The Tertiary Console Room: Review - Doctor Who

A privately funded NASA mission to Mars seems to have a hidden purpose involving a mysterious anomaly that the crew of the Ares One have come to investigate. The Doctor and Peri arrive on a mysterious planet and begin to investigate, although the Doctor does not realise where he is straight away, the tomb like area they find themselves in contains several of those indigenous Martians that have become known as the Ice Warriors.

Justin Richards' Red Dawn sees the Ice Warriors debut in the audio format and also sees the teaming up of Peter Davison and Nicola Bryant as the Fifth Doctor and Peri. On television, these two were never really given time to work together with Bryant's second story being Davison's last. Peri went on to have a turbulent relationship with the Sixth Doctor which was very different to the friendship that she and the Fifth Doctor shared in The Caves of Androzani, and so this return to the time in-between Planet Of Fire and Androzani is a welcome one. The Ice Warriors' success on television was due mainly to their unusual appearance which showed a great physical presence, so without this on audio it may have been difficult to recreate them. The voices of the Ice Warriors here are faithfully recreated, sounding very much like their television counterparts, but the lack of physical presence does affect their effectiveness.

One of Red Dawn's main problems is that there is very little new to the story that hasn't been seen before in Doctor Who. In Justin Richards' previous Big Finish Who audio, the excellent Whispers Of Terror, he used the audio format very memorably to create something different to w hat had been done before and the sound villain in that story helped to make that story so good. Here, he uses the old enemy of the Ice Warriors, and although bringing back old enemies often build hope of a successful story, in this case it doesn't pay off. The whole story of Red Dawn comes across as being very forgettable. It's relatively entertaining whilst your listening to it, but afterwards the details of what happens are easily forgotten. Part of the reason for this is the fact that the plot doesn't really lead anywhere. At one point early on in the episode the Doctor remarks that the place that he and Peri are investigating is fascinating, which is all very well and good, but what makes the place fascinating hasn't really been conveyed well enough for the listener to find it fascinating.

Peter Davison is good as the Doctor, and his performance, along with that of Nicola Bryant, is probably the highlight of the audio. He's a much more mellow, relaxed Doctor than he was on television, and this is obviously influenced by the fact that he is nearly twenty years older than he was when he played the Doctor on television. This is actually a good thing, as the breathless enthusiasm that he seemed to exude on screen is tempered by his approach and the result is interesting in itself. The fifth Doctor and Peri's relationship on screen was all too brief and the chance to explore that further here is a welcome one. Nicola Bryant's performance here is good and the way that the Doctor and Peri seem to like each other greatly is a good contrast to the bickering that marred her relationship with the Sixth Doctor.

The idea of a landing on Mars is nothing new, as it has been done on television in the Ambassadors of Death, and in the books in The Dying Days. Although some of the characters that Richards' has created for the crew of the Earth landing module are quite interesting, they are not really developed enough to sustain the interest. Stephen Fewell's character, Paul Webster, is probably the most interesting, but mainly from the fact that it is obvious from the start that his agenda may not be the same as the rest of the NASA crew. Maureen Oakeley's performance as Pilot Susan Roberts is good, but the dispatch of the character was unnecessary and unconvincing. Robert Jezek's Commander Lee Forbes is probably the best of the rest but unfortunately the script doesn't really serve any of the supporting characters that well. The main Ice Warriors are brought back to life well by Matthew Brehner and Hylton Collins, although Brehner does sound a little too human on occasions as the Ice Lord Zzaal.

The production values of Red Dawn are as always superb. The sound effects are very convincing and Russell Stone's music is suitably different from what has been used before, although it does seem a little intrusive at moments during the opening scenes of the first episode.

Red Dawn is ultimately disappointing. It promised much with the return of the Ice Warriors and Justin Richards writing it, but unfortunately it delivers little. The essential problem of Red Dawn is that very little really happens in the story, and what does happen is almost instantly forgettable. Despite this there are some good pieces of dialogue, and Davison and Bryant are on good form. The Ice Warriors' return isn't really the grand triumph it could have been, and perhaps it's best if they're left 'on ice' for future stories.