Audio Catchup: Three First Doctor Stories featuring William Russell

What if William Russell read every Big Finish story, whether he was in it or not? The world would be a better place, that's what.  Recently I listened to:

• Doctor Who: The Companion Chronicles #7.01: The Time Museum by James Goss
• Doctor Who: The Lost Stories #3.7: The Masters of Luxor by Anthony Coburn (adapted by Nigel Robinson)

Though both are good looks back at the earliest Doctor Who on the eve of its 50th anniversary, The Masters of Luxor is great a perfect recreation of the 1963/64 era, yet something new and different... which is quite an accomplishment for a story from that time! On the other hand, The Time Museum manages to present an oft-referenced onscreen moment in an entirely new and interesting light, which I was not expecting.

Audio Catchup: Doctor Who: The Companion Chronicles: The Revenants

written by Ian Potter
directed by Lisa Bowerman
released May 2012

starring
William Russell as Ian Chesterton
Sharon Small as Jeannie / Janet

Doctor Who: The Companion Chronicles: The Revenants

For the third time in a row, the bonus Big Finish release with Doctor Who Magazine (included as a free download) is a Companion Chronicle-style audio. The Revenants, written by Ian Potter, features William Russell playing Ian Chesterton in a story set between The Dalek Invasion of Earth and The Rescue, a tantalising but seemingly little-used period where the Doctor travelled with only Ian and Barbara. (The only full-length story set in this gap is a Missing Adventure, Venusian Lullaby.)

With Susan gone, the Doctor’s decided to get Ian and Barbara home as well, doing some calculations that get the TARDIS closer to 1963 London than it’s ever gotten before. But the TARDIS takes off before the Doctor can step out, meaning that Ian and Barbara are left alone in a strange marsh. This sequence, about a third of the way through the story, is without a doubt its best part. The combination of Potter’s writing, Russell’s narration, and Toby Hrycek-Robinson’s sound design makes this part completely absorbing, utterly chilling, and even a little frightening. Never thought I’d say that for a swamp!

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Audio Catchup: Two First Doctor Companion Chronicles by Simon Guerrier

written by Simon Guerrier
directed by Lisa Bowerman
released November 2011

starring
Peter Purves as Steven Taylor
Tom Allen as Oliver Harper

Doctor Who: The Companion Chronicles #6.05: The First Wave

Having enjoyed The Perpetual Bond and glorified The Cold Equations, you might imagine that I was a wee bit excited to get ahold of the final part of the Oliver Harper trilogy, The First Wave. As with the other two, this release was written by Simon Guerrier, directed by Lisa Bowerman, produced by David Richardson, and sound designed by Richard Fox and Lauren Yason. It stars, once again, Peter Purves as Steven Taylor and Tom Allen as Oliver Harper.

The First Wave isn’t quite as immersive in the 1960s as its predecessors were, but it still has a feeling of staunch emotional realism for all the characters involved, but especially Steven. Steven has rarely been treated so well as a character as in The Cold Equations, and that trend continues here. Once again, the characters are in a space environment that lets Steven shine but also feels utterly real — and completely resonant with the emotional tone of the story. The First Wave takes place on an mostly airless planetoid at the fringes of the solar system, and the starkness mirrors Steven’s mood. He’s seen Katarina and Sara die… and the Doctor too. How can he and Oliver possibly survive this one?

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written by Simon Guerrier
directed by Ken Bentley
released January 2012

starring
Peter Purves as Steven Taylor
Jean Marsh as Sara Kingdom

Doctor Who: The Companion Chronicles #6.07: The Anachronauts

What was good? The three Companion Chronicles by Simon Guerrier about Sara Kingdom. What was great? The three Companion Chronicles by Simon Guerrier about Steven Taylor. So what could possibly be even greater except a Companion Chronicle by Simon Guerrier featuring both Jean Marsh and Peter Purves as Sara and Steven? Doctor Who: The Anachronauts, this year’s double-disc/double-voiced Companion Chronicle is exactly that, uniting the Doctor, Steven, and Sara in the gap in the middle of The Daleks’ Master Plan.

The story picks up right from the end of The Feast of Steven with the TARDIS crew celebrating Christmas when the Ship collides with another timeship in the Vortex. The crews of both ships are flung on an alien beach, beginning a journey that will take Steven and Sara into an alien jungle, the depths of the TARDIS itself, and East Berlin during the Cold War…

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