The House of Blue Fire written by Mark Morris and directed by Ken Bentley

What’s it about: aquaphobia n. An abnormal fear of water, or drowning. blattodephobia n. The morbid fear of cockroaches. catoptrophobia n. Fear of mirrors, or seeing one’s own reflection. There’s a whole ABC of horrors at Bluefire House – as four young people, drawn together to this tumbledown hotel at the edge of nowhere, are about to discover. But whatever the ancient and foul thing that has emerged from the wilderness to drag them here, speaking of it will only strengthen it. The Doctor alone knows what lurks at the heart of Bluefire House. But the monster of his childhood dreams is coming. The Mi’en Kalarash is coming… Just this once, the Doctor’s afraid

The Real McCoy: There is always something more satisfying about the prolonged absence of the seventh Doctor (and I don’t mean that in a derogatory way at all) because his Doctor is always one for manipulating things behind the scenes and the more he is out of my sight the less comfortable I feel. And in this case he has a very good reason for staying out of the action for a while considered he was trying to outthink a demon from his own mythology. His panicked reaction when told they are expecting the Master made me chuckle, that’s a gag I don’t mind being repeated because each Doctor acts in a very different way. In a house full of phobias you can find the Doctor who recognises that the universe is full of terrors that give him the heebie-jeebies. Of course he knows what he is doing…he just doesn’t know what he will be doing five minutes from now. Its fascinating to see the seventh Doctor go from being so angry at himself and then so scared, begging Sally not to open the door. McCoy sounds genuinely pained during these scenes and it was quite discomforting to listen to. He finds that cutting corners invariably results in a far more interesting journey! When 20 out of 24 test subjects pass successfully through the experiments the Doctor still finds those odds unacceptable. When Soames states that the dimensionally transcendental nature of the TARDIS is ridiculous the Doctor chuckles charmingly as if he is delighted at the fact. He made me chuckle when he asked for six sugars in his tea and was thrilled to be handed the nice steaming cup! He’s in a playful mood in the real world and it’s a delight. He yawns in a wonderfully over the top way during the despotic rant suggesting when you’ve heard one, you’ve heard them all! Its odd how right the Doctor sounds invading everybody’s nightmares and drawing them out like some kind of benevolent omnipotent being. He offers quite a tasty meal considering he has the misery of a 100,000 races and worlds stored in his mind. He reveals his fear to be the Old Time, the Times of Night and Chaos and he knows the creature remembers those times too, what was done to it and what it did. The Doctor was wondering if Sally would consider going AWOL with him after listing the great qualities he has noticed in her throughout this adventure.

Standout Performance: Kudos to Amy Pemberton and Miranda Keeling for holding up the entire first episode on their own (Timothy West is present for a second but hardly makes his presence felt until later in the story). We have had stories where the regulars have had to hold up entire episodes on their own (The Daleks, The Ark in Space, The Girl Who Waited) but never before have guest artists been called upon to keep the audiences attention whilst waiting for the Doctor to appear at the end of the episode. The fact that they do this with characters who don’t even know who they are is some feat. After two episodes of hearing her battle against her fears it is spine tingling to finally hear Number 05 scream.

Sparkling Dialogue: ‘How do you do. I’m the Doctor and believe its dinner time…’ – a great opening line that closes the first episode.
‘Have you ever seen anything in a mirror? Anything that has frightened you?’
‘No Mr Dodds, I’m joking. I always joke about the end of the world.’
‘And what happens if it doesn’t go according to plan?’ ‘Then I suggest we all run very fast’ – the Doctor really is in a playful mood in this story.
‘Please fasten your safety belts and prepare yourself for a drawn out a terrifying death. Thank you.’
‘Oh I have plenty of mercy…but none I’m afraid for you!’ – McCoy gets angry and its brilliant. Who ever knew?

Great Ideas: Opening with a girl wandering into a creepy old house with no memory of why she is there or who she is, this is immediately more arresting than The Doomsday Quatrain. There are going to be PS9’s? The idea of waking up one day and being completely forgotten is a chilling one and it looks as though the girl is almost there, having even forgotten herself. Ugh there’s a dirty slimy swimming pool in the house – that’s very unnerving, it accentuates the feeling that this place is decaying. Is the house intelligent, sentient? Are they walking around inside a dying building? A group of people who are phobic about something and Athazagoraphobia is Sally’s condition of choice. If you did wake up with a bunch of strangers with no knowledge of your past you could be related/married/enemies…anything! The joy of these kinds of stories is discovering the links that these people have to each other. Both Buffy and Angel did an episode with this type of premise but in both cases it was played for comic potential since we know who the regulars are really (Giles and Spike as father and son was hilarious) but here it is played amongst people we don’t know which makes the result much more intriguing. There is a foul and ancient thing building its time in the shadows but it wont make its presence known because it doesn’t know what the Doctor is. The discussion of the phobia of water was fascinating – how Number 05 fears it because it is muscular and sinewy and just keeps on going and yet at the same time finds its stillness absolutely chilling. A place where peoples fears come to life, where you can see a presence of glass or water in the distance, where cockroaches are the size of your head and where you genuinely can be forgotten in an instant. The revelation that they are military officers connected in a dreamscape comes out of no where and is completely unexpected. They are army officers with specific phobias who are under research to isolate those fears and extract them. Instead of creating more effective warriors the experiments created psychic instability. The unconscious minds of the test subjects are wide open to attack, they are far more dangerous sedated than they are with their psychic powers on the loose when they are awake. If you take away fear then people lose their sense of self preservation, the Doctor points out that it can be a positive emotion. The idea of extracting fear and using it as a weapon is terrifying, to cripple entire nations with acute psychological trauma. In the legends of the Doctor’s people there are tales of an entity that inhabits the wastelands between realities, feeding on nightmares and it has infiltrated the minds of the blue fire subjects. The creature hitched a lift back into the physical world when the Doctor returned from the dreamscape. It is seeking to seeking to manipulate and corrupt impressionable military minds to bring about Armageddon. It clings onto the dread and expectation of peoples phobias.

Audio Landscape: Walking on gravel, a squeaky gate, opening a creaking door, walking up wooden steps, running footsteps, a lift that sounds as though it is barely hanging on by a thread, the swimming pool water, a clock chiming (I swear that is the same chime from The Chimes of Midnight just a little slower), banging on the windows, bubbling saucepans, bells ringing in symphony, a biting wind, a scuttling giant cockroaches squealing and chittering in the walls, a gushing torrent of water approaching, smashing through a window, banging on the front door, heart monitor, siren, items flying about and crashing to the ground, the screaming creature reaching out from the blue fire, the plane struck by lightning and plummeting to its destruction, the growling, purring creatures in a jungle, flames crackling, fairground music and the echo of a hall of mirrors, the bibbly bobbly world dream world, lightning cracking through the sky.

Musical Cues: There are some very effective musical cues in the first episode as we explore the house – I love the electronic sting that bridges scenes, it sends a chill right down my spine! I beg you to listen to the musical track once you have heard the story – this is how to grab hold of your audience with music.

Isn’t it Odd: Things get a little histrionic towards the end of episode two. Where things were bubbling along very menacingly for a minute or two everybody starts screaming. Which is the opposite of what made the first episode so effective.

Standout Scene: When the Doctor wakes up at the end of part two in a medical facility I was like… ‘Wh-wh-what?’ A lovely feeling to have and a great game changing cliffhanger. I loved the sudden cut to the aeroplane – a brilliant change of scene and a horror we can all empathise with.

Result: A great minimalist opening in an atmospheric location, thank goodness somebody has remembered that you don’t need to put things on an operatic scale each month to make a good audio drama. Morris is the master of things that go bump in the night and as such he writes a story in a creepy location with plenty of opportunities for things to jump out at the audience. He has chosen some interesting phobias to examine and they are a gift to the director who gets to bring those fears to life. Speaking of Ken Bentley, he came on the scene with a wealth of terrifically directed stories under his belt a few years back but his work in the last year has felt tired as Big Finish have used him more and more. This is his best direction for an age, stripping away all of the empty bluster of the last handful of stories he brought to life and focussing purely on creating a disturbing tone. Once the story hinges in a new direction after episode twos cliffhanger the script plays intelligent games with the idea of a mental force that is attracted to fear. My one complaint would be that the final confrontation between good and evil isn’t as epic as I would have hoped but it does allows Sylvester McCoy to gnash his teeth in a very effective way (for those in the know that is called a miracle). It definitely starts better than it ends but taken as a whole The House of Blue Fire held my attention throughout and had many standout moments on the way. The score is fantastic too: 8/10

The Doomsday Quatrain written by Emma Beeby & Gordon Rennie and directed by Ken Bentley

What’s it about: "When the river is gone, ships shall sail in the sky, monsters bring fire from the heavens. All will fall into a grey and endless sea, and Doomsday has come." Florence, the sixteenth century. No one thought to pay much attention to the prophecies of the so-called seer Michel de Nostradame, otherwise known as Nostradamus. Until the canals of Venice dried. Until the soothsayer's sayings started coming true…Because Master Nostradamus is right, in all respects. The end of the world is nigh. The ships are coming. The monsters are coming. The fire is coming. There's only one thing he didn’t see coming, in fact: the sudden apparition of a certain strange Doctor, in his even stranger TARDIS. Today, the Earth dies screaming. And all the Doctor can do is watch.

The Real McCoy: I do feel sorry for Sylvester McCoy sometimes because more often than not he is stuck with the hardest material to pull off – not the actual dialogue but many writers seem to want to make him whine and scream which brings out the worst in McCoy’s performance. Witness the end of part one as he tries to cope with Nostradamus and screaming for help and then tries calming everybody down as a spaceship descends. The best of actors would have trouble with material like that. The Doctor sticks his nose out the door and gets the rising whiff of artistic and intellectual renaissance and recognises it immediately as Florence. He mentions that Nostradamus’ wife once knitted him a rather wonderful scarf. He has no use for a soothsayer because in general he likes to know as little as possible about his future. The Doctor refuses to leave until he has safeguarded every lifeform on the surface of this horror planet. Can’t be done is a phrase he has an issue with and when you have a TARDIS it becomes much less of an issue. The story tries to generate a little interest towards the end by suggesting that the Doctor will make the Crowe the most powerful beings in the universe but anybody who would fall for such an idea deserves what they get. The Doctor offers Nostradamus the chance to find out how the world really ends considering he isn’t the real thing after all.

Great Ideas: Thank goodness for the twist at the end of part two because I was ready to write this one off as entirely worthless. It manages to salvage something of this messy nonsense but still doesn’t excuse the sheer borderm levels of the first two episodes. The facility is inside the planet, an artifical world built to the average size of most life supporting planets. Its surface is composed of bio matter in its raw liquid state ready to be formed into whatever their clients desire. The can recreate any world of file and any moment in its history including 16th Century Earth.

Audio Landscape: Horse and cart trotting past, birdsong, chickens clucking, a thriving market, crackling fire, door banging, a spacecraft landing, blasting the crap out of the land, the hologuise being turned off/on, alarm, teleport facility. The ground breaking away, hand blasters, the destruction of the world in a bubbling mass.

Musical Cues: Andy Hardwick is trying desperately to give this vacuous material some meaning by trampling all over it with a bombastic score but in the face of such shoulder shrugging storytelling it just sounds like loud noise.

Isn’t it Odd:
· Do you know what I think my problem is? I have listened to far too many Doctor Who audio dramas and as such I have a good idea of what I like in that media and what I don’t. With increasing numbers of stories coming out every month (Big Finish has become a release juggernaut now and only the most affluent amongst us can keep up!) and the wealth of material available it has become all the more important to grab the listener from the very beginning. At least in my case. The early Big Finish’s were so fresh and new that we let nonsense like The Genocide Machine slide just because it was such a thrill to have Sylvester McCoy and Sophie Aldred back playing against Daleks! But given the number of classics we have heard over the years the new writers have to try their damdest to make an impact. Steven Hall managed it in A Death in the Family but many of the new writers are delivering decent but not standout material. Nothing in the first 15 minutes of The Doomsday Quatrain interested me in the slightest – we are introduced to some vague characters, the Doctor visits a market and Nostradamus is in a hump. All very bland. I need to be grabbed by the shoulders in the first couple of scenes and propelled into a story, not to sit there thinking ‘when is this story going to begin?’ The Fires of Vulcan began with the TARDIS found in the remains of Pompeii. The Holy Terror began with religious fundamentalism being laughed at in a glorious Monty Pythonesque way. A message to all future Big Finish writers – grab hold of your audience quick and keep their attention.
· All of this second researcher/third researcher nonsense struck me as trying to mimic the bureaucratic comedy of Carnival of Monsters. And failing.
· As we head into episode two there is still no rhyme or reason for why this story is playing out. There is an invasion by a race who shouldn’t even be space worthy who lack any interest whatsoever. The researchers are squabbling amongst themselves but we still have no explanation for what they are about. And Nostradamus is a big girly wimp (okay he has just seen Florence attacked by aliens but even so get a backbone man!) whose inclusion is entirely superfluous! If there was ever a story where I would summarise it with ‘stuff happens’ this would be it. Not one second of this material is remotely original (the hologuise is lifted directly from The End of Time) and it doesn’t seem to be heading anywhere appealing.
· This months monsters are a bunch of growling, snarling reprobates who are absolutely hideous to listen to and not in a good way. What has happened to intelligent storytelling in this series? Is this really the best we can do?
· Hang on does this mean that the Doctor objects to the creation of artifical life forms and environments? He had better head over to Star Trek and destroy every single starship and space station then because they are all equipped with holodecks that exploit artifical people.
· Talking of holodecks this story takes a turn for the Star Trek when we start discussing the rights of artifical life forms that are made sentient. This is a rehash of old material that has been done over a prolonged period of time with Star Trek Voyager (with the Doctor), TNG (with Data) and with DS9 (to a lesser degree with Vic Fontaine). They don’t have the time and certainly the depth of characters to pull it off with anywhere near the same verve. The Doctor merely points out that the bio matter creations are capable of pre cognition and they are reclassified as sentient life forms. Case closed.
· How wet is Larrett? Every time he opened his mouth I wanted to shove a flopping wet trout inside!
· Another familiarity with Star Trek is the wealth of technobabble that is introduced in the third episode to explain the workings of the bio planet. ‘Because the programme is locked into the bio matter at the cellular level’ dont’cha know!
· What with the malleable planet (Heroes of Sontar), artifical constructs (A Most Excellent Match), grunting villains (Heroes of Sontar again), a secret area beneath a planet (Kiss of Death) and the Doctor threatening to turn on the heroes (The Crimes of Thomas Brewster) a lot of this material felt very familiar. I’m surprised the script editor didn’t spot these similarities. The last episode is channelling episode six of Inferno with a world on the brink of extinction, the populace panicking and the Doctor leaving them to their fate but since we don’t care about any of these people what is the point of it all?
· After listening to this story I have a headache. No seriously. I was fine earlier but after listening to the Crowe for a couple of episode my cranium is pounding. Nice one.

Notes: ‘Gallifrey’ ‘Oh charming place, south of France, yes?’ Isn’t this gag getting a little stale now?

Result: No wonder Big Finish released The House of Blue Fire on the same day – perhaps they were hoping that everybody would give The Doomsday Quatrain a miss. I’m fairly certain there is a gripping story to be told about the Doctor meeting Nostradamus but this most definitely is not it and given that this is the only attempt we are likely to get it is a massive missed opportunity. I have been feeling for a while now that there needs to be a shake up in the main range because there hasn’t been anything truly original or attention grabbing for some time and I am getting the same feeling I did when Gary Russell had been in control for a long time that perhaps the current line up have given everything they can creatively and bled all the interest that they will out of Doctor Who. I would love to be proven wrong but Robophobia excepted there hasn’t been anything to shout home about (Industrial Evolution, The Heroes of Sontar, Kiss of Death and Rat Trap were all deeply flawed in one way or another) all year. As for The Doomsday Quatrain; banal storytelling that unfolds in the pedestrian of ways, forgettable characterisation that gives the guest actors no chance to shine, a generic Doctor, boring villains and a morality angle that goes nowhere because there is too much running about and shouting to be done in place of intelligent discussion. Its not the worst Big Finish has been because it is competently made but this range needs to be aiming a little higher than mediocre if they are going to keep going for another 150 releases. For me all the quality is in the spin off material at the moment, especially the Companion Chronicles: 3/10

Industrial Evolution written by Eddie Robson and directed by Nicholas Briggs

What’s it about: 19th century Lancashire: where the white heat of the Industrial Revolution burns hottest at Samuel Belfrage's brass mill, a mill plagued by more than its fair share of work-related injuries. While Thomas Brewster struggles to secure a fair deal for Belfrage's overworked hands, fellow travellers the Doctor and Evelyn follow the Copper King to Liverpool, there to discover the unexpected truth about Belfrage's business. Back in Ackleton, the local MP voices the fears of many when he says that the machines are taking over. He's more right than he knows…

Softer Six: As ever Colin Baker gives a peerless performance and as he mentions in the interviews on the extras he clearly loves working with Maggie Stables and it beans from every scene they have together. Go and listen to their antics in episode two as they chase after Belfrage for a great example of this unbeatable team in action. The Doctor is a fine medical man, leaping into action when a worker loses three fingers. A nosy parker and a pickpocket! What a cheat – the Doctor pilots the TARDIS to Liverpool station to catch up with Belfrage! As ever the Doctor and Evelyn make a fine, back biting married couple bickering over running, attempts to look inconspicuous and breaking into a building. I honestly think these two could be entertaining doing anything. He feels like an intergalactic caretaker sometimes. Is this the first time the Doctor has confronted somebody so brazenly and been thumped in the face? Belfrage thinks that the Doctor and Evelyn are coppers! Tries to convince Evelyn that they need an authority figure to lead them at the factory but she can see right through him and he is simply trying to get her out of harms way. He claims he talks to his enemies because he doesn’t like fighting but Brewster thinks he does it just because he likes the sound of his own voice! The Doctor is shocked at Brewster’s appalling tactics, destroying the creature by potentially derailing the steam train – he finds his ends and his means abominable. The Doctor would never have used Thomas as an agent because he doesn’t get other people to do his dirty work. The Doctor bops Stretton on the nose he goes clang! The only person who understands what the Doctor is going on about is the Doctor! He’s furious that Brewster destroyed the inhibitor, a sentient creature and thinks he has had his last chance.

Learned Lecturer: By all accounts Maggie Stables has had a terrible year having cracked her ribs and yet battles into the studio to play Evelyn and I’m sure glad she does. It’s a sparkling character and a sparkling performance and I truly hope we see more from her soon as the last three stories have had me really excited as we have approached the release date and desperately scrabbling to download them when they come out early and that is pretty much all down to hearing some more Maggie. She convinced the Doctor that Thomas needed a new start otherwise he would slip back into bad habits of which there is definitely a danger of. Its very Evelyn to want to watch over Thomas whilst he settles in, she’s such a wonderful motherly character and after the losses of Cassie and Jem she would want to make sure that this youth moves on with his life successfully. Doesn’t fancy sampling the New York of Europe, 19th Century Liverpool, a great deal! Evelyn has the perfect remedy for Clara’s shock, a nice warm cup of tea! She wonders how she could evacuate the town but accepts the responsibility. She’s so cute when she helps Mr Mole (the Doctor) out of his hole.

Artless Dodger: Eddie Robson handling Charley so deftly in The Raincloud Man, Lucie in Human Resources and now Brewster in Industrial Revolution. I do have some reservations about how this character arc was tied up because whilst Thomas gets an exciting new avenue to knock about in the story does not have enough space to explore the Doctor’s feelings towards the character and their goodbye scenes are oddly excised (both at the beginning where he is already set up and at the end where he dumps him for his unfortunate act at the climax). However, saying that the material that Brewster gets in this story is very good indeed; we get to see him as a worker in a workhouse which is probably where he would have ended up had he never met the Doctor, as a leader standing up for the workers rights, as somebody who can follow orders (his mentor/pupil relationship with Belfrage sings and makes you wonder if he cannot adjust because the Doctor is so unreasonable and condemning) and as a quick thinker, acting to save the world despite the consequences he will suffer. What’s more John Pickard gives his most assured performance to date taking on all of these roles with ease. This might sound completely insane but I would like to see is a trilogy where Brewster meets the fifth, sixth and seventh Doctors with their relationship improving with each re-acquaintance before he shacks up with the eighth Doctor and has a run of adventures with him. They have done it once by picking up his adventures with a consecutive Doctor and I think it would be an interesting experiment to take one companion and see how the relationship alters with each Doctor. Imagine seeing everything out in the universe and losing it. He wouldn’t knock a good wage, whatever he was doing. Those who live the traveller’s lifestyle are either gypsies, actors or crooks – which title would you put Brewster under? Turns out he’s quite a union man – he elects himself as figurehead for the site. Offered a substantial financial incentive to move on and never come into contact with Clara again – its easy to feel sorry for the guy who caught the eye of a lady of reputation whose father thinks he isn’t good enough because he has no roots. Brewster destroys the core and I was just waiting for the Doctor to go nuts although he thinks he has saved the world! Brewster tries to apologise to the Doctor for what he has done but they have already done. He hitches a ride with Belfrage at the end of this story to go on to have god knows what adventures!

Standout Performance: Rory Kinnear is superb as Belfrage, a wonderfully deadpan alien trapped in the 19th Century. I love the scene where he ineffectually tries to escape from the PC Doctor and Smythe by climbing a wall and falls on his arse! He develops a great rapport with the Doctor and Evelyn, especially the former as he tries to crowbar a sense of responsibility into his conscience! As the Doctor says: ‘Of the factories and foundries and mills in Lancashire the one where the machines come to life and start butchering people just happens to be the one run by an alien crook!’ Belfrage tries to get rid of the Doctor at any opportunity: ‘I just wanted him to stop shouting at me and go away.’

Sparkling Dialogue: The faded glory of Venice lends it a sort of ‘romantic melancholy.’
‘Are you ready to stop being ridiculous?’
‘First they took a few fingers…then they took a hand…now they’re coming for the rest of us!’
‘Squirt for your lives!’
‘Can’t you hear it? The death knell of the Industrial Revolution…’
‘We shall deliver this world from the agony of progress!’

Great Ideas: A dangerous business, a worker loses three fingers. Shorter hours, longer breaks, more pay? Gibson’s severed fingers are fully regenerated! A Carleon – usually red skinned with forked tail – has been smuggling rock salt off planet. Four years ago he parked his astro pod and toddled off to Northwich to pick up his consignment and he got back to find his ship stripped clean! Trying to attain spare parts for his ship so he can take a cargo of salt with him, his retirement plan. The TARDIS has been stolen, loaded on to a freight train for London. Instruments burrowing through the cellar walls, tiny mechanical arms passing raw materials through the cellar, building more of themselves using a large quantity of copper. A catalyst, you give it the best available level of technology to play with and it accelerates the technological level using its own databanks. A hand crawling along the pipes autonomous from its owner! Digging its way into other cellars and spreading out into the town. The machines operating on their own, seeking out flesh. Two processes, two separate intelligences – one evolving towards ever more advanced technology but seems benign whereas whatever is controlling the factory machines goes on the attack. The machines themselves aren’t faulty but they have been mutilating the workforce on purpose to create the creatures. The machines spread throughout the town, wherever you look. The creatures are cannibalising the whole factory, a metal egg ensconced inside the machinery, protected. Turning Stretton’s patch of land into a small strip of Eden, the work of a small terrain enhancer. Making the machines go mad and creating monsters from human flesh just to scare everyone, a gruesome bit of grand guignol to make everybody scared of technology. Inhibitors – somebody has seen the rate of development of human technology and they don’t approve.

Audio Landscape: Door opening and slamming shut, screams and crunching metal, whistle, factory of grinding metals, scribbling, ticking clock, crows screaming in the morning air, the tinkling buttons of the device, a lovely chugging steam train and whistle, train car doors opening and slamming, horse and cart, shifting rubble after a ceiling collapses, whinnying, electric tools chirping, bursting through the wall, the robots bursting through the floor, they drive the creature down onto the tracks where it is smashed to pieces by the steam train, the huffing steam of the engine, whistling birdsong, cocks crowing, the Doctor burrowing his way up through the mud, heavy metallic footprints, laser.

Musical Cues: A lovely smattering of piano in the club. A really creepy scream sting at the end of episode one as Thomas looks for his friend and discovers something nasty. The music gets very exciting in episode three as the pace speeds away.

Isn’t it Odd: Whilst I might have bemoaned the overuse of old monsters in the past you would have thought the very sniff of human parts being harvested for technology would have brought about a suspicion of Cybermen in the area. I thought it was very odd that the intelligence behind the scheme was brought up several times but never revealed which was a huge oversight unless it will be resolved at a later date. Come to think of it we haven’t learnt who created the Terravores in The Crimes of Thomas Brewster either. Oversights or will these elements be picked up in a later sixth Doctor and Evelyn arc?

Standout Scene: The TARDIS has been stolen! Oh no wait…it’s been accidentally tagged an put on a cargo train – a lovely piss take of a very regular occurrence in the Doctor’s life. I love the scenes of the Doctor and Evelyn exploring the cellar as the machinery twitches, hums and beeps around them – it’s a really creepy soundscape that made me look around at the walls of the room I was in in a panic! The cliffhanger to episode is smashing – the chilling advance of the Bodysnatchers. Stretton facing his death singing was really spine tingling. Shoving the creature in the path of a speeding steam train is an awesome set piece – the hissing steam of the train once it stops could practically by me sighing after the adrenalin rush!

Result: A battle of progress versus nature, which starts slowly to lull you into a false sense of security but as soon as it picks up the pace the excitement grows and evolves like the technology. There’s a lovely feeling of mechanical things moving all around you thanks to some creepy sound effects and the spread of the technology through the town gives the story a pleasing feeling that feels are spiralling out of control. My biggest issue with this story is that whilst it gives the Doctor and Evelyn plenty of fun moments it climaxes the Brewster arc (although he is characterised very well) rather abruptly and without much exploration of his relationship with the Doctor. With ghoulish ideas, cracking dialogue and some brilliantly realised action, Industrial Evolution holds the attention well and is a good example of a Big Finish adventure that grips because of the story rather than its arc elements: 7/10

The Feast of Axos written by Mike Maddox and directed by Nicholas Briggs

What’s it about: “Axos calling Earth. Fuel system exhausted. Request immediate assistance.” Many years ago, the vast space parasite Axos attempted to suck the planet Earth of its energy. Now it’s all but forgotten – a dried-up husk, marooned in orbit, still stuck in the time loop it was placed in by Earth’s defender, the Doctor. Forgotten, that is, except by space tourism billionaire Campbell Irons – who’s hatched a plan to solve the world’s energy crisis by reviving Axos, and transmitting its power back to Earth. But the crew of the spaceship Windermere aren’t alone aboard the parasite. The Doctor has returned, to correct an error of decades past…

Softer Six: An outstanding showing for the sixth Doctor who continues to be the golden boy of Big Finish (no pun intended!). The mileage for his character has far exceeded even my wildest expectations and Colin Baker continues to deliver the most thoughtful and exciting performances for the range. The Doctor’s reaction to Brewster pulling a gun on him is pure eye rolling nonchalance (‘Oh please’). He is so cheeky pretending to be willing to help to Brewster so he can activate the TARDIS sensory distortion field and disable him! Alas the Doctor is disinclined to help people who are threatening to shoot him. ‘So you bodged the job?’ Evelyn suggests of his first encounter with Axos when he tries to excuse his actions with talk of half his memory being missing and a compromised TARDIS! Its hilarious as the Doctor tries to avoid answering why the Time Lord’s exiled him to Earth, Brewster scoffs at the Doctor calling him a criminal when he stole the TARDIS. If Thomas can prove he can be trusted he might reconsider taking him home. ‘Surely not space tourism’ he sighs, appalled at the very notion. Evelyn points out that the Doctor and Thomas are both outsiders forced to be self sufficient, never fitting in anywhere but both trying to do the right thing. They are as pig headed as one another but the Doctor tells her that consistency of character is a virtue! When he discovers that Campbell Irons has taken over space control at Devesham, he notes it is a pity to see such a noble heritage privatised. The Doctor is appalled at the very notion that the people of the Earth should turn to Axos to answer their problems, they should be pooling their resources to look for solutions and not looking for get rich quick schemes. He considers Axon energy fools gold. The great Doctor’s reputation precedes him. Repairing the sonic screwdriver has been on his to do list for some time. I loved his assertion that Axos is a living being, a sentient creature and he wont kill it because it happens to be a nuisance – he would rather take it to a long dead galaxy. Not a fan of space walking. He’s close to tears as Evelyn drifts off into space, his heart broken at the loss of his friend. The Doctor’s mind is so superior to a humans it is like comparing a parsley pig to the Hanging Gardens of Babylon! He was there when the British Space programme with in its infancy, they were fearless, brave pioneers and he tells Joanne he’s glad to see that the flame still burns today. He gives Axos a chance, offers to take them away from the Earth but when they refuse his mind is made up and he apologises for sending them back into the time loop to die over and over again. He tells Evelyn it is wonderful to have her back and you know that he means it. Go listen to his wonderful, romantic description of the Earth in the last scene – Baker manages to bring these speeches to life with real poetry.

Learned Lecturer: It’s an obvious thing to say and I have probably repeated it over and over in these reviews but just how likable is Evelyn? They have tried with Erimem, Hex and Lucie Miller and in some cases gotten very close but no matter how good the material is for the other original Big Finish companions the chemistry between Colin Baker and Maggie Stables is untoppleable. They are just gold together. Evelyn doesn’t see any harm in taking Brewster home. ‘You’re not getting me in a spacesuit!’ she cried suggesting that she looks like Barbarella! Evelyn takes a paternal role with Thomas, harsh on him when he misbehaves but willing enough to give him a chance. When she sees that the astronauts are cutting into Axos she is horrified by their butchery. She thinks Thomas means well and that everybody makes mistakes in their life. Maybe he never had a chance to be trustworthy because the Doctor is too stubborn, I love how Evelyn cuts straight though the Doctor’s objections and points out his flaws. She’s the only person that would be able to get away with that! In turn the Doctor reminds her that all sentient life deserves a chance. She knows enough French to order a glass of Bordeaux and a room for the night (dirty cow, I bet she had a few nights like that in Paris!). Evelyn thinks it is marvellous that there is a real life James Bondian spy aboard! When she learns of the Doctor’s crazy scheme, Evelyn refuses to go along with it if it means sacrificing Thomas. She makes the Doctor promise to forgive him and take him home otherwise she won’t help him. ‘I’m in space! Weeeeee!’ – Evelyn is bewitched by the view from space, see the Earth from orbit. She asks the Doctor why they haven’t done this before and you cannot help but enjoy the idea of this woman in her twilight years larking about space walking! When things turn dark its wonderful how Evelyn accepts her fate and seeing that there is nothing he can do to help her refuses to let the Doctor blame himself. As she floats off she admits that she needs the Doctor. When she is rescued you swell with relief that she is safe. Evelyn is sweet and complimentary to her French saviours (‘Enchante’) and I wondered if anybody could fail to be charmed by this woman. I thought Brewster’s nicknames for her; old Mother Hubbard and old mum Smythe, were wonderful. In the last scene Evelyn can judge the situation well enough to leave the console room and force her two chaps into talking. I know she has had a wealth of stories now but The Feast of Axos has just left me hungry for more.

Artless Dodger: Whereas The Crimes of Thomas Brewster re-introduced the young scallywag back to the series it is in this story where the relationships are developed and explored in some depth. I don’t understand the allergic reaction some people have towards Brewster, he seems a pretty harmless, likable character to me. Regardless he shows enough initiative and charm in this story to make the reunion worthwhile. We get to learn something about all three characters, be it the Doctor’s obstinate refusal to give him a chance, Evelyn’s maternal instincts and Thomas Brewster’s aching wish to return home. According to the Doctor once a cutpurse always a cutpurse! He pulled a gun on them for dramatic effect, the magazine was empty. Everywhere the Doctor takes him he is a menace! He is conversant enough with 21st Century history and technology to use that foreknowledge to his advantage in the 19th Century. Thomas is trying to be like the Doctor. Axos considers him dangerous, deceitful and sly and they want him to speak for them, promising him Axonite to replicate as many gold sovereigns as he wishes. Axos distrusts Brewster because the Doctor does. I enjoyed how the script convinced you that Axos had managed to manipulate Brewster into thinking the Doctor is willing to sacrifice him to stop them and yet he is far cannier than that. Its odd but I find him far less irritating than Adric when conversing with the enemy! He pretends that he has decided to live up to the Doctor’s expectations, doing his best to look out for number one. Prestidigitation, you’re looking in one hand and the trick is being done in the other – whilst Axos is watching Brewster like a hawk the Doctor manages to con them! It’s interesting that Brewster reels of his life problems to the Doctor but it never feels like he is looking for pity, just stating a fact. He’s got no one and has had to fight to get on in the world. Nobody has done him any favours, he’s had no schooling, no roof over his head – he hasn’t had it handed to him on a silver platter unlike some. Given their reconciliation in the last scene it looks like this could be a friendship after all.

Standout Performance: This is a very impressive cast so it is hard to select just one. Colin Baker gives a bravura duel performance as both the Doctor and Axos; his evil doppelganger is chillingly light voiced to start with but turns growling and menacing, as Axos grows stronger. Bernard Holley has an awesome voice for audio, dominating and creepy and it really was a coup getting him to return for this story, over 30 years after the original.

Sparkling Dialogue: ‘Nose hairs? We’re up a nostril?’
‘What were you doing in the rugby changing room?’ ‘Sightseeing mainly.’
‘Now there’s a whole mass of them! Twitching away like attention deficit spaghetti!’
‘Like an Axos chainsaw massacre!’
‘We shall drink it dry…let the feast begin!’
‘You sought to feed off Axos. Now Axos feeds off you. To a new era of energy!’
‘Don’t worry Doctor, its not your fault. Silly idiotic woman messing around in space like Barbarella at my age. Good bye Doctor…my dear, dear Doctor…’

Great Ideas: Affordable low orbit travel, not tourism! Joyrides for the mega rich into space for the price of a luxury cruise? Oil is running dry and people fear for their jobs and their future, Axos can provide clean, green energy for all. The time field causes transmissions to be sent backwards and forwards in time – as they approach Axos they can hear the original broadcast Axos sent on first contact in the 70s. Axos is stuck in a figure of eight looping through the four dimensions. When they enter the time loop there is a possibility that they will age 50 years in a second. Axos is hibernating but alive, a parasitic organism, a vampire in space drifting from planet to planet sucking them dry. Axos bleeds as they cut into it. The central chamber is like a cathedral made of jelly, the heart of Axos. A vast organism with a single mind but with the ability to extrude smaller independent units so it can relate and absorb other species. An energy vampire than can absorb even their footsteps, the faster they run, the more energy they give it. They make a replica of the Doctor, stealing his body print and adopting his memories. Axos tries to get its claws into the TARDIS. If Axos had wanted them dead it would have opened its mouth and coughed them out! They need time to gather their strength, to feed on the Windermere and commence the nutrition cycle. Can Axos replicate the TARDIS? The planets supply of fossil fuels has been exhausted, we are facing social and economic collapse, wind, wave and geothermic technology will not meet the demand. We need Axos to save us from catastrophe. If they don’t agree Irons will cause a miniature nuclear reactor aboard the Windermere to explode and they will be forced to absorb the explosion stuck in a time loop, constantly feeding on the full force of a nuclear blast! Irons is offering a strip of central Africa for Axos to rest and feed upon – madness! Axos will send its roots deep into the Earth as soon as they have a foothold. Craig is still working for the RAF, if anyone is going to exploit Axos it will be for the benefit of all mankind and not just for Campbell Irons! The Jules Verne receives transmissions of its own future attack by Axos. Axos wraps its tendrils around the Windermere! The handholds on the exterior of Axos are tissue scarring from the impact of meteorites. Axos destroys mission control, absorbs their energy and reduces them to dust. The Doctor suggests they might be sucking life from the national power grid and causing lights to wink out over England. However Axos could only drain Devesham. The Doctor traps Axos, forcing them to go nuclear over and over again until the time loop decays in about 6 billion years.

Audio Landscape: Nicholas Briggs has surpassed even his best efforts in this story, bringing together so many wonderful sounds to create an audio experience. Jamie Robertson’s sound effects are well and truly out of this world! The shuttle exploding into life, mission control buzzing, the echoing speakers relying the voices from the shuttle, sirens as the TARDIS leaves the Earth, grumbling shuttle engines, alarms, a burst of static as they cross the time field, the scream that invades the TARDIS and causing the engines to cough, that fabulous 70’s tinkly scanner, Axos’ sucking and pulsing arteries, spacesuit comms, a wonderful Next Generation-esque cargo bay doors siren, heavy breathing in space, sealing the space suits, the harpoon sticking into Axos, writhing electrical cilia, an alien, dramatic heartbeat, docking tunnel extended, the chainsaw cutting into Axos, reabsorbtion, walking on Axos’ sticky, spongy surface, thought scanner, the Jules Verne tearing through space, Swanson screaming as he is absorbed, the screaming Axon units, the scuttling, banging noises as Axos attempts to breach the hull of the Windermere, the sudden cut to the silence of space, impact with the exterior of Axos, sucking the Devesham base dry, the calmness of Evelyn lost in space, the assault of communications in Evelyn’s helmet, Axos’ gushing, throbbing gills, extruding the TARDIS, a nuclear explosion in space over and over, the rotting depersonalised doppelganger melting over the console.

Musical Cues: As well as provide all those wonderful sound effects Robertson also offers up one of the best musical scores I have enjoyed in years. The opening scenes have an optimistic, uplifting feel as the shuttle shoots into space, dragging you into the story. Mysterious chorals open out onto the emptiness of space. I love the menacing, exciting piano theme as the shuttle approaches Axos. Creepy alien screams bridge scenes. The music gets very fast and exciting as the situation gets more desperate in episode three and then becomes a stirring, tear jerking piece as we lose Evelyn at the end of the episode. This is extremely filmic music that pitches the tone of the story perfectly and combined with the sound effects makes this a very memorable experience.

Notes:
· ‘Mine’s the one with the fishbowl helmet’ says the Doctor of his spacesuit referring to the space age design from The Moonbase.
· Nick Briggs is like the new Alfred Hitchcock of Big Finish – we used to get Gary Russell turning up in various roles across a wealth of stories but now its Briggs’ plumy voice! It aggravates some people but it just makes me laugh!
· ‘Its got gills, Thomas!’ Is that the Doctor’s alien costume from Peri and the Piscon Paradox that Brewster has found?
· Campbell Irons bought the British Rocket Group and runs his operation from the former defence station at Devesham (The Android Invasion).

Standout Moment: The end of episode three is absolutely devastating; Evelyn unhooking herself and just out of reach of Axos, floating out of reach of the Doctor. Her quiet despair and his desperation not to lose his best friend will break your heart. Colin Baker and Maggie Stables both give outstanding performances to the point where tears were forming in my eyes. It is a cruel and beautiful affirmation of their incredible friendship and a terrifying reminder of the dangers of space travel. I also loved the conclusion that saw Jo and David send a message to their families and sacrifice themselves to stop Axos – we’ve seen a hundred scenes like this before but the idea that saving their families back home at the cost of their own lives and the spirit and bravery with which they sacrifice themselves is very poignant.

Result: A sweepingly epic, visual piece of storytelling buoyed by some intimate moments and great characterisation, The Feast of Axos is an outstanding piece of audio drama. The titular creature itself is perfectly suited to audio offering up a genuinely chilling and exciting soundscape and some wonderfully creative moments. The relationship between the Doctor and Evelyn has never been stronger and Brewster gets some fine development but there are lots of lovely character moments throughout for the entire cast. It’s an intelligent script that inverts the original story and exploits mankind’s greed and there are a number of emotional moments that are beautifully performed. I cannot recommend this story enough, it’s one of the strongest stories in a very impressive run: 9/10

Find and Replace written by Paul Magrs and directed by Lisa Bowerman

What’s it about: Christmas 2010, and Jo Grant finds herself stuck in a department store elevator with an alien creature called Huxley. Huxley is a narrator from Verbatim Six, and he is here to let Jo revisit the best time of her life – when she was the plucky companion to that eccentric Space/Time traveller known only as... Iris Wildthyme. Confronted with memories she knew nothing about, Jo agrees to a meeting with Iris inside her transdimensional bus, and together the three of them take a trip back in time. Back to the 1970s, to UNIT HQ, and a meeting with the only person who knows the whole truth…

Dippy Agent: Jo Grant is a character that I came to love late in the day. Sarah Jane will always be my one true love but I always used to think that coming after Liz Shaw Jo was a bit of a letdown. Something happened during my last Doctor Who marathon that changed all that and I suddenly saw Jo through fresh eyes – I could see how resourceful she could be, how much fun she brought to the Doctor’s life and how much Jon Pertwee’s affection for Katy Manning spill on screen in the most delightful of ways. She even had some very nice development, starting out as a naïve young agent but come season eleven she is a confident woman who heads off to enjoy her own life without the Doctor. In Death to the Doctor Russell T Davies brings Jo back to a whole knew generation of kids and once again proves how much fun he can be. Paul Magrs’ does an equally stellar job of bringing an older Jo to life and giving her the chance to have one last amazing adventure and to revisit the man who changed her life forever. His handling of her character is phenomenal because you can hear the slightly loopy, hippy Jo is still in effect but tempered with age and an ever-growing family she now owns herself.

On the whole Jo’s memory is very good and she can remember exactly what she did during the seventies. She complains about Christmas but she loves it really. The way Jo clings onto the truth about her time with the Doctor despite Huxley’s insistence that it never happened is desperately sweet. I wanted to give her a big hug the way she was getting so upset about the thought of never knowing him. When she begins to doubt herself she remembers the way that he used to grab her arm when she was afraid and the softness of his velvet sleeves. She always thought that looking back at the past was a mistake because she wanted to explore new things but the chance to go back to the seventies and see the Doctor again was intoxicating. When Jo recounts her memories of dear, sweet Sergeant Benton I could feel myself welling up. We are as heartbroken as Jo is to discover that the Doctor tried to take away her memories of him – she loved her time with him, it was the most important time and the beginning of her life. Now she is back with the Doctor she wants to wait a bit longer before going back but it is just wishful thinking – she belongs in the future.

Auntie Iris: No word of a lie but every single line that comes out of Iris’s gob in this tale makes me smile. Every. Single. One. Trapped on Earth by her mysterious superiors with the vital element of her time spacecraft taken from her…that’s Iris’ history as far as Huxley is concerned. She looks like she has been on a shoplifting spree with a portmanteau of styles on display. She has always been full of the most wonderful bullshit and is just about the only person who could fill up a noveliser with the most outrageously concocted tales! Iris was looking forward to bumping into the Brigadier again but after that unfortunate do they had in Brighton they might be better off that he is in Geneva.

Good Grief: When she meets up with the Doctor again Jo thinks that he looks strangely youthful because when she was his companion she had been so young and him so immeasurably old. Naturally Iris wastes not time in throwing herself at the Doctor and he orders her to control herself. He never saw how important he was in people’s lives. Not just as the Doctor who goes around saving the planet and all that…but just as himself. Typical Doctor, you get talking about the real stuff and he starts briskly brushing it under the carpet. Isn’t wonderful that Magrs manages to express Jo’s love for the Doctor with verbose outbursts but all he has to do is stare at her with great affection.

Standout Performance: Do you know what I found absolutely extraordinary during this play? I completely forgot that it was only two actors performing it! Katy Manning is an extraordinary talent when it comes to trying on different voices and her turn as Jo and Iris are so different, not just in the tone of voice but the personality it comes with it, that during their scenes together you would swear they were being played by different actresses. Then just when you think she can’t impress you any more along comes the Doctor with Manning adopting an older, wearier voice and you can tell she is putting her heart and soul into bringing this wonderful man to life. Alex Lowe is equally dazzling returning as Huxley and the way he novelises the story in parts making it seem so effortless really made me smile. Bother actors have a real buzz and energy about them and as such this is one of smiliest companion chronicles because you can tell they are really enjoying the material.

Sparkling Dialogue: ‘Remember that mad Nobel Prize winner who invented slime that could read peoples minds, Jo? Or that TV ventriloquist who hypnotised all the children and sent them evil puppets in the post that Christmas! What about the teas made containing actual genies that came to life first thing in the morning in the form of hissy steam and every got just what they were wishing for with their first cup of char in the morning!’
‘Ecky thump! What are you gonna do – drag him up?’
‘What if history really has changed behind our backs when we weren’t looking?’
‘And we fought the Zarbi and Quarks in a great big game of deadly backgammon!’ – I don’t care how many times Magrs repeats this story, its still funny!
‘I would never, ever want to forget anything’ – oh my God I am actually crying…

Great Ideas: The return of Huxley is something I have been eagerly anticipating and it gives Magrs the chance to once again do what he does best and deconstruct the narrative in the most charming of ways. The way Huxley’s narration allows the writer to go beyond simply giving us dialogue but describing the events with the depth of a novel is inspired. The like people with fascinating and way out lives and Jo Jones certainly qualifies for that! Huxley is trying to convince Jo that she has made up her past with the Doctor – it is nothing but layers upon layers of confection! In reality (or at least according to Huxley) she travelled with the intergalactic malefactor and lover of all things inebriating, Iris Wildthyme! The Ministry of Incursion and Ontological Wonders (or MIOAW for short) have been controlling Jo’s life for all this time – I love the way Magrs includes organisation and characters in his various works. Having MIAOW turn up in the EDAs, Big Finish adventures and the Brenda and Effie books gives a sense of scope to the ideas. Who hasn’t wanted to go on trip in Iris’ bus? It sounds like the most delightful old mess – paperbacks, clothes rails, a drinks cabinet…I would be right at home! Iris recounts a whole load of wonderful, crazy adventures with Jo which are not only great throwaway lines but also ideas I would love to see brought to life in the future. Brilliantly Huxley narrates his own overpowering as Iris knocks him unconscious with her soporific cologne.

Audio Landscape: Cars honking, Big Ben chiming, tills been punched, the lift chime, the echoing car park, Iris rummaging around in her bus, the relaxing hum aboard the bus, a kettle whistling, pouring tea, the bubbling, fizzing time vortex that bus screams through, the bus crash landing into the UNIT lawn, twittering birdsong, UNIT soldiers screaming orders as they approach, boot steps on gravel, phone ringing, smashing the glass and the fire alarm sounding, welding curling tongs to a toaster,

Musical Cues: One of my favourite scores of any Doctor Who story in any medium, Daniel Brett produces one memorable piece after another and it deserves some discussion. He kicks off things with great energy as Jo dashes about London doing her Christmas shopping but things soon turn sinister when she is trapped in a lift with Huxley (and the horns come in to good effect here). There’s a comical flute like effect when Iris trips onto the scene. The lute theme at the end of episode one that rises with excitement as Iris tells them that they are off to the seventies is gorgeous. Bombastic drums bang as they make their way through the vortex. Jo revealing herself to Benton features a very sweet piano score that befits their relationship. The music when Jo approaches the laboratory and catches sight of the Doctor makes me choke up every time, it’s so beautiful. Another memorable cue comes when the Doctor is revealed to be the villain of the piece. The music that closes this adventure – from the moment that the Doctor sends Huxley to novelise the Master’s life (and they have to follow up on that promise!) to Iris landing the bus on an unknown planet is my favourite piece of music in any of the audio adventures. Its wonderfully uplifting, exciting, nostalgic and it suggests wonderful things ahead. A brilliant score.

Isn’t it Odd: I’m not sure that the witness protection scheme for Jo really works as an explanation for the Doctor’s outrageous behaviour but it was the very thing that got us on this terrific adventure so I don’t care.

Standout Scene: One of many better the scene where Iris tries to beat Huxley up with Akido (‘ARRRR-CHEEEE!’) makes me crease up every time I hear it (especially because Jo was expecting an ingenious, subtle plan!). Naturally Jo thinks the world of the Doctor and can’t wait for him to put everything right which is why it comes as such a tragic shock when she realises that it was he who sent Huxley after her and tried to steal her past.

Notes: It’s a gorgeous cover with an old publicity photo of Katy Manning at her most beautiful and the background of the Doctor and Iris with their faces blurred fitting in perfectly with the stories unclear continuity. Magrs is one of those writers who will happily skip over continuity (the best writers all do, Jonny Morris and Robert Holmes have been known to as well) in order to tell a good story and in this case he goes one better by dismissing his own BBC novel Verdigris which told a story of Jo’s encounter with Iris back when she was travelling with the Doctor. My philosophy is who cares as long as it tells a good story but I would definitely suggest that if you like Find and Replace as much as I do that you get yourself a copy of Verdigris because it shares this stories sense of joi de vivre and does some wonderful things with Doctor Who in the seventies! It’s the only chance you’ll ever get to see how one dimensional and cardboard Mike Yates really is!

Result: ‘We’re going back to the seventies!’ Jo Grant at her dazzling best, Iris Wildthyme making me laugh myself silly and the return of Huxley who made such an instant impression in Ringpullworld – Find and Replace has all the ingredients to make me one very happy chappy! The sense of nostalgia for the Pertwee era that Paul Magrs conjures gave me goosebumps for much of the second episode and left me grinning from ear to ear. This is a brilliantly funny play with a very touching reunion taking place and lots of delightful characters to spend your time with. Of the stories I have heard it is still Lisa Bowerman’s best ever direction as far as I am concerned and the music brews happy emotions with exactly the same skill as the script. With the two working together you don’t have a chance of resisting this companion chronicle. This is everything the best Doctor Who audios should be - imaginative, pleasurable and filled with great lines and performances. Easily my most re-listened Big Finish of recent years and one of the stories I grab for automatically when I am in a bad mood. It never fails to make me laugh and to cry and love Doctor Who: 10/10

My review of Verdigris here: http://docohosreviews.blogspot.com/2009/09/verdigris-by-paul-magrs.html

Echoes of Grey written by John Dorney and directed by Lisa Bowerman

What’s it about: Zoe Heriot has a photographic memory. Totall recall. But when it comes to the years she spent travelling in time and space, all she can remember is that she ahs forgotten. Years after she was returned to the Wheel in Space by the Time Lords, Zoe meets Ali, a young woman who claims to have met Zoe before, when she was with the Doctor and Jamie. Suddenly, part of the hidden past is exposed, as memories return of a visit to the Whitaker Institute in Central Australia. Secrets are uncovered. And the mystery of the Achromatics is about to be unleashed…

Brains’n’Beauty: Jamie and Zoe losing their memories at the end of The War Games is one of the most heartbreaking twists of fate for any character in Doctor Who and only topped when Russell T Davies nabbed the idea for Donna at the climax of Journey’s End. Nobody has ever thought of what would happen if somebody from their adventures together met Zoe after her mind was wiped and it is a premise ripe for some dramatic material in a companion chronicle. Unfortunately it is used as a framing device only so we never get to truly explore the potential of this premise.

She has dreamt that she has travelled with the Doctor, visited amazing places fought terrifying monsters but she never left with him and it is one of the biggest regrets. Zoe has long had a sense of loss in her life, something that she had that has gone. It niggles at her because she has near perfect memory and if there are flaws it in she should remember them as well. When she thinks of the Doctor there is a jolt in her memory like a skipped track – nothing that you would notice but it is there. I like the observation that the story has to start at the beginning, at when she arrived, for it to make any logical sense to Zoe. The curse of the child prodigy is that you have the brains of an adult but the needs of a child…but Zoe never felt that she was missing anything. Zoe has had a complete education and read Wilde’s complete works in a day when she was eight which is easy when you have an eidetic memory.

Oh My Giddy Aunt: You can just imagine the Doctor marching into the control room and faking a surprise inspection to get himself out of trouble. Just think of The War Games episode two!

Who’s the Yahoos: Jamie has been trying to teach Zoe how to make haggis and he tells her that the clan McCrimmon has been making the stuff for hundreds of years! Jamie’s department seems to be to punch out whatever gets in their way and he has a particular fetish for wearing guards’ uniforms!

Standout Performance: Wendy Padbury fails to approach the material with any drive and as such it is quite a chore to sit through. The best narrators – Peter Purves, William Russell, Jean Marsh – all give very energetic performances and make the exciting moments count but there is one tone to Padbury’s voice through which doesn’t enhance the already monotonous story and fails to register with the hyperactive little genius we saw in season six. Still her Scots accent is gorgeous.

Sparkling Dialogue: ‘I remember that I don’t remember…’

Great Ideas: A facility that houses critically ill patients that have all been cured reminded me very strongly of New Earth but considering how little I thought of that episode this had to use the idea more fulfillingly. Where has this panacea of prodigious proportions come from? A creature which sucks out disease and injury is a great (if not original) idea. It takes illness, disease and even age and leaves you fit and young again. The creatures absorb all the sickness and take it take on the diseases themselves – their creators figure since they were dying anyway they may as well have some use to them. I love the idea of the Achromatics killing each other, drawing the life out of one another in a chain. The reason for the subterfuge in trying to convince Zoe to remember the details of this particular adventure is because they want to use the details of the Achromatics as healers but Zoe suspects it might be because they wanted them as weapons.

Audio Landscape: Doors whooshing, a breath as memories blossom in Zoe’s head, bubbling vats, typing, ticker tape, an alarm blaring out, a heartbeat, muffled thumps and cries, footsteps.

Isn’t it Odd: The first episode is a very quiet piece and after throwing the intriguing idea of Zoe meeting up with somebody from her past that she met with the Doctor we head into an uneventful and dull memory that suggests interesting things like the cure-all but seems trapped in the conventions of the time (run away/get captured). It’s a common problem in science fiction and please don’t think that I am suggesting that any ideas have been borrowed by The X-Files dealt with a creature that could suck out all know diseases too and I have to say it was in a far more dramatic fashion. It was also told in flashback and we learn that Mulder was dying and he is shot halfway through the episode and the creature brings him back to life and removes his illness by ingesting him and vomiting him back up. Gross, but its really effectively done. Echoes of Grey could have done with something shocking like that to give it a kick – imagine Jamie getting into a scuffle and being stabbed, near to death… It turns out that Ali was never part of the story – just the parts that she recounted but rather than execute this as a surprise ending the director chooses to make sound as throwaway and conversational as possible which blunts any impact it might have had.

Standout Scene: For Zoe to refuse their offer of potentially regaining her entire memory through the Achromatics to save them from exploitation is a very brave thing to do. Its probably worth coming back to explore this at some point.

Result: I didn’t know what to expect from Echoes of Grey but I certainly didn’t expect the first episode to be so…lacking. After John Dorney’s superlative Solitaire I was expecting more mystery and amazing interplay (those were the things that made his debut story so memorable) but there was just a gaping hole where that should be. Why is it that the Troughton companion chronicles lack the immediacy and interest of the other eras? Its not just the slack pace either, the direction is flat and uninteresting with sparse sound design and Wendy Padbury’s performance whilst adequate is nothing to shout home about. The cliffhanger is just about the dullest in memory with no real build up and it is edited as if any old moment was chosen to split the story in two. Rather than the snapshot of an adventure with the Doctor, Jamie and Zoe I think I would have preferred to have hung out with Zoe in contemporary times and see what her life is made of. For a story with such a dramatic idea at its core it isn’t applied to any of the regulars, they merely comment on the apallingness of it and so it is hard to connect with the drama. A very disappointing release which saves its most interesting moment for the last scene but unfortunately by then it is too little too late: 3/10

The Guardian of the Solar System written by Simon Guerrier and directed by Lisa Bowerman

What’s it about: Space Security Agent Sara Kingdom is dead, her ashes strewn on the planet Kembel. But, in an old house in Ely, Sara Kingdom lives on… Now joined in the house by her confidante Robert, Sara recalls her travels in the TARDIS with the Doctor – and a particular adventure when the ship appeared to land inside a giant clock, where old men are caught in its workings… And behind this nightmare is an old enemy: Mavic Chen, Guardian of the Solar System. Then and now, Sara's past is catching up with her. The cogs have come full circle…

SSS: How awful for Sara to meet up with two of the people that brought her life to a spectacular close, her brother Bret Vyon and her boss Mavic Chen. To know that the former will die at her hands and the latter would betray the Solar System and to be able to do nothing about it is a real test of her character. She can still see the look in her brother’s eyes when she killed him. It was such a long time ago but it is still raw. When Sara followed the Doctor and Steven into the laboratory knowing there was no way out for them, with every intention of killing them both and she couldn’t have predicted the way things panned out. Sara felt small and insignificant within the workings of the machine but it dwarfed the petty concerns of people. When she meets up with Bret in his past before she has killed him she has the awful realisation that she couldn’t save him, a sick feeling that all that she has done is set in stone. It didn’t take much for Chen to convince Sara of his good intentions because she so wanted to believe that the man she had always admired was working for Earth’s best interests. It didn’t matter that Sara was going to screw time over because she had her brother back and she was going to do everything in her power to save him. She realises in her decision to destroy the clock that with a sense of crushing inevitability she is responsible for setting up the events that lead to her brothers death, to her defection and (although she wouldn’t know this) her death. She feels like a fly trapped in amber, a cog in a machine of time and her wish is to break the cycle and be free of her responsibilities to the timeline.

Humble Husband: When Robert’s daughter got sick he would have done anything to save her…even ask the House to provide the cure which went against his beliefs as a rational man. He has to want it, to wish to spend the rest of his life with the ghost of Sara and the house would do the rest.

Hmm: Mavic Chen dispatched the whole Space Security Service after the Doctor when he stole the Time Destructor and Sara Kingdom was one of the agents that caught up with him. Sara always thought he was an extraordinary man with eyes as bright as his silver hair, twinkling like stars.
Being inside the intricate workings of a clock mechanism absolutely thrills the Doctor and he gets to admire the workmanship from an angle he has never had the opportunity to do in the past. Sara might say that the clock was magic but the Doctor would not allow that. Steven has a lot of patience with the Doctor (so did Peter Purves with the William Hartnell!) and had broken through that period that took the Doctor time to warm to you. They were now the closest of friends. The Doctor had never been one for sitting quietly – he was forever being caught and escaping as regular as clockwork!

Aggressive Astronaut: Steven knew how to handle and prompt the Doctor as they had travelled together a long time before they met Sara. She always thought he was tall and handsome, a pilot of the old kind where you needed nerves of steel and a great sense of humour.

Standout Performance: Jean Marsh once again delights and her chance to play Mavic Chen made me applaud her, she gets Kevin Stoney’s theatrical and oriental performance spot on.

Sparkling Dialogue: ‘I was trapped. I’ve always been trapped. Just a cog in the machine.’
‘The clock was reaching into my mind…’
‘I know Mavic Chen and my brother have escaped and that I’ll catch up with them later.’
‘So what’s it going to be…’

Great Ideas: This the last story that Robert is going to hear because after he had his wish granted and his daughter got better and grew up in the house and left him he has no wish to keep living this existence of hermitage. People wish terrible things within the house that can grant them at Ely. The TARDIS materialising in the workings of a giant clock – now that is a premise I can get excited about! Whilst difficult to get a sense of scale, the vast and intricate interlocking parts were larger than some of the rockets that Sara had flown in – it was a whole city made up of blocks larger than houses keeping perfect timing. Old men keep the machine going, frail and exhausted. They were smart and intelligent men put inside to wander the workings of the clock…and they taught the clock to feed. Mavic Chen’s usual act is a theatrical Mandarin wheeling through politics because it amused him not because he cared. The clock doesn’t just measure time, it dictated it. The great mechanism sat so heavily that it caused space-time to bend and worked as a counter weight to the great avenues through hyperspace. Sara can be explained away because she was a member of the SSS but the Doctor and Steven first met Mavic Chen and Bret Vyon a year from now on the planet Kembel and if they met now history would be rewritten. I love the philosophy that even though stories might not always be true they always have the ability to reveal truth to those who are listening. Chen is so convincing that even though she knows what his real goal turns out to be she gets a sense that despite being ruthless, pragmatic and vain he was working in Earth’s best interests. Sara realises with some horror (shared by the audience) that Mavic Chen had no choice but to side with the Daleks because she destroyed the clock and his hyperspace link. When the TARDIS lands and the Doctor waits in the console room wondering why he has been brought by Robert to Sara’s ghost and she panics at the thought of trying to get some answers from him.

Audio Landscape: Crackling fire, huge cogs turning and metal hitting metal – the workings of the clock make for a super audio landscape, its very interesting to hear a ticking clock in the house in Ely – a demonstration of the ticking clock from the outside of the workings, doors banging, a sudden breath, a cold biting wind, the screaming hinges of a closing door, the prisoners screaming as the flames leap up and destroy the clock, the alarm sounding.

Musical Cues: These melancholic Sara Kingdom stories bring the absolute best out of Fox and Yason. They have the ability to take this exceptional material and make you feel something gaping and empty inside yourself as the story takes place with their music.

Isn’t it Odd: I don’t necessarily buy that it was Sara’s fault that Chen took created the Time Destructor to hold the universe at ransom – the destruction of the clock might have forced him to seek ulterior means of power but his all encompassing ego would have driven him to something of the sort eventually. Alternative means of conquering, yes – but the nutter that we meet in The Daleks’ Masterplan is clearly so much in love with his new allies that as soon as the idea occurred to him he must have been dazzled by the possibilities.

Standout Scene: In an awesome twist of Robert’s fate Sara grants his wish to let him stay and be part of the house, to know what the house was capable of and how far he could reach. I really thought that he was going to die but to swap places with Sara, to allow her the chance to breath fresh air and feel the wind on her face…it is an awesomely powerful exchange that really engaged my emotions given all the build up. The last scene literally took me breath away and the last line gave me goosebumps – so many possibilities (Sara could leave with the Doctor and have more adventures…but which one?) and so skilfully left for the audience to decide.

Result: Guardian of the Solar System is less of a story in its own right and more of a continuation of the previous two Sara Kingdom stories but as a conclusion to the trilogy it proves to be very satisfying. Simon Guerrier has struck on such a winner with his Sara arc and there really isn’t a weak moment in all three exceptional stories. The story of Robert lacing through all these memories links the trilogy and the format of the Dalek Masterplan makes the vignettes of stories feel as though they are the perfect length. What’s more he has managed to take an is she/isn’t she companion and turn Sara into the definitive article for me and adding a number of wonderful stories to what I already consider to be a Doctor Who masterpiece. None of these achievements are easy and Guerrier’s skill with both the first person narrative and running arcs should be applauded. Lisa Bowerman’s direction has never been better than in this remarkable trilogy, nothing is rushed and yet there are still moments of great tension and drama and some incredible shocks and the performances she coaxes from Jean Marsh and Niall McGregor are extraordinary. Somewhere in the depths of Doctor Who’s arsenal of storytelling lie three Sara Kingdom companion chronicles and they contain some of the finest drama, moments of poetry and philosophy and represent this crazy little series at its most meditative. Breathtakingly good imagery too: 10/10