Reviewed by Ben Breen

The Evil One
Written and Directed by Nicholas Briggs
Released Apr 2014 by Big Finish

This Fourth Doctor Adventures story begins with Leela demanding that her father takes "the test of the horda" in her place, which, judging by the scream that follows, is a rather painful ordeal. However, this scene is soon shattered by the fourth Doctor’s entrance, creating a moment of palpable unease in the mind of our favourite Time Lord, which never quite seems to leave throughout most of the story.

When the TARDIS lands in the cargo hold of a giant spacecraft, that is inexplicably empty, we are introduced to three characters in rapid succession. Calvert, a rather aggressive man; Arthley, at this point in the story, a rather official type; along with Inspector Efendi, by far the most mysterious character of the trio.

Leela continues to see what might loosely be called "visions" and hears strange noises as her and The Doctor explore a luxury space cruiser, identified as the Moray Rose, attempting to discover what grizzly and troubling fate befell the crew and the myriad of rich passengers.

When they stumble upon a man who is strangely unresponsive, the time travellers are confronted by Calvert. Things then take a turn for the worse as they are subjected to interrogation, with the Time Lord and his companion quickly progressing the plot and background rather than beating about the bush. This means that the story, despite being only two episodes long, can include an enemy encounter within the first 10 to 15 minutes. The metallic insectoid enemies, known as the Salonu, without speaking or negotiation, choose to fire on the unsuspecting Doctor, Leela and Calvert. This scene does present a running gag that is referred to remarkably often in parodies and the main series itself. This is the simple fact that the Doctor doesn’t have a plan formed as he should do with his centuries of experience. His procrastinations actually lead him to make a remark about Leela’s father, creating a moment of tension similar to the opening scene, as the aliens attempt to break down the heavily armoured door.

While this could have definitely made a good end to the first episode, it does continue on with important plot points that are used in a reasonably good substitute.

There are a cluster of new and old series references as you would expect from any Big Finish production. Passing references to the idea of the TARDIS being "bigger on the inside" further cements the remark’s place in canon and the minds of Doctor Who fans, whilst the idea of the Doctor’s fate being in the hands of a companion, now relatively commonplace to fans of the new era, makes its return. Speaking of returns, Nicholas Briggs makes yet another monster come to life with his most well-known piece of equipment, the ring modulator. Although the voice is relatively easy to get used to, I could not shake off the fact that the result sounded like a parallel earth Cyberman that had its voice unit set to a slightly more hyperactive setting than normal.

Past episodes of the series are also alluded to, the most noticeable of these call-backs being to The Face Of Evil, the first story to feature Leela as a character, as well as the infamous Janus thorn.

The "state of temporal grace" in the TARDIS is also brought to light when Calvert attempts to shoot the Doctor. Additionally, the score fits very well with the classic style of the original Doctor Who musical cues, albeit in somewhat of a more updated fashion.

The first episode cliff-hanger does provide a reason as to the story’s title, although it is unclear at that point how relevant it will become.

The return of The Master, a villain reappearing most recently in the David Tennant era, was not as much of a shock to me as it could’ve been, due to two things. The first is that the trailer acknowledges his appearance along with the cast list, with the second reason being to do with the research I conducted to complete this review, I have attempted to leave as many things untouched as possible so that new readers/listeners can enjoy everything there is to offer here.

The entire cast deliver performances that definitely do their characters justice. Louise Jameson’s Leela and Tom Baker’s fourth Doctor share a chemistry that shifts and changes throughout, whilst the Master is very much the villain that he has always been. Geoffrey Beevers, at once, portrays the age of the Time Lord villain, whilst also showing his cunning and skill with the abilities he possesses.

All in all, this story fits in well with the era it attempts to recreate, in addition to allowing the return of a villain that doesn’t get quite as much attention as foes like the Daleks or Cybermen. As to how that comes about and the schemes that the villain in question has in store, to use the words of a certain Professor River Song, "Spoilers..."

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Reviewed by Martin Hudecek

Afterlife
New Adventures with the Eleventh Doctor
Issue 1
Written by Al Ewing and Rob Williams
Illustrated by Simon Fraser
Coloured by Gary Caldwell
Released 2014 by Titan Comics

"Listen.. How do you feel about helping me catch a rainbow dog? Because I think that might be fun".

And so the Doctor recruits yet another budding travel companion in this tale from Titan Comics. The writing is a combined effort from Al Ewing (Loki: Agent of Asgard, Mighty Avengers, Trifecta) and Rob Williams (Revolutionary War, Ordinary, Miss Fury, The Royals: Masters of War, Trifecta) The artwork comes from Simon Fraser (Nikolai Dante, Grindhouse, Doctor Who) with colour finishing from Gary Caldwell.


Thanks to the flexibility of the Matt Smith era, new companions can slot into the time periods between when the Doctor said goodbye to Amy and Rory and when he 're-acquires' them later. This particular story has just taken place after series 5 finale 'The Big Bang' and uses London as its main setting. Alice Obiefune is the key new character to be introduced in Afterlife. Alice has had a tough time first caring for her severely ill mother and then having to mourn her death. Being made redundant from her assistant librarian job and then having to find a new home as her building was bought for new flats instead just add to her woes. The final insult? Her best friend moving far away to another country altogether.

However the sheer despair gives way to panic and exhilaration. as Alice encounters a beast causing havoc on a busy main road; a simultaneously terrifying and adorable life form with many hues - 'Rainbow Dog'. And not far behind is the Doctor! Humour and exposition are mixed together as the Doctor and Alice establish that they must stop the tail of the creature from performing its natural function - absorbing the environment immediately around it. Eventually things come to a head when the giant creature reaches the Houses of Parliament, where seemingly Prime Minister's Questions is being conducted. Suitably there is a swift interruption and an end to the political debates of the day. Amusingly the desperation from different ministers to make it to the exit before the beast can reach them shows a very firm 'survival of the fittest' mindset.


The Prime Minister - characterised in rather broad brush strokes - comes across as a fair-middling political leader. However his terror in the face of adversity brings into sharp relief the true bravery of Alice. She might be scared, maybe even more than other people. Yet she uses ironic wit (at her own expense!) to alleviate the pressure and to end up helping the Doctor. Beforehand the two had bonded somewhat in the Tardis in a wonderful interlude sequence as she explained her troubled life to the sympathetic 'mad man in a box'. There is a clear chemistry between the two - markedly different however to the Ponds' or Clara's dynamic(s) with him.

Ultimately the solution to stopping the giant multi-coloured dog is simple and elegant - although the Doctor's supposed allies at UNIT almost mess things up by threatening to blow the alien away with their firearms. Thankfully the rainbow dog ends up being reunited with its best friend - a walking squid! Thus the dog/'Kharitite' fits into the Tardis and is allocated a place in the ship's swimming pool. And once again the power of love - so familiar from Matt Smith's run - ends up being the savior of the day. This situation is also rather familiar for any one who has seen 'Hide' from Smith's last full season on TV.

This is a fun story more than not, but a touch confused in tone if read in one go especially. On one hand the sadness Alice must have dealt with to the extremes makes this a downbeat story but there are moments with a lightness of touch as well. The most obvious are the reactions by various people to the Kharitite, and the scenes in Westminster towards the end have a satirical bite For now I will reserve judgement if this a deliberate style choice by the creators,or more of an 'early try' that will be more focused as they pen other stores.
Otherwise Ewing and Williams flesh out the main players in this story quite well although a lot of secondary characters do feel just like window dressing. But importantly the Doctor/ Alice team feels solid from the get-go. And also promising is the apparent set-up for an intriguing arc involving someone from the Doctor's own race - who can appear just about anywhere. I would hope that it is someone else than already familiar renegades from Doctor Who's long history. The artwork from Fraser is excellent here as well, with Gary Caldwell assisting by using both boisterous colour and also shades of grey -to denote Alice's sad life story).

** Two bonus strips feature in this issue:

The first - 'Service with a Shhhh' - explores a banking market opening for the Silence where the Doctor helps out with the marketing side of things. The conceit rests on people forgetting they have money to waste. It is a little less clear just why too great enemies seemingly come together and do something with the same desired end result, but still amusing enough. 'AJ' has fashioned a similar visual style to his Sontaran piece in the Tenth Doctor comic; with computer generated benign-looking 3D Lego type figures. The colours literally leap off the page and add to the overall experience.

The second story - 'Pond Life' (reminding keen fans of Rory and Amy's own mini-series that was on TV) is a rather more traditional and engrossing piece. Both written and drawn by Marc Ellerby it involves the main River Song incarnation we know and love being treated as a young girl by her parents, and despite being physically older than them. Doctor Eleven features briefly as the boy who takes River out for the night - much to Amy and Rory's concern. This more traditional pencil style look is very different from Afterlife but fits the tone of the mini story more than well enough.

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Reviewed by Martin Hudecek

Revolutions of Terror
New Adventures with the Tenth Doctor
Issue 1
Written by Nick Abadzis
Illustrated by Elena Casagrande
Released 2014 by Titan Comics

This brand new series from Titan Comics allows all devotees of the Tenth Doctor to have some fresh adventures with the massively popular character that David Tennant brought to life. It is written by Eisner Award-winning Nick Abadzis (Laika) and visualised by fan-favourite artist Elena Casagrande (Angel, Suicide Risk, Star Trek) with colours by Arianna Florean.

Any newcomers to Doctor Who in general are provided with an introductory text on what the Doctor, the TARDIS and the sonic screwdriver are all about. There is also a brief reminder of the Doctor now being alone again, having had to sacrifice his friendship with Donna to save her.

Gabriella Gonzalez is the focus of this opening issue, along with various other residents of New York city looking forward to Halloween. She is a bright and lively young lady with clear potential in the real world. However Miss Gonzalez is rather weighed down by the inescapably tedious work that she must do for her family's restaurant business, along with a post in a Laundromat. Although she still determinedly goes to night school for accountancy training, something has got to give in her life. And it is anything but what she would expect.

The most notable of Gabby's family is arguably the irascible Hector, who at one point looks to pay the price for being brusque and dismissive. However Abadzis wrong foots the reader and you are left wondering what perhaps instead will occur in terms of this character's arc. A distinctive character outside of the main family unit is Councillor Ricardo Mendoza - who is allowing a ceremony to take place on the day of the dead and may possibly play a larger role in future instalments, perhaps as a villain or perhaps something else that is rather more 'grey' in nature.

Tennant's doctor is sidelined to the extent that we see the cheery and almost too careless persona that he habitually assumes in the initial stages of his adventures. Of course long-term fans of the show can trust that the sterner and more imposing side of the tenth Doctor is not far away and hints are given by his response to the monsters who begin to appear suddenly on the subway. Since the Doctor and Gabriella only meet at the very end - despite being in the same building somwhat earlier on - we will have to see how this latest addition to the doctor/companion dynamic will be.

This story understandably chooses to follow the formula that former TV producer Russell T Davies adhered to - when introducing a new companion in a season's opening episode. There is a considerable amount of story devoted to the Gonzalez family, their issues and some of the past deeds which perhaps should now be hidden - except that supernatural forces have other ideas. Despite the Tenth Doctor being a 'supporting act' he is still magnetic and engaging. There appears to be no surface pain despite his sadness over Rose being now with a mortal clone of himself, and Donna's cruel fate.

The themes of American history and sociology through the context of earlier generations of working classes labouring makes the overall story more substantial. In terms of there actually being 'Revolutions of Terror' - there is the backdrop of the 'Day of the Dead' festival that Mexicans around the world partake in. Given how Gabriella is scared early on by a flood in the Laundromat, and how her family past may tie in directly with the paranormal forces, there is a really effective creepy atmosphere. Having Halloween be taking place co-incidentally is a smart move by Abadzis who clearly appreciates Doctor Who's long-standing remit to be frightening.

The art is certainly striking and easy on the eye, serving the tone of the story well. Casagrande's past experience with Doctor Who comics shows and all the new characters that are involved are easily distinguished from one another. It is also believable that the large Mexican family are all related by sharing certain facial and behavioural traits. There is little immediate threat in terms of any characters being killed off, the closest we get to it being random bystanders being transformed into the various monsters instead.

Indeed the very authentic struggles of a young person trying to establish herself as a self-sufficient adult form the real heart of the story that we get so far. The comic reads well throughout, doesn't try to be too clever or deep but feels like a lot of time and attention has been put into it. I can only hope it will go from strength to strength.

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Featuring at the end is an extra bonus with a Sontaran stand up comic performing an act to a full audience of his fellow clones. This comedian is rather less friendly to the Doctor than Strax, but still amusing. A smart reference to the Rutan in Horror of Fang Rock pops up for fans of the classic series, and indeed this one page extra would be perfectly at home with similar comedic pieces that feature in daily newspapers.

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Series openers have always got a lot to contend with; they have to balance between welcoming back older viewers who are expecting more of what they watched the show previously for, and also welcoming new viewers to the fold who may not know what the show is about. With Doctor Who that can be even harder, with nigh on ten years of new adventures continuing a show now literally in its golden years, under unabated media scrutiny and audience expectation. Then, throw a new Doctor into the mix ...

Unlike the arrival of Christopher Eccleston's version, which the production team took great care to identify as a continuation of the 20th Century series in naming him the - ahem - ninth incarnation, at Christmas The Time of the Doctor actually pulled the reset switch in 'killing' off the Doctor as he reached the end of his final regeneration ... and then like a phoenix rising from the ashes brought forth a renewed Doctor as he is granted a whole new life cycle by the Time Lords. In doing so, it also gave the production team carte-blanche to radically change the Doctor's personality, unburdened by his previous forms, and take the show in a new direction. But would they take that chance to potentially alienate an audience?

Well, of course not. After the disaster that was the sixth Doctor's introduction back in 1984, such a radical alteration was never going to be on the cards. However, as demonstrated in last night's Deep Breath, the character can certainly be massaged into a much more ambigious personality who the audience themselves are unsure of, let alone those on screen. We have the moment where the Doctor apparently abandons Clara to the "Half Face Man" ("no point in catching us both"), and then later his look from the restaurant-turned-balloon after the aforementioned robot falls to its (his?) impalation on the top of St Stephens Tower (this is a Victorian story, pedants (grin)) leaves us in total doubt as to whether he pushed or not. However, considering the way the (original) first Doctor behaved over his first adventures we aren't exactly in virgin territory, and he is essentially still the same being that we've known over the last 2000+ years - as hammered home rather unsubtly during the course of the story by Vastra and the Doctor himself.

Pulling it off is a skill, both in performance and direction, and as the new Doctor Peter Capaldi easily succeeds, ably introduced by Ben Wheatley, whose horror credentials certainly are in play in a number of scenes in the latter half of the story. However, it is the latter half where things properly kick off, with the earlier scenes are perhaps being a little too lengthy and slowing the story down somewhat. This is of course one of the problems with exposition, and as I mentioned when starting this review, there's a fair bit to expose! Writer Steven Moffat allowing some 80 minutes for the plot threads to 'breathe' (sorry!) was a good move, but perhaps it could have been shaved down a little just to make it a little pacier.

Anyway, to the story itself!

Prehistoric creatures have come a long way with Walking with Dinosaurs, and our inadvertent visitor to Victorian London was a remarkable creation (please give Invasion of the Dinosaurs a special edition...). Of course real science might not be in play here (see the New Scientist review) but it is catered for in the story universe (thanks, Vastra). It's a shame that it was a macguffin rather than anything more important in the story, but strangely you do feel empathy for it, courtesy of the Doctor (amazing how the TARDIS selectively translates language for its prefered inhabitants) and its sad demise does contribute to moving the story along - though the indication that the robots have been around since the creature's own era in time is an area of plot that, like the ship's location underground, shouldn't be dug into too deeply! Come to think of it, why bring back clockwork droids at all, their inclusion felt a bit like the Autons back in Rose, feeling more of a "historical" enemy's return for its own sake rather than serving the narrative. Mind you, Wheatley skillfully creates some genuinely disturbing moments that eclipse their previous appearance in The Girl in the Fireplace, so I'm not going to worry about that so much!

Jenna Coleman, Neve McIntosh, Catrin Stewart and Dan Starkey continue to perform strongly, with the latter's portrayal one of the highlights of the episode. The fan in me frowns a bit at how Moffat has seemingly turned the Sontarans into the Ferengi of Doctor Who, but he does get some of the best lines and Starkey never quites takes his performance into farce, so I end up looking forward to his scenes. ("The Doctor is still missing, but he will always come looking for his box. By bringing it here, he will be lured from the dangers of London into this place of safety and we will melt him with acid ... We will not melt him with acid.", followed by his 'special' delivery of the Times to Clara win the prize!). Peter Ferdinando was especially chilling with his portrayal of the "Half Face Man", and again the effects did not let down in animating his clockwork half. Whether we've actually seen the last of him remains to be seen after that ending, and like with Rose in Partners in Crime, the appearance of Michelle Gomez's Missy was delightfully unexpected - I really hope the Gatekeeper of the Nethersphere isn't going to turn out to be the Rani or a female Master as quite a few have speculated and that she is a new original character for us to enjoy in the same way as Madame Kovarian in the 2011 series.

As for that other cameo, I did know it was coming from filming reports but fortunately had forgotten about it until the phone rang. Watching it live evoked the same kind of nostalgic emotion that the final scenes of The End of Time did, though in hindsight I'm not so sure it really served the story so well - it might have been nicer as one of those online/red button extras to enjoy separately rather than in the story proper. Still, its purpose was to remind us (again) that we are watching a continuation of a fifty year tradition!

I can't finish without mentioning the new titles of course. The graphics looked great, and the reflection of the 'clock' theme within the opening bars of the theme was a nice touch (presumably weekly and not just for this clockwork-themed episode), but the main theme sounded very tinny, at least in a non-5.1 environment - I almost had a "Delaware" moment listening to it again! It doesn't seem to quite provide the majesty that I've come to expect from the series theme tune, but I suppose it'll grow on me in time!

All-in-all, Capaldi's debut story was enjoyable, if perhaps a little longer than it needed to be (though it certainly wasn't a clock-watching episode). There was nothing that made me tut at the screen either, so that is always a good sign. It will be interesting to see if this Doctor continues to be 'alien' or becomes more 'human' as with the first Doctor over the next eleven weeks.

Finally, Capaldi himself delivered all my expectations of him as the Doctor, so I'm looking forward to the next 7+ years of him in the role (grin).

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Reviewed by Tim Hunter

On the whirlwind visit to Sydney as part of the Doctor Who World Tour, Peter Capaldi made time for a chat with Julia Zemiro for ABC TV, and When Julia Met The Doctor, which aired in Australia Wednesday 20 August, was the result.

Just quickly, Julia Zemiro is an Australian TV presenter, known for Julia Zemiro’s Home Delivery series of interviews with local comedians on ABC TV, and as a co-presenter of Australia’s Eurovision Song Contest broadcast for SBS TV. She’s an intelligent, relaxed presenter with a good eye for the absurd and camp, and a good choice to interview Capaldi.

She immediately puts Peter at ease as she ushers him into a big room with a view of Sydney Harbour, and manages to engage him in some fun, frank and often irreverent chat. And it is a chat, rather than a formal interview. They chat about his early years as a Doctor Who fan, his childhood in Glasgow, his time in a punk rock band, a stab at stand-up comedy, the short film he directed, the Oscar he won for that, and of course his casting in Local Hero and The Thick of It. She even manages to unearth some previously unknown stories of Peter putting on puppet shows in primary school, which he seems surprised and somewhat embarrassed about her revealing. But then he follows up with a story about making a model TV studio out of a shoe box for cut-out Beatles to perform in, which is just one of a number of lovely moments.

When he gets to talking about being cast as the Doctor, nearly 20 minutes in to the show, he’s hit his stride, and in amongst the candid observations, the now-common anecdote about his first day of shooting in the TARDIS prop comes out, not any less funny, of course. His dry humour and self-deprecating demeanour is lovely to watch, and his passion for the Doctor and the responsibility he’s taking on is intense and a little bit fierce – a hint of what the Twelfth Doctor will actually be like.

Peter also has some interesting insights into Clara as his companion, and then when Julia asks if he can still hear the voice of young Peter Capaldi in his head when he’s on set, he stops to really think before answering, and when he does, he talks about how he knows who the Doctor is, and uses that knowledge rather than any acting ability to inform his performance. And in that moment, we see a lovely emotional and slightly vulnerable side to Peter, and how much playing the Doctor means to him.

The interview is only 25 minutes long, but thanks to Zemiro’s disarming charm and interviewing skills, we get a really solid understanding of who Peter Capaldi is, and what he’ll bring to Doctor Who. And I for one can’t wait to see.

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Reviewed by Tim Hunter

An email from BBC Worldwide inviting me to a screening of Deep Breath and press conference with Peter Capaldi and Jenna Coleman as part of the Australian leg of the Doctor Who World Tour is hard to refuse – even if it is in Sydney. I’m a Melbourne boy, about 900kms (and an hour and a half flight or 12-hour train trip away – further than the 240kms Cardiff is from London) south of Sydney, but how could I say no? So I booked a cheap flight to Sydney, arranged to stay with an old friend the night before, and I was set.

I’ve met, and done an interview in person with one other Doctor, Peter Davison, when he was here hosting the Doctor Who Symphonic Spectacular earlier this year, and I’ve done phone interviews with previous Doctors David Tennant and Matt Smith (as well as quite a few companion actors), but this was going to be the first time I would be in the same space as a current Doctor and companion. Capaldi and Coleman are the first 21st century TARDIS team to visit Australia, so of course, there was lots of excitement and anticipation.

I wasn’t the only one travelling to Sydney for this event; a fellow Melbourne journalist was also flying up, Doctor Who news contributor Adam Kirk was travelling across from Canberra, and on my flight was a couple, one dressed in an outfit resembling the Seventh Doctor’s TV Movie ensemble, and one wearing a Tom Baker scarf. Now that’s showing your true colours.

The press screening and Q&A were taking place at a cinema on Circular Quay, not far from the Sydney Opera House and across from the Harbour Bridge. Kick-off time was 9.15am, but I arrived early to catch up with Adam for a coffee and a chat. The café we chose had a great view of the Harbour, and as a result the price of the coffee was inflated, and the coffee not that great – very Parisian. But I’m a true Melbourne boy, and we take our coffee seriously.

Once coffee was done, we headed into the cinema foyer, and were greeted with the TARDIS – or at least a travelling TARDIS prop. After signing a confidentiality agreement (so no spoilers, I’m afraid Sweetie), we were given a press kit, complete with a press-out mini TARDIS to assemble at home, and then ushered into the cinema.

Local ABC Radio presenter Adam Spencer introduced the screening, and then it was time for a ‘Deep Breath’. It’s always fun watching a brand new episode with an audience; observing their reactions, laughing along with them, feeling the anticipation and sharing in the joy. And of course I won’t be giving anything away, but it does involve a dinosaur in Victorian London, the Paternoster Gang and a newspaper.

The episode was well received – of course, and as Adam returned to the stage and asked for comments from the crowd, it was like everyone was still processing it and not yet ready to articulate their thoughts. Then Peter and Jenna arrived, and soon they settled in for a chat with Adam. They covered a lot of ground, from casting to their first day filming together.

Q&A press conferences can be curious beasts. It’s kicking it off that’s always awkward and Adam did a good job launching straight into the questions, but when it was time for questions from the audience, everyone was a bit hesitant – no one likes to be the first, and there’s always the fear that you’ll ask a stupid question and make a dick of yourself. Once the audience got going though, there was a sudden flood of questions, mostly intelligent and thoughtful. There’s always one out of left field though, and someone asked Peter if he was going to follow in Christopher Eccleston’s steps and just do one season. Peter, Jenna and Adam looked a little taken aback, and you could feel the rest of the audience shift uncomfortably. Peter confirmed he was doing the Christmas Special, of course, and remained enigmatic beyond that, if a little mystified by the question himself.

Then it was time for Peter and Jenna to head out for the photo shoot. The TARDIS had been moved outside, and with the Harbour Bridge as a backdrop, Peter and Jenna posed for a tight and demanding group of photographers, a mix of professional paparazzi and amateur snappers. They were of course accommodating and graceful, responding to calls to turn this way or that, to go inside the TARDIS, outside the TARDIS, you get the idea. And of course, the commotion attracted a lot of passers-by and tourists all wondering what was going on. Some recognised Peter and the TARDIS; others had no idea. But the iPhones and cameras clicked away.

Adam and I managed to squeeze in for some good shots, but couldn’t get close enough to actually talk to Peter or Jenna. And then they were whisked away by a phalanx of publicists and minders, leaving the TARDIS available for a few selfies. We also managed to get interviewed ourselves about our thoughts on ‘Deep Breath’ and the Twelfth Doctor. And then the TARDIS disappeared and it was all over – as if if had never been there. But we will always remember that it was.

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Reviewed by Nick Joy

Deep Breath red carpet world première
Cardiff
7th August 2014
Pictures by Nick Joy and Andy Smith

Cardiff has been the production base for Doctor Who since 2004 and perhaps in recognition of this its residents were treated to the red carpet treatment for Series 8's world première 16 days before its TV screening.

As part of the wider world tour to promote the new season and Peter Capaldi's arrival as the new Doctor, the Cardiff première was held at St David's Hall, a concert venue in the heart of the city's shopping precinct and ideally located for a West End-style première event.

Tickets for the screening and Q&A sold out pretty much instantly amongst scenes of the website crashing and demand far exceeding supply. To help manage the disappointment, a free fan meet was arranged for the morning of the première, with Capaldi, Jenna Coleman, Steven Moffat and new guy Samuel Anderson traversing the 1/4 mile from Cardiff Central Library to the front of St David's Hall.

Having such a long "catwalk" was a double-edged sword. It meant that more people had the chance to see the stars up close and personal (at no point was it more than two or three deep), but it also meant they had further to walk in a short period of time. And while free publicity cards of Capaldi, Coleman and Anderson were given out to all, the chances of getting an autograph or two were really down to pot luck. Capaldi was particularly attentive - chatting, personalising autographs, posing for "selfies" and generally soaking up the rock star attention he was receiving.

All the while, Daleks patrolled the runway, stopping to terrorise the occasional delighted child, and Cybermen stomped up and down. BBC execs with clipboards scurried the barrier's length, prepping Capaldi for his next interview or soundbite, while presenters Lizo Mzimba and Jason Mohammad earnestly interviewed another group of delirious cosplayers. Even the TARDIS was in attendance, sitting outside the department stores.

After the screening, the cast set off for the London leg of the tour, hosted at the BFI. But back in Cardiff, as the carpet was rolled up, the railings stacked back on to the trucks and the visitors trooped off to the Doctor Who Experience in the Bay, the magic still hung in the air.

This was the same street that featured in the very same season opener being promoted that day (though it pretends to be elsewhere) and it's the same street that doubles as St Paul's district in the season finale. Two roads over and it's where Rose witnessed Autons smashing out of a shop window, and isn't that where Kylie and Doctor Tennant wandered around one Christmas?

And that's why Doctor Who premières happen here - they're a fixed point in time and space.

• To see more photos of the event, go to Nick's Photobucket album.

Related Articles: Doctor Who World Tour Begins (7 Aug 2014)

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Reviewed by Ben Breen

The Crooked Man
Released by Big Finish
Written by John Dorney
Directed by Nicholas Briggs
Released: Mar 2014

Tom Baker's fourth Doctor has, in recent years, returned to the mainstream in not only the 50th anniversary special audio and television adventures, but also with the help of Big Finish Productions. This particular story in the Fourth Doctor Adventures range sees the Time Lord and his companion Leela, who always seems to be getting the customs and elements of other cultures confused, land on earth for what they describe as a “holiday”.

But as is nearly always the case with Doctor Who stories, something is terribly amiss in what should be an idyllic seaside town, albeit a small one.

The story opens with a man who, we discover, is a dealer in second-hand books completing a purchase with a customer, one of the crucial characters in the story. This shop also proves to be the scene of the first rather gruesome murder, one of several committed by an unknown killer using unconventional methods. This leads into a story that I obviously do not wish to spoil, but does involve some rather new twists, turning this two-episode adventure into a story that is part investigation, part dark suspense. This story does have remarkably good character development, considering the amount of episodes and limited running time. However, this could possibly be down to having a full cast to work with as well as their enthralling performances.

The fourth Doctor is portrayed with an ominous sense of foreboding by Baker, with Louise Jameson's Leela offering a pleasant and surprisingly quick method of plot progression. Even though Leela is commonly befuddled by the Doctor's mentioning of things like "enjoying some rock", it isn't just the tribal warrior who presumes a lot about the people or places they discover. One particularly fine example of the stories humorous writing style, seen at scattered points throughout, occurs when the Doctor enters into a relative monologue about autograph signing. The outcome is, to say the least, expected and a good light hearted moment.

Every member of the cast does a remarkably good job here, considering the story takes several possibly unexpected twists and turns. The main villain of the piece, the Crooked Man, is a sinister character who we learn relatively little about, but we understand that he will use any means necessary to achieve his own ends. The voice is well chosen and with this being an audio only adventure, the listener is forced to conjure up their own version of this mysterious foe.

The atmosphere carved out by the drama itself is chilling, the suspenseful piano and string-based score continuing to fill the reader/listener with a sense of unease. This is further enhanced by the appearance of shadows and hallucinations, which seem to be a common theme in this story, with Laura Corbett, returning from her visit to the second-hand book shop, seeing a door that did not previously exist in the house before. This theme of shadows and strange sights helps to intensify the emotional tension that persists throughout.

The Crooked Man is a seemingly new, time sensitive villain, with his suspicious companion in the form of Lesley King, a rather rude and forceful television personality. Although all is not what it seems as an old scenario, the land of fiction, once again returns to menace the Doctor, his companion and potentially the whole world with monsters and foes the likes of which humanity has never seen.

To conclude, this story was a gripping one with the entire cast working collaboratively to produce an experience that will hopefully keep you guessing right until the end. Additionally, those who haven't encountered the land of fiction before shouldn't need any prior knowledge. However, those who are interested can discover more about this mysterious place in City of Spires, The Wreck of the Titan, Legend of the Cybermen and The Claws of Santa in the Big Finish audio range.

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Reviewed by Thomas Buxton

Antidote to Oblivion
Released by Big Finish
Written by Philip Martin
Directed by Nicholas Briggs
Released: Jan 2014

To say that the character of Sil (played then and now by Nabil Shaban) was one of the antagonists with which this reviewer didn’t particularly engage during his initial (and subsequent) viewings of various serials from the sixth Doctor's era would be a gross understatement. Much as the more open-minded fans amongst us might champion the various highlights of Colin Baker’s tenure on the TARDIS – indeed, Revelation of the Daleks and The Trial of a Time Lord are both stuffed to the brim with ambition – there were undoubtedly times between The Twin Dilemma and The Ultimate Foe where Doctor Who’s then-terminal status at the BBC was, for the most part, justified.

Ever masters of the art of subverting expectations, however, Big Finish deserve considerable credit for refusing to be intimidated by using some of the more controversial adversaries in the show’s extensive backlog. Shaban’s hyperactive, sickeningly corrupt ‘businessman’ (if such a term can be attributed without causing offense to those real-life individuals whose job title reads identically) is back in full force in Antidote to Oblivion, “whether you like it or not” (to paraphrase a similarly loathed line of dialogue from The Twin Dilemma), constantly conspiring to manipulate the residents of a far-future incarnation of the UK on behalf of his equally-seedy superiors at the Universal Monetary Fund. Regardless of whether one adores or bemoans the construct in question, the relish with which Shaban portrays him is completely evident throughout and if nothing else warrants more than a little admiration.

On the other hand, writer Philip Martin’s insistence on mirroring the aforementioned guest star’s fidelity towards his past work cannot be excused so easily. Try as it might to differentiate from what’s come before by emphasising the somewhat refreshing character dynamic between the Doctor (Baker) and his incumbent companion Flip Jackson (Lisa Greenwood) as well as placing Sil in a far more vulnerable position than we’ve arguably seen him so far, Antidote could very well go by the alternative name Best of Sil and, if anything, would probably have received further plaudits for paying homage to the character’s previous appearances so accurately. That’s clearly not Martin’s intention, though, as by including a semi-indoctrinated community of underground dwellers in the narrative, he seems to attempt a form of dystopian satire aimed at our race’s present overreliance on financial gain and related paperwork, only for the all-too-familiar structure, cliff-hangers and underdeveloped characters presented within it to rob the drama of any opportunity to be credibly scrutinized and interpreted on an academic basis.

For every thorn, of course, there remains a hidden-yet-certainly-present rose (yes, that’s a slightly altered idiom, but what’s the use of a good quote if you can’t change it?), and in this instance, despite the other Baker’s rendition of Gallifrey’s one-time lone survivor not always being held in the same lofty esteem as Tom’s or the rest, the penultimate regular classic incarnation earns himself plenty of justice. Gone is the hilariously self-ridiculing take on the character which Colin offered in last year’s monumentally successful 50th Anniversary mockumentary The Five(ish) Doctors Reboot, replaced by a far more passionate and consistent portrayal made possible by Martin’s accomplished distribution of worthy dialogue. Flip, meanwhile, mightn’t exactly rank up with Sarah-Jane Smith and Amy Pond as one of Doctor Who’s more beloved companions (though that’s through no fault of Greenwood’s own – quite to the contrary, it’s scriptwriters such as Martin who cruelly neglect to give the oft-forgettable character meaningful arcs), yet Greenwood’s actual performance is every bit as layered and engaging as her co-star’s work.

It’s ultimately the lack of ambition present in Antidote to Oblivion which overtly distinguishes it from superior Big Finish dramas such as (to name but a few recent examples) Starlight Robbery, U.N.I.T. Dominion and the exemplary Destiny of the Doctor range, an infuriatingly persistent shortcoming of late in the studio’s Doctor Who range which needs fixing as quickly as the twelfth Doctor needs to determine whether or not he can truly call himself a good man when the show returns to our screens next month. Whilst we’re all but guaranteed a resolution of some kind for the latter dilemma in Series Eight, that this flaw has restrained a number of storylines in the 2014 Who audio range offers us less cause for immediate confidence in the former department. Chances are that the studio are saving their piece de resistance for their impending multi-serial collection The Worlds of Doctor Who in October, yet given that their own 50th Anniversary Special – The Light at the End – was hardly flawless, not to mention that 2013 brought with it a commendable number of accomplished Big Finish dramas even before Light, the notion of remaining unperturbed by the increasingly diminishing returns-esque nature of their recent output is becoming ever more challenging as the months progress.

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Reviewed by Richard Watts

Tomb Ship
Released by Big Finish
Written by Gordon Rennie and Emma Beeby
Directed by Ken Bentley
Released: May 2014

The second of this year’s audio adventures featuring the fifth Doctor (Peter Davison) and Nyssa of Traken (Sarah Sutton) sees the time travelling duo arrive on board a giant floating tomb: the final resting place of the God-King of the Arrit, an ancient civilisation who might one day have rivalled the Time Lords, had they not become extinct.

There’s little about the Arrit, as they’re portrayed by writers Gordon Rennie and Emma Beeby (The Doomsday Quatrain, 1001 Nights) that suggests ancient and powerful intelligences – one of many flaws of this frankly rather flimsy tale. Save for the ultimate plan of their God-King, the Arrit come across as rather generic aliens, as does their giant floating tomb-ship, a musty labyrinth littered with occasional corpses and fiendish traps straight out of the ‘deadly room of death’ trope satirised so memorably in Galaxy Quest.

With the TARDIS crew pitted against the Arrit’s insectoid slaves, the Arrit-Ko, and only other adversary save for the tomb itself being a party of tomb raiders led by the mercenary Virna (Eve Karpf), there’s an awful lot of running around corridors in Tomb Ship and very little in the way of narrative tension, though thankfully the drama increases in the final chapter, as various plot threads combine.

Tension should arise out of the conflict between the Doctor and his antagonists, but neither Virna nor her hapless sons – Hisko (James Hayward), Heff (Jonathan Forbes), Murs (Ben Porter) and Rek (Phil Mulryne) – have much in the way of personality, rendering their interactions with the Doctor quite forgettable. The monomaniacal Virna is gratingly one-dimensional, and her children aren’t so much well rounded characters as a predictable collection of types: there’s the stupid one, the violent one, the slightly suspicious one – and of course the short lived one whose sole purpose is to show us how the traps work.

Also present on the tomb-ship is the mysterious Jhanni (Amy Ewbank), whose real identity will be easily guessed by listeners, while the sudden appearance of another character from an earlier Big Finish release late in the piece is forced in the extreme, straining willing suspension of disbelief almost to breaking point.

Performances, thankfully, are strong, though Davison sounds a little bored; the rest of the cast do their best with their underdeveloped characters. For once, Sutton does not have to play a possessed Nyssa. The sound design is excellent, one of the few highlights of this underwritten, unimaginative story.

Some of Big Finish’s audio adventures are true classics, easily comparable to such outstanding television stories as Kinda and The Caves of Androzani. Sadly, the company’s 2014 releases for the fifth Doctor to date are more akin to Time Flight and Warriors of the Deep – evocative of the period, perhaps, but hardly worth revisiting.

Related Reviews: Moonflesh (15 May 2014)

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Reviewed by Richard Brinck-Johnsen

Charlotte Pollard Series One
Released by Big Finish
Written by Jonathan Barnes and Matt Fitton
Directed by Nicholas Briggs
Released: Jan 2014

Charlotte Elspeth Pollard, “Charley” to her friends, played by India Fisher has been a mainstay of the Big Finish Doctor Who audio dramas ever since her first appearance alongside eighth Doctor Paul McGann in the 2001 play, Storm Warning. The eighth Doctor and Charley parted company in 2007’s The Girl Who Never Was. However a surprise twist saw her being picked up by sixth Doctor Colin Baker, with whom she shared a handful of adventures in which she sought to hide the truth of having already met the Doctor’s future self. Charley’s story appeared to have reached an end in 2009’s “Charley finale” trilogy culminating in Blue Forgotten Planet which saw her left behind as an agent of the mysterious race known as the Viyrans.

Nicholas Briggs had promised that Charley would return in her series and five years later, following the eventual commissioning of Jonathan Barnes and Matt Fitton to write the scripts, it has finally arrived. At the start of The Lamentation Cipher we learn that Charley has spent centuries in the employ of the Viyrans, assisting them in their ongoing mission to rid the universe of a deadly virus. However due to being mostly kept in cryogenic suspension for decades at a time she has barely aged at all since the end of her travels with the Doctor. A chance encounter with a slightly nerdy would-be adventurer called Robert Buchan provides Charley with an opportunity to attempt to escape from the Viyrans. And so begins a new series of adventures which see our heroine transported from a pub overlooking a spatial phenomenon known as the Ever-and-Ever-Prolixity to an encounter with lost explorers in a remote uncharted forest and an unexpected reunion with her parents.

The Fall of the House of Pollard is possibly the highlight of the box set. Anneke Wills has previously played imagined versions of Charley’s mother Lady Louisa Pollard in the plays Zagreus and The Next Life and it is a joy to hear her bring the real Lady Louisa to life. She is joined by Terrence Hardiman who gives a richly layered performance as her husband Lord Richard Pollard. Lord Richard swings between being a delightful curmudgeon to a somewhat unhinged individual who has clearly been affected by Charley’s disappearance six years earlier. The plot may have some parallels with popular ITV drama Downton Abbey but the reunion scenes are worth waiting for and genuinely touching for those who have followed Charley’s story from the beginning.

Always in the background of events are Charley’s erstwhile employers The Viyrans. For the most part they are voiced by veteran actor Michael Maloney, reprising them from Patient Zero and Blue Forgotten Planet. Whilst for the most part very robotic, Maloney add some layers to the different Viyran voices, particularly as the softly spoken Rogue Viyran who has a central role to the story running through this set. The Viyrans are often at their most frightening when they use their ability to assimilate the language and voice of those they encounter.

The set concludes with the suitably epic The Viyran Solution, in which the mystery that connects Charley to the Lamentation Cipher and the Viyrans to the Ever-and-Ever Prolixity is brought to a head. Nicholas Briggs gets a welcome opportunity to steal several scenes playing corrupt businessman Bert Buchan, the father of erstwhile hero Robert, who attempts to exploit Viyran technology to make a profit.

Returning to the role after five years, India Fisher continues to inject Charley with effortless enthusiasm and reminds us why back in the days before the new television series Charley became such a popular companion and why she continues to shine as a lead character in her own right. Whilst not wanting to give too much away, although the label “series one” is fairly suggestive, the door is left open for Charley to have further adventures and this listener will certainly welcome a second series. However, the frequent references to Charley’s adventures with the Doctor act as a reminder of the slightly unsatisfactory conclusion to her travels and we can’t help hoping Charley will see her Doctor again one day.

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Reviewed by Ben Breen

The Dying Light
Released by Big Finish
Written by Nick Wallace
Directed by Lisa Bowerman
Released: Dec 2013

Big Finish Productions strive to create audio adventures that can be enjoyed by everyone and their efforts for last November's celebrations were very successful in that regard. As part of their relentless quest to bring more and more original tales of the Time Lords to anyone who likes audiobooks, a three story run involving the slippery Quadrigger Stoyn came into being.

This trilogy consists of The Beginning, The Dying Light and finally, Luna Romana. The Dying Light is one of several audio adventures featured under the banner of "The Companion Chronicles".

Even though I received a Companion Chronicles CD with my special edition copy of The Light at the End, the main 50th anniversary adventure, I haven't got around to listening to it as of the time of writing. However, I was aware before delving into this story that they might be shorter adventures, partly due to them not being full cast audio dramas. Nonetheless, as I listened and wondered what twists and turns the plot had in store, I was actually surprised and a little disappointed to discover that there were only two episodes in this story. This allows for little background and character development to be accomplished in comparison to the more common full cast audio dramas, such as The Sirens of Time, which normally have around four episodes each.

The story is, to say the least, an intriguing one. The Doctor, in his second incarnation, along with Jamie (Frazer Hines) and Zoe (Wendy Padbury), land once again off-course, in a cave of some kind. After realising that the scanner isn't defective, as is first feared, the three time travellers then embark on an exploration of a great city. This takes them into some rather dangerous situations, one of these encounters finishing up the first episode. In what could be seen as an homage to the second Doctor's era - the time travellers are trapped both in progress and retreat by large stone giants. This does play a role in the second and final episode of the story, if only seemingly for dramatic tension. The planet on which the travellers land is said to be a dying one, orbiting a dying star. Well, no prizes for guessing where the adventure gets its name from.

The plot itself seems fairly sketchy in places, although since this review only covers the standalone story, there may be important links in the other sections of the trilogy which are missing here. Repeated listening may be preferable to discover exactly how the salient points are supposed to fit together.

The only criticism I could place on this story is that there was no dedicated cast member for Katherine, although Hines' performance is admirable. His second doctor, however, does deserve a mention and, as seen in The Light at the End, his performance does imitate the late Patrick Troughton relatively well.

The casting of Terry Molloy, well-known to most Doctor Who fans as the psychotic and maniacal Davros, creator of the Daleks, seems well thought out. Quadrigger Stoyn does begin as a particularly prickly character, aided by Molloy’s choice of vocabulary as much as his own vocal qualities. It progresses to a point at which we, as readers/listeners, might begin to sympathise with him, but there is nearly always an uncertain feeling about what he is going to come up with next, appropriate for a villain of this style.

All in all, The Dying Light is a rather intriguing two-episode adventure even as a standalone story, with what might be considered a minor lack of casting and a slightly puzzling story.

Related Reviews: The Beginning (24 Dec 2013); Luna Romana (6 Apr 2014)

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Reviewed by Richard Brinck-Johnsen

Dark Eyes 2
Released by Big Finish
Written by Nicholas Briggs, Alan Barnes, Matt Fitton
Directed by Nicholas Briggs
Released: Feb 2014

Following on the success of the 2012 release Dark Eyes, which was awarded Best Online Only Drama in the 2014 BBC Audio Drama awards; it seemed inevitable that the popular pairing of the eighth Doctor and new companion Molly O’Sullivan would be back for more adventures. The original four-part box set which was written and produced by Nicholas Briggs was originally conceived to encapsulate a whole era of Doctor Who, as if Briggs were show-runner for the eighth Doctor. As such whilst the story of Molly’s adventures seemed to have been neatly rounded off with her resuming her old life as nurse in the Great War following the Doctor’s defeat of the Dalek Time Controller and its ally Kotris, there are always new dangers to be fought. Dark Eyes 2 sees the beginning of a new story-arc which is promised to continue over to further box set releases – Dark Eyes 3 & 4 – due to be released later this year and in early 2015. This time Briggs has shared the writing duties with Big Finish stalwarts Alan Barnes and Matt Fitton who have taken on responsibility for planning out the new arc.

The new set opens with Briggs’ contribution, The Traitor, which finds the Doctor on the Dalek-occupied planet of Nixyce VII where he is reunited with med-tech Liv Chenka, played once again by Nicola Walker. Liv first appeared in the 2011 seventh Doctor release Robophobia but she is naturally sceptical of Paul McGann’s Doctor's claim to be the same Doctor she encountered previously. Her role as an apparent collaborator with the Daleks will remind long-time Big Finish listeners of that the “Angel of Mercy” Susan Mendes in the spin-off series Dalek Empire and once again Briggs evokes a similar atmosphere of harsh life under Dalek-rule. Walker and McGann are given some great material to work with as their characters clash due to the Doctor’s ambiguous role in events.

The second story, The White Room by Alan Barnes, finally brings about the welcome reunion of McGann’s Doctor with Ruth Bradley as Molly. This is possibly the weakest of the four episodes although it still manages to be a fun romp with time-travel elements although the reveal of which recurring aliens from previous Big Finish releases are responsible may leave some listeners slightly underwhelmed. However this still sets the scene nicely for the adventures to come.

The remaining two stories are both written by Matt Fitton and in these the box set gets down to business and back to the more serious tone established by The Traitor. Minor spoilers follow.

Time’s Horizon sees the Doctor and Molly arrive on a space-ship in the distant future where the crew have just been revived from centuries of cryosleep. Amongst them is Liv Chenka who we learn managed to narrowly escape from Nixyce VII with her life and is therefore not very pleased to see the Doctor. For the Doctor however, in a twist worthy of Steven Moffat, the events of Nixyce VII have not yet happened so he has no recollection and faces the added complication of ensuring Liv doesn’t tell him too much. This story sees the return of another Big Finish recurring enemy, the sinister force known as the Eminence, played with relish by David Sibley. Ironically this release pre-dates their first chronological appearance opposite the fourth Doctor in the June 2014 release Destroy the Infinite although in typical Big Finish timey-wimey-ness, The Eminence first appeared in last year’s sixth Doctor adventure The Seeds of War. However this story does not require any prior knowledge to be able to follow.

The set concludes with the much anticipated reunion of the eighth Doctor with his TV Movie adversary, The Master. Alex Macqueen first appeared in the role in the 2012 box set UNIT: Dominion in which his true identity was revealed after he successfully masqueraded as a future incarnation of the Doctor. Big Finish have previously remained tight-lipped about this incarnation’s position in the Master’s time-line but a couple of throwaway lines including Macqueen describing McGann’s Doctor as “a sight for sore eyes” hints at an answer to satisfy most fans. Macqueen has made clear in interviews that he takes his performance from the scripts and doesn’t base his portrayal on any of the previous TV incarnations. However it is clear from the scripting that his slightly camp and brilliantly sinister Master sits comfortably between the calculated menace of Delgado and Beevers, and the unhinged villainy of Ainley and Simm. The Eyes of the Master sees the two Time Lords reunited in their familiar battleground of 1970s London. The story is a worthy conclusion to the set with some great scenes although we are promised a full on face-off between the Doctor and the Master in Dark Eyes 3 this November.

Overall, Dark Eyes 2 is a worthy continuation of the Eighth Doctor’s adventures which left this listener yearning for the next instalment. Paul McGann continues to live up to the promise of being “probably not the one you were expecting”.

Related Review: Dark Eyes (20 Jan 2013)

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The War To End All Wars
Produced by Big Finish
Written by Simon Guerrier
Directed By Lisa Bowerman
Released April 2014

Doctor Who has traditionally been about the female companions and their combination of helping the Doctor and being protected by him over the course of their adventures. There have been a good number of male companions as well but they are clearly in the minority. The most number in a decade of the classic series were the four who featured in black and white. Steven Taylor was particularly badly affected by the video junking but there is enough material remaining (such as audio and telesnaps) for me to conclude that he was a decent character. Perhaps in comparison to pioneering companion Ian, Steven was a little less nuanced but he still could be well-written, and would always be played with skill by Peter Purves.

Purves' attitude to Doctor Who is interesting - he ended up having a wonderful career as a presenter and could easily have disregarded what was arguably still a children's show when he was involved. Instead he has been frequently involved with the DVD range, and he has also moderated/participated with audio narration for missing stories. The most notable missing story is arguably 'The Massacre' which had Steven front and centre in the action - much like 'The War to End All Wars'. This two part adventure heralds the end - for now anyway - of the Companion Chronicles that feature the original compelling version of the Doctor. It is a tour de force of strong themes, plot and dialogue, with two voice artists showing flair and commitment.

Steven Taylor played off well opposite the moody mentor figure of Hartnell's Doctor, but this particular story only chooses to employ the Doctor at the very beginning and very end only. Nonetheless the dynamic of the Tardis crew makes its presence felt and the listener wonders how the team of three will make their way back together when circumstances conspire to separate all of them. As many Doctor Who followers know, Purves' finale was in 'The Savages' which saw him go from plucky time-traveller to the leader of an alien civilization which had erred in segregating the intellectual from the 'primitive'. Guerrier has free reign to take the building blocks of this lost story and portray a reign of peaks and troughs for the proactive Steven Taylor. He thus add some more details to Ian Stuart Black's original conception and also uses continuity so as not to alienate those unfamiliar with this part of the Hartnell era or indeed monochrome Doctor Who in general.

When we join this audio adventure we are transported to a time when Steven has been deposed from his regal position of power. Languishing in a cell he is visited by a girl called Sida (voiced by Alice Haig) and conveys his story to the pleasant and open-minded visitor. The actual story which the play's title refers to is set on a world torn apart by conflict and political unrest which our heroes find themselves confined to, and for a potentially considerable length of time. Steven tells Sida with great gusto his reactions to a spiral of events where he is arrested and then separated from both the Doctor and Dodo, before becoming a solider in an army - fighting a war that seems to have no hope of resolution. As Steven tries to become proactive, the plot develops in a number of surprising ways..

This is a two episode yarn which is very deliberately formed as set-up and pay-off although the very end does leave open deliberately a lot of new questions. Having a first person narration is simple but effective in nature. with Steven realising just how much events are manipulated. Soon into the latter episode there is a clever change of direction in the plot with Steven suddenly becoming a figure right in the heart of the troubled political system - and he seemingly has little chance of escaping the confines of manipulation. The basic presentation of an older Steven relating the main plot of 'War' to a visitor in his cell is emotional and yet also elegant. There is enough world building both for the un-named planet of the Savages and its history in the wake of the Doctor's visit, as well as the planet that features the ceaseless war(s). There is not all that much time for Dodo to make her mark in the story and even less for the Doctor but this almost does not matter as Steven Taylor's regard for both shine through all the same - even one of his three daughters in the royal court was named after the curious Ms Chaplet.

The themes of this story are intriguing and rich enough that repeat playing of this story is certainly worthwhile. The futility of war, the downsides of so called democracy and the loss of independence and identity all feature. In some ways this two-parter could be adapted into a modern day TV story with minor change and comfortably fit the Saturday evening slot of 45 minutes. No doubt if Guerrier was a writer under Innes Lloyd or John Wiles he would have arranged his story outline for the-then-standard four episodes. Instead we have a medium which can allow for more flexibility and the brevity of the story is by no means a problem, although perhaps the role of the Doctor in events is a little too quickly covered in exposition after the fact and would have been a worthwhile subplot that could have added a few minutes of more time to either episode.

Purves puts in as good a performance of Steven as any that followed his very first in 1965. He knows this time travelling character like the back of his hand and he relishes being able to fill in some gaps given how often Doctor Who could be rudimentary in its characterisation of the companions. Haig has considerably less to do, but her inclusion prevents Purves from delivering a monologue, albeit a very lively and fascinating one. Also, the character of Sida is such an open canvas that she could potentially be given a lot of development should there be a follow-up story which the ending strongly calls out for. There are few flaws with the production as all concerned seem to know that Mr Guerrier has proven himself time and again and is not one to rest on his laurels, and thus requires the best possible realisation of his work. Very much recommended.

Reviewed by Martin Hudecek

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Reviewed by Matthew Kilburn

The Sleeping City
Produced by Big Finish
Written by Ian Potter
Directed by Lisa Bowerman
Released: Feburary 2014

A new story set in Doctor Who's past is an odd hybrid. Written in the present day and inevitably shaped by awareness of the now as well as the 'then' of a non-contemporary phase of Doctor Who, it has to be authentic to the era it's working to evoke without seeming disingenous. Happily, Ian Potter's The Sleeping City manages to be a narrative for the twenty-first century listenership while successfully drawing upon anxieties which would have held meaning for producers and audiences in the mid-1960s.

Doctor Who in the mid-1960s toyed with espionage stories - The Reign of Terror for one - but its early evening slot probably deterred programme-makers from blatantly acknowledging that the adventures of the Doctor and his friends addressed Cold War paranoia. The Sleeping City finds Ian Chesterton in the hands of the secret service, who find his sudden reappearance and that of Barbara Wright nearly two years after they vanished from London needs urgent explanation. For reasons at first obscure to the listener though already explicit with hindsight, the key to the release of Ian and Barbara lies in the tale of their visit with the Doctor and Vicki to the city of Hisk.

One of the features of The Companion Chronicles has been the point in time from which the narrating companion's voice has come. Many seem to look back from late in life at a remote time, but here William Russell is from the start evidently narrating from the point of view of an Ian much, much closer to the one we saw on television. It's down to Russell's performance that we accept this, more than the line that Ian is 'rather dry' and needs a glass of water; this is an older man's voice which can project if not the energy of someone younger, then the memory of it. Rather than impersonate Maureen O'Brien, Russell's Vicki is a high voice emanating distantly from somewhere near his elbow; and the Doctor is Russell's first Doctor owing something to Hartnell only in the sense that this is a performance with an obvious grandfather. John Banks is a judiciously versatile agent Gerrard and various residents of Hisk, mastering the doubtful, the doughtily doubtless and the magnifier of self-doubt.

Ian Potter's writing and William Russell's delivery evoke the poetic quality of many of those avant-garde Lambert- or Wiles-produced Doctor Whos. There is a beautiful explanation of the workings of the TARDIS: quicksilver and the power of the Sun, and valves and magic. The lived fiction of society on Hisk is etched in details - the market where everything is the same price and there is no shortage or oversupply, the sluicing tubes which dispose of out-of-date goods, the bell calling everyone to 'limbus' - rather like the air raid warning summoning the Eloi to their doom in George Pal's The Time Machine - and the limbus dream-shields one can imagine as props designed by Raymond Cusick, Barry Newbery or John Wood. There are nods towards emergent psychedelia, much as there were in stories such as The Daleks, Inside the Spaceship or The Web Planet, but developed now to tell a Cold War story with an emphasis on the nature of society and manipulation of the individual at an unconscious level. There are echoes of The Ipcress File and The Prisoner rather than Doctor Who's more common fear of the bomb and memories of the Second World War, though listeners might find some parallels, though inexact ones, between Hisk and the Sense-Sphere of The Sensorites. Misguided self-regulation, though, is a theme with applications in other time periods too; keeping everything stable and safe prevents innovation and risk and sets limits to imagination.

So much for another Brave New World; but the trick of the story is that while explaining how all was lost, it turns out to have been about making everything better, without necessarily assuming that our protagonist comes from the best of all possible worlds.The Sleeping City is a story for William Russell and Ian Chesterton fans not just because of Russell's ever-reliable performance with a capacity still to surprise, but because it manages to be about Ian's perception of his environment and companions, without needing to invent or import detail unavailable to or unimaginable by the viewer of 1963-1965. It's also for those who like fiction which toys with its audience's and its characters' understanding of events while still presenting a solid narrative thread, while leaving them to imagine what the sleeping city itself will be like when it awakes.

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