Fourth Doctor Adventures Series Two

Series Two

The Auntie Matter By Jonathan Morris

The Auntie Matter derails the idea of a complicated or serious plot for the ever so rare virtue of being one of the most fun audios you could dare to listen to.

The entire point of the story is that it is enjoyable. That’s the goal of it, it gets there, it’s ridiculous, funny, and entertaining. A 1920s Aunt Eats Pretty People Alive, absorbing their prettiness. That’s the plot. Couldn’t be more basic. But the fun, the fun’s where all of the near misses between the Doctor and Romana are, the fun is with the silly stereotypes of characters, the fun is entirely that. 

Do I Have The Right?: Tom Baker is as usual, entertaining. He’s the perfect Doctor for this story, his later era where he was most popular, had stories like City of Death, or The Pirate Planet, entirely witty and silly stories, and that is what this story tries to emulate, although Missing it’s high concepts, the story is very Douglas Adams. 

Fred: Romana 1 is brilliant, bless her, and it’s very sad she couldn’t record more for Big Finish. Mary Tamm, along with Maggie Stables, was one of the largest losses the company had ever faced. It’s quite sad we won’t have any more from her. This story was arguably her best and ‘is certainly one of the best 4DAs 

Overall: Brilliant, and basic, and whatnot. Not as good as everyone says it is, but pretty dang good. 8.5/10 

The Sands of Life by Nicholas Briggs

The Sands of Life is absolutely ridiculous. Something about this story fails, It’s overreliance on sound design which ultimately annoys, the Laan being stupid, the side characters being stupid, or something else. Everyone that isn’t named Doctor, K9, Romana, Cuthbert or President Federation Lady played by Hayley Atwell (!)  is terrible. The overreliance on Tom Baker sound clips from the 80s is at first cool, but quickly becomes annoying, and worst of all, the stereotypical military characters are some of the best examples of the military being incapable of rational thought in fiction. 

If I’m being honest, the sands of life does not work for me, and although the second part, and the future Cuthbert stories are good, this one only angers. 

Do I Have The Right?: Much less silly than the Auntie Matter or Renaissance Man, The Fourth Doctor is oddly smooth and calm, almost like the hinchcliffe era than previous. It would be lovely if It wasn’t for the fact that this one’s plot is Explosive Eggs from Spacewhales declare war on a company executive. Excuse me? That’s the most bonkers idea Who has done since Pirate Planet! And it’s played Deadly seriously?

Fred: Romana 1 is good, that is all. Lalla Ward’s voice clearly aged somewhat (Not much, but noticeably) in her audios, and whether you like it or not is rather due to your preference, but Mary Tamm sounds EXACTLY like she did on television. She throws you back in the era more than anything. 

Overall: A Three Parter sounds like the best thing on paper for the 4DAs. Shame it had to be this story, as Sands of life feels overlong, and for a bombastic adventure like this, that’s the death toll. I’m glad that War Against The Laan picks up the quality writing again, because I couldn’t take it. 4/10

War Against The Laan By Nicholas Briggs

I can’t put my finger on what It does better than Sands Of Life. Every criticism I can put to that, I can put to this one. But somehow, when I came out of sands disgusted, I came out of this one happy. Literally the same review copy and pasted, but the sound design is way better, it’s not as long (although this is really part four and five of earlier, so it’s kind of stupid to say) and it contains way less self important callbacks to the 70s. Yeah, we don’t need those, as this series already is a huge call back.

I don’t know. Same bit as before, but less crap I guess? 7/10

The Justice of Jalxar by John Dorney 

Exceptional. No John Dorney script ever deigns to disappoint me. Jago and Litefoot are considerable in their quality, always have been, and it’s just such a joy to hear a reunion with them and four, with Romana, no less! 

The villain is mediocre, even the background characters are slightly, but who bloody cares, it’s Jago, Litefoot, Four and Romana, and they are in an expertly moody and well realized victorian london. This story not only puts me in mind of an era, it also puts me in mind of the best parts of Talons. You know, the parts that aren’t racist? 

Do I Have The Right?: Tom sounds overjoyed just being with Jago and Litefoot again. Brilliant.

He always is. Critiquing Tom Baker is always difficult, his joy is infectious, and that’s kind of the perfect thing to have for the Doctor.

Fred: Mary Tamm slips into interactions with Jago and Litefoot quite nicely, and feels so familiar, despite having never had any appearances with them.

It’s a custom not to speak ill of the dead, but as a review I would: If there were literally anything about Mary Tamm to critique. Without a doubt, the reason Series 2 is in such esteem is her. She is phenomenal. 

Jago and Litefoot: Big Finish have struck gold in that they have taken the best parts of Talons (as mentioned, the non racist bits) and made them stand out all the more. Jago and Litefoot were always three dimensional characters, but like all good ones, they feel less like that and more like friends in these stories. Four dimensional characters, even. 

Overall: Gothic but lighthearted, Justice of Jalxar is exceedingly enjoyable, and often scanned over by reviewers. Do not give this one a pass. 9/10

Phantoms of The Deep by Jonathan Morris

Gorgeously Moody, Phantoms of the Deep is not one of the best Big Finish audios, but one of the best examples of how exquisitely they can invoke a setting. The whole story brilliantly performs the base under siege format in a very claustrophobic setting, and as my opinions of Doctor Who and The Pirates and Bloodtide will tell you, I’m a sucker for a Ocean story. 

Do I Have The Right: Brilliant and very chilling, There’s not as much jokes in this one, but Tom Baker still pulls his weight. These days, people are liable to call Four a caricature, but stories like this show he’s the very opposite.

Fred: Mary Tamm utterly sells this material. I’m a broken record. There’s a great cliffhanger with her and K9, a real highlight.

Overall: So so so fun, and with a deliciously evocative setting to boot. Anyone who says the 4DAS are garbage is very wrong indeed. 9/10

The Dalek Contract/The Final Phase by Nicholas Briggs

Sinfully boring, another Nick Briggs Dalek runaround with little original ideas, and what should be the payoff for the series, simply sets up the events for Series 5 instead. No answers to be found here, it just raises more questions. This kind of mindless bombast would be forgivable if it at least wrapped up the dang arc. This is the first story that ever features the Daleks and K9. And with such a cast of characters, the fantastic Cuthbert, Romana, Daleks, Four and K9, it should seem impossible for a weak outing like this. 

Do I Have The Right: I cant remember anything distinctive about Tom Baker’s performance. And this is Tom Baker we’re talking about. Usually even in the most dismal stories he’s at least memorable, whether bad or good. 

Fred: Sad that Mary Tamm’s last story is this, as she’s a right brilliant actress, and you can tell she has a real love for the material. It just bleeds through.

Overall: A Functional Script with no payoff of which the actors seem bored. The script is frankly irrelevant at that point, but the characters, although all bored, at least are fun to be around. Dalek stories are that way, but you can only have so many of these. A distinct improvement from the earlier Cuthbert two parter however. 

Both Parts: 5/10