Four individual stories involving the Sixth Doctor and Peri that vary in quality.
Colin Baker and Nicola Bryant were the unfortunate actors who bore the brunt of Doctor Who’s initial “hiatus” in 1985. As the Doctor (in his sixth incarnation) and his companion Peri Brown respectively, they were considered at the time one of the main reasons for the show’s failings. Hindsight and time have proven this is to be largely false and Big Finish have made great strides over the last twenty years to not only redeem Baker’s Doctor but also Peri.
Normally heard in the monthly range or the occasional special release, this pairing have now been given a boxset of adventures all on their own. One suspects that this is a way for Big Finish to trial the format of classic Doctor box set releases which they are moving to when the monthly range finishes next year. This set tries valiantly to show four very different adventures but with only moderate success.
The set begins with the slow-paced The Headless Ones by James Parsons and Andrew Stirling-Brown. Set in the jungles of Africa with a convoluted plot involving finding something that threatens to rip the TARDIS from the vortex, this struggles to hold the audience’s interest. The cast do a valiant job of maintaining the action but it is hard to engage in a story that is essentially a walk through a jungle without the benefits of seeing the actual jungle.
Things pick up with Like by Jacqueline Rayner. The Doctor and Peri find themselves trying to help an alien civilisation settle on a planet run by people who are addicted to social media “likes” and “dislikes”. As a metaphor it is pretty obvious, but the humour and fake “ads” that pepper this episode absolutely make this a stand out. It is the best story in the set.
The Vanity Trap by Stuart Manning begins very well with an intriguing concept that brings our travellers to a 1970s Hollywood film set. Casting includes Rosie Baker – daughter of Colin- who puts in a fine first performance as Carolyn Sue against other outstanding performers. This episode however, does drag on towards the end and it feels almost twice as long as the other adventures on this set.
The final episode, Conflict Theory by Nev Fountain, sees the Doctor and Peri going to a spaceship full of robot Sigmund Freuds in order to sort out their differences. There is much to like about this comic romp and many fans will delight in listening to the Sixth Doctor get told some home truths about his character.
Baker and Bryant are outstanding throughout the set and continue to comfortably play their roles whatever the script may throw at them. Bryant, especially, seems to enjoy playing an older Peri who has been travelling with her Doctor for a long time. Other notable cast members are Rachel Atkins (Governor Crompton), Stephen Critchlow (Jimmy Garfield), Sarah Douglas (Myrna Kendal), Lucy Robinson (Christie), and David Sibley (Dr Freud).
Scott Handcock does his usual outstanding job in the director’s chair keeping the action rolling along as best as he can while making excellent use of Andy Hardwick’s sound and music design. There are bonus interviews and music suites to round out the extra material for the set.
Whilst there are definitely many fine moments in this release, it does feel like the Big Finish team have not quite got the balance of stories right. That being said, there is much to enjoy here and fans of this particular combination of Doctor and companion will enjoy it very much.
Reviewed by Rodney Hrvatin
Twitter: @Wagnerfan74
Distributed by: Big Finish Productions
Released: August 2020
Approx RRP: $45 CD, $20 Digital Download
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