Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Cast: Sylvester McCoy, Sophie Aldred, Philip Olivier, Amy Pemberton, Jessica Martin, Warren Brown, Jemma Churchill, Rory Keenan.

There are times, admittedly as rare as a Gallifryian rocking horse needing to excuse itself to go to the toilet, when the most manipulative of all the incarnations of The Doctor is just that little too calculating for his own good, that’s when the listener knows that they are in for a really decent ride of a story line with the Seventh Doctor and perhaps it is fitting that long standing writer Matt Fitton is the deliverer of all the problems heaped upon Hector, The Doctor and Ace in the very cool audio drama, Signs and Wonders.

The city of Liverpool, home of the finest music to come out of the U.K., a city of proud, honest, good people, of football and tradition and the finest theatre outside of Broadway and London’s stage heartland and yet on one of its lay lines, one that runs down Mathew Street and which spreads out, in the words of the song by Liverpool music giant Ian Prowse, to all it meets, something is stirring in the minds of the people, in Liverpool, in Bolton, in Barnsley and Wigan, all over the North the feeling of dread and the end of days is finally upon Humanity. Only those in the North of England will be saved, according to self-styled Prophet Rufus Stone and with Hector wanting to return to his own time and life in Liverpool, who is going to save the populace from what lurks under the River Mersey?

Matt Fitton has done what so few writers have done before him and brought a city, other than London, to life, and done in such spectacular fashion. To those who at least in part understand Liverpool and its people well, to have the voice of a city captured so intelligently, its monuments and clubs so well explained in a science fiction drama audio is one that just wants to find Mr. Fitton and either give him a huge Whoverian hug or at the very least ask Big Finish when they are going to explore other possibilities. There are lots of stories in Liverpool, an abundance of lost ghosts and cunning relics left over from a bygone and sadly more current age.

Sign and Wonders sees what could be the finale in the life of Thomas ‘Hex’ Schofield and Sally Morgan. Philip Olivier has once more sounded intriguing and complex a character and rightly has deserved this resolution to a story that has been playing along for a number of years and in one that he has taken the character of Hex to some outstanding heights. It is the link between the soldier Sally Morgan and Ace, portrayed by Amy Pemberton and the ever enjoyable Sophie Aldred, in which makes this particular story a captivating listen. The decisions in which Hex must choose between two very different lives is a painful one, but one that ultimately must be asked.

With an enemy which can mentally impart the knowledge of your manner of death being a cohesive theme throughout the two hours, it could have led to many a fickle moment, especially when looking at the life of two characters no longer on screen, it takes skill to get round that tricky conversation but Matt Fitton’s ability and his knowledge of the Doctor Who series is such that it is a question in which brings a smile to the face of the fans rather than dwelling on the time to come.

With a story resolved, a life put back in place and a city saved from its very lifeblood, Sign and Wonders is the perfect way to finish off Sylvester McCoy’s current season at Big Finish.

Doctor Who: Signs And Wonders is available to purchase from Worlds Apart in Liverpool.

Ian D. Hall