The Big Finish Catch Up: August 2014

For anyone new to this part of the blog, I'm quite a big Doctor Who fan who also listens to the audios produced by Big Finish. I used to listen to them as they were released but over the years I've fallen behind to the extent where a few months ago I realised I was a decade behind. This part of the blog is where I review Big Finish releases (some recent some from yesteryear) that I have recently heard. Anyway last month I listened to...

The 10th Doctors entry into the Destiny of the Doctor range features Catherine Tate reading a story penned by Darren Jones. On a production front Catherine does an excellent job of recreating Donna Noble and does a very good 10th Doctor. However the story she's reading isn't up to much, I've virtually forgotten most of it when I come to write this up, bar from a tense scene with a worm it just isn't up to much. It just isn't an audio book, it feels like it was written for a two disc full cast audio release then edited to death and chopped down for the audio book format. In short in a series that has had some unexpectedly high quality releases this is disappointing.

As I've constantly said this section of the blog is me trying to catch up with Big Finishes releases, however sometimes I'll hear about a release that tempts me to jump ahead. This new box set of Bernice Summerfield stories featuring the virgin new adventures team of the 7th Doctor and Ace is one of them. To round them up to the two hour releases I'm familiar with I listened to "The Revolution" and "Goodnight Sweet Ladies." The first story is one of the best comedies Big Finish have produced with a cracking little plot that had me laughing through the whole thing. The second story is a highly emotional story that shows the dexterity of Benny with a more traditional tale for the archaeologist. At the half way point I highly recommend this box set, there is a running plot that links the stories but thankfully it doesn't dominate the stories.

The Song of the Megaptera is part of the lost story range and a story that was in contention to make it onto the screen during the Colin Baker era. The strength of this range is that it has taken stories that have become legend in fandom and given us some cracking stories of which this is one. This is a fantastic little story and would have been a cracker on TV, although it would have blown the budget. Like "The Revolution" we have a cracking plot, a swift pace and some funny characters. When a lost story works you come away wishing it could have made in on screen as a part of the TV series, theres a picture on the inside of this cover that really makes me wish it could have. In short if you can only afford to buy one or two stories from this range make this one a contender.