An epic adventure uniting the Doctor’s friends across time and space, featuring Jago & Litefoot, Counter-Measures, the Vault and Gallifrey!
The latest release from Big Finish is a box set of four interconnected stories and I will be reviewing them first as the individual stories and finally my opinions on how it works as a box set.
1: Mind Games by Justin Richards
In Victorian England, Henry Gordon Jago and Professor Litefoot investigate worrying events on the streets of London – which seem to be linked to the New Regency Theatre’s resident act, the mesmerist Mr Rees…
I haven’t really listened to a great many of the Jago and Lightfoot series so I can’t really say how this sits with the narrative established within that series but I am very happy to say that as an individual story I found this very good indeed.
The story is very clear and runs at a good pace without ever feeling cramped or rushed; the characters are very well drawn, I was particularly impressed by Jamie Glover who gave a much understated performance full of mischief and cunning but quite chilling when the moment called for it.
Christopher Benjamin and Trevor Baxter are amazing; they sound exactly the same and seem to have walked from the set of The Talons of Weng Chiang straight to the recording studio not only do the voices still sound the same but the inflection and speech mannerisms are spot on and I pictured them just as they were.
I am going to say that the mood of this story is spot on and a lot of this is down to the excellent music and sound effects that combine to evoke a wonderful atmosphere of Victorian London, I found it very easy to close my eyes and practically feel the fog swirling around my feet.
2: The Reesinger Process by Justin Richards
London, 1964, and the repercussions of Jago and Litefoot’s adventure are dealt with by Sir Toby Kinsella and his crack team of specialists at Counter-Measures. What is the Reesinger Process – and who is behind it?
I have thoroughly enjoyed the Counter Measures series so far and was very pleased to see they were part of this box set, but would the storyline lend itself to the general milieu of the ongoing series?
I’m extremely pleased to say yes; the Counter Measures team not only fits into the evolving story well, but the dynamic of the team and their whole ethos suits the ongoing storyline to perfection.
All the characters are in keeping with their ongoing series and each of the actors fits seamlessly into their parts, it’s particularly pleasing when a standalone story like this manages to keep the feel of the ongoing series and it would be very fair to say this episode could fit quite easily into any of the Counter Measures sets.
The acting from the regular team is up to its usual excellent standards and it’s good that the ancillary characters are all well drawn and acted.
I feel that this is the best of the four discs that make up the ongoing narrative with all the actors at the top of their game helped by tight direction, great music that serves to compliment the story and help create a suitable atmosphere and excellent sound effects that all combine to produce a fantastic story.
3: The Screaming Skull by Jonathan Morris
Disgraced soldiers Ruth Matheson and Charlie Sato are called back into action by Captain Mike Yates, when the UNIT Vault is mysteriously locked down by a deadly force. Together they must infiltrate the Vault and get those trapped out alive. But what enemy are they facing?
This to me is the hardest to review of all the episodes in this box set.
The story itself is very good, the continuing evolution of Mr Rees as he uses his immense psychic powers to survive the intervening years and now strike out against the forces that kept him trapped for these many years and his interaction with Mike Yates and the UNIT personal that looked after the Vault is well thought out and works well as a standalone and as part of the ongoing storyline but I feel that it was let down by the performances of Daphne Ashbrrook and to a lesser extent Yee Jee Tso; both have well-crafted characters and their inclusion in the story works very well but they come across as very shouty and unused to radio acting, getting louder does not equate to better emoting, but the characters are good so I hope that with a bit more experience in this medium they will get more suited to it.
Richard Franklin however is very much on form as Mike Yates and I found it very easy to believe that this was the same, albeit older, character that had appeared in the show.
Once again the sound production on this story is excellent and the director keeps it moving at a cracking pace that never lets the story flag, however whilst the story id strong it doesn’t feel as though it would work as well by itself as the first two and is definitely part of an ongoing narrative.
4: Second Sight by Nick Wallace and Justin Richards
The actions of Mr Rees have alerted the Time Lords of Gallifrey, and Romana has assigned her best warrior. Independently, the Sixth Doctor has arrived on Earth. A power from the dawn of the Universe is about to be unleashed once more…
This story is probably the weakest of the set but the cast and crew have worked hard and what we end up with is a highly entertaining, if rushed, episode.
The characterisation in this is very good, although I think a lot of that is down to the regular actors as they are obviously very settled in their respective characters and know what works for them.
The guest actors are all very good; once again particular praise goes to Jamie Glover who is superb as the villainous Mr Rees.
This episode only works as the end to the set, that is not to say it is not enjoyable in and of itself but I think you would only really get a proper sense of enjoyment and satisfaction from it if listened to at the end of the set.
The denouement to the story works really well and is a great way to finish the set whilst still leaving the way partially open to the return of Mr Rees, and I for one would be happy to see him return.
Overall
Big Finish have taken a good idea and spread it over 4 highly entertaining stories, they have gathered together an excellent cast, on the whole, and a crew who obviously care for and understand the programmes they are working on and produced one of the best box sets that I have had the pleasure of listening too.
I hope that people will give this set a go and that it will serve as an introduction to the other ranges available from Big Finish, I already listen to Counter Measures and thoroughly enjoyed their part in this series but have never listened to Jago and Litefoot prior to this and having enjoyed that so much I now intend to try their series, and if this one is anything to go by I’m sure I’m going to enjoy it immensely.
Written By: Justin Richards, Jonathan Morris, Nick Wallace
Directed By: Ken Bentley and Lisa Bowerman
Cast: Colin Baker (The Doctor), Louise Jameson (Leela), Lalla Ward (Romana), Daphne Ashbrook (Ruth Matheson), Trevor Baxter (Professor George Litefoot), Christopher Benjamin (Henry Gordon Jago), Richard Franklin (Mike Yates), Karen Gledhill (Allison Williams), Hugh Ross (Sir Toby Kinsella), Pamela Salem (Rachel Jenson), Yee Jee Tso (Charlie Sato), Simon Williams (Group Captain Gilmore), Jamie Glover (Mr Rees), Sinead Keenan (Stephanie Wilton), Rory Keenan (James Wilton)
The Worlds of Doctor Who is available now from BigFinish.com and via the Amazon link below.
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