The Tertiary Console Room: Review - Doctor Who

'That's a very silly name, isn't it? Just like wacko. Or Euro-Nazi. But it helps doesn't it? You're faced with something you fear, so you have to give it a name, don't you? Nothing that makes it sound serious, like evil. Just something glib, a catchphrase, a bit of noise. But the thing I'm looking for doesn't have a name. Not yet.'

At a political rally, an attempted assassination goes wrong when the assassins see something they shouldn't have, and one of them ends up in a mental asylum as a result, while the other goes on the run. A DJ's broadcast is interrupted by the presence of a mysterious stranger named the Doctor who has an agenda all of his own. The tension is building up with terrorist groups appearing out of nowhere, and something is causing the tension to rise even further. The Doctor seems to know what is happening, but does he really?

Jonathan Blum's The Fearmonger is the first Seventh Doctor audio produced by Big Finish. It's notable for this, and the fact that it has it's own unique style which hasn't been matched in another audio since. Blum himself has said that this story takes place between two of Virgin's early New Adventures and this is reflected through the story which is a lot more darker than McCoy's television stories. From one half of the very successful writing team which was responsible for such excellent Eighth Doctor novels as Vampire Science, Seeing I and Unnatural History, it is not surprising that The Fearmonger is as good as it is.

The story revolves around a quest to find a creature called the Fearmonger, whose been feeding off hate and fear created by it's host Sherilynn Harper, leader of the New Britannia Party, and the policies she's been exhibiting. The Doctor knows that the creature can live on beyond it's host, and must find a way to destroy the Fearmonger once and for all.

One of the most interesting things about The Fearmonger is the way that Blum uses the audio format. The Fearmonger itself is an interesting creation which is very suited to the audio format, allowing them to use sound effects to successfully convey it, but hiding it's true nature inside a normal human being. By featuring radio talk show host Mick Thompson as prominently as he is during the opening episode, it works successfully as it establishes the near future, almost contemporary setting well without excessive explanatory dialogue. Thompsons' further appearances also provide an effective way of dealing with the conveying of the situation to the listener.

Sylvester McCoy's performance is good on the whole, but there are times during the audio when his performance doesn't seem quite right. It's hard to place what it is in these moments, but I think it's down to his voice. On television, McCoy's voice was very alive, and although he recaptures this quality for the majority of this audio, there are times where it seems to become very relaxed (such as an early scene in the third episode) and this doesn't really seem to fit the story. He's very good in the early episodes where he's seems one step ahead of everybody, and he successfully conveys the mystery of the Doctor which began in season 26 and was explored further in the New Adventures.

Sophie Aldred puts in a good performance as Ace, the characterisation of which is clearly influenced by the New Adventures in that she's a more mature version of Ace, and from the way she's portrayed it's obvious that this story takes place some time after Survival.

The casting of Jacqueline Pearce as Sherilynn Harper is inspired, and although her performance is more than a little reminiscent of her most famous role as Blake's 7's Servalan, she is very convincing as the leader of the New Britannia party. Vince Henderson makes a good talk show host in Mick Thompson, and manages to be very irritating in the way his character is supposed to be. Hugh Walters is excellent as Sherilynn Harper's aide, Rodderick Allingham.

Another one of the best things about The Fearmonger are the cliffhangers, in particular those to episodes two and three, both of which are unexpected and serve as very dramatic endings to the episodes. One of these sets up a subplot for the later episode which works superbly well, and leads to a very dramatic twist in the story which Blum manages to keep completely surprising.

The production on The Fearmonger is good. The Fearmonger itself it effectively conveyed with a subtle voice effect which gradually builds up into something quite nasty. The rally scenes are particularly convincing, generating a sense that there are a lot of people in the room. The same goes for the riot scenes in episode four. Alistair Lock's music is also wonderfully evocative, and compliments the style of the story perfectly.

Jonathan Blum has written a very good piece of audio drama. The script is excellent and has been realised well by the production team. It does have a few problems, namely that the concept of the Fearmonger itself isn't fully explained but this does work in its favour too by leaving the story with a sense of mystery even after it has finished. It has good performances from its cast, especially McCoy, who although there are a few moments when his performance isn't quite right, these are outweighed by the remainder which is quite superb and depicts a darker side to the Seventh Doctor than McCoy has ever showed before. Overall, The Fearmonger is a unique entry into the Big Finish Doctor Who audio series. It's dark and dangerous, and a thoroughly entertaining way to spend 100 minutes.