The Silurian Candidate review

So....... the first episode of this was made free to newsletter subscribers in September....

That first episode is good.... but OH does it mislead you with what you think this story is going to be about.... That episode is good, the rest is AMAZING!!!!

DOCTOR WHO MAIN RANGE REVIEW

229: THE SILURIAN CANDIDATE

By Jack Ryan

BEWARE: THIS POST CONTAINS SPOILERS. READ AT YOUR OWN RISK

SYNOPSIS:

Continuing their ever amazing and erratic adventures, the Doctor, Ace and Mel land in an underground area within the eastern hemisphere. But when they discover that the year is 2085, and that they've found themselves in the midst of the New Cold War, that is when things start to crumble... especially when they come across Professor Ruth Drexler, on an excavation to discover a long forgotten secret of the planet Earth: the long dormant Homo-Reptilia race of Silurians... unbeknown to them that they have already awoken, and have plans for the human race, and the owner ship of Earth.... and, unfortunately for Ace, so does the Doctor....

WRITING:

What is it they say? Third time's the charm? Well, not only has writer Matthew J Elliott done a hat-trick of three brilliant stories for a new writer, but this is, without a doubt, the best one yet. Elliott's script starts off as a traditional standard Doctor Who script with the Silurians, arriving underground, discovering the city, giant dinosaur, etc, etc. But then, by the third episode, the tone and style shit into a brilliant send up to the political thriller genre, and a justification for the existence of Warriors of the Deep. I mean, why else is the title a play on the Manchurian Candidate?

CAST:

Ken Bently returns to assist Elliott and Big Finish with the two hat-tricks, by directing the cast to absolute perfection in this story. The guest cast truly have to be admired in this tale, with Fiona Sheehan, Nicholas Asbury, Caitlin Thorburn, Ignatius Anthony, Louise Mai Newberry and Nicholas Ruddy Briggs not only giving everything they can to their roles, but every last one playing off each other and throwing the listener off the scent as to the answer to the story's great mystery. And then there's the regulars. Langford is brilliant in these and always will be, but yet again, this proves how brilliant of actors McCoy and Aldred are, especially when their characters come into conflict with each other. They are just, simply brilliant...

SOUND WORK:

The seemingly new name of Luke Pietnik joins us with his astounding soundwork, ranging from bashing robots, to political delegation, and rampaging dinosaurs. If this is his first run, then it is an impressive first time out and Big Finish highly need to consider getting him back. Howard Carter takes on music duties and, like Luke, succeeds in evoking the feel of the story, with making a futuristic, yet nostalgic soundtrack, sounding as if it comes from both the 1980s and the 2080s...

CONCLUSION:

As already stated, this trilogy just seems to be building and building towards something amazing. And this is truly worth that description. From the brilliant voice acting, soundwork, music, and of course, Matthew J Elliott's phenominal script, it is, so far my joint favourite story from the main range this year, alongside World Apart. It's going to take something special to top that!

Wait, the next one's the anthology release?

VERDICT: 10/10 A brilliant end to this year's Seventh Doctor trilogy, that keeps you second guessing all the way through. ;D

Doctor Who: The Silurian Candidate is available to purchase on CD and Download from the Big Finish Website here, or from all good stockists.