Tag Archives: Dan Starkey

Doctor Who: Ravagers. Audio Drama Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Cast: Christopher Eccleston, Camilla Beeput, Clare Corbett, Ben Lee, Anjella MacKintosh, Jayne McKenna, Jamie Parker, Dan Starkey.

Space and Time, there is more than enough for all the incarnations of the Doctor from Gallifrey to inhabit, and for the most part they have with honour thanks to the B.B.C. reinstalling their faith in the series in 2005, and to the architects of audio drama, Big Finish as they made it their mission to continue providing for the fans the stories, the tales of suspense, of the Doctor, the companions, and enemies such as Daleks and foes such as The Master.

Doctor Who: Ravagers. Audio Drama Review. full post

(439 words, estimated 1:45 mins reading time)

Years And Years. Television Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

Cast: Rory Kinnear, Jessica Hynes, Ruth Madeley, Russell Tovey, Emma Thompson, Maxim Baldry, Anne Reid, T’Nia Miller, Lydia West, Arran Ansari, Jade Alleyne, Dino Fetscher, Sharon Duncan-Brewster, Rachel Logan, Callum Woolford, George Bukhari, Zita Sattar, Kieran O’Brien, Pauline Fleming, Ellie Haddington,  Jodie Prenger, Dan Starkey, John McGrellis.

Years And Years. Television Review. full post

(559 words, estimated 2:14 mins reading time)

The Avengers: The Lost Episodes Volume 4 Box Set, A Change Of Bait. Audio Drama Review. Big Finish.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

Cast: Anthony Howell, Julian Wadham, Lucy Briggs-Owen, Oliver Cotton, Philip Bretherton, Andrew Dickens, Daniel O’Meara, Dan Starkey, Karina Fernandez, Michael Chance.

The insurance business, like any other involving risk and money, is always one that has both its admirers and its detractors. To some who feel as though they have been placed into a corner and had their livelihoods threatened by such practices, the steepness of premiums, of the loss that could be potentially involved is something that rankles with the fury of a volcano but to which hardly can ever be done; after all everybody needs insuring for something.

The Avengers: The Lost Episodes Volume 4 Box Set, A Change Of Bait. Audio Drama Review. Big Finish. full post

(411 words, estimated 1:39 mins reading time)

Doctor Who: Dark Eyes 4. Audio Drama Review, Big Finish.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Cast: Paul McGann, Nicola Walker, Barnaby Kay, Beth Chalmers, Charlie Norfolk, Derek Hutchinson, Dan Starkey, Camilla Power, John Dorney, Rachael Stirling, Alex Wyndham, Blake Ritson, Nicholas Briggs, Alex MacQueen, Sorcha Cusack, Susannah Harker, David Sibley.

Arguably one of the most involved, most deliberately, and it has to be said wonderfully elaborately written endeavours undertaken by Big Finish finally comes to an end as the saga of Dark Eyes sees the Eighth incarnation battle not only the Eminence, The Master and the Daleks but also Time itself. It is a battle that sees the foreshadowing of what is to come, of the ache that will grip the Doctor as the Time War sets out to destroy all and in which the very soul of the Time Lord is challenged.

Doctor Who: Dark Eyes 4. Audio Drama Review, Big Finish. full post

(464 words, estimated 1:51 mins reading time)

The Avengers: The Lost Episodes Volume 3, The Springers. Audio Drama Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 7.5/10

Cast: Anthony Howell, Julian Wadham, Dan Starkey, Miranda Raison, Peter Barrett, Derek Hutchinson, Emily Joyce, Sarah Lark, Mark Goldthorp, Geoffrey Breton, Philip Pope, Nicholas Briggs, Nick Hendrix, Angus Wright.

The third volume of stories from Big Finish concerning The Avengers team of Dr. David keel and John Stead starts with the premise of a prison break out. It is a premise that has been done before the 1960s series first aired and has been done perhaps more successfully since, notably in one of the best films ever in the Shawshank Redemption and in the highly popular Prison Break television series, and yet there is something nostalgic and homely about revisiting an idea when you take away the modern bells and whistles attached to a story.

The Avengers: The Lost Episodes Volume 3, The Springers. Audio Drama Review. full post

(520 words, estimated 2:05 mins reading time)

Doctor Who: Last Christmas. Television Review. B.B.C.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

Cast: Peter Capaldi, Jenna Coleman, Nick Frost, Samuel Anderson, Dan Starkey, Nathan McMullen, Faye Marsay, Michael Troughton, Maureen Beattie, Natalie Gumede.

Ever since Doctor Who was bought back with a blaze of undeniable glory in 2005, the Christmas special has been a much look-forward to event, on the whole it has delivered, sometimes, thankfully not often, it has been a major let down, like finding out there are no roast potatoes on offer at your in-laws house but they spent all year preparing a room full of stinking and putrid sprouts.

Doctor Who: Last Christmas. Television Review. B.B.C. full post

(735 words, estimated 2:56 mins reading time)

The Avengers: The Lost Episodes, Dance With Death. Audio Drama Review. Big Finish.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Cast: Anthony Howell, Julian Wadham, Lucy Briggs-Owen, Jaqueline King, Dan Starkey, Cameron Stewart, Anjella Mackintosh, Gemma Whelan, Derek Carlyle, Martin Hutson, Francesca Hunt, Penelope Rawlins, Terry Malloy, Michael Hrycek-Robinson.

There is nothing quite like the dance floor to bring out the murderer in the dark heart of the criminal mastermind, the quick step or the rumba to get the killer in the mood for a spot of the gamble and the gambol whilst they search for riches, no matter who gets in their way.

The Avengers: The Lost Episodes, Dance With Death. Audio Drama Review. Big Finish. full post

(436 words, estimated 1:45 mins reading time)

The Avengers: The Lost Episodes Volume 2. Ashes Of Roses. Audio Review. Big Finish.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Cast: Anthony Howell, Julian Wadham, Lucy Briggs-Owen, Terry Malloy, Rachel Atkins, Emily Woodward, Nicholas Briggs, Derek Carlyle, Anna Lukis, Penelope Rawlins, Richard Hope, Dan Starkey, Cameron Stewart, Francesca Hunt, Martin Hudson.

 

Who could ever foresee that hairdressing was such a risky business?  The shampoo set that could go wrong, the gossip that turns to grudges being held, the heated dryer rigged to give a nasty surprise, arson! All these are par for the course as John Steed and Dr. David Keel return for the second set of classic The Avengers stories to be adapted by John Dorney and Big Finish starting with the tale, Ashes Of Roses.

The Avengers: The Lost Episodes Volume 2. Ashes Of Roses. Audio Review. Big Finish. full post

(620 words, estimated 2:29 mins reading time)

Doctor Who: Deep Breath. Television Review, B.B.C.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Cast: Peter Capaldi, Jenna Coleman, Neve McIntosh, Dan Starkey, Catrin Stewart, Peter Ferdinando, Paul Hickey, Tony Way, Maggie Service, Mark Kempner, Brian Miller, Graham Duff, Ellis George, Peter Hannah, Paul Kasey.

The Doctor is in, he just might not see you just yet.

The thirteenth man to take on the titular role of the long lasting and very popular series of Doctor Who might take some getting used to for some. After nearly a decade of having arguably a more youthful outlook but for many, surely the more than capable, erudite and wonderfully strange Peter Capaldi is a return to what bought success for the programme in its 1970s heyday.

Doctor Who: Deep Breath. Television Review, B.B.C. full post

(661 words, estimated 2:39 mins reading time)

Doctor Who: Starlight Robbery, Audio Drama Review, Big Finish 176.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Cast: Sylvester McCoy, Tracey Childs, Christian Edwards, Stuart Milligan, Dan Starkey, Jo Woodcock, Lizzie Roper.

There are just so many excellent elements to Starlight Robbery that it is surely impossible to dislike. Aside from the sublime writing of Matt Fitton, who makes a welcome return after a few months away, you have the erstwhile Elizabeth Klein, portrayed as usual with great assurance and ease by Tracey Childs, the sublime Stuart Milligan reprising his role as Garundel and the inclusion of the great Dan Starkey playing every Sontaran under the sun, what more could you ever want in an audio C.D.?

Doctor Who: Starlight Robbery, Audio Drama Review, Big Finish 176. full post

(635 words, estimated 2:32 mins reading time)