Fourth Doctor Series 7A

Series Seven

The Sons Of Kaldor By Andrew Smith

The Sons Of Kaldor is a blatant nostalgia grab. It’s a good blatant nostalgia grab, but it is one. This story at least has the decency to not make the Kaldor robots go mad and murder people. It’s one of those stories that cares about emulating an era more than a plot. 

Care For A Jelly Baby?: Tom Baker is generally good, but the way he fake audio jumps at the start HUT HUT HUT HUT is one of the most embarrassing moments in any audio. The casualness that he has in the story is different from his usual devil may care attitude, it's more stupid. He takes control of the story, and does most of the action while Leela sort of stands there. Can’t this duo work together, and not have one dominate the story?

Move Aside, Bent Face: Leela suddenly finds out that the robots that tried to murder her are back, and is just like “oh the metal men? Ok” Which borders on stupid. Luckily, Leela does not act stupid for much longer. No, she acts comatose.

The Monsters: The Robots are intelligently played by John Dorney  Who is really really good as them.

Overall: Nostalgia the audio, 7/10

The Crowmarsh Experiment by David Llwellen 

The Crowmarsh Experiment is that old nut where one character is told the entire series is their dream. I hate these stories. They have no tension. It’s bad if it’s all a dream and everything you’ve been invested in is fake, and it’s bad if it isn’t because it makes the story redundant. Crowmarsh is well written, and you could say it’s good, but it ultimately annoys me. Until that beautiful moment where Leela has to kill everyone to exit the dream, and she’s standing there holding up the match, having to decide whether the world should go up in fire, and if she should trust this random voice on the radio enough to kill for him. That bit makes it all worth it.

Care For A Jelly Baby?: Tom Baker talking to himself is a treat. That is all.

Move Aside Bent Face: Leela’s character work here is beautiful, and I love it. Her dilemma feels so much more real because of the nasty twist that she has to blow up the world to exit the dream, and the dream uses her old lover against her.

I don’t know, maybe I’m a sicko, but I love this. It almost makes the paddling terrible part one worth it. Maybe. 

Overall: You either like these stories or you hate them. This is a good version of one of those stories. It’s also bad because it’s that story. 7.5/10

The Mind Runners/The Demon Rises By John Dorney

Inherently the Fourth Doctor, these stories where he’d show up and just liberate a planet were the series’ bread and butter. This one is hecking good.

The story is set on Chaldera, a world where resources are running out and people are entering other peoples brains for the entertainment. This is brilliant.

There is a person, named Mr Shift Who is systematically murdering the Mind Runners Who are entering other people’s brains, by grabbing them and then jumping off buildings with them. For most of the story this weird bit is unexplained. This is brilliant. There is a Rocket Of Human flesh. This is brilliant. The whole story is intricately plotted, and whisks you back to an era where every story had more than enough time to develop, and every serial had astounding character work, and not every companion was a random chick from London. I’m not saying that I prefer classic serials to new, but big Finish has made the perfect translation. Mind Runners/Demon Rises is a classic aesthetic enhanced by modern writing. 

Care For A Jelly Baby?: Tom Baker could Murder everyone I have ever known and I’d thank him. A balance has at last been achieved, and Four has as much screen time and development as Leela does, and K9 is present too! Four has such an entertaining apathy that is at work here, and when he bares his teeth and gets mad at the night minds Rocket it's some of his best work. 

Move Aside Bent Face: Leela does police work with the locals for the first half, and is as per usual very entertaining. Big Finish have given Leela a new life on audio, and her character, although great back then, is more three dimensional than anyone else is at the moment. Leela is that one companion that is truly unique. You could write for Rose and Clara the same way, but Leela is the one companion that there’s been no one else like since.

K9: K9 is one of those characters that is so impossibly campy and charming without ever changing his tone of voice in the history of Doctor Who. He gets great material here, best of which is his Digital Impersonation.

The Monsters: Mr. Shift, The Digitals and The Night Mind are all exceedingly good, and I’m quite glad for a sequel hook involving Shift, Who is definitely one of Big Finishes’ best recent villains. 

Overall: This certainly isn’t the best audio, but it’s a high tier well produced and distinctly era specific production that doesn’t rely on fan service to tell an original story. Part One is a bit slower than Two, but both are exquisite, and Two’s dark turn involving the Rocket really made this one to remember. 

Part One: 8.5/10

Part Two: 9.5/10

UPDATE: The Mind Runners/The Demon Rises, over many months, has eroded any flaws I may feel it has. Praise this two parter.