Jerusalem fucked around with this message at 02:58 on Apr 23, 2017

• The format. It makes a nice change to step outside of the regular continuity of Big Finish's main range and just tell several stories that aren't part of some larger ongoing thing. Each story is self-contained and resolved with only one "episode", meaning nothing outlives its welcome and if one of the stories isn't particularly to your liking it isn't long till it is over. The does however mean that you don't really get time to get to know any of the companions, outside of Mary Shelley and the pre-established character of Benny you have two characters that have to provide a brief summary of meeting the Doctor and becoming a companion so we can jump straight into an adventure already in motion. Izzy and Fitz are pre-existing companions too, but they only existed in the books and comics that predated the Big Finish audios so they fall in a grey area of having pre-established characteristics/personalities but having to be written as an introduction to an audience that probably largely is unaware of them. Mary Shelley is a new companion too (there was a 4 page comic the previous year with her in it), but it works for her because this story serves as an introduction of her as a companion, as well as paying off a long-running tease through McGann's entire run that he had a history with Shelley.
  
  
• The humor. There is some fun stuff going on through most of the stories. Some of it is hit and miss, but it is largely used well to offset drama or tension or to completely undercut characters who are taking themselves far too seriously. It's heavy use in the middle two stories (and the first includes a lot of snarky back-and-forth) helps the final story that is almost entirely played straight. The way the Doctor and Benny escape a dangerous alien predator is both funny and cements an important plot point that answers the Doctor's own queries from near the start of the story and hammers home the danger of their situation. Plus there's the pleasure of hearing Benny grumpily admit she misses the 7th Doctor after realizing the 8th doesn't have carefully laid out 5th-Dimensional chess solutions and is largely just blundering his way happily through the adventure. The third story with the reveal of who the antagonist actually is and their explanation for what turned them into a villain is a little on-the-nose but still well handled, especially with Izzy's reaction. Unfortunately the comedy of the second story and the character of Fitz didn't really work for me, the character reminded me a bit too much of Thomas Brewster, albeit a more affable and charming one than the bluntly stupid Brewster and his blatant self-interest. Fitz at least appears to have his heart in the right place even if he isn't adverse to a bit of a con-job for his own benefit. The "dumb" janitor is horribly written though and the reveal of what is really going on with him is even more insulting because how it makes all the other characters feel stupider for having fallen for it. The Doctor's resolution for the fourth story and his irritation at himself about what he's doing/going to have to do is quite a bit of fun too.
  
  
• The inspiration. There is a loose theme of inspiration running through the four episodes, as the Doctor serves as an inspiration for better or worse for the actions of protagonists AND antagonists. Benny's dig is based entirely around the search for Time Lord technology and the actions of a cult based on a very loose understanding of that race and the Doctor in particular. Alien Defence Incorporated uses the Doctor's reputation for shameless advertising in the knowledge it'll draw the actual Doctor out so they can execute their nefarious plan to try and get him to actually endorse them for real!. But the most blatant inspiration is the one I like the least, as it follows one of my pet peeves in fiction: a character turning out to be responsible for some great (or not so great) act of creation/imagination. The Doctor effectively lays out the entire story of Frankenstein to Mary Shelley, which basically turns Mary Shelley from the creator of one of the most influential and beloved pieces of gothic horror fiction in history (and arguably one of the first great works of Science Fiction) into somebody who just wrote down something around the framework provided by somebody else. It's the kind of thing that bugs me, as I feel it detracts from the person's achievements, but I have to admit loving the Doctor's final line chiding Mary for mixing up the Doctor and the monster's names.
  

Jerusalem fucked around with this message at 10:48 on May 4, 2017

Jerusalem fucked around with this message at 20:09 on May 6, 2017