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2.0 out of 5 stars
Worst. "American" accents. Ever.,
By
This review is from: Minuet in Hell (Dr Who Big Finish) (Audio CD)
At least, the worst I've ever heard in one of these Doctor Who audio plays, bad to the extent that it made it painful to listen to. That said...
Oh look! The Eighth Doctor's lost his marbles. Again. Now, some of this may be an artifact of me listening to the stories in the wrong order, but I preferred a much later audio story where he loses his memory. (Something Inside (Doctor Who)) He is the amnesiac Time Lord! Hear him whimper! Anyway, he can't remember who he is, and maybe he isn't the Doctor, because this other chap locked up with him insists that HE's the Doctor, and they play 20 questions to try to prove who's who. Amusing to hear (and the actors do a good job here), but it isn't really convincing. What about all that two hearts business? Huh? Huh? Charley, the companion. Charley is a bit confused at first, too, but she recovers quickly. Apparently spends much of the story running about scantily clad, but as this is an audio play, it's not as if we get to SEE her. And wow. There's some evil American stereotype who wants to...um...take over a newly formed state? Is it New West South Virginia Carolina Texas? No. It's "Malebolgia". "Malebolgia"!? *head desks* He might as well run ads saying "Vote for me: I summon demons for fun and profit!" When he's not campaigning, he's hanging around the Hellfire Club and plotting with demons. The demons...there are indeed demons. Not impressed with the demons. They do help the mad scientists with their...mad scientist...stuff. The whole memory and mind swap thing that the TARDIS does so easily. Apparently. Moving on to the demon hunter. Hey, look! It's the Buffy the Vampire Slayer ripoff! Not that bad, but not that good, either. And finally, our special guest star the Brigadier! I did enjoy his part in this, especially his meetings with the Doctor. (That's the sad fan in me.) They do have some good scenes. That is about the only reason to purchase this audio.
2.0 out of 5 stars
Not even the Brigadier could save this one,
This review is from: Minuet in Hell (Dr Who Big Finish) (Audio CD)
In this audio adventure Paul McGann gives a brilliant performance as a man who has lost his memory and quite possibly his mind. Sadly, there's lot of other silliness tacked on that spoils the story.
I'm sure Minuet in Hell sounded like a good idea in theory, but in actual practice, it is a bit of a mishmash. There are far too many plot points: political ambitions, psychic devices, a recreated Hell Fire Club and the first pairing of the Eighth Doctor and the Brigadier. Several of these ideas are quite good and could have been developed into stand alone stories, but when they are thrown all together, they just don't work. Most of the characters are unbearably clichéd. We have a corrupt televangelist, a squawking politician who sounds exactly like Foghorn Leghorn, a love-sick doctor who mourns her lost youth, and a Buffy rip-off who fights demons. Usually the voice work on Big Finish audios is impeccable, but this one features some of the most patronising and unconvincing American accents I've ever heard. 2 stars.
2.0 out of 5 stars
A Cold Assessment Of Hell,
By
This review is from: Minuet in Hell (Dr Who Big Finish) (Audio CD)
One of the interesting things to have happened as I've been listening to the first McGann season of Big Finish stories is how my opinions of two of those have changed. The first was The Stones Of Venice which I rather disliked upon my first listening but now found to be an excellent story. The second one was Minuet In Hell which, outside of some dodgy accents, I enjoyed the first time around but found to be a rather dull story upon this recent listening. The story perhaps is best summed up in the phrase "good concepts poorly executed."
One of the things on the plus side is the performances from its leads Paul McGann and India Fisher. McGann as the Doctor in particular shines despite the fact he is given not a lot to do throughout much of the story except mumble about hell and ask "who am I?", which at least in the case of the second item comes across unintentionally as a rehash of part of his performance in the TV Movie. Where McGann shines in his attempts to make the amnesic plot work and in the fourth part where he is finally given something to do. The same is very much true of Fisher as the Charley who spends the first half of the story virtually amnesic before finally being allowed to do something plot wise in the second half. In fact, much of the story's middle section is carried by Charley which once again gives Fisher a chance to show her talents off when the writing is able to let her. While the writing might not be stellar the leads do try and be and make the story listenable as a result. The supporting cast is a real mixed bag if ever there was one. First up the good news: Nicholas Courtney and Nicholas Briggs. Courtney of course returns as the Brigadier, former UK commander of UNIT and friend of the Doctor, who comes to a new American state on a mission for UNIT. Courtney is in fine form as the Brigadier and is highly convincing as an older, wiser but just as active version of the character plus he has some fine chemistry with both McGann and Fisher during his scenes with them. In fact the Brigadier's scenes with the eighth Doctor is the biggest reason to listen to it. Then there is Nicholas Briggs as fellow asylum "patient" Gideon Crane. Briggs does a commendable job in the role especially during one of the plot twists where the identity of the Doctor is supposed to be in question. Outside of that Briggs also shares some nice chemistry in his many scenes with McGann as well which always helps too. Together these two are the best players of the supporting cast. Now for the bad news: the rest of the supporting cast. None of the supporting cast members, especially Morgan Deare as Senator Waldo Pickering, manages to be convincing in their roles. Much of this is down to some really badly done accents including, once again, Deare who plays the former U.S. Senator as though he is Foghorn Leghorn from the Loony Toons cartoons of old. It is also down to the writing as well which doesn't help the unconvincing accents in trying to really sell the story. While much of the supporting cast have given wonderful performances elsewhere in the Big Finish range (Robert Jezek in The Holy Terror for instance) this is far from their best work and a real disappointment. The real problem with the story lies in its script. Minuet In Hell started its life back in the 1980's as a story from the fan group Audio Visuals, many of whose members went on to work for Big Finish and was set in 18th century London involving the Hellfire Club and the notorious Bedlam asylum. Having heard the first half of that version and having re-listened to this version one question stems to mind: why was the remake set in America? It doesn't work as a story set in America not just because of the aforementioned accents but in terms of the plot as well. It seems clear that the story was written without a good understanding of the American political system or society (especially the whole idea that a section of a state can just succeed it and become a new state quickly) is just one example. It's not just that problem as there's some holes in the plot (what are the Psionovores up to anyway?) plus at plot twists that fall completely flat as well (see the cliffhanger for part two for example) despite showing a considerable amount of promise. Last but not least is the dialogue which is quite good at times but (in the form of Waldo Pickering and Becky Lee especially) can be downright cringe-worthy to put in very politely. That said the concept of an amnesic Doctor in an insane asylum is a neat idea that unfortunately is badly used here and because of the choice of Doctor seems to even be a rehash of an old idea. The result: "good concepts poorly executed.". So where does Minuet In Hell rank? While it features good performances from its two leads, two members of its supporting cast and a good concept or two it is held down considerably by its many problems. To be specific in the unconvincing performances of much of the supporting cast and a script that, despite that good concept or two, manages to fall flat on its face more times then not. Overall then Minuet In Hell ranks as the weakest of the stories of the first McGann Big Finish season and as a rather underwhelming finish to an otherwise fine set of stories.
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