123-d. The Company of Friends: Mary's Story.

1 episode. Approx. 31 minutes. Written by: Jonathan Morris. Directed by: Nicholas Briggs. Produced by: Nicholas Briggs.


THE PLOT

Switzerland, 1816. At a villa rented by Lord Byron, the famous poet is spending time with Mary Shelley (Julie Cox), her husband Percy Bysshe Shelley, her stepsister Claire Clairmont, and Byron's doctor John Polidori. After reading from a collection of horror stories, Byron suggests that each member of the company prepare a ghost story for the following day, as a sort of contest. 

This friendly competition is interrupted, however, by the arrival of a badly wounded stranger: A man so burned that Polidori pronounces that he has never seen such injuries on anyone living. The man gasps out that he is a doctor, followed by another word as he recognizes his current company:

"Frankenstein!"


CHARACTERS

The Doctor: Paul McGann gets to play multiple variants of his Doctor. We see the self-assured Doctor of the last part of The TV Movie, a man with seemingly no care in the world. We also see an embittered Doctor, a man who has lost much and perhaps everything. Then there is the burned and badly-injured Doctor who slips in and out of coherence. Finally, there is the monster - a Doctor so wounded and mutated that he becomes violent, out-of-control, more animal than man. Given the chance to show so much variety within the story's scant thirty minutes, McGann throws himself into it with relish.

Mary: The title of the story is Mary's Story, and the narrative is seen entirely through her eyes. Julie Cox is very good as Mary, depicted as having run off with the much older Percy at the promise of adventures that never came. The young woman is already jaded by the reality of a man who "does not believe in fidelity" and who is prone to mania under the influence of laudanum. Writer Jonathan Morris is very conscious of this as a companion introduction story, even if this companion also happens to be a historical figure. His script makes sure to highlight the traits needed in an engaging companion, showcasing Mary as strong-willed, compassionate, and observant. Further depth will likely be added by the full-length stories to come, but Cox's performance and Morris' script already have her feeling like a full character even in this short piece.


THOUGHTS

The best of the one-episode stories featured in The Company of Friends, and the only of these four stories that Big Finish has to date seen fit to follow up. Mary's Story is far from the first work to explore the summer that spawned The Vampyre and Frankenstein. Like Ken Russell's muddled film Gothic, this episode plays with the idea of genuinely fantastical events inspiring the supernatural tales.

Bits of Frankenstein can be spotted throughout the piece. Percy Shelley's mania as he cries, "He's aliiive!" is an obvious echo of the Boris Karloff movie, as are references to fire and torch-wielding villagers. There's even a line that winks at the confusion caused by the later film series, wherein "Frankenstein" became the monster instead of the scientist.

All of this is amusing, though the "monster" scenes tend to be the most jumbled of the episode. Still, the real interest here is in the glimpses of the different variants of the Doctor. This is effectively a multi-Doctor story, showing the Eighth Doctor at two distinct points in his life. The early Eighth Doctor, still innocent and hungry for adventure, contrasts with the bitter, late-in-his-life Eighth Doctor, a man who has traveled with so many companions and ended up alone at the end of it. 

Despite a few rushed moments that were probably inevitable in a single-episode story, Mary's Story is a good one. An introduction to a character worth following, and a glimpse of the Eighth Doctor's full journey at both its start and its end. It's clever and fun, and I look forward to seeing where the Doctor/Mary partnership goes from here.


Rating: 8/10.

Next Story: The Silver Turk

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123-c. The Company of Friends: Izzy's Story

1 episode. approx. 30 minutes. Written by: Alan Barnes. Directed by: Nicholas Briggs.


THE PLOT

The Doctor's companion, Izzy (Jemima Rooper), has asked him to take the TARDIS to her home town, the village of Stockbridge, at a time when she would have been a child. She wants to solve a mystery that's been bothering her since childhood. No, not a murder. No, not lights in the sky. No, not even a crop circle.

The mystery? The identity of Courtmaster Cruel, the hero of a long-running and rather brutal sci-fi comic strip. His identity was revealed in the final installment of the strip... in a publication that only hit the streets once that Izzy knows of, with all copies having vanished without a trace. But Izzy knows that the magazine was in stock the morning of its release, and is determined that it will belong to her!

The Doctor is a bit exasperated, but indulges her. Until androids come to the comics store and "pulp" the "proscribed manuscript" while it is in Izzy's hands, then rearrange the memory of the store's owner. That is when the Doctor finally gets interested, sensing a hidden hand meddling with the laws of time. But reality will be rearranged a few times more before he is able to get to the bottom of this!


CHARACTERS

The Doctor: Paul McGann does very well again in this story. Izzy, his companion for this outing, is a frenetic ball of energy. McGann counters by increasing his Doctor's cool, collected calm. The results are highly amusing, with McGann's Doctor taking on almost a "long-suffering" quality opposite his overly energetic young friend.

Izzy: Jemima Rooper is Izzy, the 8th Doctor's DWM comic strip companion. I'm not 100% sold on the character, who comes across as a bit too... enthusiastic to be entirely winning. Rooper, however, is terrific, bringing boundless energy to the part. She makes Izzy likable almost in spite of herself. Alan Barnes' script helps by crafting a rather wonderful pre-credits "intro monologue" for the character which captures Izzy's whirlwind of (too) fast-paced energy in a way that makes her at the same time somebody we can identify with. If the actress hadn't been as good, I'd have been quite happy to leave Izzy as a one-shot. Rooper is so purely wonderful, though, that I find myself very much wanting a full-length 8th Doc/Izzy story. Better still, a season of them, to allow the character more variation.


THOUGHTS

That was fun!

This 30-minute short story isn't any more substantial than the other 30-minute Company of Friends stories. It's a featherweight narrative, played entirely for comedy, and played out basically in two sets (well, if this had been a visual story). Like the other single-episode McGann stories I've reviewed, this is hardly likely to sear itself into anyone's memory. But it's a particularly enjoyable piece, which puts it above the preceding stories in this release.

One element that makes this so much fun is just how well it evokes the medium it's celebrating. This isn't just a story using a comic strip character, about comic strips... It feels like a comic strip come to life! The reality-warping, the overexaggerated characters (including Izzy), the story resting on a single high concept. Usually, when I listen to these stories, I envision the characters in live action. In this story, it is almost impossible not to visualize it all as a cartoon - and I mean that as a compliment.

Writer Alan Barnes keeps the story moving quickly, but also is very successful in filtering the story through Izzy. In this, Izzy's Story is more successful in feeling like a story about Izzy than Benny's Story was for Benny, and far moreso than Fitz's Story was for Fitz. The Doctor is pulled into this story because of Izzy, and Izzy's knowledge of the culture of these comics influences the Doctor's actions and the story's outcome. And while the Doctor's judgment of the various characters is a purely moral one, Izzy's very different reaction is clearly meant to be the one with which listeners will identify.

Anyway, there's nothing very deep to analyze here. Suffice it say: Fun. Along with the usual final note of how much I'd like to see a full story with this teaming, only moreso in this case because of how adorably infectious Jemima Rooper ended up being.


Rating: 7/10.

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123-b. The Company of Friends: Fitz's Story

1 episode. Approx. 30 minutes. Written by: Stephen Cole. Directed by: Nicholas Briggs.


THE PLOT

The Doctor is on television (well, its sci fi equivalent), giving his personal endorsement to Alien Defence Incorporated, a private security outfit designed to battle an Earth-like planet's frequent extraterrestrial invasions. This endorsement comes as something of a surprise to the Doctor, who has certainly never recorded TV adverts for private security companies.

So the Doctor and his companion, Fitz (Matt Di Angelo) decide to pay a visit to ADI's offices. The Doctor breaks into the offices at night, determined to find out if the company is what it appears to be, or if it's hiding some other agenda. Meanwhile, Fitz prepares to enact the Doctor's backup plan, to insure against anything going wrong.

Naturally, everything ends up going wrong.


CHARACTERS

The Doctor: He is quite happy to make an appointment to talk to Commander Femor... but only after first breaking into her offices in order to determine whether or not her answers will be the truth. He continues to think quickly, and his rapid realization that the situation has changed when he and Femor end up facing a deadly alien helps to save both their lives (and Fitz's). By his 8th incarnation, he has learned to come up with a "Plan B" before blithely charging in, which is an improvement - even he hasn't quite learned how to make "Plan B" run entirely smoothly when it's needed. McGann gives a spirited performance, seeming to enjoy his co-stars and the light-hearted nature of the material.

Fitz Kreiner: Matt Di Angelo makes his debut as Fitz. The 8th Doctor's longest-running companion, Fitz ran through more than half of the BBC EDA range, gaining a fervent following among readers. To date, this is his only audio adventure, though hopefully the positive reaction to this release will inspire Big Finish to bring the character back. Di Angelo is quite good in the role, playing Fitz's sarcastic side and his cheeky (and slightly cheesy) bravado to good, humorous effect. Di Angelo has good comic timing, which is a great asset to a primarily comic story. This paper-thin story doesn't give much chance to go beyond Fitz's surface, but there is at least the sense that there is more to the character than just what is on the surface.


THOUGHTS

Fitz's Story works pretty well as far as it goes, because it does maintain an appealing light touch. Unlike the same release's Benny's Story, there's no sense of anyone trying to overreach. Writer Stephen Cole has crafted a small-scale story that's perfect for a single episode's running time. The results are consistently entertaining and energetic. The whole thing is over almost before you know it, and I found it a fine way to make one day's commute from work go by quickly.

Mind you, like pretty much all the other single-episode stories I have reviewed to date, it's as insubstantial as a spider's silk web. There's nothing here to linger in the memory. There's no sense of jeopardy, but the fast pace and strong energy keep that from mattering.

Mainly, the story works because Paul McGann and Matt Di Angelo play extremely well opposite each other, as do McGann and guest star Fenella Woolgar. The 8th Doc/Fitz partnership is an engaging one, and it's not hard to see why Fitz came to dominate the BBC Books range to such an extent. I would actually quite like to see a full-length story featuring Fitz.

In the meantime, while this teaser doesn't compel me to go out and order a bunch of BBC books, it's a fun piece, produced to Big Finish's usual polished standards.


Rating: 6/10.

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123-a. The Company of Friends: Benny's Story.

1 episode. Approx. 35 minutes. Written by: Lance Parkin. Directed by: Nicholas Briggs.  Produced by: David Richardson.


THE PLOT

Many years after the end of her association with the Doctor, archaeologist Bernice Summerfield is participating in a dig inside the coal mines of a dead planet. It's a freelance job for which she is being very well-paid, in exchange for "not asking any questions." She is shocked when she quickly finds the object of her employer’s efforts: a TARDIS key. She is even more startled when her employer uses that key to summon the TARDIS in question – the TARDIS belonging to the Doctor!

Soon, Benny finds herself running with the Doctor from deadly security robots, through frozen coal mines and across time zones into a jungle filled with treacherous cliffs and ravenous green lions. With "her" Doctor - the 7th Doctor - she could have at least been secure in the knowledge that the Doctor had some masterplan. But this new Doctor has no more idea than she does what is going on, and no kind of plan at all!


CHARACTERS

The Doctor: Paul McGann seems to be having a terrific time, infusing his performance with a lot of energy and enthusiasm. As in The TV Movie, he can shift from wild enthusiasm to deadly serious very quickly.  He handles the Doctor's genuine anger at the climax quite well (far better, I'd say, than his immediate predecessor could have done). This story sees him travelling alone, and he reacts with delight at running into an old friend, eager at the thought of travelling with her again.

Bernice Summerfield: Lisa Bowerman has played Bernice for a long time now, both in a handful of Who audios and in her own long-running audio range.  She is likely at the point at which she could play Benny in her sleep. It's to her credit that she does not in any way phone in her performance. The story is very much told from her point-of-view, and as such it is up to her to carry the story. She does so with energy and good humor, and she plays so well opposite McGann that I find myself wanting to hear a full-length release with these two.


THOUGHTS

In the past few years, it has become standard for Big Finish to produce one "anthology" release per year, varying these among their Doctors. 2009 was the 8th Doctor's turn for such a release: The Company of Friends, in which the gimmick was to pair 8th Doctor Paul McGann with companions from the various 8th Doctor ranges: Virgin NA's, BBC EDA's, and the Doctor Who Magazine comic strip. Benny's Story, the first of the four stories, sees the 8th Doctor reunited with the New Adventures' Professor Bernice "Benny" Summerfield.

When I first listened to it, I found this the weakest of the four stories, and I suspect that opinion will hold. That's not to say Benny's Story is bad. It's an amusing trifle, with a great deal of pace and energy and spirited performances by the two leads. But it is very much a trifle, a quick runaround.

The villain is weak, and the scenes in which she tries to take over the TARDIS simply occupy too much of the story's brief running time. I wanted to hear more of the Doctor and Benny, and a lot less of the supremely uninteresting Countess Venhella (Su Douglas), whose only good scene comes when the Doctor confronts her at the end. The plot being just a thin clothesline for interaction between McGann and Bowerman is fine - but if that's the case, then surely we should get as much 8th Doc/Benny as possible?

It's amusing, and worth a listen. But it's too lightweight to be fully satisfying as a story, and too overplotted to be fully satisfying as a character comedy. An OK bit of filler, but nothing more than that.


Rating: 5/10.

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