Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *
Cast: Sylvester McCoy, Beth Chalmers, Tracey Childs, Alex McQueen, Julian Dutton, Bradley Gardner, Miranda Keeling, Ben Porter, Sam Clemens, Alex Mallinson, Sophie Aldred, Martin Johnson.
The Doctor in all his incarnations can never be truly trusted…especially when the Doctor is not all he seems to be.
The four part special of Unit Dominion released by Big Finish and starring Sylvester McCoy is a touching reminder of the elegance in a long arc, a story run over four episodes and which also worked pleasingly with the Dark Eyes four set of discs with Paul McGann. Over four hours of dialogue, of suspense, inter-dimensional chaos, humour, a return of an old enemy and classic Doctor scenarios all wrapped up one full story that by the end of one long sitting makes the listener yearn for the old days of classic Doctor Who.
Jason Arnopp’s and Nicholas Briggs’ combined skills with the script add greatly to the huge nod that appears, the link, the strengthening chain between Big Finish and the re-appearance of the much loved science fiction television programme. The audio play is given extra credence by the appearance of one of the finest foils of recent years in the story. Dr. Elizabeth Klein, portrayed by the great Tracey Childs who has very much grabbed the attention of the fans since she first strode into the Doctor Who cannon in the audio drama Colditz, is back and the extra gravitas this character gives to the arc is palpable and unmistakable. The searing resentment that she feels for The Doctor, even though she really doesn’t understand what her hatred is to The Umbrella Man, rises and comes of the page in ways that really are so clever, so well observed that it could almost gain a degree from any university in the country.
The extra little spice that is delivered, hand wrapped with a well fashioned bow and a nice card tucked in the side is given by the performance of Alex McQueen as ‘The other Doctor’. This other Doctor, a future incarnation so it is suggested at first is beguiling, humorous and full of verve that it is hard not to like both the actor and the part he is playing. With Sylvester McCoy being somewhere deep in Middle Earth filming The Hobbit during this time, The Doctor’s appearances are short, well versed admittedly but certainly not lengthy and for this Alex McQueen simply oozes the charm needed to make this story go beyond a good yarn. When the story brings together Klein with all her past evil bought to the fray but bubbling under the surface and the Doctor, both the Umbrella Man and Alex McQueen, the resulting fallout is as good as you are likely to find in any Big Finish story of the last 14 years.
With every conceivable horror crossing through the dimensional gates, time is running out for UNIT to get to the bottom of what is happening. From fire breathing spiders as big as stallions to giant faces that suddenly turn up in the sky, it is up to one person to save the day and it might not be who you think it is keeping both UNIT and the Earth safe and from getting into more trouble.
UNIT Dominion is a great divergence from the main cannon and one that is well worth sitting aside the main collection.
UNIT Dominion is available from Worlds Apart on Lime Street, Liverpool.
Ian D. Hall