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Reviews for Bang-Bang-a-Boom!

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Out with a bang. In with a whimper.

By:Phil James, UK
Date:Wednesday 25 December 2002
Rating:   6

Welcome return for McCoy's dafter 7th Doctor in a spoof murder mystery. The episodes have some good lines, effective Roddenberry pastiches and several very good moments - Graeme Garden's Fassbender on his death bed; the Doctor being seduced; some of the song contest from the final episode.

However ... it's over-long and doesn't really concentrate, it drifts and feels padded in the first episodes especially. It's the length of a 6-part TV, about 2 hours and a half. There's no real drama and it can feel like quite a long wait between jokes. The Wogan take-off, whilst accurate, seems interminable in part 1; it adds nothing to the drama and, by its length, detracts from the comedy.

Could lose 15 or 20 pages per episode and be more effective, I think. It lacks the clarity of One Doctor and the comedy suffers for that.



The Real McCoy

By:Theta Sigma, USA
Date:Thursday 18 September 2003
Rating:   9

Excellent recreation of the much lamented Season 24. Sylvester McCoy is back as his earlier jokey self and Bonnie Langford's involvement makes this a reunion you don't want to miss. Mel and pop sensation Nicky Newman investigate a series of murders while the Doctor is mistaken for the new commander of the deep space station which is the setting of this tale. And I should warn all future listeners of this serial:There are a few suprises and startling revelations in the final episode.



Some Good Satire

By:David Layton, Los Angeles, United States
Date:Saturday 2 December 2006
Rating:   7

This story is mainly a satire on Babylon 5 and Star Trek: Deep Space 9, and some good satire it is. Both programs are far too self-important and need a good belittling. A couple of the jokes are old hat, such as the "he's dead" cue portentous music bit. However, there are some very funny parts as well, especially involving Patricia Quinn's madly over the top Angvia. One perplexing question: why have a program about a song contest and not have Bonnie Langford sing? The Doctor's spoons just do not make an adequate substitute. Also, the second ending after the false ending (sorry to spoil a little surprise) runs on too long. Not as brilliantly sustained as The One Doctor, but a good example of how Doctor Who can be used humorously.



Underrated Satirical Brilliance

By:Doug, Pocono Summit, PA, USA
Date:Wednesday 21 March 2007
Rating:   9

Bang-Bang-a-Boom! has got to be the most laugh-out-loud funny Doctor Who story I've ever heard or seen! Certainly the funniest audio since The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series. And yes, I would even say this one tops The One Doctor, though it is true that The One Doctor has more consistency. The only real shortcoming of this story, such as it is, is that the second episode vascillates rather noticeably at times between being humorous and being rather serious.

Among the characters in this production are Jane Goddard's mouse-like Geri, who sounds very much like Alpha Centauri from The Curse of Peladon (while managing to be funny rather than irritating), and Patricia Quinn's Queen Angvia, who managed to be consistently hilarious. In her first scene, I thought, "Oh, no - not another hideous Russian accent," but she is genuinely, outrageously funny throughout. Then we have Sabina Franklyn's Dr. Eleanor Harcourt, who is sort of a female version of a cross between Mr. Spock and Leslie Nielsen. She has some of the absolute best lines, which she delivers with a deadpan, fake American accent similar to that of Nicola Bryant's Peri.

I won't spoil the surprises in the plot - reading the standard synopsis is all that should be done before listening. Bang-Bang-a-Boom! is priceless satire and in a category of its own, but still manages to be Doctor Who in the end.



Ha ha ha....

By:Matthew David Rabjohns, Bridgend, United Kingdom
Date:Thursday 20 March 2008
Rating:   10

This is kind of brilliant.

Clay Hickman and Gareth Roberts can always be trusted to deliver highly entertaining comedy yarns. I thought they couldnt get any better than The One Doctor, but i was happily wrong...

Oh Bang Bang is such a bang! The great Bonnie Langford cuts her teeth as Mel Bush, a truly great outing for her is this one, where she plays non screaming detective at the intergalactic song contest. The aliens here are so wet your nappy brilliant too, with Patricia Quinn being quite brilliant as Angvia especially. Her scenes with the doc and arm pits are really side busting! Ive never laughed quite so much to a story before.

The murder mystery brings in some hard relief from the comedy though, a good balance is maintained right from the word go.

Sylvester Mccoy is impressive as the doc again as usual. This is story that comes highly recommended from me.



Cringe-Worthy

By:Matthew Kresal, United States
Date:Tuesday 2 September 2008
Rating:   2

After viewing Season 24 of the original series, I never thought I would have to cringe at another Sylvester McCoy Doctor Who story ever again. And then I listened to Bang-Bang-A-Boom! Needless to say I discovered how wrong I could be in what could be the worst story Big Finish has yet released.

Bang-Bang-A-Boom! is set between Paradise Towers and Delta and the Bannerman, which are both from season 24 and the latter considered by many to be the McCoy era’s worst story incidentally. And this story feels like it belongs next to it. Why? Because this story was deliberately meant to be a parody in its tone and nature and that is exactly what it is: a parody and a bad one at that. It takes the clichés from every TV series ever set on a space station, combines that with every murder mystery cliché and the result is this story. The story's problem: it doesn't take itself seriously so nobody takes it seriously. Which is a shame...a crying shame.

To be fair Yes it has (some) funny moments with McCoy mixing up metaphors. It isn't the actors fault that their given a script this bad to work with. That said, outside of McCoy and Bonnie Langford, none of the cast members seem to really care just how bad this really is or how bad they sound doing it.

Bang-Bang-A-Boom! is a story that is clichéd and cringe-worthy all the way through. It doesn't take itself seriously either as a Doctor Who story or as a parody of... well space station shows or murder mysteries or anything in-between. Recommended for those seeking to complete their collections only.



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