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WHO HOME | BIG FINISH AUDIOS
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After the disappointing SIRENS OF TIME, Big Finish's audio series continues with their first release featuring just one Doctor instead of the three we had last time around. Set between RESURRECTION OF THE DALEKS and PLANET OF FIRE, PHANTASMAGORIA features a welcome return to the role for Peter Davison, with Mark Strickson returning as Turlough. Things start off at the Diabola club, where we're introduced to the main characters, including Edmund Carteret, Jasper Jeake (played by author Mark Gatiss), Quincy Flowers and the sinister Sir Nikolas Valentine, excellently performed by David Ryall. The Doctor and Turlough are then re-introduced in a TARDIS scene where the Doctor explains the rules of cricket to Turlough. We soon discover that the TARDIS has materialised in the London of 1702, with some interesting mysteries introduced over the course of the first episode? Who is the mysterious Valentine? And what about the highwayman Major Billy Lovemore? Unfortunately, it doesn't live up to this opening. Well produced and well acted - Davison in particular slips back into the role effortlessly, the main problem with PHANTASMAGORIA is the story. What is set up early on ends up disappointing, with the revelation that an alien criminal stranded on Earth is behind things. Sound a bit like CITY OF DEATH to you? Yep, it did to me too, and there's worse to come, with things going rapidly downhill in a disappointing final episode. PHANTASMAGORIA is better than its predecessor (although that's not saying much), and Big Finish should be applauded for producing new WHO, but I'd like to stories that are up to the high standards of the acting and overall production. BACK TO THE TOP |
PHANTASMAGORIA |
