Doctor Who: 1963: Fanfare For The Common Men Review

Released in September 2013, 1963: Fanfare for the Common Men was the 178th Doctor Who audio drama to be released in Big Finish's main range. It stars Peter Davison as the Fifth Doctor and Sarah Sutton as companion Nyssa. It is written by Eddie Robson and directed by Barnaby Edwards. It is the first part of the 1963 trilogy.

Big Finish's synopsis:

"If you remember the Sixties, they say, then you can’t have been there.

The Doctor remembers the Sixties. That’s why he’s taking Nyssa on a trip back to November 1963. Back to where it all began. Back to the birth of the biggest band in the history of British music. Back to see those cheeky lads from Liverpool...

Mark, James and Korky. The Common Men. The boys who made the Sixties swing with songs like Oh, Won’t You Please Love Me?, Just Count To Three and Who Is That Man.

The Doctor remembers the Sixties. And there’s something very wrong with the Sixties, if the Beatles no longer exist…"

After listening to the amazing 1-part story Urgent Calls (also by Eddie Robson and available free of charge on Big Finish's Soundcloud), I was expecting a lot from this. Does it disappoint? No. It's absolutely brilliant. Best main range release this year. Crazily creative and a great idea overall.

If I were to tell someone about this story, I'd say something along the lines of "A thrilling adventure where The Doctor and Nyssa go to England in 1963 to see the Beatles, but when they arrive they find out that the Beatles don't exist and they're going to be seeing the Common Men instead. Somehow, Nyssa ends up in Germany and The Doctor soon realises that someone is messing with time. I'll let you find out the rest for yourself."

I can't say a bad word about the cast - full of amazing actors, especially Peter Davison. I'm starting to like the Fifth Doctor more and more which surprises me as, in the past, he's always been my least favourite Doctor! And of course, most of us will recognize Lenny's voice actor, Ryan Sampson, as young genius Luke Rattigan from Series 4's The Sontaran Stratagem / The Poison Sky.

The various settings are all very similar and they're all brilliant. I wasn't around back in the 60's, but this gives me a feel of what I imagine they'd be like. Great to see The Doctor go back to 1963 and the few seconds we heard of 1940 were good too.

My favourite character featured in this story other than the main two is probably the mysterious-for-a-couple-of-minutes Paravatar. I found him to be very interesting.

There are quite a few good lines - some funny, some powerful and some just sound good:
"Kids like pop music, job done, there you go."
"An alien? Hahahaha, I think I'd know if I were an alien, Nyssa!"
"Kids don't want to go to church anymore to feel bigger, they go to our gigs."
"I don't want to be helped, I want to burn everything that refuses to be mine... And I'm gonna start with you!"

Some more things I like about 1963: Fanfare for the Common Men are: It's nice to see The Doctor up against a time travelling villain and the reference to Susan and her music.

One thing I don't like about the story is that Lenny's voice sounds extremely generic for a villain but maybe that's just my brain. Other than that, I can't really fault it.

Overall, an incredibly creative idea of mixing Doctor Who with 60's music and it works very nicely. Not something I'd want to hear every month, but it makes a very good one-off and it's certainly an enjoyable two hours. I think it would make quite a good first audio for most people and I hope it isn't forgotten when it's as old as stories like Phantasmagoria and Winter for the Adept. As I said before, it's the best Doctor Who audio of 2013... So far.

Definitely worth the money and hopefully The Space Race, The Assassination Games and The Light at the End are just as good!

Overall Rating: 9/10

  

You can buy 1963: Fanfare for the Common Men for £12.99 download or £14.99 CD here.

Doctor Who: Creatures Of Beauty Review

Released in May 2003, Creatures of Beauty was the 44th Doctor Who audio drama to be released by Big Finish. It stars Peter Davison as the Fifth Doctor and Sarah Sutton as companion Nyssa. It is written and directed by Nicholas Briggs.

Big Finish's synopsis:

"A planetary ecological disaster! An incurable, disfiguring, genetic disease... Aliens, in breach of galactic law!

Nyssa, under arrest! The TARDIS, inoperable! The Doctor, facing interrogation!

Another situation of dire peril is unfolding for the Doctor and his companion. However, what if it is not clear who is right and who is wrong? Who is ugly and who is beautiful?

Where does the story begin, and where does it end? Sometimes, it is all a matter of perspective."

This is just brilliant. Fantastically brilliant. Words cannot describe just how brilliant this story is. It's a very confusing story - maybe not as much as Flip-Flop, but I kept wondering if I was listening to it in the right order. I don't think I'd describe it as wibbly wobbly timey wimey, but definitely confusing. Mind blowingly confusing. I mean, it should all make sense, but it doesn't... Atleast, not until you've listened to the whole thing... And then still not all of it makes sense. I like stories like this.

The story starts with The Doctor and Nyssa quickly stopping on a planet called Veln in order to warn the inhabitants about the dyestrial pollution, but he doesn't exactly get the welcome he was hoping for. That's all I'm going to say here.

Let's talk about the acting for a minute - Peter Davison is very good - I'm normally not a huge fan of his Doctor but he was excellent here. Sarah Sutton is very good as usual, David Daker gave a good performance, as did David Mallinson. Of course, Nicholas Briggs gave good performances in all seven of his roles. There aren't any actors involved that I would consider bad, so that's definitely a good thing... All the acting in this audio was actually top notch.

The villains are great because, well, they're not aliens. This sometimes means you're going to get a ridiculously boring story but nope - this was a very interesting and unique story! The concept behind it is brilliant and Nicholas Briggs manages to get everything right!

As for the setting of Veln, it's done extremely well. Definitely one of Big Finish's best. As usual, the production team was able to make them feel realistic and make you feel as if you were there. Great planet too.

My favourite character featured in this story other than the main two is... Well... I just can't decide. Maybe Gilbrook, but that's probably because of David Daker's appearance in one of my favourite TV stories. They're all so well acted and likeable that I can't choose a favourite.

My favourite line is, without a doubt, "Like paint spilling across the table. He said it was almost beautiful." - An almost beautiful line!

Everything in Creatures of Beauty is a good idea. It seems very dark, with brutal murders, Nyssa being arrested on suspicion of murder, extremely horrible ear-destroying screaming in pain, not much music, excessive use of minor swear words such as b****rd... It's a story that you're never going to see on TV, but luckily, can enjoy in the form of audio.

Brilliant story, has you hooked from beginning to end but your mind strays away from the story while you're trying to work out what's going on and if you're listening to it in the right order or not!

I think this would make a perfect first audio, especially if you're a Fifth Doctor fan. Brilliant in every way possible.

Overall Rating: 10/10

Buy Creatures of Beauty for £2.99 download or £5.00 CD here.

Doctor Who: The Mutant Phase Review

THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS.

Released in December 2000, The Mutant Phase was the 15th Doctor Who audio drama to be released by Big Finish. It stars Peter Davison as the Fifth Doctor and Sarah Sutton as companion Nyssa. It is written and directed by Nicholas Briggs.

Big Finish's synopsis:

"In the 22nd century, the Daleks have occupied planet Earth. By the 43rd century, only a handful of humans survive. Still further into the distant future, a Thal scientist must choose whether to betray his heritage, or see the universe destroyed.

When the Doctor and Nyssa find themselves trapped in this deadly chain of events, they must decide who their real enemies are. What is certain, however, is that no matter where the Doctor turns, his arch enemies, the Daleks, will be waiting for him.

What could possibly be worse than that? The Mutant Phase..." 

This is a really enjoyable story in my opinion. It really does remind me of The Dalek Invasion of Earth - one of my favourite First Doctor stories. Almost everything was done by Nicholas Briggs - the writing, the directing and the Dalek voices... And he does a really good job with it all! The idea of the Mutant Phase was just great!

The story starts with The Doctor and Nyssa landing on a planet that, at first glance, looks completely un-populated. Then they hear weapons and The Doctor realises that they're on Earth... In the 2150s... During the Dalek occupation of Earth. Once The Doctor realises this, the two decide to go back to the TARDIS but thanks to the Daleks, are unable to escape.

So, the acting... Peter Davison was fantastic, much better than his average TV story! Sarah Sutton was also great and Nyssa remains one of my favourite companions. Nicholas Briggs gave us some great Dalek voices as always. Jared Morgan was great as Commander Ganatus. Mark Gatiss gave quite a good performance as Karl Hendryk. None of the other actors really stood out to me, but none of them were bad. All the characters were good but I think Davison gave the best performance.

The settings (Kansas 2158 AD, London 4253 AD, Skaro) were all great. That's all I have to say about them.

My favourite character featured in this story other than the Fifth Doctor or Nyssa is the Dalek Emperor. Seriously, it's his first proper appearance since 1967's The Evil of the Daleks and he's just an awesome character. Especially with the way he implants his mind into Ganatus' to be completely sure The Doctor and Ptolem travel back in time to prevent the Mutant Phase.

My favourite line is from the Dalek Emperor - "I am Emperor of the Daleks! Destined to be ruler of the universe!"

I can't fault much but what really I don't like is the ending - it just feels so sudden, but oh well. The story is free on Big Finish's Soundcloud and for that reason (as well as the fact it's a great story), I would recommend it as your first Big Finish audio.

Overall Rating: 9/10

You can buy The Mutant Phase for £2.99 download or £5.00 CD here.

Featured Villain: Melkur

Melkur was a name given to creatures attracted to the planet Traken and the word literally means "a fly trapped in honey". They have appeared twice - once in The Keeper of Traken and again in Time-Flight.

There were lots of Melkurs on Traken and while most of them decayed without causing much harm, one of them turned out to be the Master's TARDIS, which proved troublesome for the Doctor and his companions and led to the events of the Fourth Doctor's regeneration.

Featured Scene:

Turn Off That Television & Read A Book!, or My First Venture Into Doctor Who Novels: A Semi-Review of Goth Opera by Paul Cornell

Goth Opera by Paul Cornell, the first in
the Virgin Missing Adventures series

     So, you're a Whovian. You've watched all 7 series of the reboot. You've watched all available episodes of the classic Doctor Who series. You've even watched the 1996 Doctor Who movie, even though you wondered how anyone could've expected a movie starring Eric Roberts to succeed (Anyone else catch Will Sasso's brief role?). Now you're stuck waiting for the forthcoming 50th anniversary & Christmas specials, itching for a fresh Doctor Who story. Where do you turn? What can you do, oh woe-begotten Whovian?
     Maybe you already knew there are over 500 Doctor Who novels available for those who still enjoy reading and then again, maybe you didn't. It was certainly a welcome surprise to me to find six different series of books to choose from; I opted to go with the Virgin Missing Adventures line, as new stories set in-between television episodes seemed as good as any a place to start & Goth Opera, by Paul Cornell (the first book in that particular series), seemed the most logical selection.
     Originally intended to be a comic strip adventure for Doctor Who Magazine & feature the Fourth Doctor facing off against none other than Dracula, Cornell revised the story to instead be a Fifth Doctor vehicle. Not only was this story my introduction to Doctor Who novels but, as I had not yet watched all of the original series (I still have a few serials left to watch even now), this was also my introduction to the Fifth Doctor himself, as well as companions Nyssa & Tegan Jovanka. I didn't know it at the time of reading (and it certainly didn't affect the standalone readability) but Goth Opera is a sequel to Blood Harvest, a novel from the Virgin New Adventures series written by Terrance Dicks (who also penned a prelude to the story that appeared in Doctor Who Magazine #214).
     Goth Opera tosses the Fifth Doctor & his companions, on vacation in Tasmania, into the middle of a scheme by Time Lord Ruath to resurrect a vampire named Yarven & set him up as a Vampire Messiah. The story also features Romana, in her second regeneration, who attempts to help the Doctor when she uncovers evidence of Ruath's plan on the Time Lord home planet of Gallifrey.
     Now I won't give away any more of the plot, but I will say that it was a fairly engaging read that did a fantastic job of capturing the personalities of its characters on the page, as I would see when I finally got to see the Fifth Doctor, Nyssa & Tegan on the small screen. I would recommend it as a solid first book to read, as it strikes a good balance between the sci-fi of Doctor Who & a classic sort of vampire tale (albeit one that involved time travel, aliens & world domination), but at the same time I'd say pick up any random book & start there. One of my favorite things about Doctor Who is watching, or reading, the adventures out of order because you are presented with constant examples of how The Doctor, in all his regenerations, has never really changed & yet has never really stayed the same.

Adric Returns In 2014 Big Finish Audio

After years of having nothing to do with Doctor Who, Big Finish have announced that Matthew Waterhouse will be returning to the role of Adric in a 2014 Big Finish audio with the Fifth Doctor!

Source: @BigFinish