The SIlver Turk
Marc Platt, the person to give audio life to the Draconians, re-invent the Mara, and give a back-story to Magnus Greel. Now, almost ten years after the first, very successful attempt, he returns to the monsters so perfectly in Spare Parts. The Cybermen. His first story has been credited as, perhaps, the best Big Finish story ever, and I’m inclined to agree. His take on one of the best monsters the series has created has not been bested. So, Platt’s next go on the silver nemesis’s had a lot to live up to. Not just from the Cybermen, but it was to be the first in a trilogy that had been almost
3 years in the making. The first story in the main range to feature the Eighth Doctor since 2007 (excluding The Company of Friends in 2009) and the first full story to feature Mary Shelley (again excluding Company) ever. Right from the beginning, it had its work cut out.
And right from the beginning, this story is excellent. While it didn’t live up quite to the level of Spare Parts, I doubt much could be that good. That fact doesn’t rule this story out. It is brilliant in its own right. While the original was completely alien, with an underground civilisation on the brink of destruction, The Silver Turk brings the action to our planet. The location is incredibly easy to picture, the Soundscape and voices create an incredibly vivid scene that is barely matched in audio. Here, Viennafeels alien to me, but close enough to reality that it keeps it from falling into a complete disaster. The sound designer, Jamie Robertson respectfully, has done a sterling job, his work a credit to both him and Big Finish.
The plot itself is not as complex as some of his other work, but that doesn’t make it any less enjoyable. The episodes play out fairly normally compared to, say, The Cradle of the Snake, where anything was possible. Landing in Vienna, the Doctor and Mary find a Cyberman, reduced, decayed and decrepit, being used as a toy for peoples amusement. People are being hunted through the streets by creatures that walk on three hands and horses with crystal blue eyes. The Cyberman then finds a way to revive its failing body and the Doctor tries to stop its owner from taking over the world using Cyber-dolls. The latter part really makes a difference. Not having the Cybermen hell bent on conversion is something that really makes this play stand out, it’s not just a story with the silver giants in, it’s a story about how they survived and, eventually, began to conquer.
This isn’t the only thing that is different about their appearance. Considering their last few stories in the main range, where they have been an armada, attacking the realms of the Land of Fiction or quietly invading Tasak, it is brilliant to hear them in a run down state. The treatment of the enemy is very similar to the Dalek in Dalek (That’s the TV episode with the same name, to be clear). Being used as someone’s pet and left to rot is almost identical to the first story. The companion even acts in the same way, pitying it and then unintentionally giving it the means to restore itself.
My only gripe with this story is what makes it so strong. The Cyber-voices are too close to the style from Legend, rather than Spare Parts. It’s a small thing but it is irritating, considering their voices are the only thing that gives them substance on audio. For ‘Mondas originals’, they don’t sound like they should and that makes it difficult to imagine them like that.
Petty annoyances aside, The Silver Turk is a great story, but an incredibly difficult one to review. There is so much going on in the play that it’s hard to get it down in words, but is very easy to listen to over and over again. A dark, delicious and macabre play that is well worth a few pounds to listen to.
3 years in the making. The first story in the main range to feature the Eighth Doctor since 2007 (excluding The Company of Friends in 2009) and the first full story to feature Mary Shelley (again excluding Company) ever. Right from the beginning, it had its work cut out.
And right from the beginning, this story is excellent. While it didn’t live up quite to the level of Spare Parts, I doubt much could be that good. That fact doesn’t rule this story out. It is brilliant in its own right. While the original was completely alien, with an underground civilisation on the brink of destruction, The Silver Turk brings the action to our planet. The location is incredibly easy to picture, the Soundscape and voices create an incredibly vivid scene that is barely matched in audio. Here, Viennafeels alien to me, but close enough to reality that it keeps it from falling into a complete disaster. The sound designer, Jamie Robertson respectfully, has done a sterling job, his work a credit to both him and Big Finish.
The plot itself is not as complex as some of his other work, but that doesn’t make it any less enjoyable. The episodes play out fairly normally compared to, say, The Cradle of the Snake, where anything was possible. Landing in Vienna, the Doctor and Mary find a Cyberman, reduced, decayed and decrepit, being used as a toy for peoples amusement. People are being hunted through the streets by creatures that walk on three hands and horses with crystal blue eyes. The Cyberman then finds a way to revive its failing body and the Doctor tries to stop its owner from taking over the world using Cyber-dolls. The latter part really makes a difference. Not having the Cybermen hell bent on conversion is something that really makes this play stand out, it’s not just a story with the silver giants in, it’s a story about how they survived and, eventually, began to conquer.
This isn’t the only thing that is different about their appearance. Considering their last few stories in the main range, where they have been an armada, attacking the realms of the Land of Fiction or quietly invading Tasak, it is brilliant to hear them in a run down state. The treatment of the enemy is very similar to the Dalek in Dalek (That’s the TV episode with the same name, to be clear). Being used as someone’s pet and left to rot is almost identical to the first story. The companion even acts in the same way, pitying it and then unintentionally giving it the means to restore itself.
My only gripe with this story is what makes it so strong. The Cyber-voices are too close to the style from Legend, rather than Spare Parts. It’s a small thing but it is irritating, considering their voices are the only thing that gives them substance on audio. For ‘Mondas originals’, they don’t sound like they should and that makes it difficult to imagine them like that.
Petty annoyances aside, The Silver Turk is a great story, but an incredibly difficult one to review. There is so much going on in the play that it’s hard to get it down in words, but is very easy to listen to over and over again. A dark, delicious and macabre play that is well worth a few pounds to listen to.