Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 7/10

Cast: Tom Baker, Mary Tamm, John Leeson, David Warner, Toby Hadoke, Dominic Mafham, Jane Slavin, Nicholas Briggs, John Dorney.

If for nothing else, and to be fair there is a lot of emotion running through this last episode of Tom Baker’s second series for Big Finish. For fans of the classic series of Doctor Who, the final moments and words of May Tamm as the compelling Lady Romana as she admits to want to carry on travelling with The Doctor in the Tardis and keep an eye on him are filled with a deep and lasting regret as this would be the last the devotees and story addicts will ever get to hear new and well-polished expressions by one of the finest actors to step on board the Tardis.

The loss of Mary Tamm in 2012 struck a huge blow in the psyche of the show and following on in almost quick succession from Elizabeth Sladen and Caroline John, seemed to cast a deep and dark shadow across the series and after each C.D. release, the time to say goodbye to a fan favourite drew ever closer. It seems kind of prophetic that the final episode of Series Two is called The Final Phase, for all the heightened emotion as the Daleks, voiced as ever by the sublime Nicholas Briggs, show their true plan and the CEO Cuthbert starts to see his life’s ambition go down the route of being owned and abused by the tyrannical pepper-pots. It is with more than half a sense of the finality of life that the listener will be taking note of Mary Tamm’s dulcet tones and lamenting a sad passing in the family.

The story itself sees the culmination of a near season long arc in which David Warner and Toby Hadoke have emerged as great stars of the fourth doctor’s incarnation and the only thing missing was the return of Hayley Atwell as the newly incumbent President to round of the series to give it that extra impetus that would have seen the series go out on a high. However in David Warner, a star of incredible magnitude being involved, Tom Baker’s Doctor had the perfect foil, something that was needed to make sure that listeners come back for Series Three.

Whilst some stories may not quite have hit the mark, the sound of the Dalek Supreme barking out orders, Tom Baker being so wonderfully mischievous, Toby Hadoke capturing the very essence of what it means to be terrified of the monsters from Skaro and the inevitable shedding of many tears as listeners say goodbye to a legend for a second time make this as good as ending as was possible bearing in mind the loss.

Tom Baker will always be one of the considered favourites of all fans to have played The Doctor, his humour in the role only matched by David Tennant, because of this; there will always be room in the heart for this great man and his portrayal of the man from Gallifrey.

Big Finish’s The Final Phase is available to purchase from Worlds Apart on Lime Street, Liverpool.

Ian D. Hall