The Tertiary Console Room: Review - Doctor Who

I can honestly say I haven't looked forward to getting one of Big Finish's audio CD's as much as I did Storm Warning. It had a lot of things going for it to begin with - the new arrangement of the theme music by David Arnold, a guest appearance by Roj Blake actor Gareth Thomas, and of course the return of Paul McGann to the world of Doctor Who. Any doubts I had about this story were dispelled within moments of it starting. Storm Warning is quite superb.

The plot of Storm Warning is a relatively simple one, but as the story which re-introduces the Eighth Doctor, I think this is probably a good thing. It sees the Doctor arriving on board an airship which if he remembers his Earth history correctly is due to crash imminently. What is t he secret of the mysterious passenger? Why has the airship been expanded to carry heavy cargo? And just what will happen when the R101 airship reaches the altitude of five thousand feet? Almost immediately upon his arrival, the Doctor runs into (or should that be ran into by) Charlotte 'Charley' Pollard, a self styled Edwardian Adventuress, a stowaway who had been masquerading as one of the crew.

The story behind Storm Warning is not one of the most complicated that Big Finish have done, and although there is nothing wrong with it, I did feel that very little actually happened that forwarded the plot in the first two episodes. Most of the development came in episode three, setting up the last episode. Episode one serves primarily to refresh the character of the Eighth Doctor which it succeeds in, and to introduce the setting and the companion Charley.

Paul McGann's performance as the Doctor was the best thing about the Television Movie, as he really captured the essence of what it was to be the Doctor in the sixty minutes or so that he was on screen. He manages to bring the character back to life on audio in spectacular fashion. Whether it is browsing the books of the TARDIS library at the start or pondering the fate of Charley at the end, McGann is in superb form. On this performance it's hard to believe it has been nearly five years since he last played the Doctor. The only thing that I disliked about the Doctor in this performance was that he had a tendency to talk to himself too much, especially in the opening sequences before he arrives on the R101. But in a nice in joke, the Doctor tells himself that he must stop talking to himself as it's the first sign of madness, with writer Alan Barnes recognising the fact that sometimes explanations as to what is happening is necessary due to the limitations of the audio format. McGann again shows the quality he showed in the film of being serious and silly all at once.

India Fisher is excellent as the new companion Charley. Having not really liked her performance in Winter For The Adept, I was a little bit cautious about her being selected for this role, but I need not have worried as she injects an enthusiasm into her character that Charley comes across as being infectiously likeable. Gareth Thomas plays Lord Tamworth, the man in charge of the R101's mission, and he puts in a faultless performance.

The production is very strong, with the effects being particularly good in this production. As the storm approaches the R101, the effects work well in conveying t he approaching menace of it. They contribute to making this story seem to come alive in a way that some of the other ones haven't.

Storm Warning is an excellent piece of drama, and a first rate Doctor Who story. The performances are excellent and the story is excellent and when good performances combine with a good script the result is magic. Paul McGann re-establishes himself as the Eighth Doctor within a few seconds of it beginning and puts in one of the best performances seen in the entire Big Finish range. There is a real sense of fun with this story and it comes from the Doctor and Charley - their interplay is really wonderful, and on the basis of this story they'll be a great team. It does have its problems - the lack of development of the story in the first two episodes being the main one - but overall it's great to have McGann back and Storm Warning whilst not being able to compete with The Marian Conspiracy as the best title in the range, it's right up there with the best of the rest of them.