#16 - Big Finish Review of 2012

Has 2012 been a good year for Big Finish? This is a question I ask myself every year and this year has been a resounding YES. There are many reasons why this is the case, not only did we have Tom Baker finally make his debut for the range but there were plenty of stories that had potential to do well. Not only did we have the Fourth Doctor adventures but Counter Measures debut this year and the Sixth Doctor joined Jago and Litefoot in their series before getting some special adventures in the TARDIS. Now I usually do series but series review but this year I have decided to change things by doing my top ten of the year, these are all the ranges that Big Finish do so lets start right at number ten.

10 – WIRRN ISLE
Reviewed Sunday March 25

Wirrn Isle is the first of two stories from the opening series that feature in the top 10. It was the second story to feature the Wirrn. I liked how it had a classic Doctor Who feel to it and had it been any other year then it would have probably been story of the year contender material however due to the previous two stories in the series then it doesn’t rank as highly. This was William Gallagher’s first full story after contributing a story to Demons of Red Lodge and Other stories in 2010 and it was a nice ‘sequel’ to The Ark in Space where the descendants of the Beacon now live. For me there was one supporting character that really stood out for me and that was Toasty (Tessa Nicholson) that I thought stole the show at times. At number 10 it shows how good the rest of the stories are in this chart.

09 – DESTINATION: NERVA
Reviewed on January 15

This was an important release for Big Finish. Possibly the most important since Big Finish started. Tom Baker finally makes his debut in his own series. I don’t know what the sales were/are for this but I imagine its high. It was clear that Big Finish weren’t going to sit on their laurels because this story the first in the series was written and directed by Nicholas Briggs which is a clear indication of how high expectations were for this series. This opening story was exactly what was needed, it wasn’t too complicated and wasn’t brainless stuff. Tom Baker and Louise Jameson were on fine form and it was comforting to know that things were going to be ok.

08 – THE FIRST SONTARAN
Reviewed on July 31

As I write this the votes are still being counted  so I don’t know whether it will win Best Lost Story but it is certainly my favourite Lost Story because it was a Sontaran story and also a Rutan story. This is the most back story that the Sontarans have ever had and there are some wonderful scenes that help make this a clear winner out of all the Lost Stories. I mentioned in my review that I had high expectations and they were met, this is the strongest Sontaran story that Big Finish have done and it shows that there is still some mileage in the Lost Stories series even though this was a rare feeling.

07 – THE EMERALD TIGER
Reviewed on Thursday April 26

This was the first story of the year that I genuinely thought would be my story of 2012. It was a story that was a historical story (of sorts). One thing that I liked in this story was the casting of Cherie Lunghi. In my review I commented that “I thought that Cherie Lunghi was very good because she started off as this quite stuck up and unlikeable character but as the plot moves on she becomes someone who has suffered tragedy and we understand why she is as she comes across.”. The Tegan/Nyssa/Turlough series have been one of the highlights of recent years and it was nice how it continued this year.

06 – THE CURSE OF DAVROS
Reviewed on Sunday February 5

The Curse of Davros was my story of the month for January and it saw the return of Davros to Big Finish. It also saw the introduction of Flip to the series as a companion. It wasn’t your usual Davros story as it saw the Doctor and Davros swap bodies. I thought it was the most refreshing use of the Davros character since Terror Firma. In my review I described this story as “The Curse of Davros is a very good start to 2012. Jonathan Morris has written another story that doesn’t get bogged down in science fiction complexities but just goes from A to B in the most entertaining manner. At no point did it become boring or slow or anything that required to stop and think. It has a strong plot and also has the Daleks and Davros to help add superb icing to a very nice cake.” On reflection it shouldn’t have been surprising that this was going to be a good year, it should have been a clear indication that the quality was going to be high.

05 – THE WRATH OF THE ICENI
Reviewed on March 19

The Wrath of the Iceni is the best story of this series of Fourth Doctor Adventures and it was my story of the month for March. The whole series was one bit learning curve for Leela and this was the peak of that series. She got to meet her human equivalent. In my review I said “I really loved this story and found it to be thoroughly compelling from start to finish. I was worried that it was going to get bogged down in something dull but to be fair there is a sound reason for the story being in its setting and a strong plot which makes me wish that this were a slightly bit longer because I thought that there was enough to pad this out to be a four parter. John Dorney has written another solid story and its a return to form after a mixed previous story.”

04 – THE BURNING PRINCE
Reviewed on October 11

The Burning Prince was the first in the Multi-Doctor series and it was by far the best story of the trilogy. It was also my story of the month for September and  I was impressed with just how the worked. In my original review I said “The story has a fairly linear plot and there aren’t really any surprises in this but to be honest I don’t mind that because the story is so action packed and the characters are so well written that its almost a relief that the story isn’t complicated.”. I also commented that “Peter Davison gives one of his strongest performances in quite sometime”.  I think that the best kind of stories are ones that come out of left field and you just don’t expect that they will be as good as they are.

JOINT 2ND – UNIT: DOMINION & THE LAST POST
Reviewed October 25 & November 10 respectively

I tried for a long time to try and pick one over the other with these two but I just couldn’t, I couldn’t even separate them for the Story of the Month award. UNIT: Dominion was the first of the special releases which I maintain is the best of the specials. It was a joy from start to finish and it saw the return of Raine and most importantly Klein who last appeared in the 2010 story Architects of History. Alex McQueen is the big name and plays a very important person in this story which was worth every single penny that I paid.

The other story was the last story to feature Caroline John as she died shortly after this was recorded and it was always going to be a difficult story to listen to but instead of feeling sad whilst listening to it I was gripped from start to finish and found it the best Companion Chronicle story of the year. I have felt that the Liz Shaw stories have been a bit hit and miss so it was a relief that this was her best story. It was a lovely way to end Caroline John’s time with Big Finish.

1ST PROTECT AND SURVIVE
Reviewed on August 11

So we have reached what I consider the best story of the year from Big Finish and it was a story that came out of the blue. Protect and Survive was my story of the month for July and Big Finish hasn’t done a really dark story since Nicholas Briggs took charge of Big Finish in 2007. So it was quite good when this story seem to hark back to the early days of Big Finish. I thought that from start to finish it was a wonderful adventure with a very limited number of characters and more importantly superb performances from Philip Olivier and Sophie Aldred. At times it was harrowing to listen to and that’s what is so good about this story which takes its name from a 1970’s Government leaflet about what to do in the event of a nuclear bomb going off.  I know that for many The Emerald Tiger is the best story of the year but for me this was better because it was bolder and more dark than Barnaby Edward’s story. Protect and Survive was my favourite Big Finish story of 2012 and my favourite for quite sometime.

It has been a truly superb year for Big Finish. There was a lot that could have gone wrong with the introduction of Tom Baker to the Doctor Who world and the special releases that Big Finish introduced in late 2012 could have also been a disappointment but that didn’t happen. 2013 looks like its going to be another great year because Bonnie Langford is to make her first Big  Finish  appearance since 2007 and Gallifrey returns for its penultimate series so in twelve months time I should have another tough job in trying to pick a top 10.

The Tomfiles: #15 - Big Finish Review of 2011

It’s that time of year again when I look back at the previous year of releases. Big Finish has continued to produce a high number of stories ranging several different spin-offs. We saw companions return and depart in some of the finest releases that Big Finish have produced. The year started of traditionally with January.

JANUARY – MARCH: THE THOMAS BREWSTER SERIES
Thomas Brewster finally returned in ‘The Crimes of Thomas Brewster’. It also marked the return of Maggie Stables after about two years out of the main range. The Crimes of Thomas Brewster wasn’t as good a starter story to the year as ‘A Thousand Tiny Wing’s. When we got to Feast of Axos, I found the series picked up as the Axos were a under appreciated story. The final story was ‘Industrial Evolution’ which I think was a disappointing end to the series. Ok it wasn’t a terrible story as it was written by Eddie Robson but I think that the whole series could be summed up as OK.

APRIL – JUNE: RICHTER 2
Due to the success of the previous Nyssa/Tegan/Turlough series in 2010. It was obvious and appreciated that they returned for a second series and actually I think that it was better. Heroes of Sontar marked the first appearance of the Sontarans in a Big Finish play and it was a brilliant adventure. This was beaten by Kiss of Death which I think is the best story of the year as it was about Turlough and was a wonderful story. The final story was the ‘weakest’ story of the series but only because the other two were so good. I still enjoyed ‘Rat Trap’ and would listen to it again if I got the chance.

JULY – SEPTEMBER: SEVENTH DOCTOR & ANNIVERSARY SPECIAL
This series of adventures featured the Seventh Doctor travelling alone. For the first time since 2008, the Doctor who likes to roll his R’s had to save the universe on his own. The first story ‘ Robophobia’ saw the return of the Robots from ‘The Robots of Death’ and whilst I questioned the decision to bring them back I rather enjoyed the story. The series took a brief break as the main range celebrated it’s 150th release with Recorded Time and Other Stories which were four single stories. I rather enjoyed this release but then it went back to the series and two fantastic stories in succession. I really enjoyed this story and House of Blue Fire and along with Kiss of Death formed three of my favourite stories of the year.

OCTOBER – NOVEMBER: THE MARY SHELLEY TRILOGY
With Lucie Miller having left in March’s ‘To The Death’ it meant that the Eighth Doctor was free to appear in the main range for the first time since 2009’s ‘Company of Friends’. In fact its one character who appeared in that story that was chosen to replace Lucie and it was a bold idea to use a famous person from history. The relationship wasn’t the same as any that we had known since McGann joined Big Finish in 2001. I wasn’t quite sure what to expect and by The Army of Death I had actually grown to like the companion as she had been played very well by Julie Cox.

The Silver Turk was the best story of the series and it was voted Best Main Range story in this years Toms Tardis Awards and its not hard to see why. I think that it was a different take on the Cybermen and uses the original design which I love. The next story The Witch from the Well is a perfectly standard story and Army of Death is actually the best story for Mary Shelley.

01) Kiss of Death (8.50)
02) House of Blue Fire (8.44)
03) The Doomsday Quatrain (8.38)
04) Heroes of Sontar (8.25)
05) Army of Death (7.99)
06) Recorded Time and Other Stories (7.88)
07) The Silver Turk (7.50)
08) The Feast of Axos (7.50)
09) Robophobia (7.50)
10) The Witch from the Well (7.50)
11) Rat Trap (7.25)
12) The Crimes of Thomas Brewster (7.13)
13) Industrial Evolution (7.00)

Average – 7.76


THE COMPANION CHRONICLES
The Companion Chronicles continued to be strong. It started off with a cracking CC in the form of Peri and the Piscon Paradox. It was a mad story which with any other writer would have been a terrible story but Nev Fountain found the right balance. 2011 saw a trilogy of adventures where we were introduced to Oliver Harper. He had a secret which turned out to be that he was a gay man in the 1960’s. Not the biggest secret but anyway but the end of the trilogy ‘The First Wave’ had a wonderful ending and was only beaten by the first story in the series ‘The Perpetual Bond’.

There were some stories which didn’t quite hit the mark. ‘The Sentinels of the New Dawn’ was the weakest story which was compounded by the fact that it was a Liz Shaw story. Another duff story was ‘The Forbidden Time’ which I just didn’t like at all.

This series shows no sign of getting tired and with the slight tweaks to the format, its nice to think where the series could go.

01) Peri and the Piscon Paradox (8.25)
02) The First Wave (8.20)
03) The Perpetual Bond (8.00)
04) The Many Deaths of Jo Grant (8.00)
05) Tales from the Vault (7.88)
06) Beyond the Ultimate Adventure (7.80)
07) The Memory Cheats (7.63)
08) Ferril’s Folly (7.50)
09) The Cold Equations (7.25)
10) The Rocket Men (7.00)
11) The Forbidden Time (6.75)
12) The Sentinels of the New Dawn (6.50)

THE LOST STORIES
The term Lost Stories was stretched somewhat in 2011 because we had the Seventh Doctor series which introduced the character of Raine to the show. I quite liked the character of Raine as she was well played by Beth Chalmers. The combination of Raine and Ace is a nice one and hopefully it will result in a main range adventure. We also had fifth Doctor series of adventures where it was just Nyssa and Tegan. It’s been a good year overall with 2012 looking to be another great year.

TOP 5 LOST STORIES
The Elite (8.38)
Thin Ice (8.31)
Crime of the Century (8.19)
Animal (7.69)
Earth Aid (7.56)

GALLIFREY
Gallifrey returned for the first time since 2006. I had listened to the previous three series in preparation to this series and I must admit that whilst this series was slightly more easy to understand than the other three it was still enjoyable. Some didn’t seem to enjoy it but I did and thought that the idea that the regular characters were looking for a new home was quite a good story arc. Hopefully it wont be another five years before we get Gallifrey V.

JAGO AND LITE FOOT – SERIES II & III
Jago and Litefoot returned for not one but two series of adventures and they got better with each series. Series 3 was my favourite of the two because Louise Jameson returned as Leela and it gave the series a freshness that some may feel it didn’t need but to me it made it seem like it was from the 1970’s.

Both series did have something in common and that was the best story was the first. Both Litefoot and Sanders and Dead Men’s Tales were the best stories of the series. It’s quite amazing that two characters that appeared once in the TV series back in the 70’s have managed to spawn so many stories with more coming in 2012 and hopefully beyond.

The overall feeling about this year is that its been a solid year. I don’t think the Doctor/Companion line up has been as solid as in previous years. I don’t think that it was necessary to have Thomas Brewster return and Mary Shelley was another curious if slightly better realised decision. 2012 is going to be a big year for Big Finish with the arrival of the fourth incarnation. I hope that when I do my review of 2012 that I will be saying it will be the best yet.