‘Ares One lands on Mars, they wake the Ice Warriors up, noble sacrifice, they go home.’
Stephen Fewell is obviously the great bastard of the universe Jason Kane so it was very odd to hear him playing a real villain in this piece. Fewell is usually bafflingly sexy on the ear (it’s not really a sexy voice but Jason is pretty hard to resist…as Benny will attest to!) but his turn here as Paul Webster is dreary. He’s so obviously the bad guy and it’s obvious he will be stopped. I understand that Big Finish want to fill in the gaps that the TV series neglected (the next story is a great example) but to offer the fifth Doctor and Peri a wealth of adventures does rather blunt the effect of Caves of Androzani where the Doctor supposedly sacrifices himself for somebody he hardly knows. It reminds me of the time Stephen Cole wrote Ten Little Aliens, a superb Past Doctor Adventure but fitted it into a gap between TV stories that couldn’t possibly exist. Do we then consider these stories canon…or just enjoy the stories for what they are and forget about the TV series. Yeah, I think that’s best. Some gaps (such as Sixie and Peri and the 7th Doctor and Ace can explained by the apparent gap between Revelation and Trial and the post Survival adventures). Besides which the fifth Doctor, Peri and Erimem are such an intoxicating brew I can’t find myself objecting too much! As a huge fan of Star Trek (well DS9 to be precise, one of the few shows that demonstrates Doctor Who’s diversity of storytelling) it annoyed me to have the Ice Warriors turned into a parody of the Klingons (or Worf in particular) always banging on about honour every two minutes. Oddly they seem more concerned for their honour than their safety…and if they can’t rescue Sstast they would rather kill him to protect his honour!


Standout Moment: All of the cliff-hangers thanks to Stone’s incredible music. It is the cliffhangers that make this story, providing moments of excitement that are otherwise absent. The Ice Warriors breaking free of their tomb would have made a fine visual and the desperation in the Doctor’s voice when the Ice Warriors train their sonic canon on Ares One with Peri inside almost made me wake up!

Result: Considering its subject (a manned mission to Mars wakes up the Ice Warriors) this is one of the most uneventful and unhurried audios yet. With their great rasping voices you would think that the Ice Warriors would make an excellent audio monster but you have to give the something interesting to do make that work and here they merely strut about questioning everybody’s honour and getting captured. Big woo. The fifth Doctor and Peri make an engaging pair but are separated for most of the story so I’m yet to be convinced that stabbing continuity in the gut was worthwhile. Gary Russell needs to find a way to make these science fiction tales as dynamic and pleasing on the ear as the earthbound adventures; Red Dawn has a pretty unimpressive sound design and is only enlivened by its fantastic music. Not very fun to listen to: 4/10

Artwork by Simon Hodges @ http://hisi79.deviantart.com/

Whispers of Terror written by Justin Richards and directed by Gary Russell

Softer Six: Or not so softer six perhaps, since Justin Richards, as he has a want to do in both his novels and audios, seeks to capture the authentic voice of the Doctor and companion he is bringing to life. The opening scenes of Whispers of Terror feel extremely authentic to mid 80’s Who with the Doctor and Peri being quite rude to each other, unnecessarily so. I have long been a defender of the sixth Doctor so it pleases me to inform you that things do settle down very quickly as soon as he gets a good mystery to sink his teeth into but the regulars’ scenes bookending this adventure do suggest a return to the pre Trial relationship. Or at least that that spikiness hasn't abandoned their relationship completely. The joy of the sixth Doctor is not only his passion for his adventures and the joys of the English language but how his weaknesses slip through the cracks every now again, suggesting a much deeper character than the initially unnuanced man he appears to be. His shock reaction to Peri’s death in Mindwarp is a great example; suddenly all the bluster has gone and he can barely talk. Whispers of Terror gives the Doctor loads to do; he is as verbose and playful as ever, shouting his head off suggesting people that do so only reveal the paucity of their argument and baiting Peri into raising her voice and proving his point. He thinks he has a better sense of direction than a homing pigeon, a claim made by Hartnell’s Doctor if I remember correctly. His scenes with Beth Purnell are terrific; he seems to enjoy baiting her and manages to sniff her out as the villain straight away. Or maybe it is just because this Doctor treats everybody as though they are a minor inconvenience that they reveal their true colours quickly. In a story of speeches and performances he is the most theatrical of all, especially at the end of episode two where he positively revels in revealing the latest plot development. Can you imagine a story more tailored to this audiophile? He can be quite impatient and snappy, critical of other people’s moments of melodrama (!) and pushes his moral indignation to murder. A supporter of democracy. We’re not quite there yet making Colin Baker accessible to all audiences and the best is yet to come but huge strides are being made here. Just not all at once. Perhaps the transition would be too jarring.

American Attitude: Oh Peri, Peri, Peri….do you know I can never deicide if Peri is an integral part of the show or a complete waste of a character that had enormous potential. I love Nicola Bryant and think she is extremely game and talented, she rocked in her two stories with Davison and managed to be the best thing about The Twin Dilemma. Season 22 saw her turn into a hysterical hang along, not really contributing to the series and just there to get into scrapes and moan. It is such a waste of her character so it is nice to see that Big Finish have given her a new lease of life on audio. Peri is pretty quiet in this story; she has her initial longing to get back to the TARDIS (of course), reveals a curious eye for detail but still runs off blundering into trouble. What's so fantastic is that if you are a Peri fan or a Peri detractor then hold onto your hat because Big Finish is about to take hold of this character and make her the ideal companion for both the fifth and sixth Doctors. All it takes is to take the template of the character and give her agency and intelligence, and to remove all the blatant sexism, disturbing torture porn she experiences on TV and to give her the right amount of emotional intelligence. And that journey starts here. 

Great Ideas: Having a blind character is a stroke of genius and rather than taking the obvious route of having all the characters explain what is happening visually he uses Gantman to conceal a very important plot twist. A life form that has manipulated itself as a sound wave and can escape through any medium that carries sound has so many possibilities. The only thing it can’t do is be absolutely quiet because it exists as sound (I love how this creature could have been any sound that was running through our ears…very creepy). Having the Doctor capture him by taping him onto a CD is inspired. In one of the creepiest sequences of the first 50 releases, Purnell tortures Crane by starting to delete parts of the soundwave. The creature plans to manifest a version of itself everywhere that the broadcast is received and birth millions of mad, homicidal waveforms. This early in the run where the imaginative choices with the audio medium are not exhausted, was an astonishingly creative idea. Purnell’s death scene is a surprise ending, tricked into opening a sound file sent by (the apparently dead) Stenguard and ripping her car to pieces. I was waiting for the twist that the story we are listening to is somehow entirely recorded and the last refuge of Crane. Make the listener terrified that they are the one person that was harbouring the lunatic. 

Standout Performance: Lisa Bowerman who I simply adore as Bernice Summerfield makes a surprisingly uncharismatic villain which is quite refreshing in Doctor Who. She is a plain speaking, conniving, political Nazi. I love her casual ‘How dare you!’ when the Doctor starts accusing her of manipulating the speeches – she can’t even be bothered to sound genuinely hurt. Her nonchalance in the face of Colin Baker's brashness is very amusing. Bowerman is too good an actress to be giving a lazy performance and so this is a deliberate acting choice. 

Ham Fisted: Rebecca Jenkins is a little too hysterical in places. Sometimes less is more.

Sparkling Dialogue: This is a Justin Richards script so I expected some gems…
‘Something grand and theatrical from the old school of acting no doubt, loud, bombastic, not my sort of thing really.’ – the nerve of this, coming from the sixth Doctor. 
‘I think there’s more to this than meets the ear!’
‘Strange, I was there when Barclay searched you but some how he missed this knife. Those voices must have really screwed you up.’ This was a really creepy scene.
‘If you don’t like it, don’t listen to it!’
‘I hope it gets better than this' - dangerous ground for a script. At least this one is a zinger.
‘Democracy – an outdated, unworkable system that disperses power so thinly it hardly exists. A morally justifiable way of doing nothing. Procrastination made politic!’
‘We’ll drop by in a few years to hear how you’re getting on.’
‘Now I’ve heard everything.’ The TARDIS dematerialisation sound described succinctly in am audio all about sound. 

Audio landscape: Gary Russell’s first step into the directors chair is mostly magnificent. It's a challenging script by Justin Richards, who is asking him to create an audio landscape with a sound creature, several murders, cars crashing and all sorts of audio jiggery pokery. The death of Fotherill lingers in the memory, creepy voices, manic laughter, screaming…it is an assault of disturbing sounds. The end of the first episode reminds me strongly of The Face of Evil (‘Tell me who I am!’) and is chaotic and surreal.

Musical Cues: This is an genuine 80’s score, intrusive, synthesised, bold and occasionally atmospheric. Even Nick Briggs hates some of it but apparently it was written in quite a rush. Big Finish are still taking their baby steps, soon they would abandon trying to imitate what has been and forge their own path.

Isn’t that Odd: That the middle of the CD booklet is a disgusting sickly yellow colour. Whose idea was that? The end of episode three is really badly directed – it feels like it should be an important moment but its plain with a minimum of sound effects. Russell is learning his art. Before the end of his run he would have created some of the finest aural set pieces in Doctor Who. Some of which have never been bested. 

Something I learnt from The Inside Story: Justin Richards reads the first episode to test its length and it came out at 45 minutes long. When he asked Gary Russell if he could do another audio and what he was after, Russell replied ‘Something simpler!’

Standout Moment: Purnell causing her own political suicide was punch-the-air good. The Doctor secretly broadcasts her confession to murdering Crane. His Doctor was rarely written as being crafty on television and so it is beautiful that in his first full story from Big Finish that he walks the villain into a situation where they are hoist by their own petard. 

Result: An interesting story written by a strong storyteller who has put some real thought into how to construct a tale on audio. What's odd about Whispers of Terror in retrospect is that Justin Richards knocks it out of the park with his first script and dynamically uses sound in some wildly experimental scenes and yet as the range progresses he would become the go to writer for more pedestrian, traditional affairs. Highlights include the very idea of the Museum of Aural Antiquities, a sound creature, speeches holding the narrative together and creative use of a (brilliant) blind character that can disguise plot twists. At times the story is a little too authentic to the time period it hails from as the music drones on and the Doctor and Peri bicker but the plot and direction are more than good enough to see you though. Colin Baker seems to relish being back in the driving seat but his best work is still to come and butts heads memorably with Lisa Bowerman here, a world away from their very different (but equally memorable) roles in the Bernice Summerfield audio Birthright. I like experimental stories (and this is range that pushed away from that in it's latter stages so lap them up while they are being attempted) and Whispers of Terror stylishly commits to telling a audio tale as intriguingly and as intellectually as possible: 8/10

Artwork by Simon Hodges @ http://hisi79.deviantart.com/