There’s always a slight sense of trepidation when approaching a release which has attracted as much interest in advance of its release as TheTwoMasters; inevitably there is a question mark as to whether it will live up to the promise of its central conceit or, like several multi-Doctor audio plays before it, end up feeling like an over-hyped disappointment? Well, this reviewer is pleased to say that overall this play has a lot to recommend it. John Dorney’s script proves to be an enjoyable conclusion to this rather unusual trilogy of adventures, especially when explaining how the events of the two previous plays are connected. To an extent, Dorney was working to a shopping list set up by script editor Alan Barnes and so despite this reviewer’s previous criticism of the opening play of this sequence, AndYouWillObeyMe, the explanations provided in this release offered a certain amount of retrospective appreciation for that play’s plotting by Barnes.

Without wanting to give too much away, unlike some previous releases from the earlier Big Finish years which were sold on the basis that they would bring multiple incarnations of the Doctor together only to renege on their promise, TheTwoMasters contains lots of scenes featuring both incarnations interacting together. Having possibly jumped the gun with my over-favourable assessment of Alex Macqueen’s performance in last month’s VampireoftheMind, it is Geoffrey Beevers’ turn in this release to appear to be having the most fun out of the two rather chalk and cheese personalities of the infamous renegade. Beevers also seems to get a lot of the best lines particularly when criticising his future self in a manner which recalls John Hurt’s wry observations about the Tenth and Eleventh Doctors in The Day of the Doctor. The references to the Master’s continuity are well used and the story is so Master-centric that Sylvester McCoy barely appears in the third episode. There is a nice performance by Lauren Crace as this month’s proto-companion Jemima, another new character with definite potential for future appearances. The only slight disappointment is that the Doctor reappears to save the day very much in the manner of a Deus-ex-machina, even though we all know he’s bound to do so, the ending has a feeling of possibly one too many resets being pressed.

Overall, however this is a very worthwhile listen. Whilst it doesn’t penetrate as deeply into the Master’s character as the 2003 classic Master did, it still shows that after forty-five years, the Doctor’s very own Moriarty still has a lot of mileage left in all of their incarnations.

In The Gallery Of Ghouls, we find the Doctor and Romana in Brighton, the year is 1833. They are there to visit the opening of the Brighton Pavilion, but unfortunately, the Randomiser made them materialise eighteen years too early.

From the off, the listener can tell that this story will be a somewhat lighthearted affair. The Doctor believes that seagulls are agents of the Black Guardian, and has issues with deck chairs, while Romana believes that eighteen years is 'the blink of a time tots eye', and is happy to while away the time touring Europe.

However, when they discover that Madam Tissot's Wax Exposition is in town, they both decide to take a look, after all, waxworks are the Doctor's 57th favorite thing.....or is that 58th?

The play on the name Tissot is, of curse quite purposeful. It turns out that Madam Tissot (the rather fantastic Celia Imrie) is a tad jealous of Madam Tussaud's fame, and feels a tad robbed of the limelight.

We join Madam Tissot and her son Noni (yes, Noni) at the Exposition, where Tissot is bemoaning a local rival Mr Goole (Nickolas Grace), who runs a similar attraction, Goole's Gallery of Ghouls on the other side of town. They discover the Doctor trying to put right a waxwork display depicting the death of Nelson. The Doctor insisting that he himself was present at the actual event, along with a Sea Devil. Things start to spiral out of control for the Doctor and Romana though as they discover that the head of Marie Antoinette has been stolen, and the finger of blame is of course pointing straight at the Doctor and Romana.

From here on in things descend into a dark farce. Who is the mysterious Mr Goole, and why does he seem to just melt away? Why are his waxworks so very lifelike? And are we really being invaded by aliens from the planet Slough? I'm sure you can see exactly where all of this is going.

The Tom Baker and Lalla Ward episodes always managed to squeeze in a lot of humour, and Gallery of Ghouls really drives that home. The comic timing between the pair are exquisite here, providing much comic relief after the previous two episodes of pretty hard sci-fi. The feel of this audio reminded me a lot of The Talons Of Weng-Chiang yes, it's dark, but there are a lot of funny moments. 

The cliffhanger to part one is expertly, and tightly constructed, and is also pure Who of the time. Our heroes are separated, The Doctor and Noni are trapped in Goole's Cellar Of Terror, where the lifelike waxworks, are seemingly coming alive. While outside Romana and Noni are trapped by an alien masquerading as a local policeman, welding Dick Turpin's blunderbuss.

Celia Imrie is a joy as the guileful Madam Tissot, whose claims all ring about as true as Walter Mitty. She speaks with a haughty French accent, which she loses in a moment of truthfulness, and is exposed as Mary Barnes, from Wolverhampton. Nickolas Grace is great as her much put upon son Noni. This audio is written by Alan Barnes, and directed by Ken Bentley.

K9/ John Leeson are absent from this audio, but much like the classic era in which this story is set, he is mentioned a lot (this usually happened when the terrain would have been a nightmare for the prop to negotiate).

All in all, there is a lot to recommend Gallery of Ghouls, I promise you that you will find it well worth a listen. Gallery of Ghouls is available from Big Finish now.

Every once in a while, Big Finish release a play which stands out from their large catalogue of Doctor Who releases as being something rather special. ThePeterlooMassacre, based on one of the darkest episodes of early nineteenth century British history, is the most recent example of such a play. Paul Magrs, who is better known for slightly less serious offerings to TheWorldsofDoctorWho, has produced a script which brilliantly captures the atmosphere of the tragic events of 16th August 1819. The massacre itself, a mass demonstration for reform by more than 60,000 people in St Peter’s Square, Manchester which was attacked by local militia, resulting in 15 fatalities and 654 casualties, is not a subject which would automatically lend itself to a Doctor Who story. However, sometimes it is worth remembering that events like the Peterloo Massacre actually happened and that real people were caught up in them.

By concentrating on a small number of fictionalised characters caught up in the massacre, Magrs is able to do what a pure historical story does best and concentrate on the human aspect. At the centre of this story is Nyssa’s relationship with Cathy, a maid who wants to speak up for workers’ rights only to find herself directly affected by the tragedy. Sarah Sutton is able to give Nyssa genuine compassion which particularly shines through in her scenes alongside Hayley Jayne Standing as Cathy, particularly when the human cost of the massacre becomes horrifically apparent. Peter Davison, meanwhile, gives one of his strongest performances to date as the Doctor realises far too late that he and his companions have arrived in Manchester on the eve of one of the darkest days in the city’s history. His growing anger as he seeks to protect his companions from the inevitability of the unfolding events is truly something to behold. This story really showcases the Fifth Doctor’s full performance range. Even Janet Fielding’s Tegan manages to be less abrasive than usual even when experiencing nineteenth century inequality towards women at first hand.

The only slight incongruity is that Nigel Fairs’ music score is occasionally a little intrusive but this really is a minor quibble in a story which otherwise delivers for its listeners in spades. Undoubtedly, ThePeterlooMassacre will be considered as one of the best audio releases of recent times and is certainly the highlight of the opening trilogy of plays for 2016. Echoing my concluding comment on February’s Aquitaine, we can hopefully look forward to many more stories featuring the Fifth Doctor, Nyssa and Tegan. This reviewer is delighted by the confirmation at the time of writing that these three will be returning for next year’s opening trilogy of main range releases alongside Matthew Waterhouse as Adric. On the strength of these plays, roll on 2017!

The Paradox Planet opens with a lovely scene, in the TARDIS with the Doctor, Romana and K9. The Doctor has decided that it is time that he learns to play the violin (very badly) - his two companions are both trying desperately to convince him that he will never master it. It is the style of story opening that I remember this original era for. The comic timing of the three leads are truly excellent. I found myself chuckling during my listen on the walk to to work.

As the story quickly moves on, due to a collision in the time vortex, the Doctor and Romana are separated in time by one thousand years, and find themselves at either end of a battle that is being raged by the same race, on the same planet - but in two very different time zones. The Paradox Planet of the title is Aoris. With foreknowledge of extinction, the future faction are taking endangered species from the past, back with them to the future. The faction in the past are desperate to stop this, even if it might mean wiping out their own race in the future.

The story continues in LegacyOfDeath, which finds both factions able to time travel. The Doctor volunteers to travel back to the past as a peace envoy, in the hope of saving the people of Aoris from wiping each other out, but finds himself caught up in the paradox himself.

The two episodes are, as usual in this series of audios, both split into two parts - meaning that we have four twenty-five minute(ish) episodes, which is a treat in itself. Each cliffhanger is expertly written, if sometimes craftily resolved - but this doesn't detract from a very action packed and well written story that is pure science fiction. The paradoxes are all very well planned, and all pay off. John Leeson gets a lot of K9 time in both stories, in fact at times there are two K9s, along with two versions of the TARDIS. One of my favourite of the 'classic' stories is Logopolis, and there are some similarities here. I also noticed that other episodes had some great nods. The biggest being one of the resolutions to a cliffhanger, which is very reminiscent of The Pandorica Opens and The Big Bang. Another episode that I felt heavily reminded of is The Face Of Evil.

The most fun to be had here are with the Doctor, Romana and K9 in the future Aoris, where they are essentially heralded as brave heroes, which when you find out as to why is very amusing indeed. 

The character of Machina is also a great reveal, which I didn't notice until I read them, but the credits to the story published by Big Finish give the identity of the character away (I have removed the offending credit here). If you can avoid reading the credits before listening, please try. Machina is essentially what seems to be a giant, old fashioned computer who is revered in the future. Romana's line upon stepping inside the giant computer is genius as she is disappointed that it is just a metal box with flashing lights on the outside for show.

Ultimately, both stories are tales of how a race can abuse a planet and it's resources without a thought for future generations. Yes it all gets a bit mind boggling, but at no point was I lost to any plot contrivances.

The cast are all excellent. Notables are Tom Chadbon as Emberry (Tom played Duggan from the classic City Of Death, he also featured in the 'not so classic' The Mysterious Planet). There is also Simon Rouse, who was originally in Kinda, here playing Drang.

Ultimately TheParadoxPlanet and Legacy of Death are both fun filled, intelligently written stories, which showcases Tom Baker in his absolute element. It is quite obvious that Lalla Ward and John Leeson also had great fun. These are a must for any fan of that classic era.

 

The Doctor, alongside his youthful companions Chris Cwej and Roz Forrester, is tracking a Rutan spy which remorselessly continues a destructive rampage at the cost of various innocent lives. The justification? The securing of a decisive advantage for the Rutan race, in their aeons-old war against the squat and belligerent Sontaran clone warrior forces.

The pursuit of this lethal being - that can mimic the appearance of its dead victims in order to confuse any adversaries - leads the Doctor to separate from his friends and find himself on Space Station Alpha. There, the elegantly designed Tiger Moth racing yacht will soon begin its very first journey across the stars. Chris and Roz have their own agenda to pursue within the bustling Megacity, capital of a mining planet, and a hotbed of corruption, criminal activities, and Wolverine ferocities.

In the meantime, the Doctor's third associate in his time and space travels - Bernice Summerfield - is trapped on the library planet Sentarion where religious zealots have promised to slay her, if she leaves the sacred temple.

After both the Rutan spy and a squad of Sontarans face off on Captain Lisa Deranne's Tiger Moth, the chase finally comes to a climax on Sentarion. Can the Doctor's wits and wisdom be enough to save the cosmos from either one of these cruel and destructive species?

 

Shakedown is a curious entity in the Doctor Who universe. Originally it was mainly focused on uniting Doctor Who and Blake's 7 acting alumni, namely Carole Ann Ford, Sophie Aldred and Michael Wisher, as well as Jan Chappell and Brian Croucher. Legal rights at the time meant that only the Sontarans and a Rutan could be brought back from the Doctor Who canon, and the Doctor himself could only be vaguely referenced in dialogue.

Produced as a fast paced straight to video extravaganza, it was directed by the diligent and innovative Kevin Davies, and written by the ever-trustworthy Terrance Dicks. The original VHS video was only on release at specialist shops or on mail order in 1994, before later being reissued with a 'Making Of' documentary, and made available in mainstream shops. There has been no official DVD release yet sadly, and perhaps this may never be the case. Regardless, it is still worth tracking down should one have access to VHS player (that still manages to function!).

The story was considered to be worthy enough for a fuller novelisation/New Adventures combination in late 1995. That book was designed so that the film's events formed the central 'book' of three, and thus both an original prequel and sequel 'book' gave substance to the initial brisk storyline. Dicks returned to carry out the necessary expansions, and thus produced one of the more immediately enjoyable and readable entries in the book line, then-licensed to Virgin.  Whilst the New Adventures could be thrilling reads, they also frequently strayed into territory that was unwelcome to those of the youngest ages, and also could be rather verbose and more 'hard-sci-fi' than most TV stories, To my mind, Doctor Who is meant to be enjoyed by all ages. Whilst these books undeniably helped with the TV show returning in the 'Noughties', they perhaps should be regarded as interesting but optional, in terms of the general 21st Century fan's reading list.

More positively, this story was in a period where the (literary) Sylvester McCoy incarnation of our title hero was blessed with a TARDIS crew that included the lovably unique Bernice Summerfield, and the  duo of Roz and Chris - 30th century specialist police investigators. This clutch of companions was difficult to write badly, and Dicks masterfully adds to their story arcs. He also, in typical fashion, allows first-timers the luxury of being able to know sufficiently detail on who these characters are, where they come from, and what makes them tick.

The plot here is easy to follow, without being simplistic, and manages to get round the issues of the Shakedown film having a fairly conclusive ending. It avoids doing so by mere contrivance, and instead cleverly adds to the mythology of how the Sontarans and Rutans are able to survive, and pursue their agendas, through ingenious and deceitful means. The Seventh Doctor is very well done by Dicks here, and perhaps this should be no surprise given how the prolific script editor and story writer had contributed one of the earliest gems in the book line - 'Timewyrm: Exodus' - set during an alternative timeline where the Nazis won the Second World War.

As for this actual BBC Audio release, which is now just the latest of a rapidly growing collection, I can assure readers that the eight hours running time provides much to enjoy and admire. I was quite delighted to learn that Dan Starkey returns as the main contributor, and he effortlessly makes the most of Terrance Dicks' fluent prose. The narration of the various expository, descriptive and action-oriented prose never falters for a single minute. Starkey continues to excel in showcasing his voice acting range, and provides enough distinct character voices to help make this feel like an audio play, and not just a simple reading.

At 7 CDs this is a considerable investment in listener commitment. Yet, I can assert that 'tempus fugit' really does apply here. The intensity and intrigue of the plot and action dovetails, as chapter follows chapter.

So whether you are somebody old enough for this story to provide nostalgia, or a newcomer keen to know more about the many adventures of the Seventh Doctor outside his limited TV lifespan, this is a fine bit of diversion. 2016 really has begun to heat up, and the long-awaited Class spin off will soon be onscreen, and declaring its own spin-off credentials...

“The twenty-first century is when everything changes…and I should have been ready.”

Well, that’s one way to start a new instalment of Torchwood ten years on from the series’ debut, we suppose.

If nothing else, nine releases into their take on the four season-spanning Doctor Who spin-off show, it’s to the credit of James Goss and the rest of his writing team’s creative vision that they’re still able to offer up neat little surprises such as this on regular occasions, especially given the constraints placed upon them by having to limit the cast of each tale produced so far to but a handful of players at most. Take also the return of Indira Varma to the role of Suzie Costello; like Tracy Ann-Oberman’s feisty Yvonne Hartman before her, Varma’s complacent Torchwood Three agent met her on-screen demise – or rather whose first demise – almost just as speedily as the show’s itself. Yet far from giving Suzie equally minimal attention, the minds of Big Finish have instead opted to structure an entire one-hour drama around her pre-deathly days - this time going by the name MovingTarget - a development which it’s safe to say most fans of the original programme wouldn’t have easily predicted at first.

With that being said, however, much as the prospect of delving deeper into a morally ambiguous secret agent’s psyche than the show ever did in Everything Changes may have sounded like a sure-fire route to success for Big Finish, the piece’s surprises come to a halt almost as soon as the show’s iconic theme tune signals the end of its first track. That the core narrative driving Suzie’s actions forward feels so predictable from the outset doesn’t help its case; Varma’s still reckless, still trigger-happy character finds herself tasked with resolving a situation not unlike that posed in the 2007 Who serial Smith and Jones or 2010’s The Sarah Jane Adventures two-parter The Empty Planet as virtually all of the Earth’s inhabitants are frozen by extra-terrestrials, prompting her to join forces with the only other human being able to move a muscle as a band of other-worldy hunters recruited by the Committee give chase across Cardiff. Given the rather overly familiar nature of the premise as well as the fandom’s complete awareness of Suzie’s dark side, the hope would surely have been that writer Guy Adams could have subverted our perceptions of both the story format and Ms. Costello herself, but barring a rather charming interlude involving a bottle of vodka during the third act, Adams sticks to purely safe territory here, structuring most of the plot around a repetitive, overextended chase sequence before wrapping up in a manner which just about any long-term fan of the show’s televised incarnation will see coming from a mile off.

There are those academics who would argue, of course, that no one work of fiction can ever boast a truly original storyline, with the vast majority of tales conforming to one of seven predefined formats or genres such as the tragedy or the epic, but even so, we’ve already seen this range of audio dramas in particular regularly venture into unexpected territory, what with its dabbling with sexually provocative, existentially challenged androids in January’s UncannyValley as well as Queen Victoria’s final days in TheVictorianAge. The transition back into the more pedestrian, less shocking realms of storytelling here seems that much more jarring, then, as does the equal lack of effort invested in developing Suzie’s partner-in-crime of sorts, Alex, beyond the realms of ordinary expectation: as with the overall narrative, the trajectory of Naomi McDonald’s wayward citizen seems all but certain from the moment her role in the aforementioned hunt becomes explicitly clear, giving the listener a disappointing sense of inevitability in terms of how events play out, especially when compared to the unpredictable nature of recent Torchwood releases like February’s Zone10 or recent Big Finish box-sets such as their War Doctor compilations.

Yet one element which doesn’t betray this fourth outing of Season Two’s quality is the casting: despite the brevity of her on-screen appearances, Varma makes quite the impact as Suzie once more, bringing to the surface shades of sincerity, regret and a genuine hope of redemption that barely had chance to manifest themselves on the small screen. Arguably to a greater extent than was the case with Tom Price’s performance last month, there’s an inherent subtlety about the way in which the actress portrays this evidently morally apathetic, unashamedly selfish yet somehow almost tragic antihero as she attempts to cling to the path of righteousness, only for the more cold-hearted aspects of her personality – aspects which, it’s implied, might even be the result of a troubled upbringing – to re-emerge as the situation facing her and Alex takes a turn for the very worst. Her co-stars McDonald and Nicholas Burns – who plays an irksome android tasked with monitoring the last sentient humans’ progress – don’t suffer in the slightest from not having appeared in the TV series prior to now, though: if anything, they deserve just as much commendation for injecting their constructs with such sympathy-inducing innocence and charming malice respectively, with Alex in particular coming off as a refreshingly emotionally layered mother-to-be thanks in no small part to McDonald’s performance more-so than Adams’ somewhat clichéd characterisation and structuring of her arc. It’s often difficult to fully acknowledge the contribution of director Scott Handcock to the range’s strengths, but suffice to say that he and his players worked in fine unison this time around, producing a set of performances which just about warrant a listen from series devotees.

Beyond that more dedicated section of Torchwood fandom, though, it’s unlikely that Moving Target will come off as a true masterpiece to most casual listeners. Sure, it’s a more compelling listen than last October’s Oberman-starring OneRule, yet that both scripts were penned by Adams and both have ranked as the range’s weakest outings to date on account of their uninspiring chase-driven storylines, shallow characterisation of their supporting constructs and overall lacklustre quality could suggest that Goss and Adams might need to have words regarding how best the latter scribe might go about drafting his next contribution to the range. Neither of his two scripts have resulted in absolute travesties, admittedly, rather a couple of merely passable storylines which would interest rather than captivate most listeners and wherein a great deal of potential felt unfulfilled. That the three-strong cast’s turns here serve to render the tale at hand as an infinitely more engaging fiction than it might have been with a less accomplished ensemble is at least its saving grace, but even so, Adams can’t rely on this to always be the case; indeed, his scripts may well need to ramp up their ambition in order to come anywhere close to matching the range’s best efforts to date. In the meantime, this reviewer will retire to his local pub in the hope of meeting a dashing American and an endearingly shy butler who can work together to lift his spirits – and speaking of which, look who’s just around the corner…