Category Archives: Audio Drama/Radio Plays

Doctor Who, The Burning Prince. Audio Drama Review. Big Finish 165

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating ****

Cast: Peter Davison, Caroline Langrishe, Clive Mantle, George Rainsford, Dominic Rowan, Derek Hutchinson, Caroline Keiff, Tim Treloar, Kirsty Besterman.

It is unusual to find the fifth Doctor’s incarnation adrift in time and space without any of his much loved companions keeping a watchful eye on him, to bounce their anxieties off him or even just to make sure he stays on the right side of compassion. This latest story from Big Finish, The Burning Prince, sees the fifth Doctor, played by Peter Davison, do exactly that and it is a surprisingly frightening prospect.

Doctor Who, The Burning Prince. Audio Drama Review. Big Finish 165 full post

(506 words, 1 image, estimated 2:01 mins reading time)

Doctor Who, Gods And Monsters. Audio Drama Review. Big Finish 164.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating ****

Cast: Sylvester McCoy, Sophie Aldred, Philip Olivier, Maggie O’Neill, Amy Pemberton, John Standing, Blake Ritson, Gus Brown, Tim Treloar, Elizabeth Bennett.

The final part of the latest Sylvester McCoy Doctor trilogy sees the real villain of the piece make his deadliest and fatal move in Gods and Monsters.

The latest three-part series by Big Finish sees Mike Maddox finish an extraordinary story line on a stunning high and with the supposed loss of a companion, something that the television version and the audio series don’t do that often but both of whom now have taken the bold step to give the faithful listeners and viewers something to ponder over.

Doctor Who, Gods And Monsters. Audio Drama Review. Big Finish 164. full post

(579 words, 1 image, estimated 2:19 mins reading time)

Doctor Who, Black And White. Audio Drama Review. Big Finish Audio 163.

Picture from Big Finish.com

Originally published by L.S. Media. September 1st 2012.

L.S.Media Rating ****

Cast: Sylvester McCoy, Sophie Aldred, Philip Olivier, Maggie O’Neil, Amy Pemberton, Stuart Milligan, Michael Rouse, Richard Bremmer, John Banks, James Hayward.

It is a story as old and as dear to lovers of the English language as any…and it also contains the power of Beowulf thrown in for good measure.

Matt Fitton’s Doctor Who audio play for Big Finish, Black and White, combines cleverly the power of Sylvester McCoy’s incarnation of the Doctor and the sheer majesty of the oldest tale translated and written down in the English language and somewhere in between a tale of the future and that of the past merge and blur into legendry Doctor Who status.

Doctor Who, Black And White. Audio Drama Review. Big Finish Audio 163. full post

(485 words, 1 image, estimated 1:56 mins reading time)

Doctor Who, The Silver Turk. Big Finish Audio Play 153, A Review.

Originally published by L.S. Media. October 26th 2011.

Cast: Paul McGann, Julie Cox, Gareth Armstrong, Christian Brassington, David Schneider, Gwilym Lee, Claire Wyatt, Nicholas Briggs.

L.S. Media rating **** Stars

From the opening moments of The Silver Turk, Big Finish’s October release of Doctor Who audio plays, you can’t help but notice the changes. For a start the music, though obviously the Doctors unmistakable theme, is different from anything that has accompanied Paul McGann’s incarnation of the time travelling detective. It has a more sinister feel to it and fits in well with the premise of the story arc and where listeners of Big Finish left the Doctor at the end of Paul McGann’s stand-alone series four, the ominous and brooding To the Death.

Doctor Who, The Silver Turk. Big Finish Audio Play 153, A Review. full post

(613 words, estimated 2:27 mins reading time)

Doctor Who, The Witch From The Well. Big Finish Audio Play 154, A Review.

Originally published by L.S. Media. November 27th 2011.

Cast : Paul McGann, Julie Cox, Simon Rouse, Andrew Havill, Serena Evans, Lisa Kay, Alix Wilton Regan, Kevin Trainor

L.S.Media Rating ****

The Witch from the Well is the second of Paul McGann’s Doctor Who stories since he returned to the main canon of stories and away from a four year stint in his own series of audio plays. There has been talk in recent weeks of a new film being bandied around various forums and in some national newspapers and if the audio plays that Mr. McGann have been involved with since being lured to Big Finish and reprise his role as the eighth Doctor, if the man’s work is anything to go by and if the talk of a new movie comes to fruition then the producers could do a lot worse than give Paul McGann another shot as the time travelling detective.

Doctor Who, The Witch From The Well. Big Finish Audio Play 154, A Review. full post

(636 words, estimated 2:33 mins reading time)

Doctor Who, Army Of Death. Big Finish Audio Play 155 review.

Originally published by L.S. Media. December 18th 2011

Cast: Paul McGann, Julie Cox, David Harewood, Carolyn Pickles, Eva Pope, Mitch Benn, Joanna Christie, Trevor Cooper.

Army of Death is the final release of 2011 and brings together Paul McGann and Julie Cox together for the third time. After the two previous stories, The Silver Turk and The Witch from the Well, being so well written and crafted together, there could be a drop off in the style, a rush to get this season’s trilogy over with and for Big Finish to concentrate on the next set of stories involving Colin Baker’s Doctor and his new companion.

Doctor Who, Army Of Death. Big Finish Audio Play 155 review. full post

(608 words, 1 image, estimated 2:26 mins reading time)

Doctor Who, The Curse of Davros. Big Finish Audio 156 Review.

Originally published by L.S. Media. February 2nd 2012.

L.S. Media Rating *****

Cast: Colin Baker, Lisa Greenwood, Terry Molloy, Ashley Kumar, Jonathon Owen, Rhys Jennings, Granville Saxton, Robert Portal, Christian Patterson, Nicholas Briggs.

It’s long been mooted, chewed over, discussed and debated but the simple fact is that the B.B.C. and in particular those in charge of programming in the 1980’s woefully let down the legion of fans of Doctor Who and more importantly the sixth man to play the Time lord, Colin Baker.

Doctor Who, The Curse of Davros. Big Finish Audio 156 Review. full post

(667 words, 1 image, estimated 2:40 mins reading time)

Doctor Who, The Fourth Wall. Big Finish 157 Review.

Originally published by L.S. Media. February 6th 2012.

L.S. Media Rating * * * *

Cast: Colin Baker, Lisa Greenwood, Julian Wadham, Yasmin Bannerman, Hywel Morgan, Martin Hutson, Tilly Gaunt, Kim Wall, Henry Devas.

There is always talk of when an actor breaks the “fourth wall”, that twilight line between perceived reality of the stage and the moment when the audience is drawn in and spoken to in such a way that they are no longer interested voyeurs taking in the action, they are part and parcel of the storyline. They are the 12th man on the pitch, the Banquo at the Banquet and they are involved, sometimes up to their necks.

Doctor Who, The Fourth Wall. Big Finish 157 Review. full post

(629 words, estimated 2:31 mins reading time)

Doctor Who, The Emerald Tiger. Big Finish Audio Play, 159.

Originally published by L.S. Media. April 22nd 2012.

L.S. Media Rating ****

Cast: Peter Davison, Janet Fielding, Mark Strickson, Sarah Sutton, Cherie Lunghi, Sam Dastor, Neil Stacy, Vincent Ebrahim, Vineeta Rishi, Gwilym Lee. Trevor Cooper, Benedict Briggs.

Barnaby Edwards’s latest story for Big Finish, The Emerald Tiger sees the classic fifth doctor, played by the seemingly ever youthful Peter Davison, continuing his adventures with the iconic team of Tegan, Vislor Turlough and Nyssa.

Doctor Who, The Emerald Tiger. Big Finish Audio Play, 159. full post

(476 words, 1 image, estimated 1:54 mins reading time)

Doctor Who, Trail Of The White Worm. Big Finish Audio Play Play 1.05.

Originally published by L.S. Media. May 26th 2012.

L.S. Media Rating ***

Cast: Tom Baker, Louise Jameson, Geoffrey Beevers, Michael Cochrane, Rachael Stirling, John Banks, Becci Gemmell, Mark Field.

For a generation of Doctor Who fans who have grown up with idea of John Simm’s and Derek Jacobi portraying one of the most formidable foes of the Doctor, they would no doubt place the two extremely talented actors’ portrayals of the insane Timelord as the very best.

Doctor Who, Trail Of The White Worm. Big Finish Audio Play Play 1.05. full post

(626 words, 1 image, estimated 2:30 mins reading time)