This weekend saw thousands of Doctor Who fans descended on East London for the 2015 Doctor Who Festival held at the ExCel Centre in docklands.

The event is the second official Doctor Who event to be held in London, following the 2013 celebration of the show's 50th Anniversary. It was sold out on all three days, proving there is a large appetite for these conventions with people attending from around the globe.

Thee was plenty to see for even the most dedicated fan, with audience panels, photo sessions, sets, talks and a hall full of merchandise to browse. Unlike the 50th Anniversary Festival, this one was firmly dedicated to the Capaldi era with all the main guests reflecting the latest series of the show. For those used to the more intimate smaller conventions the big official event can seem intimidating, but the crew worked hard to make the occasion as informal as possible. 

The highlights for many included the three panel shows, hosted in the massive main arena at the venue. The meet the cast panel was the one everyone wanted to see and the crowds weren't disappointed when Peter Capaldi,  Michelle Gomez, Ingrid Oliver and Steven Moffat, also  joined by Jenna Coleman on Saturday and Sunday, took questions from moderator Toby Hadoke.

The team were witty and entertaining and Hadoke chaired the session with style. It could have been longer as the 45 minutes flew by and with five on the panel, some were better served than others. The love for the series shone through and the packed hall was very entertained by the whole affair.

One thing that could be curtailed were the number of questions taken from the audience. While I applaud the aim is to involve the fans as much as possible, the whole process does drag  with many of the same questions coming again and again, mostly aimed at the two main stars and excluding the rest of the panel. With hosts as competent and knowledgeable as Toby Hadoke the random selection of questions is just not needed and a more balanced and informative panel could be held without it. Maybe in future audiences could send in questions in in advance and the best ones chosen to avoid the endless What's your favourite episode? query. Having said that the panel handled the audience with style and handled some of the more undiplomatic comments with just a modicum of irritation.

The other panels were just as entertaining and not to be missed. The writers talk gave an insight into the perils and pain of being a professional writer. The participants varied each day with all the Series 9 writers being represented at some point. It can't be easy as a writer, used to working alone with a keyboard, to put yourself up before an auditorium full of many opinionated fans. The team dealt with the various queries with tact and style. Matthew Sweet made a great host and showed his own love of the series.

The Millennium FX panel, which featured Mark Gatiss, took the audience through the creation of a new Doctor Who monster while showing how some of this series creations were realised. It was informative and entertaining and well worth watching and gave a sneak preview of this week's monsters The Sandmen.

Away from the main stage there was much to enjoy. Several sets had been transported from Cardiff giving fans the chance to visit the Viking village of Ashildr or to wander the corridors of The Dalek city of Davros. Some areas could have done with more space, the costume and props display in particular was crammed into a small square in the centre of the arena, resulting in gridlock throughout much of the day. Those who persevered were greeted with a range of items from the current series, including the two Osgood boxes. 

Clara's flat was recreated, giving fans the opportunity for a picture lounging on her sofa. 

In The production Village the Assistant Directors who work on Doctor Who gave a presentation on just how the show is shot and how labour intensive the whole process is. In a very slick, quick fire 30 minutes they took the audience through a typical day on set, explaining what happens when, and just who is involved. If you ever wanted to know what the Gaffer does, or who types up the call sheets, then this was the show for you. The team were joined during the day by Production Designer  Michael Pickwoad and Costume designer Ray Holman who described their roles in the series.

Over the other side of the hall Real SFX and Danny Hargreaves entertained the crowds with some of the many bangs and explosions from the series in a very entertaining show. Meanwhile in the Drama school there was a chance to learn how to act like a Dalek or become a Director, while Big Finish held a master-class in voice acting.

The fan involvement was encouraged and some of the cosplay on show was incredible. The USA may have come up with the concept, but modern UK fans have
taken the process to their hearts with some incredibly clever and inventive outfits on show.  

For those with money left in their pocket the shopping village contained enough merchandise to sate the appetite of the most dedicated fan, with all the main official brands represented.  A tent, erected by the Horror Channel, screened archive episodes.

All in all it was very successful event as evidenced by the satisfied comments filling the forums and the happy faces leaving the venue. Yes there queues were to long sometimes and the venue a little crowded, but the organisation was superb with the events running like clockwork.

Let us hope the success of this years event helps persuade BBC Worldwide to make the Festival an annual event. 

Written by Jonathan Morris
Directed by Ken Bentley
Big Finish Productions, 2015
Stars: Sylvester McCoy (The Doctor),
Bonnie Langford (Melanie Bush), Angus Wright (Alek Zenos),
Mary Conlon (Celia Dunthorpe), Robbie Stevens (Sir Niles Bunbury/Frank Lewis), Kirsty Besterman (Serena Paget), Ashley Zhangazha (Brinsley Heaton), Lizzie Roper (Shari), Dominic Thornburn (Afrid), Nicholas Briggs (The Daleks)

The recent two-part opener to Doctor Who’s ninth series was a trip down memory lane – for both the Twelfth Doctor and his fans. Aside from overtly drawing on Dalek mythology, represented by the portrayal of Daleks of many shades, colours and variations from across the TV program’s history, and the restoration of the Dalek home world of Skaro, The Magician’s Apprentice/The Witch’s Familiar also homaged other parts of the pop culture zeitgeist (eg Back to the Future, Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure, Buffy the Vampire Slayer).

While it’s a quite different tale from the modern TV series opener, Big Finish’s recent Doctor Who audio adventure We are the Daleks, featuring Sylvester McCoy’s Seventh Doctor and Bonnie Langford’s Melanie Bush, is also a nostalgia piece. However, it draws more subtly on Dalek mythology than its TV counterpart, as well as homaging other pop culture elements (eg The IT Crowd, Star Trek, Galaxy Quest, Ender’s Game, Beadle’s About, 1980s console video games) and some real life events, eg the 1987 international stock market crash, the Bradford riots and militant unionism, and the entrenchment of Thatcherite conservatism in Britain. According to BF’s Doctor Who range script editor Alan Barnes, just as the 1988 TV adventure Remembrance of the Daleks was a nostalgia piece that homaged the early 1960s and Dalekmania, Jonathan Morris’ script also seeks to objectively revisit and reassess the 1980s with not-so rose-tinted glasses.

Is it a success? On the whole, Morris skilfully crafts an entertaining, action-packed, rapid but well paced and thought-provoking plot from the above melting pot of ideas. In fact, so much happens in just the first episode (of what is a four-part, two-hour serial) that you’re quite surprised when you realise that you’ve only been listening to the tale for 30 minutes. There is no attempt at mystery and the dull Terry Nation-style go-slow approach to reintroducing the Daleks here. From the moment the TARDIS materialises in central London in the pre-titles teaser to episode one and the Doctor and Mel realise the capital’s skyline is now dominated by a skyscraper resembling a Dalek, the listener is thrust headlong into a new Dalek scheme to invade the Earth via the free market and a life-like console game called Warfleet. Along the way, we’re introduced to a remarkable array of supporting characters: Alek Zenos (Angus Wright), the head of the Dalek-controlled Zenos Corporation, Zenos IT administrator (and computer game enthusiast) Brinsley Heaton (Ashley Zhangazha), journalist Serena Paget (Kirsty Besterman) and two MPs in the stuffy, anti-Common Market Sir Niles Bunbury (Robbie Stevens) and the Thatcheresque, pro-free market and ultra-conservative Celia Dunthorpe (Mary Conlon).

The pace of the serial comes down a notch in the subsequent instalments once Morris has rapidly brought us up to speed.  He is free to focus on the Dalek machinations of Warfleet, which tie in with the Daleks’ efforts to wipe out anti-Dalek league forces, led by their perennial enemies the Thals, in a meteoroid cluster neighbouring Skaro, and of wooing Great Britain into a new economic partnership that will introduce Earth to the intergalactic free market and promise humanity a “new golden age of prosperity”. The latter is an ingenious, albeit uncharacteristic approach by the Daleks but their other methods of subversion throughout the plot – which homage classic Dalek serials such as Power of the Daleks, Evil of the Daleks, Destiny of the Daleks and Remembrance of the Daleks, as well as modern serials Bad Wolf/The Parting of the Ways and Victory of the Daleks – are entirely consistent with their modus operandi. Just as it was ludicrous in Power or Victory to see Daleks crying “I am your servant/soldier” and serving cups of tea, so it’s amusing and menacing in equal measure to hear Daleks serving and offering prawn cocktails and bon-a-bons when Mel attends a gala launch at the Zenos Corporation. It is intriguing to know why they are being so covert and devious, qualities you don’t necessarily attribute to Daleks but which the metal meanies have demonstrated throughout the program’s history.

Indeed, Morris cleverly juxtaposes just how close humanity is to the Daleks, both through the covert use of Warfleet and the Dalek-like Zenos Tower, as well as highlighting humanity’s general propensity for self-interest, greed, deceit, partisanship, parochialism, intolerance and warmongering – qualities that are strongly defended in certain quarters of the political spectrum as democratic, patriotic and integral to “our way of life”. This is a theme which Terry Nation first mooted in his early Dalek serials (particularly The Daleks and Genesis of the Daleks) but Morris presents them in a way that is fresh, modern and down to earth. The Doctor expresses his disgust when Dunthorpe expresses these sentiments: “Good grief! Who needs Daleks when you have politicians?” And even the stuffy Bunbury is mortified by Dunthorpe’s behaviour when he realises the full extent of the Daleks’ plan to subvert the British population:  “Good god, Celia! You can’t do this! You’re turning them into fascists!” The further this serial progresses, the more pertinent its title becomes.

The performances throughout this play – from the regulars down – are first rate. Sylvester McCoy plays a Seventh Doctor who is gradually making the transition from comical figure to the wily manipulator that he was from Remembrance of the Daleks onwards. Therefore, while McCoy’s portrayal of the Doctor is not as over the top as it was in his first three televised serials (this tale is in all probability set between Delta and the Bannermen and Dragonfire), it is still a lighter, good-humored interpretation, marked by the Seventh Doctor’s early penchant for hackneyed lines (eg “I get by ... with a little help from my friends!” or “Ashes to ashes, rust to rust!”). As depicted on the cover sleeve, the Doctor even dresses in what he thinks is the outfit of a “youngish, upwardly mobile professional” (typically, the Time Lord’s fashion sense is wrong again!).  However, McCoy loses none of the Seventh Doctor’s steel or authority in dialogue with the Daleks or the Daleks’ humanoid allies.

After a break of several years since she last reprised the role for Big Finish, Bonnie Langford returns as once maligned companion Melanie Bush. Big Finish’s Doctor Who plays over the last 16 years have not only restored much respect to the later 1980s Doctors such as McCoy and Colin Baker but they have revitalised companions from the same era such as Nicola Bryant’s Peri Brown, Sarah Sutton’s Nyssa and Mark Strickson’s Turlough. Langford’s Mel is no exception here. Gone is the piercing, hyperactive, over-effusive, irritating, helpless (and some might argue useless) damsel that trailed McCoy’s Doctor in the TV program’s much detested 24th season (although none of that can be laid at the feet of Ms Langford who suffered from poor character development and awful scripting and disliked her character as much as the fans did). In the “damsel’s” place is a confident, independent, likeable and measured young woman whose professional IT knowledge and skills are for once utilised (after being barely referenced in the TV series) and ultimately play a major role in the climax. What remains consistent in Langford’s portrayal from the TV series are Mel’s selflessness and courage (especially when she is embroiled in the Warfleet game). There is no doubt Langford enjoys the opportunity to flesh out a very two-dimensional character that she had once thought she’d left far behind in the ‘80s (in the CD extras, she describes Doctor Who as the “gift that just keeps on giving”). Just as We are the Daleks reassesses the “heady” days of the late ‘80s, so it also gives the most sceptical Whovian the opportunity to reappraise Langford’s true talent as a reinvigorated Mel.

The supporting cast is outstanding. Angus Wright effortlessly brings a vocal authority to Alek Zenos that in the first episode in particular evokes memories of the late Maurice Colbourne’s Lytton in his dealings with the Daleks (Resurrection of the Daleks). Wright, of course, was brilliant as Magnus Greel in the Fifth Doctor tale The Butcher of Brisbane, in which he was able to make a quite insane, ruthless character simultaneously flawed and sympathetic. Similarly, he makes the dubious Zenos three-dimensional, empathetic and not as black and white as he seems.

Mary Conlon is also excellent as Celia Dunthorpe; thanks to Conlon’s initial delivery, you imagine Dunthorpe to be a harmless, old-fashioned and dotty MP, not unlike Harriet Jones when she was first introduced in Doctor Who. Of course, what you get instead is a pushy, rational, motivated and coldblooded individual (“Ambition is not a dirty word!”) with quite dangerous values and ideas who is aiming squarely for the premiership (even though she is unaligned to any political party) and would probably eat Harriet Jones for breakfast! The Daleks, despite being “ethically challenged”, prove to be a perfect stepping stone for Dunthorpe’s aspirations – and as her fate remains unresolved (there is a brief allusion to Asylum of the Daleks), it would be a waste if Big Finish doesn’t revive the character for a rematch with the Doctor at a later date.

Both Wright and Conlon eclipse the other performers in the versatile Robbie Stevens (who in addition to voicing the crusty Bunbury plays union shop steward Frank in episode one), Ashley Zhangazha, Serena Paget, and Lizzie Roper and Dominic Thornburn (who play Thal resistance fighters). But it is Dalek voice artiste Nicholas Briggs who continues to steal the show. You would think by now that Briggs must be weary of the Daleks (or at least prepared to share the voice modulator duties on the BF audios so he can save his throat for his TV performances!) but if so, it doesn’t show. Briggs continues to play all of the Daleks with passion and purpose (as Sylvester McCoy remarks, there are at least six different Daleks in him!), saving his best performance for the booming, guttural tones of the Dalek Emperor, which (in a nod to Evil of the Daleks and The Parting of the Ways) sounds exactly like the behemoth you would imagine it to be.

Of course, much of the success of Briggs’ performance is also down to Big Finish’s sound production values which are overseen in this tale by Wilfredo Acosta. Acosta is also responsible for the incidental music, successfully capturing the flavour of McCoy era Doctor Who episodes in his electronic score, which riffs off the likes of the then controversial TV composer Keff McCulloch.

We are the Daleks is one of the most enjoyable, innovative takes on the Daleks for some time (both on TV and audio), as well as being an entertaining and thought-provoking Doctor Who adventure in its own right. The serial not only satirically implies that the Daleks may have had an influence in the economic and cultural upheavals that plagued Britain and the world economy in the 1980s but it also highlights that even after nearly three decades many of the same problems that existed then are equally as prevalent in the 21st century. The themes of We are the Daleks are as topical as ever.

Writers - Al Ewing + Rob Williams

Artist - Simon Fraser

Colorist - Gary Caldwell

Letterer - Richard Starkings + Comicraft's Jimmy Betancourt

Editor  - Andrew James

Assistant Editor - Kirsten Murray

Designer - Rob Farmer

Humour Strip - Marc Ellerby

Released July 8 2015 - Titan Comics

One crisis is averted, but still there is much to do for the self-proclaimed 'Mad Man In A Box', as his ship is now gone and potentially in the hands of malicious forces who could devastate the entire course of galactic history.

The Doctor, with no TARDIS to help out , must somehow save two of his companions from a time-bending fate of potentially eternal nature as the musician and the mysterious ARC creature have embarked on a very drastic merger.  This rescue mission is no easy feat as Jones seemingly wants to go out in a blaze of rock super-power glory, and ARC is determined to resolve the mystery hanging over it. And after so much emotional turmoil will Alice be cut off from her own time and life back in London?

What happens to Jones and ARC over the course of the narrative is gripping and helps pay off much of both the year long arc as well as finding something truly memorable for these fine characters to do. Alice is (and remains) the standout but she has perhaps one of the more traditional roles in this particular release, and allows the confused and overwhelmed Doctor to really show how sensitive he can be - below all the mad-cap bluster and energy he normally has to show.

Ultimately it is the lead man, so well brought to life by Matt Smith for the first half of the televisual decade, who is given the really thought-provoking material. He shows his vulnerability, but also his sense of responsibility. He shows his initiative to look after his friends, but also readily admits he could fail in that assumed duty. He seems every bit an alien with a humanoid exterior, and yet a man who will always pride Earth as his home, especially now the Time Lords are no more.

And his reaction right at the end to who actually is the Gallifreyan who has been following him (unbeknown, despite some potentially revelatory moments) through time and space provides a wonderfully personal cliffhanger, as opposed to the 'big MacGuffin' in the hands of latest 'seemingly undefeatable bad guy'.

Once again the art is wonderfully suitable for living up to the fevered imaginations of the writing team on the Eleventh Doctor line, with this time round both Al Ewing and Rob Williams being involved together in coming up with surprises galore for a more than clued-up readership. Simon Fraser has proven he has the sheer quality needed for big ideas and epic events, so I welcome his presence for this end of year finale. He especially excels with all the material showing Jones in different stages of location, being and the emotions entailed.

Perhaps the aftermath of the Roman adventure is strangely lacking in that there could be a bit of a diversion with a character native to the setting; be they from the previous story or a new person altogether. But ultimately the core of this opening story segment is to get us concerned over the resolution of two major problems, and the reader is unlikely to relinquish holding the issue or clicking through its pages onscreen. 

So it's a been a thrill of a year since I first took up the task of reviewing these exciting new adventures from the Titan juggernaut brand. Furthermore the consistent quality from issue to issue has led me to expect a very strong conclusion to this two-parter and to Year One of the Eleventh Doctor's comic adventures.

Bonus Humour Strip: "Timeliney Wimey"

After the head-melting material in the main story this two page piece of smart satire  sees Ellerby once again in fine form both with his punchlines, and the different art techniques used to realise his characters and plot. Be it by luck or design there is a chance to see the Judoon without their helmets in this story, as they manage to track down the Doctor and his 'special friend' River Song.  A cute reference to swinging 60s legend Polly Wright closes off an especially good effort.

WRITER - PAUL CORNELL, ARTIST - NEIL EDWARDS
COLORIST - IVAN NUNES, LETTERER - RICHARD STARKINGS AND JIMMY BETANCOURT, DESIGNER - ROB FARMER
EDITOR - ANDREW JAMES,
ASSISTANT EDITOR - KIRSTEN MURRAY
RELEASED SEPTEMBER 23RD 2015, TITAN COMICS

"Ah, Paris. have we just got here? There’s this cafe I know..."

The Eleventh Doctor to Alice - at some point in time during the many, many events.

A really perilous situation for the three most recent Doctors has unfolded with the Twelfth facing the inevitable fate of becoming leader of the Voord. Despite the efforts of Gabby and Alice to try and change history it appears that both were cut down in their tracks.

Or were they?

This final issue covers a lot of ground as it portrays a conscious decision by the team of Doctors and companions to play out a series of actions that are both similar and dissimilar enough to avert the gloomy end product of an evil aged Twelfth Doctor.

But even the victory may come at a price of sorts. The end may be justified, but even a Dark Doctor has his moments of decency and kindness, and cannot just be swatted away without a second thought.

.

This is a very well crafted mini-series which has been taking us through a number of twists and turns and always feeling like the exuberance is just measured right against a steady framework of plot and characterisation.

Not knowing until issue three just who was behind the fell scheme that totally fooled Clara, and indeed all her friends - who went along with her understandable actions - was just the right point for the revelation about a twisted version of our contemporary onscreen hero.

The writing has been matched by very enjoyable artwork, panel after panel and page after page. And like any multi Doctor event there is plenty of continuity, but especially notable is that it is done well and its subtle references fit in organically, when they could so easily take even keen fans out of the story. Those fine little touches are what makes Paul Cornell for me one of Who's very best writers in any given medium.

There remains the nagging feel though that this excellent effort could have been outstanding, and by that I mean that the sidelining of the Time War apart from being the foundation for much of the plot, and the conceit that the Voords are cut off from the rest of reality and forgotten by even the Doctors, perhaps got hopes up for even more epic events and consequences.

Also the War Doctor is by far my favourite one off screen performance - naturally it would be as Sir John Hurtcan play anyone to the best standard - but to tease his involvement and no more was just a bit frustrating.

But we get a coherent arc whose reach does not exceed its grasp and so that is something to be treasured. (Perhaps the War Doctor in novel, comic and audio form can be explored many times to come in any case).

Because the 'Dark Doctor' is the Peter Capaldi interpretation, and because he is our present variant of the potentially immortal TARDIS pilot, it is only fitting he puts his foot down and orchestrates the eventual victory. We also get to feel real pathos for the Voord leader, who felt so much for their isolation and managed to bond with them as an outsider better than they would have ever thought in their wildest imagination. Just because they were vicious monsters in the Keys adventure does not mean they are quite so brutal now, even if they dispatched Alice in a very dismissive manner in Issue Four.

Also the mystery over how Clara betrays the Doctor is well done, and Cornell is to be commended for not explicitly saying what she does. Maybe this will tie in with Series 9 and the manner of Clara's writing out of the show proper, or maybe not. Alternate timelines mean myriad storytelling avenues.

So as stated prior, the celebration of Doctor Who's past is top notch, and the use of this vibrant colourful format is also optimum, but of course totally expected given Titan's pedigree. Watch out for another past Doctor and companion in a panel near the end, also.

Bonus Humour Strip - "The Doctor Shops for Angels"

Not just neatly reflective of the main story, but actually very relevant to the main plot resolution, I must commend Cornell on putting in the effort to work with different bonus artists over the course of this mini series. This last hurrah, which is a collaboration with Marc Ellerby, sees Doctor Eleven and Alice return to Paris to ensure some 'help' from another old enemy of the Doctor's will indeed come to pass. This will enable both his present and his future and past selves on Marinus to achieve a happy result. The return of the shopkeeper from the first bonus strip is a nice link, just to emphasise the Doctor's meticulous nature of passing on a message properly.

WRITER - PAUL CORNELL
ARTIST - NEIL EDWARDS
COLORIST - IVAN NUNES
LETTERER - RICHARD STARKINGS AND JIMMY BETANCOURT
DESIGNER - ROB FARMER
EDITOR - ANDREW JAMES
ASSISTANT EDITOR - KIRSTEN MURRAY
RELEASED SEPTEMBER 23RD 2015, TITAN COMICS

“In a way, this was why I gave her to you in the first place, to make you see – the friend inside the enemy, the enemy inside the friend. Everyone’s a bit of both. Everyone’s a hybrid.”

Although he couldn’t have known this at the time of writing, in having Missy utter these pivotal words towards the climax of “The Witch’s Familiar” last Saturday, Doctor Who’s resident commander-in-chief Steven Moffat almost directly alluded to the discussion point which has arguably been at the heart of Paul Cornell’s grand Four Doctors crossover event: precisely what role do the travelling companions who join the TARDIS crew play in Theta Sigma(s)’ lives, and must we always assume that their impact upon the aforementioned mad man in a box is wholly beneficial? Certainly, there’ve been examples in the past of the Doctors’ allies failing to live up to his occasionally lofty expectations – few would likely contest the hypothesis that Adam Mitchell didn’t do himself any favours in 2005’s “The Long Game”, for instance – and one has to wonder, based on the events of 2009’s “The Waters of Mars” amongst other companionless tales, whether the increasingly fleeting nature of each assistant’s tenure takes its toll upon the series’ one constant protagonist from time to time, but not until now has this intellectually stimulating subject matter been considered any great detail, hence why – in spite of its various shortcomings, déjà vu-ridden sequences perhaps the most prominent bugbear – Titan Comics’ first Who-centric Summer event has made for such delightfully entertaining reading to date.

For those who’ve been struggling to stay abreast of what’s undoubtedly been one of the more convoluted entries in the Whoniverse’s ever-expanding array of time-bending yarns, at the heart of Cornell’s contemplation upon the relationship between the Doctor and his accomplices – better known as the character dynamic which continues to power the programme and its various spin-offs fifty-two years after the former’s inception – lies an alternate version of Peter Capaldi’s Twelfth Doctor whose (admittedly already flimsy) moral compass had the misfortune of becoming completely warped at the moment that his Impossible Girl elected to betray him in Season Eight’s much-loved “Dark Water”. Not only that, but rather than live out his days as his previous selves did, namely by searching the universe in search of new recruits, this Valeyard-esque parallel echo opted to voyage across dimensions so as to join forces with the Time War-afflicted Voord and spread an indoctrinatory message of peace across the cosmos.

Keeping up? If not, then fret not, since rather than continually prioritising his narrative’s dense techno-jargon and complex mythology as was the case on occasion in previous issues, Cornell instead takes the approach which worked wonders for him in 2007 with “Human Nature / The Family of Blood”, bringing the relationship at the tale’s heart (in the aforementioned televised serial’s case John Smith and Joan Redfern, though here it’s undeniably the Doctor and Clara) back to the forefront just in time to allow for a real humdinger of an emotional denouement. Precisely how Four Doctors concludes we shan’t of course spoil here for fear of robbing anyone of the satisfaction of experiencing Issue 5 devoid of any foreknowledge, yet suffice to say that the manner in which the piece’s psychologically unhinged ‘villain’ rounds off his dialogue with Coal Hill School’s least reliable teacher since the 1960s will surely bring a tear to both eyes, especially given how neatly the moment complements the true Twelfth’s televised reaction to his friend’s ultimately insignificant backstabbing in the process.

Jenna Coleman’s soon-to-be deceased (unless she overcomes her addiction to adventuring, of course) construct isn’t the only companion involved in drawing Cornell’s meticulously plotted five-part saga to a close, however – Gabby Gonzalez and Alice Obiefune both factor into its resolution just as heavily as Clara and Missy did into “The Witch’s Familiar”, despite all four characters seemingly having met their demises in their respective tales’ previous instalments. Indeed, this reviewer couldn’t be more relieved to confirm that whereas Four Doctors’ penultimate chapter cruelly mishandled the former pair by only having them fulfil a somewhat meaningful role at the very last moment, Issue 5 in contrast affords both of them pivotal roles, with Gabby in particular heading on a trajectory which couldn’t be more vital in terms of how proceedings wrap up. Perhaps another entry in Gabby’s frequently marvellous series of diary writings would have sweetened the deal even further so far as boosting her and Alice’s enhanced contributions, but even so, it’s nothing short of fantastic to see the scribe take heed – at precisely the right moment, too – of the fact that successful Who serials pay just as much attention to the exploits of the Time Lord’s invaluable assistants as to the show’s namesake.

Speaking of the word “fantastic”, it’s high time that we addressed the singular, big-eared elephant still residing in the room a month on from this otherwise blemish-free (well, thereabouts) storyline – the absence of Chris Eccleston’s Ninth Doctor. Rest assured that whilst Cornell doesn’t suddenly shoehorn in the first of the character’s post-20th Century incarnations in a desperate effort to rival the five or so issues which Titan have already dedicated to him this year, by no means does he outright ignore the huge extent to which the Oncoming Storm and Rose Tyler developed upon the interactions between past Doctors and companions; quite to the contrary, he uses the fact that Eccleston’s war veteran seemingly spent virtually all of his life in Rose’s company to both justify their joint disappearance (of sorts) and progress the finale’s above-mentioned contemplation of the supplemental and detrimental ramifications (particularly the latter) alike of its central players’ dependence upon one another.

In just about any other isolated Who comic-book arc, such a fleeting sequence as that which we’ve vaguely (albeit with good reason) commented on here would doubtless come off as an indulgent digression intended to evoke little more than a sense of nostalgia in the mind of the hard-core Whovian reader, so it’s incredibly telling of Cornell’s near-unparalleled finesse as a spinner of yarns that he takes the moment in question and utilises it not only as a means by which to celebrate the highlights of Doctor Who’s modern revival ten years on from its debut, but moreover to immensely deepen our understanding of how the Doctor’s companions continue to keep his darker moral facets at bay. Matt Smith’s incarnation once speculated in the presence of Sarah-Jane and Jo that the universe might just shiver in the event of his demise, yet on the basis of Four Doctors’ captivating fifth part, it seems safer still to say that if the 2000-year-old Time Lord ever took permanent leave of his travelling assistants, the universe – not to mention the audience – would surely require therapy as a result.

Starring: Sylvester McCoy (The Doctor), Bonnie Langford (Mel), Phillip Franks (Superviser/Acolyte), Dille Keane (Lydek), Clare Buckfield (Ann/Darl), Barry McCarthy (Fred/Terminal), Anna Bentinck (Jean/Computer), Barnaby Edwards (Reef)
Released by Big Finish Productions - August 2015

Ever hoped for a Doctor Who serial which takes two entire episodes to actually get to the point, utilising every delaying tactic imaginable – including some heinously contrived cliff-hangers which rival “The Trial of a Time Lord” for their absurdity – as its protagonists essentially aimlessly wander about until the storyline’s halfway point? If so, then look no further than The Warehouse. Whilst this reviewer isn’t going to try and put forward the claim that the show hasn’t taken its good time to build narrative momentum in the past – just look at “The Ark in Space” Part 1 or indeed most of the New Series’ twelfth episodes – rare has been the occasion when a storyline’s overall set-up has taken so long and been executed quite so monotonously as is the case here. Thankfully, as has virtually always been the case with Big Finish’s endless array of Who titles, there’s just about enough in the way of pleasant surprises to be found in Mike Tucker’s latest Seventh Doctor script to warrant a listen for devotees of all things Sylvester McCoy, not least since the tale picks up the pace monumentally later on, yet whereas the greatest entries in the studio’s pantheon have appealed to the sympathetic and apathetic alike, in this instance the appeal will almost undoubtedly be limited to the aforementioned section of the programme’s vast fandom.

The first question that we must ponder, then, is precisely what makes Warehouse’s opening half such a downright chore to experience in comparison to this four-part adventure’s admittedly eventful (if not exactly action-packed) denouement. That Bonnie Langford’s Mel once again earns herself little to do beyond accompanying the Doctor around a clone-laden, futuristic warehouse as they’re chased by vicious rodents for almost 50 minutes certainly doesn’t help matters; indeed, between this relatively shallow storyline (the philosophical contemplations in which don’t go much further than mild commentaries on consumerism, our instinctive mistreatment of vermin and the inert dangers of deification) and “The Brink of Death”, the final chapter in last month’s largely brilliant The Sixth Doctor – The Last Adventure, Langford’s audio incarnation of her classic 1980s character rather seems to be getting short shrift at the moment, at least when contrasted with the considerable amount of emotional progression offered to Lisa Greenwood’s Flip in The Last Adventure’s grand “Stage Fright”.

In fairness, McCoy himself hardly fares much better, instead finding himself forced to simply untangle the mystery connecting the titular facility to the seemingly derelict planet below without ever revealing much more about one of the more divisive incarnations in Who’s half-century-spanning history, a true crime in and of itself given the extent to which his ludicrously accomplished 2013 trilogy of releases – “Persuasion”, “Starlight Robbery” and “Daleks Among Us” – went out of its way to develop the Seventh Doctor just as substantially as the Dark Eyes series had done for his increasingly sombre successor of late. That’s not to say that either Langford or McCoy doesn’t give their all in terms of creating a performance which remains both accurate in terms of their TV counterparts and genuinely earnest, only that Tucker has missed a severe opportunity in opting not to provide them with some juicier content with which to broaden their respective time travelling constructs’ psyches.

Perhaps the problem therefore doesn’t lie so much with the individual performances powering this underwhelming new chapter in the Seventh Doctor saga as with the flawed characterisation on the part of Tucker himself; that would certainly explain why many of the supporting players to whom we’re introduced here completely fail to resonate on any kind of personal level. Once we move forward into Parts 3 and 4 and the tedious introductions (most of which take up far too much of the running time, thus only adding to the laborious nature of the opening half), the various clone constructs such as Clare Buckfield’s Ann and Barry McCarthy’s Fred stationed aboard the space-bound vessel which gives Warehouse its name at least reveal some more engaging traits thanks to them having inspired an entire religious cult worshipping them from below, with the inevitable crossing-of-paths that occurs between these so-called deities and their blindly loyal followers lending a welcome dose of humour to the tale’s penultimate chapter. Even so, though, despite Tucker having showcased his talents with regards to bringing minor constructs to life in his past New Series Adventures novels like The Nightmare of Black Island and more recently The Crawling Terror, most listeners will more than likely find themselves hard pressed to name any truly memorable members of the ensemble beyond McCoy and Langford (which is saying something given that, as discussed earlier, Warehouse hardly represents a landmark chapter for the pair either).

That said, even if comparing The Warehouse to a Summer’s day might be construed as a step too far, just as “Fear Her” was redeemed by its overblown yet somehow wondrous image of the Tenth Doctor carrying the Olympic torch through London, so too does the 202nd addition to Big Finish’s ever-expanding line of Doctor Who sagas sport a few unexpected merits, the most notable of which is easily Tucker’s implementation of the aforementioned theistic cult, the seemingly psychologically unhinged leader of whom is brought to life with commendable aplomb by Dille Keane. At first a humorously ignorant and hopeful entity, this ever-faithful group shows its morally warped (and therefore dramatically stimulating) side later on by demonstrating to the Doctor both purposefully and (subsequently) inadvertently their dystopian origins (which in turn feed into a slight but appreciated discussion of how humanity’s meddling with unknown substances in the name of scientific advances could someday mean its end), their hilarious take on our increasingly pervasive loyalty card systems as well as their horrific solution to dealing with those who blaspheme in any way, shape or form.

Combine this saving grace with the undeniably admirable effort given by Philip Franks to his performance in the role of the scheming, manipulative Supervisor (despite the dull dialogue afforded to the character in question), not to mention the refreshing lack of attempts by Tucker to throw in convoluted arc elements into a yarn which, if nothing else, certainly works best as a standalone instalment, and we’re left with a serial that provides tantalising glimpses of its overall potential in its closing moments, albeit one which takes so long to do so that it’s all but guaranteed to lose the interest of plenty of its audience long before this transition from mediocrity to stunted greatness transpires. Its approach is not completely dissimilar “The Rebel Flesh / The Almost People”, which bided its time for longer than necessary before revealing the crux of its ethics-driven plot in its second half, but the Season Six tale in question at least endowed its viewership with a clear inkling as to what moral dilemmas lay ahead. Tucker’s latest, on the other hand, meanders for such a great length of time with no through clear-line that it’ll take a truly dedicated listener to persevere in search of its engaging (but still hardly revolutionary, not to mention hopelessly delayed) second and third acts. In all honesty, if Big Finish echoes the stock check conducted by the duplicates littering this at times painful outing’s central setting and happens to find that all remaining copies of The Warehouse have somehow gone astray, then – much as it pains this reviewer to say it in light of the traditionally high calibre of the studio’s contributions to the realms of the Whoniverse – it’ll represent no great loss to the fandom at large.