Rob Shearman at his funny, surreal and blood-thirsty best.

The opening scene of The Holy Terror is one of the best of all the Doctor Who adventures. I often just play that first interrogation on its own for the laughs. The strange, unreal madness that it characterises is the basis for much of the story.

As Rob Shearman himself said in an interview for Big Finish, he often starts his stories humorously, and then they eventually turn into a dark and charnal horror. This story does that in spades. The characters are given hilariously straight-laced lines, which in reality make no sense and are as mad as a box of frogs. Yet as the episodes move on, the horrible nature behind it all comes to the fore, and the funny side fades away before the death and destruction.

There are lots of little touches, which I would love to know whether they were in the original script or were added as later ideas in the production process. The scribe, about to embark on recording the crowning of a new emperor and god, clicks his retractible biro in the midst of a medieval castle and culture. His offer of tea to the Doctor, which turns out to be the choice of weak or tepid water. Marvellous.

As with several of the previous releases, this one contains scenes of extreme violence and destruction. Definitely not for the faint-hearted, and almost certainly not for young children. But I'm left with the feeling that it's necessary for the story to work. Absolute horror must be absolutely horrifying. Playing with the ideas just wouldn't be convincing enough. And the ideas are fascinating ones. Whether cruelty is dependent on who one is being cruel to. What does it mean to have absolute power, if all you wield power over is yourself? And how does a big, talking bird get to be a living god?

That's right. This is the one, and so far only, story in the monthly range to include the 6th Doctor and his shape-changing, penguin-form companion Frobisher. Robert Jezek is terrific as Frobisher, and can be found reprising his role in the Big Finish special The Maltese Penguin. Colin Baker is every bit the 6th Doctor as we are coming to know him, with a bit of bombaste and a lot of compassion. And Sam kelly is fabulous as the aged scribe, with some of the funniest and most pathetic lines to date. Oh, and check out the cast list, and then listen out for the appearance of the author, producer and another author in bit parts.

Certainly another release to be recommended in the must-have range. Just keep out of the reach of children.

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All the best,

David

This is one of those stories that starts out as one thing and slowly becomes something else. Not only taking the Doctor and Frobisher from the DWM comic strips, the strip features castles and mysterious old men that you could easily visualise in a Steve Parkhouse/John Ridgeway strip. What starts out as a weird, fun side step evolves over its four episodes into a pretty unnerving thought provoking tale. Nothing is quite as evil as mindless cruelty - probably the single main reason a character like The Master (who is not in thise play!) has endured, and here it appears in abundance. As so many people have said before this is, and remains one of Big Finishes high points.

I always enjoy these reviews, even if I don't always agree with them. I do, however, agree wholeheartedly with every word of the above. The Holy Terror remains my favourite BF release.
I remember hearing it for the first time. I was doing the ironing! Some way through episode one, I was sitting on the sofa, immersed in the story. By the time 'the Child' arrives, the irnoning was long forgotten. It was the first time an audio had gripped me in such a way. Terrific, haunting, gruesome stuff!