During the off days of my vacation, as we hung around my friend’s house and rested between jaunts around the English countryside, I passed the time by catching up on several of the Doctor Who audio adventures, produced by Big Finish. After listening to half a dozen, I realized what I had been missing…and I returned to Canada with four of my own!
Here are a few recommendations…
Written by Stephen Cole & Paul Magrs
Directed by Gary Russell
A sardonic, lyrical, and occasionally hysterical play set in an extra-dimensional bar, it features a weather-beaten 6th Doctor, immediately following his trial, looking for solace. Instead, he once again bumps into his wanna-be Time Lady girlfriend Iris Wildthyme — played with boozing gusto by ex-3rd Doctor companion Katy (Jo Grant) Manning. Throw in some nefarious customers, an operatic hostess, some wry tough guys, and a half-drunk barmaid…and the end result is a priceless little comedy, complete with piano stings in all the right places!
Written & Directed by Nicholas Briggs
Half of the story is set on a futuristic space ship. The other half takes place on a steam engine in the 1950s, chugging through the English countryside. They are connected by a mystical door, and the sound of bells that strips men and women of their free will.
Filled with paranoid, frightened, disbelieving, secretive characters, the 6th Doctor and his elderly professor companion Evelyn are forced to travel between these two locations to find the connection. It’s very claustrophobic, and very Sapphire and Steel. It’s the kind of story that’s best listened to in the dark…
Written by Nev Fountain
Directed by Garry Russell
So…you think you know the story of Richard III? Think he was responsible for the deaths of the little princes in the Tower in 1483? History certainly lays the blame at his feet? But maybe…just maybe…it didn’t happen that way. Especially when the 5th Doctor, Peri and Erimem get involved…and not necessarily in the way they were planning. Meanwhile, William Shakespeare has become an evil super-villain, and publishers from the future have sent a giant toy-robot with a gun after the Doctor…because he hasn’t finished writing the next volume in his “Doctor Who Discovers…” book series, as stipulated in his contract!
Sounds like the author might have been on some serious medication, but the story is a glorious romp that effortlessly slips between bed room & bar room farce…and terrifying personal drama.
FINALLY…of the four I brought home with me from the UK, I heartily recommend…
Written by Adrian Rigelsford
Directed by Gary Russell
The early 20th century…Edwardian, imperial, and centred around WWI…is a background that’s tailor-made for the 5th Doctor’s Brideshead Revisited-inspired character. It’s on fine display in this story of explorers climbing Mount Everest, and meeting up with the Great Old Ones, straight out of Lovecraft’s stories. An intense character adventure, with Peter Davison at the top of his game. It’s also a sumptuous showcase for Caroline Morris as Erimem, as she deals with the fall out of leaving ancient Egypt and travelling in the TARDIS with Peri and the Doctor. The entire second episode is an assault on her mind by the ancient forces of evil, and she pulls it off magnificently. I couldn’t wait to rush through to the conclusion.
If you’re in the mood for new Doctor Who, and you want a something different — something not in the video or DVD collection — there’s nothing like a Big Finish recording to satisfy your craving. It’s Doctor Who like you’ve always known it, yet unique — playing in a medium that it has conquered as easily as it did television. Just slip a disc into the player, sit back, and let the story wash over you…
