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Sound and emotion - this one has come up a number of times with big finish so nothing new. But the evil as really a side issue to the story which was really around the doctor and his companions. I didn't really believe this one and it didn't take you anywhere.
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 | Flat, But Still a Good Listen |
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| By: | Doug, Pocono Summit, PA, USA |
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| Date: | Wednesday 12 September 2007 |
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| Rating: |   6 |
Nocturne is a perfectly adequate production - well-recorded, well acted. Trevor Bannister as Korbin Thessinger is great, and the voicing of the robotic "familiars" is generally nicely done. But the story is nearly humorless and not very engaging. The deadly threat that has been set loose on Nocturne is very vague in nature, though the concept is intriguing. What kind of living presence would be created through some arcane art, in the midst of and as an amalgamation of the mass consciousness of a society involved in a decades-old war, discouraged and depressed by increasing numbers of bodies being sent back from the front lines, and generally saddened by what had become everyday existence? Nocturne tries to work with this concept, but the result is just kind of confusing. As Hex describes it, "Well, it wasn't really a noise - it was... it was a feelin' - it was the noise a really bad feelin' would make." Huh? Furthermore, the war and all that goes with it has supposedly stimulated a time of "High Renaissance" on Nocturne, producing great, inspiring music and other art. Yet, we really don't hear any great music, and we hear some really aweful poetry. The music is rather flat, like the story overall, and not inspiring.
Nocturne is a perfectly fine production on the surface, but lacks a certain depth or development, and is certainly a letdown after Circular Time.
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| ARGHH, THE MUSICAL NASTY... |
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| By: | Matthew David Rabjohns, Bridgend, United Kingdom |
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| Date: | Friday 28 March 2008 |
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| Rating: | 10 |
"A human settlement on the planet Nocturne, theres a war on and been going on for a long time" so remarks the doctor upon arriving on Nocturne. When isnt there a war with man involved might i ask? ALways so many of the useless battles around every day of our lives. We seem unable to break away from the hell of wars. And yet there is still some nice people left in the universe though. The Doc says Nocturne is one of his favourite places ever, a new idea. I dont the doctor has ever been to somewhere wholly because he likes it so much before. He never did get to Florana! But instead he arrives in Glassed City where all is not well as usual. A tune is on the loose. A tune that isnt very good at all. A tune that kills. And the doc is in a race against time to stop this new menace. Yes, Dan Abnett is right in his writing of the villain in this one, music can make you emotional and detached or alive and ecstatic! And so to turn this into a nasty little tune is a great thought. And then there is the slighly hot headed Oburst Renney, a great character with lots of attitude. really i love strong female characters. No tv or film or audio story would be any good without at least one strong female character in it. Theres Ragpole with his diabolical poetry too, a ha ha moment, and theres Will Alloran, the summing up of all that is wrong about war. And the nasty little greedy brother in Lomas Alloran too. Greed really does get you nowhere at all. All things considered then , i guess you could say i flipping enjoy this great play. A strong script yet again from dan Abnett, thankfully with no colourful language this time. A fine piece of storytelling. Sylvester Mccoy is ace as the doc again, and both Phil and Soph are on top form too.
| By: | David Layton, Los Angeles, United States |
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| Date: | Monday 9 June 2008 |
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| Rating: | 7 |
"Nocturne" is a traditional kind of Doctor Who story handled in a very traditional sort of way. The Doctor takes his companions to a place he finds interesting and immediately they are all embroiled in a battle against destructive evil. There are a couple of nice touches, such as that even though the Doctor is known by many, he is welcomed as a friend, except by the representative of the police, the Oberst. As usual, the chief cop is thick-skulled and overly suspicious, though the fact of a decades-old war gives that cliche some verisimilitude. The idea of killer sound had been used way back in the early days of Big Finish, in "Whispers of Terror." Here the killer is a kind of modernist piece of music generated from bioharmonics (Dan Abnett perhaps not a fan of Stockhausen?). It all plays out in the usual Doctor Who way. For those who like the traditional Doctor Who formula strictly adhered to, this is a good tale.
