The Tertiary Console Room: Review - Doctor Who

'Look at the screens!'

'What are those things?'

'Daleks. The most ruthless forms of life in the Universe. Will I never be rid of them?'

When the Doctor and Evelyn arrive on the planet Archetryx, they find themselves present at a Time Lord conference with other time travelling races. It soon transpires that there is far more at stake than anyone imagined, and one of the Doctor's oldest - and deadliest - enemies the Daleks are involved, and this time they may be prepared to sacrifice everything to get what they want...

Stephen Cole's The Apocalypse Element, sets itself up so that a lot of it is expected immediately. Featuring Gallifrey, the Daleks, and the return of Lalla Ward as Romana expectations for this story are high. The question is does it satisfy them?

The answer is a definite maybe.

The Apocalypse Element tires very hard to be an epic story, and given the multitude of elements that make up its plot, it very nearly succeeds in achieving these aims. And whilst it's ultimately a very enjoyable drama, it doesn't quite realise its full potential. It suffers very much from the Earthshock syndrome - namely that the first two episodes are both extended build up to where the real story begins properly in the third episode. The initial part set on Archetryx is too drawn out really, and should have all been tied up in the first episode, allowing more time for the main story to develop over the remaining ones, rather than the two that it actually does. The essential problem with The Apocalypse Element the way it is, is that far too much happens in the final two episodes compared with what little occurs in the first two and it feels like there is a great imbalance between the two halves.

By using elements like the Daleks, Gallifrey and Romana all in one story, Cole has left himself open to accusations of writing this story with the fans in mind because the combination of these elements, particularly the Daleks and their invasion of Gallifrey, are the type of storyline that are dreamed about, rather than realised by Doctor Who itself. And whilst this is certainly true to an extent, it comes across well in the final product, and a lot better than it could have been.

Colin Baker's performances in the Big Finish audios has never been anything less than magnificent, and The Apocalypse Element is no exception. Comparing the way he plays the Doctor on audio to how it was played on television, and it belies belief that he wasn't allowed more time as the Doctor as the potential to be a great Doctor was always there, but the direction that the character was taken didn't allow Colin to show this in the way that he has done on audio. Baker's performance here is the highlight as he shows the combination of his onscreen persona, and the more refined and relaxed version that he's metamorphosed into through these Sixth Doctor and Evelyn audios. He shows great character here as the Doctor battles against every increasing and insurmountable odds as the Daleks plans come to fruition, and he proves time and time again during this audio just how good a Doctor he is. This is especially true at the conclusion to the third episode where he successfully conveys the desperation and frustration the Doctor feels as the situation takes a turn for the worse.

Maggie Stables makes her third appearance as Evelyn Smythe here, and once more it shows what a good choice she was to be partnered with the Sixth Doctor as his new companion. The repartee that she has built up with Colin Baker, which was most readily apparent in The Marian Conspiracy, is once more evident here and again provides one of the highlights of the audio. Unfortunately though, The Apocalypse Element follows a traditional Doctor Who story route of splitting the Doctor and his companion for the vast majority of the story which means that the dialogue between the Doctor and Evelyn is kept to a minimum. Evelyn does play quite a large role here during this story, and it's good to see her taking on stronger roles within the storyline, but it does seem odd to think of a 55 year odd Tudor History lecturer in some of the situations she is put into here! Stables' performance though is of a high standard, as we have come to expect from Maggie, and because of the strength of this and Evelyn's characterisation it adds a lot to the story as a whole.

Lalla Ward's return as Romana is one of the highlights of the audio, and featuring her in a story with a Doctor that you wouldn't have expected in the Sixth, ensure that her appearance here is an unqualified success. Following the continuity established within the New Adventures and built upon by the Eighth Doctor Adventures, Romana has risen to the role of President of Gallifrey, although at the start of this story she has been missing for twenty years. Ward's voice hasn't aged at all since she left Doctor Who in 1981, and Cole characterises her well which ensures that she has plenty of material to work with. Her first appearances are quite wonderfully played, with the frustration Romana feels about the situation being tangible and it immediately shows how good an emotive actress Lalla Ward is.

The Daleks themselves are re-created much more effectively than in the previous Dalek story, The Genocide Machine, with the voice modulation sounding much more appropriate and given the loudness of the story, it makes them much more terrifying. The Apocalypse Element gives the Daleks a chance to be much more ruthless than in many of their previous stories, and it does give them a status of real power that underlines their status as one of Doctor Who's premier adversaries. Unlike some of the other television series foes that Big Finish have brought to audio, the Daleks are perfect for audio drama. Although their distinctive physical presence is lost, it doesn't really matter as the Daleks make themselves felt through their actions and through the perfect voices used for the Daleks. Again the voices of the Daleks are provided by Nicholas Briggs and Alistair Lock, and they get the suitable amount of manic insanity into the Daleks that make them so effective. It's constantly in the background, providing a suitable stand off for the drama.

The guest cast all contribute to The Apocalypse Element through good performances, even if it lacks individual stand out performers. There is a level of consistency throughout the cast which ensures that no one lets the production down and every performance is believable. Michael Wade, who played The President, is probably the best of them, with his quietly dignified performance working well.

The effects used to recreate the Daleks, and the assortment of sound effects used for them, are faithfully recreated but particularly the voices are very loud, and noticeably louder than the rest of the sounds used in The Apocalypse Element. This makes listening to it a little distracting because of the frequent booming of the Daleks' voices. Aside from this imbalance, the effects used for The Apocalypse Element are on the whole very good. Nicholas Brigg's score contributes well to the feeling that Cole's script is going for, and helps to make it feel more epic than it actually is.

The Apocalypse Element is undoubtedly an enjoyable story, but it does have some significant flaws within it which prevent it from being as good as it could have. The story itself is good, although the way that Stephen Cole has chosen to structure it means that it does feel very uneven with the first two episodes being drawn out, and the final two filled with too much incident that it almost descends into chaos under the sheer amount of plot that Cole fits in. It has good performances from its cast, with Colin Baker and Lalla Ward both outstanding, and their performances are the highlight. In the case of The Apocalypse Element, although it has a lot of interesting ideas that make up its plot, the script itself doesn't work as well as it could in the end. But where it's redeemed is through its performances who lift the story up to a higher level which ensure that The Apocalypse Element is an enjoyable audio, if not a particularly satisfying one.