After episode two: I love it when Big Finish do River Song right...
After episode three:
After the final episode: I know I still have a review of the last War Doctor set but.... I NEED TO TALK ABOUT THIS NOW!!!Whoever at @bigfinish decided to hire @RufusHound as the Meddling Monk deserves a raise or a promotion.— John Ryan (@ClassicDWFan) March 7, 2017
DOCTOR WHO EIGHTH DOCTOR ADVENTURES REVIEW
6.04: DOOM COALITION: VOLUME 4
By Jack Ryan
BEWARE: THIS POST CONTAINS SPOILERS. READ AT YOUR OWN RISK
I FREAKING MEAN IT THIS TIME!!! DO! NOT! SPOIL! THIS! FOR YOURSELF!
I FREAKING MEAN IT THIS TIME!!! DO! NOT! SPOIL! THIS! FOR YOURSELF!
How is it that 2015 seems so long ago and yet somehow only yesterday? I remember it so clearly, the final stand of Molly O'Sullivan and the arrival of Helen Sinclair, and the start of something I knew was heading for something big! I've said time and time again that making lighting strike twice would always be a challenge for those writing for the Eighth Doctor.... WELL, MESSRS DORNEY, FITTON AND CO HAVE GONE AND BLOODY WELL DONE IT! THIS IS BLOODY AMAZING!!!! Okay, inside voice, Jack, inside voice...
It is time. The countdown to Doomsday has begun. The Doom Coalition of Cardinal Padrac has succeeded in ridding themselves of their greatest threat: The Doctor and his companions. Lost to the Vortex, the TARDIS team have little time to save themselves. And if they do, then there are other problems, from a deserting ally, to a dangerous collaboration between faces from the future and foes from the past, and at the end of it all, in the halls of Gallifrey, the Coalition is ready. Ready to wipe out the universe, for the glory and safety of the Time Lords... But are they?
I'm desperately trying to review this without bursting into fits of joyful squeeing. IT'S SO FREAKING HARD!!!! Okay, I've been praising John Dorney's and Matt Fitton's efforts to death on this site. And it's not hard to see why; they're bloody brilliant! But this thing.... THIS THING IS QUITE DEFINITELY THEIR GREATEST WORK EVER! FULL STOP!! I can't remember anything else that I anticipated so much and it delivering on just about every conceivable point, save for anything by Scott Handcock. Dorney's opener, Ship In A Bottle, gives us the payoff from DC3's mega cliffhanger, showing how The Doctor, Liv and Helen escape from their untimely predicament. Following is Fitton's Songs Of Love, showing the return of River Song and her defection to Padrac's Coalition. But is she playing him, or has she really returned to her psychopathic ways? Then, it's Fitton's final script for the series, The Side Of The Angels, where a cavalcade of Time Lords are meeting in 1970's New York, with a deadly alliance to some very old enemies, and a small glimpse into the Doctor's future. Finally it all comes together in Dorney's masterful finale, Stop The Clock, where time is running out, alliances are broken and friends will be lost as Padrac unleashes his plan on creation. And an old question will finally be answered...
I can't pick a favourite. Not this time. They're all brilliant, all amazing, and so much so that I'm running out of words to describe my love for this set. So let's talk about the cast. Mainly a set of returning voices, from our regulars of McGann, Walker, Morahan and Kingston, to our glorious villains, done by Mark Bonnar as The Eleven, Robert Bathurst as Cardinal Padrac, Emma Cunniffe as The Sonomancer and even Rufus Hound as the Meddling Monk. And joining the already star studded cast are the likes of Big Finish's Emma Peel herself, Olivia Poulet, Vince Leigh, Sherlock's Sasha Behar, Last Tango In Halifax's Ronni Ancona and W1A's Alex Beccket, plus Broadchurch's Carolyn Pickles, Jacqueline Pearce and Beth Chalmers returning to some very familiar roles to those who enjoy the work of the much missed Sir John Freaking Hurt. But under the formidable talents of director and script editor Ken Bentley, everyone is just absolutely brilliant. In fact, more than brilliant, they are GODDAMN FECKING AMAZING!!!
AND MY GOD THE SOUND DESIGN!!! The byword for outstanding music in Big Finish's history, Jamie Robertson has returned once more and.... yeah, I'm calling it now, best work ever. I can't describe how much the music made every scene in this set SO MUCH MORE FREAKING AWESOME!!! That and the brilliant sound design by Richard Fox, Lauren Yason and the AMAZING AND BUCKED UP talent of Benji Clifford, I just.... I..... Nope, it's gone. I am now completely speechless.
When I first heard the dulcet Scottish tones of Sylvester McCoy in the first series back in October 2015, this seemed like a million miles away. So far away that there was a part of me that really didn't want it it end. Now that it has, I'm not sad. I'm content, because this more than delivered on the epic ending that this not only deserved but managed to outshine Dark Eyes (sorry Nick). This wraps up everything, and I mean everything, save for one small question. But thanks to that question, we know that our time with the Eighth Doctor is not yet at its end... and I cannot wait to see where he and those behind him will take us next!
VERDICT: In honour of our big baddie, 11/11. Everyone behind this, take a bow, you deserve it. You truly and utterly do. And to anyone reading, I implore you; if you haven't already, go and listen to all of this series. You will not regret it. Not one bit. ;D
AND THAT FINAL REVEAL!!! JOHN DORNEY, YOU GLORIOUS NUTCASE!!!
No comments:
Post a Comment