Reviews

Seventh Doctor and Ace get mixed up in future fascist leader's plans to take over Britain. Jacqueline Pearce (aka Servalan in Blake's 7) is excellent as the fascist leader herself. There is some interesting business with Ace's perceptions of herself and of the Doctor, being shaped by the Fearmonger creature (which itself had certain resonances with the Timewyrm of the New Adventures). But there were some definite plot implausibilities, and Sophie Aldred's husband, Vince Henderson, playing the shock-jock radio presenter, really didn't seem to have much of a clue what was going on, using accent rather than acting to establish the character.

meganmargoking's review

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3.0

Okay listened to this in 2019... Does this feel too real to anyone else?! Trump and the alt-right? Super freaky.

I thought Ace wasn't in character. I had trouble telling all of the male characters apart. Story is still good.

kateofmind's review

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4.0

Wow, Big Finish really had a thing about sound monsters and politics in the early days, didn't they?

kmccubbin's review

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3.0

Another attempt to use sound itself, quite literally, as a motive force in the narrative. Some style to the whole thing and an occasional moment of creepiness as people sit isolated in booths listening for voices and warnings, but it doesn't add up to much. In the end there is a really convoluted political intrigue that just doesn't work. Motivations seem loose and slapped together to serve a pre-ordained climax.
Sylvester McCoy's gravity is, as always, a delight, though Sophie Aldred's Ace is kind of wasted here. Big Finish seems to be unsire as to whether this is the teen Ace of the TV show that's a little more mature, or the war hardened Ace of the Virgin novels who truly no longer trusts her Doctor. A choice needs to be made.
Also, Big Finish is still trying to wrap their heads around how audio works here. It's an interesting experiment, but not great.

secrethistory's review

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4.0

This is the first Big Finish audio that really wowed me in their monthly series. Not only does it have a strong, intriguing monster storyline, but the story is also a commentary on fear and how it affects people, especially in politics. The acting was absolutely superb, and as usual the sound design is so fantastic that I could close my eyes and picture everything exactly as it was happening. The Seventh Doctor really has a great story here, and this is an audio drama I wholeheartedly recommend.

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