EDA 1.6: No More Lies

[Anthony Williams]

And so we get on to the last one-part story of the first season of 8th Doc/Lucie audios, No More Lies

We would love to know what you think of this exciting story, with guest stars Nigel Havers, Miss Marple herself, Julia McKenzie, and the return to Doctor Who of Tom Chadbon...

[Si Hunt]

I have to say I love this. The Hungarian singing is a bit dreary, although as she did it herself we'll let her off.

But this tale of a garden party that never ends is charming, and an example of a steller cast really earning their keep. Havers and MacKenzie are great, great voices and not forgetting Tom Chadbon either, a bit of a spare part but very accomplished.

All in all, one of my favourites from this year and a play I go back to time and again.

Si.

[Junkyard]

The performances of the lead parts are all great which is to be expected. The plot is clever as well. The only part that doesn't work for me are the monsters; they seem a bit of a cliche. Otherwise, I would rate this above Phobos.

[SiHart]

I quite liked this one. I only heard it once though, but it stuck in my mind, so that's a good sign.

[Rob McCow]

I'm sorry - did we listen to this one?!

[SiHart]

We did. Really. It was all about love and stuff and parties and that kind of thing.

[Anthony Williams]

I tried to enjoy this one. I really did. But it was so difficult to enjoy when you're thrown in at the deep end. And while starting a story off half-way through the action was an ambitious move, it just didn't work all that well. From reading others' reviews elsewhere on the internet, it seems that I'm not the only one who felt distinctly put off by this.

I felt that this play honestly tried to redeem itself once we're away from the action and into the plot. But I really felt put out by the first half that I really struggled to get involved with the rest of the story. Then the ridiculous pretentiousness seems to spill over from the first half of the story, saturating the second half with sci-fi jargon and rather silly monsters.

It's a shame, because I felt that this one really has a great cast, and had a lot of potential. Disappointing, really.

Then, there's the fact that there feels like there should've been a couple of stories between Phobos and this one. When the Doctor and Lucie first met in Blood of the Daleks, they couldn't stand each other. By the time of Phobos, they seemed to mildly like each other. Yet, here, they're best of pals straight away. It just deviates from the character arc that's been building, and the relationship that the two main characters have built with each other.

All in all, I found this one to be a massive disappointment. Still, at least the next one was better...

[Richard Brinck-Johnsen]

This is another one which was a lot better than I remembered it being. I'm glad I revisited this season now it's proved to be a lot more enjoyable than I expected whereas I thought this play would be something of a chore.
Meanwhile how interesting/annoying to learn that Nigel Havers was considered too old when they were casting The Doctor back in 2003/4.

Straight on to Human Resources Part One now...