Review by Doctor Squee (Host of Gallifrey Stands Podcast)
The 4th Doctor (Tom Baker) & Leela (Louise Jameson) are back to polish off the 7th Big Finish Doctor Who series, with our favourite long scarf wearer.
The Shadow of London by Justin Richards
The Doctor & Leela land in Londonnear at the end of a World War II. But London seems very quiet… until the bodies start stacking up.
Straight from the get-go you get a feeling of the side of the 4th Doctor we are going to see throughout this set. He is quirky in his language, but there are a few less jokes on the whole and more of the intense side of the character comes to the fore. It’s a really great opening story too. The folks of London feeling more like they are from an American impression of someone from London, giving a clue that all is not as it seems and without giving out spoilers it leads us to a reveal straight out of the history books. The monster of the day, also has that wonderful Frankenstein’s monster thing of being sympathetic given its origins.
The Bad Penny by Dan Starkey
Strange things are afoot at a hotel in the 1970s as time becomes unstuck. Can the Doctor put things right before a young hotelier is artificially given a boost to his future by someone close to him?
This is classic Doctor Who fodder which I could see fitting into the original run with ease. Dan Starkey, Strax himself, as well as writing a great script, comes in as a character or 10 as well! The hotelier played by Greg Haiste is wonderful and shows someone really lost by what is going on, contrasted by a self righteous and overly self assured Keith Barron as a character from the future I’ll not give away. The interplay with the time zones and the ‘timey-wimeyness’ happening as a result are just so fun. This is the kind of time gone mad story I love in Doctor Who of any era.
Kill the Doctor & The Age of Sutekh by Guy Adams.
In the Earth colony of Drummond, everyone is glued to their “Handhelds”. rene.net is the network that controls the handhelds, but who controls it? Is it really the head of the network Rania Chuma, or is it maybe a familiar face and voice from the Doctors past?
Let’s start with the Obvious, Gabriel Woolf is amazing as always as Sutekh. He does go loud or angry with his performance much, his power rather comes from the richness and subtle command of the way he speaks and intonate’s his words. Louise Jameson is particularly strong in this story too. Leela’s moral core as a hunter is brought front and centre and she raises some questions for the Doctor to deal with. She is also well used against Sutekh. The handhelds are a nice, if not a little on the nose parallel for our modern relationship with our phones.
Finally just a hats off to Barnaby Edwards who comes in to voice a worlds worth of extra characters. A strong end to the set.
This boxset is out now and you can get it on CD or download here…https://www.bigfinish.com/releases/v/series-07-volume-2-1608
Order from Amazon
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