The BF Time Warp 011: The Apocalypse Element

[SiHart]

When the planet Archetryx is threatened by a Dalek assault squad, the Doctor and Evelyn become embroiled in an ever-deepening mystery. What has become of President Romana, missing for twenty years? What lurks in the vast gravity wells of Archetryx? What is the secret of the ancient element the Daleks are synthesising - and how does Gallifrey feature in the plans?

The Doctor finds that if his oldest enemies cannot conquer the universe they will watch it go up in flames...

Guilty pleasure or fanwank? You tell us...

Si xx

[Jon Masters]

I sort of look forward to listening to this...for the first time !

[Paul Monk]

The main thing I remember about this is its very


LOUD!!!!!

[Rob McCow]

This is the one with Romana shouting at Daleks, Evelyn being really jolly, "The Daleks are invading Gallifrey!" and basically the cliffhangers to every new series finale all at once.

It's like a cake made with every ingredient known to man!

Four stars.

[MacNimon]

It's fun and loud right enough, and I think Steve has got it right by saying it has all the new series cliffhangers at once. It suffers (and loses a point!) though by trying to cram too much in, although it's fun to listen to. Disengage your brain before listening, Jon, and I imagine you'll enjoy it!

3/5

[SiHart]

I genuinely adore this play. I probably shouldn't, it's probably actually rubbish when you stop and think about it, but it's so damn epic, in a way BF hadn't attempted to this point in the range. It's like a great big Doctor Who blockbuster, with just enough plot to keep the momentum going.

Great to hear from Lalla again, and it was wise I think to set it up so she's not there from the start. Her performance as the beaten, enslaved Romana is rather good and feels right after 20 years of imprisonment on Archetryx. I'm not quite sure the relationship between her and the 6th Doctor quite works as well as it could have done, but it's not too bad.

I like the fact that this goes someway towards a long lasting BF arc of Gallifrey stories, continuing in the Paul McGann series and ultimately leading to the Gallifrey series (which I also adore).

Si xx

[stuartdg]

This is just ok for me,the Daleks invading Gallifrey is a cliche,and its just vey loud for no real reason,would've worked far better on television!

[Jon Masters]

3/5 - difficult to know what to make of this one. After finishing it yesterday I was struck by how very New Series it was - a vast scale with epic set pieces, punctuated by a variety of 'character' moments when people suddenly stopped to give a little speech on their current philosophy.

It was nice that the Daleks were being so very very schemy, but overall there was just too many plots and twists going on - indeed I started clockwatching by Episode 4. The sudden shifts in goal mean the Doctor was playing catch up all the time, rather than coming up with his own scheme to defeat them. And all the stuff about dead people's eyes being the only security system, and playing with the Eye of Harmony like it was a powerpack was - well a bit more than crap TBH.

The biggest surprise was how badly Evelyn was written - her first trip off Earth, and a whole galaxy of beings to encounter , and then the Daleks, but the whole thing came over as being very blase. There was too much sarkiness and sassiness for my liking - almost written with a Rose or Amy to play rather than Evelyn. Same for Trinkett, who goes from admin who's enevr met the Daleks to gun-toting Bruce Willis in about half a story.

It had its moments but I don't think I'll rush to hear it again any time soon.

[Junkyard]

Standard Dalek story although it does have good points, such as Lalla Ward as Romana. But it reminds me too much of 'The Invasion of Time' to be really enjoyable. Sontarens invade Gallifrey, Daleks invade Gallifrey, Cybermen or Ice Warriors next in line?

[Paul Monk]

I'm not sure Lalla comes off very well in this. Her disalogue is very standard and there's none of Romana's spark.

[Si Hunt]

It's a great big chocolate pudding of a story, and possibly too much of what you think you want and not enough subtlty. But I haven't heard it for many years.

There was a fault with the ending of the play on mine, so I don't think I've ever heard the last 60 seconds.

Si.

[SiHart]

I'm not sure Lalla comes off very well in this. Her disalogue is very standard and there's none of Romana's spark.

I thought she was rather good in her early scenes. She's sells the idea of a world weary Romana, locked up by the Daleks for 20 years really rather well.

Si xx

[Paul Monk]

Perhaps. But I remember not taking to her in this at all. In fact I'm never that comfortable with her being president. It just doesn't sit right with me.

[SiHart]

I think perhaps she's lost some of the playfulness of the character now she's president. She's a bit austere and a bit less fun.

Si xx

[Paul Monk]

Yes thats it exactly.

[SiHart]

She's very good at being haughty though, which is nice.

Si xx

[Anthony Williams]

Daleks invading Gallifrey, Romana as President, Daleks threatening to use the Apocalypse Element to destory the universe... it's difficult to know where to start when reviewing this one. There's just such a ridiculous amount going on.

So, with everything going on, perhaps it would be prudent to focus on the Sixth Doctor himself. By this stage, Big Finish's rehabilitation of the Sixth Doctor has come so far that it's difficult to reconcile him with the loud, brash bully of season twenty-two. His protectiveness of Evelyn is wonderful to hear, and his surprise at the lack of compassion on the part of Romana just shows how far the character has come. Why couldn't the Sixth Doctor be like this on TV? Here, we see the character express a full range of emotions, and it's wonderful, really showing off what a versatile actor Colin Baker can be.

In itself, this story is VERY new series. IIRC, Russell T. Davies once even referred to it as an early point in the Time War - and you can see why. The very thought of Daleks on Gallifrey immediately puts the crashed saucers on Gallifrey in The End of Time into my mind. Then there's the Daleks threatening to destroy the universe, pre-dating Journey's End by eight years. This is big, bold and epic, and stands up there with pretty much every season finale that RTD ever wrote.

And the Daleks here... wow. I don't think the on-speaker death count was EVER this high on the tv series, in terms of on-screen deaths. Even at the very end, when they are clearly defeated, their refusal to see it as a defeat - seeing the newly-formed galaxy as an opportunity for conquest really shows their bloodlust and determination. Absolutely wonderful portrayal there.

Of course, a review of this wouldn't be complete without a mention of the two supporting ladies - Lalla Ward and Evelyn Smythe. This was really the first time that we had Lalla back for an audio. While she's no longer the warm and bubbly character that we know so well from seasons seventeen and eighteen (years in E-Space and 20 years of Dalek captivity have seen to that), it's a delight to have her back. She proves to be a wonderful foil to the Doctor, as ever, doing things like berating him for being in the wrong body, or how she thinks the Doctor will mess everything up on his own.

Likewise, Maggie Stables continues to be just wonderful as Evelyn. She absolutely shines, showing that she is every bit as versatile as Colin. We hear her as she's experienced a TARDIS buffeting for the first time, we hear her delight at being surrounded by strange-looking aliens. The list goes on. But, this just goes to show how very right Big Finish got a lot of things in their early days. It's a shame there was a dip in quality after five or so years.

I always felt that this play got a bad lot from a lot of fans. Which is a shame - there are some absolutely great ideas here. Maybe just too many great ideas. Its blockbuster script is everything that it should be - pushing the limits of Doctor Who into something that just couldn't be realised effectively on-screen. With strong dialogue and superb action, there isn't much that can go wrong. This one gets a solid 4/5 from me.