Now the story arc of the first 8th Doctor series starts to knit together. There are a number of points which tie back to ideas and technologies not only from the Big Finish range, but also the classic television series. As well as references to The Genocide Machine, The Apocalypse Element, Invaders from Mars and Seasons of Fear, we also see the use of mirrors for creating time corridors, as shown as far back as The Evil of the Daleks in Patrick Troughton's time. At last the 8th Doctor meets the daleks, and the question of why the Doctor and Charlie seem to have been pursued by paradoxes may have an answer.

Another Shakespeare based story, but with a distinct difference from any that are to follow. Yet it does give the opportunity for some quotations about time which are liberally scattered about the dialogue. At least this time, we don't get a lot of coy nonsense about not using his lines in front of him, as he is portrayed as a grand cause for much of the drama, rather than an actual person. the idea of rebels in the 21st century fighting to restore Shakespeare is a unique one that takes a little getting used to. But as events move on, its change to a rebellion against the daleks suggests that the origins may not have been entirely aesthetic to begin with.

There is quite an overlap of cast from Embrace the Darkness in this play. But thankfully, all the actors are sufficiently well versed in different accents or performances not to make this obvious. The character of Mariah Learman does tend to overshadow everyone else though. That's no bad thing, as anyone who proclaims herself to be a benign dictator probably has a pretty big opinion of herself anyway.

The scenes in 1572 are quite well produced, with a sound quality that clearly distinguishes from the rest of the drama. It does recall some of the scenes from The Dalek Invasion of Earth, but with better sounding daleks. The appearance of a couple of daleks in other time zones is a bit bemusing, however, as they are both remarkably easily disposed of by 1940s soldiers and troops from Roman Britain. The line spoken by Marcus, one of the Roman commanders, "What has this got to do with anything?" does seem a bit pertinent, as these scenes don't really add anything to the story.

Don Warrington's billing as Rassilon seems to only cover his quotations from Shakespeare at the beginning. And just listening to the play, there is no indication that this is who he actually is. Later we find he's actually speaking someone else's lines, so it's not entirely clear what the purpose of bringing Rassilon in at this point is. His appearance in later stories doesn't quite explain this either. But any opportunity to get Don Warrington in is worth taking, as he has an excellent voice for audio, and his delivery is worth every bean.

The storyline is well thought out, and the ends tie up very nicely. The way in which events that occur within this play are brought together mirrors the way in which plot points from other stories are also explained and incorporated. It's almost like a Russian doll of connectivity. In spite of a few of the shortcomings, it's a good release and leads us nicely up to the threshold of the series climax. I have to admit that I found it very odd the first time I listened to it, because it was only the second title I purchased from Big Finish, and so I hadn't been following the events of the 8th Doctor series. It definitely helps to have listened to the whole series in order, for all the nuances to make sense. But perhaps I'm just being a perfectionist.

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All the best,

David

Don Warrington's inclusion in this story is wonderful - he has one of the most amazing voices, and is perfect for audio.

Sadly, that is about the only good thing I can think of to say about this story, which remains the weak spot in an otherwise compelling audio 'season'. I've read the review with interest, but for once, even that doesn't inspire me to listen to this again. Needlessly complex, and far too similar to early Dalek stories, this was a real let down as far as I was concerned.

I enjoyed this fair enough. It wasn't my favorite but it had enough neat ideas to keep me engaged. I didn't much like the Daleks quoting Shakespeare though. I thought the level of admiration for Shakespeare (that apparently transcended time and planet of origin) was a bit silly. I mean, I like Shakespeare and all but he's not the end all and be all of literature.

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