Blake’s 7 Full Cast audio reaches Series 4, and this time the series isn’t consisting of a single boxset, instead it’s spread over three, four-story boxes! Once again we’re set in the third TV series (due to Blake being off limits due to death and the rights to TV Series 4 being complicated, this is likely to continue…) and we see the beginning of a civil war, with the crew of the Liberator in the middle of it! How do these four stories fare? Well…
The first box (or Series, sorry…) of The Time War comes to a close with “The Conscript” and “One Life”, two very different stories, but both equally great. I had my doubts due to the up and down nature of the War Doctor boxsets, but these four stories have been a triumph, both in terms of the storylines and in actually using the Time aspect of the war so well. So let’s take a closer look at Parts 3 and 4 then, shall we?
Well what do you know? A Time War story that actually has time-altering jeopardy instead of just Daleks and Time Lords shooting at each other! This is what I was hoping given this series (of series!) is set during the opening stages of the war, where Time Travel was the weapon of choice rather than on-ground combat, as it was during the War Doctor’s boxsets. So let’s look at the first half of the first set, containing “The Starship Theseus” and “Echoes of War”, shall we?
The Outliers is a classic Second Doctor “base under siege” story, but with a modern, “makes you think” twist in the final part. It’s a good story, though it does have a rather leisurely pace (though that does kind of make it seem all the more genuine of the era…) Let’s take a more detailed look then!
The Main Range loops back round to the Sixth Doctor, and a new dose of his adventures with both Constance and the returning Flip. The Behemoth is an odd story, in that it’s pretty much an old fashioned First Doctor historical, with literally no aliens or sci-fi/fantasy things in general present, beyond The Doctor and his time travelling ways, obviously. This leads to an interesting tale about the slave trade, but it does take it’s time getting there… Let’s take a closer look!
The Early Adventures range returns to the Second Doctor era and once again faithfully recreates the era despite two of the lead cast no longer being with us. The Night Witches is a pure historical, though with that old sci-fi cliché of happening upon an exact doppelganger, in this case of companion Polly. Is the old act tired, or does it manage to pull it off? Let’s find out!
The sixth series of Fourth Doctor Adventures ends, as per usual, with a four-parter spread across two months. Unusually however, this story focuses much more on Romana than The Doctor himself, and manages to pull of a really good story. The extra time was a God send as it allowed the unusual planet and a new character from Romana’s past to both be fleshed out. So, for the last time this year, let’s have a closer look! (last time for a Fourth Doctor audio, anyway…)
Before we move on to a new Sixth Doctor trilogy, the Main Range take a one-release detour and gives us the Fifth Doctor, but not as we know him! Time in Office is actually a genuinely funny story focusing on the idea that The Doctor has been caught and forced to become President, a role he accepted in the past. Four distinct parts and plenty of fun, with both Tegan and Leela along for the journey… Let’s take a look at it then!
I had high hopes for The Silurian Candidate, one of two Main Range audio releases this month, but sadly it was far too concerned with lampooning Donald Trump than it was telling a new or interesting story with the Silurians. Sadly that’s another 7th Doctor / Ace / Mel trilogy in the Main Range that just hasn’t worked, although at least this time the lead trio weren’t really the problem… let’s take a closer look…
This month’s Main Range audio continues with the Seventh Doctor, Ace and Mel combination that, sadly, has failed to really work, mostly due to its placement in Big Finish’s own timeline. While the last story was disappointing, this lived up to the fact that it looked and sounded a bit dull by … being a bit dull. Let’s take a closer look anyway, because that’s how my blog works!
Hogan Reviews 