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 Iron Legion

Adapted by: Alan Barnes
Director: Nicholas Briggs
Script Editor: Nicholas Briggs
Cover Illustration: Will Brooks
Music & Sound Design: Alistair Lock
Producer: Jamie Anderson

Starring Tom Baker
Released March 2019

The first half of a prestige set taking comic strips published in Doctor Who Weekly's fledgling issues and turning them into full-cast audio dramas, The Iron Legion is something of a disappointment. In the year or so since its release, this story has received a swathe of glowing reviews so discovering it was quite so lacking was something of a surprise.

The basic premise is that an army of robot Roman legionaries has invaded the town of Stockbridge and after swiftly sending them packing, the Doctor follows them back through time - and, as it turns out, space. The bulk of the story takes place in Rome, 79AD, but in a parallel dimension where the empire is ruled over by a boy and aliens and robots are a fact of life. Setting The Iron Legion almost entirely in another dimension rids it of some of its mystery, as the clashing iconography is purely for its own sake, rather than there being an internal reason for interference in history. This is not exactly the end of the world, just unexpected.

The four episodes are essentially a jaunt from one outlandish character or set piece to another, and while it is a well-realised production, with a very consistent tone and strong performances (particularly Esther Hall and Joseph Kloska), the material itself is relatively unengaging. Pitched - and, to be fair, received - as a highly witty tale, The Iron Legion did seem to be wanting. The original strips were the very first published in Doctor Who Weekly in autumn 1979, spanning the broadcast of City of Death, The Creature from the Pit and Nightmare of Eden. Big Finish have experimented with the reputed Season 17 tone of wit and whimsy before, most notably with their adaptations of Gareth Roberts' nineties Missing Adventures novels (including the superb The Romance of Crime). The Iron Legion is not a patch on past efforts, although there were some aspects and additions that were very much appreciated, such as the fourth wall-breaking sound effects as we explore the Doctor's mind.

To adapter Alan Barnes' credit, as someone unfamiliar with the original story, it is hard to tell where the comic strip ends and the new material begins. But overall, this was not a particularly enjoyable experience and after the first episode, this set of eight felt like a waste of money. The story did improve, and is carried by a broad performance from Tom Baker, but ultimately it inspires no urgency to listen to The Star Beast, the other story of the set.