THE YEAR OF BIG FINISH
Day 4: The Land Of The Dead
There are a number of regular occurrences that happen with a long running show like Doctor Who. Little tropes that repeat themselves every now and again, and when done right, never get boring. Of course, the opposite is also true, if done wrong, it can become a tiresome and predicable cliche. One trope of Doctor Who history that has found itself on both side of this is the giant bug-eyed monster. Initially something that was to be forbidden from the show, the show-makers' minds changed after the Daleks brought viewing figures to a whopping 10.5 million viewers. So, here we find Big Finish's first bug eyed monster story. Will it be memorable? Or will the first release of the millennium be Big Finish's first blunder?
A few years in the past (at least when this came out), an unusual survey team find themselves in the Alaskan tundra, with the hope of fulfilling the seemingly mad dreams of an eccentric millionaire. But when The Doctor and Nyssa happen to blunder into the survey, everyone soon discovers that there is something buried deep within the survey site... something old... and something horrifying....
It's interesting to listen to a story like this, set back in the year my good self was born, nowadays, needing to do a double take upon realising that this was written at a time when it was recent history, as opposed to a quarter of a century ago. But mental time jumping aside, does Stephen Cole's horror tale hit the right scares? Oh, it does!!! Cole has expertly balanced proper scares with intriguing characters, an eerie setting and a PROPERLY TERRIFYING MONSTER!!! And with it, it shows another way the medium of audio can help a story elevate itself when being told: as there are no visuals, like with the written narrative, all we have of the monster are descriptions from other characters. And as many know, there is nothing more terrifying than what one's ow imagination can conjure..
Helping with those descriptions are a well formed cast and crew. Alongside Davison and Sarah Sutton as the regulars, the small but brilliant cast of Lucy Campbell, Alistair Lock, Christopher Scott Neil Roberts and Andrew Fettes easily slip into the roles they are given under the watchful direction of Gary Russell, with Scott himself stealing the show as the unhinged Shaun Brett. And following his expert skill in Whispers Of Terror, Briggs returns for sound design duties and gives us another expertly realised soundtrack. There is a reason we all praise our Lord Supremo Briggs, and his work here only cements the reason we do so...
With a terrifying story, a perfect cast, and fantastic work from the small crew involved, The Land Of The Dead rings in the new millennium with a great big stonking love letter to the bug-eyed monster trope of the Whoniverse. So only one more thing is needed to cement the legacy of Big Finish this early on... And it'll be crashing in here on Sunday!!!
Doctor Who: The Land Of The Dead, is available on Download for £/$/€2.99 on the Big Finish Website, and on limited CD, Cassette and Download from other stockists.
TOMORROW: Jonathan Blum takes the Seventh Doctor and Ace back to Britain at the turn of the millennium, but given the politics heard, it might as well be today...
A few years in the past (at least when this came out), an unusual survey team find themselves in the Alaskan tundra, with the hope of fulfilling the seemingly mad dreams of an eccentric millionaire. But when The Doctor and Nyssa happen to blunder into the survey, everyone soon discovers that there is something buried deep within the survey site... something old... and something horrifying....
It's interesting to listen to a story like this, set back in the year my good self was born, nowadays, needing to do a double take upon realising that this was written at a time when it was recent history, as opposed to a quarter of a century ago. But mental time jumping aside, does Stephen Cole's horror tale hit the right scares? Oh, it does!!! Cole has expertly balanced proper scares with intriguing characters, an eerie setting and a PROPERLY TERRIFYING MONSTER!!! And with it, it shows another way the medium of audio can help a story elevate itself when being told: as there are no visuals, like with the written narrative, all we have of the monster are descriptions from other characters. And as many know, there is nothing more terrifying than what one's ow imagination can conjure..
Helping with those descriptions are a well formed cast and crew. Alongside Davison and Sarah Sutton as the regulars, the small but brilliant cast of Lucy Campbell, Alistair Lock, Christopher Scott Neil Roberts and Andrew Fettes easily slip into the roles they are given under the watchful direction of Gary Russell, with Scott himself stealing the show as the unhinged Shaun Brett. And following his expert skill in Whispers Of Terror, Briggs returns for sound design duties and gives us another expertly realised soundtrack. There is a reason we all praise our Lord Supremo Briggs, and his work here only cements the reason we do so...
With a terrifying story, a perfect cast, and fantastic work from the small crew involved, The Land Of The Dead rings in the new millennium with a great big stonking love letter to the bug-eyed monster trope of the Whoniverse. So only one more thing is needed to cement the legacy of Big Finish this early on... And it'll be crashing in here on Sunday!!!
Doctor Who: The Land Of The Dead, is available on Download for £/$/€2.99 on the Big Finish Website, and on limited CD, Cassette and Download from other stockists.
TOMORROW: Jonathan Blum takes the Seventh Doctor and Ace back to Britain at the turn of the millennium, but given the politics heard, it might as well be today...
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