12th Doctor Short Trips - Dead Media

Narrator: Jacob Dudman; Cover Artist: Mark Plastow
Director: Nicholas Briggs; Producer: Alfie Shaw
Writer: John Richards; Script Editor: Alfie Shaw
Executive Producers:Jason Haigh-Ellery & Nicholas Briggs 
Sound Design: Richard Fox @ FoxYason Studios

Like everyone else in 2017, the Doctor is doing a podcast. Named the ‘People of St Lukes’, the podcast is about the everyday lives of students at the university. Only, with the Doctor involved, the everyday is dangerous and extraordinary.

Something’s lurking in the A/V department, something that is trapped in old equipment… as the Doctor quickly discovers, outdated technology does have a role in the modern world.

That role? Ending it.

The story kicks off with the Doctor doing a podcast (something I bet he would do!). The podcast is centred around St Lukes, which places this story somewhere in series 10, to where it is an absolute perfect fit.

An evil recording is a great idea, and here its creepily handled, with feedback repeating your words back to you, but with subtle changes. Nicholas Briggs direction and John Richards writing combine to make Dead Media a truly atmospheric thirty four minutes.

There is a  small 'but', and the but is Jacob Dudman's Capaldi impersonation. Don't get me wrong, it's good - very good, but is not quite there, and I found this quite distracting. There needs to be more gravitas, more richness. Jacob Dudman is a truly fantastic vocal impressionist, and an invaluable find for Big Finish, as he will help move the brand forward. His take on the tenth and eleventh Doctor are literally pitch perfect. I'm hoping that Dead Media is a 'soft' opening for him as Doctor number twelve, and I'm sure that practice will indeed make perfect.

Dead Media is available HERE, from Big Finish.