Kicking off a new year of Doctor Who audio adventures, ‘The Diary of River Song’ became an unexpected Christmas present when it was made available to download early off the back of her festive television appearance.
The first volume of ‘The Churchill Years’ arrived too, offering adventures for the Ninth, Tenth and Eleventh Doctors – albeit through the reminiscences of Ian McNiece’s fabulous take on the wartime PM.
In the main range, a new trilogy kicked off for Peter Davison, a Troughton-era Early Adventure offered a Cyber-sequel to ‘The Invasion’ and Mark Strickson narrated the Short Trip ‘Gardens of the Dead’.
The new run of Fourth Doctor adventures also began, this time with the Season 17 line-up, while Torchwood saw the return of Captain Jack in the remarkable ‘Uncanny Valley’.
Main Range #208: ‘The Waters of Amsterdam’
In 1983’s ‘Arc of Infinity’, the Doctor and Nyssa were reunited with their former travelling companion (and sometime air stewardess) Tegan.
Set directly after that story and before they leave Amsterdam, the trio encounter Tegan’s ex-boyfriend Kyle who just happens to be in the city to view a Rembrandt exhibition at the famous Rijksmuseum. However, the Doctor is fairly certain that the Dutch Master’s work did not generally feature spaceships.
A companion’s romantic backstory seems unusual fare for the era of Doctor Who, but this is smartly done and of course, the impossibly nice Kyle and the impossible paintings are not a coincidence; there is something nasty lurking in the canals and a trip back to the city’s golden age reveals a stranded alien refugee.
While this is very much Tegan’s story, with Janet Fielding on top form, Nyssa (Sarah Sutton) is granted a heartfelt scene with the grouchy Rembrandt where they discuss grief, putting us in mind of the famous moment between the Doctor and Victoria in ‘The Tomb of the Cybermen’.
Writer Jonathan Morris offers plenty of humour too, with the Doctor holding court in the art gallery and in Rembrandt’s brilliant target book description of the Fifth Doctor.
More than making up for the city’s rough deal in its prior appearance, which could have been set anywhere, this story makes a virtue of the location and meeting the painter, we find that he is the antithesis of Van Gogh – not heartened at all by the revelation that his works will be revered in years to come.
Short Trips 6.01: ‘Gardens of the Dead’
Jenny T Colgan kicks of the 2016 run of Short Trips with a Turlough story Gardens of the Dead. Read by Mark Strickson, this is set just after Turlough begins his travels in the TARDIS, and gives a fascinating glimpse into his relationships with both Tegan and Nyssa.
Of course his every move is dominated by the Black Guardian and the need to kill the Fifth Doctor, but around that Jenny T Colgan weaves a very human tale of nascent friendships, deceptions and memories of the dead.
The ‘Gardens of the Dead’ are a planet where people can commune with memories of departed loved ones, and this intriguing location gives scope for Nyssa to re-examine some very painful memories of her father, and for the Doctor to experience memories we can only guess at.
There is also a chance to explore the insides of the TARDIS as Turlough needs to save the Doctor by using his wits and every resource at hand, even if this means opening the last door in the TARDIS.
Jenny T Colgan paints a novel location for this short reading, Mark Strickson (directed by Lisa Bowerman) does a good job of recreating both Turlough (it was more than 30 years ago) and giving the flavour of Tegan (in particular) and Nyssa.
The story feels fresh and slots straight into continuity. Jenny T Colgan also contributed to the recent release ‘The Diary of River Song’ – on the strength of this we shall hear a lot more of her work in the months and years to come.
4th Doctor Adventures 5.01: ‘The Wave of Destruction’
A new year and a new series of Fourth Doctor Adventures has Lalla Ward as Romana II with Tom Baker’s Doctor and John Leeson’s K9. Justin Richards kicks things off with ‘The Wave of Destruction’, a romp set in and around 1960s London and blends MI5, pirate radio, a professor and the inevitable threat of alien invasion. All this and plenty of technobabble and opportunities for shopping too!
The story starts off in the Doctor’s house on Baker Street, when a moment of relaxation is interrupted by a modulated frequency wave cancellation signal. Cue the start of the technobabble.
As the Doctor and Romana investigate they become separated (of course) and need to chase down the alien threat before it’s too late. The aliens themselves work well with the central idea of the pirate radio station, but no more on them as it would spoil the story.
Several Big Finish regulars make up the cast, including John Banks and Phil Mulryne, a return for Alix Wilton Regan (last heard in 2011’s ‘The Witch from the Well’) and a first appearance for Karl Theobald.
The whole story is played on the edge of tongue-in-cheek with great chemistry not only between Baker and Ward, but also with then and the rest of the cast. Even amongst the amusing moments the threat is played with menace rather than melodrama and this is a fun start to a new season of stories.
Early Adventures 2.04: ‘The ISOS Network’
Nick Briggs’s two-disc Second Doctor story was held up a month in post-production, but whatever the delay was, the result is a fan-pleasing feast of a tale. Performed by Fraser Hines and Wendy Padbury as Jamie (and the Doctor) and Zoe, along with Nick Briggs as the Cybermen (and director) and a few other cast members we have a pacey romp that focusses on the style of the show at the time.
There are plenty of tunnels, ineffective military, more tunnels and lots of hiding from Cybermen. In this mix is also a race of giant slugs, vividly described and vital to the overall story. The story telling is partly narrated, and for the most part uses Fraser and Wendy to narrate sequences just before the other of them takes centre stage in the story.
As the extra explain, Nick consciously followed the basic story-telling style of the time and part of this is a particularly ‘tell rather than show’ approach to the prose, littered with adjectives and (this might only be interesting to writers) making the narrative sections seem a lot more conversational.
Story structure aside the music and sound is perfect, summoning up the 1960s effortlessly. Toby Hrycek-Robinson deserves great credit for this.
While the story may be straightforward, this is a great piece of Second Doctor escapism, recommended for any fan of that period of the show.
What was your favourite Doctor Who release from Big Finish this month? Let us know below…