Reviews

Writer: John Dorney, Andrew Smith
Director: Nicholas Briggs
Featuring: David Bradley, Claudia Grant, 
Jemma Powell, Jamie Glover

Big Finish Release (United Kingdom):
First Released: July 2018
Running Time: 5 hours

David Bradley, Claudia Grant, Jemma Powell, and Jamie Glover return to Big Finish for the second round of adventures in the iconic roles of the First Doctor and his original TARDIS team. Once again the cast proves to be quite fun in the roles, not mimicking but having their own takes on the characters. While I don't particularly care for Claudia Grant's Susan, I admittedly never really cared for the character of Susan in its original incarnation...so That could just be that the character will never work for me.

The set features two stories, the first The Invention of Death has the TARDIS land on a planet full of immortal beings, who somehow become infected by the mortal crew of the TARDIS and begin to die.  I like that it has some deeper themes about mortality and what drives people to create and invent and grow, it isn't just weird aliens and a bit of a mystery.  

The set continues with The Barbarians and the Samurai, which is a classic First Doctor styled Pure Historical, taking place in feudal Japan and has the Doctor and crew try to foil the plans of a Japanese leader who is plotting a coup against the current Shogun.  I liked this story, and though I was never a huge fan of the Pure Historical stories of yesteryear, I find it a bit refreshing to have a story that isn't about some alien hanging around a famous historical figure.  It is a good change of pace.  

I enjoy these boxsets, the recasting seems like it could be a huge mistake, but I think it manages to bring a new energy to these early Doctor Who-style adventures that having the older, and sadly more depleted, casts could currently have. Bradley is lovely as the Doctor, and his supporting cast does a fine job as well.