DOCTOR WHO MAIN RANGE REVIEW
THE DUAL STORY TRILOGY
By Jack Ryan
BEWARE: THIS POST CONTAINS SPOILERS. READ AT YOUR OWN RISK
There’s always been a bit of structure to how episodes for certain doctors are done. Mainly for Doctors Five, Six and Seven, that structure has been unchanged since 1999 at 4 half hour episodes (save for the annual anthology release and that time when they did three part stories). Whereas for the likes of Doctors Four and recently Eight, not to mention the Companion Chronicles, they’ve made done with 2 half hour eps or hour long singles, something nearer to the style of modern Doctor Who episodes. Sometimes these work and sometimes they don’t, but when formats change, they allow for new ideas to come though that wouldn’t work with other established rules. So change the rules they did, at least temporarily. Two hour long stories for the three main range Doctors, with it being said that the two stories in each are both opposites and yet connected. Whilst this rule doesn’t always become obvious, it is followed as close as it can. And the result? Well, let’s start at the beginning…
224: ALIEN HEART
The Doctor and Nyssa are off to see the universe. But the universe has shown them ten destroyed planets, ravaged by an unknown but terrifying force. The TARDIS team have tracked down the planet Traxana as the next possible candidate. But soon they discover a collective of large green arachnoids. The question is who, or what, is controlling them?
DALEK SOUL
Mojox. A planet ravaged by the terrifying force of the Dalek Empire. As a small group of resistance fighters try and rebel against the Skarosian menace, they receive help from a mysterious stranger known as The Doctor. But the Daleks have their own source of help, in their creation of a new Biological weapon. Their help is Nyssa of Traken. But when something truly inexplicable happens, are Nyssa and the Doctor able to believe their own eyes? Or is something even more shocking?
225: VORTEX ICE
Mexico, present day. Amidst an ongoing scientific investigation, The Doctor and Flip arrive underground and assist the team in their search for exotic particles and alien life. The only thing is that the Doctor know exactly what the particles they are looking for are. And they lead them to a vast cavern of ice like crystals. But then, something is discovered in the crystals, and the Doctor’s worst fears are confirmed… and that’s when things really get complicated!
CORTEX FIRE
It’s time for a big huge party! At least that’s what the inhabitants of the city of Festin think. But even they don’t know how amazing a party it will be. The Doctor does, as he knows that on this particular day, a huge solar flare will give off an immensely spectacular light show. But before that, he and Flip need to deal with supposed terrorists, spontaneously combusting citizens, and a realisation of who truly is in charge of the city and its all-powerful network, the Cortex…
226: SHADOW PLANET
Upon the planet of Unity is where the Doctor, Ace and Hex have found themselves, and the people are boasting some very impressive claims. They claim to be able to split you in two. You and your shadow self, your hidden persona, and that through facing it, you can overcome all your internal problems. The only thing is, what happens when the part of you that’s meant to stay hidden, decides to go wandering about?
WORLD APART
Nirvana is dead…
There is no-one here…
Why would you come?
Why would you be left here?
Will he come back for you?
Will you forgive him if he does?
Will you forgive each other?
Despite all these stories only being about an hour long, they manage to cram a corker of a story into each, and although some are better than others, all are a blast to listen to. Stephen Cole’s Alien Heart and Guy Adams’ Dalek Soul mark a brilliant opener to the trilogy by giving two tales that trick you into thinking you know where it is going but then pull the rug out from under your feet with reveals that change everything you thought you knew… Whilst Jonathan Morris’ Vortex Ice and Ian Potter’s Cortex Fire, despite containing my only complaint about the trilogy (and a small complaint at that), take a similar route for the first story and an opposite direction for the second. Both however are brilliantly done, even if the second episode of Ice is a bit hard to follow. But AK Benedict’s Shadow Planet and Scott Handcock’s World Apart truly showcase the best ideas of this set by providing both good sci-fi plots and expertly done and unique takes on character development. Not only have the writers been on top for with these entries, but director Ken Bentley has truly shown the best extents of his talent with these six stories.
I’ve often said that an unknown cast can work just as well as, if not better than, a known cast. And that is what we have been granted alongside our regulars of Davison, Baker and McCoy as the Doctors and Sutton, Greenwood, Aldred and Olivier as the companions. With them we have the talents of Eve Webster, Geoffrey Newland, Alex Tregar, Vineeta Rishi, Shobu Kapoor, Orlando Seale, Monty D’Inverno, Rebecca Todd, Simon Kane, Katherine Senior, Youssef Kerkour, Belinda Lang, Sarah Thom, Nickolas Grace, Ben Mansfield and Nicholas Briggs. Some may be known, others may not be so, but all of them have proven their acting abilities with their turn in these releases. And if some of them are only starting off here, then I can only hope that something brilliant awaits them in the future. As for the sound design and music, everything shown here is brilliant and utterly unique. The efforts of Richard Fox, Lauren Yason, Joe Kraemer, Josh Arakelian, and Steve Foxon are truly something to behold with these releases as every last sound and note and effect and tune make these releases an utter joy to listen to.
I can’t say if these are better or worse than other attempts for the Multi-Doctor trilogy, but I will say that they are unique. They were a nice little excursion and experiment, and for the most part they did work really well. The stories were brilliant, the cast phenomenal, the sound design amazing, they are simply a nice little look at stories that try to break the mould.
VERDICT:
ALIEN HEART/DALEK SOUL: 9/10 Slightly slow start, but more than made up for with perfect performances and tantalising twists.
VORTEX ICE/CORTEX FIRE: 8/10 First story has brilliant opener but slightly confusing second part, but the second story’s expertise saves it and makes it brilliant.
SHADOW PLANET/WORLD APART: 10/10 Perfect. Just perfect. First story was amazing but OH MY GOD WORLD APART IS JUST GLORIOUS!!! AND I’M NOT JUST SAYING THAT AS A HANDCOCK FANBOY!!!
THE TRILOGY: 9/10 A belter of a concept and it delivers on what it sets out to do. I won’t mind seeing more of it! ;D
Doctor Who: Alien Heart/Dalek Soul, Vortex Ice/Cortex Fire and Shadow Planet/World Apart are available to purchase on CD and Download from the Big Finish Website, and from all good stockists.
Covers (C) Simon Holub
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