Reviews

Writer: Guy Adams

Director: Jamie Anderson

 

Featuring: Sylvester McCoy, Sophie Aldred, Bonnie Langford

Big Finish Release (United Kingdom)

First Released: October 2018

Running Time: 2 hourss

The ‘Seventh Doctor Takeover’ continues with The Quantum Possibility Engine, bringing to a close much of Mel’s continuing storyline, as well as this main range trilogy. Not only that but it also features the return of Josiah W. Dogbolter, a character who made his debut in Doctor Who Magazine in the comic strip The Moderator in 1984, as one of the primary villains of the piece. In a sense that’s important to state as, The Quantum Possibility Engine, feels very much like a mid-80’s Doctor Who Magazine strip. There are bizarre characters and off the wall ideas, mixed with some less than subtle (in a good way) digs at reality and an oddly Meta sense of humour. Some things don’t make a lot of sense, but who cares? The rides worth it.

Our story opens with our hero’s (Sylvester McCoy, Sophie Aldred and of course Bonnie Langford) onboard a space station owned by the new president of the solar system; Dogbolter. Dogbolter wants the Tardis for a very specific reason, meanwhile, Mel tries to settle the score and the Doctor and Ace Find themselves locked inside the titular ‘Quantum Possibility Engine’. Oh and Narvin’s here.

The Quantum Possibility Engine is actually a pretty hard story to talk about. Part of the enjoyment of it comes from not knowing what’s coming next and to that end it’s almost impossible to discuss without spoiling anything. The ride that Guy Adams takes us on is so bizarre and outlandish that it would be unfair of me to discuss any of its elements here.  What it is fair to say is that this is one hell of an adventure and one that’s a lot of fun, certainly working more as a comedy than anything else. The return of Dogbolter is one which I’m very pleased with, he may seem like an odd choice to some but this parody of Sydney Greenstreet is one of the reasons I’m such a fan of The Maltease Penguin. Toby Longworth returns to the role and captures that Greenstreet-esque voice perfectly, apart from a few wonderful moments when he seems to be evoking Churchill instead. Wonderfully, Adams has chosen to give him a Robot assistant that sounds an awful lot like Peter Lorre (played with perfect sniveling menace by Wayne Forester), a logical thing to do given the Greenstreet connection.

Even away from Dogbolter, however, there’s still much fun to be had here. McCoy, Aldred and Sean Carlsen all get wonderful moments in the second half of the story. Carlsen especially is not someone I’m overly familiar with, never having listened to any of the Gallifrey stories (though I know Narvin has something of a fan base). Here he was extremely enjoyable and although played primarily for laughs (after all this is a comedy) I can see how his character could be more dramatic and sinister if required. The star of the show in terms of regulars (because sorry but Longworth really steals the limelight from everyone) however is Bonnie Langford. She gets some great comic moments with Wayne Forester and also some of the few seriously dramatic sequences in the entire story. Langford really has done wonders with Mel on Big Finish and I hope she gets more time to shine in successive years!

The Quantum Possibility Engine really is a hell of a blast. It may not be particularly dark or dramatic and so may not be for those who like their Doctor Who serious and straight, but for those who like I bit of fun I cannot recommend it enough.