February and March’s Fourth Doctor Adventures releases combined create the longest story the range has seen so far. The three part opener, The Sands of Life sets up the plot to come brilliantly, introducing us to a new recurring villain and his henchmen, along with their mysterious ‘experiment’, while also seeing the return of a certain metal tin dog. A month later, the tension continues, with Earth being threatened by the raw force of a mother giving birth. All this, plus a litter of foreshadowing for what is shaping up as an epic finale.
The story begins with Sheridan Moorkurk being elected as the President of Earth against all odds. From here, we then meet Cuthbert and Mr Dorrick, the CEO of the all-powerful conglomerate and his right hand man. Right from the off, we get a clear view that the former is someone not to be trifled with. His simple statements are crisp, clear and barbed. His surprise about Moorkurk’s victory would be nothing, had it not been equipped with the powerful line about not voting for her. This almost throw-away statement sums up his power; he didn’t choose it so it shouldn’t be there. As the episodes tick away, we get to see just how malicious he can be.
Switching to the TARDIS, a mysterious parrot-like voice is calling to Romana, K9 and the Doctor. Time phasing begins to rip apart the ship, with the Doctor’s memories leaking from his head and K9 detecting danger. This first scene between the three regulars brought a school-boy grin to my face. Hearing the electronic gurgling of John Lesson as the tin dog was fantastic. Since his last appearance on the Sarah Jane Adventures, he has been sorely missed by fans, and, though we cannot see him, his vocal tones are enough to bring a tingle of excitement down the spine. Unfortunately, he is relegated to the back line for most of The Sand of Life, and completely forgotten for the entirety of War Against the Laan, yet his small appearances are enough for now, whetting my appetite for the series finale.
Fortunately for us, the story is gripping enough that we soon forget about K9’s lacklustre appearance. As Cuthbert’s experiment is about to get underway, it is suddenly destroyed by a group of space-faring creatures. These animals are soon seen as a threat to Earth, setting the whole planet on red alert. These aliens plan to return to the titular sands to give birth. They appear innocent, until a single birth releases enough energy to wipe out a platoon of soldiers, and the Doctor realises that, should every birth go ahead, the Human race would be wiped out completely. Add to this Cuthbert’s desire to destroy them first, and a mother’s instinct to protect her young, the problem escalates to the threat of devastating war by the second story. Written down like this, it doesn’t sound the most fascinating of plot, yet Nicholas Briggs’ script is full of action and tension that it trots along at a comfortable pace and keeps your attention throughout. He cranks up the pressure on everyone just enough that, before the point of boredom is reached; another problem breaks out, forcing our heroes to rethink their strategy to save everyone. Notably, the problems that plague them during War Against the Laan manage to keep what could have been a two-part story (including the first three episodes) going very well. This is a story about different people’s point of view towards danger and
the lengths we are willing to go to save ourselves, even at the risk of innocent lives. Forget alien invasion, this is Human destruction.
In an issue of Vortex, Big Finish announced that Sands would be a three-part tale. Initially, I was doubtful, I had believed Brotherhood of the
Daleks to be a five part epic and that fell through. However, like The Game in the main range, this is a bona fide three part epic, which, if you include War, brings the total to five full episodes. It is not very often that a story is good enough to deserve an extra episode, yet cutting even a single scene would have been disasterous, loosing vital interactions and key moments forever.
Together, these two episodes are the closest to classic serial I have ever heard, in terms of the tone, pace, style and even music. It may just
be my CD, but the audio quality seems to be slightly reduced than some other discs. If this is intentional, then it works to their advantage. The quality seems to evoke a TV soundtrack for a missing episode rather than a modern recording. On top of this, the music and sound effects seem to be ripped straight from a 1979 episode. Its electronic tones and synthetic barbs are just the sort of thing I would expect from The Robots of Death, rather than some of Big Finish’s work. The whole story seeps nostalgia from every crevice, including the use of lines from famous TV episode that just add an even greater effect.
In all, The Sands of Life and War Against the Laan are spectacular releases, and should not be missed. Steeped in memories of times gone by, all five episodes form one sweeping tale that doesn’t let down. Out of all of the Fourth Doctor Adventures released so far, I would say these have to be my pick, everything about it just seems right. In particular, Nicholas Briggs has done an astounding job on the script and the music. His work alone make this great to listen to.
The story begins with Sheridan Moorkurk being elected as the President of Earth against all odds. From here, we then meet Cuthbert and Mr Dorrick, the CEO of the all-powerful conglomerate and his right hand man. Right from the off, we get a clear view that the former is someone not to be trifled with. His simple statements are crisp, clear and barbed. His surprise about Moorkurk’s victory would be nothing, had it not been equipped with the powerful line about not voting for her. This almost throw-away statement sums up his power; he didn’t choose it so it shouldn’t be there. As the episodes tick away, we get to see just how malicious he can be.
Switching to the TARDIS, a mysterious parrot-like voice is calling to Romana, K9 and the Doctor. Time phasing begins to rip apart the ship, with the Doctor’s memories leaking from his head and K9 detecting danger. This first scene between the three regulars brought a school-boy grin to my face. Hearing the electronic gurgling of John Lesson as the tin dog was fantastic. Since his last appearance on the Sarah Jane Adventures, he has been sorely missed by fans, and, though we cannot see him, his vocal tones are enough to bring a tingle of excitement down the spine. Unfortunately, he is relegated to the back line for most of The Sand of Life, and completely forgotten for the entirety of War Against the Laan, yet his small appearances are enough for now, whetting my appetite for the series finale.
Fortunately for us, the story is gripping enough that we soon forget about K9’s lacklustre appearance. As Cuthbert’s experiment is about to get underway, it is suddenly destroyed by a group of space-faring creatures. These animals are soon seen as a threat to Earth, setting the whole planet on red alert. These aliens plan to return to the titular sands to give birth. They appear innocent, until a single birth releases enough energy to wipe out a platoon of soldiers, and the Doctor realises that, should every birth go ahead, the Human race would be wiped out completely. Add to this Cuthbert’s desire to destroy them first, and a mother’s instinct to protect her young, the problem escalates to the threat of devastating war by the second story. Written down like this, it doesn’t sound the most fascinating of plot, yet Nicholas Briggs’ script is full of action and tension that it trots along at a comfortable pace and keeps your attention throughout. He cranks up the pressure on everyone just enough that, before the point of boredom is reached; another problem breaks out, forcing our heroes to rethink their strategy to save everyone. Notably, the problems that plague them during War Against the Laan manage to keep what could have been a two-part story (including the first three episodes) going very well. This is a story about different people’s point of view towards danger and
the lengths we are willing to go to save ourselves, even at the risk of innocent lives. Forget alien invasion, this is Human destruction.
In an issue of Vortex, Big Finish announced that Sands would be a three-part tale. Initially, I was doubtful, I had believed Brotherhood of the
Daleks to be a five part epic and that fell through. However, like The Game in the main range, this is a bona fide three part epic, which, if you include War, brings the total to five full episodes. It is not very often that a story is good enough to deserve an extra episode, yet cutting even a single scene would have been disasterous, loosing vital interactions and key moments forever.
Together, these two episodes are the closest to classic serial I have ever heard, in terms of the tone, pace, style and even music. It may just
be my CD, but the audio quality seems to be slightly reduced than some other discs. If this is intentional, then it works to their advantage. The quality seems to evoke a TV soundtrack for a missing episode rather than a modern recording. On top of this, the music and sound effects seem to be ripped straight from a 1979 episode. Its electronic tones and synthetic barbs are just the sort of thing I would expect from The Robots of Death, rather than some of Big Finish’s work. The whole story seeps nostalgia from every crevice, including the use of lines from famous TV episode that just add an even greater effect.
In all, The Sands of Life and War Against the Laan are spectacular releases, and should not be missed. Steeped in memories of times gone by, all five episodes form one sweeping tale that doesn’t let down. Out of all of the Fourth Doctor Adventures released so far, I would say these have to be my pick, everything about it just seems right. In particular, Nicholas Briggs has done an astounding job on the script and the music. His work alone make this great to listen to.