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SF HOME | DOCTOR
WHO HOME | BIG FINISH AUDIOS
| 8TH DOCTOR NOVELS | EPISODES
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Packaged like an Ibiza compilation CD, THE RAPTURE sees Big Finish's second new author in a row. And sadly, like last month's ...ISH, the result is disappointing. including THE SHADOW OF THE SCOURGE, this is the sixth time the Seventh Doctor and Ace have appeared in a BF audio. Only the Eighth Doctor and Charley have appeared more often. In many ways, the faults with THE RAPTURE are the same as with their previous outing, COLDITZ: the two regulars, both the characters and the actors playing them. The fact that the Eighth Doctor and Charley have appeared in more stories than the Seventh and Ace hasn't been a problem due to the quality of the stories, and the performances from Paul McGann and India Fisher (additionally, Charley is a great character). On the other hand, the Seventh Doctor and Ace haven't really had any classic stories, and the performances from McCoy and Aldred have occasionally been somewhat lacking, which is pretty much the case here. We open with a pre-credit intro from Tony Blackburn, whose DJ character effectively acts as a narrator to the whole . Blackburn introduces a track "that we haven't heard in round about a month", which turns out a dance remix of the theme music (which is actually quite good). One of the reasons given for using Blackburn (who plays himself) was that an actor playing a DJ would sound forced, but he seemed out of place to me - someone more suited to the WHO equivalent of Radio Quiet than Ibiza club-culture, although that's more a criticism of the casting than anything else. As mentioned earlier, this is the sixth Big Finish outing for the Seventh Doctor and Ace. They might not have had that long a run on TV, but in other media they have - in fact, too long in my opinion. Big Finish might not feel constrained by continuity established in the BBC and Virgin novels, but developments like Ace calling herself "McShane" at the end of COLDITZ and the discovery of a hitherto-unmentioned brother here seem rather forced (as indeed, does the character's decision to visit The Rapture in the first place). I can't help feeling that the popularity of the McCoy/Aldred partnership in Big Finish itself is the only thing preventing the introduction of a new companion for the Seventh Doctor (with Mel being used for the odd story set during season 24). After all, the rest of Big Finish's Doctors have been given new companions, yet the Seventh has only been paired with those we saw on TV (apart from Benny, who doesn't really count as "new"). Sylvester McCoy will never be my favourite Doctor, but I still don't know why writers insist on giving him scenes that involve shouting or too much explanation. The former has also produced plenty of cringing from me, while the latter invariably involves plenty of three and four-syllable words where his tendency to overdo the Scottish accent and spell things out very s-l-o-w-l-y ("trib-u-lat-ion"). A problem that's rather more unique to THE RAPTURE is the tendency for quick cutting between scenes, with the final line from one leading straight into the opening line of the next. Although this works well on occasions, it is also slightly disorientating to listen to. On the plus side, the character of Caitriona (Anne Bird) is good, with her depressive nature well drawn, as is Neil Henry's Gabriel and Carlos Riera's Gustavo (well, until the end of part three anyway). Also worth mentioning amongst the more positive aspects of the story are the music and sound design, both of which work well. So a second disappointing Big Finish release in a row. Fingers crossed that not only do they turn things around quickly, but also that they seriously look at the idea of a new companion for the Seventh Doctor. BACK TO THE TOP |
THE RAPTURE |
