Customer Reviews

Fearmonger (Dr Who Big Finish)

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The Fearmonger was the first proper seventh Doctor audio story produced by Big Finish. That said that means that it was amongst the first Big Finish stories after the release of Sirens of Time back in July 1999. So how good is it?

Both Sylvester McCoy and Sophie Aldred slip comfortably back into their roles of the Doctor and Ace respectively. Despite having ten years pass between their final TV appearances in Survival, one gets the feeling from their performances alone that The Fearmonger may well have been the first story of the never made season twenty-seven. Their performances are good and they thrive on a good script that gives them some excellent moments especially in parts three and four.

McCoy and Aldred are helped by a good supporting cast as well. Jacqueline Pearce gives a quite and sinister performance as Sherilyn Harper, the bigoted right-wing politician whom much of the story centers around. Her right hand man is former government official Roderick Allingham as played by Hugh Walters who like Harper can be menacing even while giving a restrained performance. On the other side of the spectrum is Vince Henderson (Sophie Aldred's husband in real-life) as loud-mouth radio host Mick Thompson who thrives off the political chaos Harper is causing. Yet he isn't the real threat. The real threat comes from terrorists like Jack Gallagher's Alexsandr Karadjic, who leads a terrorist group that is not what it seems, and Mack McDonnell as Walter Jacobs, for whom the title holds a special meaning and role. Then there's Ace's old friend Paul Tanner (Jonathan Clarkson) who gets drug into the midst of the chaos and mayhem. It's a good supporting cast for a good story.

Outside of the cast there are many good elements to this story. The first of these is the script by Jonathan Blum. It feels not only like a continuation of the series but also manages to capture some of the feel of the New Adventures book range as well in that it is more adult in terms of its plotting. It is also a well constructed story that has enough twists to keep the listener attention througt out its nearly two hour length especially in the cliffhanger department. There is also some great use of sound effects and music especially during the fourth part.

Yet The Fearmonger's has one great flaw in it. That is that the story's greatest attribute is, paradoxically, its greatest weakness. The story, while having some science fiction attributes, is more political then anything. In fact if one removes the Fearmonger out of the story all together and changed a few things round, one might find a good political thriller sitting at the heart of it all. Not that I'm arguing because I really enjoy political thrillers but this isn't supposed to be one. As I wrote, the story's greatest attribute is, paradoxically, its greatest weakness. By being so overtly political it looses touch with the science fiction elements to the point that the science fiction (the creature of the title) feels out of place and seems to have little to do with the plot.

Yet despite that flaw there is plenty to like about The Fearmonger. From good performances all round to a good script, Fearmonger has all the trappings of a good Doctor Who story. While it might be lacking in the science fiction department, the story's more overt political nature is both a pro and con. For those who enjoy the more political stories, here's one I recommend. It's a good story and a good new beginning for the seventh Doctor and Ace.

Throughout near-future Britain there is a vague sense of apprehension. People are afraid of anything that is just a little a bit different. Something is feeding the fear and it's up to the Doctor and Ace to stop it...

Writer Jonathan Blum does an excellent job of capturing the feel of the late McCoy era. This is both good and bad. On the one hand, you feel like you're picking up right where the television show left off. On the other, you still have Ace dragging around all her emotional baggage while the Doctor comes across as a demigod who plays his cards too close to his chest.

The story is fast paced, a political thriller with a slight sci-fi twist. It also makes some very pointed observations about humanity's tendency to demonise anything and everything. There's a lot to like (fine performances, good sound design, and a thought provoking script), but in the end The Fearmonger comes across as just little too preachy.