Tag Archive: The Ratings War

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 the “Free Releases” or “Doctor Who Magazine (DWM) Exclusives”. These are five stories that were originally available as CDs that were available with certain issues of DWM. As such, they contained the story that I’m reviewing here, plus usually a bonus something or other, often a preview of some other release or a “Making Of” feature.

The first four are available from the Big Finish website as free downloads having been reissued there. The fifth one, Cuddlesome, is a little different and I’ll discuss its availability in it’s individual section.

Note: As of this time, these have not yet been reviewed on the Traveling the Vortex podcast.

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!!!

 

Last of the Titans
Written by: Nicholas Briggs
Featuring: 7th
Released: January 2001

My Thoughts: This one features the Seventh Doctor on his own narrating a story where he finds himself on a ship piloted by a Titanthrope from Devon. There’s not really much to tell here. It’s a bit slow and kinda boring for the first half. Even with the introduction of a time bomb at the cliffhanger, it’s still slow and kinda boring. There’s not really much to tell. It’s only about a half-hour and it’s free. It’s actually a rather sad tale of the recreated member of a long-dead species and his destruction.

It’s a remake of an Audio Visuals play and was originally released in DWM 300 along with Part 1 of Storm Warning and is now available free on the Big Finish website. This is placed late in the Seventh Doctor’s timeline with Tardis Wiki placing between the Ace/Mel Big Finish stories and the Mags Trilogy and first Klein trilogy.

Rating: 5/10

 

The Ratings War
Written by: Steve Lyons
Featuring: 6th + Beep the Meep
Released: January 2002

My Thoughts: A really enjoyable outing that’s only 35 minutes long. This time, the Sixth Doctor faces off against returning villain, Beep the Meep. Beep originally appeared in the second DWM comic story: The Star Beast, and then later in a sequel The Star Beast II. This is a fun story that is similar to Bad Wolf as a critique of reality TV and docu-dramas. It has references to previous Beep stories, but they aren’t absolutely necessary to enjoy this. I hadn’t read any of them when I’d first listened to this and still really enjoyed it.

As usual, Colin shines in this, and Toby Longworth shines as Beep. The “Beep and Friends” song is downright horrific in both its words if you actually try to listen to them and its pure earworm annoyance factor.

Overall, I think the word that best describes this is fun. It’s light, funny and self-referential. Beep’s show is put on an eighteen-month hiatus, the character of Lowell seems to be a take on Michael Grade, and when asked for a few words after saving the day, the Doctor denounces television and thinks that he needs a medium that allows being “louder”. It’s all just a really fun story.

So, availability and timeline placement. Originally, it was released as an inclusion with Doctor Who Magazine #313 before being re-released as a free download on the Big Finish website where you can still currently acquire it. It also contains Part 1 of Invaders From Mars. As for timeline placement, Tardis Wiki has it placed roughly between Holy Terror and the Six/Charley adventures.

Rating: 10/10

 

No Place Like Home
Written by: Iain McLaughlin
Featuring: 5th & Erimem + Shayde
Released: January 2003

My Thoughts: The Doctor is showing off the TARDIS interior to Erimem. As they explore, things start rearranging themselves with room appearing in the wrong places. Meanwhile, a mysterious, malevolent being is working the Doctor into a trap.

The Doctor and Erimem, and Antranak the cat who’s wandering around leaving deposits everywhere but the litter tray, are saved from stepping out into the vortex by Shayde, a mysterious Time Lord agent who originally appeared in the DWM Fifth Doctor comics before becoming a player in the DWM Eighth and Twelfth Doctor comics.

They are then directed to the villain’s lair. Here they meet their opponent and learn that their mortal enemy, is the Gallifreyan equivalent of a mouse called a Rovie, that’s been mutated by a Time Lord remote control device installed by Shayde on the instructions of the Time Lords. After a nice look at loneliness from both the Rovie and Erimem, the creature is defeated.

An enjoyable story that helps develop Erimem more. It’s fun and we get some great mouse-related jokes at the Rovie’s expense. This was originally included in DWM 326 and also contains a Dalek War Chapter One preview. For timeline placement, it’s still early days for Erimem and features Antranak the cat. Tardis Wiki places it between The Church and the Crown and Nekromanteia.

Rating: 10/10

 

Living Legend
Written by: Scott Gray
Featuring: 8th & Charley + Threllips
Released: November 2003

My Thoughts: The Doctor and Charley are in Italy in July 1982 following Italy’s victory over West Germany in the World Cup. But they aren’t here for the football, they’re tracking an alien signal which they trace to a nearby wood. Here they discover two Threllips preparing a space portal thing for their upcoming invasion. Though essentially a con job, they pit the two aliens against each other and stop the invasion.

This one is just fun. Both Charley and the Doctor get plenty to do from the Doctor getting one Threllip drunk as a cure for the terrible disease of “World Cup Fever” to Charley playing Time Lady and being the Doctor’s superior. The Threllips (played by Stephen Perring and Conrad Westmaas) are hysterical in their stupidity.

I realize that this is rather short, but there’s not really much else to say. You really just need to listen to it. Since it’s free, you really don’t have any excuse. As for availability and timeline placement, it was originally released with DWM 337 and is now free on the Big Finish website. It also contains a behind the scenes feature for Zagreus. For timeline placement, the author intended it to fall between Chimes of Midnight and Seasons of Fear so it’s easy to insert this into a listen through of the Eighth Doctor’s run across Big Finish.

Rating: 10/10

 

Cuddlesome
Written by: Nigel Fairs
Featuring: 5th
Released: March 2008

My Thoughts: Twenty-five years ago, a new toy fad swept the nation: the Cuddlesomes, because you’re never too old for a cuddle. They looked like pink vampire hamsters and would record your name and then say back a phrase with it attached when you pulled the string. Now, they’re back as a collector’s item.

We start with a couple in their flat, watching the news (with who else but Nick Briggs as the news-reader). We get introduced to the toy which prompts the boyfriend, John, to go dig his old Cuddlesome out of the attic. He finds it and pulls the string. The toy/creature comes to life and attacks, biting John in his adam’s apple. It’s here that the Doctor appears, attempting to hit Brighton in 1818, but instead, crashing into the couple’s greenhouse. He stabilizes John who then rushed off to the hospital.

Meanwhile, in the Cuddlesome warehouse, their “inventor” speaks with his “associate”. They discover an interloper, the reporter from the news broadcast who is then taken to be obliterated by the “associate” Thingus. Thingus accelerates his plans and has his Mark Bs (which sound like surfer dudes) obliterate the Mark As (which have the usual cute female voices).

The Doctor meanwhile, with John’s girlfriend Angela in tow, investigates the Cuddlesomes. They first explore a shop that might contain one and then follow it to the factory. Here, everything is explained. The villain is revealed (played to perfection by David Troughton) and reporter having been transformed into Mark 3 chases after them.

More explanations are given before a Cuddlesome civil war breaks out complete with annoying theme music. John also arrives having survived the toxin and escaped the hospital. The Thingus and the “inventor” Turvey both end up dead (telepathically and symbiotically linked and all that), the Cuddlesomes are rendered harmless and the Doctor, John, Angela and the reporter make it out alive. The Doctor arrives, in much the same manner, a few years later to check up on things.

So, this is a really enjoyable story. It’s only an hour-long but is really enjoyable. It’s somewhat creepy with good acting and a good story. It’s essentially a Doctor Who take on eighties toy fads, Furbies, and the movie Gremlins. I’ve listened to it before but had forgotten most of it. Really good. That brings us to availability. While the rest of these are currently available as free downloads from the Big Finish website and are thus easy to get your hands on, this one is a bit different. It’s a remake of an Audio Visuals story of the same title and was released on an audio CD included with Doctor Who Magazine issue 393. It’s been released for free a couple of different times on the Big Finish website but at the moment, it’s currently only available through Big Finish’s Soundcloud. As for timeline placement, this features a solo Fifth Doctor. As such, the TARDIS wiki “Timey-wimey Detector” timeline page places it in the gap between Circular Time: Autumn and Renaissance of the Daleks.

Rating: 9/10

So, that’s my assessment of the DWM Exclusives/Free Releases. Normally, I’d say that the next installment might be a while. However, as there doesn’t seem to be any more of these on the horizon anytime soon, I’ll instead give my thoughts on the bunch as a whole. Apart from the first one that’s just kinda boring, the rest are all really fun. They’re short, which helps, and free. They’re also easy to get a hold of. I’d say, that if you want to introduce friends to Big Finish who aren’t sure about the audio format, this is a good way to start. Until next time.

Happy travels,

Jamie.