Flip Flop

All right....I'm going to attempt to understand this one. Here goes:
I listened to the Black disc first. Once I was done with the White disc I wanted to go back and listen to it all again in order to fully understand the story, but I was afraid my head might explode from trying to understand this audio. At first I thought it was like a spiral, looping downwards, but then I realised that it's actually a figure eight: the story goes in a circle on one world and then switches over the other world where it completes another circle, and vice-versa if you listen to it in a different order. But how was it that there were two Mels and two Doctors coming in from the same point in time? Why was it different? I have a theory here, or rather two theories: The first one is that there are two universes, both created when Stewart and Reed went to kill the President. It was a decision, and decisions create universes. One decision was to let the president live, and one was to kill her. This sort of explains why there are two different Mels and two different Doctors who are coming from the same situation (the Quarks on the spaceship). My second theory actually makes more sense, and is even more clever on Johnny Morris's part. There are actually two different stories going on, not one continuous one. The Black disc is one story, and the White disc is the other. The main focus of each story is Stewart and Reed and their involvement with the assassination attempt. Whew. Usually I love Johnathan Morris, he's done some fantastic novels and audios, and deserves to write a TV episode. But this story just seemed too confusing.
Other notes:

• Recently I read a description of Mel saying that she was "bossy and practical", and I thought to myself: what a good way to sum up her character. I wouldn't have chosen those adjectives myself, but considering her Big Finish stories and the best of her character in TV episodes, those are really the best ways to describe Melanie Bush. No screaming for this Mel: she's all morals and asking the right questions and respecting the Doctor, but at the same time taking absolutely none of his bullcrap.
• The way the Slithigees feigned helplessness when they, in effect, ruled the world was absolutely terrifying. Yes, they were blind, and yes, they seemed polite, but boy did they get people to do anything they wanted.
• The Doctor says at the end of both discs that the other Doctor and Mel will fix things, but that means that nobody does. And how could he? Pauxataunee is pretty much beyond help, and short of blowing up the fleet before they arrive 30 years previous, I can't think of anything any of the Doctors could have done to save the day. How bleak.
• Yes, that was a sex scene. Moving on...
• Another Christmas-time story! That brings the list up to:
• Chimes of Midnight
• Winter for the Adept
• The One Doctor
• Voyage to Venus (okay, so they sing a Christmas carol. It counts.)
• Flip Flop
• Big Finish doesn't usually physically or mentally torture Seven (they save that for Five and Six)--heck, I don't think he ever gets tied up. So the way that wonderfully creepy Professor Capra tortured him and Mel was surprising and rather scary.

All in all, an extremely confusing audio. Someday, I plan to make a color-coded chart for both this audio and The Kingmaker. If you are not paying absolute attention and possibly taking notes, you will get very frustrated by trying to understand it. I recommend a re-listen. If your head doesn't explode.

The Demons of Red Lodge and Other Stories

The Demons of Red Lodge:
It's rather thrilling to hear the Doctor scared, isn't it? That's what this audio is all about (or at least the beginning of it, anyway) and so when we get our confident Doctor back, it's a relief. There are moments in the Fifth Doctor/Nyssa audios where you can really care that the Fifth Doctor cares an awful lot about his female companion. There are a lot of those in this one, especially when he goes to save her from being...what, absorbed? by her clone/self/thing. The part with Nyssa remembering her father felt a bit shoe-horned in there, but it tied in nicely with the next story.

The Entropy Composition:
I didn't think this episode had much potential when I first started listening to it, but it got quite interesting about halfway through. The premise--a deadly song--works really well and is fantastically creepy. The story really picks up once they get to earth, and I thought Nyssa's trying to talk like a rocker from the sixties was hilarious. The laugh at the end was terrifying, and the fact that I was listening to it at about 11:00 at night didn't help.

Doing Time:
It always depresses me when it's revealed that the Doctor's spent a lot of time away from his companion. It happens more often than I would like, too, which may have had something to do with why this audio bothered me. I mean, there was a Duncan Wisbey Alert, which is always nice (I like to keep an ear out for him, although he sounded nothing like Sacker) and I totally thought that Nyssa had gotten married for a few seconds, but the Doctor in solitary for six months?! That's awful! But anyway, Nyssa had some good development in this audio. She can exist without the Doctor, and does quite well adjusting to a normal life. She gets a job, a haircut, a crush, and everything. Hopefully the Doctor got to relax for a bit after this one, though. Poor Five.

Special Features:
This was an odd one. I can't decide whether I liked the fact that they were clearly making fun of Doctor Who commentaries or not. If you listen to the Nicholas Courtney, Carole Ann Ford, Mark Strickson, and Elisabeth Sladen commentary on The Five Doctors, for example, it's brilliant and hilarious. But this commentary was just so....awkward. I think that was rather the point, though; that the director and actors  were embarrassed by the work they had done all those years ago. The Doctor is quiet during most of it, which made me think--of all the Doctors (not actors, mind you) to record a DVD commentary, only Five, Seven, and possibly Nine would be quiet during it. The rest would basically take over, contradicting everyone else and providing amusing anecdotes. Nyssa wasn't in this one much, but I can't help thinking that she would find acting rather pointless and silly, but the Doctor seemed to have gone to quite a lot of effort to get her the part.

All in all, a fairly enjoyable little series of stories. It's rare for me to enjoy a Five/Nyssa story--Big Finish have done so many of them, and Nyssa's far from one of my favorite companions--but I had fun listening to this one.

Jago & Litefoot Series One: The Bloodless Soldier

I'm not sure how I've never heard about the ending of this one. It absolutely shocked me, and suddenly Henry Gordon Jago went from one half of a duo to someone who demanded my respect. It was especially surprising because I'm sorry to say that I was rather bored by this audio, which hasn't ever happened during a Jago & Litefoot audio for me. And then there was this ending, and suddenly I was almost in tears. What an amazing character-defining moment for Henry Gordon Jago, one I never, ever thought I'd hear. Well done Justin Richards!!
I liked Ellie's involvement in this series. I've only heard series two so far, and she's (for obvious reasons) barely in it, so I wanted to spend more time with her character. Hopefully I'll get plenty of that in this series.
On another note, Jago & Litefoot is now on iTunes, for some reason! Hmm. Unfortunately, they're $9.99 for a one-hour episode, which makes all four of them a lot more than downloading the box set from Big Finish would cost.
All in all, this is another good J&L audio that's definitely worth the slowness of the beginning for one of Henry Gordon Jago's finest hours at the end.

Arrangements for War

This is unlike any Doctor Who story I have ever heard, and I am glad for that. In what other Doctor Who story can you constantly hear beautiful music and brilliant sound design, a companion falling sweetly in love, and the Doctor becoming a wonderful mentor to a young royal lady? (And playing the third wheel a lot, which was amusing.)


I understand that this audio came out a year after Project: Lazarus, which is odd because it is a direct continuation of that story--albeit a few hours later in the TARDIS. The Doctor and Evelyn coming to terms with each other and what just happened was, once again sad, but handled well. The way Evelyn storms off, and the Doctor's cautious way of acting around her, is just a preview of the way their relationship is strained and threatening to snap in this audio. It doesn't help that they spend most of it apart from each other.
I can't think of a more lovely visual than the Doctor, in just his shirt, braces, and blue pants skipping stones across a lake talking to a young lad about relationships. Some people might think it's a bit twee or cheesy, but I really liked it. Both Evelyn and the Doctor meet the Princess Krisztina, but it's the Doctor who really gets to spend more time with and influence her. I don't think he's ever gotten this close to someone that's not a companion, perhaps besides the Brigadier. His relationship with Krisztina was very sweet ("You're one hero I couldn't bear to lose") and I wish they'd gotten more time together.
Another relationship that didn't turn out the way it could was Evelyn and Rossiter. I know that she goes and gets married to him eventually, but they don't get much of a good-bye before Evelyn has to rush off after the Doctor in the end.
Parts one through three were great, but things got rather confusing in part four. After Pokol starts firing into the crowd, it's never really said how the Doctor and Kriszta get out of there unharmed. I know that aliens were attacking (which was another weird thing--who were the Kellorans, exactly? Why were they attacking?) and so things were rather hectic, but still. It could have been more coherent.
One more thing--it seemed rather strange, at yet the same time rather nice, that all the technology and politics were a lot like Earth's--cars, phones, different time zones (when does that happen in Doctor Who?), trains, espionage. Vilag was basically Earth, except with different people and geography. I wonder why author Paul Sutton chose to do this.

All in all, a lovely, sad audio that I'll probably give a re-listen. I can't wait to go back to Evelyn, Rossiter, and the planet Vilag in Thicker Than Water.

Project: Lazarus, aka 50 Shades of Not Okay

Whose brilliant idea was it to release Jubilee, Doctor Who and the Pirates, and this audio within 6 months of each other? Nobody needs that much sadness, angst, and--dare I say it--mindfuckery in their lives. I understand that Evelyn's arc is made of pain, so angst is fine. But agony? Not fine at all. Has any other Doctor ever been so brutally tortured as Six is in this audio? His screams are really, really awful, and I wanted to cry as I heard them. He seems to be fine once he's free, but I've never heard any of the Doctors scream like that. One wonders how Colin Baker did that so convincingly. It worries me.
</rant>

<review>
Part one of this story, although it went by quick, was rather boring. I was surprised that the Professor only lasted as long as he did--it seemed like he was going to be in the story for longer than that.
I must have been the only person ever to be surprised about the true identity of Artemis, judging by other reviews I've read. I can be a bit clueless sometimes. It made me sad, as did the fact that Evelyn was so happy to see Cassie and Cassie was angry that she'd just been abandoned, basically. Way to go, Doctor. (I know, I know, it was the TARDIS, but still...I feel like he could have tried harder.)
Part two I've already touched on. Colin Baker's acting, as ever, was great, and although Evelyn was on the side for most of this story, her crying at the end was heartbreaking.

When the Seventh Doctor's theme music came on at the beginning of episode three came on, I was so surprised I dropped my iPod. I don't know what I was expecting, but it sure startled me for some reason. I don't really like the Seventh Doctor--the Sixth doctor's opinion of him has clouded mine somewhat. He's rather manipulative and godlike, and I prefer Six's (and others) approach of trying to help people, but not deliberately manipulating things. However, in this audio it made me reflect on how sad the Seventh Doctor got (gets?) towards the end of his timeline. Is he perhaps one of the longest-living incarnations? I think he's lived several centuries, hasn't he? That's reflected in this audio--he's rather tired and frustrated, especially at the beginning of part three and the end of part four.

Colin Baker! Wow. How many times can I say it? Anybody who thought Colin was a bad actor on TV needs to sit down and listen to this audio and Jubilee. (Although maybe not, because they're emotionally scarring.) He puts forward one of his best performances in part four, and (spoiler): he's not even playing the Doctor! He's really treated quite awfully in Project: Lazarus, and it just hurts me to hear it. It gives him the opportunity to act up a storm, though.

Will I listen to this audio again? Probably, because as I've learned by re-listening to Jubilee, it's less painful the second time around. I don't know if I'll listen to it for the story, though. The acting was good (as I've already stated many times) but the plot was rather disjointed.

The Theatre of Dreams

I listened to this audio all in one go last night, and what can I say? Well, I'll try and describe my feelings for this audio. Here goes:

The Theatre of Dreams was an absolutely stupendous audio, and I wasn't surprised to find that it was written by Johnathan Morris. Besides Bloodtide, I've loved every one of his audios that I've heard. He's truly Big Finish's best writer. (He created Flip, after all.)

A slightly scary, mind-warping premise, I loved nearly every minute of this audio, especially because it contained Duncan Wisbey's Ormond Sacker. Holy cow, the man's voice is just delicious. I haven't listened to series 1 yet (naughty me!), so this was my first outing with Sacker. I found myself looking forward to his scenes and wishing there were more of them.

Litefoot seemed at his most vulnerable here. He usually knows what's going on before any of the other characters (just look at Litefoot and Saunders), but in this one he was pretty confused for most of it. Even at the end, he wasn't quite sure whether or not he was still dreaming. Neither was I, which I'm sure is what Morris was aiming for. It was really sweet that his greatest wish was helping Ellie, but I was secretly hoping (curse my annoying shipper heart!) that his greatest wish was getting together with Jago. (They seemed to go by first-name basis a lot in this audio. Hmm.)

Speaking of which, the beginning of this audio, bizarrely enough, contains a gay character. I was absolutely delighted, and it was handled well--because as far as I know, that was absolutely not approved of back then. Unless, of course, you were rich, in which case people tend not to pry.

Funny Jago, of course. Lots of people love him, but as proved by his greatest wish, he can be quite selfish at times. On the upside, this makes his brave and clever moments all the more wonderful--and he has a few of this in Theatre.

The supporting characters, Madame Deuteronomy and Fosco, were pretty scary at times, especially Fosco's laugh. Morris's production notes, I think, mentions how delighted (and scared) everyone in the recording studio was when Alex Mallinson did that laugh for the first time. As well they should have been.

All in all, this was an amazing episode, proving once again that Jago & Litefoot is one of Big Finish's best outputs. Certainly the most consistently good.

The Shadows of Death

Although it was slow in the beginning, Simon Guerrier's wonderful writing and Frazer Hine's perfect Patrick Troughton voice soon won me over for Shadow of Death. The title seems rather generic, until you get about halfway into the story and realize how perfectly fitted to the story it is.
I loved the idea of the different rates of time in this audio. It was so inventive and rather creepy. I also adored the use of the Eleventh Doctor and the Psychic Paper, and Two's line--"'I know what I'm doing'? But that's what I always say when I don't know what I'm doing." just chilled me. The same with the realization of how long Two had spent on the base. It made me rather sad, really.
One wonders why, if Big Finish is so famous for rescuing companions, they always use the companions that are best known on the show? I feel like Zoe and Jamie are always together--can't we have more Victoria, or just Jamie and the Doctor?
I can't complain, really, since Big Finish is the source of much of my happiness. All in all, this was an enjoyable and slightly creepy hour-long play.