Tartarus

 

Tartarus by David Llewellyn

Tartarus is perfectly acceptable. It's hard to say more what it does wrong than what it doesn't do, because really, it's a Big Finish play that I'd slot pretty firmly in "fine." The Fifth Doctor, Nyssa and Tegan pick up a new companion in this one, Marc, and there's also a celebrity historical aspect. It's a play that thrives on character interaction rather than plot, and it's also a two-parter with each part an hour long, a choice I don't understand when there were already pretty clear points in the story where the part one and part three cliffhangers would go. There's a pretty decent shift in each, and so the story almost loses a bit for not having them there. Nonetheless, It's a romp with a phenomenal cast, and the characters do shine. The story puts a little too much focus on Cicero and not enough on Marc in my opinion, seeing as Cicero is a guest star and Marc is the actual companion you want to establish, but I don't care to complain. Tartarus is a simple play with great character that uses the Fifth Doctor and Co. rather well. I only with it played with it's ultimate concept of a strange fantastical world a bit more and gave us something a bit more wild than this, which is quite good, but also quite safe: 7/10