picture from Big Finish.com

Originally published by L.S. Media. October 26th 2011.

Cast: Paul McGann, Julie Cox, Gareth Armstrong, Christian Brassington, David Schneider, Gwilym Lee, Claire Wyatt, Nicholas Briggs.

L.S. Media rating **** Stars

From the opening moments of The Silver Turk, Big Finish’s October release of Doctor Who audio plays, you can’t help but notice the changes. For a start the music, though obviously the Doctors unmistakable theme, is different from anything that has accompanied Paul McGann’s incarnation of the time travelling detective. It has a more sinister feel to it and fits in well with the premise of the story arc and where listeners of Big Finish left the Doctor at the end of Paul McGann’s stand-alone series four, the ominous and brooding To the Death.

That though is not the only new part to the continuing adventures of the Time Lord. He also has a new companion in the guise of Mary Shelley and the creator of the much loved horror story Frankenstein and who is more than a match for the time traveller. If this sounds familiar to loyal listeners of the series then the fact that Mary has been mentioned before during Paul McGann’s tenure, notably as a throw away lines which tempted fans to ask whether the writer would ever appear in a story outside of the Companion Series or was it just one of those moments where the Doctor lies.

For some fans of the Series it may feel like a slight of hand, a cheat to get out of the menace the Doctor felt at losing his companion of four series, lucie Miller and his grandson Alex Campbell to the terror of the Daleks. Certainly it may feel like that as it gave the Doctor an edge that fitted in well with the television series and Chris Eccleston’s portrayal of a wounded and angry Doctor. However the great thing about Paul McGann’s characterisation is that there is a tangible and real air of love he feels for humanity interwoven throughout all his stories and by going back in the timeline of the Doctor’s adventures, it gives the writers a chance to show off the man’s acting qualities off but also leaving the door open at some point to explain what happens to the Doctor after he loses seemingly everything he cares about.

The Silver Turk is a story that reunites the Doctor with some of his greatest ever adversaries, namely the Cybermen. Not though the new and oddly buff ones associated with the television series but the decaying versions of old, more human, more realistic and harking images neatly to inspiration to Mary’s novel. It also brings again neatly the idea of continuations and endings as Paul McGann’s last audio as part of the major series was the superb The Girl Who Never Was which saw him defeat the Cybermen alongside his much loved companion Charley Pollard.

The cast of The Silver Turk is strong one as is really expected when re-launching a much loved icon. It features the talent of David Schneider, Claire Wyatt and of course Nicholas Briggs as the decaying Cybermen.  The part of Mary Shelley is portrayed brilliantly by Julie Cox, keeping the cannon alive by reprising her role from the Companion Series tale, Mary’s Story.

Julie Cox captures the imagination of the young Mary Shelley perfectly, her charm and understanding is above reproach and hopefully will her stay as the companion to Paul McGann for a long time to come and in much the same mould as one of her predecessors India Fisher. Of course though, nothing in Doctor Who is simple or straight forward. Only Time will tell.

Ian D. Hall