The BF Time Warp 005: The Fearmonger

[Anthony Williams]

This week, it's a double-whammy on The Big Finish Time Warp, as we look at both The Fearmonger and The Marian Conspiracy! This thread is for the discussion of The Fearmonger. Click here for The Marian Conspiracy...

One would-be assassin is in a mental ward. Another's on the run. Their intended victim is stirring up the mobs. Terrorists are planning a strike of their own. A talk-radio host is loving every minute of it. A Whitehall insider whispers about a mysterious UN operative, with a hidden agenda. Everyone's got someone they want to be afraid of. It'll only take a little push for the situation to erupt - and something is doing the pushing. But you can trust the Doctor to put things right. Can't you?

What do you remember about your original thoughts on this? Do you feel differently now? Was it a success or a huge failure!?

As usual, the poll will be open for two weeks, even though we start our next audio next week!

Ant x

[SiHart]

I relistened to this the other week.

I've always quite liked this one. There's themes within in it that still seems pretty pertinent from the rise of The New Britannia party which is reminscent of all the BNP/ UKIP type parties to the way the media plays a role in society. Admittedly Mick Johnson is something of caricature of more than a few talk radio DJs, but his presence helps give this story a rather different feel to some of the others, and the frequent cuts to his broadcasts works well on audio and anticipate the use of news shows in the new series.

Sylvester and Sophie are on good form. Ace is written just like she was in the TV show, which is both a blessing and a curse (some of her expressions are pretty awful) but somehow it works- mainly through Sophie's enthusiasm to be back which is very evident. The Doctor is very much the NA Doctor- all dark, manipulative and keeping things to himself. Sylv proves he's good at that kind of thing and comes across better than he would in many later stories.

I think the storytelling is a little confused in the end. I'm still rather confused by all the twists and turns of who the Fearmonger is in by the time we reach the end of the story. It seems to jump from person to person to keep the story going to its alloted length which is a pity.

One scene really sticks in my mind from this story- the Doctor confronting Sherilyn Harper at home. It's a very powerful scene and left in a dark place as she sees herself as others see her. Full marks to Jackie Pearce for some great acting there and throughout.

So a bit of a triumph for me I think, despite the little niggles over the ending. Tense, atmospheric and at least one great cliffhanger (episode 2) make this a stand out for me from all the early releases.

Si xx

PS Ant- you've missed off the poll.

[Anthony Williams]

PS Ant- you've missed off the poll.

Sorry, Si! Sorted now, but that'll teach me to do these things late at night!

Ant x

[stuartdg]

One of my favourites everything about this works from the script,the performances(Jacqueline Pearce is great in this) and it feels almost like a continuation from the McCoy era as it was on the telelevision,fantastic and often thought provoking stuff!

[Jon Masters]

Hmm - 3/5 for me. Like the modern setting and the jumping around from inside to outside, which for once gives the feel of a big story rather than a few actors in a studio.

However its fairly clear that Jonathan Blum thinks the best things about the 7th Doctor are (a) the sniper speech from Happiness patrol (b) the final speech to Helen A from Happiness patrol (c) The grown up style of the New Adventures.

So, while there's the odd flash of realistic Doctor-Ace banter and some derring do, there's also far too much of everything grinding to a halt whilst someone gets a lecture on how badly they're behaving. It hits you over the head like a Radio 4 play with its moralistic tone, and then - just as the action starts again, two other characters start pontificating over the dreadfulness of life. Give it a rest ! I can't believe I'm the only person who doesn't cheer at the cliffhanger for Episode 2.

It wouldn't be quite so bad if the plot hung together a bit better, but the twists up to the last one are fairly predictable, and the Fearmonger's plan makes no sense whatsoever. Only Mark McDonnell as Walter really stands out, but his part is so all over the place its difficult to even make that very good.

For me a case of good style marks over poor writing.

[Andrew Curnow]

I'm halfway through relistening to this one - my memory from first time round was that I enjoyed it, particularly its NA style. I'm enjoying it again this time too, McCoy and particularly Sophie are on superb form. It's certainly easy to imagine this as featuring in a season 27.

I can't believe I'm the only person who doesn't cheer at the cliffhanger for Episode 2

I've just listened to it, and although I didn't cheer I did laugh at reading Jon's comment. Naughty boy!

[Jon Masters]

I've just listened to it, and although I didn't cheer I did laugh at reading Jon's comment. Naughty boy!

My itchy trigger finger wouldn't have let her get halfway through that speech

[MacNimon]

I've got to be honest and say that by memory, I thought that this one was absolutely awful. I just remember being totally bored by it, it was so dull, the only reason that I listened to the end being that it had cost me £12 or so and I was determined to get my moneys worth! Not even Jackie Pearce could save this one!

It's the only Big Finish play that I've ever heard that I've had absolutely no desire ever to listen to again, but despite that I'll attempt to do so before registering my vote (after I finish Land Of The Dead). Because I listened to this play while suffering from a bout of flu, this may possibly have affected my enjoyment of it...maybe not, though; it may just be that this story isn't my cup of tea. I'm simply not a big fan of the Seventh Doctor and Ace so this may have clouded my judgement, although that fact didn't stop me enjoying numerous later stories starring the pair of them.

So I'll give this one another listen over the coming week or so...unlike the other stories, I'm not particularly looking forward to it, though.

[Andrew Curnow]

I've listened to parts 3 & 4 this evening, and have to say that although I agree with a lot of what Jon said, I think the twists are actually pretty twisty. I'd actually forgotten the big 'twist' (ie, that the creature is in Walter, not in the people he's hearing it in) and I'd say the story works well at keeping that secret - it's obvious, and makes sense, when you find out, but it's not signposted before hand.

There is a bit of speechifying, but that's a fairly small complaint in a story I really enjoyed. McCoy gives a good performance, more wistful and 'ancient' in places than he was even in season 26, which actually fits very well indeed with the NA style. Some good solid production values (although it's sometimes hard to hear what the Fearmonger voice is saying (mind you, the actual words probably aren't really the point)) and some nice performances from the guest cast, particularly Hugh Walters and Jaqueline Pearce, make this for me one of the most satisfying of all the BFs I've listened to.

BTW, there are obviously hints that Hugh Walters' character has encountered, or at least been aware of, the Doctor before, and his ultimate fate at the end of this story is left open (I can easily imagine him sliding his way out of any prosecution). So does the character crop up again in any other BFs?

[Anthony Williams]

Well, I've been re-listening to the early BF plays, as Whitney got me the first twelve for my birthday back in November.

And this is the first one that I didn't post about when we started the Time Warp.

So... what did I think of The Fearmonger? Well, this was one that I had never heard before. And I really, really enjoyed it. Perhaps it's because of the wonderful casting. We all knew that Jacqueline Pearce plays the evil dictator well, from her turn as Servelan in Blake's 7. So, perhaps casting her as a would-be dictator, representing a nationalist party in this was a safe bet, but it REALLY works.

The thing that I really love about this is how the play clearly shows Britain in a state of fear. There's a nationalist party that appears to be coming to power, there are two would-be assassins, terrorists planning a strike, a talk-show "shock jock" who is loving every minute of what's going on, and a Whitehall insider who's whispering about a mysterious UN operative. Everyone's afraid of something, and it seems like the whole of the UK is a powder keg waiting to go off.

This script is pretty much perfect for the Seventh Doctor. As the master manipulator, politics is perhaps an ideal subject for him, as he manipulates things from behind the scenes to set everything right. He is elusive and sneaky, and his first appearance, on Mick Thompson's radio show, just sums him up to a tee.

The Doctor very much being in the background also allows the story to focus on Ace, and we get some nice character development as a result. Her biggest fear is that the one man who she truly trusts, The Doctor, has been taken over by the Fearmonger. This is absolutely brilliant stuff, as we learn a little more about Ace's background, with her old friend Paul being on the scene. It was also amusing to hear her trying the Doctor's "look me in the eye" routine from The Happiness Patrol... and she gets shot as a result. Clearly not as good as the Doctor!

I find it amusing to hear how difficult it was to write this one, with Jonathan Blum nearly having a nervous breakdown in the process. Not that his mental health is amusing, it's just that with Briggs, Russell and Cole all having serious misgivings, this is, to me, one of the better ones of the early plays (especially when you consider the efforts of Briggs and Cole in the first fifteen plays being rather lacklustre). I think that, ultimately, it worked extremely well.

This is, in my opinion, one of the truly great stories of the early era of Big Finish. It twists and turns. A combination of guns, bombs and politics make this New Adventures-style story to be truly wonderful. I absolutely loved this! It gets a solid 5/5 from me.

[Nyder]

I enjoyed this a lot more than 004, the plot was well paced and I didn't see the final twist coming at all!

A major niggle from me is the DJ Thompson. I really didn't find him at all realistic - the acting was very poor and the scenes that he was in grated on me. But what more than made up for it were all the scenes with Jac Pearce - wonderful stuff!