4 episodes. Approx. 143 minutes. Written by: Gareth Roberts, Clayton Hickman. Directed by: Nicholas Pegg. Produced by: Gary Russell.
THE PLOT
Space Station Dark Space 8 is facing a time of abrupt transition. Its former commander has died, and its replacement commander, a captain of high repute, is on his way. But when the new commander's ship is destroyed on its way in, Dark Space 8 beams the only life signs aboard just in time... and retrieves the Doctor and Mel!
Mistaken for the late captain, the Doctor assumes the role of station commander to investigate the ship's destruction. When he discovers that Dark Space 8 is hosting the Intergalactic Song Contest, he finds that he has stepped into a diplomatic minefield. Two of the competitors represent species who are at war with each other, and the Doctor tries to keep them away from each other's throats to avoid an incident that might disrupt peace talks on another station, far away.
A tricky situation is about to become a dangerous one, however. One of the contestants is murdered in her quarters - and she is not fated to be the final victim...
CHARACTERS
The Doctor: Sylvester McCoy seems completely at home in this story, and I do mean that in a good way. McCoy gives a performance that's much more relaxed and confident than his televised performances that I've reviewed - likely an advantage of this being recorded decades later, long after he had fully found his footing. The Doctor gets to balance being the clownish early 7th Doctor, mangling proverbs and dodging amorous female suitors and even playing the spoons (on audio!), while at the same time being genuinely shrewd and observant.
Mel: Slotting their story in directly after Paradise Towers, writers Hickman and Roberts actually use the potential pitfalls of Mel's characterization to good effect. Instead of giving us a subdued, perfectly competent Mel (the approach of David McIntee in Unregenerate!), we get a Mel who is genuinely overenthusiastic and prone to leaping to conclusions. She inadvertantly commits assault at one point, and equally accidentally propositions a pop star at another. She even gets to indulge her obsession with swimming! The only real difference between this Mel and Paradise Towers Mel is that this version works. All the "Mel traits" are here, but presented in such a way that she remains likable and compassionate.
THOUGHTS
I'm aware that Bang-Bang-a-Boom! is a divisive audio within Big Finish fandom. Some love it, others hate it. I fall, if not quite into the "love it" category, at least into the "like it very much" category.
It's a comedy Who story, but it's not an overplayed farce. The humor is constantly there, but it's kept at a level where you're left chuckling as the story weaves its way along, rather than aiming for direct belly laughs. This keeps the comedy from becoming too wearying, while at the same time giving just the right touch of lightness to a fairly traditional "Agatha Christie in Space" Who plot.
The setting and guest characters are clearly signposted to send up American science fiction series, notably Star Trek (particularly Next Generation and Deep Space 9, though I caught references to the other series too) and Babylon 5. As someone who loved Babylon 5 at its best, loves the 1960's Star Trek, and has a certain residual fondness for some of the Trek spinoffs, I recognized the references and enjoyed the way the story played with the trappings.
I also appreciated how well this story fits into Season 24. This is very much an "early McCoy" story. While more than one Season 24-set Big Finish story tries to work against what that season was on television, this story actively embraces it. It just does it well, instead of doing it badly. At well over 2 hours, the result is a sort of epic of foolishness and whimsy. It may turn off those who like their Who to be dark and scary; alternatively, those who only like comedy Who when it completely "goes for it" may be turned off by this story's being satisfied with merely striking a whimsical tone instead of going for all-out farce.
In the end, I can only speak for myself. I absoluely enjoyed Bang-Bang-a-Boom, from its opening moments through to its post-credits tag. Paradise Towers was a good script badly produced. This, by contrast, is a good script whose production is entirely in step with it, and the result was one that I found a joy to listen to.
Rating: 8/10.
Space Station Dark Space 8 is facing a time of abrupt transition. Its former commander has died, and its replacement commander, a captain of high repute, is on his way. But when the new commander's ship is destroyed on its way in, Dark Space 8 beams the only life signs aboard just in time... and retrieves the Doctor and Mel!
Mistaken for the late captain, the Doctor assumes the role of station commander to investigate the ship's destruction. When he discovers that Dark Space 8 is hosting the Intergalactic Song Contest, he finds that he has stepped into a diplomatic minefield. Two of the competitors represent species who are at war with each other, and the Doctor tries to keep them away from each other's throats to avoid an incident that might disrupt peace talks on another station, far away.
A tricky situation is about to become a dangerous one, however. One of the contestants is murdered in her quarters - and she is not fated to be the final victim...
CHARACTERS
The Doctor: Sylvester McCoy seems completely at home in this story, and I do mean that in a good way. McCoy gives a performance that's much more relaxed and confident than his televised performances that I've reviewed - likely an advantage of this being recorded decades later, long after he had fully found his footing. The Doctor gets to balance being the clownish early 7th Doctor, mangling proverbs and dodging amorous female suitors and even playing the spoons (on audio!), while at the same time being genuinely shrewd and observant.
Mel: Slotting their story in directly after Paradise Towers, writers Hickman and Roberts actually use the potential pitfalls of Mel's characterization to good effect. Instead of giving us a subdued, perfectly competent Mel (the approach of David McIntee in Unregenerate!), we get a Mel who is genuinely overenthusiastic and prone to leaping to conclusions. She inadvertantly commits assault at one point, and equally accidentally propositions a pop star at another. She even gets to indulge her obsession with swimming! The only real difference between this Mel and Paradise Towers Mel is that this version works. All the "Mel traits" are here, but presented in such a way that she remains likable and compassionate.
THOUGHTS
I'm aware that Bang-Bang-a-Boom! is a divisive audio within Big Finish fandom. Some love it, others hate it. I fall, if not quite into the "love it" category, at least into the "like it very much" category.
It's a comedy Who story, but it's not an overplayed farce. The humor is constantly there, but it's kept at a level where you're left chuckling as the story weaves its way along, rather than aiming for direct belly laughs. This keeps the comedy from becoming too wearying, while at the same time giving just the right touch of lightness to a fairly traditional "Agatha Christie in Space" Who plot.
The setting and guest characters are clearly signposted to send up American science fiction series, notably Star Trek (particularly Next Generation and Deep Space 9, though I caught references to the other series too) and Babylon 5. As someone who loved Babylon 5 at its best, loves the 1960's Star Trek, and has a certain residual fondness for some of the Trek spinoffs, I recognized the references and enjoyed the way the story played with the trappings.
I also appreciated how well this story fits into Season 24. This is very much an "early McCoy" story. While more than one Season 24-set Big Finish story tries to work against what that season was on television, this story actively embraces it. It just does it well, instead of doing it badly. At well over 2 hours, the result is a sort of epic of foolishness and whimsy. It may turn off those who like their Who to be dark and scary; alternatively, those who only like comedy Who when it completely "goes for it" may be turned off by this story's being satisfied with merely striking a whimsical tone instead of going for all-out farce.
In the end, I can only speak for myself. I absoluely enjoyed Bang-Bang-a-Boom, from its opening moments through to its post-credits tag. Paradise Towers was a good script badly produced. This, by contrast, is a good script whose production is entirely in step with it, and the result was one that I found a joy to listen to.
Rating: 8/10.
Search Amazon.com for Doctor Who
7th Doctor Audio Review Index
7th Doctor Television Review Index
No comments:
Post a Comment