Barnaby Edwards said in his interview for this story that he wanted to make it a sort of Indiana Jones-style story. And boy, does it succeed! Where other stories are brilliant because they make you think, have you see the characters in a different way, or make you sad, The Emerald Tiger is brilliant because it is an action-adventure audio, with absolutely fantastic music. I found myself listening to the isolated music tracks over and over again.
I wish we could see this story, and on a proper budget as well. I had to manage with imagining the train crash, the Silver Ghost racing along the road, the excitement of the hot air balloon, and the jeweled creatures in the Valley of the Emerald Tiger. Barnaby Edwards' stories always have very good at sound design, as well as writing and directing. His stories aren't average, and like The Wreck of the Titan, you can expect action and (were the audio to be televised) a mind-blowing setting.
There's a great moment in part three, I think, where Turlough, Lady Adler, the Doctor, and Dawon are swimming through the underground river. Turlough obviously isn't a very good swimmer, and as he gasps for breath and then slips back under the water, the sound effect changes so that it sounds like we're underwater as well. That's the part that really stood out to me, as well as the explosions at the climax.
Other reviewers have complimented Barnaby Edwards on the international cast he's assembled here, and everyone is at the top of their game. I looked up Vineeta Rishi, who played Dawon, and she was in televised Doctor Who as well--one of the med students in Smith and Jones.
Tegan was great, even though she wasn't in part three. Nyssa was very competent--most people seem to like her, but she seems like a rather weak character to me. (Sorry!) In this audio, however, she had plenty to do, despite being infected. In other stories where she's infected, like Kinda, she's out of the equation completely. Thankfully, Big Finish writers have learned from the mistakes of television writers. Mostly. For some reason, I loved Turlough in this story. He was funny, indignant, slightly cowardly, but showed his compassionate side when he was worried about Dawon and Tegan. This is the era of the show I'm least familiar with, but all the characters worked really well for me.
Although it's just shy of being on my list of favorites, I loved The Emerald Tiger and will probably give it a re-listen soon. If you like your Big Finish with lots of action and adventure, whilst showing off the best of all four regulars, this is the audio for you.
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