Customer Reviews

Phantasmagoria (Dr Who Big Finish)

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Phantasmagoria although the 2nd offering from Big Finish is in many ways the first since it is the first full length feature with only a single doctor (Peter Davidson) and the first to feature a companion from the series (Turlough).

It is also the first to take advantage of the gaps in the show, for example in the TV show Resurrection of the Daleks has Teagan leaving at the end while the very next episode Planet of Fire introduces Perri and has Turlough 's departure. This episode neatly fits in between the pair and begins the president that will be followed in future episodes of the series.

As for the story itself in London of 1702 people are disappearing and several odd things are going on as usual the Doctor finds himself right in the middle of it.

The story itself is very good. The supporting cast of Steven Wickham and Julia Dalkin are strong and the direction by Nicholas Briggs is first rate.

There is a heavy burden on this story and the cast. If it was a failure it would really have killed the series stillborn. The fact that Big finish is on its 111th release or so and several other spinoff series is a tribute to these early shows that made it all possible and showed that Doctor Who had a following that could support new shows. I'm sure this was a consideration in the release of the new series.

All in all a good story worth buying indeed.

The Doctor and Turlough arrive in 1702 London and meet Dr. Samuel Holywell, a collector with an interest in the occult. When a man is found dead, clutching a playing card, Holywell believes it's the work of the spirits. The Doctor, however, suspects a more earthbound miscreant.

This is probably my least favourite of all the Big Finish Doctor Who audios. The script, written by Mark Gatiss, tries just a little too hard to be clever. Some of the cast members embrace their roles just a little too enthusiastically, giving the production a rather camp feel. In contrast, Mark Strickson gives a flat performance (but then Turlough was never a very well developed companion). Maybe it's just me, but Strickson's voice sounds slightly distorted as well.

There's some padding in the story. I didn't see the purpose of having Turlough run off on his own and the Billy Lovemore/Hannah Fry business seemed unnecessary.

If you're a casual fan, you can definitely skip this one. It's only essential to sad obsessives like me who collect the entire series.