The Selachian Gambit
Now, I would like to make something clear. I am not a fan of talking books, or narrated drama. I much prefer full cast audios. As a result, most of my stories have more than 2 voices. And very few stories with less than 2 I enjoy, with the possible exclusion of Scherzo, the
8th Doctor two voice story. So I began listening to The Selachian Gambit with some trepidation.
Within the first episode I was proven wrong. I had already heard Frazer Hines’ brilliant impersonation of the late Patrick Troughton, so I knew what to expect from that. The impression really does make the story work on audio, and allows for each character to be completely different from one another, in vocal terms. Hines makes each character seem unique, so when he switches from person to person, you have no problem working out who they are. Annneke Wills gives a great show as Polly. This was my first experience of her character, apart from episode 1 of the Faceless Ones, so I can’t really compare her to the TV. What I can say though, is that she is brilliant. Although I’ve never watched or listened to her before, I knew what she would be like, and always thought of
her just as a standard companion, much like Vicky or Barbara. From the Selachian Gambit alone, I have begun to warm to her and I think that I am defiantly going to buy some more stories from that era soon.
As for the story, it really is a classic Troughton base-under-siege plot. And that is where it is so brilliant. It takes a relatively modern scene (futuristic in 1960’s Britain) and shoves in people out of their depth. While it’s understandable for Jamie, Ben and Polly to be baffled by the setting, the real joy comes from hearing the Doctor being completely bemused by the workings of the bank. This would not work at all for any other incarnation. The 4th would just shout until he gets heard, the 7th would manipulate them all into giving him the money and the 1st would just get cross and sulk. This Doctor just sits and allows himself to get pushed from queue to queue until the Selachians arrive. Again, this was my first time hearing them fully. Yes, I’ve listened to trailers before, but nothing compares to the whole episode. I also knew roughly who they were, but that really wasn’t needed, the way the plot is written, you can listen to this without any prior knowledge of them and work out who they are straight away. Those voices give them a deliciously rough edge that no other creature I know of has. Humiliatingly, it took me most of the play to work out who was voicing them, reading the booklet from the case gave me the answer. I honestly thought there was a third, non-credited actor lending his vocal talents. This just shows how great an actor Frazer Hines is; completely fooling you into thinking he was someone else for 60 minutes.
So, The Selachian Gambit is a Companion Chronicle not to miss. For me, a story of firsts that paid off really well. For anyone who’s never listened before, it is a great starting point for Big Finish’s Doctor Who, and for those seasoned listeners of several years it is a new and brilliant story to have. And best of all, it has fish-shark-water breathing aliens voiced by Frazer Hines in it!
8th Doctor two voice story. So I began listening to The Selachian Gambit with some trepidation.
Within the first episode I was proven wrong. I had already heard Frazer Hines’ brilliant impersonation of the late Patrick Troughton, so I knew what to expect from that. The impression really does make the story work on audio, and allows for each character to be completely different from one another, in vocal terms. Hines makes each character seem unique, so when he switches from person to person, you have no problem working out who they are. Annneke Wills gives a great show as Polly. This was my first experience of her character, apart from episode 1 of the Faceless Ones, so I can’t really compare her to the TV. What I can say though, is that she is brilliant. Although I’ve never watched or listened to her before, I knew what she would be like, and always thought of
her just as a standard companion, much like Vicky or Barbara. From the Selachian Gambit alone, I have begun to warm to her and I think that I am defiantly going to buy some more stories from that era soon.
As for the story, it really is a classic Troughton base-under-siege plot. And that is where it is so brilliant. It takes a relatively modern scene (futuristic in 1960’s Britain) and shoves in people out of their depth. While it’s understandable for Jamie, Ben and Polly to be baffled by the setting, the real joy comes from hearing the Doctor being completely bemused by the workings of the bank. This would not work at all for any other incarnation. The 4th would just shout until he gets heard, the 7th would manipulate them all into giving him the money and the 1st would just get cross and sulk. This Doctor just sits and allows himself to get pushed from queue to queue until the Selachians arrive. Again, this was my first time hearing them fully. Yes, I’ve listened to trailers before, but nothing compares to the whole episode. I also knew roughly who they were, but that really wasn’t needed, the way the plot is written, you can listen to this without any prior knowledge of them and work out who they are straight away. Those voices give them a deliciously rough edge that no other creature I know of has. Humiliatingly, it took me most of the play to work out who was voicing them, reading the booklet from the case gave me the answer. I honestly thought there was a third, non-credited actor lending his vocal talents. This just shows how great an actor Frazer Hines is; completely fooling you into thinking he was someone else for 60 minutes.
So, The Selachian Gambit is a Companion Chronicle not to miss. For me, a story of firsts that paid off really well. For anyone who’s never listened before, it is a great starting point for Big Finish’s Doctor Who, and for those seasoned listeners of several years it is a new and brilliant story to have. And best of all, it has fish-shark-water breathing aliens voiced by Frazer Hines in it!