Doctor Who: The Holy Terror Review

Released in November 2000, The Holy Terror was the 14th Doctor Who audio drama to be released by Big Finish. It stars Colin Baker as the Sixth Doctor and Robert Jezek as companion Frobisher. It is written by Robert Shearman and directed by Nicholas Pegg.

Big Finish's synopsis:

"The TARDIS lands in a forbidding castle in a time of religious upheaval. The old god has been overthrown, and all heretics are to be slaughtered. Obviously it isn't the sort of thing which would happen there every day - just every few years or so.

And when the Doctor and Frobisher are hailed as messengers from heaven, they quickly become vital to opposing factions in their struggle for power. But will they be merely the acolytes of the new order - or will they be made gods themselves?

An evil destructive force is growing deep within the crypt. And the pair soon find out that they will be lucky to escape their new immortality with their lives."

When it's written by Robert Shearman, it's gonna be good, and this is no exception. I thoroughly enjoyed it all the way through. Creepy, thrilling, just completely brilliant!

This was my first experience with Frobisher the shape-shifting penguin and my first thoughts were "he's hilarious" and that he reminds me of Pingu. Such a brilliant and creative idea for a companion! Robert Jezek does a great job and it's a huge shame that this and The Maltese Penguin are the only audios that feature him.

Right, let's move on to the acting: Robert Jezek basically steals the show - he's excellent, Colin Baker is just fantastic, Stefan Atkinson gives a very believable performance, Sam Kelly is great, Peter Sowerbutts is great, Peter Guinness is an amazing choice to play an amazing villain and the rest of the actors are all good too.

The setting (a castle) is quite creepy because, for most of the story, The Doctor and Frobisher aren't completely sure about where they are. Actually, the reason the place exists is extremely creepy. The idea behind the actual setting is very good and the production team manage to pull it off perfectly.

My favourite character featured in this story other than the main two is Pepin VII. I can't really explain why, but if it weren't for him, I wouldn't have enjoyed the story quite as much. I'd like to give Eugene a special mention as well.

My favourite line is more than just one line but here it is anyway:
"Your father comitted the ultimate blasphemy." "What's that?" "He died. Gods aren't supposed to do that sort of thing." - There are loads of great lines scattered throughout the story and this is just one of them.

The religion of the castle is extremely messed up but no one wants to change it. The main villain in this story is Eugene's son (spoiler, highlight to see it) and wow, just from hearing him, I know he's creepy! I was listening to it in the dark at 2 AM and I had to turn the light on! Just why, Robert Shearman, why do you have to be so good at writing scary stuff!?

I think the way the TARDIS goes on strike is great. Frobisher thinks it's just because she wants attention but it's actually been drawn there for some reason. I'll let you find out why.

The fact that Pepin VI fell asleep in the bath and drowned put a smile on my face. It's probably not good to laugh at death, but that's a brilliant way for someone to go, especially a God. Hell, if I were a God, that's how I'd want to die!

The Holy Terror is a perfect mix of creepiness, funniness and entertainingness (wait, is that even a word?) An amazing story full of fantastic, creative ideas. Frobisher is extremely underappreciated.

It would definitely make a good first Big Finish audio - It's a must-have for pretty much any Doctor Who fan!

Overall Rating: 10/10

You can buy The Holy Terror for £2.99 download or £5.00 CD here.