The BF Time Warp 004: The Land of the Dead

[Anthony Williams]

Onto week four, and The Land of the Dead, with the Fifth Doctor and Nyssa...

Landing in Alaska, the Doctor and Nyssa encounter a group of people in a most unusual house, cut off not only by the harsh climate but by their individual secrets and obsessions.

Millionaire Shaun Brett is utilising chunks of the local area to construct a shrine to his dead fther. But when deadly creatures start roaming outside, and a terrifying discovery is made inside the house, the Doctor realises that Brett has unleashed an unimaginably ancient force.

What did you think of this at the time? Have your thoughts changed since?

As usual, the poll will remain open for two weeks, even though we will officially be moving on to The Fearmonger next week...

Ant x

[MacNimon]

This is the one with the living skeletons, isn't it? I remember really enjoying this one at the time, although I felt there was something lacking overall...I don't think it was anything I could put my finger on exactly, but it just felt a little bit flat. Plotwise my memory is a bit hazy but performance-wise it was nice to hear the Fifth Doctor and Nyssa together again.

I'd give this a 4/5, not quite as good perhaps as the previous two stories but enjoyable nonetheless.

[stuartdg]

Sorry but this is deeply dull,the artic landscape fails to conjure up any atmosphere,Sarah Sutton sounds like she is finding her feet again as Nyssa.The dialogue is far too descriptive,in terms of the action,and the supporting characters in Tulung and Monica Lewis are nothing short of annoying...

[SiHart]

I haven't relistened to it in years, but I remember it being dreadfully dull. Since the range was new, this was something of a shock, as the first releases should have been really strong.
It was nice hearing Sarah Sutton again, but she sounded very tentative and unsure about playing Nyssa again. I think it took her some time to find her feet.

Si xx

[Lissa]

I liked the setting - the house was a marvellous idea that was painted well on audio - and had a fondness for Monica but it all fell apart when the monster appeared. There was a good idea in there but it was too alien to be a creature from Earth's past. Living bone creatures that can absorb the characteristics of their prey may live on other planets but not here. That said, the way they dealt with it using materials not found on Earth while it was alive was quite original.

A bitchy, moany story let down by a badly realised monster. 2/5

[MacNimon]

I'd like to stress that anything I've posted on these threads is based on old memories...in the case of most (but not all) of these stories, I've only ever heard them once, on their original release. The threads have rather given me the notion of giving them another listen, though. I'll post updated thoughts on any that I do listen to again.

I still remember rather enjoying this one, though!

[brandynigma]

The two things I strongly remember about this one are Tulung as a cut-price Chakotay; and the Doctor leaving Monica and Tulung to walk through miles of Alaskan wilderness, without properly checking that all the creatures WERE dead.

They died horribly.

[Jon Masters]

Oh dear. I went for 2/5, but only because I know there are worse stories in the future.

The BF New Audio Adventures book emphasises that this story was written in 7 days because of a problem with the next one. It's all too obvious though.
The central idea for the monster is a great one, but the story is overburdened by having the energy field do too many things at once. The second mistake is creating a second batch of monsters that (a) don't make sense (b) don't work and (c) sound rubbish on audio.

In fact too much doesn't make any sense - the house loses credibility the more you think about it, and goes full cliche when we get unexpected underground tunnels. The claim that the Permians would be used to eating mammals and running about in the Arctic is nonsense, given when they existed. A lot of it seems to be an attempt to create Jurassic Park on Ice.

Sadly, the characters don't make it any better - much of the time is taken up with people being bitter to each other, with Brett and Tulong stepping out of some bad 80s US soap opera. Nyssa flaps about like a salmon, and even the Doctor seems hard pressed to focus on what's going on instead of shooting off whiticisms left and right.

The only thumbs up is for the music, for once not too loud or over bearing, but never, ever use the sound of pigs for anything other than ....pigs.

Not a joy to revisit, and not one I've bothered updating to CD.

[Anthony Williams]

Last time I heard this one, I found it mind-numbingly dull.

Returning to it around 8 years later, I've really, really struggled with this one. The acting is highly unconvincing. I agree with Jon's opinion that it sounds like a soap opera and Jurassic Park on Ice. A lot of the time, I was really struggling to stay awake.

Really very poor, in my opinion... 1/5.

Ant x

[Nyder]

I've just finished this one and have to agree with the majority - a really dull story (though I did like the character of Monica) which is a shame considering how much I enjoyed the previous two.