A Death in the Family
***MAJOR SPOILERS***
9.4. That is the rating (out of 10) that A Death in the Family scores on the Time Scales at the time of writing. 75 people have given it 10/10. Calling this a fan-favourite is not giving it justice, it is THE favourite. It is the epitome of Big Finish’s work, look up their name and you will find this story. But, after all that hype, is it any good?
To be clear, this isn’t my favourite story, but it does come very close. It is easily in my top 5, maybe even 3. The writer, Steven Hall, takes the standard four part format and screws it up into something completely ingenious and new. Essentially, he brings episode four to the start, with the Doctor beating the enemy before the real story begins. Searching the remains of the Forge bunker for the Time Lord Sarcophagus Lysandra mentions, the Doctor discovers a future version of himself trapped inside. Realising he has released the Word Lord, Nobody No-One from one of his own traps, the Doctor finds a way to trap him again, but the cost this time is far higher than ever before. Hall makes a bold move in his first few scenes, but in doing so makes sure the listener is hooked immediately. He makes sure that we aren’t left waiting 2 episodes to hear anything from the evil, meaning the viewer is fearing the worst, but then he takes the story in a completely different direction. The cliff-hangers to both parts 1 and 3 are jaw-droopingly good, the latter is something that nobody can ever expect coming (and he didn’t).
The 3 following episodes take us in a whole new direction, and re-introduces us to Evelyn Smythe, the long-time companion of the 6th Doctor. Given she witnessed his mother’s death, its only right that she would be the person to reveal the truth to Hex. Having the Doctor out of the frame seemed to be the only way to give us a chance to remember his problems, and to finally give him some closure for them. This also proves to be Evelyn’s last hoorah. In the weeks leading to its release, Big Finish promised that one person would die, and when that happened, it is simply beautiful end. I have never been good with the death of a companion, at best I’m left choking back the tears, and it was the same here. Even on this re-listen, I was terrified of weeping in the middle of a car park, whilst surrounded by a group of my best friends, just because it was when I chose to listen to the end. With this tale, Hall manages to make a tale which is both universally epic, and subtly moving all at once.
“So I’m going to kill everything. Everything that crawls, grows,wriggles and swims in all of reality! BANG!”
And so we come to the villain of the piece. Nobody No-One. This new regeneration seems even more insane than the last one. He is truly the perfect villain. He doesn’t stand around and threaten like a Dalek, he isn’t impassive like a Cyberman and doesn’t make idle commands or plans like the Master. He is BETTER than all of them. He is a megalomaniac, who will not only threaten, but actually acts on his threats, unlike most other enemies. One of my favourite scenes is the showdown in episode one between him and the Doctor, where he grabs a soldier and forces him to give him power over the sun, the fear he brings is some immense that no other person could begin to come close. I stated in my review that he is the perfect villain for the playground, and he is certainly the closest thing Big Finish has ever created to that. Even now, the words ‘Nobody can…’ either makes me chuckle or jump. Ian Reddington is truly the star of this story.
On a final note, I have to congratulate Richard Fox and Lauren Yanson on their superb soundtrack. Few other stories have such a rich and textured underscore that compliments the story so well. Notably, the section that is the most haunting, and lovely at the same time is pottered around the tale so perfectly (this can be found at about 1 minute 45 seconds on the separate music track on disc one). Combined with Halls story, they make a couple that hasn’t been beaten since.
If I had to find a downside to this story, I would have to look very deeply. I can see a prospective listener, who has read all the astounding
reviews, being slightly disappointed by the tale, simply because there is so much pressure on it to be good. Even in the best of stories, such glowing reviews may be hard to live up to. On top of this, this has one major draw-back. I can never listen to it again for the first time. Never again will the cliff-hangers be so surprising, or the ending so heart breaking. That is the true horror of this tale, to be deprived of the shocks once heard.
In Conclusion, it is very hard not to praise A Death in the Family. It’s got an original format, a fantastic villain, it brings new depths to old characters and says goodbye to some as well. For Evelyn Smythe, it is a fitting end. Some may argue that having a cameo role in her final story is wrong, but given her last moments, and that touching scene, you can’t help but feel that it is a beautiful ending for her. She did save the universe after all.
The Time Scales
9.4. That is the rating (out of 10) that A Death in the Family scores on the Time Scales at the time of writing. 75 people have given it 10/10. Calling this a fan-favourite is not giving it justice, it is THE favourite. It is the epitome of Big Finish’s work, look up their name and you will find this story. But, after all that hype, is it any good?
To be clear, this isn’t my favourite story, but it does come very close. It is easily in my top 5, maybe even 3. The writer, Steven Hall, takes the standard four part format and screws it up into something completely ingenious and new. Essentially, he brings episode four to the start, with the Doctor beating the enemy before the real story begins. Searching the remains of the Forge bunker for the Time Lord Sarcophagus Lysandra mentions, the Doctor discovers a future version of himself trapped inside. Realising he has released the Word Lord, Nobody No-One from one of his own traps, the Doctor finds a way to trap him again, but the cost this time is far higher than ever before. Hall makes a bold move in his first few scenes, but in doing so makes sure the listener is hooked immediately. He makes sure that we aren’t left waiting 2 episodes to hear anything from the evil, meaning the viewer is fearing the worst, but then he takes the story in a completely different direction. The cliff-hangers to both parts 1 and 3 are jaw-droopingly good, the latter is something that nobody can ever expect coming (and he didn’t).
The 3 following episodes take us in a whole new direction, and re-introduces us to Evelyn Smythe, the long-time companion of the 6th Doctor. Given she witnessed his mother’s death, its only right that she would be the person to reveal the truth to Hex. Having the Doctor out of the frame seemed to be the only way to give us a chance to remember his problems, and to finally give him some closure for them. This also proves to be Evelyn’s last hoorah. In the weeks leading to its release, Big Finish promised that one person would die, and when that happened, it is simply beautiful end. I have never been good with the death of a companion, at best I’m left choking back the tears, and it was the same here. Even on this re-listen, I was terrified of weeping in the middle of a car park, whilst surrounded by a group of my best friends, just because it was when I chose to listen to the end. With this tale, Hall manages to make a tale which is both universally epic, and subtly moving all at once.
“So I’m going to kill everything. Everything that crawls, grows,wriggles and swims in all of reality! BANG!”
And so we come to the villain of the piece. Nobody No-One. This new regeneration seems even more insane than the last one. He is truly the perfect villain. He doesn’t stand around and threaten like a Dalek, he isn’t impassive like a Cyberman and doesn’t make idle commands or plans like the Master. He is BETTER than all of them. He is a megalomaniac, who will not only threaten, but actually acts on his threats, unlike most other enemies. One of my favourite scenes is the showdown in episode one between him and the Doctor, where he grabs a soldier and forces him to give him power over the sun, the fear he brings is some immense that no other person could begin to come close. I stated in my review that he is the perfect villain for the playground, and he is certainly the closest thing Big Finish has ever created to that. Even now, the words ‘Nobody can…’ either makes me chuckle or jump. Ian Reddington is truly the star of this story.
On a final note, I have to congratulate Richard Fox and Lauren Yanson on their superb soundtrack. Few other stories have such a rich and textured underscore that compliments the story so well. Notably, the section that is the most haunting, and lovely at the same time is pottered around the tale so perfectly (this can be found at about 1 minute 45 seconds on the separate music track on disc one). Combined with Halls story, they make a couple that hasn’t been beaten since.
If I had to find a downside to this story, I would have to look very deeply. I can see a prospective listener, who has read all the astounding
reviews, being slightly disappointed by the tale, simply because there is so much pressure on it to be good. Even in the best of stories, such glowing reviews may be hard to live up to. On top of this, this has one major draw-back. I can never listen to it again for the first time. Never again will the cliff-hangers be so surprising, or the ending so heart breaking. That is the true horror of this tale, to be deprived of the shocks once heard.
In Conclusion, it is very hard not to praise A Death in the Family. It’s got an original format, a fantastic villain, it brings new depths to old characters and says goodbye to some as well. For Evelyn Smythe, it is a fitting end. Some may argue that having a cameo role in her final story is wrong, but given her last moments, and that touching scene, you can’t help but feel that it is a beautiful ending for her. She did save the universe after all.
The Time Scales