This Audio Hurt Me - The Fourth Wall

Wow. I mean--wow. 

Ummm....

Yes, I absolutely ADORED The Fourth Wall. Rather like Jubilee, it's very funny (a lot more funny than Jubilee, at least in a more comfortable way) up until the part two cliffhanger when the crap hits the fan. Like I said in the title, this audio hurt me. I recall listening to it last night, and my chest actually started to hurt during the beginning of part three. Just like Jubilee, I shouldn't tell you what happens....but I really want to talk about it, so beware.

**Spoilers below!**

I knew that Flip was going to appear to die, at least temporarily, from the DWP. Dang it, I really wish I hadn't spoiled myself with this one. At least I didn't know any of the details, so how it happened and the Doctor's reaction was really quite a shock.

Flip was great for the first two episodes, totally taking the piss out of Lord Krarn, telling the screaming Jancey to shut up, and just mocking the entire program in general. Apparently not a lot of people liked Flip in The Curse of Davros,  but I loved her there and in this too, so it was very sad for me to listen to her die. It was handled really, really well, and the way the Doctor reacts (shouting the obvious) makes it even worse, because we know that he started to really care about her in less than a day. I loved the way she came back, too, I cheered and punched the air when it happened.

**Spoilers End**

Hats off to the acting of guest stars Yasmin Bannerman and Martin Hutson, who I actually took the time to look up. I usually need to be able to imagine everything just right in my head in order to enjoy the audio fully. This often comes down to me planning out companion's outfits so I know what they're wearing. About the beginning of part three, I started visualizing Yasmin Bannerman (playing Doctor Shepherd) as black, and it turns out she is! 

Even weirder, she played Jabe in the Ninth Doctor's second ever story, The End of the World! Way to go for Big Finish for keeping it in the family.

I loved the pathos Yasmin Bannerman brought into the role. She was a great temporary companion for the Sixth Doctor, and I was quite surprised that the Doctor blamed all the death and destruction on her decisions. She took full responsibility, however, which I feel doesn't happen a lot in Doctor Who stories. 

Also, it was amazing the difference between Martin Hutson's portrayal of Matthew and his portrayal of Lord Krarn. 

At one point in the story, the poor guy ends up talking to himself for several scenes! Highlight for spoilers: I was really sad when he died, and I thought that the Doctor might have found a way to save everyone killed by Lord Krarn and his Warmongers. He could have, but writer John Dorney said he wanted all the deaths to have an impact.
The Porcians were good, too. I found myself finding quite bad for them, and was glad that they were in the story as long as they were. They were actually pretty cute, and the concept of the Porcians being the galaxy's worst invaders was hilarious. (Until it took a turn for the depressing.)

One of my few gripes was that while Matthew got to help the Doctor out, and Olivia showed that she was better than her character, I was disappointed by how Nick/Jack was handled. The actual Jack character was wonderful, and I could see so many other action flick characters in him. But Nick wasn't much better, just a walking ego. ("And the Oscar for the biggest git goes to...!") I wonder if John Dorney did that on purpose, or if it was just a stereotype. I mean, I would hope that no famous actor would run from danger yelling "Out of my way! Talent coming through!"

All in all? If you have $12.99 to spare, or even if you have to save up a bit, you should absolutely go and buy The Fourth Wall. 2012 has been an amazing year for Big Finish, with the majority of the stories being good at worst. (Or so I've heard.) The Fourth Wall is a perfect example of one of their fantastic audios.