*after listening*
Ooooooh, this is a good one!
DOCTOR WHO MAIN RANGE REVIEW
216: MAKER OF DEMONS
By Jack Ryan
BEWARE: THIS POST CONTAINS SPOILERS. READ AT YOUR OWN RISK
September saw the conclusion to this year's Seventh Doctor Trilogy, which in turn has graced us with two very good, decent tales, plus the reuniting of Sylvester McCoy, Sophie Aldred and Bonnie Langford, marking her first time working with Sylvester in Big Finish in ten years! And not only that but Big Finish has been inordinately generous not only to Bonnie but to her character, Mel, who was stripped away of her stereotypical screaming and given some intelligence and character development over the 16 years that Miss Langford has been with them. And this tale here is no different...
The Planet Prosper. Formerly a war zone between its inhabitants, the Mogera, and a group of human colonists of the SS The Duke Of Milan. But that was fixed when the Doctor and Mel turned up and helped to broker a peace between the two species. So everything is nice and fine and hunky-dory when The Doctor and Mel leave.
Fast forward a century and The Doctor and Mel, along with Ace, revisit the planet, hoping for great advancements having been made. But they soon discover that the planet has been hurled back into all out war, with the Mogera being turned into blind, feral monsters by their new leader, The Caliban. Is there something foul at work here, or could all this be the fault of The Doctor?
Is this the same Matthew J Elliot of RiffTrax, or is Google playing silly beggers with me again with similar names? Regardless, I commend Elliot for giving us a story that has only been slightly touched upon in the series proper: the return story. Not to be confused with a sequel story, though the two can sometimes overlap, a return story sees the Doctor return to somewhere he's already been to try and solve a new problem. The best example is probably 1974's The Monster Of Peladon (go watch, tis good), and you can see some similarities with this, but Elliot sees that all the major conflicts and motivations are kept within the waring factions, rather than being due to an outside influence. With the talents of director Ken Bently by under Elliot's belt, it makes you feel for a moment that everything that has happened in the tale could possibly be the Doctor's fault, that this conflict is happening due to his actions, even with the little penny drop scene at the beginning, as it all builds to a big reveal that will leave you shocked.
And helping to leave you shocked are the stellar cast joining the talents of McCoy, Aldred and Langford. Gracing our eardrum are the likes of former Corrie actor Andrew Hall as Alphonso, leader of the human colonists, regular BF actress Lucy Briggs-Owen, video game actress Rachel Atkins, emerging talent Ewan Goddard and .... HOW IS AARON NEIL IN EVERYTHING I'M LISTENING TO NOWADAYS?!? Not that I'm complaining, he's a brilliant actor, especially in Class, but how is it he turns up in just about every other release I'm listening to or reviewing? Ah well, more brilliance for me to listen to. And joining that brilliance is the music and sound work of the great Nigel Fairs who not only makes every grunt and crash sound to the tee, but he music he's produced for this is some of the most atmospheric in a long time. Epic, thrilling and with a hint of Vocalising from Suzanne Procter and the mad didgeridoo talents of Joe Cheal, it's a pure masterpiece of composing.
Maker Of Demons is a very interesting story, showing the ramifications of choice and interference, as well as tackling a subject the human race could very well experience if we are not careful. Along with a talented writer, a masterful director, a magnificent cast and an exceptional composer, this is a perfect end of a good trilogy of stories, with an era that only existed for a single story back in the eighties, but now, we hope there'll be much more to come!
VERDICT 5/5: A fitting end to this year's trilogy of the master manipulator. ;D
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