|
|
| PLANET
SF HOME | DOCTOR
WHO HOME | BIG FINISH AUDIOS
| 8TH DOCTOR NOVELS | EPISODES
| MISC REVIEWS |
||
|
|
After the disappointing APOCALYPSE ELEMENT, Big Finish's twelfth DOCTOR WHO audio didn't look too promising, with an uninspiring cover heralding the return of one of the weakest TARDIS teams in the show's history - Sylvester McCoy's buffonish season 24 Doctor and Bonnie Langford's annoying Melanie Bush. Mel's never going to win any companion popularity contests but just as they've previously drawn on a character's best aspects - notably the Sixth Doctor's - and sidelined the worst (which were almost always the ones the TV series chose to highlight), Big Finish have made sure that she comes across a lot better than she ever did on television. The story's setting and its place within WHO continuity have a lot to do with this. DELTA AND THE BANNERMEN was the first McCoy story that wasn't a complete embarrassment, and THE FIRES OF VULCAN is sensibly set after that story and before Mel's final televised adventure, DRAGONFIRE. This means that the annoying, aerobics obsessed side of Mel has been downplayed in favour of a more intelligent, inquisitive one that works quite well. The Doctor is also more subdued and thoughtful than during season 24, although this is in keeping with his foreknowledge that the TARDIS won't leave the story's setting of Pompeii as his fifth incarnation was called in by UNIT when it was discovered in the ruined city. While one of the faults of THE APOCALYPSE ELEMENT was that it was on too broad a scale, here we're dealing with a much smaller one, and the story is much better for it. The story itself has elements that will be familiar to anyone who's watched or read an historical WHO, but it's all done quite well. The character of the prostitute Aglae, for example, is light-years away from the nudge-nudge wink-wink approach that John Peel took in TIMEWYRM: GENESYS. Aglae is well played by former EASTENDERS star Gemma Bissix, and indeed most of the cast work well with their roles. The one exception is probably Steven Wickham's Murranus, who just doesn't seem quite right. Sylvester McCoy also has the tendency to spell things out one...word...at...a...time and to possibly overdo his Scottish accent, but that's only a minor quibble, in an otherwise enjoyable story. BACK TO THE TOP |
THE
FIRES OF VULCAN |
