Tag Archive: Night of the Vashta Nerada

Hello there my fellow Vortex travelers,

My name is Jamie and I will be your guide through the Worlds of Big Finish. In this installment, I’m switching things up. To give me a break from the Main/Monthly Range, I’m going to start delving into other ranges from Big Finish.

In this installment, I will give my thoughts on both volumes of Classic Doctors, New Monsters. This is, at the moment at least, two boxsets that do exactly what the title promises. It features a Classic Series Doctor (in this case Fourth through Eighth) without companions and teams them up with a monster that debuted in the New Series (2005-Present).

These are available from the Big Finish website on both CD and Download. The CD version is $42.37 and Download is $30.00.

Disclaimer: All of the opinions expressed hereafter are my own. There are stories that I love that others may hate and vice versa. I am not responsible for any reactions others might have to my comments and opinions.

POSSIBLE SPOILERS AHEAD!!!

 

Volume 1
Released: July 28, 2016

 

 

 

 

1.1 Fallen Angels
Written by: Phil Mulryne
Featuring: 5th + Weeping Angels
TTV Episode: 452

My Thoughts: For the first of these, we get the Fifth Doctor facing up against the Weeping Angels. We start with a newly married couple, Joel and Gabby, on honeymoon in Rome. They seem to have met the Doctor in an unfinished Sistine Chapel and are now sneaking in to see if Michelangelo’s statue of Moses still exists. It doesn’t, in its stead is the statue of an angel, hiding its face as if it’s weeping.

They also meet a priest, who is a member of the Order of the Three Angels. The priest begins blowing out candles as the angel approaches. The angel chooses Joel and Gabby and embraces them in the darkness.

Meanwhile, the Doctor arrives in Rome 1511 and sees on the scanner Gabby trying to fend off nosy Romans while trying to call the police. The Doctor intervenes, “Hat, Door, Rescue.” with a fun distraction “Hey, is that Pope Julius?”. Gabby and the Doctor then begin to hunt for Joel while the Doctor explains what’s been going on.

Joel meanwhile arrives in Michelangelo’s workshop as a priest is trying to convince the artist to put his project above that of the Pope’s. Joel’s arrival ends the discussion and soon, Michelangelo, Joel, and Piero (Michelangelo’s servant) are on their way to the Sistine.

Joel and Gabby reunite outside St. Peter’s Basilica and their memories return. And with their memories comes the Doctor explaining the Weeping Angels. The Doctor sends Piero to protect Michelangelo while the Doctor, Joel, and Gabby hunt the Angel.

Upon arrival at the workshop, Piero is touched by the imprisoned angel. Meanwhile, one of the priests tries to kill the Doctor and co who chase the priest into the catacombs. Once in the catacombs, they begin to learn more about the Order of Three Angels. They discover an aged Piero who tells them the backstory of the Angels and of the Order.

After Piero’s story, the Doctor and friends leave the catacombs into the Sistine and head out to save Michelangelo. They arrive in time and the rest of the story is an attempt to stay alive while luring the angels into a trap. They successfully trap the angels between some Venetian Mirrors with the help of Pierro and then seal them in the catacombs.

Joel and Gabby are forced to stay in the past in order to keep the angels trapped while the Doctor goes to complete the loop so time will snap back into its proper place. We also get the start of the definitions of time that first appear (from our perspective) in Blink. Though the Doctor only has the first part worked out at the moment.

Overall, a very strong start to the boxset. It’s enjoyable, fun with actual moments of light humor, and the Angels are done very well with musical stings as they move that are rather quite effective. It’s rather fast-paced, especially when the Doctor and company flee from the Angels during the climax. If the Angels can be written like this every time they appear on audio, then they’ll do well as long as they aren’t overused.

This has a very Blink-like feel to it (as opposed to feeling like the Series 5 Angel two-parter or the Angels take Manhattan). I think of the Weeping Angel stories I’ve consumed, this, Blink and Touched by an Angel are my favorites, though I do really like the Series 5 two-parter as well. For a concept of having Classic Doctors face off against New Series Monsters, this one worked very well.

Rating: 10/10

1.2 Judoon in Chains
Written by: Simon Barnard, Paul Morris
Featuring: 6th + Judoon
TTV Episode: 452

My Thoughts: The Sixth Doctor is next. This time, he’s providing the defense in court of Judoon Captain Kybo who is charged with desertion. The court is from the 1800s and has been moved by the Judoon to Mars. The trial then becomes the framing story for the main narrative.

A planet is being terraformed for a planetary president’s daughter’s eighteenth birthday by Genesis Corp who has hired the Judoon. Kybo is placing the last terraforming device when something happens causing him to steal a scout ship and flee.

The Doctor, following a psychic distress call, lands on the fleeing scout ship which is under attack and falling apart. He meets Kybo and helps him to the escape pod. The pod launches and the Doctor follows in the TARDIS.

Kybo ends up in 1884 England where he becomes a sideshow attraction. The Doctor follows and ends up in a cage beside Kybo’s. It has a very Elephant Man feel here (at least according to others as I’ve never actually seen the film).

However, it soon is learned that Kybo can speak English despite a broken translator unit. This interests the Doctor since according to him, the Judoon brain can fit in a teaspoon. Also worrying are strange blue lights that appear in the sky, probably from a probe scanning the area. The Doctor quickly picks the lock on his cage and heads to investigate.

The Doctor and one of the circus people, Eliza, destroy one of the probes, delaying the arrival of the Judoon for a few days. Kybo, meanwhile is soon reading everything he can get his hands on, Frankenstein, Great Expectations, Moby Dick, and the poetry of Robert Burns. He even composes his own little poem before the Judoon fleet arrives.

The Judoon arrive and manage to do a lot of damage, including killing the owner of the circus after he blunders in and makes a mess of things. Finally, the Doctor manages to convince the Judoon to use the entrance and follow the signs after which they enter the hall of mirrors and are temporarily scared off.

The circus then prepares to pack up and the Doctor takes Kybo into the hall of mirrors to discover what changed him so much. It turns out that while he was placing the detonation charge on the terraformed world, something like a breeze tapped him on the back. Sentience lives on and in the planet. It is this that effected Kybo.

The remainder of the story is the resulting court case. In which the case ends up not being against Kybo but instead against Genesis Corp who were the ones who shot Kybo down with their terraforming ships because they knew about the sentient species that affected Kybo. They manage to get the owner of Genesis Corp in for testimony which is then broadcast across the galaxy. After which, everything works out and we get a humorous departure.

An enjoyable story that tries to do something different with the Judoon. The Sixth Doctor just seems to work here. While not as enjoyable as the previous story (I may be a bit biased here), this still is well written and well-acted. The sound effects and music are done well and work to make an enjoyable outing.

Rating: 8/10

1.3 Harvest of the Sycorax
Written by: James Goss
Featuring: 7th + Sycorax
TTV Episode: 453

My Thoughts: It’s the far future and the human race has spread across the stars. Designer drugs and viruses are the in thing. Everybody has “Pads”, essentially an iWatch that tells them their emotional state and recommends the proper drug.

We find ourselves on a space station where the bio-data (blood samples) of all the humans are stored for safekeeping. The station is experiencing an invasion by the Sycorax who want the blood samples. We meet the companion of the piece, Zanzibar Hashtag who’s the current hostage to be killed, her blood boiling.

The Doctor arrives and saves her. They then go to where the Sycorax are attempting to gain access to the vault. They scramble the vault lock and get a few people away into escape pods.

There’s also a small fleet checking up on the station. The Sycorax turn them on themselves destroying the fleet. The only survivor is Pharma Corps representative Cadwallader Cadwallader who joins the Doctor, Zanzibar, and Shadrack, a female technician.

There’s a briefly budding romance between Zanzibar and Shadrack who choose to forgo the company dating app. However, this is cut short when Shadrack is killed by a Sycorax. Zanzibar kills the alien and she and Cadwallader transmat over to the Sycorax ship.

Meanwhile, the Doctor is captured and while unconscious, the Sycorax take a blood sample. To prevent the Sycorax from controlling him, he then shuts down. Upon returning from the Sycorax vessel, Zanzibar learns that Pharma Corps sold out the human race to the Sycorax.

Zanzibar then challenges the Sycorax and is forced to fight the Doctor. Forever, she manages to destroy the blood controller, and the Doctor, freed from Sycorax control, surrenders. Stolen Sycorax blood samples are then sneakily supplied and the day is saved.

An enjoyable story on the surface with some interesting ideas about drug use and big pharma thrown in. However, as an online reviewer, I’ve read said, it’s essentially a retread of the Christmas Invasion. It’s not terrible, but it is the weakest of the first set.

Rating: 6.5/10

 

1.4 The Sontaran Ordeal
Written by: Andrew Smith
Featuring: 8th + Sontarans
TTV Episode: 453

My Thoughts: We start this one off with the Doctor shouting at the ether. We are in the Time War and a slice of the War has arrived at the green planet Drakkis turning its entire history into a war-torn wasteland. Here he rescues Paladin Sarana Teel, a dressmaker by trade, from quicksand.

Soon, an unarmed and unarmored Sontaran named Jask is transported down to the surface with experimental tech to face “Ordeal”, a Sontaran punishment. After breaking up a fight between Sarana and Jask, the Doctor plans to take them to the TARDIS to help with their problems. However, we soon discover that the TARDIS has been taken for salvage.

So the Doctor sneaks into the salvage vehicle and locates the TARDIS but is caught while trying to gain access. Meanwhile, Jask tells Sarana about the Time Lords and Time War, setting her against the Doctor. However, before she can kill him, sand serpents attack forcing the three of them to try to escape in the salvage vehicle.

They lose their pursuers and come across Ensign Stipe who has been sent by General Stenk to kill Jask. Jask survives the three heroes take Stipe ship back to the fleet. It turns out that Stenk has been disobeying orders and making un-Sontaran decisions for his own glory. Jask tried to expose him but was thwarted and sent to Ordeal.

Now onboard the Sontaran ship, the Doctor helps Jask expose Stenk and regain his honor. The experimental teleport is killing Jask, but because it initially seemed successful, Stenk is readying it for mass use. The Doctor’s plan works and Jask wins. The Doctor then takes Sarana to her original destination and helps work out a temporary peace, though because of the Time War, it is only temporary.

An enjoyable story and the second Big Finish Time War story not to feature the War Doctor. (The first is the Diary of River Song – Volume 1.) The Sontarans are used well here, though you could say that having Sontarans as a “New Monster” is a bit of a cheat. The Eighth Doctor shines in this as always. His anger and pleading with the unseen Time Lords is wonderful and just goes to show how he ended up at the end of the war.

Rating: 10/10

Volume 2
Released: July 27, 2017

 

 

 

 

2.1 Night of the Vashta Nerada
Written by: John Dorney
Featuring: 4th + Vashta Nerada

My Thoughts: This set is bookended by what is a loose two-part story, both stories featuring the Vashta Nerada. These both have a very Jurassic Park feel to them I find. This story features a small team of hunters arriving on FunWorld, an amusement park planet that was due to open soon. However, a mysterious predator has killed the 30-member skeleton staff.

On approach, the team reads no life signs, and then on the second scan, pick up one. They land and discover the Fourth Doctor trying to beat the crowds and have fun. He’s alone here, his previous companion, having left “for pastures new” indicating either Sarah Jane or Leela. As K-9 isn’t present, I’m more inclined to place shortly after Deadly Assassin, however other timelines have it shortly after Invasion of Time but before he opens the K-9 Mk II container.

The team, lead by Steele, a grizzled female hunter and accompanied by Donnelly, the park’s owner, reaches the control center which the Doctor mistakes at first for a haunted house. Here they find the staff, all of whom have been reduced to skeletons. It also appears that the power was cut deliberately.

Power is restored and the team’s telepath/psychic is convinced to read the skeleton in an attempt to learn what happened. Donnelly, caring only about getting the park up and running, makes some uncaring hurtful remarks, earning a sharp rebuke from the Doctor. Tom Baker is so good at mood changes from curious to anger to comforting. The corpse speaks of the darkness that kills and the Doctor is beginning to think that it might be better to just leave.

The lights are turned back on and the team discovers the Vashta Nerada who reveal their intent and ends up killing two members of the team. Steele then takes the fight to them while leaving the Doctor and Donnelly on the ship. Steele’s trap doesn’t work though, leading to the death of the last member of her team. The Doctor goes to rescue her and in his absence, Donnelly takes flees for Earth in the hunters’ ship.

The Doctor rescues Steele and they realize that half of the Vashta Nerada have stowed away on Steele’s ship which is currently on autopilot for Earth. Arriving on the ship, they find Donnelly dead and so Steele sacrifices herself to end the threat. The Doctor takes the ship off autopilot and sets up a message warning people away before regretfully leaving himself.

A very good story. It’s nice to see the Fourth Doctor bare his teeth in a Big Finish story. This has the feel of Hinchcliffe-era story instead of the Graham Williams-era that we seem to be getting more often. The Vashta Nerada work well here. As I said, it has a rather Jurassic Park/Lost World feel with the park setting, the rescue mission and the team of hunters. Very, very good.

Rating: 10/10

 

2.2 Empire of the Racnoss
Written by: Scott Handcock
Featuring: 5th + Racnoss

My Thoughts: The Fifth Doctor finds himself in the middle of the wars between the Time Lords and the Racnoss. Responding to a distress signal, he rescues the Racnoss Empress’s consort from a burning ship. He returns the consort home only to be imprisoned with two other Time Lords.

A short while later, the Empress summons him. We are told that the Emperor of the Racnoss has fled and is waging a civil war against the Empress. The Empress forces the Doctor and one of the other Time Lords to take her to the Emperor in a bid for peace. They find the Emperor who was abandoned by the Empress to feed their young. All he wants is peace. He abandons his rank and the TARDIS returns to the throne room.

Upon return, they learn that the Empress, now that she knows the former Emperor’s location, plans to launch a fleet and destroy him. The Doctor and one of the Time Lords manage to escape and try to warn the Emperor who instead of taking their offer, pulls back his fleet, and prepares for battle.

The consort is killed and the Emperor plans to destroy the final hatchery. This is too much and the Doctor prepares to try to stop this. He manages to save the children while the Empress turns her fire on the Emperor and then relocates the children.

It’s not bad, it’s just kinda there. While it picks up a little in the second half, nothing really stood out about this one. Just as the Sycorax feel like one-note villains, the Racnoss just feel boring. They feel like C-list Daleks. Shouty aliens. At least the Daleks can be interesting from time to time. The Racnoss are just Spiders. I think part of the appeal of the Racnoss is the visual and because we don’t get that here, they just feel average. Easily the worst of this set.

Rating: 4/10

 

2.3 The Carrionite Curse
Written by: Simon Guerrier
Featuring: 6th + Carrionites

My Thoughts: In a British village, in late October 1980-something, a witch pleads guilty during a town meeting where the townsfolk are also planning a harvest festival. Later, at the festival, the Sixth juggles water balloons for the kids before meeting Katy Bell, daughter of the local vicar who’s returned home from Polytechnic.

The main event is the burning of three witches, which the Doctor stops. The trio then begins flying around and causing havoc. The Doctor manages to seemingly stop them, after which they die. Then he prepares to leave, but Katy follows him into the TARDIS. He finds a replacement for a book of the Vicar’s that was destroyed by a one George Litefoot. However, a thumb through it and the discovery of a “C Chest” give him the clues to what’s going on.

The creatures return and we get a vocabulary match between them and the Doctor, which is the best part of this in my opinion. After this, they’re temporarily petrified. The Doctor and the other main people around him explore the town hall where we learn that this is a plot by the Carrionites to exploit a paradox that ties back to the Shakespeare Code. The aliens are defeated, but it’s not an overly happy ending.

I’m not a fan of witches or the like, so this is a favorite of mine. That said, it’s still enjoyable and the second battle where the Doctor is spouting vocabulary words at the creatures is excellent. Colin just seems to shine in moments like this. Not the worst in this boxset, but not the worst. I just like the bookends so much better.

Rating: 7/10

2.4 Day of the Vashta Nerada
Written by: Matt Fitton
Featuring: 8th + Vashta Nerada & Ollistra

My Thoughts: So this is the final story in this boxset and features the Eighth Doctor and, as the title states, the Vashta Nerada. It’s also a sequel to Night of the Vastha Nerada as the story takes place above the former Funworld. We start with an experiment in magnifying one of the creatures with nanobots. The experiment is deemed successful. Cue theme music. It turns out that we are in the midst of the Time War. The Doctor arrives on Synthesis Station to answer a distress signal. But he arrives early and everything’s fine. In fact, the Time Lords are expected. Soon, the expected party arrives headed by Cardinal Ollistra. They are here on business.

This is one of my favorites. It has a very Jurassic Park feel to it. Feeding bovoids to the big one, the genetic manipulation, the Doctor commenting “no one looks at a shark and says it needs more teeth” and “life finds a way”. Ollistra is taken to the Doctor and we get the sales pitch/info dump. As the Doctor and Ollistra argue over the ethics and danger of weaponizing the Vastha Nerada, the power goes out briefly. This is revealed to be on purpose as a certain Biotech Dendry (which seems an awful lot like a merge of Dennis and Nedry) is planning to steal some canisters of Vastha Nerada hatchlings.

The rest of the main plot is a race to reach the TARDISes and escape. We see some of the experiments such as the giant one and the Nerada Vastha (a negative version that hunts in the light). As I said, a very Jurassic Park feel, very claustrophobic and tense. At one point, the hatchlings are released, killing Dendry and most of Ollistra’s retinue as well as compromising Ollistra’s TARDIS.

Synthesis station is destroyed and the Doctor, Ollistra, Dr. Morrison (the station’s primary scientist), and Commander Roxita (Ollistra’s bodyguard) manage to escape in Doctor’s TARDIS. However, the hatchlings sneak aboard with them. The Doctor gets rid of them, but sadly, only he and Ollistra survive.

I love this story. It’s fun and probably my favorite of this set. Paul McGann as the Doctor and Jacqueline Pearce as Ollistra shine. It’s a shame that we lost Pearce recently because she was excellent and played so well off of both McGann and John Hurt. The similarity to Jurassic Park (another favorite franchise of mine) just seals the whole story for me.

Rating: 10/10

So, that’s my assessment of Classic Doctors, New Monsters. Normally, I’d say that the next installment might be a while. However, as there doesn’t seem to be another series of these anytime soon, I’ll instead give my thoughts on the series as a whole. An interesting idea that has produced some really good stories. While I like the traditional four-part format of the Main Range, the hour-long, single-part stories work well too, especially for the Eighth Doctor as a bridge between Classic and Modern Who. Would I like to see another of these? Sure. Will I be happy if they don’t do another? Sure. Overall, a good idea with two enjoyable boxsets where the mediocre is far outweighed by the great.

Happy travels,

Jamie.