Why You Need to be Listening to The Seventh Doctor Monthly Adventures
Big Finish are currently offering a number of stories free from their back catalogue to enjoy. So, over the next few weeks, I'll give you a review of the individual episode in question, as well as some reasons why you should be listening to the range or series the story hails from in full. We conclude the series with - The Monthly Adventures of the Seventh Doctor...
1. A Darker Doctor:
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| The cover for "Robophobia", designed by Simon Holub. |
Like with the Fifth Doctor, the Seventh Doctor stories in the Monthly Adventures have been going since 1999, and, like with the Fifth Doctor, feature a multitude of different companions, foes and settings. Unlike the Fifth Doctor Adventures, however, the Seventh Doctor stories are driven more by ongoing arcs than his cricket-loving incarnation, probably due to his role of the mast manipulator Doctor. These story lines do often weave in and out of each other, although there are good, standalone stories for people seeking easy listens and jumping on points. However, these basically tell the ongoing story of the Seventh Doctor post-"Survival", and we get to see the character pulled in a variety of different directions as a result.
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| The cover for "House of Blue Fire", designed by Amazing15. |
"Robophobia" is one of the many Seventh Doctor stories that depict this Doctor on his own. More so than any other incarnation of the Time Lord, this Doctor works well alone, as a mysterious figure operating on the sidelines, and "Robophobia" is the ultimate demonstration of that theory in action. The Doctor is kept on the sidelines throughout a lot of the story, leaving Liv Chenka to guide the audience through the story. If you are familiar with recent Eighth Doctor stories (such as "Dark Eyes", which we covered a few weeks back), then you'll know that Liv Chenka is a companion to Paul McGann's Doctor. Here, however, she was partnered with Sylvester McCoy for this one story, which forms her 'introduction', in a similar way to Catherine Tate's role in "The Runaway Bride". This is also a sequel to the classic series story "The Robots of Death", but, don't worry if you've not watched it before listening, because this story explains itself perfectly as it goes. There's even a little recap of the events of that story at the beginning, just in case you aren't familiar with the details. This is a great story, that features a lot of tension from the situation. Are the robots killers, or is something else going on? That's a question you will be repeatedly asking yourself throughout the story, and, one thing writer Nicholas Briggs makes clear from the start, there are no easy answers to that question. Taking "The Robots of Death" and its Agatha Christie inspired genesis as a starting point, "Robophobia" doesn't rest on nostalgia and well-worn Doctor Who tropes, however. It forges its own identity, one that deals with trauma, modern concerns about technology and even current concerns about society. It's perfectly paced and plotted: honestly, if this had been a classic series story, it probably would have lasted at least 6 episodes, and the cast are amazing, especially McCoy, Walker and "Moths Ate My Doctor Who Scarf" alumni Toby Hadoke. A great introduction to Sylvester McCoy's Doctor on audio and "The Robots of Death", "Robophobia" is one of the most enjoyable sequels to a Doctor Who story in the series' near sixty year history, and is a fine example of Doctor Who just telling a good sci-fi story with excitement, action, heart and humour.
And, if you enjoyed "Robophobia", then here is a list of 5 reasons why you need to be listening to the rest of The Seventh Doctor Monthly Adventures:
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| The cover for "Colditz", designed by Clayton Hickman. |
One of the key reasons why the show's final years on television are considered a high point by the fan-base is the reintroduction of some of the mystery that initially surrounded the title character. Script Editor Andrew Cartmel and the writers made the Doctor a darker and more enigmatic figure than we had seen previously, and introduced the idea that the Doctor set plans in motion years before we see them come to their fruition in stories like "Silver Nemesis", "The Curse of Fenric" and "Remembrance of the Daleks". This continues into the Big Finish audios, and is even taken further, with the Doctor using, and seemingly discarding, people as and when they don't fit into his plans anymore. This Doctor stands above all those around him: yes, he may act childish and playful, with his quirky pullover, his umbrella and his spoons, but he truly is the Doctor that's fighting the Gods and Monsters. Just look at the way he disposes of the Daleks in "We Are the Daleks", or the cruel and merciless way he traps the Elder Gods in "Protect and Survive". And his speech at the climax of "Afterlife" is utterly spine-chilling, and makes you realise just how far this Doctor is willing to go. He might be all smiles and sweetness on the surface, but, like Jodie's Doctor, underneath is a dark, cracked individual who has so much blood on his hands. And the Big Finish audios bring that to the fore in a plethora of ways.
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| The cover for "Enemy of the Daleks", designed by Alex Mallinson. |
2. The Companions:
Alongside the Seventh Doctor is a plethora of different companions to aid him in his adventures. Of course, we have, from the TV series, Mel and Ace, once again played by Bonnie Langford and Sophie Aldred respectively. Both get the chance to take their characters beyond what we saw on TV: Bonnie (with both Sylvester and Colin Baker) has had the chance to actually give her character some depth, with more agency, purpose and emotional material than she had been given previously, while Sophie has had the chance to carry on Ace's emotional journey from the end of the TV series, and give her even more layers to work with. As well as TV companions, Big Finish has given voice to one of the Seventh Doctor's companions from the Virgin New Adventures books of the early 1990's, Bernice Summerfield, played by Lisa Bowerman. She appears in two early plays, "The Shadow of the Scourge" and "The Dark Flame", though is more well known for her own series and travels with the Seventh Doctor beyond the Monthly Adventures. But Big Finish are most well known for creating their own companions for the Seventh Doctor: most notably Hex, played by Brookside actor Philip Olivier. Hex is exactly the thing that the Doctor and Ace's adventures needed at the point he was introduced, due to his easily relatable nature. Of course, like most of the people involved in the Seventh Doctor's life, he had a massively complicated backstory related to a huge massive arc for both Doctors Six and Seven, but his every-man qualities don't let this overshadow the effectiveness of his character. Another popular character is that of Elizabeth Klein, played by Howard's Way star, and "The Fires of Pompeii" guest actor, Tracey Childs. Introduced as a time-travelling Nazi astrophysicist from an alternate future where the Nazi's won World War II in 2001's "Colditz", Klein has gone on to have an interesting relationship with the Seventh Doctor... (to say anymore would spoil it, I think). Others have included soldiers Lysandra and Sally (played by Maggie O'Neil and Amy Pemberton), UNIT operative Will Arrowsmith (played by Christian Edwards) and even Mags from the TV story "The Greatest Show in the Galaxy", played once more by Jessica Martin, being promoted to a full-time companion. All of these companions bring out something very different in the Seventh Doctor, and all of them are interesting and well-rounded.
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| The cover for "Persuasion", designed by Simon Holub. |
3. The Arcs:
Like I mentioned at the top of this feature, the Seventh Doctor Adventures are much more arc-driven than some of the other Big Finish Doctors. Due to the more complicated nature of not just the stories themselves, but this Doctor's life, lots of different threads start in different stories, and are picked up later on, or form arcs that bind the stories together. The biggest, and most encompassing, arc is the Elder Gods story-line, which actually has its origins all the way back in the 1987 TV story "Dragonfire", and works its way through comics, novels and audios all the way up to 2014's "Signs and Wonders", OVER 25 YEARS AFTER IT'S GENESIS! It almost certainly qualifies as Doctor Who's longest ever running arc, and it encompasses a huge amount of stories, characters and settings. Of course, there are stories where it's not as much a key part of the story as in others, but a vast majority of the Seventh Doctor stories with Ace and Hex form part of the arc, as well as a number of other stories. Black TARDIS', White TARDIS', evil from the dawn of time and deeper revelations about the Doctor's friends all play a part in this arc. There are, of course, smaller ones too, such as the story-line related to Klein (which dips into the Seventh Doctor special release "UNIT Dominion"), as well as recent story-lines with an older Mel on the run from the consequences of Glitz's actions during her time away from the TARDIS. All these arcs add to the stories that Big Finish are telling, and flow throughout multiple adventures with different Doctors, so it is really worth seeking out a complete guide if you want to go through the story arcs in order. But even if not, there's still plenty of worth in listening to the odd release here and there, as you'll still get complete stories, just with larger hints of something else going on. Just don't dive into something like "Gods and Monsters" or "Daleks Among Us" without some context, because you'll be completely lost otherwise.
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| The cover for "LIVE 34", designed by Lee Binding. |
4. A Variety of Stories:
Like all good Doctor Who series, the Seventh Doctor Monthly Adventures feature a vast array of different stories and settings. There's LOADS of choice for new listeners. There's stories that hew to the classic series formula, stories that feel torn right out of the 1980's, stories with comedy, stories with tragedy, stories with both. But the ones I really want to talk about here are the stories which break the mould. The Seventh Doctor Adventures feature some of the most ground-breaking and daring Doctor Who stories in the show's history, and they really push the boundaries of what is possible with a show like this. There's "LIVE 34", which is literally told as a talk radio broadcast, as the Doctor, Ace and Hex set about toppling a corrupt government that's oppressing its citizens. Or "The Rapture", which can be summed up with the phrase 'Doctor Who meets the Ibiza House Scene'. Yes, I bet you thought you'd never read that sentence. There's "The Angel of Scutari", which is a historical story set across two different time zones, with Hex facing the consequences of the Doctor and Ace's earlier actions. "The Shadow Heart" may look like the innocuous concluding episode of a trilogy of adventures for three different Doctors, but it's actually one of the most ingenious ideas ever dreamed up by a Doctor Who writer. The story itself is told in chronological order... for every single character except the Doctor. There's also "Flip-Flop", for which both discs (Black and White) can be listened to in either order. And that's before we get to the chamber pieces like "Master", "A Thousand Tiny Wings" and "Protect and Survive"... There's just so much here that has never been tried before, and, like with most Doctor Who, not all of it succeeds. But there are so many great ideas which are poured into these stories, and a desire to tell genuinely innovative stories that it more than makes up any creative shortfall.
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| The cover for "The Two Masters", designed by Simon Holub. |
5. The Cast:
Well, I couldn't not mention them one more time, could I? The calibre of talent involved in Big Finish is honestly amazing, and each and every production is packed with so much love and enthusiasm that more than makes up for any shortcomings with the stories. Across the years, big name guest stars have included *deep breath* Peter Davison, Colin Baker, Mark Gatiss, Maggie Stables, Vince Henderson, Jacqueline Pearce, Hugh Walters, Geoffrey Beevers, Caroline John, David Tennant, Stephen Greif, Susan Penhaligon, Tony Blackburn, Sabina Franklyn, Graeme Garden, Nickolas Grace, Patricia Quinn, Michael Praed, Trevor Martin, Charlie Hayes, Philip Madoc, Anne Ridler, David Warwick, Jennie Linden, Bernard Kay, Clive Mantle, Sandi Toksvig, Michael Cochrane, Michelle Gomez, Philip Jackson, Susannah York, Anthony Calf, Maryam d'Abo, Danny Webb, Kevin McNally, Katherine Parkinson, Terry Molloy, Benedict Cumberbatch, Nadim Sawalha, Hugh Bonneville, Ann Bell, Paul McGann, Lenora Crichlow, Jamie Parker, Ingrid Oliver, Ian Reddington, Michael Brandon, Stuart Milligan, Nicola Walker, Toby Hadoke, Dan Starkey, David Schofield, Timothy West, Peter Egan, Ian Hogg, John Standing, Chase Masterson, James Wilby, Miranda Raison, David Sibley, Karen Gledhill, Hugh Ross, Pamela Salem, Simon Williams, Jean Boht, John Heffernan, John Leeson, Siobhan Redmond, Samuel West, Warren Brown, Katy Manning, Richard Franklin, David Graham, Robbie Stevens, Angus Wright, Philip Franks, Jon Culshaw, Vinette Robinson, Alex Macqueen, Lucy Briggs-Owen, Julie Graham, Genevieve Gaunt, Sean Carlsen, Blake Harrison, David Benson, Mark Bonner, Carolyn Pickles, James Dreyfus, Chris Jury, Ian McNeice and Rufus Hound *pauses for breath*. That is QUITE a list, and just shows how talented the people who work on these releases are. There is so much talent involved with Big Finish, from writers and directors to actors and sound designers, and each one brings their A-game to these adventures. It may be a very old comment, but I will keep saying it, because it is absolutely true.
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| The cover for "Dark Universe", designed by Simon Holub. |
The Seventh Doctor Adventures are some of the most daring, most exciting and most gripping Doctor Who releases in Big Finish's vast collection. There's very much something for everyone somewhere in there, and plenty to excite fans of his Doctor, and even those who might be slightly lukewarm to his Doctor. I honestly think there hasn't been a better time to start getting into Big Finish, and this series of look backs at Big Finish ranges has well and truly proved that. The level of quality and talent is immense, and everything is done with love for Doctor Who and the history of the show. I hope Big Finish never stop making Doctor Who. Because, like the good Doctor themselves, their story has the potential to go on forever...
Until the 6th of July 2020, you can get part 1 of "Robophobia", from the Monthly Adventures range, from Big Finish completely free. You can find it here:
You can also save up to 50% on "Robophobia" & "The Robots: Volume 1" until the 6th of July 2020 too. You can find a full list of the titles here:
Happy listening! Thank you for following this series over the past few weeks, and, if you new to the blog, you can now subscribe by following the link at the top of the page! You will then stay up-to-date with everything that happens over the next few months, including my reviews of "Time Lord Victorious", the huge multi-platform Doctor Who event!
All pictures copyright to the BBC/Big Finish Productions. Thank you very much for reading.
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