Trail of the White Worm
Trail of the White Worm is the beginning of what, in loose ways, is a four part series finale for the first series of Fourth Doctor Adventures (FDA’s). I say loosely, most of this episode does continue into the next story, The Oseidon Adventure, the characters, the enemies and some of the story, however, the ‘White Worm’ aspect is very conclusively wrapped up.
For me, these two episode where what I bought the FDA’s for. The return of the Master was something I didn’t want to miss, and the cover for the Oseidon Adventure was what made me finally buy it. The rest of the series was fantastic, a real credit to everyone involved, and my hope was the finale would be on a grand scale. It wasn’t. In fact, it let me down rather a lot. To begin with, this is an enjoyable tale, but that is about it. There isn’t a real threat, no real drive behind the story and almost nothing of relevance happens.
Over his career at Big Finish, Alan Barnes has given us real treasures, The Girl Who Never War, Death in Blackpooland more recently, Gods and Monsters, but this is nothing to shout about. I don’t want to be insulting to him, considering the sheer brilliance of some of his other work, but for me this didn’t press any buttons. To start with, I found the majority of the characters incredibly irritating. Colonel Spindleton is, for want of better words, a massive p**t. He is the low point of the whole story. His whole character is irritating to say the least, and his ideas to get back to a better Britain, while using remote control helicopters and tanks to threaten people with, is silly.
The rest of the plot doesn’t hold much water, while it does feel like a big lead into the next story, there is little tension or suspense, and when the cliff-hanger does happen, I was left screaming ‘IS THAT IT?’. Both episodes end in obvious and rather deflating ways. What really annoyed me is that Barnes reuses one of the endings for part one of The Oseidon Adventure, only slightly reworded. From a company that’s made over 250 audios for Doctor Who alone, I would hope for more original finales, and defiantly not having the same one within the same story. And don’t even get me started on the idea of the Worm!
However, where this audio does get my credit in is its main cast. Geoffrey Beavers return as the Master is brilliant. Fine, the plot around him, and some of the ways he is written, isn’t great, but Beavers is so intoxicating in his performance, I almost don’t care about that. Almost. On top of this, Tom Baker and Louise Jameson are on fine form, really nailing their performance. It is great to hear all three against each other once again, at least for Baker and Beavers.
All in all, I would warn anyone who buys it not to get their hopes up. If you buy it for the Master and the Doctor against each other once again, then it may be worth it, but don’t expect anything stunning or mind blowing. It wasn’t what I was expecting.
For me, these two episode where what I bought the FDA’s for. The return of the Master was something I didn’t want to miss, and the cover for the Oseidon Adventure was what made me finally buy it. The rest of the series was fantastic, a real credit to everyone involved, and my hope was the finale would be on a grand scale. It wasn’t. In fact, it let me down rather a lot. To begin with, this is an enjoyable tale, but that is about it. There isn’t a real threat, no real drive behind the story and almost nothing of relevance happens.
Over his career at Big Finish, Alan Barnes has given us real treasures, The Girl Who Never War, Death in Blackpooland more recently, Gods and Monsters, but this is nothing to shout about. I don’t want to be insulting to him, considering the sheer brilliance of some of his other work, but for me this didn’t press any buttons. To start with, I found the majority of the characters incredibly irritating. Colonel Spindleton is, for want of better words, a massive p**t. He is the low point of the whole story. His whole character is irritating to say the least, and his ideas to get back to a better Britain, while using remote control helicopters and tanks to threaten people with, is silly.
The rest of the plot doesn’t hold much water, while it does feel like a big lead into the next story, there is little tension or suspense, and when the cliff-hanger does happen, I was left screaming ‘IS THAT IT?’. Both episodes end in obvious and rather deflating ways. What really annoyed me is that Barnes reuses one of the endings for part one of The Oseidon Adventure, only slightly reworded. From a company that’s made over 250 audios for Doctor Who alone, I would hope for more original finales, and defiantly not having the same one within the same story. And don’t even get me started on the idea of the Worm!
However, where this audio does get my credit in is its main cast. Geoffrey Beavers return as the Master is brilliant. Fine, the plot around him, and some of the ways he is written, isn’t great, but Beavers is so intoxicating in his performance, I almost don’t care about that. Almost. On top of this, Tom Baker and Louise Jameson are on fine form, really nailing their performance. It is great to hear all three against each other once again, at least for Baker and Beavers.
All in all, I would warn anyone who buys it not to get their hopes up. If you buy it for the Master and the Doctor against each other once again, then it may be worth it, but don’t expect anything stunning or mind blowing. It wasn’t what I was expecting.