Tag Archives: John Dorney

Solitaire, Companion Chronicles. Audio Review. Big Finish.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Cast: India Fisher, David Ballie.

Of all the companions to have stepped foot inside the Tardis, arguably one of the most much loved is Charlotte Elspeth Pollard. Having travelled with Paul McGann’s eighth Doctor incarnation from their first meeting in the excellent Storm Warning, through adventures such as Invaders From Mars, the sublime The Chimes of Midnight and to the fitting finale with her time with eighth Doctor The Girl Who Never Was, fans of Big Finish recognised something in her make-up, the way she handled herself when times were grave that placed her with the likes of Jamie, Tegan and Sarah Jane in terms of most admired and valued companions.

Solitaire, Companion Chronicles. Audio Review. Big Finish. full post

(575 words, estimated 2:18 mins reading time)

Doctor Who: The Light At The End. Big Finish Audio Drama.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

Cast: Tom Baker, Peter Davison, Colin Baker, Sylvester McCoy, Paul McGann, Louise Jameson, Sarah Sutton, Nicola Bryant, Sophie Aldred, India Fisher, Geoffrey Beevers, Carole Ann Ford, William Russell, Frazer Hines, Peter Purves, Maureen O’Brien, Jean Marsh, Anneka Wills, Wendy Padbury, Katy Manning, Janet Fielding, Mark Strickson, Benedict Briggs, Nicholas Briggs, Oliver Hume, John Dorney.

Doctor Who: The Light At The End. Big Finish Audio Drama. full post

(830 words, estimated 3:19 mins reading time)

Jago & Litefoot: Swan Song. Series Three, Audio Drama Review. Big Finish.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Ration 9/10

Cast: Christopher Benjamin, Trevor Baxter, Louise Jameson, Conrad Asquith, Lisa Bowerman, Abigail Hollick, Hywel Morgan, Andrew Westfield, Philip Bretherton.

The power of a performance, the emotional resonance that bleeds across the stage from the actor to the audience and out in the open world as word of mouth and newspaper columns declare the genius of the words spoken, not only get stuck in the minds of those that see it, they also bleed through the walls of the theatre as if being used as a storage device; feeding and growing until it can take no more. Such is the theory that a building can hold the echoes of the past; it is the premise that sees Jago and Litefoot’s latest adventure in series three take on the voices and images of a story that could be their Swan Song.

Jago & Litefoot: Swan Song. Series Three, Audio Drama Review. Big Finish. full post

(527 words, estimated 2:06 mins reading time)

Doctor Who: The Final Phase, Big Finish Audio Play 2.07.

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.

Doctor Who: The Final Phase, Big Finish Audio Play 2.07. full post

(532 words, estimated 2:08 mins reading time)

Doctor Who: The Dalek Contract. Big Finish Audio Play 2.06.

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.

It is rightly considered one of the classic moments of Doctor Who ever; faced with the opportunity to eradicate the evil of The Daleks forever, Tom Baker’s incarnation of the man from Gallifrey chose to set them back 1,000 years in their evolution rather than commit genocide of the most hated race and feared in the universe.

Doctor Who: The Dalek Contract. Big Finish Audio Play 2.06. full post

(545 words, estimated 2:11 mins reading time)

Doctor Who, War Against The Laan. Big Finish Audio Play, 2.03. Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Cast: Tom Baker, Mary Tamm, David Warner, Hayley Atwell, Jane Slavin, Toby Hadoke, Hugh Fraser, Nicholas Biggs, John Dorney, Beth Chalmers.

With The Lann about to destroy Earth as billions of the species mistake the planet as their own personal birthing pool, the second part of the two part story by Nicholas Briggs takes on one of those great sidesteps and gives fans something else to chew over and digest. Rather than the thought of interplanetary war between two species, the subtext offers something different, something not implemented in the Doctor Who world for a long while.

Doctor Who, War Against The Laan. Big Finish Audio Play, 2.03. Review. full post

(655 words, estimated 2:37 mins reading time)

Doctor Who, The Sands Of Life. Big Finish Audio Play 2.02.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Cast: Tom Baker, Mary Tamm, John Leeson, Hayley Atwell, David Warner, Toby Hadoke, Jane Slavin, Duncan Wisbey, Nicholas Briggs, Beth Chalmers, John Dorney.

The Earth is in peril once more and The Doctor and Romana are again caught up between aliens and humanity in what could be the end of all sentient life on the planet. However, the aliens are doing what they need to do to survive, there is a bigger villain at large and it seems they control everything, except for time.

Doctor Who, The Sands Of Life. Big Finish Audio Play 2.02. full post

(531 words, estimated 2:07 mins reading time)

Doctor Who, The Renaissance Man. Big Finish Audio Play. 1.02

Originally published by L.S. Media. February 25th 2012.

L.S. Media Rating ****

Cast: Tom Baker, Louise Jameson, Ian McNeice, Gareth Armstrong, Anthony Howell, Daisy Ashford, Laura Molyneux, John Dorney.

A little knowledge is a dangerous thing. In the world of Doctor Who it can lead to downright murder! The second of Big Finish’s new Tom Baker stories, The Renaissance Man, shows with a certain delightful irony that just because you may think you know everything, doesn’t mean you have experienced it and of course there is always just that little bit more to know, even if it’s on the relative value of cow parsley.

Doctor Who, The Renaissance Man. Big Finish Audio Play. 1.02 full post

(641 words, 1 image, estimated 2:34 mins reading time)

Doctor Who, Energy Of The Daleks. Big Finish Audio Play 1.04.

Originally published by L.S. Media. April 22nd 2012

L.S. Media Rating ****

Cast: Tom Baker, Louise Jameson, Alex Lowe, Mark Benton, Caroline Keiff, Dan Starkey, John Dorney, Nicholas Briggs.

Tom Baker’s incarnation and time as the fourth Doctor was never better than when he faced off against the scourge of Skaro, The Daleks. In Nicholas Briggs’ latest story for Big Finish, Energy Of The Daleks, Tom Baker is once more pitted against one of his greatest enemies and even though it was the first story that was recorded for the return of Tom Baker, there is much to admire in the delivery and the script.

Doctor Who, Energy Of The Daleks. Big Finish Audio Play 1.04. full post

(446 words, 1 image, estimated 1:47 mins reading time)