Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *
Cast: Colin Baker, James Wilby, Kirsty Besterman, Joseph Kloska, Jane Slavin, Chris Porter, John Banks, Chook Sibtain, Carol Noakes.
The Acheron Pulse is the second of the latest three part mini-series from Big Finish and it seems that the Doctor is fashionably late but as ever when there is trouble to be found he is there when you most need him most and even though he just doesn’t exactly get there with no severe consequences having had taken place.
The second story sees Colin Baker’s incarnation as the Sixth Doctor come face to face with Igris once more but with a more malevolent twist in store for the Drashani and their new allies, the warrior like people of Cawdor. The past for the people of the Drashani is interlinked with the Doctor’s actions of 30 years previous and an old friend turns out to be a little more than he ever seemed.
Where Peter Davison’s Doctor never seems to be quite right without a companion by his side; his compassion is sometimes tested without anyone to pull him back from a brink that could be irreversible, Colin Baker’s Doctor almost revels in the loneliness and solitude that time affords him. Although the sixth Doctor has had some of the great companions in the radio series created by Big Finish, Charley Pollard, Peri and Evelyn to name but three, but the stories in which he exists in his own perdition and lonely purgatory are amongst the best produced.
As the leader/designer of The Wrath, Tenebris may not come across as one of the ultimate villains of the Doctor Who canon but it is his presence that brings the actions of the past in to full light and the disturbing nature of the creatures from the first story in the trilogy into sharp demanding focus. The listener is left to question the morality of beasts and who are the real monsters in the audio play. James Wilby is a much underrated actor who has numerous credits to his name but on something as fan dedicated as the Doctor Who universe is, he will surely get some of the recognition that has been eluding him.
The only disappointment in the piece was that of Chook Sibtain. An actor of genuine warmth and ability, to hear him portray his character, Athrid, as some sort of vile mix between Mel Gibson’s William Wallace and Ray Winstone’s Beowulf has the effect of feeling underwhelmed and unsympathetic to the actor’s role. So unsympathetic is the character, it is possible to lose yourself in believing that any moment he will shout out, “I have come to kill your Doctor.”
The overreaching theme of Rick Briggs’ story is one of revenge and redemption, whether the redemption belongs to the Doctor or the supposed scourge of the Drashani is up for debate but the old adage of, “He who seeks revenge had better dig two graves.” is never really far from the listeners thoughts and will continue to pray on the minds of the listener when the seventh Doctor returns tro finish the excellent set of plays.
The Acheron Pulse is available to buy from Worlds Apart on Lime Street.
Ian D. Hall