When Doom's Day was first announced, I was quite trepidatious as to whether it would actually produce any good stories. After all, of what interest would a series of stories about a character I'd never heard of be to me? Even so, I decided to give the series a shot, beginning with BBC Audio's release, "Four From Doom's Day," the title a play on the Fifth Doctor story, "Four to Doomsday." Here, we are presented with four of the twenty-four hours of Doom's final day, as she searches desperately for the Doctor (but apparently not just any Doctor, a specific incarnation). The four stories contained within each take up one of these hours, though the runtimes are all roughly half an hour.
0 Comments
I rarely have high expectations for BBC Audio stories. They tend to be much more average than Big Finish stories and I have yet to see any do anything particularly unique or interesting with the Doctor and his adventures. However, I found this story to be intriguing and engaging. Though Eccleston returned to the role of the Ninth Doctor for Big Finish well over a year ago, we have yet to receive new stories of him with Rose, and so I was excited to hear this story to fill that Ninth Doctor and Rose hole in my heart. And it was good. Bushnell captures the comples relationship between the two of them rather well, and though it took a bit for me to get used to Andoh's narration, she captured the characters rather well. It's pretty clear from my reviews of BBC Audio's stories that I'm not the biggest fan of them. It's not that I dislike them, it's just that they are not the best Doctor Who I've ever seen (or rather listened to). This episode isn't like the others. I really enjoyed this episode.
As with most episodes I'm not overly fond of, this will be a rather short review. It's been a few weeks since I've listened to this story, so this review won't be as in-depth as most of my others.
This story has a very unique concept. It's about giant pylons coming to life and attacking people. That's pretty much all I remember about the story, other than that I didn't enjoy it too much. It almost felt like the author was trying to do what Steven Moffatt did with Blink: turn something totally ordinary into something terrifying. Unfortunately, I felt this story didn't live up to these ambitions. I enjoyed Arthur Darvill's narration and it was nice to hear another story with the Doctor and Amy, but that's pretty much everything this story has to offer. I think this is my favorite story by BBC Audio so far. It has some really nice character moments and a decent plot.
As with many of my other reviews of BBC Audio stories, this review will probably be rather short. Overall, this is a pretty average story. There isn't anything particularly memorable that happens. As with many stories, it's set in World War II. The most interesting thing that happens is that Donna falls in love (again) and he dies (again). She really is the most unlucky person when it comes to love. I'll probably end up writing an article on that at some point. Anyways, in this story, she falls in love with a soldier. Their relationship is really enjoyable to listen to, especially since Catherine Tate played Donna Noble in the TV series. This adds a little extra authenticity to the relationship that is nice to hear. I especially enjoyed (that's the wrong word, but you know what I mean) Donna's reaction when he dies. It's clear she truly cared about him and this was well-portrayed. Her telling the Doctor that she wasn't fine yet was also really well done and something often not covered in the show. The impact of death on the companions is well shown here, more so than it often is elsewhere. Overall, I enjoyed this story. Though it's pretty average as a whole, it still has enjoyable moments, especially the relationship that Donna finds herself in. This'll probably be a relatively brief review.
Like that last paragraph. Anyways, the best thing about this story is that you get to hear Matt Smith as the Doctor again. He does a really good job with Amy's voice, capturing the Scottish aspect of it well. That's pretty much the only good thing I have to say about this story. It's not that this is a terrible story, it's just not the most captivating. I eventually got to the point where I stopped fully paying attention because the plot just wasn't interesting the entire time. From what I understood, there were mannequins that came alive, much like Autons, though even this I got from reading a summary online. I do wish that this story had gotten better, especially since it's one of the few expanded media stories that Matt Smith has recorded. Granted, it has been a bit over a week since I listened to this story, but the fact that I remember barely anything about it, besides liking the character of Shijo is a testament to the story and its quality. That's really all I have to say about the story. I enjoyed The Forever Trap, another story in the same series, much more, though I wish that this first story with Matt Smith that I listened to had been better. To clarify, in this review, I'll be reviewing the audiobook of Terrance Dicks' novelization, Doctor Who and the Abominable Snowmen, read by David Troughton, son of Patrick Troughton, who played the Second Doctor. I will be discussing spoilers for this story, as an FYI.
Before I start, I should clarify that I am reviewing the BBC Audio release of this story, not the television version. If and when I get a chance to watch the filmed version, I hope to do a review on that version separately.
Wow. Before listening I had heard tales of the song in this story that supposedly made the story terrible. I didn't believe the stories. And while I didn't think it ruined the episode, it definitely made a big impact on it. |
Archives
November 2023
Categories
All
|