Shadow Planet/World Apart

 

Shadow Planet by AK Benedict

Delightful in it's fast pace and clever plotting, Shadow Planet reminds me quite a lot of an Eleventh Doctor era story by Steven Moffat - and to my surprise, this quick and fun rendition of a classic who team really really worked. The plot is slightly complicated in bits, but the simplified version amounts to the Doctor taking Ace and Hex to the planet Umbra, a therapy resort where the people there are supposed to confront the parts of their personalities they dislike made flesh. Ace (somewhat out of character, but hey, we have to have a plot) volunteers for this process and soon enough, stuff goes wrong. Because of course. Essentially, it's the Rick and Morty episode "Rest and Ricklaxation," - and funnily enough they came out around the exact same time. I prefer this story though, to that episode, though, as I am a sucker for 'fast paced and clever' stories like this one. This story's introspective nature on how Ace really has a problem is quite fun, and the fact that Aldred gets to play two quite different character's on audio is very impressive, it's best bits reminding me of the Girl Who Waited. To no one's surprise, Sophie Aldred nails the dual role. Although I do love Hex, he isn't the focus here - and his shadow self is given next to no depth or even enough scenes to make an impression on what he's even like. Which is disappointing. Also sorry to Philip Oliver for saying this, because he nails Hex, but he doesn't get how to do dual characters on audio. The story at it's worst can be incredibly confusing, thanks to these dual roles, which I'm not sure how you could really remedy, bar maybe a voice filter over the shadow characters which hypothetically could have helped. As it is, it's fine. The story just really works - I really want to see more stuff like this in the Main Range, as sometimes ideas don't stretch to two hours, and you know what? That's really fine. While I probably won't remember this one all that clearly after a while, I will remember it fondly. It's a good un. 8/10 

World Apart by Scott Handcock

World Apart is somehow even damn better - although for those who found the Hex arc to be far too dark like I did, it does contribute to that, even if, like Shadow Planet, it's set early in the arc as a standalone adventure. It's yet another "companions go through hell" story, but it's also similar to the Torchwood range in that it's not just a bad things happen story, it's eloquent, experimental, and in some ways, quite beautiful. It's also a story that works remarkably well for Seven in a way that doesn't fit the Hex arc - whilst that arc is usually full of his machinations where on several circumstances, he would cross the moral horizon for the "greater good," in this story, his compassion is the result of the plot, which I find to be a welcome change. The story is one of Big Finish's many 'yes, we have a literal cast of three people, let's go and make a masterpiece' stories, and I have nothing but admiration for these small casted ranges in particular. Whilst World Apart can be bleak, and if you listened to it within it's arc, it may add to the whole "let's traumatize Hex and Ace every story" problem, taken on it's own, it's a really fun story about the dangers of an alien world's environment, coupled with some nice character bits. Although it does lean quite heavily on the "Hex loves Ace and cannot say it for literally no reason," angle, which doesn't really get a resolution. It's still - as it is - one of the best of the range so far if you have the stomach for it, I love stories with this kind of dark and beautiful atmosphere: 10/10