Hello you brave and most noble of souls, and welcome to the 49th installment of Big Finishing Move here on One Of Us. This is the little chunk of the internet (you may have heard of it) where I get to review the various releases from audio giant Big Finish, and let you know if it is worth your time and hard earned dime or if your money is better spent buying a few extra of whatever new crazy food thing they recently cooked up the next time you hit the Taco Bell.
TARDIS Team: The Fourth Doctor, Romana II and K-9 Mark II
Still stuck in the civil war on Aoris between the past and the future, the Doctor and friends engage in all kinds of “timey-wimey” shenanigans, trying to reunite and survive as this mess continues to snowball out of control.
That’s it. Basic plot recap over. I usually go into more details, but that really is the gist of what is going on. To go any further into the plot would inevitably lead to an over-explanation of things. Plus, I want you to be able listen to this story without me spoiling anything for you!
What intrigues me about this particular plot is how everyone is so lost in their little part of the story that they turn their own worst fears into self fulfilling prophecies. There is a stunning lack of empathy, and because they cannot grasp the other side, they take actions that doom themselves without a second thought. There’s a whole lot of people that can’t see the forest for the trees. Some might scoff at how crazy or even silly the characters act in this particular episode, and that people in real life would not be so obviously blind in their actions. However, I would like to point to human history for evidence to the contrary. Look at all the bigotry, racism, classicism, and religious zealotry that has led to so much war, death, and destruction. Look at all the horror humanity has inflicted upon each other for reasons that don’t even pass the most basic reasoning, and then try and tell me about how unrealistic these characters act.
As heavy as some of this story’s underlying themes are, it is a blessing that this story remembers to be fun. Writer Jonathan Morris nails the balance of comedy and tragedy here, and the humor helps show the idiocy at work. The tragedy also keeps the story on point, preventing it from devolving into sheer farce.
Looking to the performances, I definitely have to take my hat off to to Simon Rouse and Tom Chadbon who play Drang and Embery respectively. These two play the most exaggerated characters in the whole thing, and though that has the possibility of being very annoying, Rouse and Chadbon are able to instill both with enough depth and humanity to make them feel real.
This is the best two-part episode that Big Finish has ever put out for the Fourth Doctor series. All the ones that came before, be they good or bad, had one clearly superior entry outshining the other, but this story and The Paradox Planet, while good on their own, balance and compliment each to make a truly charming tale from start to finish. I highly recommend this story for both new and old Who fans alike. So what are you waiting for? Get on it!
Purchase Doctor Who: Legacy of Death Here:
Dear reader, since you are already here, I implore you to check out the rest of One Of Us for all the other great content we have to offer. I’m sure that you can find something to your taste.
As I stated at the top of my review, this is the 49th installment of Big Finishing Move. For those of us who can do math, this means this series is about to hit 50! To celebrate the occasion, we’ll be rocking and rolling with the Tenth Doctor in:
See you there!
Check out my previous reviews:
Phantasmagoria, The Fearmonger, The Light At The End, The Spectre of Lanyon Moor, Storm Warning, Blood of the Daleks, The Chimes of Midnight, Seasons of Fear, The King of Sontar, White Ghosts, Dark Eyes II, The Crooked Man, Project: Twilight, The Evil One, The Harvest, The Last Of The Colophon, The Council Of Nicaea, Destroy The Infinite, Afterlife, The Abandoned, Zygon Hunt, Revenge Of The Swarm, Philip Hinchcliffe Presents Box Set, Dark Eyes 3, Mask of Tragedy, The Fourth Doctor By Gareth Roberts, The Exxilions, The Darkness of Glass, Dark Eyes IV, Requiem for the Rocket Men, Signs And Wonders, Death Match, Suburban Hell, The Burning Prince, The Cloisters of Terror, The Acheron Pulse, The Fate of Krelos, The Shadow Heart, Return to Telos, The Sixth Doctor – The Last Adventure, Doom Collation I, The Yes Men, The War Doctor: Only The Monstrous, Wave of Destruction, The Labyrinth of Buda Castle, The War Doctor Volume 02: Infernal Devices, Doom Coalition 2, The Paradox Planet
