Planet 14 - Doctor Who

The omens were good. Although not quite as good as Peter Davison, Colin Baker has proved to be a great audio Doctor, new companion Evelyn Smythe has proved to be highly likeable in his first two stories, Stephen Cole's previous Big Finish script, THE LAND OF THE DEAD , was thoroughly enjoyable and then there's the return of both the Daleks and Romana.

Perhaps it could never live up to those expectations, but nevertheless it's still a bit of a disappointment and it's the the story - which concerns a time travel summit, a missing planet that's about to make a reappearance, the missing Romana and more Daleks than we would ever get on screen - which is at the heart of the problems.

There's simply too much going on, and almost everything that is going is accompanied by the sort of explosions that will have you turning down the volume on the hi-fi before the neighbours start to complain. Many of Big Finish's better CDs have been the ones played out on a smaller setting, whereas THE APOCALYPSE ELEMENT has the whole universe at stake, which proves rather less interesting.

But it's not just the story, as the regulars aren't as good as in previous stories either. THE SIRENS OF TIME aside, the Sixth Doctor has generally come across well on his previous audio adventures, but this is probably his least successful outing so far, not helped by there being no real chemistry between him and Romana.

After strong performances in her first two stories, Evelyn Smythe was shaping up to be a strong companion, but the script here doesn't really do Maggie Stables any favours, and the character's constant cheeriness proves a bit of a drag. This is a shame as some of her lines are good - it's just that the whole thing is rather overdone this time around.

It's nice to hear Lalla Ward again, but ultimately THE APOCALYPSE ELEMENT is a pretty run-of-the-mill entry in the Big Finish canon. BACK TO THE TOP

DALEK EMPIRE - PART TWO
THE APOCALYPSE ELEMENT

Written by STEPHEN COLE

Directed by GARY RUSSELL

Starring COLIN BAKER,
LALLA WARD
and MAGGIE STABLES

BIG FINISH PRODUCTIONS

£13.99 CD
£9.99 cassette

RATING: 5/10

NEXT RELEASE:
THE FIRES OF VULCAN

PREVIOUS RELEASE:
WINTER FOR THE ADEPT