Doctor Who - Big Finish Audio Adventures - 1.4 Phobos

Eddie Robson (who writes for Big Finish) really does waver up and down in his DOCTOR WHO stories, but they are never bad. Even the lower register ones are quite fun and enjoyable. I started this review off that way because when Robson is on…he’s really on.

We’ve jumped briefly back to Eight and Lucie’s S1 adventures to cover 1.4 PHOBOS, which we missed when I first did these as I’d not had a copy yet.

PHOBOS is really Eddie Robson’s writing firing on all cylinders in the DOCTOR WHO arsenal. It’s got it all, an interesting setting (in this case Mar’s moon Phobos), compelling secondary characters, a creepy set of monsters who are not what they appear, emotions, running, witty banter. It’s all here.

The Doctor and Lucie have arrived at Phobos, which is now the center of an extreme sports phenomenon in the form of a huge stationary wormhole on the surface from which they bungee. But of course not is all it seems and people have begun to disappear.

Seems rather generic yes? Ah, but that is the genius of the episode. For on the surface it is generic, but underneath lays one of the best, albeit darker, stories in the whole first series. For once the villain is properly discovered, the Doctor delves into things to a level that is unexpected not only to said villain, but to those around him and even Lucie herself. It’s one of the darkest moments in the whole of Eight’s adventures, and gave me a chill towards where he heads in the future, up to and including the Time War. I don’t want to give away too much so I won’t tell you more, but sufficed to say that the Doctor owns this episode for sheer brass.

PHOBOS is a really interesting look at what humans seek, what they strive for and why, but most of all what happens when they find more than they bargained for. Like I mentioned above the story has all the hallmarks of a classic DW story, but it will be the final ten minutes that will haunt you and really get under your skin. I loved that feeling, as it’s not really something you often get to see of the Doctor as a character.

Stalwart director Barnaby Edwards ought to be praised for always paying attention to pacing and layout of the episodes he directs…and PHOBOS is especially no different. Give this one a listen, as it is easily the match of the other really standout episodes from Series 1.

NEXT TIME: S2.5 GRAND THEFT COSMOS in which the Doctor and Lucie become embroiled in a heist…but on which side?

Doctor Who - Big Finish Audio Adventures - 2.2 Max Warp

As much as the Series 2 opener (DEAD LONDON) was an irreverent and yet mostly effective (if odd) way to start the 2nd series of Eighth Doctor & Lucie Adventures…the second episode, MAX WARP, makes up for that by being pretty much everything we love about DOCTOR WHO in any medium.

The story begins with the Doctor and Lucie attending a Motor Show. Well, it’s technically a very popular Spaceship Show. If you’ve not already guessed it from the title and that small description, this really is TOP GEAR in space. Strangely, or perhaps not-so-strangely, this premise fits into the DW mythos and story-style like a leather driving glove (yeah, I went there). From the multiple, and varied hosts talking about the newest, sleekest spaceship, to the Doctor behaving like a proper Ship-Enthusiast like a gleeful 12-year old, to Lucie calling it all boys-with-their-toys and making jokes at the Doctor’s expense, this is everything you love about TOP GEAR transferred into DOCTOR WHO.

So where does the intrigue come from in this episode? Well that’s an easy one. The show Max Warp is filming live from the Sirius Inter-G Cruiser Show, which was installed as an event to bring two previously warring worlds (the Varlon Empire and the Kith Oligarchy) together, and is set in a station orbiting nearby. The two hosts, smarmy, sexist Geoffrey Vantage, and spaceship enthusiast, Vantage-whipping boy O’Reilly are seen commenting on their fellow Max Warp member, and hotshot pilot Timbo “The Ferret” just before his ship malfunctions and plows into a nearby moon. The intrigue and investigation (launched, of course by our intrepid Doctor and Lucie), begin in earnest with Lucie attempting to guess whodunit, and the Doctor trying to methodically interview people. Because Timbo was clearly murdered, and the uneasy peace between the Kith and the Varlon is at risk.

Lucie is absolute, 100% pure gold in this episode. Sheridan Smith just nails the comedy in Jonathan Morris’ script. I kept laughing at her comments as she gets most of the plum lines, up to and including her final line (which I won’t spoil for you, but it’s hilarious!). Her verbal sparring with Eight (one of the best bits about their relationship) is in fine form in MAX WARP. Not only do we get Paul McGann doing a proper fanboy excitement about the fastest and the sleekest ship (listing off features like he’s read multiple magazine articles about it), but we also get a wonderfully diverse secondary cast. Graeme Garden is suitably nasty, sexist, and just deliciously horrible (read: hilarious) as Geoffrey Vantage. I seriously could not believe some of his script beats (‘It’s a mans spaceship! Literally fuelled with testosterone! Ladies bring a toothbrush and a spare pair of knickers!’ or ‘Just smile and stick out your bits!’ to Lucie), but I adored how well Lucie sparred with him and put him in his place without him really catching on. Further still to the sexist angle we are given a different, but no more unwanted bit of that with mousy O’Reilly attempting to get Lucie to go to his room with him, and she kind of beats around the bush to let him down easy, but even he doesn’t get it and she has to end up rather sternly telling him “No.” I loved that aspect of the script as it showcases that sometimes even the nicest of guys can say and do the wrong things without realizing they are, and they need to be told they are out of line. It’s an attentive moment that I noticed and enjoyed, because Lucie really does give him a second to realize (and he’s just totally oblivious) before getting more direct with him.

The mystery/motive is fairly well hidden amongst a few red herrings and plot twists, added to by Lucie throwing out suspect after suspect and giving Sherlockian reasons for their guilt. The SpinDroid (a politician’s assistant / crutch) is wonderfully whimsical when he is on scene and sounded suspiciously like the droid from RETURN OF THE JEDI who tells R2 that he “has need for him on the master’s sail barge, and that he’d soon learn some respect”.

The political machinations at work are light, but given gravity due to the instability of the two world governments, and add tension to the proceedings of the investigation.  The whole thing (the event, the crash and the murder) begins to stink of an elaborate scheme and it's up to the Doctor and Lucie to sort out what and why. It's quite satisfying on that end when all is said and done, and that's really all you can ask of a DW mystery. I should not be able to guess the final outcome, and I think in MAX WARP, this is achieved well. But it's more than likely going to be how fun and hilarious this episode is that will sit with you afterwards. It's pure enjoyment for 50 minutes.

The aspect of envy on the part of the Doctor, who adores his stolen TARDIS, towards these super sleek, fast spaceships was palpable and entertaining. It’s always funny to think of it, since the TARDIS really does trump every other mode of transport, but the Doctor can’t help but feel a little envious. But it’s like owning a Smart Tank than can roll through anything and survive (and travel in time and space), but being jealous of a Ferrari, which is shiny, fast and nice looking, but could be ripped through like tin foil (BTTF reference intended).

Big Finish has their first big hit of their second Series with MAX WARP, as entertaining as some of the best from Series 1. The comedy and action are both spot on, and character interaction is tops. I’d ALMOST want to say if you were thinking about giving Series 2 a go and were wondering if it was worthy, that you should put DEAD LONDON off (briefly) and hit up MAX WARP first, as I feel it’s probably more entertaining to the casual listener.

NEXT TIME: The Doctor and Lucie visit a seaside town, in the middle of nowhere in 2008 that is seemingly stuck on a Sunday in 1991 and so are its inhabitants, in BRAVE NEW TOWN.

Doctor Who - Big Finish Audio Adventures - The Human Resources Part 1 and 2

Big Finish should be exceedingly proud of what they accomplished with Series 1 of the Eighth Doctor Audio Adventures, starring Paul McGann and Sheridan Smith. It was a well-wrought and thrilling ride through the Eighth Doctor’s Era that I was sad to see come to an end. Not for long obviously, as the Eighth Doctor Adventures (EDA's) continue through 3 more Series and are still going today thankfully.

The Series finishes the same way it began - another two-part story, with another Classic Fan favoruite villain. And as such an outing it almost succeeds more than the Series opener does, there is a hardy and ingrained quality to the Doctor and Lucie by the time the finale rolls around and it helps in making the story utterly engrossing.

THE HUMAN RESOURCES PART I & II, chases upon the last few minutes of NO MORE LIES, in which the nefarious “Headhunter” (played by Katarina Olsson), who has been menacing and following our Lucie since Ep1, finally catches up with her and steals her away from the Doctor. This episode begins non-chalantly enough though; seemingly in an ordinary office building. But appearances are deceiving. Naturally.

On the day Lucie was to have met the Doctor she had gone for an interview in London to work at an office. Well, in this story she finds herself on her first day of work at such an office building and doesn’t have anything but very scattered, fuzzy memories of her time in the TARDIS. The Doctor is simply a name that she sort of recalls, and those around her begin to help her integrate into cubicle life instead which she hesitantly allows. The Doctor, distraught after losing his companion, is visited by Straxus (whom some may recall is another Time Lord from Gallifrey), who tells him Lucie is very important and allows him to go rescue her. Straxus gives him a Time Ring which can get him to where she is without being discovered. Once he agrees and arrives at the office he quickly finds that things aren’t what they seem. The office isn’t really an office and the people who run it are actually being manipulated to do something more far-reaching and evil.

Spoiler: Enter the villains of the piece, the Cybermen (the Mondasian Cybermen, BEFORE they eventually settled on Telos in the Classic WHO story THE TENTH PLANET), who…for at least part of the narrative are on the defensive against mercenaries in possession of tech they shouldn’t have.

I won’t talk more story, but sufficed to say these two episodes are an absolutely humdinger of a finale. And both Eps are less about the Cybermen, than they are about politicking and war. I honestly could not have asked for a better story to end on. It has action, intrigue, comedy, mystery, twists and turns, and even some arc-wide plotting resolutions. It neatly spends the first hour establishing the bizarre events and setting with enough nods to keep you moving along and understanding while still keeping you relatively in the dark. The reveal at the end of the first hour is very interesting and the subsequent hook for the next half is well played indeed. The second hour gets to the meat of solving the problem, which puts the Doctor’s wits VERY much to the test, and simultaneously allows Lucie to shine herself in that same category. The two spend time both apart and together solving various issues, but what seems to come out most overall is that this is the episode where the bond between them is solidified. It’s at this point you realize “come hell or high water” these two are now the very best of friends and anything that threatens that bond is going to pay dearly. You will notice this from the outset since the Doctor is willing to leave his TARDIS (a vehicle he is well known to have stolen) in the hands of his people (whom he rejected years ago), and use only the Time Ring to go rescue Lucie. That’s friendship.

We also come to the resolution of WHY Lucie was placed in the TARDIS under the Doctor’s care, and just what the Time Lords were up to when they did that. It’s a resolution that I particularly liked to be honest. They could very well have chickened out on the reasoning behind her appearance and this whole business of the “witness protection program” and chalked it up to nothing much…but the writers go out of their way to make it a compelling reasoning, and tie it into her personality and the rest of the arcing story. It’s believable, because it is believable. Which seems like a copout statement, but you’ll have to listen to know what I mean by that. Trust me, it works very well.

One thing I always liked about RTD’s Era of DW on TV was his skill at wrapping up arcing plotlines while still allowing some parts of them to organically move forward still (example: Sealing Rose off on Pete’s World at the end of S2 [making way for Martha and Donna], and then letting her story loop back into S4). The same is true here, in that at the tail end of THE HUMAN RESOURCES the slate is wiped clean for The Doctor and Lucie. They now get to choose what they do and where they go, because they’ve dealt with the “How she got in the TARDIS and Why” plotline…but it allows other things (like the “headhunter”) to move forward on their own headed off in their own directions. I like seeing that knitting up of arcs that doesn’t also cut off all ties to what came before…but still managed to give me the standalone “ending” aspects I was looking for to feel satisfied the Series had a beginning, middle and an end. We don’t have to say goodbye to Eight and Lucie, but we close out their first chapter and look forward to the second.

I’ve loved, loved, loved my time with Eight and Lucie and feel that McGann and Smith deliver an impressive TARDIS team that I will be overjoyed to continue following through the next few Series (of which I have the entirety of S2, and the first ep of S3…with an eye to purchasing more when the time comes).

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. The Big Finish team (casts, crews, and everyone involved) are delivering DOCTOR WHO to the fanbase on a level that I can only describe as sparkling. If you think the TV show is all there is, I think you may owe it to yourself to seek out these Audio Drama’s (and if Eight isn’t your cup of tea there are also Audio’s for the 4th, 5th, 6th and 7th Doctor’s as well) and treat yourself to the hidden gem of DW fandom. I can’t praise the quality enough and I look forward to many more hours of enjoyment!

NEXT TIME: We start Series 2 with Eight and Lucie being shifted around time in the wonderful opening story DEAD LONDON!

Doctor Who - Big Finish Audio Adventures - 1.6 No More Lies

Editorial Note: This review may contain trace amounts of minor spoilers…and peanuts…but mostly minor spoilers. You have been warned.

There are a few things I absolutely love in my fiction, and writer Paul Sutton’s script for the 6th Episode in the Eighth Doctor's Audio Adventures, NO MORE LIES, has two of them in spades, and it even tickles at a third of them.

It has, in no particular order:

1. It begins In Medias Res. Which means that it starts midway through a story as opposed to at the beginning.

2. It concentrates on character first and foremost and story second. Though it allows neither to languish, but rather finds a way for them to work in a wonderful harmony.

3. This is the tickler one…it has a monster which is being manipulated by another monster or set of monsters.

Basically, when this one started I actually pulled out my iPhone, paused it, and double checked I’d started it at the beginning. We are thrown headfirst into the deep end and understand nothing of the situation which The Eighth Doctor and Lucie Miller find themselves in. There seems to be a criminal of some kind that they are attempting to stop, they are aboard some sort of time ship, there is a race of beings called the Tar-Modowk (who seemingly exist only in the Time Vortex) who ride pterodactyl type creatures called Vortisaurs. It is literally chaos from moment one. In those first 10-15 minutes of the tale, those are the few things I grasped. Well, Zimmerman (the criminal) escapes with the time ship, leaving the Doctor and Lucie to chase him down…only to find themselves on earth at a posh evening garden party, where it looks to be as if Zimmerman has been settled for 30 years and is married to a woman named Rachel. Huh? "What's going on?" you ask.

How this connects to the chaotic beginning of the story is what Sutton spends the second half of the script revealing. And boy does it work well. The characters absolutely pop through your headphones. We can start with the guest stars. The wonderful Nigel Havers (who would go on later to star in the DW spin-off THE SARAH JANE ADVENTURES in THE WEDDING OF SARAH JANE SMITH) plays Zimmerman and the equally stellar Julia McKenzie plays his wife Rachel. Both are in middle-to-old age and have spent 30 years together. The chemistry they share is absolutely one of the shining moments of this episode. They act as close to a married couple of their age would be. It’s very realistic and believable and both actors sell each line they deliver. One of the nice things about these Audio’s is that you get to imagine a lot of the visuals yourself. Monsters, spaceships, lasers, battle, villains, planets ect. It’s all up to your thinkymeatz to discover…but when it comes to character interaction and depth, that’s up to the actors alone to sell you. So when both Havers and McKenzie emote through voice alone, it just locks the narrative in and you are invested, and that was something I was pleasantly surprised by. Well done across the board.

By this point The Doctor and Lucie have had a few adventures together and their relationship is growing and the bond they are forming is becoming a little more solid. Paul McGann and Sheridan Smith continue to prove to me, with each subsequent outing, that they are a TARDIS Team to be reckoned with. Not only that, I am (at episode 6 of the 1st Series) totally 100% a fan of Eight and Lucie. Call the papers; we can now add them to the master list in my head: Ten and Rose, Ten and Donna, and now Eight and Lucie. They just work so bleeding well together, and I find myself self-consciously grinning at their various scenes of clever back-and-forth. And the key here is a gradual growth, Eight and Lucie start out totally wrong footed, and through their own set of trials and tribulations they begin to not only trust each other but form something of a bond. That bond is not totally there just yet, but it’s getting there and in NO MORE LIES, a tale which showcases such character acting, it’s on display. It's nice to see we dind't make any logic jumps from "snarky, untrusting Doctor and Companion" immediately to "Bosom buddies Doctor and Companion". There's a number of steps involved and this one seems to have them on the cusp of that final solid relationship.

Not to be undershadowed (a word?...not a word), the story itself in NO MORE LIES is wonderful. It’s clever and well executed, and the In Medias Res thing works to its advantage. It takes your eyes (or in this case ears) off the things which might reveal end-plot to you and leads you astray for a bit. When it comes back in and you begin to have your end-plot revelations…well then they hit you like a ton of bricks. It might seem a small tactic, but it truly works here. There are many plot strands at work in this episode, but the ones that need to shine…are allowed to shine properly by the end. It left me very contented when it finished and the credits ran. To me it’s the best of the 1st Series so far. But then again, I love character episodes, and this is definitely a character episode.

Sidenote: It’s probably a little weird to admit this, but in the wonderful "CD Extra’s" included after each disc/episode (interviews with the casts and such) when Nick Briggs, in a monster voice, says “CD EXTRAS”…it always makes me laugh and usually I repeat it in my own monster voice out loud...even on the subway. It gets weird looks. As well it should I suppose.

NEXT TIME: A two-fer review for a Two-Parter. I look at the Series 1 Eighth Doctor Finale, 1.7 and 1.8 THE HUMAN RESOURCES Part’s I & II.