Big Finish Audio Plays - The Beautiful People and The Blue Tooth
Who_Daily: < a href="http://persiflage-1.livejournal.com/141468.html">Big Finish Companion Chronicles: The Beautiful People and The Blue Tooth by < lj user=persiflage_1>
Reaction post for two of the Companion Chronicles audio plays from Big Finish featuring Romana II and Liz Shaw respectively.
The Beautiful People
The Companion Chronicles from Big Finish are slightly different to the usual Doctor Who audios as they're not full-cast plays, more talking books with a guest actor alongside the narrating actor.
In the case of The Beautiful People this Fourth Doctor & Romana II tale is narrated by Lalla Ward (Romana) with Marcia Ashton playing Karna, since the latter has nearly as big a role in the story as Romana. This adventure is set after the TV Doctor Who adventure Nightmare of Eden.
Events take place at the Vita Novus Health Spa, which is situated in fifty acres of relaxing sculpted gardens and offers a sanctuary away from the stresses and strains of 32nd Century life. Their exclusive programme of weight loss therapy is celebrated throughout the galaxy for its ease, simplicity and 100% success rate. No matter how full-figured you may be, they can make you slimmer, healthier - and happier. In fact, you will leave Vita Novus feeling like an entirely new person. And that's guaranteed.
The story is very much in the style of the Fourth Doctor era stories into which this slots - which means that Romana, despite being without the Doctor for a good half of the story, still isn't very proactive and seems to stumble from one trap to another until the Doctor arrives on the scene and saves the day.
Listening to this after listening to the three series of Gallifrey audios was quite a rude reminder of how poorly Romana II was used in the TV series (given she's also a Time Lord - and far cleverer (if less experienced) than the Doctor. Having recently worked my way through all of Romana II's TV stories as well, I've come to the conclusion I much prefer President Romana, the older, wiser, experience woman who is capable of dealing with any number of crises and weird aliens!
* * * * * *
The Blue Tooth
This Liz Shaw story features Caroline John and Nicholas Briggs, and is set after the TV Doctor Who adventure Inferno.
I confess, I've still watched very few of Liz's stories - well to be fair, I've watched very few Third Doctor stories so far! However, listening to this Companion Chronicle makes me want to watch more.
When Liz Shaw's Cambridge friend Jean goes missing, the Doctor and UNIT are drawn to the scene to investigate and Liz soon discovers that a potential alien invasion has far-reaching consequences on her life, and the Doctor finds himself unexpectedly re-united with an old enemy.
I liked this story better than The Beautiful People, but I suspect that may be down to the fact I don't know Liz very well, so I've little to compare this story against. I suspect that the cameos by the Brig and Benton may also have something to do with my enjoyment - sadly, I'm pretty easy to please if those two guys are on the scene!
Nevertheless, the story made me want to see more of Liz - which can only be a good thing, I feel (better that than that it put me off her!)... So that's two smart female Companions whom I want to know better thanks to Big Finish: Nyssa of Traken and Dr Liz Shaw.
Reaction post for two of the Companion Chronicles audio plays from Big Finish featuring Romana II and Liz Shaw respectively.
The Beautiful People
The Companion Chronicles from Big Finish are slightly different to the usual Doctor Who audios as they're not full-cast plays, more talking books with a guest actor alongside the narrating actor.
In the case of The Beautiful People this Fourth Doctor & Romana II tale is narrated by Lalla Ward (Romana) with Marcia Ashton playing Karna, since the latter has nearly as big a role in the story as Romana. This adventure is set after the TV Doctor Who adventure Nightmare of Eden.
Events take place at the Vita Novus Health Spa, which is situated in fifty acres of relaxing sculpted gardens and offers a sanctuary away from the stresses and strains of 32nd Century life. Their exclusive programme of weight loss therapy is celebrated throughout the galaxy for its ease, simplicity and 100% success rate. No matter how full-figured you may be, they can make you slimmer, healthier - and happier. In fact, you will leave Vita Novus feeling like an entirely new person. And that's guaranteed.
The story is very much in the style of the Fourth Doctor era stories into which this slots - which means that Romana, despite being without the Doctor for a good half of the story, still isn't very proactive and seems to stumble from one trap to another until the Doctor arrives on the scene and saves the day.
Listening to this after listening to the three series of Gallifrey audios was quite a rude reminder of how poorly Romana II was used in the TV series (given she's also a Time Lord - and far cleverer (if less experienced) than the Doctor. Having recently worked my way through all of Romana II's TV stories as well, I've come to the conclusion I much prefer President Romana, the older, wiser, experience woman who is capable of dealing with any number of crises and weird aliens!
* * * * * *
The Blue Tooth
This Liz Shaw story features Caroline John and Nicholas Briggs, and is set after the TV Doctor Who adventure Inferno.
I confess, I've still watched very few of Liz's stories - well to be fair, I've watched very few Third Doctor stories so far! However, listening to this Companion Chronicle makes me want to watch more.
When Liz Shaw's Cambridge friend Jean goes missing, the Doctor and UNIT are drawn to the scene to investigate and Liz soon discovers that a potential alien invasion has far-reaching consequences on her life, and the Doctor finds himself unexpectedly re-united with an old enemy.
I liked this story better than The Beautiful People, but I suspect that may be down to the fact I don't know Liz very well, so I've little to compare this story against. I suspect that the cameos by the Brig and Benton may also have something to do with my enjoyment - sadly, I'm pretty easy to please if those two guys are on the scene!
Nevertheless, the story made me want to see more of Liz - which can only be a good thing, I feel (better that than that it put me off her!)... So that's two smart female Companions whom I want to know better thanks to Big Finish: Nyssa of Traken and Dr Liz Shaw.