Big Finish Monthly Ranked 15-11

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 15-11. As usual beware spoilers and enjoy!

15. Thicker Than Water, we're wondering into areas that I never expected Big Finish to go into here. Its an emotional story as Sixy decides to take Mel to see Evelyn and we see how and what she got up to after leaving The Doctor. Its an emotional story and an integral part of a story line throughout the main range. We get a cameo from a character who should be year and its in character that they are here. This feels like a loving bow out from Maggie Stables and at the time of writing I am reaching release number 120 and have no idea if I'll ever hear her again. Cudos to Big Finish for making me care about her.

14. Minuet in Hell, the final story in the 8th Doctors first season. Many people find this story annoying and stupid where I find it daft as a brush and bonkers. The Brigadier gets to meet the 8th Doctor and the crazyness with Gideon Crane is my kind of dark psychological horror. Daft and silly but I like it.

13. The Genocide Machine, the first appearance by the Daleks taking on the 7th Doctor and Ace in the opening part of The Dalek Empire arc. Its a lovely romp that starts with the Doctor returning some library books and escalates to the Daleks trying to take over one of the biggest repositories of knowledge in the universe. The Daleks appearing is just magic and this is the story I think of (ahead of the TV stories) when I imagine the sound design.

12. Loups-Garoux, as I said earlier in this list Mark Strickson turns up so infrequently as Turlough it still feels like a novelty when he does. Big Finish get Turlough, he's a fantastic character but a rubbish companion. Here we have a story featuring werewolves and having a companion whose first instinct is to run and lock themselves away in the TARDIS adds so much to the story. Rather than horror this release scores high because of its presentation of Brazil, the werewolf community and Peter Davison who after taking a while to get into the swing of things is in fine form.

11. The Marian Conspiracy, here we have it the origin story of Evelyn. What a fantastic character and what a fantastic performance by Maggie Stables. Those early scenes where she meets the 6th Doctor are pure magical and this is the first step of Colin Baker taking the Sixth Doctor in the direction he didn't get to go on TV. The initial mystery of what is happening to Evelyn and the journey back to the time of Queen Mary are intriguing. More importantly this is Big Finishes first deep dive into the past, they'd tip toed around historical stories before but this is the first time they flex their muscles. Without this story the range becomes more limited and we don't get a number of my favourite stories as well as at least one yet to come in this list.

Big Finish Monthly Range Ranked: 20-16

 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 20-16. As usual beware spoilers and enjoy!

20. Omega, its the 5th Doctors entry into the villain trilogy in the build up to Zagreus with this being my favourite entry in the trilogy. Omega is one of those characters that have a lot of story in them and hasn't  been used much over the years so its quite the treat when he does come up. Apart from his two televised stories this is the first time I've come across him and I'm happy to say there is a trend of leaving Omega in a more interesting place than when we found him. I love this story, its playing games with the listener - bait and switch on multiple occasions. We're constantly on the back foot, where are we, how did we get here, is this really the right time to be referencing Talking Heads? Certain information we get during this story is wrong, which we work out fairly early on but the crux of the story is why its wrong. Up until the end of episode three nothing makes sense and then something happens that changes the nature of this play. On top of that we still have a quarter of the action to go and the story is still developing. There is a lot going on in this entry, I'd recommend watching the two Omega TV stories before listening. If you don't you'll get nothing from this story, if you do you get a heck of a play with very good re-listen value.

19. Colditz, Nazis the old Doctor Who metaphor, until we get to the seventh Doctor era where they started popping up on a regular basis. Its the 7th Doctor and Ace going up against Nazis but this time on their own territory in their own time in Colditz ****ing Castle! Full of references to the TV series and board game this part of the story is at times ripping yarns and harrowing. But wait theres more! Theres a timey wimey plot as well! We get the introduction of Elizabeth Klein and she's got about as many secrets as the 7th Doctor usually has. We have a multi layered play full of novelty value for an early appearance of David Tenant, of interest for introducing Klein and a tight intriguing play in its own right.

18. Flip-Flop, if you asked me to name one writer I've encountered in Doctor Who spinoff that I'd like to see go on to bigger and better things (who hasn't all ready) it would be Jonathan Morris. I first came across him with the book Festival of Death and since then his stuff has a high hit rate with me. This story is from the experimental stage that Big Finish went through in 2003 and sees the 7th Doctor and Mel in a story where the two discs can be listened to in either order. The play is absolutely nailed to the plot with no moment to breathe but personally I love this aspect. I've heard this story on multiple occasions in both orders and the story still works. Its a proper bonkers timey wimey comedy as opposed to the timey wimey serious story that was the previous entry. The story doesn't come with first or second discs it comes with black and white discs. Amazingly if you listen to the black disc first its a much darker story. recommended Highly!

17. Creatures of Beauty, its another 2003 experimental story this time with the 5th Doctor and Nyssa. Its also slightly timey wimey as the story is told out of order offering more multi listen value. We start the story about two thirds through and spend the majority of the play filling in the gaps and seeing events from multiple angles. Its very interesting and a play that feels like its developing more as we go through. The reason this play is so high in my personal rankings is because of the ending, let me clarify that when I say the ending I don't mean the final act or episode I mean the final few seconds of the play. Up until those moments on the first listen I had this down as a good decent story but the final seconds hold a twist that I didn't see coming and caused this play to sky rocket in my estimations.

16. Zagreus, the 50th story in the range and the 40th anniversary (along with the preceding Villains trilogy) story! After a wait of eighteen months since the last 8th Doctor story (eight years for me due to falling behind) and that cliff hanger that it ended on we finally made it! This is a proper epic story, three discs long and strap yourselves in its going to be a long ride. I know there are aspects that fandom doesn't like but I love it. Its one of my most re-listened to stories, Jon Pertwees unexpected appearance is so emotional, Nicholas Courtneys role is lovely and I love the assorted regulars from previous eras playing different parts. Theres a good slab of continuity as series regulars & unexpected friends turn up as spin offs are launched and we're plunged into the divergent arc. A story that looks backwards as well as forwards, a story with an eight year build that for me was ultimately worth it.

Heroes - Unexpected

 Blimey when did Matt Parkman become an engaging character? I know it was in the previous episode but does anybody have the timestamp down to the mini-second? After a rut we are in the thrust of some dynamic episodes, there is no wasted space and every scene is jam packed - just when you think things can't can any better Stan Lee turns up.

This is what the series does best, taking characters with different motivations and throwing them into situations then going with whatever sticks. We have the full range of emotions crammed into 40 minutes of TV. The only downside of this episodes is there are a few characters put in jeopardy that its hard to care about as they haven't been fleshed out enough, namely Simone and Sandra. In particular this episode I enjoyed Mohinder and Sylers mission - and screaming at Mohinder to start noticing the blatant signs about Syler.

We have a new character added to the mix this week in the shape of Hana Gitelman who appears to be based on the X-man Sage. She essentially puts together a mini field team for a mission in a nice homage to the X-men, setting up the cliffhanger and the promise of another intriguing episode next week. On another note I hope Ando hasn't been written out as his double act with Hiro is one of the best things in the series, 9/10.

Heroes - Run

 Now this is more like it! Run is a proper fun episode and it feels like the series has climbed back onto the horse. This episode is so good Matt and Nikki two characters whose storylines were collapsing under the weight of boredom together and it works! Its taken them forever to get Matt away from the police force and now they have he's already been put in interesting positions whilst also being able to use his powers in the field.

Nathan Petrelli and the stuff with Claire is also engaging while the stuff with Mrs Bennet is very worrying indeed. As well as this we get a brilliant arc set up with Mohinder and Syler that is proper panto yelling good - if you weren't yelling at Mohinder to look in the kitchen you're watching this show wrong. On top of all this after treading water for two episodes Hiro & Ando are back to doing fun stuff with a storyline that feels like good farce. Closing things off we get another fun cliff hanger as Nikki is given a new target in the shape of Nathan. Brilliant stuff and the show needs to be more like this and less like the previous few episodes 8.5/10.

Heroes - The Fix and Distractions

 Due to time issues just a few notes on these episodes:

Heroes is a show that has left an impact felt in shows today, however one of the main lessons that has been learnt is editing and season length. This is not a 20+ episode a season show and should be done in ten or thirteen episodes if their not doing a monster of the week format that lends itself to the format. The pace is killing the show and some storylines have been spinning for weeks.

The narration is getting worse with each episode.

Christopher Eccleston is a tough watch, as far as I know its the first thing he did after Doctor Who and he looks like he's had the weight of the world on his shoulders. His hyper performance is reminiscent of Sylvestor Mccoy losing it while sat on the table in the Silver Nemesis documentary. Also notable is the fact Chris has a bit of the Braun Strowmans about him which was widely rumoured during his time at Cardiff.

Hiro and Ando's story should have been done in one episode, its cute but feels like the writer is writing down at us.

Noah and Syler have been booked perfectly so far, we get some 50/50 booking these episodes but its good booking and raises both to main even level.

Matts storyline is a mess, if the producers didn't want to explore what happens when a rank and file cop gets powers don't give them powers. 

Nikki, Jessica, D.L. and Micah is dead in the water, its dead there is no life to it and it needs to be put against the wall and given a blindfold and cigar.

Isaac and the thought and effort that goes into the paintings is the best thing about these episodes. When we eventually reach the events he paints there is still a surprise or two to be had.

Claires storyline comes across well and we get another guest actor who would go on to reach fame in Glee. The cliffhanger to "Distractions" with the Nathan Petrelli popping up unexpectedly is good 

In short these episodes are largely unwatchable with some of televisions worst bad habits with the odd good thing to remind you why you're watching. 1/10 and needs to improve.

Heroes - Godsend

"First episode done and its time for my thoughts on Heroes - Genesis,

Its a strange watch in 2020, these days we're used to super powered antics on streaming services and in the cinema but back in 2006 we were still two years away from the Robert Downey Jnr and Jon Favreau kicking the MCU into life. The big shows of the day from my POV were Lost and a newly returned Doctor Who so super hero wise we're in uncharted terri..."

* KNOCK KNOCK *

"Hello?"

"Hi Umb0g0, its me Claire Bennet. I better take over this weeks review as due to an administrative mix up you've had your memory wiped..."

"Are you sure? I'm pretty sure thats not meant to happen to later in the season around about the time the second arc of the season begins and we get some good character episodes."

"Yes you mentioned that in the latest review as well as how it takes some of the characters between two and six episodes to get from location to location when my dad turns up all over America in the same episode." 

"Jolly good, I hope I mention Mrs Petrelli saying she's going to get the best Doctor available and then Christopher Eccleston popping up later in the episode."

"You did, you said this was another good episode improved by various characters crossing paths and being repositioned for the next with a new purpose. Also that Linderman is popping up everywhere and proving to be a very interesting off screen character."

"Brilliant, lets give it 8/10 and get my memory unwiped for the next episode."

Heroes - Fallout

We're still in the aftermath from events two episodes ago but after last weeks side step this is the episode with the titular fallout. Various characters find their status quo shifted and motivations are set up for the next story arc. There is a sense of change in this episode as various characters yet to properly cross paths finally meet. Most of the characters find themselves in Texas this episode due to the events of "Homecoming" and it helps the production feel consistent. Sadly some second tier characters are written out of the show but with the increased presence of Syler and Bennets team this is understandable.

The major moments of the episode are the Haitian making a stand that will affect Claires relationship with her father and the cliffhanger which leaves us with questions about Peter. This is a strong episode, this is the traditional "slow issue" after a major cross over, a time to reflect and aim for a new direction. That said there is a lot going on and I'm very sorry to see the death of Eden who is the definition of a character that had legs. 9/10