The Tertiary Console Room: Review - Doctor Who

'Well I think I've made good progress, anyway.'

'Excellent progress!'

'Excellent progress, yes! I've introduced the people to Parliamentary democracy, religious toleration, and the concept of equal rights!'

'All in half an hour!'

When the TARDIS goes on strike and the Doctor and Frobisher have to give in to her control, the world in which they subsequently find themselves is one that hides a disturbing secret. With the death of the living God Emperor Pepin VI dies, his son Pepin VII is set to take over. His work is chronicled by his scribe Eugene Tacitus, but the events that history has taken is set to change.

Robert Shearman's The Holy Terror is one of the greatest audios that Big Finish have produced. From the moment it begins playing there is an air of quality that passes throughout. It's frequently funny, but it has a much darker side which helps to contribute to its greatness by distorting the expectations of the listener. It appears that this is going to be a very light hearted, comedic story, and then when it takes on a much more dramatic, darker side it isn't expected and it becomes so much more expected.

Shearman's plot is one of the most single brilliant pieces of work seen in any Doctor Who story. It's so unusual and inventive that the sheer originality of it shines through throughout. By bringing together the Sixth Doctor with his comic strip companion, Frobisher, the shape changing Whifferdill who featured in the DWM comic strip during the Eighties and then again in the BBC Past Doctor Adventure Mission: Impractical, is a masterstroke as it allows this previously unheard duo a chance to shine. And that they do.

Colin Baker's performance throughout the audio is superb. He has been good in previous audios, but here the quality of the script enables his performance to transcend the levels of quality of his previous performances. The presence he shows here is quite magnificent and it shows just how great a Doctor he could have been, had he been allowed to develop in ways he was not on screen, but the renaissance of the Sixth Doctor is complete with these performances and it allows him to take his rightful place as one of the greatest Doctors.

This is the first audio to feature the comic strip companion Frobisher, who is brought to life in spectacular fashion by Robert Jezek. Jezek has appeared in other audios but his strong portrayal of Frobisher is the most memorable. Playing a character who looks like a Penguin in an audio production may sound like a difficult and thankless task, but Jezek injects great character into Frobisher, helped by the strong characterisation that Shearman gives him. The minimal amount of sound effects used in relation to Frobisher combine well with Jezek's performance to ensure that the character always comes across as the Penguin and that deserves comment as there was always a danger that Frobisher's form would not be conveyed via the audio medium but the subtle effects, such as the sound of flippers, all contribute to ensure that Frobisher always appears in the visualisation of the listener in the form of a penguin.

Robert Shearman's script is full of interesting characters. Pepin, the newly crowned living God Emperor who doubts his own status as a God, is played with superb clarity by Stefan Atkinson and the scenes with him and Frobisher together are often frequently hilarious. Roberta Taylor puts in a good performance as Berengaria, the mother of the new God, who is to be killed as a heretic for being married to Pepin's father, the false God. Childeric, the bastard son of the dead God, is brilliantly played by Peter Guinness, whose distinctive voice adds much to his performance which comes across as being truly evil. The only slightly disappointing performance is from Peter Sowerbutts who plays the High Priest Clovis. His performance in the final episodes is good, but during the first two he seems to be going through the motions rather than giving it his all.

But the star of The Holy Terror without a shadow of a doubt is Sam Kelly. Kelly is a very familiar performer with roles on television series such as Porridge and 'Allo 'Allo, but as these show, he is more thought of as a comedic actor and so his dramatic tour de force in The Holy Terror comes as a surprise with his dual role as Eugene Tacitus and the Child, with his role as the latter being especially chilling and sinister, especially when he begins to throw a tantrum because he is prevented from killing again.

The production of The Holy Terror is excellent, with the world that the Doctor and Frobisher arrive in being superbly realised through sound effects, with some of the death effects during the last two episodes being particularly convincing and disturbing. The effects used to modulate Kelly's voice for him to become the Child is also impressively chilling. Russell Stone's score is certainly the best that he's done so far for the Doctor Who New Audio Adventures, with the music complimenting the drama that is being played out perfectly.

The Holy Terror is a piece of stunning drama. With a sharp blend of comedy and horror, this story is easily one of the best that Big Finish have produced. The team of Colin Baker and Robert Jezek as the Doctor and Frobisher works superbly well. With a great cast and a brilliant, original script and storyline The Holy Terror is hugely enjoyable and a story worthy of the oft used term 'Classic.'