Another solid effort from Big Finish at recreating the Jon Pertwee era of the show.
One year after the previous volume in this set of successful audio adventures, Big Finish has gifted us with the next volume in the remarkable series featuring Tim Treloar’s take on the Third Doctor. Over the last few years, Treloar’s Third Doctor (much like David Bradley’s version of the First Doctor) has managed to find a life of its own. This volume has opened up the doors to two eras of the Pertwee years that have been largely untouched in previous sets.
Whereas previous volumes have
Things get off to a very traditional start with the first story, The Unzal Invasion by Mark Wright. This sees UNIT on the brink of a major shake-up with Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart (voiced to perfection once again by Jon Culshaw) and his men being replaced by a new hit squad under the direction of Sgt. Attah (a wonderful performance by Mischa Malcolm). Elsewhere, Liz and the Doctor are working on a new system of radar to allow for
Despite some lulls in the action in the middle episodes, this moves along at a fairly brisk pace and the listener is also treated to a cameo from Bessie—the Doctor’s beloved Edwardian car.
The second story, The Gulf by Tim Foley, sees the Doctor and Sarah Jane venture to an ocean planet with a toxic purple sea. Finding themselves on an abandoned rig that has now become an artistic retreat, it soon transpires that the artists have been using the toxic water as paint. Once again, the Doctor is forced to put his life on the line in order to save the planet and the inhabitants
The story is fairly thin on the ground and struggles to maintain interest over the four episodes but a solid supporting cast including Lucy Goldie (Laurel), Bethan Walker (Lynette) and the legendary Wendy Craig (Marta) bring solid performances to complement the leads.
Throughout both stories, Nicholas Briggs directs and provides the music for this series as he has done in the past. As noted in earlier reviews, his love of this era shines through and there are many subtle (and not so subtle) nods to this era—this includes a tip of the hat to the tacky single “I Am The Doctor” that Pertwee recorded in the ‘70s! Benji Clifford and Luke Pietnik also provide a top-shelf sound mix throughout.
This is a remarkable series that continues to
Reviewed by Rodney Hrvatin
Twitter: @Wagnerfan74
Distributed by: Big Finish Productions
Released: May 2021
Approx RRP: $65 CD, $30 Digital Download