The news that Doctor Who Confidential has been axed has come as a great shock and sadness to a great deal of people. It has even prompted a campaign to get set up on twitter to try and bring the show back. This is due to the fact that the BBC has had its licence fee frozen by the Government until 2016. As a result this means that the BBC has to cut its budget by 16% as well as having to take control of the World Service and some of the costs of the Welsh language channel S4C. Over the last few months, the BBC has around 2,000 job losses as well as loss of sports coverage including Formula One.
The show was created in 2005 purely as a way that new fans to the show could understand its history and why the Doctor is the way he is and why the TARDIS is bigger on the inside than on the outside. It last around 45 minutes and in recent years has focused on interviewing the cast and looking at some of the people that make the sets and other stuff. Ok this is mildly interesting but after about 25 minutes I have found myself getting restless and wanting to change channels. In the most recent series, I have not even watched them because I have found them to be very poor in entertainment.
BBC Three has had its budget cut by 10% or £8.5 million pounds. According to the BBC website it’s “to nurture and develop shows for BBC One with some reduction in drama, music and entertainment”. Now this means that we are supposedly getting more original programming which will be worthy of the licence fee but considering this is the channel that gives us ‘Lee Nelson’s Well Good Show’, ‘Snog Marry Avoid’ and ‘Don’t Tell the Bride’ I’m not holding out much hope. However despite these shockingly bad shows they do show ‘Family Guy’, ‘American Dad’ and ‘Russell Howard’s Good News’ so if they do more of these shows as opposed to bridal vanity shows then that will be ok.
No other drama gets a behind the scenes show apart from Eastenders which occasionally and I mean occasionally gives us a one hour show. So why is Doctor Who so special? Most shows that are released on DVD get a behind the scenes disc and even when they release Doctor Who on DVD they present the cut down version of Confidential. Ultimately the main reason why DWC was axed was because it was probably too expensive. When you think about how much time is spent interviewing people, recording what’s going on and more then it must stack up to a whole lot. Considering what the ratings are for this show it’s a very poor return rate.
As long as Doctor Who is on the air, should we really be bothered that DWC has been axed. No, Doctor Who was and still is the main priority and the fact we are all getting so het up about it is frankly baffling. If the show were to come back in some shorter format then that would be fine but I won’t miss DWC. Let’s not forget that people are losing their jobs and some of them may find other jobs but some won’t and if you compare some job losses to the cancellation of a mildly interesting show then you should see which the inferior problem is. Doctor Who Confidential has been a supporting show to the main show but lets get our priorities right. DW is the show we should be enjoying and when they decide to cut that then we should get angry until then, let’s pause for a moment and wave goodbye to DWC.
Sunday, October 09, 2011
Tuesday, May 03, 2011
The Tomfiles: #11 - Doctor Who Abroad
Doctor Who is a thoroughly British affair. Over the course of 32 series, the show has filmed all over the UK where in recent years the show has been filmed in Cardiff. However sometimes the show decided to get on a plane and film as Matt Smith said ‘Somewhere new’. Remarkably in the first 26 years, the show only ventured on foreign soil three time and that was over the space of six years. Recently the Eleventh Doctor, Amy and Rory have been having adventures in the good old US of A but is filming abroad a good idea or does it ruin the flow of a story or even a season?
The first time that Doctor Who was filmed abroad was in the 1979 adventure ‘City of Death’ where the Fourth Doctor and Romana travelled to Paris in France for four episodes. The story itself is a very good story despite it coming from the Douglas Adams era where comedy was a big part of the show. There are large chunks of location filming to help establish the show’s setting, however it is essentially just the Doctor and Romana running around Parisian landmarks but its filmed beautifully.
Arc of Infinity was the second adventure to travel abroad but the show still stays in Europe by filming in Amsterdam. Like City of Death, the story features a lot of running around but there are still the familiar sights. To be fair to AOI, there is a bit more to the filming that running around. There is some standing about and sitting in a café but more importantly the big finale scene is on location with the Doctor, Tegan and Nyssa catching up with Omega and shooting him. In terms of purpose to the story, the scenes in AOI are far better than COD.
Two years later The Two Doctors would be filmed in Seville Spain for reasons no-one can work out. It doesn’t offer anything to the story and you could have filmed it anywhere in the UK. There are some beautiful shots of Seville which makes it look a beautiful place. However ultimately the purpose of the location is dubious at best as a result it’s not entirely satisfactory.
It was rumoured that Doctor Who would have gone to Asia in the abandoned 1986 season which would have seen the Autons running amok in Thailand or somewhere near. Who knows whether this would have been a good idea or not but we’ll never know.
It would be eleven years before Doctor Who would film abroad and this time it would be different because it would be in the TV Movie where the story was filmed in Canada doubling for San Francisco. It feels more like a US drama than a British one which makes it stand out in the history of Doctor Who. There are some lovely scenes but as most of it is filmed at night unfortunately I don’t think it shows off the city as well as it could have done. Had the ‘pilot’ turned into a series then there would undoubtably have been more location filming and chances to see more of the scenery.
During the early years of Doctor Who’s return featured filming switching between Cardiff (and surrounding areas) and London and during the Tennant era there was only one time where it was based outside of the UK and that occurred in Fires of Pompeii where the show went to actually went to the same studio in Italy where the HBO/BBC drama Rome was filmed. This was a fantastic idea and one of the reasons why the story is so good is because of the location stuff. It would have been silly to try and replicate those scenes in the UK because it wouldn’t have been as good. It’s one of the best uses of foreign filming so far. The Eleventh Doctor would be the Fifth actor to film abroad with two episodes being filmed in Croatia. The first episode was Vampires in Venice where the filming is beautfil and does create a different impression to the series. Despite Vampires of Venice and Vincent and the Doctor being filmed in the same place it doesn’t show in the stories. It’s quite impressive how they manage to do this and the best thing is that I wasn’t thinking about whether it made sense but just being bowled over by the story and enjoying the filming.
The most recent excursion out of the UK saw the show go to the country with the biggest fan base outside of the UK. The show went to America and filmed in the Utah desert. Despite it being a desert the filming was very good and helped create the impact that the show needed to set the current series up. The reason for the story being set in America was plausible and so the location stuff needed to compliment it and it certainly did that in this story with some fantastic arial shots. Much better than what you would get here.
The issue of coincidence occurs whenever the show films abroad because some argue that its convenient that the aliens would invade/attack in a foreign country but then I take the approach that it’s no more convenient than aliens attacking/invading just the UK when there are bigger and more powerful countries that they could pick. I think that providing the reason for setting a story in a foreign country makes sense then it doesn’t make it any less plausible setting a story in South Africa or Finland or even Vanuatu than it would be setting it in the UK.
Filming abroad always gives a Doctor Who story an international feeling and with the show popular in all corners of the world it’s only right that occasionally the show ventures outwards to embrace that popularity and more importantly the cash. Recently Steven Moffat said in a newspaper article that £300,000 of the £1 million that it costs to make a Doctor Who episode comes from merchandise. I wonder how much of the remaininig £700,000 comes from international TV stations. Going beyond that the issue of filming abroad shouldn’t really exist and occasional excursions outside of the UK are a good thing and should be a regular thing.
The first time that Doctor Who was filmed abroad was in the 1979 adventure ‘City of Death’ where the Fourth Doctor and Romana travelled to Paris in France for four episodes. The story itself is a very good story despite it coming from the Douglas Adams era where comedy was a big part of the show. There are large chunks of location filming to help establish the show’s setting, however it is essentially just the Doctor and Romana running around Parisian landmarks but its filmed beautifully.
Arc of Infinity was the second adventure to travel abroad but the show still stays in Europe by filming in Amsterdam. Like City of Death, the story features a lot of running around but there are still the familiar sights. To be fair to AOI, there is a bit more to the filming that running around. There is some standing about and sitting in a café but more importantly the big finale scene is on location with the Doctor, Tegan and Nyssa catching up with Omega and shooting him. In terms of purpose to the story, the scenes in AOI are far better than COD.
Two years later The Two Doctors would be filmed in Seville Spain for reasons no-one can work out. It doesn’t offer anything to the story and you could have filmed it anywhere in the UK. There are some beautiful shots of Seville which makes it look a beautiful place. However ultimately the purpose of the location is dubious at best as a result it’s not entirely satisfactory.
It was rumoured that Doctor Who would have gone to Asia in the abandoned 1986 season which would have seen the Autons running amok in Thailand or somewhere near. Who knows whether this would have been a good idea or not but we’ll never know.
It would be eleven years before Doctor Who would film abroad and this time it would be different because it would be in the TV Movie where the story was filmed in Canada doubling for San Francisco. It feels more like a US drama than a British one which makes it stand out in the history of Doctor Who. There are some lovely scenes but as most of it is filmed at night unfortunately I don’t think it shows off the city as well as it could have done. Had the ‘pilot’ turned into a series then there would undoubtably have been more location filming and chances to see more of the scenery.
During the early years of Doctor Who’s return featured filming switching between Cardiff (and surrounding areas) and London and during the Tennant era there was only one time where it was based outside of the UK and that occurred in Fires of Pompeii where the show went to actually went to the same studio in Italy where the HBO/BBC drama Rome was filmed. This was a fantastic idea and one of the reasons why the story is so good is because of the location stuff. It would have been silly to try and replicate those scenes in the UK because it wouldn’t have been as good. It’s one of the best uses of foreign filming so far. The Eleventh Doctor would be the Fifth actor to film abroad with two episodes being filmed in Croatia. The first episode was Vampires in Venice where the filming is beautfil and does create a different impression to the series. Despite Vampires of Venice and Vincent and the Doctor being filmed in the same place it doesn’t show in the stories. It’s quite impressive how they manage to do this and the best thing is that I wasn’t thinking about whether it made sense but just being bowled over by the story and enjoying the filming.
The most recent excursion out of the UK saw the show go to the country with the biggest fan base outside of the UK. The show went to America and filmed in the Utah desert. Despite it being a desert the filming was very good and helped create the impact that the show needed to set the current series up. The reason for the story being set in America was plausible and so the location stuff needed to compliment it and it certainly did that in this story with some fantastic arial shots. Much better than what you would get here.
The issue of coincidence occurs whenever the show films abroad because some argue that its convenient that the aliens would invade/attack in a foreign country but then I take the approach that it’s no more convenient than aliens attacking/invading just the UK when there are bigger and more powerful countries that they could pick. I think that providing the reason for setting a story in a foreign country makes sense then it doesn’t make it any less plausible setting a story in South Africa or Finland or even Vanuatu than it would be setting it in the UK.
Filming abroad always gives a Doctor Who story an international feeling and with the show popular in all corners of the world it’s only right that occasionally the show ventures outwards to embrace that popularity and more importantly the cash. Recently Steven Moffat said in a newspaper article that £300,000 of the £1 million that it costs to make a Doctor Who episode comes from merchandise. I wonder how much of the remaininig £700,000 comes from international TV stations. Going beyond that the issue of filming abroad shouldn’t really exist and occasional excursions outside of the UK are a good thing and should be a regular thing.
Friday, December 31, 2010
The Tomfiles: #10 - Big Finish Review of 2010
Big Finish has continued to flower in 2010. They had continued with the successful series format and this year saw the return of a few familiar names and voices. It also saw the debut of spin-off series and the regeneration of a Big Finish series.
JANUARY – MARCH: THE KLEIN SERIES
This series saw the return of Elizabeth Klein who had previously appeared in the 2001 adventure ‘Colditz’. Nearly ten years later after fans had been asking for this and they got what they wanted. All three stories were very good as they dealt with the character of Klein well. They didn’t gloat about her being a Nazi scientist but rather her own individual morals. This was well handled in all three stories. The first story was A Thousand Tiny Wings which was what I thought was a truly superb story and it was dark and at times quite grim. Then there was Survival of the Fittest which followed Klein’s story which told of what happened to Klein after Colditz which was better than SOTF. The final story was The Architects of History which was the best story of the series, it was a fitting end to the series and showed me why people have been asking for Klein’s return since Colditz.
APRIL-JUNE: THE JAMIE SERIES
These three stories saw the return of Jamie as played by Fraser Hines. Jamie had only been heard of in the Companion Chronicles. Unfortunately it wasn’t quite as successful as I had hoped for. City of Spires wasn’t the best of starts as I wrote in my review “Ultimately though the main problem with this story is that it took way too long to get going. Had it not been for that final 20 minutes where pretty much everything was revealed, I would have found this a real disappointment.”. The next story was slightly better but the thing about The Wreck of the Titan as I mentioned in my review “When the story finished I found myself liking this story but not totally sure as tow why. I think that whilst it was mysterious for large parts of the story it wasn’t too confusing as for me to stop caring.”. The final story was Legend of the Cybermen which saw the return of Zoe Harriot to the series as played by Wendy Padbury and also it was the first Cyberman story since 2008’s Kingdom of Silver. In my review of the story I said “It’s the best story of the three but that’s not really a compliment. If I had to pick a fault with the story is that it spends too long getting started. The first episode has too much of Jamie and the Doctor running around the void. Its only when the Artful Dodger turns up that it really gets going. The thing about this story is that it has a lot of loose ends to type up and it does this effectively and in a way that a simple mind like mine can understand.”
Like I said before, it wasn’t quite as successful as I had hoped and I still can’t quite figure out why. It’s not Frazer Hines or Colin Baker’s fault as they performed well. The only thing that I think it could be is the whole story arc didn’t quite work due to the way that the series are structured the arc becomes quite important to the series. Hopefully if Jamie returns they will do something a bit simpler.
JULY-SEPTEMBER: THE RICHTER SERIES
These three stories saw for the first time since 1983. Tegan, Nyssa and Turlough return with the Fifth Doctor. Janet Fielding had only made one appearance since leaving the show in 1984 and it was in the 2006 story ‘The Gathering’. The first story was in my opinion the best. Cobwebs was curiously set after Nyssa had left the series in Terminus but before Enlightenment. For Tegan and Turlough it had been a few days but for Nyssa it had been 50 years. I wrote in my review that I thought “The whole thing about this story is clever”. I also commented on how “it was slightly disappointing that Janet Fielding didn’t make more of an effort to sound like 1980’s Tegan.” The next story was The Whispering Forest which couldn’t quite live up to what we had been in Cobwebs. There was some quite interesting stuff in it but it lacked some action or energy. The final story was The Cradle of the Snake and saw the return of Mara which made this story the best of the series. It was a fitting end to the series and as it was a Marc Platt story it was neither too complicated or too dull.
The success of this series and popularity has led to another series of Nyssa/Tegan/Turlough series of adventures being planned for mid-2011. Its wonderful news to have Tegan back as her 2006 appearance in The Gathering wasn’t brilliant and it would have been a shame if that were her only contribution. I look forward to this new series with great enthusiasm.
SEPTEMBER - NOVEMBER: THE HEX SERIES
Another series and another series with great expectations from myself. It had been over a year since the last series with Ace and Hex and at the end of that series, Hex had been shot. The first story was Project Destiny and was the best story of the series. It saw the return of Nimrod who previously appeared in Project Twilight (2001) and Project Lazarus (2003). From start to finish it was wonderful and whilst it wasn’t the best Project story it was still highly enjoyable. Hex departed in a ‘mock’ exit which implied that he was leaving for good. The story had a wonderful lead-in to A Death in the Family. However despite all this, A Death in the Family was massive disappointment. Despite being voted Best Story in the Toms Tardis 2010 Awards, I found it too be the worst story for quite sometime. That’s democracy for you. The story saw the return of the Word Lord or Nobody No-one which I found exciting because I liked the character in Forty-Five as well the return of Evelyn Smythe. Neither of these could rescue it. The final story was Lurkers at Sunlights Edge which was a nice ending to the series. It wasn’t a fantastic story but there was something about it and it was way better than the previous story.
Overall the series was a disappointment. Apart from Project Destiny, I found the series to be aimless and without direction. Whereas the Klein and Jamie series had a end point and you knew where it would go there was none of that in this series and out of the three series I would rate this one bottom.
The final main range story of 2010 was The Demons of Red Lodge & Other stories which was a series of stories quite like The Company of Friends and Forty-Five. This year it featured the Fifth Doctor and Nyssa. This was a good release and totally changes my original opinion of single episode stories. It shows that with the right story that 25 minutes is an ok amount of time to tell a story.
THE COMPANION CHRONICLES
It’s been another fantastic year for Companion Chronicles. A particular highlight was The Suffering which saw two companion tell their story. Shadow of the Past was another top quality story and would rank in my top three companion stories of 2010. Night’s Black Agents was ‘the fourth story in a trilogy’ story which was a cracking story. The final story of Series 4 was brilliant as it featured India Fisher who was returning as Charley and David Ballie who appeared in The Nightmare Fair. Series 5 started off with The Guardian of the Solar System
THE LOST STORIES
This year saw the rest of the Sixth Doctor stories with a varying amount of success. There were stories like Paradise 5 and The Macros (written by the late Ingrid Pitt) which were enjoyable and left me wishing that they had been made for TV. Then there were stories like Point of Entry and The Hollows of Time which were just dreadful. In particular The Hollows of Time which was meant to feature the Master but due to the character been used in the David Tennant finale couldn’t be used by Big Finish so we are left with a mess of a story that frankly wouldn’t have been saved even if the Master had been in it.
We also got the First Doctor and Second Doctor stories which were more like Companion Chronicles but were still enjoyable. In particular Farewell Great Macedon which was a fantastic release read brilliantly by Carole Ann Ford and William Russell.
JAGO & LITEFOOT
Well after months of waiting and a successful ‘pilot’ in The Mahogany Murderers. In June we got four adventures. All four stories were great in their own way but I think that the best was The Bloodless Soldier. I did wonder how the series would work. It’s one thing in a Companion Chronicle but its another when you have four hour-long adventures. However credit where its due they managed it. This worked so much that two more series have been commissioned. Christopher Benjamin & Trevor Baxter were superb and its crazy that it took over 30 years to get to this stage. After the successful return of Klein & Jago and Litefoot, I learnt one thing. Don’t fret.
EIGHTH DOCTOR ADVENTURES
It was announced this year that 2010 would see the last separate series for the Eighth Doctor. At the end of 2009, Lucie Miller said goodbye and we said hello in 2010 to Tamsin. However this final series had more ups and downs than a rollercoaster. The series seemed to be a bit lacklustre especially after Nevermore but then when we got to the Book of Kells things picked up and as we ended 2010 there are just a few more stories to go before this thrilling series concludes. It’s a shame in a way that the Eighth Doctor will have to return to the main range in 2011 because I think that the Eighth Doctor thrives from having more stories than the others and we will have to get use to just three stories a year instead of eight or ten.
2010 has been a superb year and was the best yet. There has been a concern for me at times that Big Finish have been stretching themselves too far but I think that they need to in order to find the revenue to continue making more Doctor Who stories. However it’s the quality side that I am more concerned about. Including the main range, Jago and Litefoot, Companion Chronicles, Lost Stories, EDA and the Four Doctors special, there were 47 releases and about 6 or 7 of them were duds which is quite a good percentage when you think about it. I go into 2011 with high hopes and a strong feeling that in twelve months time I will be writing that Big Finish has had another fantastic year. Everyone at Big Finish stand up and take your applause!!!
TOP 5 STORIES OF 2010
1. Guardian of the Solar System
2. Shadows of the Past
3. The Wreck of the Titan
4. Solitaire
5. Cobwebs
WORST 5 STORIES OF 2010
1. The Hollows of Time
2. Nevermore
3. Bernice Summerfield and the Criminal Code
4. Point of Entry
5. A Death in the Family
JANUARY – MARCH: THE KLEIN SERIES
This series saw the return of Elizabeth Klein who had previously appeared in the 2001 adventure ‘Colditz’. Nearly ten years later after fans had been asking for this and they got what they wanted. All three stories were very good as they dealt with the character of Klein well. They didn’t gloat about her being a Nazi scientist but rather her own individual morals. This was well handled in all three stories. The first story was A Thousand Tiny Wings which was what I thought was a truly superb story and it was dark and at times quite grim. Then there was Survival of the Fittest which followed Klein’s story which told of what happened to Klein after Colditz which was better than SOTF. The final story was The Architects of History which was the best story of the series, it was a fitting end to the series and showed me why people have been asking for Klein’s return since Colditz.
APRIL-JUNE: THE JAMIE SERIES
These three stories saw the return of Jamie as played by Fraser Hines. Jamie had only been heard of in the Companion Chronicles. Unfortunately it wasn’t quite as successful as I had hoped for. City of Spires wasn’t the best of starts as I wrote in my review “Ultimately though the main problem with this story is that it took way too long to get going. Had it not been for that final 20 minutes where pretty much everything was revealed, I would have found this a real disappointment.”. The next story was slightly better but the thing about The Wreck of the Titan as I mentioned in my review “When the story finished I found myself liking this story but not totally sure as tow why. I think that whilst it was mysterious for large parts of the story it wasn’t too confusing as for me to stop caring.”. The final story was Legend of the Cybermen which saw the return of Zoe Harriot to the series as played by Wendy Padbury and also it was the first Cyberman story since 2008’s Kingdom of Silver. In my review of the story I said “It’s the best story of the three but that’s not really a compliment. If I had to pick a fault with the story is that it spends too long getting started. The first episode has too much of Jamie and the Doctor running around the void. Its only when the Artful Dodger turns up that it really gets going. The thing about this story is that it has a lot of loose ends to type up and it does this effectively and in a way that a simple mind like mine can understand.”
Like I said before, it wasn’t quite as successful as I had hoped and I still can’t quite figure out why. It’s not Frazer Hines or Colin Baker’s fault as they performed well. The only thing that I think it could be is the whole story arc didn’t quite work due to the way that the series are structured the arc becomes quite important to the series. Hopefully if Jamie returns they will do something a bit simpler.
JULY-SEPTEMBER: THE RICHTER SERIES
These three stories saw for the first time since 1983. Tegan, Nyssa and Turlough return with the Fifth Doctor. Janet Fielding had only made one appearance since leaving the show in 1984 and it was in the 2006 story ‘The Gathering’. The first story was in my opinion the best. Cobwebs was curiously set after Nyssa had left the series in Terminus but before Enlightenment. For Tegan and Turlough it had been a few days but for Nyssa it had been 50 years. I wrote in my review that I thought “The whole thing about this story is clever”. I also commented on how “it was slightly disappointing that Janet Fielding didn’t make more of an effort to sound like 1980’s Tegan.” The next story was The Whispering Forest which couldn’t quite live up to what we had been in Cobwebs. There was some quite interesting stuff in it but it lacked some action or energy. The final story was The Cradle of the Snake and saw the return of Mara which made this story the best of the series. It was a fitting end to the series and as it was a Marc Platt story it was neither too complicated or too dull.
The success of this series and popularity has led to another series of Nyssa/Tegan/Turlough series of adventures being planned for mid-2011. Its wonderful news to have Tegan back as her 2006 appearance in The Gathering wasn’t brilliant and it would have been a shame if that were her only contribution. I look forward to this new series with great enthusiasm.
SEPTEMBER - NOVEMBER: THE HEX SERIES
Another series and another series with great expectations from myself. It had been over a year since the last series with Ace and Hex and at the end of that series, Hex had been shot. The first story was Project Destiny and was the best story of the series. It saw the return of Nimrod who previously appeared in Project Twilight (2001) and Project Lazarus (2003). From start to finish it was wonderful and whilst it wasn’t the best Project story it was still highly enjoyable. Hex departed in a ‘mock’ exit which implied that he was leaving for good. The story had a wonderful lead-in to A Death in the Family. However despite all this, A Death in the Family was massive disappointment. Despite being voted Best Story in the Toms Tardis 2010 Awards, I found it too be the worst story for quite sometime. That’s democracy for you. The story saw the return of the Word Lord or Nobody No-one which I found exciting because I liked the character in Forty-Five as well the return of Evelyn Smythe. Neither of these could rescue it. The final story was Lurkers at Sunlights Edge which was a nice ending to the series. It wasn’t a fantastic story but there was something about it and it was way better than the previous story.
Overall the series was a disappointment. Apart from Project Destiny, I found the series to be aimless and without direction. Whereas the Klein and Jamie series had a end point and you knew where it would go there was none of that in this series and out of the three series I would rate this one bottom.
The final main range story of 2010 was The Demons of Red Lodge & Other stories which was a series of stories quite like The Company of Friends and Forty-Five. This year it featured the Fifth Doctor and Nyssa. This was a good release and totally changes my original opinion of single episode stories. It shows that with the right story that 25 minutes is an ok amount of time to tell a story.
THE COMPANION CHRONICLES
It’s been another fantastic year for Companion Chronicles. A particular highlight was The Suffering which saw two companion tell their story. Shadow of the Past was another top quality story and would rank in my top three companion stories of 2010. Night’s Black Agents was ‘the fourth story in a trilogy’ story which was a cracking story. The final story of Series 4 was brilliant as it featured India Fisher who was returning as Charley and David Ballie who appeared in The Nightmare Fair. Series 5 started off with The Guardian of the Solar System
THE LOST STORIES
This year saw the rest of the Sixth Doctor stories with a varying amount of success. There were stories like Paradise 5 and The Macros (written by the late Ingrid Pitt) which were enjoyable and left me wishing that they had been made for TV. Then there were stories like Point of Entry and The Hollows of Time which were just dreadful. In particular The Hollows of Time which was meant to feature the Master but due to the character been used in the David Tennant finale couldn’t be used by Big Finish so we are left with a mess of a story that frankly wouldn’t have been saved even if the Master had been in it.
We also got the First Doctor and Second Doctor stories which were more like Companion Chronicles but were still enjoyable. In particular Farewell Great Macedon which was a fantastic release read brilliantly by Carole Ann Ford and William Russell.
JAGO & LITEFOOT
Well after months of waiting and a successful ‘pilot’ in The Mahogany Murderers. In June we got four adventures. All four stories were great in their own way but I think that the best was The Bloodless Soldier. I did wonder how the series would work. It’s one thing in a Companion Chronicle but its another when you have four hour-long adventures. However credit where its due they managed it. This worked so much that two more series have been commissioned. Christopher Benjamin & Trevor Baxter were superb and its crazy that it took over 30 years to get to this stage. After the successful return of Klein & Jago and Litefoot, I learnt one thing. Don’t fret.
EIGHTH DOCTOR ADVENTURES
It was announced this year that 2010 would see the last separate series for the Eighth Doctor. At the end of 2009, Lucie Miller said goodbye and we said hello in 2010 to Tamsin. However this final series had more ups and downs than a rollercoaster. The series seemed to be a bit lacklustre especially after Nevermore but then when we got to the Book of Kells things picked up and as we ended 2010 there are just a few more stories to go before this thrilling series concludes. It’s a shame in a way that the Eighth Doctor will have to return to the main range in 2011 because I think that the Eighth Doctor thrives from having more stories than the others and we will have to get use to just three stories a year instead of eight or ten.
2010 has been a superb year and was the best yet. There has been a concern for me at times that Big Finish have been stretching themselves too far but I think that they need to in order to find the revenue to continue making more Doctor Who stories. However it’s the quality side that I am more concerned about. Including the main range, Jago and Litefoot, Companion Chronicles, Lost Stories, EDA and the Four Doctors special, there were 47 releases and about 6 or 7 of them were duds which is quite a good percentage when you think about it. I go into 2011 with high hopes and a strong feeling that in twelve months time I will be writing that Big Finish has had another fantastic year. Everyone at Big Finish stand up and take your applause!!!
TOP 5 STORIES OF 2010
1. Guardian of the Solar System
2. Shadows of the Past
3. The Wreck of the Titan
4. Solitaire
5. Cobwebs
WORST 5 STORIES OF 2010
1. The Hollows of Time
2. Nevermore
3. Bernice Summerfield and the Criminal Code
4. Point of Entry
5. A Death in the Family
Wednesday, July 07, 2010
The Tomfiles: #9 - Series 31 Review
As the first series of Doctor Who with Matt Smith as the Doctor has now ended. It’s the perfect time to review everything about this series. From the look of the show to the different stories as well as the monsters/baddies but most importantly the main stars of the show. Ever since it was announced that Matt Smith would be replacing David Tennant as the Doctor, there has been a certain amount (some of it unfair) comments about whether Smith was too young and whether he was a big enough name to carry the role. I sat with my friends as we watched the final moments of ‘The End of Time’ and saw Smith ramble on about his fingers and legs and how he was a girl due to his long hair and not ginger. My friends seemed unconvinced and I simply told them to wait until the series had begun before making judgement. On the famous thing I personally I rather glad they didn’t go for a big name. The last time we had a big name (Christopher Eccleston) it seemed to make the show not seem like Doctor Who. When watching Eccleston you were thinking more of the ITV drama ‘The Second Coming’ and ‘Cracker’ instead of Doctor Who. Smith might be young but Peter Davison had that same problem and he turned out alright.
So Matt Smith was confirmed as The Doctor and Karen Gillan was the companion. Two unknowns in the biggest show on TV. If this wasn’t an indication that this was a revamp then I don’t know what is. Steven Moffat had written for the show since it returned in 2005 and was clearly a Doctor Who mad fan, so he was perfect to take over from Russell T Davies who I felt had become tired and lacking in original ideas. Moffatt would be joined by Piers Wenger and Beth Willis as Executive Producers. Two more things would be the source of much discussion, The Doctor’s outfit and the TARDIS interior. The Outfit has always been a big thing because it says a lot about the Doctor. From Hartnell’s Edwardian outfit to Colin Baker’s screaming mixed colour monstrocity. I have to admit that I really didn’t like the Tweed jacket that Smith was wearing when I saw it for the first time but it actually grew on me. The TARDIS was just as important that Smith’s suit. I’m still not 100% sold on it as it’s a bit too colourful for my likeing. I do like the different levels as it gives the TARDIS a different feel to it. With the little bits discussed through countless forums, it was the time to focus on the series.
This series saw the return of some familiar monsters. The Silurians returned after a 26 year abscence. The Hungry Earth/Cold Blood was an enjoyable story and the look of the silurians whilst wasnt perfect was a damn sight better than the new Daleks. The new fatter Daleks debuted in Episode 3 called Victory of the Daleks. This saw more pure Daleks become born but this seem to cause outrage as they just look awful. The colours werent an issue for me but when you look at them from the back they look like Gok Wan's been at them. This series's story arc was the crack in time. Way back in Episode 1 there was a crack in Amelia's wall. In every subsequent episode the crack appeared and in Episode 9 the Doctor put his hand in the crack and pulled out a piece of the TARDIS. It was revealed that the cracks in time were created by the TARDIS exploding and this was deemed to be the Doctor's fault and he was subsequently put in the Pandorica Box. As story arc's go its not the strongest that there has ever been. I think it was more to do with the fact that it was slightly flat in its execution.
Something that was a surprise was the romance side of the characters. Smith's Doctor and Amy didnt start getting smoochy or something that hogs the screen and gets in the way of the main action. Also the introduction of Rory was something that I was wary of but once he began travelling in the TARDIS I actually quite liked him. I thought Amy's Choice was the best example of how their romance was clear but wasnt vomit enducing.
In terms of ratings which is what everyone worries about these days its difficult to say that the series was a success. True, the ratings were more consistant than in any previous series but when you put all five series ratings side by side the fifth series was the fourth best in terms of average ratings. Only the 2007 series drew a lower average rating. The highest rating came with Episode 1 where 10.08 million viewers watched. The ratings stumbled between 6 and 8 million with the lowest coming for Episode 13 where only 6.12 watched. Its the second lowest rated Doctor Who episode since it returned. Only The Satan Pit from 2006 scored lower (6.08). That said, four stories are in the Top 25 (The Eleventh Hour, The Time of Angels, Flesh and Stone and The Beast Below) with four in the middle and four in the bottom 10 (Vincent and the Doctor, The Hungry Earth, The Lodger & The Big Bang). In times when bugets are beein cut any any show that isnt performing well is given the unceremonial axe. Its a worring time when the show doesnt blow the ratings into the water.
Overall I really liked this first season. It was a better first series for a new Doctor than Tennant's. Whilst I wasnt totally bowled over by the Lodger I thought that the whole look and feel of the series was a breath of fresh air. It had a more adult feel to it and didnt feel like a warm and cuddly teddy bear which is something that always bothered me about the RTD era. The show wasnt perfect. I think that there was a times too much complicated speeches which I thought was unncersary. Also the revamp of the Daleks were a total flop as was the resolution of the Pandorica Opens cliffhanger. Hopefully when the show returns for a full series in 2011, it will be a bit more fun and not so headscratching. Out of all the five series that have been made by BBC Cymru, I would have to say that this season was the most consistant and the one that I will look forward to the most on DVD.
So Matt Smith was confirmed as The Doctor and Karen Gillan was the companion. Two unknowns in the biggest show on TV. If this wasn’t an indication that this was a revamp then I don’t know what is. Steven Moffat had written for the show since it returned in 2005 and was clearly a Doctor Who mad fan, so he was perfect to take over from Russell T Davies who I felt had become tired and lacking in original ideas. Moffatt would be joined by Piers Wenger and Beth Willis as Executive Producers. Two more things would be the source of much discussion, The Doctor’s outfit and the TARDIS interior. The Outfit has always been a big thing because it says a lot about the Doctor. From Hartnell’s Edwardian outfit to Colin Baker’s screaming mixed colour monstrocity. I have to admit that I really didn’t like the Tweed jacket that Smith was wearing when I saw it for the first time but it actually grew on me. The TARDIS was just as important that Smith’s suit. I’m still not 100% sold on it as it’s a bit too colourful for my likeing. I do like the different levels as it gives the TARDIS a different feel to it. With the little bits discussed through countless forums, it was the time to focus on the series.
This series saw the return of some familiar monsters. The Silurians returned after a 26 year abscence. The Hungry Earth/Cold Blood was an enjoyable story and the look of the silurians whilst wasnt perfect was a damn sight better than the new Daleks. The new fatter Daleks debuted in Episode 3 called Victory of the Daleks. This saw more pure Daleks become born but this seem to cause outrage as they just look awful. The colours werent an issue for me but when you look at them from the back they look like Gok Wan's been at them. This series's story arc was the crack in time. Way back in Episode 1 there was a crack in Amelia's wall. In every subsequent episode the crack appeared and in Episode 9 the Doctor put his hand in the crack and pulled out a piece of the TARDIS. It was revealed that the cracks in time were created by the TARDIS exploding and this was deemed to be the Doctor's fault and he was subsequently put in the Pandorica Box. As story arc's go its not the strongest that there has ever been. I think it was more to do with the fact that it was slightly flat in its execution.
Something that was a surprise was the romance side of the characters. Smith's Doctor and Amy didnt start getting smoochy or something that hogs the screen and gets in the way of the main action. Also the introduction of Rory was something that I was wary of but once he began travelling in the TARDIS I actually quite liked him. I thought Amy's Choice was the best example of how their romance was clear but wasnt vomit enducing.
In terms of ratings which is what everyone worries about these days its difficult to say that the series was a success. True, the ratings were more consistant than in any previous series but when you put all five series ratings side by side the fifth series was the fourth best in terms of average ratings. Only the 2007 series drew a lower average rating. The highest rating came with Episode 1 where 10.08 million viewers watched. The ratings stumbled between 6 and 8 million with the lowest coming for Episode 13 where only 6.12 watched. Its the second lowest rated Doctor Who episode since it returned. Only The Satan Pit from 2006 scored lower (6.08). That said, four stories are in the Top 25 (The Eleventh Hour, The Time of Angels, Flesh and Stone and The Beast Below) with four in the middle and four in the bottom 10 (Vincent and the Doctor, The Hungry Earth, The Lodger & The Big Bang). In times when bugets are beein cut any any show that isnt performing well is given the unceremonial axe. Its a worring time when the show doesnt blow the ratings into the water.
Overall I really liked this first season. It was a better first series for a new Doctor than Tennant's. Whilst I wasnt totally bowled over by the Lodger I thought that the whole look and feel of the series was a breath of fresh air. It had a more adult feel to it and didnt feel like a warm and cuddly teddy bear which is something that always bothered me about the RTD era. The show wasnt perfect. I think that there was a times too much complicated speeches which I thought was unncersary. Also the revamp of the Daleks were a total flop as was the resolution of the Pandorica Opens cliffhanger. Hopefully when the show returns for a full series in 2011, it will be a bit more fun and not so headscratching. Out of all the five series that have been made by BBC Cymru, I would have to say that this season was the most consistant and the one that I will look forward to the most on DVD.
Monday, January 04, 2010
The Tomfiles: #8 - Big Finish Review of 2009
Has this been a good year for Big Finish? This year seems to have seen a high output that ever before. It was major milestone for the company as it celebrated its 10th Birthday in July. This year saw Doctor Who split into 3 part series. This was partly because the Thomas Brewster story was spread over several months which meant the story lost some of its flow. So in 2009 there was going to be three sets of three series and a single release. Also in 2009 there was the continuation of the Companion Chronicles series which saw the third series end in June and the Fourth begin straight away in July. Also after over a year of waiting the Lost Stories began with The Nightmare Fair but I getting ahead of myself. The Eight Doctor and Lucie adventures returned for a third series but it was different from the previous two.
THE MAIN RANGE
JANUARY – MARCH: THE KEY 2 TIME
THE JUDGEMENT OF ISSKAR, THE DESTROYER OF DELIGHTS & THE CHAOS POOL
The first series saw the return of the Key 2 Time. Back in the 1970’s Tom Baker spent 26 episodes looking for the segments only for him to destroy them. This time the Fifth Doctor had the task of looking for them. He didn’t have Peri (who seemed to be frozen in time) but was given a new companion in the form of Amy (played by ex-Hollyoaks star Ciara Janson). The first story was The Judgement of Isskar which was a bit of a mixed bag. The Ice Warriors returned for this one and at the end of it we were finally treated to one of the best cliffhangers that Big Finish have produced for quite a long time. The return of the Black Guardian. David Troughton won a Best Guest Star Award for his portrayal of the Black Guardian. In The Destroyer of Delights we were again treated to a weird story which seemed slightly more structured than the previous story. The final story of the series saw the return of Lalla Ward. Instead of playing Romana like we (ok I) thought she ended up playing Princess Astra like she did back in the Armageddon Factor. The thing about The Chaos Pool was that it was a slightly complicated story that did seem to drag at times. Overall the series wasn’t bad but neither was it anything to write home about.
SERIES AVERAGE RATING: 71%
APRIL – JUNE:
THE MAGIC MOUSETRAP, ENEMY OF THE DALEKS & THE ANGEL OF SCUTARI
The second series saw the Seventh Doctor reunited with Ace and Hex. The first adventure was voted Story of the Year by Toms Tardis Fans. This story saw the return of the Celestial Toymaker, his first appearance in over 40 years. This was a very good story with a great setting and the use of the Toymaker was original and enjoyable. The second story was what I would consider to be story of the year and that was Enemy of the Daleks. This story saw the Doctor and company arrive at a point of time where the Doctor knew that something bad happened there and he had to make sure that it happened. The Daleks were returning because the research being done on this base would have destroyed them. This meant that the Daleks were doing their invade and conquer bit but were just trying to survive. The final story of this series was never going to be as good as the previous two stories but was more of a character piece. Hex has never really had much of a push since he joined the TARDIS back in 2004 and this one allowed him to use abilities and to help. This story was set during the Crimean War and saw the appearance of Florence Nightengale. The side of Hex we saw was one that sneaking about behind the Doctor’s back. Whilst this was a good story it was the weakest in terms of adventure. Overall this series was the best so far and showed that this way of distributing the releases has some merit to it.
SERIES AVERAGE RATING: 81%
JULY: THE COMPANY OF FRIENDS
The only single release story of the main range in 2009 saw the Eighth Doctor return from the Lucie adventures. This story was effectively the 10th Anniversary story and saw four companions that the Eighth Doctor had in different forms. There was Fitz (Matt di Angelo), Izzy (Jemmima Rooper), Bernice (Lisa Bowerman) and Mary Shelley (Julie Cox). Apart from Bernice we never heard any of the other characters before in Big Finish and this story was a superb effort. Each episode was well structured and thoroughly enjoyable.
RATING: 84%
AUGUST – SEPTEMBER: THE CHARLEY TRILOGY
PATIENT ZERO, PAPER CUTS & BLUE FORGOTTEN PLANET
This was the most anticipated series of adventures of the year. We were finally going to see what was going to happen to Charlotte Pollard. The first story saw the second appearance of the Daleks this year. It also saw the return of the Viyrans who first appeared in Mission of the Viyrans back in 2007. This story saw Charley been trapped thanks to a character called Mila who was someone who has been infected with a disease and called Patient Zero. This story was very good from start to finish and the moment that Mila became Charley and there was the possibility that Charley might leave like this was horrific. Then there was Paper Cuts which saw the Draconians make their first appearance in Big Finish. The story wasn’t as good as Patient Zero but was better than I thought and considering it was by Marc Platt actually made a lot of sense. The final story of this trilogy was the story that I rated the highest. Blue Forgotten Planet was well and truly the final story featuring Charley and the explanation as to how the Eighth Doctor doesn’t remember anything that has happened between his sixth incarnation and Charley was explained in a very clever way. Overall this series was as good as it could have been considering it had so much expectation piled on to it. After eight years it was really sad to see the end of Charley.
SERIES AVERAGE RATING: 83%
OCTOBER – DECEMBER: THE STOCKBRIDGE TRILOGY
CASTLE OF FEAR, THE ETERNAL SUMMER & PLAGUE OF THE DALEKS
The final series of 2009 saw the Fifth Doctor get a second series and sees the Doctor return to Stockbridge which was a setting that was used many times in the comic strips in Doctor Who Magazine. The first story was set in the past, the second was in the present and the third was set in the future.
The first story was Castle of Fear which spent the first half of its life in comedy and then became deadly serious in the second half. The story saw the Rutan’s return to the series and set up and interesting link to the 1974 adventure The Time Warrior. Overall it was due to the comedic first half that put me off from enjoying this story. The second story was one that for most of the voting period was the favourite to win the Best Story gong. To be honest I found it very impressive. There was a lot of shifting about times and also things happening again and again. The final story of the year was the third story of 2009 to feature the Daleks and also the fourth in 15 months. This story was set in the future and was a slightly disappointing adventure and let down the Stockbridge Trilogy a little bit. Overall these stories were enjoyable and better than the Key 2 Time at the beginning of the year.
SERIES AVERAGE RATING: 76%
Overall the main range in 2009 has been a superb year. The three story series has been a fantastic success. In fact it’s the best year in terms of average ratings. It’s the best year since 2001 and was nearly 4.5% better than last year. The only stories that were weakest were the Key 2 Time series but on the whole its been a great year in the main range.
Now its time to look at the other ranges that have been released in 2009.
THE LOST STORIES
In November the Lost Stories were released with the Nightmare Fair and in December Mission to Magnus. These two stories were supposed to be the first two stories of the 23rd series back in 1986. Due to the high level of expectation the Nightmare Fair for me fell a bit below expectation and only got 81% whereas Mission to Magnus was a more enjoyable story and was paced at a better level which is why it got slightly better rating of 82%. The rest of the series is due to be released in the first half of 2010.
COMPANION CHRONICLES
SERIES 3
The last five stories of the third series saw Ian Chesterton, Polly, Mike Yates, Jago and Litefoot and also the First Romana tell stories of their adventures with their Doctors. It was the Jago and Litefoot one that was the best received and got 88% which was the second highest rating for this series only behind the brilliant Home Truths which got 90%. The final story was quite impressive, the first Romana tells a story where she is the only person in the story. Normally the actor playing the companion has someone else to act against whereas Mary Tamm was acting solo.
SERIES 4
The fourth series started the following month after Stealers from Saiph was released. The first story of this series saw the first sequel in the Companion Chronicles range. Home Truths was so well received that Sara Kingdom came back in The Drowned World. Also during the course of the first half of the series we had another adventure from Jamie McCrimmon (Frazer Hines), King Peladon (played by David Troughton) told a third Doctor story. Romana II (Lalla Ward) was returning after her only other appearance in the first series. This start to the series was the best that I recall. Hopefully the second half in 2010 carries on this strong start.
EIGHTH DOCTOR AND LUCIE
With their being no TV series to speak of. The clever chaps at Big Finish decided to get the eight episodes they normally do and split each of them into two so we get 16 x 25 minute episodes which were available to download every Saturday.
The stories were all very good with particular notice to be drawn to Hothouse which saw the Krynoids return after their only appearance in the Seeds of Doom (1976). Also Wirrn Dawn saw the Wirrn make their first appearance in audio. Another return was the dreaded (quite literally) Eight Legs. This two part story saw the Eight Truths take over earth only to be foiled by the Doctor.
This third series was certainly different however I think that it didn’t quite have the same impact that I felt the second series had. That said it was the Christmas Special that was the most eagerly awaited release. Death in Blackpool won the Best Spin-Off award. This story saw the departure of Lucie. Lucie was the audio version of Rose Tyler but was more manageable. Her departure was very emotional and was the best ending for the companion.
AN EARTHLY CHILD
The subscribers special saw the return of Susan Foreman to a proper adventure (previously she was in Here There Be Monsters in 2008). The Eighth Doctor was the one that met his granddaughter some 30 years after the events of The Dalek Invasion of Earth. It wasn’t about the plot but more about the emotional reunion between the Doctor and Susan. For anyone who doesn’t subscribe to the main range will have to wait until December 2010 before they can buy it and they will be in for a treat.
December saw the release of the second Cyberman series. I haven’t actually listened to this so this will probably be part of the 2010 review.
2009 has as mentioned been a fantastic year for all the different areas of Doctor Who. I have spent a small fortune buying the different series and I have to say that at no point during the course of the year have I regretted buying anything.
2010 has a lot to live up to!!!
THE MAIN RANGE
JANUARY – MARCH: THE KEY 2 TIME
THE JUDGEMENT OF ISSKAR, THE DESTROYER OF DELIGHTS & THE CHAOS POOL
The first series saw the return of the Key 2 Time. Back in the 1970’s Tom Baker spent 26 episodes looking for the segments only for him to destroy them. This time the Fifth Doctor had the task of looking for them. He didn’t have Peri (who seemed to be frozen in time) but was given a new companion in the form of Amy (played by ex-Hollyoaks star Ciara Janson). The first story was The Judgement of Isskar which was a bit of a mixed bag. The Ice Warriors returned for this one and at the end of it we were finally treated to one of the best cliffhangers that Big Finish have produced for quite a long time. The return of the Black Guardian. David Troughton won a Best Guest Star Award for his portrayal of the Black Guardian. In The Destroyer of Delights we were again treated to a weird story which seemed slightly more structured than the previous story. The final story of the series saw the return of Lalla Ward. Instead of playing Romana like we (ok I) thought she ended up playing Princess Astra like she did back in the Armageddon Factor. The thing about The Chaos Pool was that it was a slightly complicated story that did seem to drag at times. Overall the series wasn’t bad but neither was it anything to write home about.
SERIES AVERAGE RATING: 71%
APRIL – JUNE:
THE MAGIC MOUSETRAP, ENEMY OF THE DALEKS & THE ANGEL OF SCUTARI
The second series saw the Seventh Doctor reunited with Ace and Hex. The first adventure was voted Story of the Year by Toms Tardis Fans. This story saw the return of the Celestial Toymaker, his first appearance in over 40 years. This was a very good story with a great setting and the use of the Toymaker was original and enjoyable. The second story was what I would consider to be story of the year and that was Enemy of the Daleks. This story saw the Doctor and company arrive at a point of time where the Doctor knew that something bad happened there and he had to make sure that it happened. The Daleks were returning because the research being done on this base would have destroyed them. This meant that the Daleks were doing their invade and conquer bit but were just trying to survive. The final story of this series was never going to be as good as the previous two stories but was more of a character piece. Hex has never really had much of a push since he joined the TARDIS back in 2004 and this one allowed him to use abilities and to help. This story was set during the Crimean War and saw the appearance of Florence Nightengale. The side of Hex we saw was one that sneaking about behind the Doctor’s back. Whilst this was a good story it was the weakest in terms of adventure. Overall this series was the best so far and showed that this way of distributing the releases has some merit to it.
SERIES AVERAGE RATING: 81%
JULY: THE COMPANY OF FRIENDS
The only single release story of the main range in 2009 saw the Eighth Doctor return from the Lucie adventures. This story was effectively the 10th Anniversary story and saw four companions that the Eighth Doctor had in different forms. There was Fitz (Matt di Angelo), Izzy (Jemmima Rooper), Bernice (Lisa Bowerman) and Mary Shelley (Julie Cox). Apart from Bernice we never heard any of the other characters before in Big Finish and this story was a superb effort. Each episode was well structured and thoroughly enjoyable.
RATING: 84%
AUGUST – SEPTEMBER: THE CHARLEY TRILOGY
PATIENT ZERO, PAPER CUTS & BLUE FORGOTTEN PLANET
This was the most anticipated series of adventures of the year. We were finally going to see what was going to happen to Charlotte Pollard. The first story saw the second appearance of the Daleks this year. It also saw the return of the Viyrans who first appeared in Mission of the Viyrans back in 2007. This story saw Charley been trapped thanks to a character called Mila who was someone who has been infected with a disease and called Patient Zero. This story was very good from start to finish and the moment that Mila became Charley and there was the possibility that Charley might leave like this was horrific. Then there was Paper Cuts which saw the Draconians make their first appearance in Big Finish. The story wasn’t as good as Patient Zero but was better than I thought and considering it was by Marc Platt actually made a lot of sense. The final story of this trilogy was the story that I rated the highest. Blue Forgotten Planet was well and truly the final story featuring Charley and the explanation as to how the Eighth Doctor doesn’t remember anything that has happened between his sixth incarnation and Charley was explained in a very clever way. Overall this series was as good as it could have been considering it had so much expectation piled on to it. After eight years it was really sad to see the end of Charley.
SERIES AVERAGE RATING: 83%
OCTOBER – DECEMBER: THE STOCKBRIDGE TRILOGY
CASTLE OF FEAR, THE ETERNAL SUMMER & PLAGUE OF THE DALEKS
The final series of 2009 saw the Fifth Doctor get a second series and sees the Doctor return to Stockbridge which was a setting that was used many times in the comic strips in Doctor Who Magazine. The first story was set in the past, the second was in the present and the third was set in the future.
The first story was Castle of Fear which spent the first half of its life in comedy and then became deadly serious in the second half. The story saw the Rutan’s return to the series and set up and interesting link to the 1974 adventure The Time Warrior. Overall it was due to the comedic first half that put me off from enjoying this story. The second story was one that for most of the voting period was the favourite to win the Best Story gong. To be honest I found it very impressive. There was a lot of shifting about times and also things happening again and again. The final story of the year was the third story of 2009 to feature the Daleks and also the fourth in 15 months. This story was set in the future and was a slightly disappointing adventure and let down the Stockbridge Trilogy a little bit. Overall these stories were enjoyable and better than the Key 2 Time at the beginning of the year.
SERIES AVERAGE RATING: 76%
Overall the main range in 2009 has been a superb year. The three story series has been a fantastic success. In fact it’s the best year in terms of average ratings. It’s the best year since 2001 and was nearly 4.5% better than last year. The only stories that were weakest were the Key 2 Time series but on the whole its been a great year in the main range.
Now its time to look at the other ranges that have been released in 2009.
THE LOST STORIES
In November the Lost Stories were released with the Nightmare Fair and in December Mission to Magnus. These two stories were supposed to be the first two stories of the 23rd series back in 1986. Due to the high level of expectation the Nightmare Fair for me fell a bit below expectation and only got 81% whereas Mission to Magnus was a more enjoyable story and was paced at a better level which is why it got slightly better rating of 82%. The rest of the series is due to be released in the first half of 2010.
COMPANION CHRONICLES
SERIES 3
The last five stories of the third series saw Ian Chesterton, Polly, Mike Yates, Jago and Litefoot and also the First Romana tell stories of their adventures with their Doctors. It was the Jago and Litefoot one that was the best received and got 88% which was the second highest rating for this series only behind the brilliant Home Truths which got 90%. The final story was quite impressive, the first Romana tells a story where she is the only person in the story. Normally the actor playing the companion has someone else to act against whereas Mary Tamm was acting solo.
SERIES 4
The fourth series started the following month after Stealers from Saiph was released. The first story of this series saw the first sequel in the Companion Chronicles range. Home Truths was so well received that Sara Kingdom came back in The Drowned World. Also during the course of the first half of the series we had another adventure from Jamie McCrimmon (Frazer Hines), King Peladon (played by David Troughton) told a third Doctor story. Romana II (Lalla Ward) was returning after her only other appearance in the first series. This start to the series was the best that I recall. Hopefully the second half in 2010 carries on this strong start.
EIGHTH DOCTOR AND LUCIE
With their being no TV series to speak of. The clever chaps at Big Finish decided to get the eight episodes they normally do and split each of them into two so we get 16 x 25 minute episodes which were available to download every Saturday.
The stories were all very good with particular notice to be drawn to Hothouse which saw the Krynoids return after their only appearance in the Seeds of Doom (1976). Also Wirrn Dawn saw the Wirrn make their first appearance in audio. Another return was the dreaded (quite literally) Eight Legs. This two part story saw the Eight Truths take over earth only to be foiled by the Doctor.
This third series was certainly different however I think that it didn’t quite have the same impact that I felt the second series had. That said it was the Christmas Special that was the most eagerly awaited release. Death in Blackpool won the Best Spin-Off award. This story saw the departure of Lucie. Lucie was the audio version of Rose Tyler but was more manageable. Her departure was very emotional and was the best ending for the companion.
AN EARTHLY CHILD
The subscribers special saw the return of Susan Foreman to a proper adventure (previously she was in Here There Be Monsters in 2008). The Eighth Doctor was the one that met his granddaughter some 30 years after the events of The Dalek Invasion of Earth. It wasn’t about the plot but more about the emotional reunion between the Doctor and Susan. For anyone who doesn’t subscribe to the main range will have to wait until December 2010 before they can buy it and they will be in for a treat.
December saw the release of the second Cyberman series. I haven’t actually listened to this so this will probably be part of the 2010 review.
2009 has as mentioned been a fantastic year for all the different areas of Doctor Who. I have spent a small fortune buying the different series and I have to say that at no point during the course of the year have I regretted buying anything.
2010 has a lot to live up to!!!
Thursday, January 29, 2009
The Tomfiles: #7 - The Rebirth of the Sixth Doctor - Part 2
In the second part of this Tomfile, we look at the latter half of Colin Baker’s time in the Big Finish world. Exploring stories from Pier Pressure to the more recent Raincloud Man. But first there are the specials to look at.
There have been various special stories that have had no real relation to the main range. One such story is The Ultimate Adventure. This story as I mentioned in the last Tomfile was a stage play that Colin Baker starred in back in 1989. In 2008, Big Finish bought three stage plays back and asked Colin to reprise his Doctor for this musical-fest story. It had a different feel to it that most stories that Baker has been in and what surprised me was how good it would be. It was already shown in the 2003 story Doctor Who and the Pirates that musicals in Doctor Who can work but as there was some history behind this story that most people weren’t aware of then it might not have been successful. Colin was as you would expect and seemed to revel in this new feel Doctor Who story. Another special was The Maltese Penguin which was given away to Subscribers of Neverland. It is unique because it has the release number 33 ½ which hasn’t been done since. Released in November 2002 this story isn’t one that I would recommend to new Doctor Who fans. It took me a few attempts to get through it but once I kept at it then I grew to like it. I listened to this before The Holy Terror so I didn’t know who Frobisher was and at the time found him totally annoying and the thought of an American Penguin totally bored me. Listening to it recently I can appreciate what a good story it was and how good Colin’s Doctor was. The next special was Real Time which was first released on the BBC’s Website. This story had Cybermen and Evelyn in it and due to the fact that the episodes are quite short it tightens up the action and makes it a thoroughly enjoyable piece. The next special was Her Final Flight which wasn’t a particularly good story. I think because it didn’t quite know what it wanted to be. Set after the events of Peri leaving in The Trial of a Timelord this story just didn’t work for me and it left Colin Baker’s Doctor not coming out of it particularly well. Again like The Maltese Penguin this isn’t one for new fans to listen to straight away but unlike The Maltese Penguin Her Final Flight doesn’t improve with further listening. Colin Baker racks up the specials with Crptobiosis which saw the Doctor and Peri on a ship so its that classic stuck with no means of outside help. I quite liked it, I mean it wasn’t the best story it could have been but it was ok. I remember at the time it was released to Subscribers in December 2005 reviewers weren’t exactly kind to it which was unfair because the writer Elliot Thorpe did a good job and the Doctor and Peri really seemed to work well together. The Sixth Doctor made an appearance in a series of Excelis Specials. The Sixth Doctor appeared in Excelis Rising written by David A.McIntee. I cant remember much about this story but the whole Excelis stories were quite good and I though that Baker’s was the best because his Doctor seemed more at home with this particular time of story. The final special (at the moment) was Return of the Krotons which was released to subscribers in December 2008 with The Raincloud Man. You had to listen to Return of the Krotons first really but I always wondered why they bothered to bring back a monster that wasn’t that popular when it made its one and only appearance back 40 years ago. However the story offered something different to the story and along with Colin’s Doctor - that seemed quite strong and effectively used in this story – and Philip Madoc this story was the best of the special subscriber releases.
Back to the regular releases. In the last Tomfile we had arrived at the end of 2005. The beginning of 2006 saw Pier Pressure which was written by Robert Ross who had written Medicinal Purposes. This was another enjoyable story that whilst it wasn’t on par with Ross’s previous offering, it had enough different elements to keep make it a good story. The Doctor was written in a strong way and was controlling throughout. What was enjoyable about this story was the setting. I always think that a setting is vital to a stories success because it creates an atmosphere in the listeners mind. It was in the next story that I thought the Sixth Doctor really stood out amongst the other Doctors. The Nowhere Place was one story that whilst I was listening to I was enthralled and couldn’t wait for the next episode. This story was split into many different scenes like on a spaceship and then on a train which could only work on Doctor Who. Yet again Colin Baker really played the Doctor with a wonderful charm and also Maggie Stables put in her best performance at that point which might sound like a back handed compliment but she always puts in a solid performance and to get it to the standard that it was in this story shows what a great actress she is.
The next story that featured the Sixth Doctor would have been the Toms Tardis Story of the Year 2006 if the site had been around. The Reaping was the first of two stories written by Joseph Lidster which featured the Cybermen. In this story we see Peri go back to her roots and goes back to see her mother just a few months after she left them in Planet of Fire. The Cybermen element helped make this story. The Doctor that we see at the beginning of this story is one that shows the biggest gap between the Timelord and his companions when Peri wants to get back home and when they do arrive on Earth the Doctor doesn’t take long to go off on her own and leaves the Doctor to solve what’s going on. Like The Nowhere Place this was an entertaining piece but for the first time, the Doctor took a back seat and The Reaping gave some back story to Peri which wasn’t really known about her. Colin Baker opened the year and ended the year with Year of the Pig. On my first listen I wasn’t really a big fan because it just seemed to take too long to get going. However when I listened to it again I really enjoyed it, it was a different type of story to what we would associate with the Sixth Doctor but enjoyable none the less and two Peri stories in quick succession. The Doctor was used more in this story but it wasn’t one that would go into the Top 10 Doctor Who stories.
2007 saw a big change for Big Finish. Gary Russell stood down as Executive Producer of the Doctor Who range to go and work for BBC Wales. Nicholas Briggs took over and during 2007 the format of stories changed. Instead of twelve four part releases there would be a certain number of stories that would be three parts and then a single part. Colin Baker was the first Doctor to undergo this new format. I.D. & Urgent Calls. This was the first time since Davros in 2003 that the Doctor was without a companion. The I.D part of the release saw the Doctor get involved with scavengers and has to investigate the death of one of the researchers. It was nice to see the Doctor not have the restrictions of a companion. Don’t get me wrong because Companions help drive a story and add a human aspect to a story but from time to time its nice for the Doctor be on his own. The story itself was an ok attempt. The thing that I noticed was how tight the story seemed to be, in four parts you would have to have a certain amount of padding which sometimes works and sometimes doesn’t. Three parts just doesn’t allow for any waste. The single part story was what was classed as a Virus Strand and saw the Doctor have phone conversations with a woman. The story was again ok but it doesn’t really have much of a point and by the end of it I just thought that the single part stories were not going to go well. A few months later saw The Wishing Beast & The Vanity Box. What was so special about this was that it saw Jean Marsh return to Doctor Who. Marsh made three Doctor Who performances in The Crusade, The Daleks Masterplan (both 1965/66) and in Battlefield (1989). The Wishing Beast was the three part story and was not a particularly good story in my opinion, it just didn’t really stand out to me and that was disappointing because that meant that the Doctor wasn’t able to show what he can do. It was the single part story that was the strongest. It had an enjoyable pace and plot to it which saw the Doctor finally get some good scenes.
In September 2007, Big Finish celebrated it’s 100th release and to celebrate this fact they decided to have four single part stories all related to the number 100. When I listened to this story I wasn’t impressed. I had made up my mind that the single part stories just weren’t working for me. I didn’t think that you could tell a strong enough story in 25 minutes and out of the four parts in was the last one that was the best. It was called The 100 Days of the Doctor written by Paul Cornell which sees the Doctor trying to find a cure before he dies in 100 Days. It saw the Doctor meet various times in his Big Finish timeline.
2008 saw the biggest change to the Sixth Doctor in Big Finish. February saw the 6th Doctor encounter a companion from his future. The Condemned saw Colin Bakers Doctor have to try and work out with what is going on with someone who seems to be hiding something. This story arc is still on going as I write this in January 2009 and there is no end in sight but that was the B plot to this story the main story was set in a block of flats which was hiding a dark secret. Colin Baker was again on fine form in both plots. Baker’s relationship with India Fisher even in this first story holds great promise, in these mysterious times of the relationship it seems that the Doctor is going to have more to deal with than he has with Evelyn, Peri or even Mel. For me this was the story of the year due to the fact that it met my expectations (which can get a bit high), unfortunately when I opened the voting up for the Toms Tardis Awards the best story gong went to The Haunting of Thomas Brewster but Eddie Robson did pick up the Best Writer award which was for this story. What was nice was that Big Finish did conclude the mystery of Charley when the Condemned concluded. It could have been a cop-out in my opinion and was glad (if not slightly frustrated) that it continued. Another story that I had high hopes for was Assassin in the Limelight, this story was written again by Robert Ross and saw the return of Leslie Philips as Robert Knox. This story was set during the time of the Assassination of US President Abraham Lincoln. This saw the return of Evelyn and unfortunately it was a poor story. From the annoying American accents to the confusing plot I just found it a real disappointment considering how good and in the case of Medicinal Purposes was brilliant. It was back to business with The Doomwood Curse written by Jacqueline Rayner. This story was a fun tale of literature going bad with India Fisher putting in a sublime performance as Charley. The Doctor isn’t idle in this story but seems to take a slight backseat so that Charley can show use what she can do with this new lease of life for her character.
The next story was perhaps the most difficult story that I have ever listened to. I must have tried to listen to Brotherhood of the Daleks seven times and don’t understand it. So I am not going to try and describe it to you but basically the only thing that stood out for me again was the Doctor and Charley. This is the third story to feature this pair and despite the weird plot it enabled them to have enough memorable scenes where at one point we think that Charley is going to tell us the truth. However we don’t find out and her secret is safe… for now!. The final story to feature the Sixth Doctor was The Raincloud Man which saw the Doctor and Charley reunite with DI Menzies from The Condemned. This wasn’t as good as the first story but that was always going to be difficult so they tried something different and what I liked was the Doctor. His willingness to sacrifice his life for the sake of humanity was something that has not really been felt in too many Doctor Who stories as of late and it was nice to hear this. The game of Top Trumps was a nice funny moment that helped the story. The next Colin Baker story wont be until at least the summer of 2009.
As I have mentioned I think that Colin Baker’s Doctor has undergone the biggest resurrection out of the four. The stories are always that little bit better because Mr. Baker is doing them. If only he had had the same quality of scripts (and a different jacket) then he might have had a longer time as the Doctor, the show might have gone on longer and most importantly he would regularly be competing for that Top Doctor award that gets created every couple of months by varying websites. The storyline with the Doctor and Charley will probably be concluded this year if not in the early part of 2010. Big Finish have to time this right because failure to end it effectively will damage the company, damage the series but perhaps undo the fine work that has been done in showing us what a great Doctor he is.
There have been various special stories that have had no real relation to the main range. One such story is The Ultimate Adventure. This story as I mentioned in the last Tomfile was a stage play that Colin Baker starred in back in 1989. In 2008, Big Finish bought three stage plays back and asked Colin to reprise his Doctor for this musical-fest story. It had a different feel to it that most stories that Baker has been in and what surprised me was how good it would be. It was already shown in the 2003 story Doctor Who and the Pirates that musicals in Doctor Who can work but as there was some history behind this story that most people weren’t aware of then it might not have been successful. Colin was as you would expect and seemed to revel in this new feel Doctor Who story. Another special was The Maltese Penguin which was given away to Subscribers of Neverland. It is unique because it has the release number 33 ½ which hasn’t been done since. Released in November 2002 this story isn’t one that I would recommend to new Doctor Who fans. It took me a few attempts to get through it but once I kept at it then I grew to like it. I listened to this before The Holy Terror so I didn’t know who Frobisher was and at the time found him totally annoying and the thought of an American Penguin totally bored me. Listening to it recently I can appreciate what a good story it was and how good Colin’s Doctor was. The next special was Real Time which was first released on the BBC’s Website. This story had Cybermen and Evelyn in it and due to the fact that the episodes are quite short it tightens up the action and makes it a thoroughly enjoyable piece. The next special was Her Final Flight which wasn’t a particularly good story. I think because it didn’t quite know what it wanted to be. Set after the events of Peri leaving in The Trial of a Timelord this story just didn’t work for me and it left Colin Baker’s Doctor not coming out of it particularly well. Again like The Maltese Penguin this isn’t one for new fans to listen to straight away but unlike The Maltese Penguin Her Final Flight doesn’t improve with further listening. Colin Baker racks up the specials with Crptobiosis which saw the Doctor and Peri on a ship so its that classic stuck with no means of outside help. I quite liked it, I mean it wasn’t the best story it could have been but it was ok. I remember at the time it was released to Subscribers in December 2005 reviewers weren’t exactly kind to it which was unfair because the writer Elliot Thorpe did a good job and the Doctor and Peri really seemed to work well together. The Sixth Doctor made an appearance in a series of Excelis Specials. The Sixth Doctor appeared in Excelis Rising written by David A.McIntee. I cant remember much about this story but the whole Excelis stories were quite good and I though that Baker’s was the best because his Doctor seemed more at home with this particular time of story. The final special (at the moment) was Return of the Krotons which was released to subscribers in December 2008 with The Raincloud Man. You had to listen to Return of the Krotons first really but I always wondered why they bothered to bring back a monster that wasn’t that popular when it made its one and only appearance back 40 years ago. However the story offered something different to the story and along with Colin’s Doctor - that seemed quite strong and effectively used in this story – and Philip Madoc this story was the best of the special subscriber releases.
Back to the regular releases. In the last Tomfile we had arrived at the end of 2005. The beginning of 2006 saw Pier Pressure which was written by Robert Ross who had written Medicinal Purposes. This was another enjoyable story that whilst it wasn’t on par with Ross’s previous offering, it had enough different elements to keep make it a good story. The Doctor was written in a strong way and was controlling throughout. What was enjoyable about this story was the setting. I always think that a setting is vital to a stories success because it creates an atmosphere in the listeners mind. It was in the next story that I thought the Sixth Doctor really stood out amongst the other Doctors. The Nowhere Place was one story that whilst I was listening to I was enthralled and couldn’t wait for the next episode. This story was split into many different scenes like on a spaceship and then on a train which could only work on Doctor Who. Yet again Colin Baker really played the Doctor with a wonderful charm and also Maggie Stables put in her best performance at that point which might sound like a back handed compliment but she always puts in a solid performance and to get it to the standard that it was in this story shows what a great actress she is.
The next story that featured the Sixth Doctor would have been the Toms Tardis Story of the Year 2006 if the site had been around. The Reaping was the first of two stories written by Joseph Lidster which featured the Cybermen. In this story we see Peri go back to her roots and goes back to see her mother just a few months after she left them in Planet of Fire. The Cybermen element helped make this story. The Doctor that we see at the beginning of this story is one that shows the biggest gap between the Timelord and his companions when Peri wants to get back home and when they do arrive on Earth the Doctor doesn’t take long to go off on her own and leaves the Doctor to solve what’s going on. Like The Nowhere Place this was an entertaining piece but for the first time, the Doctor took a back seat and The Reaping gave some back story to Peri which wasn’t really known about her. Colin Baker opened the year and ended the year with Year of the Pig. On my first listen I wasn’t really a big fan because it just seemed to take too long to get going. However when I listened to it again I really enjoyed it, it was a different type of story to what we would associate with the Sixth Doctor but enjoyable none the less and two Peri stories in quick succession. The Doctor was used more in this story but it wasn’t one that would go into the Top 10 Doctor Who stories.
2007 saw a big change for Big Finish. Gary Russell stood down as Executive Producer of the Doctor Who range to go and work for BBC Wales. Nicholas Briggs took over and during 2007 the format of stories changed. Instead of twelve four part releases there would be a certain number of stories that would be three parts and then a single part. Colin Baker was the first Doctor to undergo this new format. I.D. & Urgent Calls. This was the first time since Davros in 2003 that the Doctor was without a companion. The I.D part of the release saw the Doctor get involved with scavengers and has to investigate the death of one of the researchers. It was nice to see the Doctor not have the restrictions of a companion. Don’t get me wrong because Companions help drive a story and add a human aspect to a story but from time to time its nice for the Doctor be on his own. The story itself was an ok attempt. The thing that I noticed was how tight the story seemed to be, in four parts you would have to have a certain amount of padding which sometimes works and sometimes doesn’t. Three parts just doesn’t allow for any waste. The single part story was what was classed as a Virus Strand and saw the Doctor have phone conversations with a woman. The story was again ok but it doesn’t really have much of a point and by the end of it I just thought that the single part stories were not going to go well. A few months later saw The Wishing Beast & The Vanity Box. What was so special about this was that it saw Jean Marsh return to Doctor Who. Marsh made three Doctor Who performances in The Crusade, The Daleks Masterplan (both 1965/66) and in Battlefield (1989). The Wishing Beast was the three part story and was not a particularly good story in my opinion, it just didn’t really stand out to me and that was disappointing because that meant that the Doctor wasn’t able to show what he can do. It was the single part story that was the strongest. It had an enjoyable pace and plot to it which saw the Doctor finally get some good scenes.
In September 2007, Big Finish celebrated it’s 100th release and to celebrate this fact they decided to have four single part stories all related to the number 100. When I listened to this story I wasn’t impressed. I had made up my mind that the single part stories just weren’t working for me. I didn’t think that you could tell a strong enough story in 25 minutes and out of the four parts in was the last one that was the best. It was called The 100 Days of the Doctor written by Paul Cornell which sees the Doctor trying to find a cure before he dies in 100 Days. It saw the Doctor meet various times in his Big Finish timeline.
2008 saw the biggest change to the Sixth Doctor in Big Finish. February saw the 6th Doctor encounter a companion from his future. The Condemned saw Colin Bakers Doctor have to try and work out with what is going on with someone who seems to be hiding something. This story arc is still on going as I write this in January 2009 and there is no end in sight but that was the B plot to this story the main story was set in a block of flats which was hiding a dark secret. Colin Baker was again on fine form in both plots. Baker’s relationship with India Fisher even in this first story holds great promise, in these mysterious times of the relationship it seems that the Doctor is going to have more to deal with than he has with Evelyn, Peri or even Mel. For me this was the story of the year due to the fact that it met my expectations (which can get a bit high), unfortunately when I opened the voting up for the Toms Tardis Awards the best story gong went to The Haunting of Thomas Brewster but Eddie Robson did pick up the Best Writer award which was for this story. What was nice was that Big Finish did conclude the mystery of Charley when the Condemned concluded. It could have been a cop-out in my opinion and was glad (if not slightly frustrated) that it continued. Another story that I had high hopes for was Assassin in the Limelight, this story was written again by Robert Ross and saw the return of Leslie Philips as Robert Knox. This story was set during the time of the Assassination of US President Abraham Lincoln. This saw the return of Evelyn and unfortunately it was a poor story. From the annoying American accents to the confusing plot I just found it a real disappointment considering how good and in the case of Medicinal Purposes was brilliant. It was back to business with The Doomwood Curse written by Jacqueline Rayner. This story was a fun tale of literature going bad with India Fisher putting in a sublime performance as Charley. The Doctor isn’t idle in this story but seems to take a slight backseat so that Charley can show use what she can do with this new lease of life for her character.
The next story was perhaps the most difficult story that I have ever listened to. I must have tried to listen to Brotherhood of the Daleks seven times and don’t understand it. So I am not going to try and describe it to you but basically the only thing that stood out for me again was the Doctor and Charley. This is the third story to feature this pair and despite the weird plot it enabled them to have enough memorable scenes where at one point we think that Charley is going to tell us the truth. However we don’t find out and her secret is safe… for now!. The final story to feature the Sixth Doctor was The Raincloud Man which saw the Doctor and Charley reunite with DI Menzies from The Condemned. This wasn’t as good as the first story but that was always going to be difficult so they tried something different and what I liked was the Doctor. His willingness to sacrifice his life for the sake of humanity was something that has not really been felt in too many Doctor Who stories as of late and it was nice to hear this. The game of Top Trumps was a nice funny moment that helped the story. The next Colin Baker story wont be until at least the summer of 2009.
As I have mentioned I think that Colin Baker’s Doctor has undergone the biggest resurrection out of the four. The stories are always that little bit better because Mr. Baker is doing them. If only he had had the same quality of scripts (and a different jacket) then he might have had a longer time as the Doctor, the show might have gone on longer and most importantly he would regularly be competing for that Top Doctor award that gets created every couple of months by varying websites. The storyline with the Doctor and Charley will probably be concluded this year if not in the early part of 2010. Big Finish have to time this right because failure to end it effectively will damage the company, damage the series but perhaps undo the fine work that has been done in showing us what a great Doctor he is.
Thursday, January 22, 2009
The Tomfiles: #6 - The Rebirth of the Sixth Doctor - Part 1
In the first of a two-part Tomfile, I take a look at Colin Baker’s time as the Doctor both on screen and on audio and see what has happened to the Sixth incarnation of Britain’s most loved alien.
Colin Baker made his first appearance in Doctor Who in the 1983 Peter Davison story Arc of Infinity. He then appeared as the Sixth actor to play the TV Doctor on March 16th 1984. Over the course of the next two years the show would suffer due to lack of support from BBC management. After the show was cancelled in 1989 many fans seemed unsympathetic towards Colin Baker’s Doctor. However since 1999 the Sixth incarnation has undergone some what of a re-evaluation and is now considered one of the best Doctors in the Big Finish range.
During his time as the Doctor on television it wasn’t so much Colin Baker himself that was the problem, it was just the wrong time for him. The BBC was being run by people who cared more about their reputation and what people thought of them than providing programming that the licence paying public would want to see. The budget for the show in 1984 was the same roughly as in 1963 and there seemed no desire to increase it to produce better production values and a more attractive programme. By the time Colin Baker had become the Doctor for his first full season in 1985, the show had returned to its traditional Saturday tea time slot. Except this time the show would be 45 minutes long and run for half the time it had done before. The main problem with the show at the time was the critics were out to get the show and would use anything to form an argument no matter how feeble it was. For example, it was accused that the Doctor pushes two guards into a tub of acid when if you actually watch it you will see that one guard falls into it and pulls the other one in. The only bad thing that could be said was the line that the Doctor uses and that it “You’ll wont mind if I don’t join you!”. Also strangling your companion is a pretty bad thing to do at 6pm on a Saturday night. I suppose it’s a sensible thing to say that making the Doctor different from previous incarnations was a pretty smart thing to do to try and breathe new life into a show which at that point had been running for 22 years. But I think they went to far with the outfit. The ‘outfit’ was out of date back then and is still out of date and it’s the one of the few things that you could get embarrassed about.
Colin Baker only had 31 TV Episodes to his name and 14 of them were in the mixed story ‘The Trial of a Timelord’. But despite that short run he did have some good stories. For example The Mark of the Rani is well worth a look. It sees the return of the Master following his firey ending at the end of Planet of Fire. It also sees the introduction of the Rani as played by Kate O’Mara. What is so good about this story is the location filming, it is some of the best in Doctor Who. Then there is the Two Doctors. Forget the pointless reason for filming the location footage in Spain or the point for bringing Patrick Troughton back at all. It was alright when the show was celebrating the 20th Anniversary but two years later it seemed rather a mute point. But to see a truly wonderful Colin Baker story then look no further than Revelation of the Daleks which saw Davros and had everything in the story and that is why it is one of the better Dalek stories of the 1980’s. Following the return of Doctor Who in 1986, Colin Baker was axed from the role in payment for the return of the show in 1987. To me his treatment was disgusting. I can understand why he decided not to do the regeneration sequence but what they did to make up for that was a joke. It would be over 20 years before the glimmer of the 6th Doctor would shine. Colin Baker made a few appearances as the Doctor like in 1989 when he starred in the Stage play The Ultimate Adventure and in 1993 to celebrate the 30th Anniversary of Doctor Who he return to appear in a bizarre Children in Need special.
On March 6th and 7th 1999, Colin Baker joined Peter Davison and Sylvester McCoy in recording the first official audio adventure for Doctor Who. The Sirens of Time wasn’t that bad but compared to today’s standards its quite poor. It wasn’t until the third story Whispers of Terror that Colin Baker got his own adventure for the first time in 23 years. In this story the Doctor is reunited with Nicola Bryant as Peri. This story like The Sirens of Time wasn’t anything special. Colin Baker’s third story was The Marian Conspiracy which is an important milestone because it was the first companion to created specially for audio. Dr. Evelyn Smythe had never been seen or mentioned in TV Doctor Who and so we were able to know her story from the beginning. For those of us who weren’t really watching Doctor Who when it was on originally this is the first companion that we have seen from the beginning. I really liked this story and it wasn’t really the plot that I liked. It was the relationship between the Doctor and Evelyn that made this so memorable. The opening seen really set it up for me, Smythe trying to do her job and the Doctor interrupting to try and satisfy his curiosity. As the story progresses it just gets better and better and shows what potential this partnership has. The next adventure was the Spectre of Lanyon Moor. this story was special because it had the Brigadier in it but the story was another good one. The story was a really good one for the Doctor and started to show what he could do.
The Apocalypse Element was another solid story and it saw the return of Lalla Ward as Romana. The next story it also featured the Daleks and in my opinion was better than the previous story the Daleks appeared in which was The Genocide Machine. Evelyn Smythe took a rest in the next story which was The Holy Terror and featured Frobisher who had only appeared in other Doctor Who media. I didn’t listen to this when it was released and it was one of the last ones that I did and I actually liked it. It was a gentle and nice story which wasn’t really meant to be taken seriously and it doesn’t take itself too seriously. I don’t think he should be a full-time companion because I think the American Penguin character might get a bit to annoying after a few adventures. He should come back for the odd adventure maybe every 18 months or so. The next story wouldn’t be until the summer of 2001 due to the first series of Paul McGann adventures. This was Bloodtide which was the best so far for Colin Baker. He was superb as well as Maggie Stables and also the return of the Silurians was another bonus point. Baker’s next story immediately followed Bloodtide and it was even better which I thought would be impossible. Project: Twilight was a vampire tale set on Earth, what this story showed was that with a nice strong story Colin Baker can show what sort of Doctor he can be and even considering the early ones Colin Baker has had more impressive stories than he ever did on TV. The final story of 2001 was a comedy and it was a much more obvious one than The Holy Terror. This story was called The One Doctor and it saw the Doctor reunited with Mel for the first time on audio. It was a really good story and was a fitting end to a quality year for the Sixth Doctor.
The start of 2002 was given over to Paul McGann’s second series of adventures, building on the success on the first season. As a result, Colin Baker only had two adventures that year and neither of them were particularly memorable. The first was …ish which was a wordy story in more ways than one. It featured Peri as the companion whereas I think Evelyn would have suited this story much better as her character is a teacher. The next story was The Sandman which saw the return of Anneke Wills to the series. Wills played Polly between 1966 and 1967 overseeing the change of William Hartnell to Patrick Troughton. The story was a really hard one to get through and I think that Baker suffered because of that. You have to give Big Finish credit for trying this sort of story but it just didn’t work. So as a result of these stories 2002 was a disappointment when you compare it to the previous year. I think if there had been more CB stories then it might have been a better year for him. The use of the wrong companions for the wrong stories also didn’t help the stories.
2003 was a very good year for the Sixth Doctor. The first story of the year was Jubilee which is what the 2005 Christopher Eccleston story Dalek is based on. This story saw the return of the Daleks following their so-so story The Time of the Daleks. This was another superb story which allowed Colin Baker to shine. Any opportunity that a Doctor has to battle the Daleks or a famous monster then they run with it and this one was no different. A short while later saw Doctor Who go all musical in Doctor Who and the Pirates. With any other Doctor then this story would have flopped badly but with Colin Baker in the main role it became a glorious and fun filled adventure. The addition of Bill Oddie also added to the enjoyment. The next story in the 6th Doctor range was Project: Lazarus which is a truly superb story that is better than Twilight which I thought was not possible. The story was perhaps one of the darkest and most gruesome stories that I have ever known in Doctor Who. This story also featured two Doctors which is obviously something that shouldn’t happen very often and when it does then something special or different should happen. In this case the 6th Doctor had been cloned and it was the Seventh Doctor that had to save the day. What I liked most about this story was Colin Baker’s performance. It was unlike any performance of this character that we had seen for quite sometime and at times it was quite off-putting because we are not use to seeing him that way. McCoy was also good in this story and his Doctor served the story well.
In the run up to celebrate Doctor Who’s 40th Anniversary and Big Finish’s 50th release. Three adventures were commissioned with the 5ht, 6th and 7th Doctors all facing foes from the Doctors past. For the sixth Doctor it was Davros in Davros. This story was the best of the trio and what absolutely fantastic because it gave Colin Baker and Terry Molloy (Davros) the chance to have so good dialogue together. Also Wendy Padbury is in it as Lorraine Baines who with Bernard Horsefeld playing her husband played the typical characters of thinking they could control Davros when in fact they couldn’t. Colin Baker made a guest appearance in Zagreus but the following month saw The Wormery. This is not only the worst 6th Doctor story but it is one of the worst Big Finish stories to date. Despite the fact that it had Katy Manning (Jo Grant) in it the story was confusing and didn’t interest me in the slightest. Not very often that I give a story 1/5 but this one was an easy decision. After three years of Doctor Who stories featuring the Four Doctors who were aliving and willing to do these stories it was the Sixth Doctor that had developed the best. He still sounded like the Doctor and Colin Baker put in the same passionate performance that he always did on TV and with the right scripts it was possible to see what Baker could have been like if he was given the chance.
As 2003 rolled into 2004 we were treated to what would be Evelyn Smythe’s last adventure in terms of chronology (because us Doctor Who fans love to put stories into order). Arrangements for War was a fitting story for Evelyn but the story helped expose how different the Doctor and Evelyn are as characters despite how well they have bonded. Following the events that occurred in Project: Lazarus it was obvious that this story would see Smythe change it some way. I wont say it was one of my Top 5 but it is an ok story that works well and Colin Baker yet again puts in another fine story. Medicinal Purposes was the next story and this is one of the stories that would go into my Top 5. I love when Doctor Who does historical and in this one it was in a period of history that I remember vividly from school. Burke and Hare were two Grave Robbers who stole dead bodies for people to do medical research on. What Big Finish did that was clever was insert the Doctor and Evelyn into it. This was a good story because it gave the Doctor a good opponent to try and work against. Not Burke or Hare but Dr Robert Knox who we thought at the time was another Timelord because he had a TARDIS but he in fact wasn’t from Gallifrey and he had won the TARDIS in a game of cards. Knox was played by Carry On legend Leslie Philips. Philips was absolutely superb and was a fitting opposition to Colin Baker. Another note of interest was David Tennant who played Daft Jamie. This story was good because it gave Colin a chance to do all sorts of emotions ranging from anger to sympathy. Hi s relationship with Daft Jamie was a poignant one and what made it even sadder was that the Doctor knew of Daft Jamie’s impending death because its in proper history.
The next story was The Juggernauts. This was with Bonnie Langford and saw Mel separated from the Doctor. This story was another strong script that enabled Colin Baker to not only develop a better relationship with Bonnie Langford’s Mel character but to also have some very good scenes and dialogue with Terry Molloy’s Davros. The story also sees the return of the Mechanoids. Their only appearance was in the 1965 William Hartnell adventure The Chase. The next story for the Sixth Doctor was Catch 1782. This was similar to the Juggernauts in that the Doctor and Mel become separated. Where Catch was different was in that the Doctor took more of a back seat in this one as Mel tried to regain her memory whilst the Doctor tries to find her. Its an interesting piece that works because the stories doesn’t feature aliens trying to slaughter another race of aliens or someone trying to invade but just a simple rescue mission that takes on an emotional twist. The next story that features the Sixth Doctor is Thicker Than Water and is a sequel to Arrangements for War. This features both Bonnie Langford and Evelyn Smythe. This isn’t a story that I remember well and it doesn’t really have anything to do with the acting it is just that the story doesn’t really reward the listener with anything in my honest opinion. 2005 was on the whole a very good year for the Sixth Doctor. For me the best story for Colin Baker was The Juggernauts though Catch 1782 comes a close second.. This year was another solid display from Colin Baker and he continues to be able to change peoples attitude towards his Doctor.
In the second part, we look at the Sixth Doctor adventures from 2006 to 2008 and also the special adventures Real Time, Her Final Flight and Cryptobiosis.
Colin Baker made his first appearance in Doctor Who in the 1983 Peter Davison story Arc of Infinity. He then appeared as the Sixth actor to play the TV Doctor on March 16th 1984. Over the course of the next two years the show would suffer due to lack of support from BBC management. After the show was cancelled in 1989 many fans seemed unsympathetic towards Colin Baker’s Doctor. However since 1999 the Sixth incarnation has undergone some what of a re-evaluation and is now considered one of the best Doctors in the Big Finish range.
During his time as the Doctor on television it wasn’t so much Colin Baker himself that was the problem, it was just the wrong time for him. The BBC was being run by people who cared more about their reputation and what people thought of them than providing programming that the licence paying public would want to see. The budget for the show in 1984 was the same roughly as in 1963 and there seemed no desire to increase it to produce better production values and a more attractive programme. By the time Colin Baker had become the Doctor for his first full season in 1985, the show had returned to its traditional Saturday tea time slot. Except this time the show would be 45 minutes long and run for half the time it had done before. The main problem with the show at the time was the critics were out to get the show and would use anything to form an argument no matter how feeble it was. For example, it was accused that the Doctor pushes two guards into a tub of acid when if you actually watch it you will see that one guard falls into it and pulls the other one in. The only bad thing that could be said was the line that the Doctor uses and that it “You’ll wont mind if I don’t join you!”. Also strangling your companion is a pretty bad thing to do at 6pm on a Saturday night. I suppose it’s a sensible thing to say that making the Doctor different from previous incarnations was a pretty smart thing to do to try and breathe new life into a show which at that point had been running for 22 years. But I think they went to far with the outfit. The ‘outfit’ was out of date back then and is still out of date and it’s the one of the few things that you could get embarrassed about.
Colin Baker only had 31 TV Episodes to his name and 14 of them were in the mixed story ‘The Trial of a Timelord’. But despite that short run he did have some good stories. For example The Mark of the Rani is well worth a look. It sees the return of the Master following his firey ending at the end of Planet of Fire. It also sees the introduction of the Rani as played by Kate O’Mara. What is so good about this story is the location filming, it is some of the best in Doctor Who. Then there is the Two Doctors. Forget the pointless reason for filming the location footage in Spain or the point for bringing Patrick Troughton back at all. It was alright when the show was celebrating the 20th Anniversary but two years later it seemed rather a mute point. But to see a truly wonderful Colin Baker story then look no further than Revelation of the Daleks which saw Davros and had everything in the story and that is why it is one of the better Dalek stories of the 1980’s. Following the return of Doctor Who in 1986, Colin Baker was axed from the role in payment for the return of the show in 1987. To me his treatment was disgusting. I can understand why he decided not to do the regeneration sequence but what they did to make up for that was a joke. It would be over 20 years before the glimmer of the 6th Doctor would shine. Colin Baker made a few appearances as the Doctor like in 1989 when he starred in the Stage play The Ultimate Adventure and in 1993 to celebrate the 30th Anniversary of Doctor Who he return to appear in a bizarre Children in Need special.
On March 6th and 7th 1999, Colin Baker joined Peter Davison and Sylvester McCoy in recording the first official audio adventure for Doctor Who. The Sirens of Time wasn’t that bad but compared to today’s standards its quite poor. It wasn’t until the third story Whispers of Terror that Colin Baker got his own adventure for the first time in 23 years. In this story the Doctor is reunited with Nicola Bryant as Peri. This story like The Sirens of Time wasn’t anything special. Colin Baker’s third story was The Marian Conspiracy which is an important milestone because it was the first companion to created specially for audio. Dr. Evelyn Smythe had never been seen or mentioned in TV Doctor Who and so we were able to know her story from the beginning. For those of us who weren’t really watching Doctor Who when it was on originally this is the first companion that we have seen from the beginning. I really liked this story and it wasn’t really the plot that I liked. It was the relationship between the Doctor and Evelyn that made this so memorable. The opening seen really set it up for me, Smythe trying to do her job and the Doctor interrupting to try and satisfy his curiosity. As the story progresses it just gets better and better and shows what potential this partnership has. The next adventure was the Spectre of Lanyon Moor. this story was special because it had the Brigadier in it but the story was another good one. The story was a really good one for the Doctor and started to show what he could do.
The Apocalypse Element was another solid story and it saw the return of Lalla Ward as Romana. The next story it also featured the Daleks and in my opinion was better than the previous story the Daleks appeared in which was The Genocide Machine. Evelyn Smythe took a rest in the next story which was The Holy Terror and featured Frobisher who had only appeared in other Doctor Who media. I didn’t listen to this when it was released and it was one of the last ones that I did and I actually liked it. It was a gentle and nice story which wasn’t really meant to be taken seriously and it doesn’t take itself too seriously. I don’t think he should be a full-time companion because I think the American Penguin character might get a bit to annoying after a few adventures. He should come back for the odd adventure maybe every 18 months or so. The next story wouldn’t be until the summer of 2001 due to the first series of Paul McGann adventures. This was Bloodtide which was the best so far for Colin Baker. He was superb as well as Maggie Stables and also the return of the Silurians was another bonus point. Baker’s next story immediately followed Bloodtide and it was even better which I thought would be impossible. Project: Twilight was a vampire tale set on Earth, what this story showed was that with a nice strong story Colin Baker can show what sort of Doctor he can be and even considering the early ones Colin Baker has had more impressive stories than he ever did on TV. The final story of 2001 was a comedy and it was a much more obvious one than The Holy Terror. This story was called The One Doctor and it saw the Doctor reunited with Mel for the first time on audio. It was a really good story and was a fitting end to a quality year for the Sixth Doctor.
The start of 2002 was given over to Paul McGann’s second series of adventures, building on the success on the first season. As a result, Colin Baker only had two adventures that year and neither of them were particularly memorable. The first was …ish which was a wordy story in more ways than one. It featured Peri as the companion whereas I think Evelyn would have suited this story much better as her character is a teacher. The next story was The Sandman which saw the return of Anneke Wills to the series. Wills played Polly between 1966 and 1967 overseeing the change of William Hartnell to Patrick Troughton. The story was a really hard one to get through and I think that Baker suffered because of that. You have to give Big Finish credit for trying this sort of story but it just didn’t work. So as a result of these stories 2002 was a disappointment when you compare it to the previous year. I think if there had been more CB stories then it might have been a better year for him. The use of the wrong companions for the wrong stories also didn’t help the stories.
2003 was a very good year for the Sixth Doctor. The first story of the year was Jubilee which is what the 2005 Christopher Eccleston story Dalek is based on. This story saw the return of the Daleks following their so-so story The Time of the Daleks. This was another superb story which allowed Colin Baker to shine. Any opportunity that a Doctor has to battle the Daleks or a famous monster then they run with it and this one was no different. A short while later saw Doctor Who go all musical in Doctor Who and the Pirates. With any other Doctor then this story would have flopped badly but with Colin Baker in the main role it became a glorious and fun filled adventure. The addition of Bill Oddie also added to the enjoyment. The next story in the 6th Doctor range was Project: Lazarus which is a truly superb story that is better than Twilight which I thought was not possible. The story was perhaps one of the darkest and most gruesome stories that I have ever known in Doctor Who. This story also featured two Doctors which is obviously something that shouldn’t happen very often and when it does then something special or different should happen. In this case the 6th Doctor had been cloned and it was the Seventh Doctor that had to save the day. What I liked most about this story was Colin Baker’s performance. It was unlike any performance of this character that we had seen for quite sometime and at times it was quite off-putting because we are not use to seeing him that way. McCoy was also good in this story and his Doctor served the story well.
In the run up to celebrate Doctor Who’s 40th Anniversary and Big Finish’s 50th release. Three adventures were commissioned with the 5ht, 6th and 7th Doctors all facing foes from the Doctors past. For the sixth Doctor it was Davros in Davros. This story was the best of the trio and what absolutely fantastic because it gave Colin Baker and Terry Molloy (Davros) the chance to have so good dialogue together. Also Wendy Padbury is in it as Lorraine Baines who with Bernard Horsefeld playing her husband played the typical characters of thinking they could control Davros when in fact they couldn’t. Colin Baker made a guest appearance in Zagreus but the following month saw The Wormery. This is not only the worst 6th Doctor story but it is one of the worst Big Finish stories to date. Despite the fact that it had Katy Manning (Jo Grant) in it the story was confusing and didn’t interest me in the slightest. Not very often that I give a story 1/5 but this one was an easy decision. After three years of Doctor Who stories featuring the Four Doctors who were aliving and willing to do these stories it was the Sixth Doctor that had developed the best. He still sounded like the Doctor and Colin Baker put in the same passionate performance that he always did on TV and with the right scripts it was possible to see what Baker could have been like if he was given the chance.
As 2003 rolled into 2004 we were treated to what would be Evelyn Smythe’s last adventure in terms of chronology (because us Doctor Who fans love to put stories into order). Arrangements for War was a fitting story for Evelyn but the story helped expose how different the Doctor and Evelyn are as characters despite how well they have bonded. Following the events that occurred in Project: Lazarus it was obvious that this story would see Smythe change it some way. I wont say it was one of my Top 5 but it is an ok story that works well and Colin Baker yet again puts in another fine story. Medicinal Purposes was the next story and this is one of the stories that would go into my Top 5. I love when Doctor Who does historical and in this one it was in a period of history that I remember vividly from school. Burke and Hare were two Grave Robbers who stole dead bodies for people to do medical research on. What Big Finish did that was clever was insert the Doctor and Evelyn into it. This was a good story because it gave the Doctor a good opponent to try and work against. Not Burke or Hare but Dr Robert Knox who we thought at the time was another Timelord because he had a TARDIS but he in fact wasn’t from Gallifrey and he had won the TARDIS in a game of cards. Knox was played by Carry On legend Leslie Philips. Philips was absolutely superb and was a fitting opposition to Colin Baker. Another note of interest was David Tennant who played Daft Jamie. This story was good because it gave Colin a chance to do all sorts of emotions ranging from anger to sympathy. Hi s relationship with Daft Jamie was a poignant one and what made it even sadder was that the Doctor knew of Daft Jamie’s impending death because its in proper history.
The next story was The Juggernauts. This was with Bonnie Langford and saw Mel separated from the Doctor. This story was another strong script that enabled Colin Baker to not only develop a better relationship with Bonnie Langford’s Mel character but to also have some very good scenes and dialogue with Terry Molloy’s Davros. The story also sees the return of the Mechanoids. Their only appearance was in the 1965 William Hartnell adventure The Chase. The next story for the Sixth Doctor was Catch 1782. This was similar to the Juggernauts in that the Doctor and Mel become separated. Where Catch was different was in that the Doctor took more of a back seat in this one as Mel tried to regain her memory whilst the Doctor tries to find her. Its an interesting piece that works because the stories doesn’t feature aliens trying to slaughter another race of aliens or someone trying to invade but just a simple rescue mission that takes on an emotional twist. The next story that features the Sixth Doctor is Thicker Than Water and is a sequel to Arrangements for War. This features both Bonnie Langford and Evelyn Smythe. This isn’t a story that I remember well and it doesn’t really have anything to do with the acting it is just that the story doesn’t really reward the listener with anything in my honest opinion. 2005 was on the whole a very good year for the Sixth Doctor. For me the best story for Colin Baker was The Juggernauts though Catch 1782 comes a close second.. This year was another solid display from Colin Baker and he continues to be able to change peoples attitude towards his Doctor.
In the second part, we look at the Sixth Doctor adventures from 2006 to 2008 and also the special adventures Real Time, Her Final Flight and Cryptobiosis.
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