Burning Through The Universe

Today's post is about recent Big Finish plays. I was in the habit of listening to them when walking to work in Elgin or when travelling by train from Moray to Glasgow. Now I'm back here, I have lost both habits but to quote Whizz Kid in the Sylvester McCoy tv episode, "I'm still terribly interested".

In the early autumn, I was confused by the finale to this year's season of Fourth Doctor Adventures, even after a second listen, I can't quite describe the plot- something about a train hijacked by Pythonesque Yorkshiremen and the return of the Black Guardian. I did enjoy the return of David Warner as Cuthbert, the space entrepreneu, however.
Warner is back as Big Finish's alternate Third Doctor from 2003 in The New Adventures of Bernice Summerfield: The Unbound Universe. 

This box set comprises four satirical adventures for the longest-serving companion (never seen on tv) in a post-Time War parallel universe where the Doctor is the de facto ruler. The final episode The Emporium at the End features the return of Mark Gattis as the Master. The most entertaining aspect of the play is his oily flirtation with Benny. This was an enteraining listen on my most recent train trip to and from Elgin but not terribly memorable.  ( 4/5)

Doom Coalition 3 continues the adventures of Paul McGann's Eighth Doctor, as we discover the prime mover behind the eponymous alliance and a new member: the Clockmaker. We also encounter an earlier incarnation of the demented Time Lord known as The Eleven. Elsewhere, River Song returns, disguised as Rita Hayworth in an exciting adventure with Thomas Cromwell (sic). the set ends on a timey-wimey cliffhanger; I found the highly-praised first disc Absent Friends a little overrated, however, in its exploration of grief and bereavement. (4/5)

The War Doctor :Agents of Chaos is the third box set for John Hurt's sonorous old warrior. It brings the Sontarans on stage in the Time War and homages classic war movies like Where Eagles Dare. Urchin companion Kalan is clearly doomed from the start- thankfully so, because his pidgin English is quite irritating. The strongest episode is the first, The Shadow Vortex: a Cold war drama set in East Berlin with KGB agents, betrayals and pursuit in a Trabant. (3/5)

The second release under the Philip Hinchcliffe Presents banner is a collaboration between writer Marc Platt and  the producer of the seasons which outraged Mary Whitehouse in the 1970s. The Genesis Chamber reunites the Fourth Doctor and Leela in  a six-part adventure. The story is a blend of  Romeo and Juliet and DW's 60s story The Savages. A colony of humans has divided into an effete, isolationist elite who have eschewed natural childbirth and an underclass of Mummerset peasants. Of course, they must be reconciled to repel an alien invasion.

Tom baker has a fantastic speech about Leela and his other companions, when he is informed erroneously about her death. The audio doesn't feel excessively lengthy and was quite charming -although it felt in no way like a genuine 1975-76 tv serial. (3/5)

Before Christmas, I plan to listen to First Doctor historical The Ravelli Conspiracy; The Memory Bank, a compendium of Fifth Doctor stories; and Order of the Daleks, featuring Sixie and Mrs. Constance Clarke.

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