Starring Tom Baker, Lalla Ward, Christopher Benjamin, Trevor Baxter and Ed Stoppard, with John Leeson as K9.
Written by Justin Richards & Directed by Nicholas Briggs
A stunning new star act is wowing the audiences of the New Regency Theatre. The modern mechanical marvel of canny canine charisma - the automated dog that can answer any question - the incomparable - the unbeatable - K9!
The Doctor and Romana have returned to Victorian London and been reunited with their old friends Professor George Litefoot and Henry Gordon Jago. However this is not merely a social visit. A terrifying crime spree is sweeping the capital, and the burglaries of 'The Knave' defy all logic.
Something impossibly dangerous is taking place amid the fog. Only the time travellers and their friends can stop it... but can they be sure they're all on the same side?
After five seasons, which have, for the most part, followed a very strict formula, Big Finish have decided to shift the Fourth Doctor Adventures into rather more 'virgin' territory: that of season 18. Now, this is probably the most notable foray into season 18 since the end of Logopolis in 1981 (although the two seasons that followed it, seasons 19 and 20, did share much of it's aesthetic), because, for the most part, it's been untouched by the extended universe. Some of the DWM fourth Doctor comics could be placed within it, there have been a handful of Short Trips in print, the Andrew Smith penned Invasion Of E-Space takes place during the eponymous E-Space trilogy, and recently we had the Adric-centred Short Trip A Full Life. But, apart from those fleeting instances, there has been very little that's actually been set within that season. Certainly, there's not been anything that has actively sort to totally emulate the style of storytelling and production that that pioneering season had to offer, most having been constrained by format or lack of actor availability. Until now. With the sixth season of Fourth Doctor Adventures, Big Finish have taken the rather sensible decision to move into this almost forgotten of seasons, and bulk it out with more tales. So, when approaching any season 18 tale, one expects style, flair and innovation, right? Right? Well, if the evidence of Beast Of Kravenos is anything to go by, then either I've got season 18 totally wrong, or Big Finish have failed to capture the spirit of season 18 at all.
The plot of Kravenos is a fairly simple one: the Doctor, Romana and K9 are investigating a sci-fi McGuffin, while Inspector Quick is investigating a series of impossible burglaries. It's obvious the two are connected, and the Doctor, Romana and K9 must try to work out how, and whom is committing the thefts. Now, I hate to accuse Big Finish of simplifying their storytelling, but this isn't what I'd call complex. In fact, it's exactly the sort of thing I'd expect to find in a fourth Doctor tale set in Victorian London. While Justice Of Jalxar (the previous Fourth Doctor Adventure set in Victorian London) dealt with the criminal underclasses, this focuses much more on the higher echelons of society. And sure, it's nice to bring out the more Sherlock Holmes side of the fourth Doctor: where he's pitching himself at a mystery, and trying to figure out how it all works. However, and I can't be the only one who's thought this, but there is virtually no originality here. There's barely even a creative spark to leap out at the audience: just the fact that all of this takes place in Victorian London. It's hard to muster excitement about that time period anymore, sadly, since the new series has been lurking around that locale for three or four years now, and Big Finish have done a number of stories set there. Oh, and the minor detail that Jago & Litefoot have their own spin-off that's now entering it's thirteenth season. There is zero novelty factor in going back to Victorian London, so, if you're going to do it, you need to have a bloody good reason. And, if I'm being honest, I just don't think this story does. To be honest, you could have taken out the Victorian setting, Jago, Litefoot and Quick, and just set the thing on an alien planet, or in modern day Britain. To be honest, it would have been nice to try and go back to something previously set up from Big Finish's fourth Doctor tales (something like The Auntie Matter or The Crooked Man or even The Ghosts Of Gralstead), just to add a bit of variety and spice into the fourth Doctor's adventures, and to show that they're establishing a world. However, I just seems like, to me, that they're just riding on the glories of the TV series, something which was fine for the first couple, or even three seasons of this audio stories. But now, we're on season six, and it would be nice to start to see some progression, or sense that Big Finish feel confident to look back on the work they've done so far with Tom Baker. I don't see why it had to be this time period, other than to bring Jago and Litefoot back, which, in itself is becoming pretty tiring. I really don't want to sound like one of those hacks over at Gallifrey Base, who bemoan every time Big Finish announce a new story featuring the Daleks, but it would be nice to see an extended sense of continuity being built up around the fourth Doctor, not just smothering him in nostalgia. A lot of my complaints would be mollified about this story if writer Justin Richards had moulded his writing to fit into season 18's very specific style. But he hasn't: the fourth Doctor, as written, is pretty much the same fourth Doctor as the one that's been pitched at us throughout this range: a hybrid of the Philip Hinchcliffe/Graham Williams fourth Doctor. And the tone is the same: mixing Graham Williams' lightness of touch, with Philip Hinchcliffe's deft plotting, and rather pulpy ideas. There's no hard science or dour atmosphere that John-Nathan Turner or Christopher H Bidmead brought to the show, it's just content to be the same thing the Fourth Doctor Adventures have been since day one. I had hoped that this season would see a real shift in storytelling style, and trying to experiment a bit more. However, if this story is anything to go by, it looks like they've failed in this task.
I have to also confess to not being impressed with the characters all that much, because, for the most part, we already know them. The Doctor, K9, Romana, Jago, Quick and Litefoot have all been established before, so really, it's just a case of making sure they remain in character. And, to his credit, Richards 100 per cent achieves this. It's certainly nice that he's made sure Jago isn't just a bumbling buffoon (something that you could actually level at Justice Of Jalxar, despite my vigorous disagreement), but does help progress the action. I've said that, for the most part, Jago, Litefoot and Quick are pretty disposable, and I'm afraid to say that is indeed the case. Sure, they're well characterised, and Christopher Benjamin, Trevor Baxter and Conrad Asquith are as fantastic as they always are, but, as I've said above, I just find them totally redundant, in a plot has no need for them. To be honest, the same could even be said of Romana and K9: sure, K9 has a rather amusing plotline about how he has become an act at the New Regency Theatre, but this fizzles out around the half way mark, and Romana has virtually nothing do at all throughout the whole story, except chase after the beast. As for the fourth Doctor, well, as I mentioned above, Richards barely makes any differentiation for his season 18 persona, however, much to my surprise, Tom does this admirably. I don't know whether or not this was director Nick Briggs' guiding hand, or whether Tom himself decided to pitch his performance at a more subdued level, but it comes off wonders. There are some scenes where you can just visualise him in that red jacket and scarf, with a solemn look on his face. The only other member of the cast is Ed Stoppard as Sir Nicholas Asquin, who is pretty decent in his role. However, while I like the Jekyll & Hyde aspect of the character, I did think that, overall, I didn't think he was that notable as a character. There wasn't really much to his character, beyond the surface details.
I do, also, have to quibble with the production of this story. Now, before we begin, I have no complaints with the direction or sound design. Both Nicholas Briggs and Jamie Robertson do great work, with Briggs' direction being as taught as ever, and Jamie builds up the picture of the world we are in amazingly. However, I have to take issue with the music for this story. Now, this is the only time that I'll probably ever complain about a Jamie Robertson score, and I have to say that my issue is not with the quality of the score provided: it's perfectly acceptable for what it is, and it's certainly of the same high quality and standard that I've come to expect from Robertson. I especially love the Jago & Litefoot theme riff that creeps in at one point. However, this whole season is meant to be set during season 18: when the shows music was electronically composed by the Radiophonic Workshop. The music from this season (and the four after it) is so iconic, so memorable, that, as Who music goes, it's my favourite era of the show. And while the cover design from Anthony Lamb (which, by the way is great, really good) features Tom in his season 18 outfit and features the starfield titles in the sidebar, and the Peter Howell version of the theme has been employed (unlike The Invasion Of E-Space), the music just doesn't reflect this. In the extras that accompany this story, Nick Briggs talks about how he wanted the music to sound like a Dudley Simpson score, which, while is in keeping with the setting, just feels totally out of place with the intent of the story. This is set in season 18, when the show was experimenting with music, and pushing the boundaries. Yet this score feels as safe as possible, very much in the formula that John Nathan-Turner was trying to go against. I just feel like it was a mistake, especially since this might be the only time we take the fourth Doctor into season 18. It just feels like a missed opportunity if they're not going to alter the music style as well, which was possibly one of the greatest changes in season 18.
Overall, The Beast Of Kravenos wasn't as bad as the review above makes it out to be. To be honest, it was actually quite a lot of fun, and it was certainly one great big romp. However, it would have been nice had they actually set out to push some boundaries, and actually try to be something a bit different. I don't think that Beast is an abject failure, but with this sixth season of Fourth Doctor Adventures entering one of the most innovative eras of the show, I was hoping that this range would follow suit. Sure, there's seven more stories to come, but, if they're all like this, I'm going to be rather disappointed.
Rating - 6/10
Other Reviews of Big Finish Products:
The Paradox Planet - COMING SOON
Legacy Of Death - COMING SOON
Gallery Of Ghouls - COMING SOON
The Trouble With Drax - COMING SOON
The Pursuit Of History - COMING SOON
Casualties Of Time - COMING SOON
Written by Justin Richards & Directed by Nicholas Briggs
A stunning new star act is wowing the audiences of the New Regency Theatre. The modern mechanical marvel of canny canine charisma - the automated dog that can answer any question - the incomparable - the unbeatable - K9!
The Doctor and Romana have returned to Victorian London and been reunited with their old friends Professor George Litefoot and Henry Gordon Jago. However this is not merely a social visit. A terrifying crime spree is sweeping the capital, and the burglaries of 'The Knave' defy all logic.
Something impossibly dangerous is taking place amid the fog. Only the time travellers and their friends can stop it... but can they be sure they're all on the same side?
After five seasons, which have, for the most part, followed a very strict formula, Big Finish have decided to shift the Fourth Doctor Adventures into rather more 'virgin' territory: that of season 18. Now, this is probably the most notable foray into season 18 since the end of Logopolis in 1981 (although the two seasons that followed it, seasons 19 and 20, did share much of it's aesthetic), because, for the most part, it's been untouched by the extended universe. Some of the DWM fourth Doctor comics could be placed within it, there have been a handful of Short Trips in print, the Andrew Smith penned Invasion Of E-Space takes place during the eponymous E-Space trilogy, and recently we had the Adric-centred Short Trip A Full Life. But, apart from those fleeting instances, there has been very little that's actually been set within that season. Certainly, there's not been anything that has actively sort to totally emulate the style of storytelling and production that that pioneering season had to offer, most having been constrained by format or lack of actor availability. Until now. With the sixth season of Fourth Doctor Adventures, Big Finish have taken the rather sensible decision to move into this almost forgotten of seasons, and bulk it out with more tales. So, when approaching any season 18 tale, one expects style, flair and innovation, right? Right? Well, if the evidence of Beast Of Kravenos is anything to go by, then either I've got season 18 totally wrong, or Big Finish have failed to capture the spirit of season 18 at all.
The plot of Kravenos is a fairly simple one: the Doctor, Romana and K9 are investigating a sci-fi McGuffin, while Inspector Quick is investigating a series of impossible burglaries. It's obvious the two are connected, and the Doctor, Romana and K9 must try to work out how, and whom is committing the thefts. Now, I hate to accuse Big Finish of simplifying their storytelling, but this isn't what I'd call complex. In fact, it's exactly the sort of thing I'd expect to find in a fourth Doctor tale set in Victorian London. While Justice Of Jalxar (the previous Fourth Doctor Adventure set in Victorian London) dealt with the criminal underclasses, this focuses much more on the higher echelons of society. And sure, it's nice to bring out the more Sherlock Holmes side of the fourth Doctor: where he's pitching himself at a mystery, and trying to figure out how it all works. However, and I can't be the only one who's thought this, but there is virtually no originality here. There's barely even a creative spark to leap out at the audience: just the fact that all of this takes place in Victorian London. It's hard to muster excitement about that time period anymore, sadly, since the new series has been lurking around that locale for three or four years now, and Big Finish have done a number of stories set there. Oh, and the minor detail that Jago & Litefoot have their own spin-off that's now entering it's thirteenth season. There is zero novelty factor in going back to Victorian London, so, if you're going to do it, you need to have a bloody good reason. And, if I'm being honest, I just don't think this story does. To be honest, you could have taken out the Victorian setting, Jago, Litefoot and Quick, and just set the thing on an alien planet, or in modern day Britain. To be honest, it would have been nice to try and go back to something previously set up from Big Finish's fourth Doctor tales (something like The Auntie Matter or The Crooked Man or even The Ghosts Of Gralstead), just to add a bit of variety and spice into the fourth Doctor's adventures, and to show that they're establishing a world. However, I just seems like, to me, that they're just riding on the glories of the TV series, something which was fine for the first couple, or even three seasons of this audio stories. But now, we're on season six, and it would be nice to start to see some progression, or sense that Big Finish feel confident to look back on the work they've done so far with Tom Baker. I don't see why it had to be this time period, other than to bring Jago and Litefoot back, which, in itself is becoming pretty tiring. I really don't want to sound like one of those hacks over at Gallifrey Base, who bemoan every time Big Finish announce a new story featuring the Daleks, but it would be nice to see an extended sense of continuity being built up around the fourth Doctor, not just smothering him in nostalgia. A lot of my complaints would be mollified about this story if writer Justin Richards had moulded his writing to fit into season 18's very specific style. But he hasn't: the fourth Doctor, as written, is pretty much the same fourth Doctor as the one that's been pitched at us throughout this range: a hybrid of the Philip Hinchcliffe/Graham Williams fourth Doctor. And the tone is the same: mixing Graham Williams' lightness of touch, with Philip Hinchcliffe's deft plotting, and rather pulpy ideas. There's no hard science or dour atmosphere that John-Nathan Turner or Christopher H Bidmead brought to the show, it's just content to be the same thing the Fourth Doctor Adventures have been since day one. I had hoped that this season would see a real shift in storytelling style, and trying to experiment a bit more. However, if this story is anything to go by, it looks like they've failed in this task.
I have to also confess to not being impressed with the characters all that much, because, for the most part, we already know them. The Doctor, K9, Romana, Jago, Quick and Litefoot have all been established before, so really, it's just a case of making sure they remain in character. And, to his credit, Richards 100 per cent achieves this. It's certainly nice that he's made sure Jago isn't just a bumbling buffoon (something that you could actually level at Justice Of Jalxar, despite my vigorous disagreement), but does help progress the action. I've said that, for the most part, Jago, Litefoot and Quick are pretty disposable, and I'm afraid to say that is indeed the case. Sure, they're well characterised, and Christopher Benjamin, Trevor Baxter and Conrad Asquith are as fantastic as they always are, but, as I've said above, I just find them totally redundant, in a plot has no need for them. To be honest, the same could even be said of Romana and K9: sure, K9 has a rather amusing plotline about how he has become an act at the New Regency Theatre, but this fizzles out around the half way mark, and Romana has virtually nothing do at all throughout the whole story, except chase after the beast. As for the fourth Doctor, well, as I mentioned above, Richards barely makes any differentiation for his season 18 persona, however, much to my surprise, Tom does this admirably. I don't know whether or not this was director Nick Briggs' guiding hand, or whether Tom himself decided to pitch his performance at a more subdued level, but it comes off wonders. There are some scenes where you can just visualise him in that red jacket and scarf, with a solemn look on his face. The only other member of the cast is Ed Stoppard as Sir Nicholas Asquin, who is pretty decent in his role. However, while I like the Jekyll & Hyde aspect of the character, I did think that, overall, I didn't think he was that notable as a character. There wasn't really much to his character, beyond the surface details.
I do, also, have to quibble with the production of this story. Now, before we begin, I have no complaints with the direction or sound design. Both Nicholas Briggs and Jamie Robertson do great work, with Briggs' direction being as taught as ever, and Jamie builds up the picture of the world we are in amazingly. However, I have to take issue with the music for this story. Now, this is the only time that I'll probably ever complain about a Jamie Robertson score, and I have to say that my issue is not with the quality of the score provided: it's perfectly acceptable for what it is, and it's certainly of the same high quality and standard that I've come to expect from Robertson. I especially love the Jago & Litefoot theme riff that creeps in at one point. However, this whole season is meant to be set during season 18: when the shows music was electronically composed by the Radiophonic Workshop. The music from this season (and the four after it) is so iconic, so memorable, that, as Who music goes, it's my favourite era of the show. And while the cover design from Anthony Lamb (which, by the way is great, really good) features Tom in his season 18 outfit and features the starfield titles in the sidebar, and the Peter Howell version of the theme has been employed (unlike The Invasion Of E-Space), the music just doesn't reflect this. In the extras that accompany this story, Nick Briggs talks about how he wanted the music to sound like a Dudley Simpson score, which, while is in keeping with the setting, just feels totally out of place with the intent of the story. This is set in season 18, when the show was experimenting with music, and pushing the boundaries. Yet this score feels as safe as possible, very much in the formula that John Nathan-Turner was trying to go against. I just feel like it was a mistake, especially since this might be the only time we take the fourth Doctor into season 18. It just feels like a missed opportunity if they're not going to alter the music style as well, which was possibly one of the greatest changes in season 18.
Overall, The Beast Of Kravenos wasn't as bad as the review above makes it out to be. To be honest, it was actually quite a lot of fun, and it was certainly one great big romp. However, it would have been nice had they actually set out to push some boundaries, and actually try to be something a bit different. I don't think that Beast is an abject failure, but with this sixth season of Fourth Doctor Adventures entering one of the most innovative eras of the show, I was hoping that this range would follow suit. Sure, there's seven more stories to come, but, if they're all like this, I'm going to be rather disappointed.
Rating - 6/10
Other Reviews of Big Finish Products:
The Paradox Planet - COMING SOON
Legacy Of Death - COMING SOON
Gallery Of Ghouls - COMING SOON
The Trouble With Drax - COMING SOON
The Pursuit Of History - COMING SOON
Casualties Of Time - COMING SOON
Comments
Post a Comment