Doc Oho Reviews...

Saturday, 5 March 2016

The Isos Network written and directed by Nicholas Briggs

What's it about: The Doctor, Jamie and Zoe are leaving Earth after having successfully defeated a Cyberman invasion… The Cyber-fleet is still exploding… But something is escaping through the mass of vaporising debris. In hot pursuit, the Doctor and his friends find themselves drawn to a mysterious planet where strange beasts slither through the streets of a deserted city… And an old enemy lurks beneath the streets. As a force of heavily-armed aliens arrives, a battle to save the entire galaxy from invasion begins.

Giddy Aunt: The Doctor makes a very good point that the Cybermen would have no need for a beautifully sculptured city as they have no emotions and therefore no sense of aesthetics. If they are here on Isos, it is certainly not immediately obvious. Impish, bright eyes burning with intelligence...that's about the closest you will get to character description and development here.

Yahoos: What a shame this story is so plot focussed (or rather moment focussed because the plot vanishes up its own arse after episode two) because it means Briggs fails to give the companions any characterisation whatsoever. It almost doesn't matter, Hines and Padbury are so good at recreating their roles that by default they leave the story with their heads held high (and because their turns at narrating are so strong, they are pros at narration now). But you could literally play mix and match with 60s companions in this story and it wouldn't make a great deal of difference. Jamie shows little of his historical ignorance and Zoe little of her super brain and so it really wouldn't matter if this was set in seasons four or five (aside from the fact that it takes place after The Invasion). Companion placement wise, it could feature any where in the Troughton era.

Standout Performance: Kudos to Frazer Hines, an impeccable performer who is giving three performances in this story; the Doctor, Jamie and one of the narrators. Each requires a different accent and pace and I'm impressed at how effortlessly he skips from one to the other. I'm not sure what everybody else is banging on about, his is still the most authentic representation of the Second Doctor that isn't Patrick Troughton. And if I've said it before, I'll say it again, he and Troughton were extremely close. The ultimate Doctor Who bromance. And that just makes his loving interpretation all the more touching. No it's not perfect because he isn't Troughton but it's certainly the best Big Finish can do. It's good enough for me.

Great Ideas: A quick shout out to the cover, which is absolutely gorgeous. I'm not sure that I make enough fuss about the Big Finish covers lately (another reason I have to thank a regular commentator on my blog) and especially when you compare them to how they began with some hideous photoshopping. Some of the recent efforts have been almost artistic (taking that to an extreme with stories such as The Abandoned). Briggs certainly know how to open a story, a moody description of the Cyber fleet blasted into atoms in space in the wake of events in The Invasion. A cyber fleet going up in flames doesn't vaporise in the wink of an eye, it continues to self ignite like a series of beautiful fireworks (which is certainly more vivid than the matchbox modelwork we got in the actual story). I like the way that Briggs plays with our perception of what to expect from a Doctor Who story in episode one, featuring revolting giant slugs that menacingly surround the Doctor, Jamie and Zoe only to turn out to be gentle, unassuming creatures. We're always told to appreciate that aliens come in different shapes and sizes and yet it appears that this Doctor Who fan is still a little aesthetically prejudiced. The Isons were a thriving colony until the Cybermen came, long ago. This was their base of operations from which they launched their invasion of the Earth in the 1960s. Everyone on Isos was brought to the undercity, the Cybermen showed no mercy and nobody could resist them. No-one was spared from conversion. The slugs have been laying their eggs in the power system, affecting everything.

Audio Landscape: Ever since I heard his incredible design work in Not a Well Woman, Toby Hrycek-Robinson has been a name I have always been on the lookout for. In a story like this, where the sound design is the be all and end all it is worth celebrating just how sterling a job the man behinds the nuts and bolts of the story does. His sound design guides us through this story, thrills us, delights us, tickles our fanboy fancies. This story is only as good as it is because of the sound design and music. The TARDIS under the influence, noises emanating from alien countryside, a ship bursting through an atmosphere, giant slurping slugs, Jamie sliding down an elevator, somehow Briggs manages to evoke a missing city, humming Cyber-pods, Cybermen cutting through solidified slime, slugs versus Cybermen which results in a Cyberman's chest unit being ripped away and a nasty bubbling substance pouring forth, Cybermen screaming, laser fire, a Cyber massacre the way only Nick Briggs can pull off, violent Cyber deaths, a train heading down the tracks, the terrifying voice of the Cyber Controller, pods moving off.

Musical Cues: Just listen to that music at the beginning of episode two, distressingly melodramatic and authentic. I loved it. Took me straight back to the sixties. 'The Cybermen have come back and if they find you they will turn you into one of them!' - the music even has the audacity to go DUM DUM DUMMMMM! Classic sixties Who and it even felt a little Star Trek. Let's just call it classic sixties. The music reaches new levels of drama in the last episode, matching the hysterical tone of the action.

Isn't it Odd: The threat of conversion, a new Cyberman army being built, a fresh fleet to head out into space, the Doctor attempting to sacrifice himself, the ultimate sacrifice coming from an unexpected source...all very mundane. It's not like we've never seen any of those things before.

Standout Scene: It's an obvious moment but Jamie discovering the Cyber-pods open is so eerily directed I couldn't help but get caught up in the action.

Result: A Cybership escaping from the fleets destruction at the end of The Invasion, an deserted alien world with a missing colony, a military battalion forcing it's way into orbit...The Isos Network certainly kicks open in vivid style. The Isos Network isn't going to win any points for innovation (surprise surprise) because it is essentially a coda to The Invasion and adds little lustre to the story it is piggybacking off of. What it does dish up, however, is a authentic slice of 60s Who complete with spine tingling sound effects, a glorious score and lots of plot elements that feel right at home in a Troughton SF tale. There's no point where the plot will surprise you but with a cover like that were you really expecting anything other than pure nostalgia? So I suppose the question is...is there a place for stories like this? Stories which serve as nothing but to give fans the giddy joy of listening to something that sounds like it has emerged from the era they love, an extended audio love letter to the past? I guess so. But Big Finish have opted for this approach an awful lot in recent years, especially with the advent of the 4DAs and I would therefore suggest that a range with the length and breadth of possibilities as the Early Adventures (even more than the Companion Chronicles) plumps for a more original, daring approach. Saying that...I rather enjoyed this. When you favour the sound design and music over the plot and characterisation things can't be that grand but if you accept it on those terms this passes a few hours rather amiably. I thought the narration worked really well in this story more than other although I have heard some comment that it was too mannered and prevalent, it added plenty of detail and pace to the story and switching between Hines and Padbury (both superb) kept things ticking over very nicely. Even saying that it loses impetus with each successive episode; excitement in episode one, claustrophobia in episode three, action adventure in episode three and a typically easy wrap up after a run-around in episode four. It's the sort of story that exists just to exist that I wish I didn't like and if it hadn't been as brilliantly made as it is I probably wouldn't have...but I have to say I was fair entertained throughout. A true indication of the plots worth is that I really didn't need to finish this in order to find out how this story ended, it was kind of obvious: 6/10

Friday, 4 March 2016

A Thing of Guile written by Phil Mulryne and directed by Nicholas Briggs

What's it about: The Daleks are developing a secret weapon on Asteroid Theta 12. It is imperative that their plans are uncovered. Cardinal Ollistra has her hands full studying the range of ancient and mysterious armaments the universe has to offer, but she makes it a personal mission to investigate the Dalek project. On this dangerous assignment, there is one particular Time Lord she wants at her side - and he will be accompanying her whether he wants to or not.

Damaged Goods: 'You accuse me, you lock me up and you want my help?' The sad truth is that in a universe that is at war with the Daleks, the Doctor is too useful to keep squirreled away as a prisoner. He understands their psychology, their motives, their tactics and the lengths that they will go to. Dropping out of the sky isn't how he usually chooses to arrive. I rather love the idea of the Doctor being the ultimate war criminal in the most devastating conflict the universe has ever seen. It does rather give him a sense of status. Although I would say that the Time Lords have a bloody cheek banging the Doctor up and then asking for his help but then always have been a little backwards about coming forwards. He keeps dropping Terran expressions that bamboozle the Time Lords but admits that although Earth used to be his favourite planet, he's not that man anymore. He probably hasn't seen the Earth for years. To be fair it could be swallowed by this conflict in an instant. He has disowned his name but his reputation still precedes him. It's like taking a puppy out for a walk, he's kept on an Artron leash just in case he gets any ideas about trying to escape. One Dalek takes the plunge and actually tries to exterminate the Doctor. Imagine the kudos. Does he have a death wish in this incarnation or is he just more honest with his own expendability now? At the close of the story the Doctor thinks he has walked free of Olistra's leash and he's pretty damn confident about it. But we soon realise it is all a deception on her part...a part incidentally that she plays rather well.

Standout Performance: Any scene with Hurt and Pearce is an instant delight, they dance around each other beautifully. This is a pairing I could see going on for some time if the powers that be can see the same potential that I can.

Great Ideas: Nobody knows the full extent of the Omega Arsenal and what terrifying weapons are kept there - all very ominous. The Doctor makes a very good point, when does Dalek science lead to anything else apart from weapons. The latest whacko scheme is to turn a Dalek mutant back into a Kaled, a procedure with the purpose of bringing a fresh (humanoid) vision to their conflict. The one moment of clarity to emerge from this run-around comes from the mouthpiece of the unmutated Dalek: that their insistence on racial purity will always be their undoing. Hardly a blinding revelation though, we learnt that decades ago from the Nazis.

Audio Landscape: The Doctor's creaky old console, sirens, a tentacled eldritch worm, stasers, a creaking hull, a slurping Kaled mutant, Dalek laughter, rubble falling.

Isn't it Odd: Two characters talk about how it has been an honour to serve with each other when they are about to head off into deadly danger. It highlights just how shoddy the characterisation has been in this. Without any subtext or history to this exchange they are just empty words that mean nothing to the audience. This should have been a moment that meant something rather than one that just occurred because it should have. If the Daleks want a fresh perspective on the war from a Kaled POV then why don't they just go back in time and pluck one from history? They have time travel capability and I'm sure there's plenty of time travelling going on in a Time War. Otherwise it would just be called a War.

Standout Scene: It was only when the Daleks turned up halfway through this tale that I realised how little they had actually appeared in this set so far. Despite criticising Big Finish for their overuse of the creatures to drive sales in the past I do think that this is the one range (and Dalek Empire) where their continual usage is justified. I found the sudden appearance of their grating voices quite a shock and perhaps that was a good thing. Despite talking about their evil deeds it's important to see them 'in the flesh.'

Result: What might have been nice at this juncture would have been something akin to the DS9 episode Waltz. A character examination of both the War Doctor and Ollistra, one as a prisoner and the other as the orchestrator of his fate set amidst the background of a war that they are both a vital part of. This story even starts in a very similar fashion to that particular Star Trek episode. Instead we get a traditional Doctor Who run-around with more talk of how much more deadly dangerous things are now that the Time War is in progress and how the consequences of everything have a profound impact on the universe at large. I'm starting to think it might be hyperbole. The trouble is by continually setting stories within this immense conflict it means the stories are rather constricted by it. There is no variety. Each week we're facing another terrifying super weapon or damaged civilisation. There isn't really the space for small, intimate tales or a focus on the people who are affected by the Time War. And that's a shame because without that human interest it can easily become all pomp and circumstance, sound and fury. Don't get me wrong, A Thing of Guile is a perfectly serviceable adventure and will happily pass an hour. It's brilliantly produced and is bolstered by superb performances by Hurt and Pearce. But ultimately it's not really about anything and doesn't really add much to the overall picture of the Time War, not in the way something much smaller and characterful would have. It's time to play about inside the biggest conflict this 50 year old show has ever presented and what happens here...the Doctor fights a giant worm. Hurt wont be starring in these audios forever and it hardly feels like the best use of his time in the studio. You'll find that this is one of my more empty reviews because there was little of substance to get hold of an discuss. Head to an asteroid in search of a super weapon. Dance about with a giant worm for ten minutes. Find a Dalek experiment. Stop it. Without any character work to hang this on it has little impact. It feels like a Nick Briggs on autopilot script rather than the work of a newcomer to Big Finish. Nothing impressive: 5/10

Wednesday, 2 March 2016

Aquitaine written by Simon Barnard & Paul Morris and directed by Ken Bentley

What's it about: Today should be much like every other day for Hargreaves, the computer consciousness that co-ordinates daily life aboard the spaceship Aquitaine, stationed on the outer fringes of a black hole. Water the plants, run the diagnostics, cook the Captain’s breakfast; then tidy the plates away, rotate the ship, clean the windows of the observation deck. When at last the day’s work is done, Hargreaves will dim the lights in the sleeping quarters. But no-one will sleep aboard the Aquitaine tonight. Because the Aquitaine’s crew is missing. But today will be different. Today, a space/time ship called the TARDIS will materialise in the botanical section, bringing the Doctor, Nyssa and Tegan aboard the Aquitaine. Together, they’ll seek to discover the truth of what happened to Hargreaves’ crew… if only the ghosts will let them.

Mouth on Legs: That fabled chemistry between the Doctor and Tegan on TV (but was rarely in evidence) has been cultivated and nurtured by Big Finish and the actors who have become firm friends over the years. As a result their interaction is bouncy and fun and completely relaxed and is very much on display in Aquitaine where they have many scenes together. Tegan thinks that Nyssa is far too good for this world and sometimes wishes that she could be more like her. How wonderful to hear Tegan talking so positively about the TARDIS, calling it home. When Nyssa and Tegan are reunited you genuinely feel the bond between them, it feels like a moment of triumph.

Alien Orphan: I think it is long past time that I celebrated the work of Sarah Sutton at Big Finish. I believe I had a little overview of her time in my Big Finish Introduction but she has brought out a wealth of adventures since then that have added to her lustre as the fifth Doctor's ultimate companion on audio. I recall during the Hannah Bartholomew trilogy that I was getting a little tired of her taking up this incarnations time when other companions weren't getting a look in. It is true that that was a particularly weak trilogy that did not serve her well but since then we have seen the older version of the character go out in real style in one of the strongest trilogies of recent years. It seems again that she is featuring in another particularly strong trio of stories. Sutton is such a solid actress, never giving anything less than a decent performance and impressing with her dramatic skills at best. Whilst it would probably turn my hair white to work out just how much audio running time she has featured in, I think it is worth giving her a round of applause for sticking with Big Finish and continuing to knock out one strong performance after another. I don't know what Jamie Anderson is putting in the tea but listen to Sutton in this story - she is on top form. I love how Nyssa manages to play the logic card on Hargreaves and take charge, she always was a slave to logic so naturally she bests it.

Standout Performance: Some performers seem instantly perfect for a role and Matthew Cottle emerges from the first scene as Hargreaves in such an engaging, funny and touching manner that you cannot imagine anybody having a stab.

Sparkling Dialogue: 'Which of these lines is Tegan?' 'The spiky one.'

'Have you ever considered a beeswax polish?'

Great Ideas: Immediately comparisons with the Red Dwarf episode Kryten are apparent with an android stationed alone with no company and a crew that have long since departed. But since this is new waters for Doctor Who that is hardly a problem. The show has hardly been shy in showing it's roots over the years. When Hargreaves has head removed and he continues enjoying a dialogue with the Doctor the roots were showing even more. The TARDIS has been greeted with many a reaction but nobody has seen fit to dust the old girl before. A vessel collecting botanical samples at the outer fringes of a black hole. Not exactly the safest place in the world to catalogue plants. With Hargreaves constantly rebooting every time an Ergostorm hits the Aquitaine has been circling the black hole for over 50 years. The Black Hole is collapsing and sucking the Aquitaine closer and closer, inch by inch. The time storms are becoming more frequent as they draw nearer to the terrifying phenomenon. The crew know it has been a long while since the black hole started dragging them in because they might be looping but they are ageing too. Some were mid twenties when this voyage began and are now approaching their sixties. Their whole lives eaten up by this insidious spatial occurrence. Plant samples were taken from Vetrius Three with promising applications for human health. It was dangerous and needed to be handled carefully and Freya was clumsy and became infected. She started to transform into a hybrid of human and plant and the only way to halt the progress was to put her in suspended animation. It turns out this was its method of reproduction and to halt the transformation would be to murder a new species. Akunin is pretty much up their with the best of the batshit crazy scientists, helping to cultivate an obscene new life form because he would have the honour of being its originator. To prove his ego is bloated out of all proportion he even names them after himself - the Akunites! Like the end of Caves of Androzani episode three the Doctor goes suicidal, calling for Hargreaves to pilot the Aquitaine into the black hole. In a very sweet moment, Hargreaves feels incapacitated when torn free of the Aquitaine. He has been part of it for his entire 'life.' It was around this point I was hoping that the Doctor would keep him on board the TARDIS, an idea touted by Tegan and Nyssa.

Audio Landscape: In Tegan's own words, a terrible racket in the TARDIS console room alerting them to a distress call, screams in the distance, Tegan being dragged under the moss, the shuffling, rustling creature, siren, thunder.

Isn't it Odd: Plants that infect and transform human kind? Can anybody say Varga? Especially apparent given the very last story that I reviewed featured the Daleks pet carnivores.

Standout Scene: There was a very chilling moment when Nyssa is told that there is no antidote for her infection and all they can do is make her comfortable. It comes completely out of left field and genuinely feels like a sudden death for the character, it is so well played. This is told completely from Nyssa's point of view but it's impossible to know Akunin's part in the plot at this point. In hindsight his decision here makes perfect sense.

Result: There is a touch of the NSA Sick Building about Aquitaine (especially to episode one) and a brand of humour and lightness of touch that is unique to Paul Magrs. Which is astonishing given he is booked in for a release next month. Barnard and Morris do have a similar penchant for capturing the fluffier side of Who as Magrs but if you had given me this story to listen to and not told me who had penned it...well my astonishment would be visible. On a completely unrelated note that would be quite a fun game to play - to buy 12 main range stories and try and guess who has written them by the tone, atmosphere, characterisation, plot, etc. I think Briggs and Barnes would be easy to spot, Platt and Jonny Morris too. Aquitaine is, much like the previous story, a real hoot to listen to but this time the direction belongs to long timer Ken Bentley. I was quite impressed at the moments of danger that were littered about the story; Nyssa being pursued by a defeatist surgeon, Tegan almost subsumed by carnivorous moss and the constant threat of the Ergostorms and the gulping black hole. If things get a little quiet it is not long before an exciting set piece kicks in, superbly realised by Bentley. I thought the end of the second episode was particularly strong. Not a moment of false jeopardy featuring regulars from TV that we know aren't going to die in this adventure but a culmination of the facts gathered in the first two episodes delivered as a deductive conclusion. I was starting to get a little concerned about the random circumstances but this pause in the action and elucidation of the plot proved just how well structured the script is. Aquitaine is a layered story, one that appears quite simple to begin with and gets more complex as it progresses before all the strands neatly tie together at the climax. It feels crafted rather than simply written. That's two for two for this trilogy, it would appear that Davison is getting much of the best material these days. Extra credit for the characterisation of Nyssa, which was stand out: 8/10

The War Doctor Vol.2: Infernal Devices - Legion of the Lost written by John Dorney and directed by Nicholas Briggs

What's it about: In a time of war, every means of victory must be explored. In the Time War, the unthinkable must be thought, and neither side can afford to be squeamish about their methods. When the destruction of an obscene weapon leads to the Time Lord once known as the Doctor uncovering a secret Gallifreyan initiative, he cannot believe what is being considered. Should victory be sought at any cost? Or are there worse possibilities than losing to the Daleks..?

Damaged: John Hurt is just so good as the War Doctor that he automatically raises the quality of this series. Even if this entire set was a clichéd and underwritten as the first it would still be worth a listen to enjoy Hurt's perfectly measured performance. I always feel as if there are thoughts and feelings going on beneath the surface with Hurt in the role, that he has secrets. Fortunately this set is a huge improvement, just as I imagined it would be with the names attached to it and Big Finish have delivered some very worthy material for Hurt to deliver. The Doctor considers himself on the side of the innocents, the collateral. He might be under stress but a good cup of tea will still sort him out. He breaks down when Collis is revealed to him alive because the idea of having to sacrifice innocents weighs heavily on him. The fact that he had to wrestle with his conscience and make that call and the consequences of it where undone is too much for him. The Time Lords conjuring up new and ever more obscene ways to win this conflict is eroding his sense of loyalty and respect for his people. He's starting to realise that it doesn't matter how beautiful or technologically advanced or worthy a species is, in this fight they can all be swept aside in a second. The Doctor is still convinced that you can walk through this battlefield of raging galaxies and make moral choices and he very much stands up for what he considers right, refusing to accept the horror of what the Time Lords are doing to the dead. I love that Ollistra comes searching for the Doctor at the climax and the promise of more adventures together. At the end of this story the Doctor is officially a War Criminal. Must be Tuesday.

Standout Performance: Unlike the TV series there doesn't have to be the presence of a pretty young thing to keep the audience interested. Hurt, Warner and Pearce are all beautifully seasoned performers and the story is all the better for their presence. The idea of two older actors - Hurt and Pearce - heading off to stories unknown is something that could only occur on audio.

Sparkling Dialogue: 'The sky was...made of dreams.'

'Death's the only certainty we have...why take it away? For some of us death is the only peace we can hope for.'

Great Ideas: The Daleks are all very good at preying on peoples guilt, surrender or they will kill more innocents. The weapons are getting more and more perverse as the Time War continues, there is a weapon in existence that can remove an entire species but keep the timelines in check. An entire civilisation, gone and forgotten, unmourned. Imagine that, the agony of being unwritten. The Daleks are not above cultivating their own obscene plant life on the worlds they have conquered, Varga plants have turned up in a fair few Big Finish stories in recent years and I can understand why. They are terrifying, both in prospect and in realisation. Plants that hunt and infect, vegetable matter overwhelming you and infecting you with a hunger. The opening ten minutes are quite gripping, getting us acquainted with the players in the Time War, giving us insight into the Doctor's role in the conflict and where his loyalties lie and offering us a potential new companion in Collis before bumping her off in graphic style. Technomancers, a society that blends magic and technology. The Time Lords must be getting desperate to seek out the help of such a dangerous race. The Horned Ones came to this world in its earliest days back when the universe was very young. They came to escape a dimension very different from ours. Their very presence twisted this world and caused it to transform. Violent and cruel Kings hounded from their world? They feed on death and offer out magic in return. Even death is not sacred in the Time War, the Time Lords are resurrecting fallen troops en masse in their endless bid to defeat the Daleks. To die over and over again makes the troops canon fodder rather than people. The Crypt of Non-Time is the place where the Mages can reach into worlds that no longer exist.

Isn't it Odd: John Dorney is using his time to bash out an awful lot of set up for the remaining two adventures to take and run with. It's something of a thankless task because the exposition means that the story gutters to a halt. Do we really need all that incessant technobabble to justify the idea of the dead returning to life? In a story that features actual real life magicians this could easily be covered in a line. They're back from the dead...because the Technomancers have the ability to do so. All this techno-doublespeak doesn't take the place of real drama.

Standout Scene: The news that every soldier that is returned to life contains a fragment of a Horned One. The Time Lords are playing a very dangerous game, offering a vessel to these creatures that have for so long been dormant and unable to act. Each time they are resurrected the Horned One takes more corporeal form and they get more and more aggressive before eventually they have taken them over completely. It shows you how far they are willing to go, to literally make a deal with the Devil. Potentially they could be unleashing something far worse than the Daleks onto the universe.

Result: The trouble with the Time War is that has had such a momentous build up over seven seasons of televised Who that unless it was something pretty bloody spectacular and dazzlingly creative it couldn't help but feel like the creators were making a lot of fuss about nothing. When we finally got to see the Time War in The Day of the Doctor it lacked the temporal insanity that Russell T Davies seemed to imply throughout his tenure and became a game of cowboys and Indians in space en masse. There was a lack of imagination but it was so well realised that it really didn't matter. When Big Finish announced that they had secured John Hurt and were going to produce Time War audios I was hoping that it would be a chance to redress the balance, creatively speaking. Nicholas Briggs' first set was largely unmemorable and treading over previous glories, not at all what I was hoping but kind of what I was expecting. It seems that Infernal Devices is going to be much more in the vein of what was promised; high concept ideas, desperate measures and a universe that has gone to hell. But not quite yet... John Dorney has scored the bum deal of this box set, being the one responsible for putting all the pieces in place for the others to capitalise on. He introduces two very juicy ideas; the Technomancers and the idea of resurrecting an army of dead Gallifreyans but because he has to add some substance to both notions there isn't a great deal of time to indulge in a plot. Much of Legion of the Lost reminded me of the Gallifrey series, an awful lot of waffle and very little in the way of pace or set pieces. Fortunately it is decent waffle, the dialogue a huge improvement on Only the Monstrous. The first and last ten minutes are the best of the story, sufficiently dramatic to keep my interest but aside from the concepts I did get a little bored in the middle. Legion of the Lost promises interesting times ahead. And, oh yeah, John Hurt is in it. So you've got to listen to it anyway: 6/10

Thursday, 18 February 2016

Ranking the Hartnell stories in order...

1) The Daleks' Masterplan - Everything that is wonderful about the era encapsulted in an epic adventure

http://docohobigfinish.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/the-daleks-masterplan-written-by-terry.html

2) The Romans - I don't care what you think of it...I LOVE it

http://docohobigfinish.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/the-romans-written-by-dennis-spooner.html

3) The Massacre - A stunning historical, with a terrific central performance from Purves

To be reviewed...

4) Marco Polo - A genuine classic, nuanced, educational and dramatic

To be reviewed...

5) The Crusade - Why are the historicals so much better than the SF tales?

http://docohobigfinish.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/the-crusade-written-by-david-whitaker.html

6) The Gunfighters - Jokes, great performances, fantastic direction, a song...

http://docohobigfinish.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/the-gunfighters-written-by-donald.html

7) The Daleks - One of the first forays into SF...and one of the best

http://docohobigfinish.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/the-daleks-written-by-terry-nation-and.html

8) The Aztecs - A thrilling moral dilemma and great role for Barbara

http://docohobigfinish.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/the-aztecs-written-by-john-lucarotti.html

9) The Myth Makers - Intelligent and hilarious and beautifully acted

To be reviewed...

10) The Chase - It's absolute guff but it never fails to raise a thousand smiles

http://docohobigfinish.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/the-chase-written-by-terry-nation-and.html

11) The Tenth Planet - A story that gets better with each subsequent rewatch

http://docohobigfinish.blogspot.co.uk/2013/11/the-tenth-planet-written-by-kitt-pedlar.html

12) The Smugglers - Terrific fun, bolstered by great performances from the regulars

http://docohobigfinish.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/the-smugglers-written-by-brian-hayles.html

13) Mission to the Unknown - Butch as Rambo but damn exciting

http://docohobigfinish.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/mission-to-unknown-written-by-terry.html

14) The War Machines - Surprisingly stylish direction and Ben and Polly are great

http://docohobigfinish.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/the-war-machines-written-by-ian-stuart.html

15) The Savages - More complex than I had been led to believe and with a great score

http://docohobigfinish.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/the-savages-written-by-ian-stuart-black.html

16) The Reign of Terror - Great fun with a top notch TARDIS crew

http://docohobigfinish.blogspot.com/2014/04/the-reign-of-terror-written-by-dennis.html

17) The Ark - Melodramatic and silly but also very stylish and imaginative

http://docohobigfinish.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/the-ark-written-by-paul-erickson-lesley.html

18) An Unearthly Child - A top notch first episode and a real atmosphere to the rest

To be reviewed...

19) The Web Planet - Crazy ambitious but worth a watch to see how far they would go

http://docohobigfinish.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/the-web-planet-written-by-bill-strutton.html

20) The Time Meddler - Ropey history but a great character in the Monk

To be reviewed...

21) The Dalek Invasion of Earth - Terrible direction but it's trying very hard to be epic

http://docohobigfinish.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/the-dalek-invasion-of-earth-written-by.html

22) The Sensorites - It has a great message but it's overlong and seriously theatrical

http://docohobigfinish.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/the-sensorites-written-by-peter-r.html

23) The Celestial Toymaker - Fun but trying a little too hard and not as dark as it could be

To be reviewed...

24) The Keys of Marinus - Some dodgy production work but I love the pace of it

http://docohobigfinish.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/the-keys-of-marinus-written-by-terry.html

25) Planet of Giants - A very boring narrative enlivened by great sets

To be reviewed...

26) The Space Museum - A fascinating first episode followed by some very trite politics

http://docohobigfinish.blogspot.co.uk/2014/09/the-space-museum-written-by-glyn-jones.html

Sunday, 14 February 2016

The Yes Men written by Simon Guerrier and directed by Lisa Bowerman

What's it about: The Doctor, Jamie, Polly and Ben arrive on New Houston, an Earth colony in the Fourth Sector, which the Doctor previously saved from an alien invasion. He wishes to pay his respects to his late friend Meg Carvossa, but something is not quite right with New Houston’s subservient robots...

Giddy Aunt: The Doctor is attempting to show his young friends how to operate the TARDIS in the case of an emergency but he knows it is only basic manoeuvres. Can the Doctor be described as any old riffraff? Polly considers the Doctor to be quite a gentleman. It's unusual for the second Doctor to begin an adventure looking to catch up with an old friend. He always felt like such a cosmic hippy, tripping from one adventure to another that actively seeking out old friends feels like an anathema. The death of his friend gives him a fine excuse to engage with the story though, pulling up his chequered trousers and playing the role of detective. And I enjoyed the idea of Meg being an old friend of the first Doctor and not being able to recognise the second. He suggests he wouldn't know how to cause trouble whilst his eyes glitter with mischief. The idea of him trying to stand tall and imposing with the army of robots around him is amusing, it's something that Troughton's Doctor could never aspire to. Ben and Jamie expect the Doctor to join the Yes Men revolution but he was never one to behave in a predictable way. His young male companions way is 'you're with us or against us' but the Doctor is far more complex than that.

Able Seaman: I've discussed Elliot Chapman elsewhere but since this is his debut it is worth mentioning again just how vivid he is as Ben Jackson, a very strong re-casting. Ben is happy to take advantage of the Yes Men and to enjoy the sort of luxuries they are willing to bestow on humanity.

Dolly Bird: Polly knows better than to ask if they have landed somewhere safe because that never happens. Can you think of anything more sixties than Polly getting her groove on in a hover car? Polly is never short of ideas in her adventures but they are rarely described as brilliant. Polly Cocktail, eat your heart out.

Yahoos: Subverting the usual robot/human relationships, Jamie is forced to live the life of a slave in the underground artificial world.

Sparkling Dialogue: 'What's a Mim?' 'Very clever, very cross alien sponges' 'What's a sponge?'

'Governments don't win elections, they lose them.'

'Tell them to eat their nuts and bolts so they grow up big and strong.'

Great Ideas: Simon Guerrier is world building from the off, creating a vivid world in relatively little time. Central information bank, electronic eyes watching everything, rules regulating everything, yes men catering to your every whim. The parallel to the Voc robots in the season fourteen classic are there to see, especially the calm, calculating voices. Our sympathies are instantly with the Yes Men because they are treated with such casual violence by Harriet just to prove a point. A hidden city under the ground, buildings stretching as far as the eye can see but encapsulated by a roof that happens to be street level. An automated city populated by Yes Men. There are even families, the young developed automatically by technology so they have the appearance of growing up. It has a parody of a class structure, copied but not quite understood. Only one thousandth of the population is being recorded...because only one thousandth of the population exists. That's why the streets are so empty. After what happened in the war with the Mim they had so little left but they had hope, they were going to rebuild the world. The Earth Empire was going to send supplies but it wasn't enough, not with the resources already stretched. So they faked the numbers to feed the people, to rebuild the city. That's how it started anyway.

Audio Landscape: The TARDIS buffering through space, footsteps, ticking clock, trudging through water, rainfall, the Battle of Culloden.

Isn't it Odd: Whilst the first episode is by no means boring, there is a lackadaisical pace to how it unfolds that means that it is hard to get too worked up over it. Perhaps it is because we are dealing with a mechanical city populated by mechanical men but there is a sense of artificiality about the environment that is hard to feel any great passion for. The intention of the Yes Men here isn't to conquer but to be allowed a society of their own. It's an interesting, less exciting approach to the same ideals as The Robots of Death but with nobody being in danger equals a narrative that never dices with death. And that makes it entirely intellectual and worthy. Meg Carvossa's downfall comes at her own hands, it's satisfying that she is responsible for her own downfall but she was stupid to reveal quite so much of her plans in a world that records everything.

Standout Scene: I shall have to call Simon Guerrier the Surprise King. Of all the writers for Big Finish I believe he has the most talent for sneaking up behind you with a shock and presenting it in a way that genuinely thrills. I didn't see the end of episode two coming a mile off and it certainly had me eager to start the next episode to discover the fallout of the surprise unveiling. And despite not being delivered in a particularly dramatic fashion, the cliffhanger at the climax of episode three is deliciously surreal (at least in conception).

Result: 'The robots don't want to fight you! They just want you to be nicer!' And therein lies the problem... An unusual tale, both for the season four crew and because it comes from the pen of Simon Guerrier. The Yes Men flaunts an interesting premise and an intriguing location...a far cry from the comic strip fun that this crew experienced throughout much of their time together. And yet it fails to do anything particularly interesting with these ideas, despite some arresting imagery and that does surprise me because if there is an author that can get to the heart of a good idea and explore it in surprising ways then Guerrier is usually your man. It feels like the extended length of the Early Adventures is working against him rather than for him, the extra time taken up with extended dialogue scenes that fail to be about anything. Sometimes brevity forces a writer to get to the nub of the matter with much greater clarity. As a murder mystery it fails to grip (although there is one great surprise in the middle of the tale) because there is relatively little human interest. Agatha Christie understood that only too well...to tell a riveting murder mystery you have to put psychology at the heart of the story and that is a difficult thing to do in a tale populated by automatons. Compensating for some faults are the season four TARDIS crew, entertaining by their very nature and well captured by Guerrier. Ultimately there are two forms of revolution in this story (a political one and a class one) but they are both done with such politeness that the excitement levels are somewhere around a lecture on plumbing or advanced paint drying. It isn't a massacre that caused mass population control, it was really good accountancy. That sort of thing. Lisa Bowerman directs but if her name wasn't on the cover I would question that fact because it lacks the urgency I have come to expect from her. The Yes Men isn't appalling, it passes the time but I can't pretend at any point (except at the midway point) that I was eager to continue. Sad but true, this would have made an excellent companion chronicle told from Ben's point of view but the extended length and full cast nature affords too much scope. Scope it does not fulfil: 5/10