Manufacturer: Big Finish Productions

Written By: Robert Valentine

RRP: £10.99 (CD) | £8.99 (Download)

Release Date: May 2023

Reviewed by: Robert Emlyn Slater for Doctor Who Online

“The Time War. The Doctor has been injured and brought to a Time Lord field hospital. His body glows with energy, but this is no regeneration into a future form – instead, the Doctor’s past faces begin to appear as he flits haphazardly between incarnations...

Staggering to his TARDIS, the Doctor sets out to solve the mystery of his ‘degeneration’. Who has done this to him? How? And why? From the Earth to the stars, across an array of familiar times and places, he follows clues to retrace his steps, encountering old friends and enemies along the way. Tumbling through his lives, the Doctor must stop his degeneration before he loses himself completely...

Settling as his Fourth incarnation, the Doctor goes in search of the Monk, with a vague memory that he had something to do with his ‘degeneration’.

On Earth, the Monk is meddling, bringing Sarah Jane Smith to the future UNIT HQ to steal a device for an alien race. The Doctor must help Kate Stewart and Osgood foil an invasion before he can confront the Monk about what he knows...”

WARNING: The following review contains spoilers. You have been warned!

Big Finish’s 60th anniversary party has officially begun! Past Lives is the first of an eight-part audio celebration of Doctor Who’s Diamond Anniversary - featuring most of the Doctors!

This month’s offering sees Tom Baker’s Fourth Doctor reunite with Sarah Jane as he crosses paths with Kate Stewart, Osgood, and The Meddling Monk.

We’re thrown straight into the action as the Doctor begins degenerating on a Time War battlefield. He then runs back to his TARDIS, jumping between incarnations as he does so in a really fun sequence. There’s no messing about, we’re quite literally thrown straight into the action - something I always appreciate. 

With the Doctor temporarily stabilised in the form of his fourth incarnation, he’s immediately after the Meddling Monk. Their ensuing game of cat and mouse is a lot of fun - and Rufus Hound is brilliant. His version of the Monk is by far the most entertaining for me. 

Also in this adventure are Kate Stewart and Osgood, played by Jemma Redgrave and Ingrid Oliver. Hearing them interact with Tom Baker’s Doctor is just a delight. I wasn’t sure how UNIT, Kate, and Osgood were going to fit into this adventure, which already has a hell of a lot going on in it, but they get a lot of “screen time” and have their own time to shine. 

Unfortunately, Sarah Jane - played by Sadie Miller - does not. She feels a bit surplus to the plot here, which is a shame. The Sarah we meet in Past Lives has quite literally just been dropped off in Aberdeen by the Doctor. It might be just me, but having the Doctor and Sarah reunite so soon after her exit undercuts the emotional ending of The Hand of Fear (for Sarah at least). I didn’t really feel the emotional reunion between Sarah and the Doctor here, as a result. Sadie Miller is great in the role though, as always. It just feels like Big Finish came up with the idea of this adventure by drawing a bunch of random characters out of a hat and sticking them together (which can be a lot of fun, of course). With so much going on, one character had to pull the short straw, and it was Sarah this time.

Also, the armoured dragon warrior creatures seen on the front of the box - the Hyreth - just aren’t utilised enough to be that much of a threat here. Maybe if this drama had been longer they’d have had more time to shine, but they just feel a bit like the monster of the week unfortunately. 

Those are my only criticisms though. The rest of the adventure is a great ride and leaves me really wanting more. I enjoyed the performances of all the cast - in particular Rufus Hound’s - and really enjoyed the almost anachronistic feel of having Tom Baker’s Doctor interacting with Kate and Osgood in the 2010s. 

This definitely does feel like a part one of something much bigger - a taste of what’s to come. Robert Valentine’s script zips along at a hell of a pace, never really letting up from minute one. The hour or so truly flies by. In fact, I was a little surprised - and disappointed - it had ended so seemingly early. 

Overall, It’s a nice, fun adventure to kick off the eight-part Once And Future story and left me really looking forward to whatever comes next (Fifth Doctor, Jenny, and Colin Baker as the Curator, to be exact). Also, there are plenty many callbacks and cameos, as is fitting of an anniversary adventure. You won’t be disappointed on that front. 

It’s certainly whet my appetite for the rest of Big Finish’s 60th anniversary celebrations! 

+  1. Once And Future: Past Lives is OUT NOW, priced £10.99 (CD) | £8.99 (D/L).

+  ORDER this title from Big Finish!

Manufacturer: Big Finish Productions

Written By: Helen Goldwyn

RRP: £14.99 (CD) / £12.99 (Download)

Release Date: March 2020

Reviewed by: Nick Mellish for Doctor Who Online

"London, 1945. Winston Churchill campaigns for re-election. His new strategic adviser assures him that Britain has a bright future under his continued leadership. It’s a vote he can’t possibly lose. But the Doctor knows that he must.

The Monk is meddling, altering history for his own selfish ends. With spies and aliens in the mix, Winston realises victory may not be so simple. But at least he can trust his old friend... can’t he?"

WARNING: The following review contains spoilers. You have been warned!

Big Finish: We Love Stories.  ‘And Vardans and Churchill’ could be the postscript to their tagline, and so it is that the former Prime Minister has crossed over to the monthly range at last in this play by Helen Goldwyn. He’s not come alone though, as the Monk is there for good measure, too, in his Rufus Hound incarnation.

The year is 1945, Churchill is campaigning for the election (an election he is going to lose, or so history states), and the Monk is up to his usual shenanigans, trying to stop this being the case for reasons that are never really stated.  He just likes stirring the pot. The Doctor, meanwhile, is on hand to try and stop this happening, knowing that in doing so he is risking his friendship with Churchill.  Plus, there are other aliens afoot.

There is a lot going on in Subterfuge and it’s to Goldwyn’s credit that it never feels cluttered or weighed down by its baggage. There is some genuine mystery and tension in her script, and she really shows the darker side to the Monk. For all his jokes and humour, there is a sadistic and nasty aspect to the character; a man willing to sacrifice many just to see what happens. That side is briefly glimpsed here and it’s all the better for it, making the Monk seem more of a threat than has arguably ever been the case before.

It’s perhaps trickier territory with Churchill. He is what is nowadays termed a ‘problematic figure’, which is shorthand for “had good bits and awful bits”, like so many people. (I’m aware I’m over-simplifying things here.) It has made some fans very uneasy about the Doctor’s relationship with him though, with even Steven Moffat stepping in to defend it in a recent issue of Doctor Who Magazine. That slight unease is not going to vanish here, and the Doctor refusing to come down firmly on one side of the fence with his politics and Churchill at that time is bound to wind up fans across the political spectrum: which probably shows that Goldwyn has done a good job of balancing things as best she can. Some will wish she had come down harder on one side though, and I must admit having the Doctor not outright praise and defend the welfare state felt a bit uncomfortable: surely he’d be in favour? But I think Goldwyn is smarter than I by purposely not saying a word, and perhaps that’s more my political leanings showing.

Eggshell treading aside, it’s a strong script bolstered by strong performances. Hound feels increasingly at home in the role of the Monk, and I especially liked Mimi Ndiweni as Alicia, feeling she captured that sense of slight distance at all going on around her that the character needs. At first it may seem a little too distant and perhaps wooden, but that’s not the case at all as later scenes show. It’s a very carefully chosen and curated performance.

Goldwyn is on a roll at the moment, with this and the rather wonderful Mother Tongue in the third Gallifrey: Time War box set. A lesser writer would have made an absolute mess of all the elements in this play: bring back the Monk, bring back Churchill, throw in aliens, set it in a pivotal political moment in Earth’s history. That Subterfuge is anything but is a triumph in itself.

+ Subterfuge is OUT NOW, priced £14.99 (CD) / £12.99 (Download).

+ ORDER this title on Amazon!

Michelle Gomez, who played the Doctor’s best friend and wicked enemy, Missy, in the recent Doctor Who television series, will be returning to the role in some brand new audio adventures from Big Finish Productions made in arrangement with BBC Studios.

Throughout her time on Doctor Who, Missy – an evil incarnation in the guise of a Victorian nanny – was a delightful devil, at one point sentenced to death for terrible crimes against the universe. And now we get the chance to hear more of what she is really capable of. 

These new adventures see an unleashed Missy bringing the universe to wrack and ruin. We can’t wait for its release in February 2019!

Michelle, speaking about her return said:

“I was very excited to return to Missy’s world via the medium of audio because along the way I’ve always had a lot of fun with Missy; her voices and her rhythms. I absolutely love capturing it and distilling it down to the word on the page. I’m absolutely delighted! She’s such a ridiculously brilliant character, and hopefully that earns her that moment in the spotlight. To find myself centre stage with these Missy adventures is thrilling – I’m very grateful.”

And (whilst evading the Doctor’s clutches) Missy will encounter another enemy of her ‘boyfriend’ as she crosses paths with the Meddling Monk played by Rufus Hound.

David Richardson, producer of these adventures, said:

“Missy’s own series is just like the Time Lady herself – anarchic, funny, unpredictable and wildly imaginative. It’s absolutely glorious to have Michelle returning to the character at Big Finish, and our recording days have been filled with so much laughter. And we haven’t even met face to face yet! Michelle’s busy filming the new Sabrinaseries in Vancouver for Netflix and so we’ve been pairing studios down the line; Michelle thousands of miles away while we’re in London synched up with her. It’s been a joy to make. And just wait until you hear the collaboration of Missy and the Meddling Monk!”

Jason Haigh-Ellery, executive producer, said:

“Having Michelle Gomez return to Big Finish is wonderful – a lovely lady who was magnificent as Missy in the past couple of seasons of Doctor Who.”  

Executive Producers: Jason Haigh-Ellery and Nicholas Briggs

Producer: David Richardson

Script Editor: Matt Fitton

Director: Ken Bentley

Pricing:
 

Pre-order: £23 (CD box set) / £20 (Download) from www.bigfinish.com

General Release: £35 (CD box set) / £30 (Download) from www.bigfinish.com

Big Finish online: 

Website: www.bigfinsih.com
Twitter: @BigFinish
Facebook: Facebook.com/TheBigFinish
Instagram: @BigFinishProd

[Source: Big Finish]

Ahead of tomorrow's episode of Doctor Who, DWO interviewed Actor, Rufus Hound, who plays highwayman, Sam Swift in '9.6: The Woman Who Lived'.

What was your earliest memory of Doctor Who?

To be honest my earliest memory was probably seeing Sylvester McCoy as The Doctor and being thoroughly confused by the whole thing. Sophie Aldred as Ace though. I do remember that - but for entirely different reasons...

Do you have a particular favourite episode of the Classic Series / New Series - or both?

I only really came to DW because of Russell T Davies. I was an enormous fan of 'Bob and Rose', and 'The Second Coming' is probably my favourite TV drama of all time. So, even though I've now seen a few of the old Classic episodes, I haven't seen enough of them to really 'have a favourite'. I do love Troughton as The Doctor though, more than the episodes I've seen him in (if that makes any kind of sense).

From the new series, Silence in the Library / Forest of The Dead take some beating, frankly. The Doctors Wife was incredibly good too, mainly for Suranne Jones' completely wonderful performance as The TARDIS and Gaiman's writing.

Your character, Sam Swift, was quite honestly one of the best guest cast members we have seen for a while. How was it combing your comedic skills with a TV show you have known and loved for so long, and was there ever an element of ‘OH MY GOD I’M IN DOCTOR WHO’!?

Christ - this answer is going to be long! Well, once I started to focus on being an actor (I haven't done any stand-up now for about four years) my agent asked me "Where are we going with this?" I only gave one answer. "Doctor Who." I realised that if I was going to do this as a career, then I wanted to be a part of the stories I most like being told. Top of the list, therefore, was DW.

So, various attempts to be seen for the show ensued, without much success. However, I then landed a role in Russell T Davies' 'Cucumber', which was cast by the same man that casts Doctor Who - Andy Pryor. 

The day after my episode of 'Cucumber' was broadcast, I got a call from Andy saying that he'd insisted that the top brass on DW watched my episode and that he'd had a call first thing that morning saying 'Offer him Sam Swift.' I was in a car park at the time and just started running around in a circle, whooping.

I got emailed the script that afternoon, and it honestly felt like he'd had been written for just me. He's a swaggering, joke-telling bloke who isn't as smart as he thinks he is. Reading the scenes that he was in, seeing the relationship he'd have with The Doctor... I was vibrating. 

My first day of filming, I was trying to act all cool, but then, in the first take, Peter Capaldi turned to me and delivered my cue and I just kind of lost it. In my head I realised "I'M TALKING TO THE ACTUAL BLOODY DOCTOR!!! ME!!! HAHAHAHAHA!!!" It flipped me out a bit. Haha.

We’re soon going to be able to see you in ‘Beautiful Devils’, based on Shakespeare’s ‘Othello'. What can you tell us about your character Archie Hoffman, and what to expect from the movie?

I haven't seen any of it yet, but there are some brilliant people involved in making it, so fingers crossed. What was interesting to me was that by saying 'It's based on Othello', you immediately have a license to look at race/youth/hope/jealousy with an honesty that would feel overblown if you sat down and wrote it from scratch. 

The movie takes Othello as a musical prodigy, the songwriter in a hot band. When they get signed, the record label exec - Archie Hoffman - sacks Iago and thus, out of jealousy for the band's success Iago decides to tear it all down. I shot about five days on it, and the cast are all fairly young, but there's some brilliance in all of them. Hopefully, it'll be ace.

If you could take a round trip in the TARDIS, anywhere in time and space, where would you go and why?

I'd zip forward into the casting office of the next series of Doctor Who and spray-paint SAM SWIFT on the board marked 'NEW COMPANIONS'

+  9.6: The Woman Who Lived airs on Saturday 24th October at 8:20pm on BBC One. 

[Source: DWO]