TLV: He Kills Me, He Kills Me Not

 



He Kills Me, He Kills Me Not by Carrie Thompson

I came into He Kills Me, He Kills Me Not expecting a minor league tale based on how the ratings on the timescales advertised it. I was actually very much completely bowled over by the incredible quality of this release, which feels absolutely wonderful. In tone it's more of a classic Eighth Doctor audio, which I appreciate. McGann doesn't seem as depressed as his characterization usually has been of recent, which is strange, but welcome. As such, the story paints a very simplistic yet engaging narrative focused around Brian, who I was expecting absolutely NOTHING out of (The Ood have never really ranked highly in terms of characters for me) and oh my god. Brian is by far the best aspect of the release, and in a series with three Doctors, the great Vampires, the Daleks, and other fanservicey thingies, probably the best thing TLV has going for it. Brian is incredibly terrifying, an excellent villain in the vein of Missy or the Eleven in which you can just not predict how he's going to act in a scenario. Silas Carson does so much to differentiate him from a usual Ood while still being recognizable, he's by far the highlight here. I felt like all of the side characters were constantly in danger, and given how quickly I endeared to them, this was especially excellent. The only immediate problem with the story is the pathetic american accents (a classic big finish plague, one which I have learned to ignore over the years, but many have not) and some of the more cliched western moments. More Bernice Summerfield than Eighth Doctor in tone, He Kills Me He Kills Me Not was very good throughout, and while, not perfect, a shining endorsement of what Big Finish can do in an hour. This would be a top tier starting play for newcomers. 9/10

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