Doctor Who - Beachhead

Starring Paul McGann, Hattie Morahan, Nicola Walker, Rebecca Night & Julia Hills.

Written by Nicholas Briggs & Directed by Ken Bentley.

In an attempt to recharge his batteries after his confrontation with the Eleven, the Doctor takes Liv and Helen to the sleepy English seaside village of Stegmoor.

But they find the village in turmoil and, to make matters worse, their arrival uncovers a mystery from the Doctor’s past which threatens the future safety of the planet. Can the Doctor prevent the Voord from invading Earth?

And more importantly why have they come in the first place?

After the huge success of Doom Coalition 1, there was a lot of onus on the second set of stories to deliver. While the first set is probably overall not Big Finish's best box set, there was a lot of really strong reviews about how it was a very well constructed set overall, with one of the best villain introductions for the Eleven. Even I found the first box set a great success, something I wasn't saying about the first box set for the eighth Doctor's previous umbrella range, Dark Eyes. So it was with a lot of anticipation that I went into Doom Coalition 2. However, seeing the returning villain on the cover of Beachhead, plus the return of Nicholas Briggs to the eighth Doctor range, I didn't go into the first episode expecting a wholly original work, but rather one that takes well worn ideas and plays with them in a new way. And in contrast to Nicholas Briggs' previous contribution to Dark Eyes (The Traitor), this one takes some well worn ideas, and gives them a boost to push them into the 21st Century.

The story plays out a little like a traditional Pertwee-era story (with seminal figures from the era the Brigadier and Liz getting a name check), but updated so it doesn't just feel like a straight-up re-tread of stories like The Daemons and The Green Death. Rather, Beachhead forges it's own identity, playing with the stereotypes you associate with the era in rather interesting ways. Certainly, the basic plot of the story is nothing Who fans haven't seen before, but the way it's presented is rather different to anything seen before. Sure, the Doctor spends most of the first half of the story unconscious, and the villains are the standard 'invade Earth because home planet is dead' bunch, but this story still manages to feel at least partly original. The pacing is one way that this story manages to change the formula, despite the unoriginal ideas that Briggs is playing around with. The first couple of scenes deceptively attempt to play with the audience's expectations. Both start rather slowly, but then pick up all of a sudden, jolting the audience, and forcing them to sit up. And sure, some of those ideas descend into explanations rather too quickly, but they certainly make for an exciting opening. In fact, the opening is some of the most action-packed material we've had from Briggs in a while (which is unexpected, considering his recent work on the first War Doctor box set). The idea of using a place the Doctor has been too before is rather interesting too, especially the way it sets up a certain character's place in the story. The idea of taking the viewer/listener/reader/whatever to a place the Doctor has been too before, but the audience has no knowledge of, isn't necessarily a new one, but the way it's handled is rather different to in previous stories. It doesn't really focus on the consequences of that unseen adventure, but rather the folly of the Doctor for not believing someone's else reports of aliens in Stegmoor. The story, as mentioned earlier, does become a little more formulaic in the middle, and by the end is perhaps revelling a bit too much in the cliché for my tastes, but the initial premises are twisted nicely enough for me. However, I don't feel the Voord come out of this story all that well. Whereas their previous Big Finish appearance (Domain Of The Voord) made them out to be strong warriors, I felt a little underwhelmed by their presence here. Sure, I wasn't expecting them to be completely cold-blooded killers, but I had hoped they might have showed a bit more metaphorical teeth. It just seemed like any other alien threat could have taken their place. I think, had there been a few more villagers to interact with (and kill), they would have been able to make much more of an impact. As it was, while it was nice to include a small link back to the past, in this arc where many of the main villains are original creations, I think a lot more could be done with the Voord, especially considering that this is only their third appearance in a performed Who story. I also thought the way they were defeated was fairly easy as well, as if the story just ran out of time, and needed a 'get out of jail free' card. It had shades of the rushed endings of Matt Smith's final season. However, I certainly liked the ominous set-up for the rest of the box set. This set seems to be following the pattern of the previous series of being mostly self-contained stories, building towards the finale. And this certainly starts to build up the threads towards the main season arc, particularly with regards to the Voord's presence on Earth. Certainly, we don't get any answers to the questions posed in this story, but the ideas intrigue me enough to listen to the rest of the box set.

I certainly liked the few village residents that we do meet, however. I loved the fact that Nicholas Briggs felt that a predominantly female cast was a smart move here, since I think that, even today, there can still be prejudices against mostly female casts. Some critics assume that it has some kind of forced LGBT or feminist rights agenda, and pushes this at the expense of all else. And while I agree that, at times, that can be damaging to the overall story being told, here I feel that it works. It has no overbearing impact upon the story, they're just characters, in an extraordinary situation. Sure, there are hints of a homosexual relationship between two of the characters, but it's nothing that extremely over the top. If I was being honest, I did think more time could have been spent building up the characters relationship, since it just seems dropped in, rather than flowing completely naturally. I have to say though, that it doesn't feel that forced into the narrative, and I really rather liked it. I did think the characters were all stock types, but oddly enough not from a isolated village-type Doctor Who story. Oddly enough, the characters all felt torn from the pages of any episode of Doc Martin that I could care to mention, which adds to the refreshing change feel, despite them being stereotypes not torn from previous Who stories. I really liked the character of Philippa Gregson, mostly because she was a wonderful creation that felt like a real person would when faced with her situation. She blames the Doctor for her husband's early death, and the scene where the Doctor and Helen are held at gunpoint by her, who just won't believe the truth the Doctor is telling her is wonderfully tense. Despite the story's formulaic structure, there is still plenty to like. The acting in this story is fantastic, particularly from the leads. Paul McGann is as great as he always is in these audios, and it's nice to hear him in a more typical adventure, rather than the more outré stories that have been part of Dark Eyes and Doom Coalition previously. And Nicola Walker and Hattie Morahan are great together, really cementing their great relationship that was present throughout the first box set. I also really liked the acting from the guest cast, particularly from Andrew Dickens, who returns as a Voord, and Kirsty Besterman, who takes on a couple of roles, namely the Voord commander. Both Rebecca Night and Julia Hills were also fantastic as mother and daughter, and there was a clear chemistry between them, something that can often take days to get right. It should be applauded that they managed to do so in Big Finish's tight recording schedule.

With regards to the story's production, I thought that, once again, Big Finish knocked it out of the park. I thought that the direction from Ken Bentley was really, really great, keeping the piece nice and tight, and getting the best performances from his cast. I also loved the score from Jamie Robertson, and it's really nice to hear him brought back onto the Eighth Doctor range. For the sound design, he is joined by FiveWhoFans ex-member Benji Clifford, who really makes his mark felt with a beautiful piece of work. He builds up the world of Stegmoor perfectly, and I loved the fast paced of the flood scenes, as mentioned above. The world is realistic, believable, and he manages to maintain some coherency for the aforementioned flood scenes, something which can be a little difficult to do on audio. And as for Tom Webster's cover, his ominous blue tones are really great, and he manages to make the whole thing look moody and atmospheric. Webster really is firing on all cylinders at the moment.

Overall, this is a good story, not great or amazing, but a good story that doesn't outstay it's welcome, nor try to push the boundaries too much. It certainly would have been nice to see it push at the boundaries a bit more, and I don't think it's return foes get the best treatment, but there's been worse released by Big Finish recently, and it's a step-up from The Satanic Mill. A lot has happened to Big Finish since the last set of Eighth Doctor Adventures was released, but it's nice to see that this range continues to carve itself as a strong part of Big Finish's catalogue.

Rating - 7/10

Other Reviews of Big Finish Products:
The Great War - COMING SOON
Fugitives - COMING SOON
Tangled Web - COMING SOON
X And The Daleks - COMING SOON
The Traitor - COMING SOON
The White Room - COMING SOON
Time's Horizon - COMING SOON
Eyes Of The Master - COMING SOON
The Death Of Hope - COMING SOON
The Reviled - COMING SOON
Masterplan - COMING SOON
Rule Of The Eminence - COMING SOON
A Life In The Day - COMING SOON
The Monster Of Montmartre - COMING SOON
Master Of The Daleks - COMING SOON
Eye Of Darkness - COMING SOON