Doctor Who: Masters of Earth

Writers: Mark Wright & Cavan Scott
Director: Nicholas Briggs
Script Editor: Alan Barnes
Cover Illustration: Anthony Lamb
Music: Nicholas Briggs
Sound Design: Martin Montague
Producer: David Richardson

Starring Colin Baker & Nicola Bryant
Released October 2014

The most remarkable thing about Masters of Earth is how much of a melting pot of stock Terry Nation plots it is: obviously Daleks and another visit during their invasion of Earth, but there's duplicates, Varga plants, trans-solar discs, double-crossings galore, a secluded community with its own system of justice and a mysterious island that you have to cross dangerous waters to reach. Mark Wright and Cavan Scott embellish these with a few short-lived innovations of their own but at its heart this story is trying its hardest to be the ultimate Dalek story. Unfortunately it comes up short.

After their fractured reunion in The Widow's Assassin, the Doctor and Peri of Masters of Earth are indistinguishable from the characters at any other point in their history. There are a small number of token lines like "it's been such a long time" or "how I missed you" sprinkled throughout, but they could quite happily be cut and the rest of the story would be unaffected. It's understandable on some level: such straightforward action-adventure stories rarely dwell on luxuries such as character unless it later serves some plot function. But if that's the case, why make this the first story after they've finally found each other again? Why not change the story to fit the two central characters, rather than carrying them through a narrative they are bound not to interfere with? We've seen that it's possible to tell a Dalek story that is affecting on a personal level. Something along those lines might have had much more of an impact than this rerun of The Dalek Invasion of Earth.

The story begins, as you might expect, with the Doctor and Peri cut off from the TARDIS, meeting a subjugated community and then being carted off by the Daleks. The twist here is that they've landed at least a year before the first Doctor and co in the 1964 TV story, meaning the Doctor is bound from getting involved in case he disrupts what has already happened. Lucky it's the shy and retiring sixth Doctor on hand, not known for ruffling feathers. Pleasingly, Masters of Earth does get to the refinery much quicker than it took to reach the mine on TV, but it turns out to be completely inconsequential to the plot anyway. The bulk of the adventure is actually relatively Dalek-free, instead foregrounding their more gruesome creations - Robomen, Varga plants and Slythers - and taking place on the aforementioned island, and the journey to it.

Masters of Earth is fine scene-to-scene but completely unchallenging and almost entirely forgettable. Even the writers' invention of a higher tier of Robomen, and the reason why they are quickly dispensed with, feels a bit like clutching at straws to add yet more to an already overlong story. It's hard to believe that if Big Finish wanted an unapologetic sequel to a sixties Dalek story set entirely in Scotland nowadays, it wouldn't be Andrew Smith getting the call. And the execution is uncannily similar to how Smith might have dealt with the brief. Colin Baker and Nicola Bryant are unfazed by the shallow material and get almost exactly zero opportunities to showcase how their characters have developed in the years since they were last together. The Doctor is also more callous and closer to his Season 22 personality than we've seen in a while, taking his character in the exact opposite direction to what the listener might expect. Kyle Inskip, easily the best original character in this thanks to yet another winning performance from Hugh Ross, has his prized motorbike stolen and dumped by the Doctor after offering him refuge, and then spends the rest of the story hauling the TARDIS out the swamp. His thanks? A box of knock-off whisky that the Doctor says is foul. We can only hope the Doctor snaps out of this mood soon.

While the script is slavishly adherent to sixties conventions, the production of this story is not. The Dalek voices sound far too modern and the mechanical, electrical sound effects are a far cry from the creaks and thumps of their 1964 counterparts. I realise that since this is an audio drama more work has to be done but there must surely have been some middle ground of this. The sound design is otherwise excellent, especially for a script that demands the inclusion of so many different dialogue-free horrors. The music is another matter however. Frequently out of place, missing the point in scenes and breaking any immersion the listener might've managed to work up, its inclusion is arguably to the detriment of the story. One thing that can be said is that it is at least authentic, sometimes too authentic. I hope Roger Limb's royalties aren't too steep. A soundtrack with a sparser, more sixties feel would have been welcome but at least it's not too far a cry from what we might've got had this been on TV in the mid-eighties.

Masters of Earth is not actively bad but we've heard it all before and it's somehow still less than the sum of its well-worn parts. Shockingly for their first trip back together, you could skip this story without missing any of the Doctor/Peri storyline. This is a massive oversight on the part of the script editor and huge potential squandered. To think a story that really gets under the skin of these two characters was sacrificed for this Saturday afternoon shallow adventure tale only sours the impression Masters of Earth leaves. So what if it's Peri's first Dalek story on audio? Nothing is made of this - in fact it took quite a bit of effort to check this was actually the case. In case the listener was in any doubt there'd be another one along in a minute, Bryant has only had one trilogy since this and, oh look, there's another Dalek story. In the same way, the concept of there being disastrous consequences if the Doctor gets involved in any way goes out the window almost instantly, flattening the only real hook this story had.

Despite its incredible 140-minute length, Masters of Earth is another inconsequential set piece-based adventure narrative that goes in a big loop. Fine but far from essential.

Doctor Who: Come Die With Me

Writer: Jamie Anderson
Director: Ken Bentley
Script Editor: Alan Barnes
Cover Illustration: Joseph Bell
Music & Sound Design: Steve Foxon
Producer: David Richardson

Starring Sylvester McCoy & Sophie Aldred
Released December 2015

Come Die With Me marks the halfway point of the You Are The Doctor anthology and, so far, it looks to be one of the most disposable releases yet. Jamie Anderson's story of an old-fashioned mansion in the future seems to be desperately trying to create a Night Thoughts-style atmosphere, but ends up closer to The Silurian Candidate.

The setup initially seems to be a murder mystery game organised by the skin-crawling Edwin Norris that has stumped the greatest minds from all time and space. This naturally piques the Doctor's curiosity, while Ace is pulled below stairs with the housekeeper. They learn more about the situation in tandem and eventually the Doctor must save Ace and defeat Norris. It's not especially challenging stuff, which isn't a problem in itself, but this is so chaotic it's hard to get a handle on anything and hence hard to pay attention.

There is something in Anderson's story of a murder mystery in an old house with the Sylvester McCoy Doctor that evokes stories like Master and The Magic Mousetrap. Unfortunately, that is where comparisons to these two superior releases end. Control of knowledge seems to be the 'theme' of this anthology so far, unless you count Ace having a go at flying the TARDIS, which still wouldn't be the flimsiest arc Big Finish have attempted. In Come Die With Me's climactic scene, Norris ends up giving McCoy a run for his money in the gurning and histrionics stakes, revealing that he wants to trap the minds of anyone in creation more intelligent than him in his library so that he can be the cleverest being in history. On the strength of the 20 minutes preceding this, he's going to need a bigger library.

So much care goes into crafting these stories in post-production that it seems ungrateful to criticise. There must be nightmares on so many productions that the listeners never discover because of talented sound designers managing to save them. But still, the presentation of Come Die With Me leaves a lot to be desired. This can be laid at the door of director Ken Bentley; McCoy gives a shocking performance, vamping it up like a good 'un on what appears to be his first encounter with the script. Sophie Aldred as Ace isn't much better, sounding like she got out the wrong side of bed and going massively over the top on almost every line. The sound design completely misses every open goal with regards to building atmosphere, and instead goes gives the impression of stock tracks for an am dram matinee. The music is also far too lightweight and completes the impression that the production team see this as disposable fluff, and consequently that's what they have made.

It is entirely reasonable to skip Come Die With Me without missing anything in character, plot or production terms. When people are paying £15 for this release that is inexcusable. At least You Are The Doctor was trying something different; it speaks volumes that the actor playing Norris isn't even credited.

Doctor Who: The Widow's Assassin

Writer: Nev Fountain
Director: Ken Bentley
Script Editor: Alan Barnes
Cover Illustration: Anthony Lamb
Music: Howard Carter
Sound Design: Steve Foxon
Producer: David Richardson

Starring Colin Baker & Nicola Bryant
Released October 2014

The Widow's Assassin sees writer Nev Fountain at his most unpredictable, which is quite achievement. Across its four episodes, the listener is taken on a journey through a fairy tale made flesh, royal court intrigue, battles inside multiple minds and home in time for tea. That this is accomplished with such style is a credit to Fountain and director Ken Bentley.

Following the end of Scavenger, in which the sixth Doctor's latest tagalong Flip (Lisa Greenwood) departed seemingly definitively, he turns up on Krontep in search of reconciliation with Peri (Nicola Bryant), following their own fractious parting. Familiarity with the 1986 Doctor Who TV story Mindwarp benefits the listener a surprisingly great deal when listening to The Widow's Assassin. No sooner has Fountain finally married Peri and King Yrcarnos (Brian Blessed, on TV) than he's done away with him, and this is the catalyst for the rest of the story. Maybe catalyst is the wrong word, as the first episode alone is audacious enough to take place over the course of five years - and then the second goes one better and doubles it.

Setting the story over such a long period allows Fountain to establish and pay off some of the Doctor/Peri relationship work he is famed for. The irony is that, in the end, barely any time at all has passed for Peri, compared to decades for the Doctor. Ordinarily stories that concern themselves with, to paraphrase The Androids of Tara, the affairs of a piffling little planet, hold little interest. But Nev Fountain's colourful universe of characters really makes this story stand out from the crowd. Most notable is Constable Wolsey, Peri's head of security and also half-man/half-sheep. In fact, it is Wolsey who carries the story's first half, narrating events and taking the lead in the second episode. The Doctor's absence here creates a noticeable void, Fountain's writing creating questions in the listener's mind. What he has been up to is more than anyone would expect.

The Widow's Assassin skillfully walks the line between being intelligent and impregnable. Something this high-concept could have made for a difficult listen, especially at its extended length, and especially given it is such a hardcore sequel to Mindwarp. Ken Bentley, the cast and the post-production succeed in making this extremely listenable and realising the script's considerable ambition. The music in particular is to be commended for completing such a rounded production.

As a scene-setter for a new era of travels for Colin Baker and Nicola Bryant, The Widow's Assassin functions perfectly. While it is not a flawless script - the reappearance of the Doctor's first ever foe that comes to nothing is perhaps one subplot too far - the relationship of the Doctor and Peri, characters thirty years in the making is at its core and on this Fountain, Baker and Bryant never put a foot wrong. It is refreshing to have a story as genuinely witty, in writing and execution, as this and it is an absorbing listen, particularly the first two episodes. A triumph for all involved, setting the bar high and leaving the listener hungry for the next story.

Counter-Measures: The Fifth Citadel

Writer: James Goss
Director: Ken Bentley
Script Editor: John Dorney
Cover Illustration: Alex Mallinson
Music: Nicholas Briggs
Sound Design: Martin Montague
Producer: David Richardson

Starring Pamela Salem, Simon Williams, Karen Gledhill & Hugh Ross
Released June 2013

The Fifth Citadel is an immediate step up for Counter-Measures. James Goss easily demonstrates how to really make this series work, mixing mystery and horror with real history and hard science and coming up with something much better than that sounds.

As with Ian Potter's script for the first series, The Pelage Project, The Fifth Citadel wastes no time in scoring points through its atmospheric setting and intriguing premise. Counter-Measures can't seem to escape one of the regulars bumping into an old acquaintance each episode but at least here Goss gives Sir Toby some agency in his pursuit of Dr Elizabeth Bradley (Celia Imrie). The story never shies away from the truth of what's in the Underground tunnels, nor what's beneath them. This gives it an edge that lifts it beyond pulpy spy-fi and at times makes for challenging listening.

But the production team and cast never forget themselves and while the awful story of the bunker might take its time unravelling, the episode plays more on the feeling of dread than trawling through the gruesome details. The Fifth Citadel inventively divides the four lead characters in a way that not only gives us unusual combinations but also makes narrative and character sense once the cards are on the table.

This is a story best enjoyed untainted, but safe to say the level of the production values is reliably commendable, particularly in the use of mechanical and metallic noises. In the tunnel scenes, the listener is never in any doubt that life carries on for the rest of London, trains screeching past in the distance (and not-so-distant). Imrie and Hugh Ross as Sir Toby are an electric pairing, and the latter once again turns in the episode's standout performance. But it's also a more dignified entry than the season opener for Pamela Salem (Professor Rachel Jensen), Karen Gledhill (Dr Alison Williams) and Simon Williams (Group Captain Gilmore). Not bad for three characters from a Doctor Who story broadcast in 1988.

Intelligent storytelling at every turn and captivating right to the end, The Fifth Citadel raises the bar for Counter-Measures. It is a great character piece but tackles a situation with potentially disastrous consequences head-on and doesn't pull any punches and somehow also finds time to build on the listener's uneasy impression of Toby's new aide Templeton. A superb, albeit chilling, episode.

Doctor Who: You Are The Doctor

Writer: John Dorney
Director: Ken Bentley
Script Editor: Alan Barnes
Cover Illustration: Joseph Bell
Music & Sound Design: Steve Foxon
Producer: David Richardson

Starring Sylvester McCoy & Sophie Aldred
Released December 2015

Opening a quartet of stories starring Sylvester McCoy and Sophie Aldred as the seventh Doctor and Ace, You Are The Doctor is an entertaining, if not outstanding, way to fill 25 minutes. Any innovation it exhibits is in its novel presentation, the plot itself being as rote as they come. The 'decide your destiny'-style narrative and the accompanying commentary at each fork in the road are used to good effect and fill the run time well enough without pushing any boundaries.

It could be said that You Are The Doctor is somewhat obvious, but then that does seem to be the point. The pig-like Porcians return from author John Dorney's own The Fourth Wall, a full-length main range story featuring Colin Baker and Lisa Greenwood. This time it appears the Doctor's old adversary Chimbly and his wife Keith have actually, against all odds, managed to invade and take over a planet, so the Time Lord's suspicions are immediately aroused.

What follows is an inoffensive jaunt through their spaceship, punctuated by the Doctor and Ace's numerous deaths, after which the listener is instructed to return the beginning of the story. The most successful element of presenting the story in this decision-based framework is that the track numbers on the CD or in the digital album do actually correspond to the options Chimbly gives, so you could actually play along if you wanted. This is arguably unnecessary given almost all listeners will, on first pass at least, play the entire story, but this kind of attention to detail elevates the episode.

This is well-directed but it's notable how McCoy, in particular, and Aldred are able to sound so ill-prepared 30 years into playing their characters. Kim Wall returns as Chimbly and the performance suits the role though the listener could be forgiven for mistaking Wall for Nick Briggs. It really is uncanny. And try as the cast might, the Porcians still aren't as funny as the script seems to think they are. The sound design and music do a good job of setting up the narrative structure and providing extra tics to denote sections such that the listener knows what's going on before any dialogue is spoken.

You Are The Doctor was perhaps inevitable. It's pleasant enough, and sets its sights no higher than that, which is fine. While this is refreshingly unconvoluted for a Big Finish McCoy episode, we've done this story now, so hopefully the second instalment in this release will prove more substantial.

Doctor Who: The Scorchies

Writer: James Goss
Director: Ken Bentley
Script Editor: Jacqueline Rayner
Cover Illustration: Alex Mallinson
Music & Sound Design: Richard Fox & Lauren Yason
Producer: David Richardson

Starring Katy Manning
Released March 2013

The Scorchies is a masterpiece. Deliriously fun from the outset, James Goss' story of homicidal glove puppets is one of the standout Doctor Who tales from any medium. The fact that it is brought to life by just two actors, Katy Manning and Melvyn Hayes, with considerable assistance from composers and sound designers Richard Fox and Lauren Yason, only makes it more impressive.

Goss likes to skip to the interesting bits of stories, and The Scorchies is no exception, as we open on Jo Grant being introduced to the latest episode of The Scorchie Show, live in the studio. It's an attention-grabbing opening and quickly sets the tone for the colourful cast of characters that will populate next hour of the listener's life. The most memorable are the loveable Professor Baffle, who Jo ends up spending a lot of the show with, and the Magic Mice, but there's also Cool Cat and ringleader Mr Grizzfizzle. This band of animated puppets have been going from world to world with their television show, burning each planet when they're done, which is how they earned their name. Another feature of many Goss stories is one of the characters having made a mistake long ago that has led to the current situation, and here it's Professor Baffle that is to blame. Manning and Hayes do an excellent job of not only bringing the troupe to life but keeping them all distinct and recognisable.

It's hard to go much further without mentioning the musical contribution to this story. Each of the pair of episodes features two songs, performed in character as part of the narrative, and it's safe to say they fit seamlessly into the unhinged world Goss has created. Cheerful on the surface but deadly on closer examination, they are a pitch-perfect reflection of the murderous puppets. The lyrics, performance and arrangements are flawless; the story would leave much less of an impression without them. A big round of applause for Fox and Yason, whose contribution throughout raises the bar for Big Finish.

Although this features, in a roundabout way, the third Doctor, this is very much Jo Grant's story, fitting given this was released as part of the Companion Chronicles series. The Scorchies takes the technicolor psychedelia of season eight and turns it up to 11, to brilliant effect - and this is from someone who thinks the action thriller-based season seven is the pinnacle of Doctor Who's original run. Small wonder that the Scorchies have since turned up in three other series. It's testament to James Goss' abilities as a writer that he was able to turn out this and The Last Post, another astonishing (but totally different) third Doctor story, in short succession.

In short, The Scorchies is an essential listen for any Doctor Who fan with a sense of humour (narrows it down). This is a much greater, and more exciting, justification for Big Finish acquiring the license to produce Doctor Who audio dramas than seeing how the first Doctor and Susan left Gallifrey or what happened when River Song turned up a bit early for The Talons of Weng-Chiang. The Scorchies expands the Doctor Who universe and is a delightful hour of escapism that I have come back to time and again. A sparkling addition to the embarrassment of riches that are the Companion Chronicles.

Doctor Who: Scavenger

Writer: William Gallagher
Director: Nicholas Briggs
Script Editor: Alan Barnes
Cover Illustration: Damien May
Music: Howard Carter
Sound Design: Neil Gardner
Producer: David Richardson

Starring Colin Baker & Lisa Greenwood
Released March 2014

A sense of finality hangs over Scavenger. The last in the second trilogy of releases starring Colin Baker and Lisa Greenwood, it appears to have been designed as the conclusion to a number of ongoing stories.

Principally, Scavenger foregrounds the sixth Doctor's latest accomplice Flip (Greenwood). They are separated early on, never to meet again thanks to the faith each has in the other, putting everyone else first before working their way back together. This is one of the deepest dives into Flip's character, and definitely the deepest since The Curse of Davros, her debut proper. We don't just learn about her family, but why it matters - and why it matters to her. I sense script editor Alan Barnes' guiding hand in these sections, but they are well-tempered such that they don't become an overload of information and remain relevant to the story's themes.

Scavenger is a very hardware-heavy story that begins in the near future with the launch of the Clean Up Space 2071 programme and various perspectives on it as a space craft, You Only Live Twice-style, swallows up junk lingering near Earth. This makes for an intriguing first episode and it's actually a bit of a disappointment when the titular craft shows up and the story seems to simplify with a common enemy to fight. The story also looks at the relationship between India and Britain in the near future, chiefly through the characters of mission controller Salim and obstructive bureaucrat Jessica Allaway. But India's inclusion isn't as throwaway as director Nick Briggs suggests in the interviews at the end of the story. It is embedded throughout and writer William Gallagher cleverly weaves the myth of Anarkali into the backstory of Scavenger, and uses it to drive the plot forward.

Briggs, sound designer Neil Gardner and composer Howard Carter combine to create a relentless story that, even split into four instalments, will leave you short of breath. This is well-cast, with Anjli Mohindra brilliant as Jyoti, and maintains the tension, if not always building on it, across its two hours; not an easy feat. And it seems The Widow's Assassin comes next for the sixth Doctor, a story I've been looking forward to for years.

Not unlike its namesake vessel, Scavenger demands your attention from start to finish. But it rewards in spades with easily the most competent and enjoyable story from this second Colin Baker/Lisa Greenwood trilogy. William Gallagher's sophomore story set in Earth's near future isn't as strong but his interest in the exploration of cultures and technology, and how they affect each other, remains true. A very solid script, well-realised. Can't ask for much more than that.

Doctor Who: The Brood of Erys

Writer: Andrew Smith
Director: Nicholas Briggs
Script Editor: Alan Barnes
Cover Illustration: Damien May
Music & Sound Design: Steve Foxon
Producer: David Richardson

Starring Colin Baker & Lisa Greenwood
Released February 2014

Big Finish's listeners are, by definition, very dedicated. Dedicated enough to seek out extra stories inspired by their favourite TV property (probably Doctor Who, let's be honest). My dedication, however, does not extend to enduring The Brood of Erys.

I had been dreading this, having first listened within a couple of years of its release, but did intend to give it another go as part of my protracted marathon of stories featuring the Sixth Doctor and Flip (Lisa Greenwood). After 25 minutes, however, I gave up. The Brood of Erys is a generic sci-fi yarn of irritating imps, babbling moons and archetypal guest characters. I am yet to be impressed, or even entertained, by an Andrew Smith script, and this fits the trend no problem.

Steve Foxon puts in a valiant effort with the sound design and music, but even casting the great Nicola Thorp in a starring role isn't enough to save this. What a waste to have two write-offs in a row for such a promising combination of Doctor and companion. Absolute rubbish.

Save your cash; life's too short.

Counter-Measures: Manhunt

Writer: Matt Fitton
Director: Ken Bentley
Script Editor: John Dorney
Cover Illustration: Alex Mallinson
Music: Nicholas Briggs
Sound Design: Martin Montague
Producer: David Richardson

Starring Pamela Salem, Simon Williams, Karen Gledhill & Hugh Ross
Released June 2013

The opening episode of Counter-Measures' second series leaves the strong impression that it will basically be more of the same, no reinventing the wheel. But that's OK because wheels are fine as they are, and so too is Counter-Measures. This series of sixties-based adventure that's as much spy-fi as sci-fi fielded a promising first box set and Matt Fitton's Manhunt continues resolutely in that vein.

One of the most refreshing things about Counter-Measures is its lack of reliance on extraterrestrial incursion. This could easily have simply been a precursor to UNIT but science is usually placed at the heart of the story, some secret experiment or project uncovered when it goes wrong. In this respect, Manhunt is no different.

The story begins with Group Captain Ian Gilmore on the run, wanted for murder. He is of course innocent, which makes waiting for everyone else to catch up a little tedious. But there's intrigue at the centre of this conspiracy and although the twist concerning two characters is genuinely unexpected, it's also, to put it politely, complete bobbins. Even for a series based in the orbit of Doctor Who, Fitton's use of science stretches credibility and he gets away with it pretty much by having laboratory boffins Professor Rachel Jensen, also the boss of Counter-Measures, and Dr Alison Williams reason that it must be possible because it's happening in front of them.

With the villain riding off into the sunset, it seems like round two is in the offing, and given the title of the series finale is Sins of the Fathers, there may not be too long to wait.

On the production side, this is nearly immaculate. Ken Bentley's talented cast ably race through the material, even if it sometimes becomes a challenge to distinguish the three RP ladies. Particular praise to Hugh Ross, reliably excellent as the slippery Sir Toby, Big Finish's only original addition to the series' line-up. The sound design is faultless throughout but the music once again throws up a few issues. The theme tune revamp did not fall on grateful ears; it was already a racket and the last thing it needed was even more going on. Likewise, some of the incidental music that errs closer to sounding like Nick Briggs falling asleep at his synthesizer breaks the illusion Bentley creates, interrupting and overwhelming dialogue. On the whole, the pieces containing just a couple of instruments work well but the cacophony of flutes, pianos, drums and goodness knows what else really make it seem like Big Finish are sending up the sixties rather than trying to evoke them.

On balance this is a vanilla episode to ease the listener back into Counter-Measures, exactly on par with Fitton's contribution to the first series. Hopefully the remaining three episodes will push the boat out a bit more, but as a benchmark, the series could do worse.

Doctor Who: Ringpullworld

Writer: Paul Magrs
Director: Neil Roberts
Script Editor: Jacqueline Rayner
Cover Illustration: Iain Robertson
Music & Sound Design: Daniel Brett
Producer: David Richardson

Starring Mark Strickson
Released November 2009

Paul Magrs isn't one to deliver a predictable script. One of only three Doctor Who Companion Chronicles from Big Finish Productions to feature the fifth Doctor, Ringpullworld is unusual on that basis alone. But the construction of Magrs' story, going beyond 'narrative devices', serves to part further from the field.

There are two main ideas at work here. The first is the Novelisers, a race who shadow individuals and record their every word, action and even thought - for a fee, naturally. The Doctor, Tegan and Turlough have somehow got themselves tangled up with the Novelisers and have a trio in tow as they arrive at the story's other, more abstract, concept: an entire universe in what appears to be a tin can.

While these are entertaining images themselves, their execution and the combination of them are where this story's interest really lies. The first episode begins with Turlough piloting a stolen ship out of the tin can universe, which would free the race it serves to imprison for their violent nature, his Noveliser, Huxley, along for the ride. This first installment fills in some backstory as the ship grows closer to the Ringpull; the way out. The second advances the listener in time once more and focuses on the future tense. This distinction means that neither episode really goes into the current situation in much detail, but that is the point as Turlough and Huxley bicker over their accounts of events. This is more a story about reaction than action; more about perception than inception.

Mark Strickson and Alex Lowe bring these high-concept notions to life with vigour. Strickson is always good value for money and series like the Companion Chronicles or the Short Trips really give him space to shine. It's staggering that, over 20 years in, Big Finish have only produced one full-cast audio with the line-up of the fifth Doctor, Tegan and Turlough, and even that was a story conceived for their stint on TV.

Ringpullworld introduces some big ideas and explores them ably, assisted by strong sound design and music from Daniel Brett. It is an entertaining way to pass an hour and you could do a lot worse than picking this up next time it's on offer.

Doctor Who: Primord

Writer: John Dorney
Director: Nicholas Briggs
Script Editor: Guy Adams
Cover Illustration: Tom Webster
Music: Nicholas Briggs
Sound Design: Lee Adams & Joe Meiners
Producer: David Richardson

Starring Tim Treloar, Katy Manning, Jon Culshaw & Daisy Ashford
Released May 2019

The ninth in Big Finish Productions' string of full-cast original audio dramas set in the third Doctor's era, Primord is all about looking backwards.

The four-episode story is an unashamed sequel to the 1970 classic Inferno, but unfortunately sets its sights no higher than that. The basic plot stems from an army General, Sharp, thinking he knows what is best for Britain and weaponising the primordial slime collected from the Stahlman project. So how does the Doctor come to be involved? Taking up an invite from Liz Shaw, now a Professor at Cambridge, he and Jo decide to take a well-earned weekend off. Coincidentally, the Brigadier (sans UNIT) is off to investigate reports of escaped prisoners in the same area in lieu of there being any alien invasions to fend off.

With all the pieces in place, the story kicks into gear as we learn how Liz has been helping General Sharp increase the effectiveness of the Stahlman liquid as a biological agent and military weapon. The Doctor obviously makes it plain that he is dead against this - until he is infected too.

So can do I justify the idea that Primord is all about looking to the past? Only a quarter of the principal cast actually featured in the third Doctor's era on TV for starters. But it goes deeper than that. As already mentioned, the story is ostensibly an out-and-out sequel, reassembling the same characters - plus Jo - and centering around an element of the original - in this case, the Primords. But even the General and his ally in the Cabinet essentially want to restore the empire, and Liz can't let go of what happened to her fiance. Plus the plan of using 'alien' creatures to wander into enemy territory for military advantage, but having to keep them under special isolated conditions to control them is almost beat-for-beat Carrington's strategy from The Ambassadors of Death.

Recasting characters is nothing new, even for Big Finish, and it's not necessarily a problem in itself, but headlining a story with an actor that occasionally sounds like Jon Pertwee, an actor that doesn't really sound like Nicholas Courtney and an actor that doesn't really sound like Caroline John gives it a different feel. Tim Treloar, an excellent actor in his own right, is an old hand at his third Doctor impression now but seems to be going off the boil slightly compared to his near-faultless performances closer to the start of this series. Daisy Ashford, daughter of Caroline John and Geoffrey Beevers, and Jon Culshaw are perfectly passable and capture the spirit of their characters but at no point does this feel like a story from the early seventies. Katy Manning also overdoes trying to sound younger but settles into the role over Primord's two hours.

Unusually for Doctor Who, the strongest episodes are probably the middle pair, with the first leaving a bad taste in the mouth, the way it is directed feeling more like taking the mick out of a creaky old kids show than an affectionate homage, and the last negating characters' identities to play Liz off as the Brigadier's opposite number. Their chat while their respective armies tear chunks out of each other does little to impress. It may just be because it's only a month since I listened to it, but this story does almost feel like the archetype of Counter-Measures' first series, complete with an overbearing, overwrought score from Nicholas Briggs to distract from the dialogue. He seems to really enjoy going for it on sixties and seventies-style instruments but without any sense of restraint and there is almost inevitably too much going on, for too long.

Overall, Primord is fairly disappointing. It is not half the story of Big Finish's other Season 7 tribute, The Last Post by James Goss, and twice as long. Stories set within Pertwee's first year feel like an inevitability now but any interest I might've had in that has now been severely tempered and even though I have already bought and downloaded it, I am in no hurry whatsoever to listen to The Scream of Ghosts, the other half of the set Primord was released in. A lacklustre attempt to evoke one of Doctor Who's best series.

Doctor Who: Antidote to Oblivion

Writer: Philip Martin
Director: Nicholas Briggs
Script Editor: Alan Barnes
Cover Illustration: Damien May
Music & Sound Design: Fool Circle Productions
Producer: David Richardson

Starring Colin Baker & Lisa Greenwood
Released January 2014

The opening of this new trilogy of Doctor Who audios from Big Finish Productions sees Flip (Lisa Greenwood) having to drag Colin Baker's sixth Doctor away from a well-deserved rest and into the story practically kicking and screaming. Frankly he would've been better off staying put.

A shallow look at a future Earth that doesn't offer half the intrigue or nuance of William Gallagher's Wirrn Isle, the closing story in this pairing's first trilogy, Antidote to Oblivion is a real chore to get through. With stilted dialogue where characters end every sentence with the name of whoever they were talking to and a plot with all the subtlety of a sledgehammer, this is not even popcorn fodder. 

The basic story is that a few centuries from now, Britain is no longer a country but a company, ConCorp. Faced with the problem of overpopulation, the President has enlisted the help of Sil, from TV stories Vengeance on Varos and Mindwarp, and he in turn has in tow the daughter of genetic scientist Crozier from the latter. Together, these two plan to create a virus that will wipe out 90% of the population - for a fee of course. 

This idea in itself is not irredeemable but the execution is severely lacking. The virus requires a Time Lord's DNA or something, which is how the Doctor gets roped into the matter, and this basically takes well over two hours not to happen, as we know it won't. Sidelines such as an infected water supply and a couple of vapid locals only serve to delay matters. Given this is supposedly built around a showdown between the Doctor and Sil, they have very few scenes together and most of the ones they do are just Sil showing up just when the Doctor thinks he's escaped. 

Lisa Greenwood seems more comfortable in the role of Flip but the character as written often sounds stilted and out of place. This is far from Flip's story but Greenwood still makes the most of a severely underwritten part. Nabil Shaban returns once more as the slippery Sil and almost single-handedly energises a production which is otherwise populated almost exclusively with hushed tones and lofty conversation. None of the remainder of the cast make much of an impression, though Dawn Murphy hams it up sufficiently as Crozier's daughter Cordelia that she too could have stepped straight from mid-eighties Doctor Who.

The standout performer, as ever, is Colin Baker. Accustomed to making the best of a bad lot and having long since honed his characterisation of the Doctor to his liking, he rises above the material here to keep the four long episodes listenable.

The remainder of the production is good enough, though the score is often overly grand. And it seems I can't go two minutes without Nick Briggs popping up as some lacky or other lately (often the same one by the sound of it).

Crass, protracted and above all boring, Antidote to Oblivion has little working in its favour. As a company that has perfected the art of mining fans' nostalgia, it is hardly surprising Big Finish want to bring back the only villain originated in the Colin Baker era that he faced twice. But it would seem that is not enough to hang a story on, at least when it means Philip Martin is in tow. I only listened to this again as part of my trawl through the Lisa Greenwood stories, and safe to say it was my last time.

If anyone wants the CD I'm open to offers.