Doctor Who - Audio Adventures

[mjwilson]

IIRC Apocalypse Element has a subplot with the Eye of Harmony getting reprogrammed with Evelyn's eye print, in an attempt to explain the events of the TV movie. On balance, this was a bit of a waste of effort.

[daf]

Even though it features my all time favourite Doctor and Companion combination, and having listened to it twice over the past couple of years, I can remember ABSOLUTELY NOTHING from this story. Not a single thing!

I'm generally not fussed about Daleks, (unless they're in some interesting historical setting like ancient Egypt with a Meddling Monk around), and I am even less arsed about the politics of sodding Gallifrey - which just seems like a bunch of boring stiffs plotting against another bunch of boring stiffs - who gives a crap!

[daf]

Next time... Steve Lyons sets himself the unenviable task of writing a McCoy and Mel story.

Oh boy - now THIS is more like it!

[purlieu]

The Fires of Vulcan by Steve Lyons

Much like the Missing Adventures and Past Doctor Adventures before them, the Big Finish audios have, so far, been split between stories that attempt to recreate the mood of the original eras, and stories that do something different. This is very much the latter: a pure historical set in Pompeii, starring Seven and Mel.

It's not the Seven and Mel of season 24. In fact, nothing here feels like that era at all. Not just the non-SF setting, but the writing and performances. McCoy is much closer to the brooding version from 26 and, moreso, the NAs. Mel is... well, not annoying, for a start. Keff McCulloch is nowhere to be found. It's not quite the revelation that is Six and Evelyn, but it's so much more palatable than the TV stories starring McCoy and Langford.

It's a fairly simple story, with the two travellers appearing in Pompeii, getting involved in som scuffles, making friends and enemies of some locals, then realising the TARDIS is buried beneath a collapsed building and that they won't be able to escape before the volcano blows its top. The interactions with the residents are very reminiscent of those found in '60s historicals, which actually manages to work with this TARDIS team. By the third episode, there's probably been enough and the running around getting into fights type plotting gets a bit tiresome, but otherwise it's fine. There's a nice subplot involving the Fifth Doctor having found out his TARDIS had been excavated from Pompeii, meaning he knew he'd one day end up abandoned there, and although the solution is fairly straightforward, it adds a nice layer of tension to the story.

All in all, not bad.

Next time... it's back to Benny again.

[purlieu]

Dragon's Wrath by Justin Richards, adapted by Jacqueline Rayner


Hmm. That was crap.
I like Justin's novel, a great book that utilises Benny's archeological expertise with a great central mystery and some great twists. This, however, is the start of the single CD Benny stories, and that means about three quarters of the novel has been removed to try and cram this in in just over an hour. It doesn't work, at all. The story doesn't stick to a single location for more than a few minutes, none of the scenes have any room to breathe, and without having read the book, I would have struggled to follow the story. It isn't helped by Irving Braxiatel being completely written out, despite him playing a major role in the book.

Even worse is the sound design, which sounds cheap and amateur, with some abysmal music utilising keyboard presets that sound like Keff McCulloch's idea of a wet dream. The sound effects sometimes get in there way of the dialogue, making the already confusing plot even harder to follow. Some unconvincing performances don't help, with this story's Who guest star, Richard Franklin, failing to come close to capturing the charismatic but intimidating galactic warmonger Nusek.

Lisa Bowerman does her best to make the whole thing listenable, but when she's reduced to literally narrating exposition, even she can't save it.

A shame that an otherwise solid run of adaptations had to come to a close on such a low, in what is easily the worst Big Finish I've heard to date. It's the kind of amateurish crap that I'd imagine BF detractors think the whole range is like. On the whole, I'm glad the adaptations have finished, though, with Benny's story now picking up where the NAs left off. I'll be covering the first Big Finish book, Dead Men Diaries edited by Paul Cornell, over in the Old Who thread because it's not audio.

Next time... er, Paul Cornell and Benny. The first audio to exist explicitly in the NA timeline.

Edit: oh fucking hell I forgot to mention the new theme tune. Good God. I hope that fucks off soon.

[jamiefairlie]

Even though it features my all time favourite Doctor and Companion combination, and having listened to it twice over the past couple of years, I can remember ABSOLUTELY NOTHING from this story. Not a single thing!

I'm generally not fussed about Daleks, (unless they're in some interesting historical setting like ancient Egypt with a Meddling Monk around), and I am even less arsed about the politics of sodding Gallifrey - which just seems like a bunch of boring stiffs plotting against another bunch of boring stiffs - who gives a crap!

I love the Gallifrey series for just that reason 😃

[purlieu]

Shadow of the Scourge by Paul Cornell

Oh God that cover. I can see what they were trying to do, but it's a dismal failure. It's the first time we've seen Lisa Bowerman as Benny, but the shirt and tie outfit doesn't match anything seen or mentioned in the NAs. It's also the first time we've seen McCoy in his NA, question mark-free outfit, but it's a badly composited mess. New Ace flies in from the Ace book and is the best of the three. And then the compositing of the whole thing is abysmal, depressingly reminiscent of the kind of stuff I used to make in Photoshop when I was 15. Ugly ugly ugly.

Anyway, the story. This is the first time Paul Cornell has written a script, rather than a novel. How does it come across? Overall, a little worse than his books. It can't be easy writing dialogue that has to replace visuals or written descriptions, and some manage it better than others. Cornell errs on the side of unnecessary shouted exposition which lets down the more dramatic moments. The story is a reasonably typical one, without much of Cornell's usual weirdness: aliens called the Scourge are planning to invade our universe to feed on fear. Sadly, and despite Cornell's best effort, it doesn't really rise above that.

There's some Timewyrm: Revelation type stuff in the heads of the main characters, dealing with their fears, which would feel quite bold were it not a poor retread of that excellent book. There are some wonderful individual moments: the end of the first episode with The Doctor signing over ownership of the Earth to the Scourge; a couple of later moments where his manipulations go wrong and his confidence is knocked, including a fantastic scream for Benny to help him which shows a vulnerability rarely seen in his incarnation. The humour is excellent throughout. And it's great to have Seven, Ace and Benny together in real life; they have great chemistry, and it's a shame there aren't many other audios set in this period of the NAs.

But otherwise it's an underwhelming story from a usually very capable writer. It was difficult to feel properly involved in everything going on. A missed opportunity, really.

Next time... a two-in-a-row for Eccleston writers, as it's the first appearance of Rob Shearman. And, er... Frobisher.

[purlieu]

The Holy Terror by Rob Shearman

I almost didn't listen to this tonight. After a couple of stories I wasn't keen on, I thought about taking a break. I'm very glad I changed my mind.

This is a wonderfully bonkers story. Firstly, the idea of bringing out Frobisher - the Sixth Doctor's penguin-a-like shape shifting companion from the comics - for an audio story is ludicrous. But it totally works. He's a PI, and is performed as a wise cracking New Yorker.

Then there's the fact that the first two episodes are out and out comedy. The TARDIS is fed up of not being appreciated and lands in an unknown place, a castle where one God has died so his son is taking his place. The society in the castle runs on ritual: after the new God's ascension, a guard tries to assassinate him, and his ugly, scorned brother and the high priest conspire to topple him from the throne. Not out of desire, but simply because it's the done thing. Meanwhile, Frobisher accidentally encourages the new God to abdicate, and becomes God himself. It works as both a satire on religion, and a wonderful series of absurd set pieces, while throwing in a Castrovalva-style mystery to solve.

And then it all changes, and becomes a chilling horror story, with a grotesquely voiced child slaughtering the entire population of the castle, seeking out its father and killing anyone who doesn't fit the description. The climax changes tack again and becomes a tragedy, a wonderful irony when contrasted with the faux-Shakespearean stereotypes of the story's characters, but also a genuinely moving ending. The shift from absurdism to gut-punch is seamless, and all in all makes for an incredibly satisfying story.

The performances are all top notch, and the script is helped by the setting: everything is so overly familiar and stereotyped that nobody needs to stand around reading out descriptions, while the villainous child works best when left to the imagination. Special mention must also go to Colin here, who is utterly marvellous here. I'm beginning to see why he's so highly rated in these audios: I've just reached the one year mark of the monthly range, and my two favourite stories so far are Sixth Doctor ones. Here he shifts from quietly bemused to commanding to heartbroken and never fails to convince. Whether it's his improvement as an actor, or simply the decision to write him as The Doctor rather than an obnoxious wanker, he's so, so much better here than he ever was on TV.

Between the scary murderous child going around asking "are you my father?" and a particular reveal that has some very strong similarities with Heaven Sent, I would be surprised if this particular story wasn't a favourite of Steven Moffat.

All in all, a superb story, and my favourite Big Finish so far.

Next time... back to the Daleks again.

[daf]

Yes this is a stupendous story, and one that's actually better for being on audio rather than on TV. I can't think how they'd have attempted Frobisher - actor in a costume shrunk down via CSO? A rubber puppet? - The mind boggles!

I'm beginning to see why he's so highly rated in these audios: I've just reached the one year mark of the monthly range, and my two favourite stories so far are Sixth Doctor ones. Here he shifts from quietly bemused to commanding to heartbroken and never fails to convince. Whether it's his improvement as an actor, or simply the decision to write him as The Doctor rather than an obnoxious wanker, he's so, so much better here than he ever was on TV.

Glad you're liking the Sixth Doctor on audio - even with average stories, Colin always gives 100%

[purlieu]

The Mutant Phase written by Nicholas Briggs, directed by Nicholas Briggs, music by Nicholas Briggs, sound design by Nicholas Briggs, starring Nicholas Briggs as The Daleks

I bet he's sad only the cast got their names on the cover at this point.

Part three of the tenuous Dalek Empire arc finds the Fifth Doctor and Nyssa arriving in Kansas during the Dalek occupation of Earth in the 22nd century, where they meet a yokel roboman before ending up traveling down a time corridor to the 42nd century. There's a nice twist that the Thals and Daleks are working together, and it turns out it's because of a Dalek mutation that's turning them into enormous creatures that consume all life. It sounds daft but it's actually handled pretty well in the story.

It's a fairly engaging and dynamic story, with a particularly entertaining last episode, the highlight being the Dalek Emperor, communicating through a human body, trying to convince a Dalek of who he is and not getting through at all. The whole plot wraps up with a paradox that the Doctor ties to explain to Nyssa before concluding that paradoxes don't really make sense.

Nyssa is slightly more Nyssa-like this time, although she's still not really doing much for me; Davison is excellent here. None of the guests are particularly memorable, sadly. On the whole, my favourite Dalek Empire story so far.

Next time... enter Paul McGann.

[purlieu]

Storm Warning by Alan Barnes

I immediately like that there's a subtly different cover design to these Eighth Doctor stories. It just makes these feel like a separate ongoing series, as opposed to the 'filling in the gaps' nostalgia of the other Doctors' stories. And then there's the new theme! I first heard this on a YouTube video of a megamix of all the Who themes about 15 years ago and wondered where it came from. It's the most ethereal sounding of all the official versions, and had the TV show continued into the late '90s, this is how I imagine the theme would have sounded then. Setting it apart even further, there's a pre-titles sequence!

The draw here is the return of Paul McGann. You can publish as many EDAs as you like, but that version of the Eighth Doctor is ill-defined and frankly divorced from the actor; the character has only really come together by moving away from the TV Movie version, and hearing McGann here is a reminder of how different the two versions are. Anyway, Paul McGann is back, and he completely steals the show. He totally captures the buoyant enthusiasm of his film performance, but this time he's actually given something to do, things to react to and characters to really interact with, and it opens up a whole new level to his performance, with a black humour and keen sarcasm that feels incredibly different to any other incarnation of the Doctor (and makes the Steve Cole-era EDA version feel like Davison's Doctor in comparison). Every scene he's in here is a joy to listen to.

Thankfully the story is decent, too. The R101 airship's doomed maiden voyage, it turns out, was actually launched to return a crashed alien to its ship. The Doctor, fleeing a flock of vortisaurs in the time vortex, finds himself on board and, with the help of stowaway Charley, helps smooth over the return and stops a South African wanker called Rathbone starting an intergalactic war. It's not a classic, but is easily listenable with an engaging enough plot, and is certainly enough to make McGann's return memorable in the way The Sirens of Time wasn't for the previous three Doctors.

There's even a potential cliffhanger regarding the future of Charley, immediately allowing this to feel like a proper series, rather than a one-off story. Which is good, as the next three audios are Eighth Doctor stories too.

All in all, an excellent start to 2001.

Next time... Cybermen. I suppose it was only a matter of time.

[mjwilson]

DWM gave away the first episode of Storm Warning and I thought it was so bad that it put me off buying the story entirely, despite having been quite enthusiastic about McGann's return up until then.

[Chairman Yang]

DWM gave away the first episode of Storm Warning and I thought it was so bad that it put me off buying the story entirely, despite having been quite enthusiastic about McGann's return up until then.

Oooh I'd love to know what you didn't like about it. I remember it being quite fun.

[mjwilson]

Oooh I'd love to know what you didn't like about it. I remember it being quite fun.

Well it was more than 20 years ago so I don't have a super clear memory of it. I think there was some dialogue trying to get round the problems of letting the audience know what was going on, and doing a clumsy job of it.

[Chairman Yang]

Well it was more than 20 years ago so I don't have a super clear memory of it. I think there was some dialogue trying to get round the problems of letting the audience know what was going on, and doing a clumsy job of it.

Oh that's fair, it does have a lot of "Gosh, it is rather dark in this metal tube isn't it, old girl?" from The Doctor.

[purlieu]

He does do a bit of a running commentary on the Vortisaur attack at the start which is a touch cringey, but otherwise I can't remember there being much of that really.

[daf]

Storm Warning by Alan Barnes

I immediately like that there's a subtly different cover design to these Eighth Doctor stories. It just makes these feel like a separate ongoing series, as opposed to the 'filling in the gaps' nostalgia of the other Doctors' stories.

Fun Fact : the first four McGann audios originally featured a gorgeous copper coloured Logo on the cover.



They had to revert back to the blue for the second series (and onwards) as the BBC informed them that they didn't have permission make any changes to the 1996 logo. The second version also included a credit for India Fisher, and the lettering (as you can see) was slightly squished.

All the CD versions I've ever seen for sale on ebay feature the copper logo, so I'm not sure if they actually pressed any blue ones - but just changed the image on their website!

[mjwilson]

He does do a bit of a running commentary on the Vortisaur attack at the start which is a touch cringey, but otherwise I can't remember there being much of that really.

Oh that rings a bell actually, that might have been the part.

[purlieu]

Sword of Orion written by Nicholas Briggs, directed by Nicholas Briggs, music by Nicholas Briggs, sound design by Nicholas Briggs, starring Nicholas Briggs as The Cybermen

This is an odd mix of eras. The cover, for example, features an Invasion-era Cyberman, and yet their presentation in the story is very much the Mr. Blobby voiced 1980s version. It is, of course, neither a '60s story nor an '80s one, starring the Eighth Doctor and Charley, and yet at the same time it really feels like a '60s Cyberman tale. In particular, The Moonbase. Base-under-siege, starring the Cybermen and yet not featuring them all that much. It has all the usual tension and claustrophobia of a base-under-siege story siege, and as a result is probably the most convincingly 'trad' Big Finish story to date, right down to the 'reveal' of the Cybermen as the first episode's cliffhanger, even though we know they're there from the fucking cover. It's generally pretty successful, especially if you're after something that evokes the classic era. At this point, I'm not convinced this is necessarily something the McGann stories need to do - there's enough nostalgia in the other Doctor adventures - but when it's done this well it's certainly very listenable.

Eight and Charley are excellent here, an immediately likeable team with great chemistry and a lot of humour. They basically drive the story, as the guest characters are a bunch of drab northerners with almost nothing to distinguish them from each other.

Next time... Paul Magrs's first shot at a Big Finish story. This could be brilliantly bonkers or maddeningly mediocre.

[jamiefairlie]

I'm always expecting Charley to start talking about what kind of cook the Doctor is and what he's going to make next.

[Midas]

Sword of Orion is notably a remake of the 'Audio Visuals' fan production of the same name from the late '80s. Both iterations were the seventeenth stories to be released, though this was only the second direct adaptation of an AV play by Big Finish (the first being The Mutant Phase).



The writing and sound design made this one of the more accomplished AV plays, with much of Briggs' original script (written under the pen name 'Samuel Flint') being retained for the McGann version. While Jim Mortimore's pulp-y horror soundtrack (which I secretly quite like) was replaced by a new score in the 2001 remake, an excerpt was used as incidental music in this trailer.

It has all the usual tension and claustrophobia of a base-under-siege story siege, and as a result is probably the most convincingly 'trad' Big Finish story to date, right down to the 'reveal' of the Cybermen as the first episode's cliffhanger, even though we know they're there from the fucking cover.

Interestingly [sic] you can see in the inlay art above they made an effort to disguise the involvement of the Cybermen in the original production (notice that some of the cast are credited merely as "Aliens"), so it's a shame they ended up compromising the reveal in the remake - perhaps they thought it'd have a broader appeal if they stuck a Cyberman on the cover.

"Trad" is an apt description though! In the book Justyce Served Briggs reflects on writing Sword of Orion:

I sort of wrote it in anger because I wrote this story called The Ultimate Brain which was really quite cerebral and neat. Bill [Baggs] said "It's too clever, I wanted something more rip-roaring". And I said "Right, you want clichés? I'll give you fucking clichés" and I wrote Sword of Orion to sort of prove I could do something totally clichéd with every single beat of a classic base-under-siege story. I deliberately did it to be crass and then I ended up falling in love with it myself by the end. I was quite frustrated by it, it turned out really well!

And this is what Briggs wrote in December 2000 about re-writing the story:

Although, for some strange reason, the tried and trusted formula of a Doctor Who story seems as familiar as a well loved friend to me - and Sword of Orion itself is an adventure from a previous 'existence' of mine - this story was a grand opportunity for re-invention and re-imagining. Producers Gary and Jason had often spoken to me of their wish to bring back Sword of Orion - as a crackling, hissing amateur analogue audio venture buried back in the 1980s, it had been flatteringly popular, but surely it wouldn't simply be a case of transcribing the original cassette and handing the result to Paul McGann, would it?

I have to admit that a surprisingly large amount of the original, fervently typed with two sore fingers on an Olivetti portable typewriter, does survive. However, the re-invention centres around the new Doctor himself. Not just because Paul's interpretation of the character has its own unique flavour, but because the only on-screen template for these new adventures was distinctly cinematic in nature. So, in a way, I set out to write an audio movie. Certainly in the opening episode, I wanted there to be the feeling that this could have been the next Doctor Who movie to be made. Just a little bit of indulgence on my part, but my aim was to stitch this claustrophobic Cyber encounter onto a broader, futuristic tapestry.

It's... okay...

I think I probably like the atmosphere of the early fan production more tbh. As a story it isn't great, but the crackling recording with its imperfect analogue soundtrack gives everything this off-kilter, ancient - almost mythical - atmosphere. Like stepping into a forbidden tomb and trying to decipher an uncanny, malformed artefact.

[mjwilson]

Whoah, so Nick Briggs and Bill Baggs worked together on the AVs? But one of them ended up with his dream job producing officially licenced Doctor Who audios, and the other has ended up (checks notes) making stories about a robot ferret?

Was there a falling-out?

[jamiefairlie]

Garry Russell left BF pretty early too didn't he?

[daf]

He stepped down as an executive producer in 2006, when he began script editing for the RTD's TV series.

There wasn't any falling out, and he kept his hand in after that as a producer on the Bernice Summerfields, Iris Wildthymes and script editing Dorian Gray.

His most recent BF credits are as an editor on a Benny audiobook and writing a Blake Seven story both from 2021.

[Midas]

Was there a falling-out?

Someone online (I forget who) once claimed that the Beeb stipulated they would only grant BF the licence to make Doctor Who audio dramas provided Baggs had no involvement. It's probably best to take that with a pinch of salt, but it wouldn't surprise me, as he seems to have burned his bridges with numerous people over the years. I know Colin Baker has said he'll never work with him again.

[Ambient Sheep]

Just seen this on Twitter:

https://twitter.com/c_wickham/status/1561000858845937665

Christopher Wickham
@c_wickham

Reminder that the Radio 4 Extra broadcast of the Ten/Donna BF stories begins today. A really solid batch of stories.

bbc.co.uk
BBC Radio 4 Extra - Doctor Who, Tenth Doctor Adventures, Technophobia

3:43 PM · Aug 20, 2022 · Twitter Web App

Starts 6pm today (Sat 20th August), and obviously available afterwards.

[JamesTC]

Those three Tennant/Tate audios in the first run are very good. Really feel like they could be Series 4 stories. Technophobia emulating a series opener very well.

[Ambient Sheep]

I've not heard them (or indeed any other audio adventures) before, but I think I'll give these a go, although probably won't be able to listen live tonight.

I had no idea that R4Ex even put on Big Finish stuff!

[daf]

I had no idea that R4Ex even put on Big Finish stuff!

In 2006 or so, BBC7 commissioned the first series of 8th Doctor & Lucie Miller adventures - which is why they're all 50 minutes long.

Not sure if they commissioned any more after that though, but they did broadcast some of the Tom Bakers - as they were also 50 minute stories.

- - - - - - - - - -
Just found a page with all the Doctor Who/Big Finish stuff they've broadcast :
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b009szrh/episodes/guide

[daf]

7th Doctor and Ace Sale - ends  23:59 (UK time) on 25th August 2022
https://www.bigfinish.com/collections/v/the-seventh-doctor-and-ace-collection



(Going for the bundles is usually a moneysaver - no postage on them either)