BF 154: The Witch from the Well

[brandynigma]

A shrieking, killing nightmare erupts from an overgrown well, hidden in the grounds of an old house, Tranchard’s Folly – and Mary Shelley, the Doctor’s latest travelling companion, rescues teenage twins Finicia and Lucern from the clutches of the monster.

But a TARDIS trip in search of the origin of the horror goes terribly wrong when the Doctor, Mary and their two new friends find themselves stuck in the middle of a seventeenth century witch scare.

While the Doctor investigates the strange lights at Vetter’s Tor, and the twins go in search of an artefact from the Hecatrix Dimension, Mary confronts the secrets of her past… and her future. The truth will out: Master Kincaid, the terrible Witch-Pricker himself, commands it!

Dear Lord- is this going to be Nekromanteia all over again?

[brandynigma]

I no longer feel bad about losing out to Rick Briggs in the Big Finish writing opportunity.

This is a terrifically breathless story- it doesn't let up from the very first scene to the last. Any plot summation would sound complex, but this complexity is handled with great aplomb.

The supporting cast are uniformly excellent, with some great accents distinguishing the two main settings. Sadly, we have a similar problem to the previous play, in that the young female guest actress sounds very similar to Julie Cox- and they have a fair few scenes together!

Generally though, this is an excellent play, and Julie Cox continues to impress as Mary, and her pairing with McGann has given a new lease of life to the character (much like Lucie did after Charley and C'rizz).

Heartily recommended.

[Si Hunt]

A second successive Very Good Indeed audio adventure for the Eighth Doctor. I agree with Brendan that the women sound the same - I'm rather afraid that Julie Cox just hasn't got a distinctive enough voice.

But this story is really good and challenging. You have to pay attention - I got quite confused and didn't feel it was clear enough when the TARDIS had gone back to the modern day. But all the olde Englande stuff was faultless, and Simon Rouse is deliciously evil as the Witchsmeller. Although I found his turnabout retribution a little hard to believe as a result.

Rick Briggs (really?) has come up with something quite original and well written though; his dialogue is very good indeed, although on the CD Extras the man himself sounds really stocatto and with a very annoying voice. I imagine he's probably not a very sociable creature, or finds communicating tricky. He might be a bit of a bookworm or not at home in pubs or at parties, which is fine. Nothing against the chap - he's a good writer and that's what counts here. And he can perhaps work on introducing some more expression into his speaking voice ready for the CD Extras of his next story... or decline to take part and spare us having to listen to him. Actually, I didn't know what he sounded like before this CD, so if they'd got him to write his answers down, and had another actor read them out (say, Michael Keating or Denis Lill) I'd not have known any different, although I might have thought he sounded uncannily like Denis Lill.

Si.

[Junkyard]

I no longer feel bad about losing out to Rick Briggs in the Big Finish writing opportunity.

This is a terrifically breathless story- it doesn't let up from the very first scene to the last. Any plot summation would sound complex, but this complexity is handled with great aplomb.

The supporting cast are uniformly excellent, with some great accents distinguishing the two main settings. Sadly, we have a similar problem to the previous play, in that the young female guest actress sounds very similar to Julie Cox- and they have a fair few scenes together!

Generally though, this is an excellent play, and Julie Cox continues to impress as Mary, and her pairing with McGann has given a new lease of life to the character (much like Lucie did after Charley and C'rizz).

Heartily recommended.

I took the recommendation and agree, this is a good one. Unlike both gentlemen above, I had no problem distinguishing Julie Cox (Mary Shelley) from other female cast members. Maybe my earphones are better?