Counter Measures Series 4

The Worlds of Doctor Who (as Big Finish call it) is a big diverse place including many spin off series – Counter Measures is one of these. Series 4 however is NOT a great jumping on point, so dear listener, I have some homework for you, go and watch Remembrance of the Daleks, listen to Counter Measures series 1, 2 and 3 and the main range audio The Assassination Games.

All done and up to date? Then I will continue.

Counter Measures is a spin off from the popular Remembrance of the Daleks TV story and sees Group Captain Gilmore (Simon Williams), Professor Rachel Jensen (Pamela Salem), Dr Alison Williams (Karen Gledhill) from the TV episodes team up with the decidedly amoral Sir Toby Kinsella (Hugh Ross) to investigate strange happenings – a sort of prototype UNIT, but with more cloak and dagger and not half as much family atmosphere!

This fourth series as I have previously said, is not for the faint-hearted, in fact if you were not familiar with the first three series it is fair to say that you would be completely lost – Counter Measures wants you heart and soul, not just for the odd story, and discussing the individual episodes would spoil the enjoyment for long time listeners and confuse newcomers, so I will talk about something that Counter Measures has by the tonne – it has atmosphere. If you close your eyes, you can just imagine Counter Measures as a 1960’s ITC filmed TV show, it is an incredible homage to the 1960’s, the incidental music, the pictures drawn with words, the Cold War cloak and dagger espionage feeling that runs through this series – and what a series it is. Beginning where season 3 left off, it hits the ground running in the first story “New Horizons”, slows down and gets its bearings in the second “The Keep”, ramps up the tension in the third “Rise and Shine” and then reaches a crescendo in the final part, “Clean Sweep”.

Without giving any spoilers away, the theme that runs through is mind control, identity, trust and conspiracy – and the ending of part four literally left me slack jawed – Big Finish have completely raised the bar with this release – the much used phrase (commonly attributed to P.T Barnum) “leave them wanting more” really does apply to this release as the cliffhanger to part four has left me chomping at the bit for Series 5.

The main cast all play their parts excellently and effortlessly, they are so believable, but if I had to pick a favourite it is Hugh Ross as Sir Toby, completely amoral a good man to have in your corner, but don’t turn your back on him – devious, calculating, manipulative and brilliant – Hugh Ross plays him with an oily charm, a truly multi faceted character. The thing about Counter Measures is its sense of realism, yes it deals with extra terrestrial threats, but it is the way that the characters treat each other, the way that each is willing raise the stakes to win at any cost, our heroes (maybe not Sir Toby…) seem a last bastion of decency in a world where honour and chivalry are being lost  to a new generations ambition – they are undoubtedly the same characters we met in Remembrance, but given real believable lives outside the job – I am so pleased with this as I believe that the bedrock of a good story is good characterisation.

So, a great box set, but a set to listen to as part of an ongoing series rather than as a stand alone – it really rewards long time fans (and if you are not a fan already then why not?) So, why not buy the whole lot and then catch up with Series 4??? Highly enjoyable 60’s homage this box set Measures up at 9/10.

201 - We Are The Daleks

Can the 1980’s really be THAT long ago to be nostalgia? I remember the first broadcast of Time and the Rani like it was yesterday – however 28 years really have passed since Season 24, and the more things change the more they stay the same – The Doctor is Scottish again, we have a Tory government again, the world seems just as dangerous as it did in the 1980’s, the legacy of Thatcherism is running rife after Osbourne’s first all Tory budget. As I said, the more things change…

What is different though is how Big Finish have unlocked the potential of Mel Bush – never a fan favourite for her TV appearances Big Finish have really transformed her into the companion she was never really allowed to be on the TV. Bonnie really was hamstrung on TV by the legacy of Violet Elizabeth, and really all she did was scream. Big Finish have rectified this completely, and nowhere better than We Are The Daleks.

Coming after the momentous 200th release, this starts a new era for Big Finish, a great jumping on point for new listeners, and what a great story it is – an homage to previous Dalek stories, a satire of the 1980’s mantra of “greed is good”, a period piece in the same way that Remembrance was a period piece in 1988.

Imagine if Season 24 had been a bit more like season 25 and 26, still with the kitsch and the glitz, but Sylvester playing the darker rather than the clownish Seventh Doctor, imagine Bonnie being given the same sort of character development as Ace or Rose had, and you are somewhere near to We Are The Daleks.

It’s 1987, and London is dominated by the Zenos Tower, a modern construction in the shape of a Dalek – Alex Zenos has made a business partnership with The Daleks who rather than “conquer and destroy” have the mantra “invest and return” – the ultimate nightmare for an old Liberal – THATCHERITE DALEKS! They have an offer to make the UK the centre of a galactic trading zone, and are at their devious best manipulating newly elected MP Celia Dunthorpe (Mary Conlon) into their way of thinking, playing on her greed and prejudices, her lust for personal glory, her ambition to make the UK head of an empire again – perfect Dalek Quisling fodder.

As a background to this a new computer game console called Warfleet is sweeping the nation, offering state of the art graphics and online play in 1987, and it isn’t long before the connection between the two becomes apparent…

This is a classic Dalek story, it works on so many levels – it feels familiar, it has rebels, oppressed worlds, an Emperor Dalek and the beginnings of the Dalek Parliament seen in Asylum of the Daleks. McCoy is wonderful, he is my favourite classic era Doctor by a country mile, and he has rarely been better than he is here, completely shedding his Season 24 persona and becoming the frightening, dark, manipulative Seven of seasons 25 and26 and beyond. His speech to the Dalek Emperor in the final act is chilling – he lists his names The Doctor, the Ka Faraq Gatri, The Oncoming Storm – brilliant stuff.

I cant finish this review without heaping more praise on Bonnie Langford, getting to play the character Mel really should have been, using her skills as a computer programmer, showing her bravery, using her intelligence, she is absolutely stunning here – a completely believable, three dimensional character.

So a great beginning to another (hopefully) 200 releases for Big Finish, my favourite classic era Doctor being the Doctor he should be, Daleks, politics, multi layered thought provoking story about greed and ambition and the exclusion of the other. Well worth the investment of time, as it returns a 10/10.

4th Doctor 4.7 - The Fate Of Krelos

Think back to City of Death, all that wonderful dialogue about Paris having a bouquet, like a fine wine. Wonderful stuff, eh? So to allow wines to taste their best, they have to be allowed to breathe, to be opened and given time for the air to react with the wine before pouring and enjoying.

In the case of The Fate of Krellos Nick Briggs takes on the role of oeneologist and sommelier – he crafts an excellent vintage from the component parts in episode one, gives it just the right time to breathe in the early stages of part two and pours a particularly good glass of vintage Who in the closing moments. To put it in simple terms, The Fate of Krelos is a bit of a classic – Nick Briggs truly is a renaissance man – actor, director, writer, raconteur and at his very best in this story. And what a story!

What starts off as a light-hearted interlude with The Doctor and Leela going fishing, gets more and more sinister. The cast is small, Tom, Louise, John Leeson, Michael Cochrane and Veronica Roberts with the main bulk being Tom, Louise and John – but the atmosphere, the world building the tension is superb.

Krelos is a world that has reached total connectivity, every item connected to another, this is proudly announced by the Mayor of Krelos City. The Doctor and Leela decide to do some fishing on Krelos and meet the robotic form of Geralk (Michael Cochrane) an old explorer reliving his youth through his robot avatar. But something is wrong in the TARDIS – K9 has been interfacing with the TARDIS – the console room has turned back to how it looked in the era of the second Doctor, K9 tries to warn of danger and acts more and more strangely…

Any more would give away way, way too much – needless to say the tension is ramped up, the danger level goes up to 11 and you really truly do get a sinking feeling when it finally clicks in to place as to what is going on. Long time listeners may well be able to work it out before the Doctor does, but this does not in any way spoil the enjoyment.

The performances are spot on; there is a wonderful scene between Tom and Louise where they discuss going back in time to avert the catastrophe that they witness; it is very reminiscent of the scene between the Eleventh Doctor and River Song in “The Wedding of River Song” where River says all Eleven has to do is ask and an army will come to his aid – the 4th Doctor is under no illusions about the answer he will get and a lot more cautious about changing time than his future version. Michael Cochrane is quite, quite heartbreaking as Geralk, in a few lines you can picture his life, what he looks like, how he will react to situations – Nick Briggs has the characterisation spot on. Oh, and it ends on an almighty doom laden cliffhanger so there is more to come.

Really couldn’t ask for more in a Doctor Who story, disparate threads coming together, the threat of an almighty catastrophe hanging over everything, wonderful characterisation and a story that is perfectly paced – one of the best this year so far 10/10.

200 - The Secret History

Being a life-long Doctor Who fan, I have come to realise that if there is one thing Who fans love it’s an anniversary celebration! The frenzy over the 50th had only just died down when fans were clamouring for a celebration of ten years of New Who (which didn’t happen) – no, despite our differences we are a celebratory bunch who enjoy celebrating our shows history.

200 is a good number to celebrate, but unlike the celebratory release 100, this one is not so obvious a celebration. Some stories are for the general viewing or listening public, some stories are “for the fans” and The Secret History falls most definitely in to the latter category. But lets take a step back, readers of my reviews of the last two main range releases The Defectors and Last of the Cybermen will know that something very strange is going on. The Seventh Doctor has somehow been reunited with Jo Grant, the Sixth Doctor has joined forces with Jamie and Zoe – someone or something is manipulating the Doctor’s timeline and who that is and why it is being done is revealed in The Secret History.

This one is the last in the “locum Doctor’s” trilogy, the theme of later Doctor’s being teamed up with their previous companions continues, this time The Fifth Doctor (Peter Davison) is teamed up with First Doctor companions Steven Taylor (Peter Purves) and Vicki (Maureen O’Brien) for what, on the surface of it, appears to be a pretty standard Hartnell era historical. They arrive in the city of Ravenna in the year 540 AD – the Roman Empire is falling, Rome itself has fallen, the Emperor Justinian is based in Constantinople and his general Belisarius (Giles Watling) is laying siege to the city to try to reclaim it for the Empire. So far, so Hartnell – Davison even comments on the team not splitting up as this was the cause of all his problems back in his first incarnation; with comedy foreshadowing, they get split up, Steven gets caught up in a riot and taken to Constantinople, The Doctor and Vicki team up with Procopius (Tony Millan) sage and writer to track Steven down. This story has a lot to do, it has to be celebratory, be a great homage to the Hartnell era and it has to finish off the “locum” trilogy satisfactorily. In the words of Meat Loaf “two out of three ain’t bad”.

Firstly as a celebration, it works, past glories of the Big Finish main range and of other ranges are referenced (one particular plot line from a few years ago is central to the plot, no spoilers, but you will know it when you hear it). Secondly it is a fantastic recreation of feeling for the Hartnell era historicals – for the first two and a half episodes at least – it has our heroes getting split up, captured, meeting historical characters and trying desperately NOT to get caught up in Historical events. Thirdly it has to finish off the trilogy, and here for me at least it is only a partial success – the villain of the piece is revealed and they really have been “hidden in plain sight” to use an old phrase, very clever work by Big Finish there – but the resolution, its just too New Who involving redundant timelines, changing the future, altering the past and all those annoying cheats that Moffat is so fond of. A shame as I really was enjoying it up until the reveal of the villain.

Back to positives, the whole cast are universally excellent; Davison is effortless, Maureen O’Brien actually sounds like a younger woman, Purves is suitably heroic and stoic as Steven – and the guest cast really do get in to the spirit of things, no-one camps it up, all the performances are convincing and very “Hartnell Era”. The reasons for the villain’s actions are also very believable, the motive is there, but to have the emotional connection you really do have to have been a very dedicated Big Finish fan.

So, in summing up, some great things, some disappointing moments – on reflection the good outweighs the bad but the denouement just seems a little, I don’t know, maybe “off” is the best description. For the brilliance of the first half (and a bit) of this historical homage, I give release 200, 6/10.

The Triumph Of Sutekh

So there you are in 1989, minding your own business, enjoying season 26 – and what a wonderful season that was! – and as 1990 comes around you speculate as to what will happen in Season 27. Rumours of McCoy regenerating into Richard Griffiths part way through, a new female companion who’s a safe-cracker, Ace becoming a Timelord. So I, like millions of other Who fans, tuned in in September 1990 to watch… STOP!!!! – you are using the Bernice Summerfield trick of putting post-it notes over the most painful parts of you memories!

Actually what happened in 1990 was pretty awful as we all know, but in June 1991 something rather wonderful happened, they were small in size but big in concept, totally bigger on the inside – they were Virgin’s New Adventures Novels; and, do you know, they were not just as good as the TV series they were better.

Then in October 1992 a character would be introduced who was the companion, one Professor Bernice Surprise Summerfield (Benny to her friends), archaeologist, drinker, witty, intelligent, smart, flawed and brilliant and we were treated to my TARDIS team 7, Ace and Bernice.

This box set is a celebration of the 1990’s New Adventures era, but it also carries Benny’s story forward.  This is set later in her timeline after her divorce and the death of her husband, but it also sees the long overdue return of one of the most popular villains from classic Who, in the form of Sutekh – and he is once again voiced by Gabriel Woolf.

This box set has a very delicate balancing act to play, and two very distinct types of fans to please – classic series fans who hold Pyramids of Mars with reverence and New Adventures fans who love the “Times Champion” Seventh Doctor, gung -ho Ace and wise cracking Bernice – are the two compatible? – oh yes, indeedy they are!

Told over a hefty four hours, but split into four parts, the story tells of an epic plot for Sutekh to be reborn and bring his gift of death to all mankind. The best way to describe this set is a blockbuster, a real Hollywood style blockbuster, if Michael Bay got together with Marvel to make a Doctor Who film, The Triumph of Sutekh would be the result.

Part One is called The Pyramid of Sutekh by Guy Adams. On Mars during a conflict, a pyramid has been uncovered and Professor Bernice Summerfield is sent to investigate and what she finds will change everything forever. Any more would spoil the story, but a youtube trailer below will give you the idea.

It hits the ground running and does not let up for the whole length of the episode. Think Indiana Jones, Tomb Raider and The Mummy, but with added depth and an emotional punch, because this truly is epic, the stakes really have never been higher – the Doctor is locked in battle with Sutekh and he is losing…

Part Two is called The Vault of Osiris by Justin Richards – If the first installment was Indiana Jones, this is a classic heist movie complete with gangsters, crosses and double crosses. Ace and Bernice are in Egypt 2015 trying to track down The Doctor. This leads them into the shady underworld of stolen antiques and artefacts as they desperately try to obtain the Eye of Horus – but they are part of a much bigger plan and the forces in action have been manipulating things for a very long time. Oceans 11, Taken, Thomas Crown Affair spring to mind whilst listening to this one, it’s so filmic, so visual, and the resolution is so unexpected.  If this was on TV you would be shouting at the screen.

Part Three is called The Eye of Horus and is by James Goss. Bernice finds herself in Ancient Egypt in the time of the reign of female Pharaoh Hatshepsut (Sakuntala Ramanee) and the pace finally lets up. This is the most cerebral part of the story, The Doctor has been in Egypt for years before Benny arrives, and his plans are far advanced, but he genuinely does not know Benny and whats more is engaged to be married to the Pharaoh. This story is the calm before the storm; Sutekh is growing in power and this episode has him gaining control over Pharaoh to be Tutmosis (Matthew J Morgan) by charm, flattery and manipulation and having him usurp Hatshepsut. This is quite a horrific piece, the true cruelty of Sutekh is shown in all its horror, no punches are pulled and Gabriel Woolf chills as Sutekh; the power in his voice is chilling.

Part Four is called The Tears of Isis by Una McCormack. The world has ended, Sutekh has won, just a small enclave of his most loyal servants still live. Have the Doctor’s plans come to nothing, has Sutekh brought his gift of death to all mankind? All this and many more questions will be answered in this final cataclysmic episode. No more here, too tempted to spoil…

Wow, what a box set! What an epic and what a genuine rollercoaster ride. The undoubted star of this set is the lady herself, Lisa Bowerman. If there is just one wish I could have, it would be for Bernice to be in the TV series, just for one episode, it would make this New Adventures fanboy who kept the flame of New Who alive in the 1990’s very happy.

Lisa just brings Benny alive; she gets every nuance, every inflection, every sarcastic put down just right; she just is Bernice and long may she play her. Gabriel Woolf is oilily menacing as Sutekh – though in this set and especially in the last episode he comes across like Judge Death from 2000AD and in my eyes McCoy, especially the “Times Champion” version just is the Doctor, my Doctor, in a way none on TV have ever managed to convey, along with the gun-toting, gung-ho Ace and the wonderful Benny, they are the perfect TARDIS team.

Is this box set perfect? Probably not. It zips along at such a pace that it is almost too much to take in in one session.  It’s very “graphic novel” and would sit well in such a format and has a certain Marvel Superheroes film feel to it, but these are no bad thing and not a criticism of this superb production, which is a triumph and I have no hesitation in giving it a triumphant 10/10.

The Shadows Of Serenity

Short length, big content has been a theme of this season of Short Trips so far and this Sixth release does not in anyway disappoint. As this is a Short Trips, I will try to keep my review short and to the point without my usual rambling style. Of course I remember when I first heard a short trips it reminds me of the time that……

STOP!!!!

See what I did there…

Right, enough silliness, on to the review!

Read by Nicola Bryant (who still amazes me that she sounds nothing at all like Peri when she is herself), it tells a story of Old Sixie and Peri visiting the planet of Malgar whilst the TARDIS recharges (something that happened quite a lot in the Sixth Doctor’s era that, TARDIS needing a recharge). Malgar has a history of violence, just one gunshot from their army could take out an entire invading fleet – however the denizens that Old Sixie and Peri meet are nothing like that, they are pacifists to the point of being a danger to themselves – The Doctor finds out that they have been this way since they were visited by the Sisters of Serenity. But who are they and why have they removed all traces of aggression from the Malgarians?

This is a story about freedom of choice, thematically similar to A Clockwork Orange, the choice to be good or bad has been removed by a third party – can the Doctor in all conscience restore this? and what about the dark heart of The Doctor himself, what if this is removed, where will it go?

Nicola Bryant gives a great dramatic reading, when she acts the Peri parts you forget it is the same woman; she delivers an urgency to the story and her tone build the world very well. This is a very visual script and Nicola really does bring this to life, I love it when you can “see” events without them being described – and this is a great example of visual story telling.

Another big concept story told in a very short time, but without a wasted line. Definitely a winner and a very serene 8/10.

4th Doctor 4.6 - The Cloisters Of Terror

“The same but different”; it was how I thought of Doctor Who when it came back in 2005. I loved it with RTD in charge. 10 years on, well, hmmm… Capaldi is wonderful, but the episodes lack a little something to make them feel as special as they used to. Trying to recapture the magic of a bygone era is a difficult balancing act; you don’t want to be a pastiche or a tribute act, but you can’t be so different that you are nothing like the era you are trying to recapture.

Series 4 of the Fourth Doctor Adventures has reminded me of series 8 of the TV series in so much as it hasn’t quite hit the spot for me – brilliant leading man, sublime companion, well written stories but lacking a certain something in a few of the stories. Maybe they were just TOO different from the era they are representing. Actually yes, that what it is, apart from The Darkness of Glass, the stories just have not screamed LATE ERA HINCHCLIFFE! to me in a way the previous pairings of Tom and Louise have, maybe they have been a little too experimental. Luckily The Cloisters of Terror has come along and restored my faith in the series and if you want to find out why dear reader, then read on.

St Matilda’s College, in Oxford, is a woman only college with a strange history; there is a legend that if you see the ghostly “Three Sisters” that they will come and take you away. When a young student tells her friend she has seen them and then disappears, the Dean of the College, Emily Shaw calls in the Police – but gets more than she bargained for when her call is intercepted by The Doctor and Leela. Wow, what a story! This feels just like Who did in late Season 14, dark, gothic, frightening, engaging – everything a Tom Baker story should be – and of course it features Tom Baker! Half way between his serious earlier persona and his madcap later persona, Tom’s commanding presence booms and quips his way through the story. The Dean of the college is Dame Emily Shaw – Mother of past companion Elizabeth Shaw and is aware of The Doctor and UNIT. There is a long standing mystery to solve here, girls have been going missing for almost a millennium…

How are the Nuns of the convent involved? Is the kidnap of the girls for the greater good? Can Leela do a Lancashire accent? All these questions and many more are posed and answered in the story.

It’s a triumph of a production – it’s not the best Who story ever, but it is so well done it really does feel like an audio recording of a 1970’s episode. There is a creepy, doom laden atmosphere, possession, treachery and a 1000 year old secret. Can I at this point make my monthly “we are not worthy” comment on Louise Jameson – she is incredible in this one, such a visual performance, when she answers one of the girls in a Lancashire accent it’s funny but it is also a considered study of Leela’s thought processes; she has never heard the word before, it is spoken to her in a Lancashire accent so why wouldn’t Leela pronounce it in this way – it’s little touches like this that make Louise a cut above and one of the best actresses to have graced Doctor Who.

So a Fourth Doctor Adventure that ticks all the boxes – acting, plot, sound, atmosphere. But at the same time its not a tribute act, its just a very well written story. Yes some of the plot devices are cliched, the ending may be predictable, but it really does give you the 1970’s Saturday teatime glow.

This one definitely is not a terror. 9/10.