Big Finish: The Third Doctor Adventures - Volume 3 Review

For the first time since 1974, the Third Doctor faces off against the Daleks! Then, he and Jo are all at sea against a brand new foe...

The CD cover for "The Third Doctor Adventures: Volume 3", designed by Tom Webster.

Starring Tim Treloar, Katy Manning & Nicholas Briggs.

Written by Nicholas Briggs & Andrew Smith.

Directed by Nicholas Briggs.

After two boxsets of bedding in Tim Treloar's new take on the Third Doctor, as played by the late great Jon Pertwee, it was time to up the ante for Volume 3. And, of course, the best way to do that is to have the Doctor take on his greatest foes: the Daleks! Featuring a opening story that acts as a grand space opera, followed by an Earth-based UNIT story of invasion, this box-set features plenty of elements that will appeal to fans of the Third Doctor era. And, while not quite as strong as the second box-set, this set still features some wonderful Third Doctor material, including a suitably dramatic encounter between this Doctor and his oldest foes.

The Third Doctor and Jo Grant (Tim Treloar and
Katy Manning) face the Daleks once more!

As mentioned above, "The Conquest of Far" sees the Third Doctor face off against the Daleks for the first time since 1974's "Death to the Daleks", in a huge, war epic, with a vast scale and stakes. Set in the immediate aftermath of "Planet of the Daleks", the Doctor and Jo are trying to return to Earth. However, they've instead ended up right in the middle of a Dalek occupation, as the tide of battle is turning against them. The war is coming to Far... and this time, both sides may end up annihilating each other in their desperate struggle for victory. Writer Nicholas Briggs has written a full-on war epic in "Conquest of Far", that sits well alongside "Frontier in Space" and "Planet of the Daleks". This acts as a little bit of another 'Terry Nation greatest hits' catalogue, with rebels, bombs, Earth Alliance fleets and more. Some might argue therefore, that this is a pretty derivative tale, however I found "The Conquest of Far" to be a perfectly judged exercise in nostalgia. Like his previous work with the Third Doctor's era (the Locum Doctors trilogy story "The Defectors" basically functions as a Third Doctor story), writer Nicholas Briggs brings so much love for the era to "The Conquest of Far", which carries you through the 'been there, done that'  nature of the plot. Although avoiding some of the elements which Briggs' tributes to Terry Nation have featured in the past (there's no mines in this, and the Daleks aren't planning to fit the core of the planet with a massive drive motor), it does also feel a bit like a 'Nicholas Briggs greatest hits' collection as well. As I said though, when written with as much conviction as this, that's no bad thing, and I found "The Conquest of Far" to be a pretty enjoyable listen. The Daleks are written at their most ruthless here, and I think that feeds well into some of the themes Nick is trying to explore here. Looking at things like the cost of victory and at what cost people will pay to survive and protect the ones they love, this story picks up on a number of elements Briggs has featured in things like Dalek Empire and The War Doctor series, and explores them through a classic series prism. It's therefore a shade lighter than those two stories, and is a bit more focused on the action and threat, although these themes are still front and centre. The Daleks are less concerned with plotting and scheming here than in most Doctor Who stories, which does make for a nice change from the norm, where they have some grand plan to conquer the universe. Instead, they are content to sit on Far, with their secret weapon and army, acting like the great sword of Damocles, hanging above the character's heads. This story poses a question that the Doctor has been wrestling with ever since "The Daleks" back in 1963: if the Daleks have the perfect defence, then is it possible to fight back without huge loss of life? Its particularly important for a Doctor like the Third, who, unlike some of his successors, finds the concept of such sacrifice abhorrent, to face this, and to see his solution to such a problem. Of course, there's always sacrifices like this in war, and its how the Doctor balances that with his morality that makes this interesting. And, unlike "The Defectors", this is perfectly paced, with enough incident to see you through, without any danger of you losing interest. 

The Third Doctor (Jon Pertwee) hides from the
Daleks, in this promotional photo from "Day of the
Daleks".

The characters in "Conquest of Far" are also tributes to the creations of Terry Nation, although I think they're probably more interesting than a lot of the guest roles that he would come up with. They're small, interesting characters who fulfil their roles in the story well, but aren't particularly deep or even original. There's the well meaning local who has been tortured by the Daleks in some way, who helps the Doctor; there's the traitor, who is fighting to protect his wife, and who Jo has to convince to help her defeat the Daleks; there's a single-minded military commander, desperate to defeat the Daleks no matter what. All these are familiar to people who have seen any Doctor Who before, but they at least provide an interesting cast of characters for this story. Jickster, particularly, is a character I found enjoyable to spend some time with, and the moments of the Doctor helping him to remember things about his past and his life are actually rather touching, as opposed to the twee sentimentally they could have displayed. It takes a much more subtle approach with his character, and pays dividends for it. I liked the subtle nod to Terry Nation's liking of the name Del in the naming of Delralis, and his and Elaqoun's character journeys are well told and go perhaps beyond what we would have seen on TV at the time. Ultimately, Briggs chooses to paint it as a tragic love story, and, honestly, that's probably the right approach to take. It gives the story a heart and soul I think it may have been lacking had it not been included. Otherwise, this is a pretty small cast of characters, though it helps to stop the story from feeling too overcrowded, as there's a lot going on, and I think it might have overburdened it to have had so much going on otherwise. The Doctor and Jo are given some wonderful material here: spending so much time away from the Doctor really toughens Jo's resolve, and she has to fight to survive in a hostile world, while the Doctor has a speech at the end to the Daleks that really shows how well Tim Treloar has settled into the part now. The cast are fantastic: George Watkins really sells the moral struggle Delralis is going through, while Nicholas Briggs subtly alters the ring modulator just a little, in order to make these Daleks sound a little bit more like Michael Wisher's versions. And Tim and Katy are just wonderful together: all the little sparks that used to be present with Jon and Katy back in the 70's are present and correct, and it helps to put you right back in the time this hails from. I really enjoyed "Conquest of Far", despite it not really offering anything substantially new. I would certainly say that, if you enjoy the Pertwee era, or good, old-fashioned Dalek stories, then this is one is right down your ally. For the first encounter between Tim Treloar's new take on the Third Doctor and the Daleks, this story has got to count as an unqualified success, and is one of the strongest Third Doctor Adventures to date.

The cast of "Storm of the Horofax": from left to
right, Richard Derrington (Commander Burton),
Katy Manning (Jo Grant), Ian Conningham
(Sinko/Ronson/Lieutenant), Tim Treloar (The
Doctor), Robert Hands (Major Hardy/Crewman)
and Robin Weaver (Arianda).

The second story, "Storm of the Horofax", takes the TARDIS crew back to Earth, in a full-on UNIT era story with plenty of military action, alien warriors and evil plans for the Doctor and Jo to defeat. While a step-down from the previous story, for fans of the Third Doctor era, this is exactly the kind of story that will hold an appeal, as writer Andrew Smith has created something that fits perfectly into the era. When the HMS Nemesis comes across a strange capsule during a military training exercise, UNIT are called in to investigate both the ship and its strange occupant. However, the Doctor and Jo  find there's more to the visitor's arrival than it initially appears, and soon, the pair of them must fight to save the whole human race from a terrifying threat. As I mentioned above, this will appeal to anyone who is a fan of this era on a base level, as it contains so many things that people love about the era. However, even though I am a huge fan of the Pertwee era, I didn't find "Storm of the Horofax" as strong as it could have been. I enjoyed it, don't get me wrong, but I felt like this story could have gone a lot further and been even more successful. The titular Horofax are a very interesting antagonist, and they have a lot of potential: however, this was potential that I don't think was realised fully, to be honest. A force of warriors built up out of the brainwashed spoils of previous conquests, led by time sensitives that can predict every event that will happen? That's a great idea, there's no doubt about that. However, the desire to mould the story to how it would have been told in the 1970's is perhaps the great sticking point here, as it means that that idea never goes any further than that, when it clearly has the potential to. Arianda is a compelling leader, but, other than that, they basically just stand around, waiting to either be gunned down by marines, or subject to the Doctor's Venusian Aikido. One of them gets a little bit of a backstory, but that's about all. There's so many angles you could take these monsters, but writer Andrew Smith seems determined to stick with the most obvious route, and makes them into little more than a 'threat of the week'. That being said, Smith does at least try to make them a compelling threat, and the story's pacey enough to avoid it getting too bogged down. It's clear that a lot of the padding that this would have had, had it been on TV has been trimmed away, and, as such, this story can afford to visit a number of different locations that would have been jarring, had the story been any slower. Smith also peppers this full of nods to the Pertwee era: the navel setting immediately springs to mind a story like "The Sea Devils", while the 'aliens who are not what they appear' is a slightly sideways take on "The Claws of Axos". Like "The Conquest of Far" (and a lot of the other stories in The Third Doctor Adventures), this features so many recognisable elements from the era, probably to make up for the absence of Jon Pertwee himself. However, in this case, I think it does act as a detriment a little, because this story does nothing new, You may think that "Storm of the Horofax" is a little familiar, and that's because it is: its every Jon Pertwee UNIT/Earth-based story rolled into one. And sure, that's fine. But I think it would have been nice if this could have pushed the boat out a little further, as it really did have the potential for it.

The Third Doctor (Jon Pertwee) and Jo Grant
(Katy Manning) look out on the surface of an alien
world, in this promo photo from "Colony in Space".

In "Storm of the Horofax"'s defence, however, it does do some good work with its characters. While it may be secondary to the plot of the story, it does at least attempt to do things that this era of the show rarely attempted. I did like Jo's hypnosis subplot, which was something the show did at the time, but never with this level of emotional content. The idea of the Horofax preying on people's memories is one of the reasons why I think they make for excellent villains, and it's use on Jo helps to really up the stakes and tension. We get to see it happen to a character we care about, and the moment when Arianda picks apart her memories is spine-chilling. In fact, I would say that the status quo is re-established a little too quickly for my liking. I would have liked to have seen a bit more from the possessed Jo, and for it to have a real effect upon the Doctor. We've rarely had a companion turned against him in such a manner before, and I think it would have made for a really compelling final act. Speaking of Arianda, I found her a charming villain, someone who you could believe was simply an innocent traveller, then turn on a sixpence and become the leader of the Horofax. I think she makes for a very dangerous opponent of the Doctor, and that is helped by a phenomenal performance from Robin Weaver. She slowly peels back the layers of her character, so, by the end, you are left in no doubt as to her true motives. Her dynamic with Katy Manning also helps sells the scenes where Jo is hypnotised. I also really liked what Smith did with Major Hardy, both in terms of building up UNIT as a wider organisation than we saw on screen, and also in the way he is inserted into previous UNIT era adventures. The idea of someone who was in "The Claws of Axos" or "Terror of the Autons", but who we never saw because they weren't there (I'm trying to do this obliquely for fear of spoilers, but, if you've heard "Storm of the Horofax", you'll know what I mean) is a really interesting one. While I don't think Andrew Smith pushes it as much as he could have done, I do applauded the effort that has been put into making such a concept work, however, and especially trying to make it work within the context of a traditional story such as this. It does lead to a lovely final scene between the Doctor and Jo, and its a great character moment for the pair of them. The cast are pretty great too: even if most of them are in one-note roles, they play them with truth and conviction, which is exactly what is needed in a story like this. As I mentioned when talking about the previous story, Tim Treloar and Katy Manning are wonderful together: Manning particularly gets several moments to shine here, as she is possessed by the Horofax and stands up to Arianda. What tops the whole box set off is some wonderful direction from Nick Briggs, and superbly authentic post-production from David Nagel, Joe Meiners and Jamie Robertson. All four of them create an incredibly authentic sounding package, meaning the stories sound like they belong in the era that they hail from. The sound from Nagel and Meiners respectively really belongs alongside the work of Brian Hodgeson and Dick Mills in terms of its sound and feel. The post-production work is superb, and, perhaps more than any other element of these two stories, works to convince you that these are a part of the era they hail from.

The interior booklet cover for "The Third Doctor Adventures: Volume 3", designed by Tom Webster.

Overall, then, this third box-set of Third Doctor Adventures is perfect for anyone who is a die-hard fan of this era on television. While not quite as strong overall as the second box-set, and "Storm of the Horofax" not quite coming off as well as it could have done, this still a great set, that tells two totally authentic Pertwee era tales. "The Conquest of Far" is an excellent Dalek story, however, and the combination of Tim Treloar/Katy Manning continues to excel. You might find this set isn't really for you if you're not a fan of this era on TV, but, if you are, you'll find lots to enjoy here. The Third Doctor Adventures continue to go from strength to strength with this fantastic third set.

You can get "The Third Doctor Adventures: Volume 3" from Big Finish Productions' website:

https://www.bigfinish.com/releases/v/doctor-who-the-third-doctor-adventures-volume-03-1510

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