The Big Finish Catch-Up September 2021 - December 2021

For those of you new to this section of the blog, I started listening to the Big Finish Doctor Who releases when they started back in 1999, getting them as they were released up to mid 2002 and release No 33 Neverland. At that time I left Uni and due to being a bit busy with life and what not I only heard one or two releases over the next few years. I started getting back into them around 2008 and was 6 years behind at that point. Due to wondering off into the Lost Doctor range and a relaxed listening pace I fell further behind. In order to catch up I'm listening to two releases a month (or more when its a 60 min single disc release, plus without seeing the cover or knowing anything about the story) and my mission to catch up continues; 

However as I've fallen behind its time for some snap reviews of the last years of my Big Finish listening, these contain first time listens and relistens to old favourites: 

The Maltese Penguin - A lovely subscriber special from the early years with a big helping of Frobisher 8/10.

Sympathy for the Devil - An interesting twist as we see a "what if UNIT faced all those invasions without The Doctor" with two melancholy performances from David Warner and Nicholas Courtney. A release where the performances and ending are more engaging than the story 7/10.

Brave New Town - A well plotted "twist story" that is always engaging and has some memorable characters 8/10.

Exile - A rare wrong turn for Big Finish that comes over as transphobic, unfunny and nasty -10/10.

45 - A combination of four episodic stories with a joint theme featuring the 7th Doctor, Ace and Hex. Absolute fun as the regulars are thrown into some fast paced short stories 9/10.

Out of Time - A fun fast paced story as the 4th and 10th Doctors are paired up for some fun with the Daleks 8/10

Return of the Krotons - Fun subscriber special with a notable guest appearance from Philip Madoc 6/10.

Legion of the Lost - First story of the War Doctors second box set, John Hurt is immense but the story feels unsatisfyingly Doctorish 6/10.

Full Fathom Five - Another "unbound" story that gets better with a re-listen as no attempt is made to hide the stories twist 7/10.

Thoughts on Game of Thrones: The Mountain and the Viper

I've decided to put some thoughts of some notable Game of Thrones episodes as I go through them for the first time so obviously beware spoilers. There's a wonderful structural form to this episode as we start off in the North and as we catch up with different characters events take us further South. Also we start with a Wildling from the furthest North we've been being unexpectedly saved and end with someone from the Southernmost point of Westeros being unexpectedly killed after it looks like he's about to win a trial by combat. A very different start to finish and an episode that takes us on a journey where possibly the most engrossing scene is the finale.

The Wildlings are getting closer and closer to Castle Black. They're taking their time but due to Gilly and the baby being in the town they sack we finally have a raid that has a stake in it for the viewer.

Over the narrow sea one of the constants of the show from the very start is taken away as Jorah and Daenerys part ways. This is a pivotal moment for the series as they have been together from the start and for a long time Jorah was the only practical resource she had. Its rather heart breaking to see Robert Baratheon's signature showing that Jorah's treachery stems from so early in the show. The visual of allies who joined later preventing Jorah from reaching Daenerys is both powerful and a visual representation of how far she's come since episode one.

At Arryn we get a little bit of politics as Littlefinger passes his murder of Lysa's off as suicide. Sansa's assistance is most interesting as is the prospect of Arya arriving at the castle with The Hound. Arya herself provides some amusement at her reaction to Lysa's death.

Theon continues to show how he's regressed as he betrays more of the Iron Islanders. The Bolton's now look like they have control of the entire North. Ramsay continues to be my most loathed in a panto villain like character - a position he took from Theon - although it is lovely to see him rewarded by being officially inducted as a Bolton.

Finally the titular fight as Oberyn Martell takes on The Mountain in Tyrion's trial by combat. Coming at the end it did feel like we weren't going to visit Kings Landing this episode. However we get the moment that I expect this episode is remembered for as we get a fight scene with a shocking swerve at the end which takes it up to 10/10. This fight is expertly directed and is beautiful, it is reminiscent of the fight scenes from the film Troy with an unexpected flavour of The Princess Bride. Memorable as a scene in its own right it is also tide firmly to the plot as we're thrown into the end credits things don't look good for Tyrion and I look forward to seeing what happens next.

Lost - Catch 22

This is without doubt a beautiful episode, with a big time event for the series as a whole. For the first time we get to see Desmonds visions from his point of view. Not only this we get to see Desmond trying to understand and come to terms with them - he comes to the wrong conclusions but its fascinating to see how worked up he gets trying to make his vision comes true.

The flashback is good as well as at first it looks like an in-joke explaining why Desmond calls people "brother" all the time. Like in the present part of the episode we see him making decisions and coming to the wrong answers. However in a wonderful twist we find out that the flashback is the tale of how he meets Penny as she turns up unexpectedly right at the end.

There's a little bit of fluff about the Jack - Kate - Sawyer love triangle but its very uninteresting. Of note is Charlie and Jin doing a lot more than usual as is the reveal we have a new character who is somehow linked to Desmond, 9/10.

Deep Space Nine - Dax

This is a really nice episode with a simple mission statement, help the viewers understand what a Trill is. I'm watching the series with my sister whose never watched it before and at the end she had a firm understanding of who Jadzia Dax is, her relationship with Sisko and is looking forward to seeing more of her as we go forward. The trial format adds an element of danger to the episode as its blatantly obvious that if Dax gets extradited she's going to pay for what is possibly Curzons crime.

Most of the other regulars get something to do this episode, from taking a part in the hearing to doing some investigating - in fact the only criticism I have is the one who gets the least to do is arguably Dax whose job for the episode is to be centre stage when the storm rages around her. But I'm willing to shrug this off as it feels like a gateway episode to bring Dax onto centre stage from the side lines.

Its a notable guest cast this week as we get Gregory Itzin off of 24, Anne Haney off of Liar Liar (and loads more) and Fionnula Flanagan off of Lost. Between them all they were fairly regular irregulars and all help power the episode. It's a strong 7/10 from me.