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vegetables posted:Of all the possible ways for the Sixth Doctor to regenerate, "fighting the Valeyard in a story by Nicolas Briggs" would be swimming near the bottom of the list. I would love this story to be not bad more than literally anything else Big Finish have done, but more or less every released detail about it makes it sound pretty awful if I'm being honest. yeah I'm i'm putting off listening to it as long as I can to be honest. Haven't bought it yet. Stayed unspoiled.
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Aug 18, 2015 03:43
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CobiWann posted:Cobi's synopsis – Blame it on the script and some poor character direction, as The Wishing Beast is a fairy tale barely worth skimming over. It just feels like a cheap episode of the classic run, and I mean that in the worst possible way. Everything feels thrown together from scraps of various other ideas/stories, and it can't settle on either a solid narrative or an emotional tone. CobiWann posted:the Sixth Doctor trying to pass as a 1960's housewife (seriously, the Doctor in drag...that's just brilliant! Why hasn't it been done before?!?) If you're not just alluding to it already, then I highly recommend you watch The Green Death. 
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Aug 18, 2015 03:46
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DoctorWhat posted:yeah I'm To warn you, me and a bottle of sake are reviewing it on Friday...
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Aug 18, 2015 03:58
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While searching for the video of Pertwee's drag in The Green Death I found a lovely video called The Making of Silver Nemesis. Now classic fans know Silver Nemesis isn't a great episode but the behind the scenes access to the filming of a classic series serial is fantastic.
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Aug 18, 2015 06:15
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 In 1929, Lord Barset's expedition to the Antarctic is lost without trace. Or so it seems… Nearly a century later, his grandson funds a much-publicized return to the icy wastes. His mission: to discover what happened to the original expedition. But what he finds instead is an enigma – a battered London police box frozen in ice millennia old. But something else lies in wait in this awful place, something from an era before humankind set foot on the continent's cold soil. A menace frozen in time. Until now. Sylvester McCoy is the Doctor in Frozen Time. X X X X X Cast Sylvester McCoy (The Doctor) Anthony Calf (Lord Barset) Maryam d'Abo(Genevieve) Tony Millan (Professor McIntyre) Gwynn Beech (Harman) Gregg Newton (Ben) Nicholas Briggs (Arakssor) Written By: Nicholas Briggs Directed By: Barnaby Edwards Trailer - http://www.bigfinish.com/releases/popout/frozen-time-264 X X X X X 2009 was the year without a season of Doctor Who. Russell T Davies had announced he was stepping down as showrunner in mid-2008, and David Tennant had proclaimed that fall that he would be leaving the role of the Tenth Doctor. With these huge changes on the horizon (changes so huge that there was a deep concern that the show might be very well cancelled with Tennant’s departure), Davies decided to give the incoming production team, led by Steven Moffat as the new showrunner, a chance to get everything in order so they could be absolutely 100% ready for the introduction of the Eleventh Doctor. Instead of a final full season with episodes aired on consecutive weeks, Davies instead comprised four “special” episodes spread out from Christmas 2008 through New Year’s 2010 – The Next Doctor, Planet of the Dead, The Water of Mars, and the two-part swan song for Tennant, The End of Time. Each episode ran for 60 minutes, as opposed to the standard 45 minutes (75 minutes for The End of Time, Part 2), and was played up as “event” television that “couldn’t be missed.” While the quality of the specials will always be debated (there are people out there who liked Planet of the Dead after all), the “Year of Specials” helped bridge the gap between the Tenth Doctor and the Eleventh Doctor by closing out Ten’s story arc in a meaningful way while giving Moffat plenty of time to set up shop for Matt Smith’s arrival. Oh, and Tennant took advantage of the time off to perform as the lead in some play about a Danish prince. If Sylvester McCoy had a “Year of Specials,” Frozen Time could have been one of its serials. It’s a straight-forward action packed adventure with strong secondary characters as well as a one-off companion, memorable villains, and sound effects that paint a picture of a very elaborate set with lots of special effects, as well as showcasing a fine performance by McCoy. All the pieces coming together to comprise one of Big Finish’s stronger stories overall. Underneath the Antarctic ice, an archaeological team wonders why their British financier has directed them to dig in this particularly isolated location, when the purpose of the expedition was supposedly to find the remains of the financier’s long-lost grandfather and HIS ill-fated expedition. The true purpose is soon revealed however, as the survey team makes several incredible finds, all locked away by the wind and snow for millions of years; a group of reptilian creatures frozen within the site’s icy walls, a perfectly preserved human in strange clothing, and most peculiar of all, a blue English police box… If someone came to me and said “I want to start listening to Big Finish, where should I start,” I have a simple list to choose a single story from. The Renaissance Man, Spare Parts, Singularity, The Marian Conspiracy, The Fearmonger, Colditz, and Storm Warning/The Chimes of Midnight. And I can now add Frozen Time to that grouping. Nicholas Briggs has drat near done it all when it comes to Big Finish – actor, director, producer, and writer. His early stories tended to be solid-but-flawed, including Sword of Orion and [Embrace the Darkness, but he's also nailed a couple of classics – Creatures of Beauty, Blue Forgotten Planet, To the Death, and The Light at the End. Frozen Time isn't quite a classic, but it's incredibly solid with very few missteps. Briggs' script ticks off all the classic Who check marks to give a very traditional story. You've got an isolated setting, villains who can be reasoned with but still commit horrible acts... (I don't want to spoil who the villains are, but they were a VERY nice surprise. Not a surprise so much about who they were, but a “oh...oh, THEM, that's cool!” type of reveal. Much like Dust Breeding, not knowing the twist makes the story better) ...humans who show off both the best and worst of mankind, and the Doctor being incredibly alien, incredibly clever, and incredibly awesome...did know you know the Seventh Doctor could fly a helicopter? Neither did I! Frozen Time takes place towards the end of the Seventh Doctor's regeneration, as he's once again traveling without a companion at his side. Really, you could view the companion-less stories Valhalla, Frozen Time, House of Blue Fire, and the trilogy beginning with A Thousand Tiny Wings as a sort of “Year of Specials” leading up to Seventh's transformation into Eight. Briggs takes a page out of the Big Finish playbook by opening the story with Seven being trapped in the ice for millions of years (I'll buy him being perfectly preserved and in a medical coma to avoid adding to the “how old is the Doctor” argument) due to events...events the Doctor can't quite remember due to amnesia! Yes, for most of this story Sylvester McCoy's Doctor has amnesia, though he still is fully functional and capable of action, vs. how Paul McGann's Doctor always seems a bit more passive and sometimes insane when HE loses his memories! Briggs' script plays up the alien nature of the Doctor, not just in terms of physiology (he can endure the freezing temperatures better than his colleagues) but how he sees and reacts to things. But the slightly cynical Seventh Doctor is still there (“Are you poor and clever, or rich and stupid?”) though without the melancholy or sense of humor he showed in Valhalla, as he doesn't seem to miss Ace/Hex/Mel so much as call Genevieve by their names once and again! McCoy seems comfortable in this story, with an even keeled performance as opposed to “bored” or “flailing like a madman.” The amnesia is used to push the story forward, as the Doctor's memories slowly come back to him (I guess being frozen and thawed is sort of akin to regeneration sickness) to reveal not only what happened in the past, but how they're going to help stop the villain in the here and now. McCoy plays it straight, still managing to BE the Seventh Doctor even if he doesn't quite have all his memories... On the other side of the coin, Nicholas Briggs plays Arakssor, leader of the villains. I can't say much more without giving away their identity (to be fair, veteran Who fans will know who they are almost instantly, but...well, I AM eternally optimistic), but Briggs NAILS the part in terms of characterization and performance. Although...the voice effects, complete with each sentence being prefaced by a bit of heavy breathing, reminded me of the bad guys in the lost Doctor Who episode The Web of Caves. https://youtu.be/xETlYacSCHE The secondary characters aren't necessarily well written, but are instead well acted and help to elevate the story. My personal favorite performance comes from Anthony Calf, best known as “one of the medieval guys who gets shot in the opening of The Visitation” as well as numerous West End productions. He plays Lord Barset, hereditary noble who funds the expedition. He plays the standard “human willing to sell out everyone to save his own skin” part very well, but there's a great part near the end where he reveals his motives...he's not a greedy bastard looking to harness alien technology to corner the market and turn a huge profit on the advancement of mankind, but looking to harness the technology and corner the market so NO ONE else can come in and make a huge profit off the advancement of mankind. He's doing it so the greed and divisiveness of mankind won't get in the way of progress thanks to his, and only his total control...but, of course, everyone points out that this STILL makes him a greedy bastard. Professor McIntyre, played by Tony Millan, provides the scientific heart of the story by demanding to know what Barset is up to, but still intrigued from the point of view of an academic. It's one of the drawbacks to Frozen Time however that McIntyre's final fate is never truly revealed! Gwynn Beech's Harman is the security team leader of the expedition, and while he definitely is the stern “do what I say or else I will shoot you” type, he gets his moments in the back half of the story in managing to deal with the villains on an equal footing. Gregg Newton plays Ben, junior member of the expedition, who covers the lower end of the temporary companion spectrum by handling the minor stuff that the main temporary companion doesn't handle, as in making sure everything else is covered so she can run off with the Doctor to help defeat the villains once and for all. And said temporary companion is played by the lovely Maryam d'Abo, perhaps best known as Bond Girl Kara Milovy from (my favorite Bond movie alongside Skyfall) The Living Daylights with Timothy Dalton. D'Abo plays the French archaeologist Genevieve. Briggs' script doesn't really give her anything beyond standard companion material – the Doctor is mysterious, she struggles to deal with his eccentric nature, figures out who he really is, stands by his side to do things she never thought she could, and is incredibly grateful to have met him – but d'Abo does make Genevieve stand out a bit thanks to her acting and a French accent (d'Abo grew up in Paris) that works well on audio. Speaking of working well on audio, Steve Foxon's score knows when to stay in the background and when to rush forward. Big Finish, for the next few audios at least, put separate tracks at the end of each disc for the musical score of the serials. Foxon's score emphasizes the drumbeats that make up the militaristic nature of the villains, but not to the point of over-saturation. The sound effects, though, are outstanding. They might be among the best Big Finish has ever done. The cracking of the ice, the sound of the villains and soldiers fighting, gunfire vs. sonic weapons, the howling winds of the Antarctic plain...there's a great bit where one of the villains walks from the tunnels into the open air and there's not a single word of dialogue necessary to tell the viewer of the scene change. It SOUNDS like a big budget television production, which heightens the enjoyment. I enjoyed Frozen Time. I enjoyed it a lot. It's a very solid, well put together story with some good villains and good performances from McCoy. Now, I wouldn't call it a classic story, as there's just...something missing to put it over the edge from being a “B+” player into the “A” range. But it's not a case along the lines of Valhalla where the story is dragged down from an “A” grade due to several misfires. In the end, Frozen Time is simply a drat good story with very little to drag it down and one I can easily recommend to both Big Finish veterans and newcomers. Pros + Incredible soundwork + McCoy on top of his game + The performance of the secondary cast raises the material + Grand villains Cons - The script is a little iffy  Cobi's Synopsis – Frozen Time is a solid, well acted and well produced story that will not appeal to Big Finish veterans but serves as a great entry point for newcomers interested in the audio adventures of the Seventh Doctor. Next up - A very special story which at last provides a heroic exit for Colin Baker's much-loved Time Lord... Colin Baker is the Doctor in...The Last Sixth Doctor Adventure.
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Aug 19, 2015 00:49
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Bonus points to Cobi for having the correct best bond film opinion.
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Aug 19, 2015 08:32
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I didn't enjoy Frozen Time anywhere near as much as Cobi, but it is a very well made story and the production is solid - for me it's very much an example of a story done very good as opposed to a very good story, if that makes any sense. Did you get a sense that they tried to suggest the possibility that the Doctor and Genevieve had more adventures together between the escape and her return to the ship?Fil5000 posted:Bonus points to Cobi for having the correct best bond film opinion. When I was younger I thought Living Daylights was kinda boring and License to Kill was the far superior Dalton story. Then I watched the films again and realized that License is kinda garbage but Daylights is fantastic. My absolutely favorite Bond is still From Russia with Love though.... goddamn that movie 
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Aug 19, 2015 08:50
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Jerusalem posted:I didn't enjoy Frozen Time anywhere near as much as Cobi, but it is a very well made story and the production is solid - for me it's very much an example of a story done very good as opposed to a very good story, if that makes any sense. Did you get a sense that they tried to suggest the possibility that the Doctor and Genevieve had more adventures together between the escape and her return to the ship? License tried to do something different but failed horribly and looks weird because it's all filmed on location in Mexico or something. Daylights is a proper, solid Bond film (slightly iffy "hooray for our pals the Taliban" aside) and Dalton is for real the best Bond. Also back on topic, yeah, frozen time is like Daylights in that it takes the established blueprint of what makes a good story in it's world and constructs a solid, fun story with it.
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Aug 19, 2015 08:58
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Fil5000 posted:License tried to do something different but failed horribly and looks weird because it's all filmed on location in Mexico or something. Daylights is a proper, solid Bond film (slightly iffy "hooray for our pals the Taliban" aside) and Dalton is for real the best Bond. Back off topic, Living Daylights also has one of the best Bond themes (the only thing better than A-ha doing an 80s Bond theme being Duran Duran doing an 80s Bond theme) and yes, Dalton is so good. He's the Colin Baker of Bonds, and I keep hoping against hope Big Finish will get their Bond stuff off the ground one of these days and get him back in the recording booth.
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Aug 19, 2015 09:59
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"Bonus points to Cobi for having the correct best bond film opinion." Hmmm we'll see about that - Ctrl-F "Living D" - OH THANK GOD THEY'RE BOTH CORRECT The Living Daylights has as much plot as any other half dozen Bond films put together
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Aug 19, 2015 11:10
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Forktoss posted:Back off topic, Living Daylights also has one of the best Bond themes (the only thing better than A-ha doing an 80s Bond theme being Duran Duran doing an 80s Bond theme) and yes, Dalton is so good. He's the Colin Baker of Bonds, and I keep hoping against hope Big Finish will get their Bond stuff off the ground one of these days and get him back in the recording booth. Toby Stephens starred in a bunch of Bond audio plays for the Beeb and it felt to me like he was channeling a bit of Dalton (though that might just be because Dalton was probably the closest to the book Bond). They're worth a listen if you can stomach them staying very close to Fleming's original texts (like Pussy Galore being an evil lesbian that Bond "turns" with the power of his dick). MrL_JaKiri posted:"Bonus points to Cobi for having the correct best bond film opinion." It's only real problem is it has too many villains and endings. Koskov and Whittaker could both have been fine as solo antagonists, having both muddies it a bit too much. Fil5000 fucked around with this message at 11:17 on Aug 19, 2015 |
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Aug 19, 2015 11:15
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Fil5000 posted:Toby Stephens starred in a bunch of Bond audio plays for the Beeb and it felt to me like he was channeling a bit of Dalton (though that might just be because Dalton was probably the closest to the book Bond). They're worth a listen if you can stomach them staying very close to Fleming's original texts (like Pussy Galore being an evil lesbian that Bond "turns" with the power of his dick). Do they retain Blofeld's island castle with a courtyard full of poisonous plants he uses to lure suicidal Japanese people into his garden... of DEATH *twang etc* in You Only Live Twice? Because I mean the films have their fair set of flaws, but at least they knew when to shoot the dumbest of Fleming's poo poo straight to the moon.
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Aug 19, 2015 11:30
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Does anyone want to spoil Six's end? Including his last lines, please. Also, how does Big Finish present regeneration?
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Aug 19, 2015 11:50
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Forktoss posted:Back off topic, Living Daylights also has one of the best Bond themes (the only thing better than A-ha doing an 80s Bond theme being Duran Duran doing an 80s Bond theme) and yes, Dalton is so good. He's the Colin Baker of Bonds, and I keep hoping against hope Big Finish will get their Bond stuff off the ground one of these days and get him back in the recording booth. So that would make George Lazenby... Paul McGann? Oh God, this is all working too well... 
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Aug 19, 2015 13:42
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After The War posted:So that would make George Lazenby... Paul McGann? Oh God, this is all working too well... Pierce Brosnan is David Tennant, Roger Moore is Peter Davison... and, uh... David Niven is... Peter Cushing?
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Aug 19, 2015 14:16
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Forktoss posted:Pierce Brosnan is David Tennant, Roger Moore is Peter Davison... and, uh... David Niven is... Peter Cushing? No, that's Chris Addison.
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Aug 19, 2015 14:22
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Fil5000 posted:(like Pussy Galore being an evil lesbian that Bond "turns" with the power of his dick). Isn't that what happens in the film version of Goldfinger anyway? I remember watching it recently after not having seen it for years and realised that Bond straight up rapes her. 
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Aug 19, 2015 14:58
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The_Doctor posted:Isn't that what happens in the film version of Goldfinger anyway? I remember watching it recently after not having seen it for years and realised that Bond straight up rapes her. I don't recall her being explicitly a lesbian in the film, but I could be wrong.
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Aug 19, 2015 15:09
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Fil5000 posted:I don't recall her being explicitly a lesbian in the film, but I could be wrong. It's very heavily implied.
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Aug 19, 2015 15:14
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Jerusalem posted:I didn't enjoy Frozen Time anywhere near as much as Cobi, but it is a very well made story and the production is solid - for me it's very much an example of a story done very good as opposed to a very good story, if that makes any sense. Did you get a sense that they tried to suggest the possibility that the Doctor and Genevieve had more adventures together between the escape and her return to the ship? I can see what you mean - to you, it's a basic story where the cast and crew bring it up a notch, where to me it's a good story that brings the cast and crew up a notch. Does that make sense? I don't know if I got the sense of "more adventures" when Genevieve returned at the end of the story...I could see it now that you point it out. I just took it as her realizing there'a a MUCH large universe out there and was gleefully grateful for the Doctor introducing it to her. But considering the time gap... Fil5000 posted:I don't recall her being explicitly a lesbian in the film, but I could be wrong. Well, with a name like Pussy Galore...I mean, what would you expect if there had been a character named, I don't know, Dick Darlington?
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Aug 19, 2015 15:20
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Forktoss posted:Pierce Brosnan is David Tennant, Roger Moore is Peter Davison... and, uh... David Niven is... Peter Cushing? I'm not sure I'd say Brosnan is Tennant. Tennant (and Eccleston since Nine and Ten have a lot of similar stuff going on) seems like he's probably generally the Daniel Craig territory; the darker and more serious revival that still 'gets it'. Not sure who Brosnan is. McCoy, maybe? Generally pretty okay, but fondly remembered because of ancillary stuff. Or maybe I'm just getting caught up on the idea that the Goldeneye video game outshines pretty much all of the rest of Brosnan Bond when we look back at it.
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Aug 19, 2015 15:28
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Cleretic posted:I'm not sure I'd say Brosnan is Tennant. Tennant (and Eccleston since Nine and Ten have a lot of similar stuff going on) seems like he's probably generally the Daniel Craig territory; the darker and more serious revival that still 'gets it'. I don't know, the life-long fanboy lead actor and the overall gadgety goofiness kind of say Tennant to me. Craig could definitely be Eccleston, though.
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Aug 19, 2015 15:32
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lol at Tennant being dark and serious, and not just a frowny-face hystrionic squirrel
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Aug 19, 2015 16:12
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Matt Smith is Henry Cavill.
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Aug 19, 2015 16:16
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CobiWann posted:I can see what you mean - to you, it's a basic story where the cast and crew bring it up a notch, where to me it's a good story that brings the cast and crew up a notch. Does that make sense? I found the "frozen in ice for millions of years" thing really distracting. Not from a "but,. but... the Doctor's age!" perspective but that is has no bearing on him other than the short-term amnesia. And maybe explaining why he changed outfits from the Season 24-26 to the TV movie one, if that's your thing. (If so, seek help.) The living for centuries with jellyfish thing in Orbis felt more natural and earned, as it continues to affect him through subsequent stories, at least as far as I've gotten into that run.
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Aug 19, 2015 16:26
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computer parts posted:Matt Smith is Henry Cavill. Which one is Idris Elba?
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Aug 19, 2015 16:38
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Wheat Loaf posted:Which one is Idris Elba? Idris Elba.
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Aug 19, 2015 16:44
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PriorMarcus posted:Does anyone want to spoil Six's end? Including his last lines, please. Also, how does Big Finish present regeneration? Sticking behind a link to avoid open spoilers in the thread. Spoilers! VVV  The Last Adventure ^^^ Spoilers! Pesky Splinter fucked around with this message at 16:58 on Aug 19, 2015 |
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Aug 19, 2015 16:48
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Pesky Splinter posted:Sticking behind a link to avoid open spoilers in the thread. I know you're all huge fans of Big Finish here in this thread, but oy, that doesn't sound good at all.
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Aug 19, 2015 19:45
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vegetables posted:I know you're all huge fans of Big Finish here in this thread, but oy, that doesn't sound good at all. It's certainly better than "whoops I fell down and now I'm McCoy."
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Aug 19, 2015 19:46
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vegetables posted:I know you're all huge fans of Big Finish here in this thread, but oy, that doesn't sound good at all. As Jivjov said, anything is better than the nothing he was given.
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Aug 19, 2015 19:50
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I liked it. I liked it enough that I'm watching Time and the Rani now. It's... It's not that bad. Definitely not the 2nd worst story ever.
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Aug 19, 2015 19:54
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I didn't care much about the stuff about the Valeyard being created by some Time Lord black ops department, which just seemed like way too mundane an explanation and didn't have any bearing on anything anyway, but other than that I quite liked it. I'll have to give it another listen before I can formulate a proper opinion, though, since I'm sure I missed a few details on the first go.
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Aug 19, 2015 20:05
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There's some good scenes in there, but it's the typical uneven BF quality; the first story is good, but it's practically stand-alone. The second's pretty garbage (Reverse werewolves, seriously?). The third is alright, but feels like it needs expanding on (it could have also been the main introduction story really). And the final one...starts off strong, flags in the middle, and then it seems like everything is rather rushed towards the end; the real standout is Baker's regeneration scene. I dunno really, the thing as a whole is ok, but lacks polish.
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Aug 19, 2015 20:29
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you guys can't even begin to imagine how bummed out I am
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Aug 19, 2015 20:31
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DoctorWhat posted:you guys can't even begin to imagine how bummed out I am Eh it was always going to be a challenge to fix his final adventure. Considering his final adventure is falling off of a bicycle and bumping his head
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Aug 19, 2015 20:33
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why did nick briggs write this i'm still loving furious over The Widow's Assassin but I'd still much rather Nev Fountain had written it. Or Fitton. In a better world, Shearman would have been involved.
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Aug 19, 2015 20:41
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DoctorWhat posted:In a better world, Shearman would have been involved. I love Shearman, but endings aren't his strong suit. Chimes of Midnight has confusing time loop fuckery. Jubilee has confusing time loop fuckery. My Own Private Wolfgang has... a joke about how he can't do endings.
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Aug 19, 2015 20:46
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adhuin posted:I liked it. I liked it enough that I'm watching Time and the Rani now. It's top five for sure. Pip and Jane wrote nothing but shite for Who.
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Aug 19, 2015 21:12
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 The Doctor and his latest companion Constance investigate a commuter train that has lost its way... Colin Baker is the Doctor in The End of the Line. X X X X X Cast Colin Baker (The Doctor) Miranda Raison (Constance Clarke) Anthony Howell(Tim Hope) Chris Finney (Keith Pottter) Ony Uhiara (Alice Lloyd) Hamish Clark(Norman) Maggie Service (Hilary Ratchett) Written by: Simon Barnard and Paul Morris Directed by: Nicholas Briggs X X X X X Due to poor scripts, a BBC Comptroller with a personal grudge, and a backlash against “violent” television led by Mary Whitehouse, Colin Baker's time at the Sixth Doctor is often looked upon as the low point of Doctor Who. He remains the only Doctor fired from the role, and as such is the only Doctor without a proper “goodbye” episode and regeneration scene. Six's regeneration into the Seventh Doctor was preformed by Sylvester McCoy lying face-down in the Sixth Doctor's clothes with a curly wig on his head, as Baker rightfully refused to come back to the show solely for a short farewell scene that would sum up all the problems and concerns that plagued his run. Thanks to Big Finish however, fans around the world have come to discover just how AWESOME both Colin Baker and the Sixth Doctor are. By giving Colin and his companions quality scripts and surrounding them with a top-notch production crew who gives a drat, people have seen that for all the problems that fell upon Doctor Who from 1984 to 1986, they should not be laid at Colin's feet. He's been given a chance to play the Doctor how HE wanted to play him, and it shows with amazing stories like Jubilee and The Holy Terror. Folks, when a Doctor and a TALKING PENGUIN give you one of the best Who adventures ever...I hate to use the term “rehabilitate,” so instead I'll say that Colin's work with Big Finish has proven one of my personal axioms... quote:There are no bad Doctors or companions, only bad producers and writers. The Sixth Doctor: The Last Adventure consists of four hour-long stories that comprise the “final” story arc for the Sixth Doctor – End of the Line, The Red House, Stage Fright, and The Brink of Death. The first of these stories, End of the Line is a well-done affair that sets the scene for the eventual regeneration of the Sixth Doctor by introducing its ultimate villain, the Valeyard. As a stand-alone story, End of the Line is entertaining, creepy, and incredibly atmospheric with a well executed twist driving the dagger home. It's sole low point comes from the introduction of a brand new Big Finish companion starring in her first official story well before her upcoming initial debut! The Doctor and Constance Clarke find themselves lost in the fog. Luckily, they're not too far from Kettering Junction, a Midlands railways station that service a large among of daily commuters heading to London. They're not alone – passengers and staff from a nearby commuter train have made their way to the station after their train stopped. Meeting a local trainspotter, the Doctor and his fellow travelers soon make several discoveries. One, Kettering Junction should have twelve platforms, not seventeen. Two, each platform holds an identical commuter train, some in pristine condition and other caked with blood. And three, there are distant and bloodcurdling screams coming from the fog – screams that exactly like those of the passengers and staff... The closest thing to a regeneration story for the Sixth Doctor before Big Finish was the Gary Russell novel Spiral Scratch, which saw the Doctor sacrifice most of his life energy to stop a pan-dimensional being known the Lamprey from wiping out all of existence, leaving him wide open to an attack from the Rani that forced his regeneration into the Seventh Doctor. Spiral Scratch also touched upon the concept of alternate universes and parallel dimensions that exist along side our own. This concept ties into the events of End of the Line as it turns out Kettering Junction isn't just a nexus point for British Railways, but also for a multitude of alternate dimensions. The various commuter trains are from several universes, and the screams in the fog? Well, it's not just the trains who have doppelgangers... Paul Morris and Simon Barnard are best known for the audio and comic book series The Scarifyers, starring Terry Malloy and David Warner (who replaced Nicholas Courtney upon his passing) as a ghost-story writer and a member of MI:13 who fight the supernatural. The series is a a mix of comedy and horror, which puts the two men right at home as writers for Jago & Litefoot. End of the Line leans more towards the “horror” side of things, conjuring up images of the Tenth Doctor episode Midnight – an isolated train station, the passengers unable to leave, and something unexplainable causing them to turn on each other. It's very well done, and most importantly it all make sense. C follows B which followed A and so on. While we can't yet see how End of the Line ties into the greater picture, it does provide an explanation for the Valeyard's overall presence, thanks to Michael Jayston's cameo as the villain, as to how he might have possibly survived the final events of Trail of a Time Lord. It's important to note that The Sixth Doctor: The Last Adventure is NOT the final story Colin Baker is doing for Big Finish, as there's a main range trilogy coming out in a few months with new companion Constance as well as the Rani. It's simply the final story for the Sixth Doctor, the end of the line being revealed even though the journey is still ongoing. Imagine River Song whispering “spoilers” or something. End of the Line gives listeners the standard Colin Baker Big Finish performance: an amazing one. It's the Sixth Doctor we know and love, doing his best to take charge, getting indignant when someone contradicts him or stands stubbornly in the wrong, explaining everything with that “of course I know what I'm talking about” bravado, and bravely stepping forward when everything looks the darkest. Add to it the verbal sparring when the Doctor confronts the big guy of this particular piece, and End of the Line gives us nothing less than a great turn by Baker as the Sixth Doctor to open up his final adventure. Miranda Raison is a well-known British actress, starring in the BBC series Spooks and Death in Paradise as well as 24: Live Another Day. She also starred in Daleks in Manhattan/Evolution of the Daleks and taken part in several Big Finish pieces including The Davros Project and The Romance of Crime. Raison is currently set to star in an upcoming main range trilogy with the Sixth Doctor as a new companion, Constance Clarke, ice cold and intelligent member of the Women's Royal Navy Service. Maybe it's a callback to how Mel just suddenly appeared in Terror of the Vervoids without a proper introduction in that this is Clarke's first published adventure, but not her first meeting with the Sixth Doctor! It does throw things off a bit, and threatens to make Clarke a Mary Sue type – hey, look at this new character, isn't she amazing, the Doctor loves her, why don't you love her too – but thankfully that doesn't happen. Because we don't anything about her, it's a bit hard to get a grasp on Mrs. Clarke's character, but she does all the things that a proper companion of the Sixth Doctor needs to do. She's brave, smart, not afraid to needle the Doctor, not afraid to admit that there are things she can't quite wrap her head around, and the Doctor trusts her enough to let her run off if need be. I feel like I'm giving Raison short shrift here as she does a fine job, but it's tough to pin down anything specific since this is the first time we're meeting the character and we don't know anything about her! What I can say is that her performance makes me look forward to the main range releases due out in September for her official introduction! End of the Line is an ensemble story with a cast of secondary characters who make the most of their parts and help elevate the story. Maggie Service (Elsie from Deep Breath) plays Hilary, the hard working clerk who is missing an important interview due to the train delay (shades of Toomey from The Langoliers) and her slow descent into panic adds weight to her unconscious reaction to the situation and a bit of sympathy to her final fate. Alice, played by Ony Uhiara (The Crouches), slowly descends into madness during her time at Kettering Junction. Her realization of the situation and how she deals with it is chilling and very well acted on her part. Tim Hope (Sergeant Milner from Foyle's War is solid as Tim Hope, passenger and commuter who handles the “things are going sideways, I don't know why, but I'm going to keep my head” side of things. The first of two standouts from this impressive cast are Hamish Clark, of Monarch of the Glen fame, as ticket collector...sorry, customer service manager Norman, who's insistence on following orders and regulations ties into a much larger design. Clark plays it quiet but firm, insisting the rules must be obeyed because they come from on high. Chris Finney from In the Flesh rounds out the cast as trainspotter Keith, who absolutely knows something is going on at Kettering Junction as everything he initially saw is being changed around. His curiosity and determination are evident early on, and he and will stop at nothing to ensure the Doctor does what's necessary to make thing right. With regards to the Big Finish sound crew, they've done their damnedest to make as creepy as all get out. It's an abandoned train station, surrounded by fog, so every footstep on gravel, every knock on a window, every distant scream, the noise that announces the villain's presence...not quite goose bumps, but there's definitely a bit of skin-crawling thanks to their work! End of the Line is a great beginning to Six's final story. I'm not quite sure yet how it ties into the grander scheme of the The Last Sixth Doctor Adventure, but as such this one acts as a great one-off adventure thanks to a haunting setting that drips with atmosphere and all the actors and actresses on top of their game. Pros + Great performances all around + Top notch sound work to establish the tone + Masterful villain Cons - Constance Clarke out of nowhere makes it hard to get a grip on her character Cobi's Synopsis – The end begins here as End of the Line provides Baker with a new companion, a creepy setting, and the weaving of the threads that tie into his final fate. Next up - The Doctor and Charlotte Pollard arrive on a world that is populated by werewolves... Colin Baker is the Doctor in...The Last Sixth Doctor Adventure – The Red House
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Aug 19, 2015 21:42
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