Planet 14 - Doctor Who

After bringing the Daleks to their audio range last month, this time around Big Finish have resurrected another old WHO monster, with the return of the Ice Warriors, facing off against the Fifth Doctor and Peri.

The plot concerns a privately funded NASA landing on Mars. There's a small crew, the most interesting of which are Paul Webster, who has his own agenda, and his adopted sister Tanya.

I must admit to being more than a little worried about the inclusion of Tanya, played by Peter Davison's real-life daughter Georgia Moffatt. It did smack of including a female teenage character for purely nepotistic reasons, but fortunately that's not the case at all. Not only is the character well drawn, but she's also well played, thus making the revelation about her all the more effective.

The TARDIS has also brought the Doctor and Peri to Mars, and they soon make contact with the NASA crew - although the Doctor displays an uncharacteristic level of stupidity with his sudden realisation where they are.

The Ice Warriors are introduced in part two. There's not quite so much rasping going on as in the TV series, but they are on Mars, I suppose. Unfortunately, as with an awful lot of WHO alien races, they are a pretty faceless bunch skulking around behind their leader.

The performances continue to be one of the best things about the Big Finish audios, and Peter Davison continues to shine as the Doctor - and overall, his is probably the best Doctor in these releases so far.

Plot-wise, this isn't the most thrilling Big Finish release so far. It starts off like THE TOMB OF THE CYBERMEN but with the Ice Warriors and there's also a tricky landing to survive à la THE SEEDS OF DEATH.

RED DAWN is far from the best of the Big Finish releases to date, but it's also far from being the worst as well. It's enjoyable enough, helped by some of the performances and the overall production, but the plot does let it down a little. BACK TO THE TOP

RED DAWN

Written by JUSTIN RICHARDS

Directed by GARY RUSSELL

Starring PETER DAVISON
and NICOLA BRYANT

BIG FINISH PRODUCTIONS

£13.99 CD
£9.99 cassette

RATING: 6/10

NEXT RELEASE:
THE SPECTRE OF LANYON MOOR

PREVIOUS RELEASE:
THE GENOCIDE MACHINE