I seem to have reviewed a lot of Tom Baker audio’s recently and here’s another, this is the one story edition of Antillia the Lost. It’s a story with the 4th Doctor, Leela and Margaret.
The story was also released as part of Doctor Who: The Fourth Doctor Adventures Series 12: New Frontiers. The story, written by Phil Mulryne is an enjoyable romp, but does feel a little 4th Doctor by numbers, but the problem when you have so many 4th Doctor stories is making them unique every time, it’s not a criticism of Phil Mulryne as this is a good story and I enjoyed it. The cast were really good, though I did have a little problem with Richard Lumsden’s Dr Vance, not because of the acting but because I’m also a big fan of the Radio 4 show Claire in the Community and Richard Lumsden plays Ray on that and his voice was instantly recogniseable to me, it’s not something that usually bothers me but for some reason in this case I found it a bit tougher. It’s always great to hear Anjli Mohindra in a Big Finish and her recent boxset as Rani was a real recent highlight, and in this one she plays, almost a future Rani, in that she’s a future reporter. The story involves a legendary outpost that has gone missing, big business looking to subvert the mystery, the slightly scatter brained scientist and then the TARDIS crew. The banter between the TARDIS crew has grown as they’ve got to know each other and its good to have someone else for Leela to explain the Doctor too, it’s almost like Leela educating Margaret instead of the standard Eliza Doolittle she usually is to the Doctor.
Conclusion
There’s lots to enjoy in this, the Doctor is his usual self, and the Leela and Margaret relationship is starting to build up well. The cast is spot on and they run well together and the story, whilst feeling familiar style wise has some nice touches that you learn as it progresses. I’ve started to really enjoy the 4th Doctor adventures and the feel like a real addition to the TV series, and if you like the Tom Baker era but haven’t stepped into the audio world of Doctor Who, this wouldn’t be a bad place to start.
Available now from Big Finish here.
Available now from Big Finish here.