Good afternoon lady and gentle readers, recently it was Big Finishes 21st anniversary of releasing Doctor Who output. Blimey 21 years, what better way to celebrate than with a list and for your pleasure I have ranked the first 100 releases of The Big Finish monthly range. This is the second round of the rankings taking from 90-81. Enjoy!
90. ...ish, there are so many good things about this play set at a conference of lexicographers. It is the perfect story for Colin Bakers Doctor, it is perhaps one of the most quotable stories of this range and as I'm typing this many moments are waltzing into my brain to be remembered. Sadly this story is down low due to what it isn't rather than what it is. This story would make a perfect one parter or even two parter, its a shame it wasn't produced later in the series where imo it would have been produced as such. As such its padded - there is a lot to like about this story however there is a lot of standing around and talking to reach it.
89. The Rapture, at its best this story is trippy weird stuff which I will happily hit the dance floor for. When this story is at its best I haven't got a clue whats going on which I'm happy for - the stuff with Tony Blackburn is brilliant. However the rest of story is a bit "sensible shoes" not fitting in with the rest of it. The setting in late 90s Ibiza is not my jam, theres a lot of stuff to like here which is combined with other aspects which are not for me. If anything this one is down low due to my personal taste rather than quality.
88. Frozen Time, this is another story which could rise on a re-listen as I've only heard it once and its down this low for a daft reason. At the time of release a lot of the previous releases had three and one episode plays, as I got to the end of episode three I was thinking "its been OK, hopefully the one part story will give this release a boost" and then we had an extra episode of a story that already felt like it was coming to an end. As a story it does interesting things without absorbing me as a listener, from memory it looks like we're going to get a crossover with two villains / monsters at one point which doesn't happen. It feels rather lethargic in terms of story feel as the 7th Doctor towards the end of his incarnation is a strange beast. I wanted to like it more than I did and hopefully in the future I will.
87.The Twilight Kingdom, the end of the 8th Doctors third season and we're still in the divergent universe. As a story its very good, interesting in the right bits a good bit of intrigue and memorable. However against it we're still in the divergent universe story arc which is becoming a slog - it would get better in the next season but this story feels slightly out of place and would certainly benefit from a listening in isolation of the preceding stories.
86. The Next Life, its the end of an era. This is the last story Paul McGann would have as the current Doctor and for the next few years his stories would be one off and not in seasons. It mirrors the Divergent arc in many ways - its long and a bit of a slog. I feel that everything from the last two seasons are wrapped up and its satisfying that we're coming back to the main universe. The casting is outstanding with Daphne Ashbrook and Anneke Wills doing very good plus we've got Paul Darrow commanding our ears with his typical performance (Michael Keating was in the Twilight Kingdom for a Blakes 7 link). I often find myself defending this story as its absolutely riveting on a first listen, the middle episodes turn into a giant info dump centred around a hunt and C'rizz standing by a well. However the start is excellent and the end is really blooming good.
85. Something Inside, a tight moody thriller in a big box with an ace reference to Liverpool FCs Champions League win.
84. Catch 1782, ooooh the 6th Doctor and Mel! A team that has become a delight through Big Finish. A lovely little story that feels out of place spread over four episodes. I'm not too crazy about the resolution but it is a rather charming tale.
83. The Mutant Phase, the 5th Doctor and Nyssa are another lineup that have become a firm favourite due to Big Finish. Its a very moody story with dashings of story but it lacks a central point to hang this story around as there's no central location and a bit of TARDIS hopping. It ties in with an early Big Finish range - Dalek Empire and sees the third outing of the Daleks in the main range. The early episodes are quite good and a couple of my fan buttons were pressed. Its down low as it feels like Peter Davison and Big Finish haven't got quite to grips with the 5th Doctor.
82. Davros, a solo 6th Doctor encounters Davros. As a story this is possibly the most boring one in the first 100 releases mainly due to the fact globalisation bores the socks off me. However everything else about this release is cracking especially the performances, the cast is outstanding Colin Baker, Terry Molloy, Wendy Padbury and Bernard Horsfall lift the material.
81. Exotron, the first story on this ranking featuring a three part story and a single part story called Urban Myths. Unlike most releases of this nature where one story is usually a lot better than the other they are both good. Urban Myths is a proper fun laugh and Exotron is a good value thriller - high recommended and not talked about enough.
In this section there are a lot of stories which are quite nice and lovely mixed with stories that should be better and are brought down by some aspect.
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