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This one give a strong plot which holds you well, not easy to guess what's going to happen next. The sense of emptyness and ending is dealt with well and the futile hope of trying to end what has already happened gives the story its real strength.
I agree that it is does fall down with Turlough's comments at times and the final show down is a little typical put overall its very good.
If you really think Big Finish is that bad i.e. a score of 1 every month why don't you simply give up and try something less boring instead
| What: | The Mind Robber (BBC classic series videos) |
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| By: | simon, |
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| Date: | Friday 13 January 2006 |
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| Rating: |  10 |
A sublime piece of sci-fi history,which scrubs up well alongside any 'classic' A story which epitemises creative writing, and production as the script had to be cleverly re-written during it's recording due to unforseen circumstances or chicken pox to give it it's clinical name!
the mind robber is literally out of this world!
...and that catsuit is just...purrrfect!
| What: | The Eight Doctors (BBC Eighth Doctor novels) |
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| By: | Piers, Lancashire, UK |
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| Date: | Tuesday 10 January 2006 |
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| Rating: |  7 |
Having finished reading all the EDAs from 'The City Of The Dead', I decided to go back to the beginning and catch up on those I missed (especially seeing as the book output is now somewhat diminished...). Well, this book hardly lives up to the standard that the range was maintaining a few years later. This is an overly simplistic tale, although it is quite fun if not taken too seriously. The best part of the book for me was working out which episodes of the show each segment was taken from, and in some parts loose ends are tied up from various stories.
My main gripe with book is the plot. If the Doctor has to go to his past selves to recover his memory, why doesn't he just go back and meet the Seventh Doctor who still retains all the memories of his previous incarnations? Or maybe he could have travelled back 10 minutes to encounter himself before the booby trap went off?! I guess any plot device to bring all the Doctors together is always going to be a bit hokey.
As mentioned in another review, the distribution between the Doctors is very uneven. The First Doctor's appearance is little more than a cameo, and the Seventh Doctor is only here for a chapter. Maybe Dicks left these characters alone as he was the least familiar with them as he wasn't involved with the show during those eras.
This book also serves another purpose: the introduction of the new companion Sam. She is suitably set-up in the earlier chapters, but the final part where she joins the Doctor and the TARDIS feels very forced and doesn't really ring true. Where's the sense of amazement at what the Doctor can offer her? She just acts as though she owns the place within a page and that just grates.
This book is ann enjoyable read, but doesn't really live up to its promise.
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 | 1 of the Best Dr Who Storys Ever!!! |
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Just fatastic the 7th Dr coming face to face with his worst enemys the Daleks & their creator Davros!!! Overall 10/10 Fantastic!!!
| What: | Singularity (Big Finish: The Monthly Adventures) |
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| By: | David Yates, Reading, Berkshire |
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| Date: | Friday 6 January 2006 |
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| Rating: | 4 |
I was really looking forward to hearing this. As I'm a big fan of Space 1889: The Steppes of Thoth, I had high hopes.
Spoilers follow.
Plot wise it's tightly structured, each episode moving the plot on logically to the next. And it was a pleasant surprise not to be able to second-guess the story - a sure sign of a writer who has very obviously worked hard at getting it right. I liked the idea of the villains being human beings. Fighting against our future selves. Very good. It's always nice when the TARDIS is actually used in a story rather then just a device to get the Doctor into the story and out again.
There are a few things that did get on my nerves a wee bit though. I know it must be hard to write for audio and BF have been doing it for a little while now so you would think that the script editor would be able to give the writers a few pointers and to what works and what doesn't. Turlough talks to himself at the beginning of the play and it's quite obvious that the writer is using this by way of describing what's going on. But it's a bit clunky and at one point in a very bad post-modern way he mentions it, as if to excuse the bad dialogue.
Talking of bad dialogue would Turlough really say 'tropical with beaches and pretty girls'? He was in the TARDIS with Janet and Sarah for God knows how many episodes! Duh! Hello! Why suddenly take an interest now? The Doctor and Turlough didn't feel like the Doctor and Turlough I remember. Sorry folks.
Sometimes the dialogue just seemed to get in the way of the action 'We don't have time for another one of your paranoid episodes' just as they are about to jump into a car. Too much dialogue is sometimes worse than not enough. At one point the Doctor says in front of Lana ' It makes me feel 100 years younger' and she completely ignores him! If someone said that to me I'd give them a wide berth! Or at the very least back away slowly. Later Turlough says 'I'm a very unusual kinda guy - on this planet at least' in a cod- Douglas Adams/Ford Prefect type way and the character completely ignores him too! Why? Especially as this very fact becomes a plot point later on. Goodness me!
Talking of cod-Adams dialogue: 'Where's your sense of adventure?' 'In a box in the TARDIS marked 'Sense of Adventure'.
Dear oh dear.
Are lines like this supposed to be a Season 17 homage?
'Silent animal - cease you repellent bleating!'
'Get back! The stench of your psyche is revolting!'
'You loathsome meddler!'
'Get away from me you primitive savage!'
If they are, they've hit the nail on the head. I half expected someone to shout 'Weakling scum!' at one point!
If they're not, they're just bloody awful lines.
And there's more:
'Its like a explosion in a wire factory'
'Its like something out of a Victorian madhouse'
'It's like a mad scientists scrap yard'
It's very, very bad is what it is!
Who talks that way?
It seems like while BF were getting on with the production values (which are excellent) it feels like no one bothered to actually read the script and say 'Any chance of re-writing the dialogue a bit? So the characters sound like real people instead of cliché machines? Ta.'
I expected a lot, lot more from the writer of 'Steppes of Thoth'. As I thoroughly enjoyed that and I'd still recommend it to anyone who likes good, well written science fiction
But this? Nope. A great plot, but bad dialogue.
It's almost like they were written by different people. Maybe - as I mentioned before, it's in the editing?
I don't know.
I think some quality control is needed.
As soon as possible, please
| What: | The Quality of Mercy (BBV Audio Adventures in Time and Space) |
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| By: | David Yates, Reading, Berksire |
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| Date: | Friday 6 January 2006 |
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| Rating: | 10 |
Ace!
I enjoy these more ‘talky’ audios. A very intelligent script. A nice line in dialogue about the nature of faith and belief. It really appealed to the Darwinist in me. Good work.
Though low on action, I didn’t miss the normal ‘runarounds’ that I usually expect from the Big Finish main Doctor Who line and that’s to the plays advantage. It doesn’t rush things over it’s hour(ish) running time.
The sound design and direction was great too. Very high quality.
I would very much like to hear more of the adventures of Guy de Carnac.
| What: | Sontarans: Silent Warrior (BBV Audio Adventures in Time and Space) |
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| By: | David Yates, Reading, Berkshire |
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| Date: | Friday 6 January 2006 |
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| Rating: | 1 |
Oh dear.
I had such high hopes because the last BBV audios I've listened to have been great. A couple of which rival the best of Big Finish in quality. Good job I didn't listen to this one first, it would've put me right off.
The story was just a too 'Startreky' for me, especially the ending, a bit of a duex ex machina. Which to me always smacks of lazy writing. I couldn't get the hang of the character 'Alex' either. The Director, the actor (who sounded to me like a cross between Steve Coogan and Chris Eubanks) and the writer all seemed to have a different idea of how he should be played.
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| It?s better than Scherzo. Honest. |
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| What: | Punchline (BBV Audio Adventures in Time and Space) |
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| By: | David Yates, Reading, Berksire |
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| Date: | Friday 6 January 2006 |
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| Rating: | 10 |
Once again Mr McCoy surprises me with the quality of his acting. Is he being directed in a different way than while he is working for Big Finish I wonder? A great script that just stretches the conceit far enough so you don’t get fed up with the pastiche. It may be a one-note story but it’s so well written that you don’t notice.
For those Rob Shearman fans out there, let me let in into a secret:
It’s better than Scherzo. Honest.
| What: | The Barnacled Baby (BBV Audio Adventures in Time and Space) |
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| By: | David Yates, Reading, Berkshire |
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| Date: | Friday 6 January 2006 |
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| Rating: | 10 |
Oh, Boy! I loved this!
The sound design sent you right into Victorian England and put the story into context. The ending has a brilliant twist that isn’t exactly a surprise but opens up endless possibilities.
OK, it’s a wee bit like The Elephant Man, but I didn’t really care that much. If you’re going to nick something, nick the best.
Recommended.
| What: | Sontarans: Conduct Unbecoming (BBV Audio Adventures in Time and Space) |
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| By: | David Yates, Reading, Berkshire |
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| Date: | Friday 6 January 2006 |
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| Rating: | 10 |
I really wasn’t sure about this one. Mainly because of the really terrible cover. It’s awful. So my expectations were quite low.
I shouldn’t have worried. It’s great. It ends quite abruptly but that’s a minor complaint. The sound design quality is fair enough and the story is a good one. Humans and Sontarans battling for survival in very different ways, both misunderstanding the nature of their respective races. The Sontarans could’ve easily have been cut price Klingons, but here they are given an extra dimension I didn’t expect.
| What: | Republica (BBV Audio Adventures in Time and Space) |
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| By: | David Yates, Reading, Berkshire |
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| Date: | Friday 6 January 2006 |
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| Rating: | 7 |
Well, I’ve just listened to Republica and I must say I was pleasantly surprised. I’ll be honest I was expecting something sub-Big Finishish (um, if that makes sense at all!). But far from it. It was a nicely rounded well played story.
And what a revelation our Mr McCoy was! After the last half dozen or so BF audios I was really starting to tire of his slightly comic strip over the top acting – as if no one has told him to stop acting like Uncle Winkie from Zagreus. But here he is subtle and almost understated. Maybe it’s because he knew he couldn’t officially play the ‘Doctor’ he curbs his excessive ‘R’ rolling and that ‘stage’ shouting thing he does. I’d forgotten that he could actually act! As much as it pains me to say it – it felt more like the Doctor and Ace than any of the current BF releases do.
It was great.
I don't care what everyone else says, Tom Baker singing 'Hello Dolly!' is up there with his 'Do I have the right speech?' from Genesis of the Daleks. A superb little runaround.
The second instalment of this series build's upon the set up established in Scorpius.
A solid and extremly promising beginning to the cybermen's very own spin off series. Full of intrigue and suspense the regular characters are established against a backdrop of secret government programmes and political manoueverings.
An excellent, witty and entertaining instalment. It has plenty of humour and some stimelating and exciting sequences. The Cybermen really come into there own in this third of a four part series. It also has an excellent cliff-hanger. This is proving to be a consistent and exciting addition to Big Finishes range of spin off series!
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| Rubbish - not scaredy at all |
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The title says it all, poor plot, rambling, not development of the cast just flat.
Was worried it wouldn't continue as well but the plot thickens and cast become stronger. The cybermen are strong and not overplayed like Empire of the Daleks which after a while the screaming gets on your nerves.
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| I have to say it "Excellent" |
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This has it all, a great build up of the plot and people, the cybermen are held back. The sound and quality build up a great image in your mind, what a start.
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| Oh dear, its all gone wrong |
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Never mind could have been something very interesting, this one leaves the unit stories as a number of stand alone stories just like sarah jane hoped for so much but all ended in tears
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| A good stand alone but wheres the arc |
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Very Doctor who in its plot, monsters that have lived forever but have remained hidden and then killed very quickly. Forgetting my comments its still a good story although a little predictable. But where is the plot line from the first story, lacks something without an arc
