The Light At The End - Audio Review

As part of my 50th celebrations I was really looking forward to listening to the special audiodrama Big Finish did for the anniversary, "The Light At The End."  I have some of their other stories, but have only listened to a few so far. I really need to change that because they're so wonderful. The quality is excellent with all your ambient and effect sounds. I got the ones I have now before Tom Baker returned to the world of Who, so I was especially excited to get this one. That and there's always something extra special about multi-Doctor stories. This is also the first Paul McGann story I've listened to, the most recent Doctor they use.

This adventure did not disappoint me. The Master has set the ultimate trap for The Doctor, all the Doctors in fact. As the story unfolds we see what the trap entails and the fun is in following each Doctor as they move towards the same point. The crossovers of Doctors and companions were delightful, with playful banter as always between the man himselves as well as interactions with former/future companions. The discussion The Doctor has with Ace about regeneration is priceless. Every Doctor was at the top of his form, as well.

I don't know if they found actors who did imitations of the first set of Doctors, or if all of it was spliced dialog from episodes, but their inclusion was masterpiece and really made it feel like a full 8 Doctor story. They utilized ideas used in "The Three Doctors" and "The Five Doctors" but in what I felt was a much more effective way.

The story is hard to explain, but thanks to the show I think I can safely say that's because it's quite timey-wimey, just how I really like them. You do have something happening on Earth at 5:03pm 23rd of November 1963 (air date of first episode), tying in to a mysterious weapons factory on an alien planet. I want to listen again, because I'm not quite sure if I have any unanswered questions or not. There really is a lot going on. But I do feel like the story was quite solid and in a really unexpected way for me. These intricate storylines seem like they might be common with the Big Finish productions. It makes me excited to have further alternate adventures to experience. And it sure doesn't hurt that all the original actors are doing the voices. Highly recommended. Click this link to go to Big Finish and get your copy.

Five Doctors Gather

At the "Official Doctor Who Celebration" last weekend in London four classic Doctors and the present Doctor provided a fantastic photo op.

I'm surprised they didn't get them all together, minus the never present Christopher Eccleston. That would have been epic, especially with Peter Capaldi. However, this is still a treasured image in my library. It even looks good when they cut up...

Among the media releases we received for the 50th, one of my favorites has to be "The Five(ish) Doctors Reboot," written and directed by fifth Doctor Peter Davison. A 30 minute film, it starred Davison, along with former Doctors Sylvester McCoy, Colin Baker and Paul McGann. With a host of guest appearances ranging from the director and another star of The Hobbit, former companions new and old, a hilarious "cameo" from another former Doctor and not one but two showrunners of Doctor Who. This hilarious film plots the determination of the former Doctors to be in the 50th special, and the equal determination on the other side that they not be included. Peter Davison did a brilliant job of poking fun at the egos of the actors, which were equally as brilliantly acted out by them. I haven't seen where it might be, but I definitely hope this is included with the release of "The Day of The Doctor"  because I think it's the perfect companion piece to the special.