Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
1st Eighth Doctor Audio Drama, August 9, 2006
This is the 16th installment of Big Finish's monthly Doctor Who audio dramas, however it is the first to feature Paul McGann as the Eighth Doctor. The audio dramas seem to exist in a parallel universe to the Eighth Doctor Adventure books published by BBC books, however I'm sure some very smart people have figured out how both can exist, somehow. This audio drama is set in 1930 and introduces a new Companion, Charley Pollard, voiced by India Fisher. Charley only exists in the audio dramas.
The voice actors are excellent, however since I read several years worth of Eighth Doctor Adventures before I heard this audio drama, it took me awhile to wrap my head around the idea that all I had read previously didn't exist.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The begining of the series, April 29, 2008
Big finish had quite a few Doctor Who Adventures before this one, however Storm Warning crosses two important lines:
1. It is the first adventure since the Doctor Who movie of the 90's that featured Paul McGain who stared as the doctor.
2. Unlike other big finish episodes the 8th doctor episodes do not have to be shoehorned into the existing Doctor Who TV episodes.
If the episode was poor or the story lacking it wouldn't have made much of a difference but Paul McGain and India Fisher are first rate as is the supporting cast, the story is classy and fits very well in the Doctor Who mythos.
Paul McGain really dives into the role and shows that it was a great loss to Dr. Who fans when the decision to not pick up the series was given. His doctor has the charm, the wit and the energy that makes the series the success it is. It doesn't surprise me that the BBC is broadcasting two "seasons" of the 8th doctor on radio even better as it is voice acting we can expect years more of high quality adventures from Mr. McGain.
India Fisher has made the Character of "Charlie" her own. This episode has confirmed my desire to get the rest of her past stories and purchase the new ones. This is my 4th episode with Charlie that I've heard, but the first in the chronology. Her performance and the well written character that she plays is just simply wonderful.
Bottom line , Buy it!
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5.0 out of 5 stars
He's Back And It's About Time, September 1, 2009
One of the tag lines used for the 1996 Doctor Who TV movie proclaimed "He's back and it's about time!" Sadly the TV movie didn't lead to a new TV series and for some time it appeared that Paul McGann's time as the Doctor would be limited to his single appearance in the TV movie. Then in 2001 Big Finish, who had by that point been doing Doctor Who audios with three of McGann's preceding Doctors, released Storm Warning. With its release, McGann not only triumphantly returned to the role of the eighth Doctor but got a fantastic new starting off point as well.
If Storm Warning proves nothing else it proves that McGann had the potential to be a fantastic Doctor. Beginning with the story's opening couple of minutes, in which McGann is by himself plus sound effects, McGann takes back on the role and really makes it his own. It's hard to imagine another one of the audio Doctors being able to successfully do the opening scene for example which gives McGann an opportunity to show off his acting skills in the audio medium quite well. If one ever needed a single moment for proof that McGann is a fine Doctor look no farther then the speech he gives to Charley and Frayling early in Part Three. In that one speech alone lies one of the finest performance moments you're ever going to find in Doctor Who, regardless of the medium. McGann also shares some wonderful chemistry with his fellow cast members as well especially India Fisher as Charley. McGann's potential as the Doctor is put to full use here and it makes for a fantastic new beginning for the eighth Doctor.
Storm Warning is also blessed with a fine supporting cast as well. First off there's India Fisher as Charley Pollard, a young "Edwardian adventuress" who will soon become companion to the eighth Doctor. Fisher plays Charley as a young woman full of a sense of adventure who finds herself caught up in an adventure bigger then she could ever imagine and it that, coupled with Fisher's incredible chemistry with McGann, that makes Charley a fantastic companion. Also joining the supporting cast is actor Gareth Thomas (better known to science fiction fans as the title character in the BBC's Blake's 7) as Lord Tamworth, Britain's Minister of the Air and he comes across as a believable, if too much of his time, man who is trying to do the right thing for his King and country. The cast is rounded off by nice performances from some of Big Finish's repertory company including Nicholas Pegg, Barnaby Edwards, Hylton Collins and Helen Goldwyn as the alien Triskelies. All round it's a nice supporting cast giving fine performances especially from Fisher and Thomas.
Storm Warning also has some nice post-production work going in its favor as well. The sound design by Alistair Lock is a fantastic piece of work and helps to give the story an epic feeling. Of special mention is is Lock's score which has a really strong orchestral feel like the score to a major Hollywood movie. There is also the version of the Doctor Who theme arranged by noted film composer David Arnold which, while perhaps not the best arrangement of the theme ever done, is still an interesting take on a classic theme. While the story has fine performances, it is the sound design that really sells the story and this stands as a fine achievement for Alistair Lock.
Then there's the script by Alan Barnes. Barnes, who after all had supervised the first eighth Doctor comic stories for Doctor Who Magazine, proved to be a fine choice for scripting the first audio adventure of the eighth Doctor. Barnes script takes of Doctor Who's traditions for using historical events as a jumping off point for a story and uses it to great effect. By basing the story almost entirely on the famed airship the R101 and infuses that tragic tale with a nice science fiction twist. By framing the story around the R101 the story has a ticking clock as well as the hour to the airship's eventual fate gets closer and closer the listener is left to wonder just how things will end. The story also acts as the set-up to a major arc that would throughout many of the eighth Doctor audio stories starting with from the story's finale onwards. Barnes script gives the audio adventures a fantastic start both as a one off adventure story and setting up a major story arc as well.
Storm Warning proves to be a fine new beginning for the adventures of the eighth Doctor. With things like Paul McGann's triumphant return to the role of the Doctor, the introduction of India Fisher's Charley, fine performances from the supporting cast, fine post-production work from Alistair Lock and a fine script by Alan Barnes it is hard not to enjoy this story not only a fine Doctor Who adventure but as the return of a Doctor who was thought to be just a one time performance. To quote the TV movie tag line "he's back and it's about time". And this time he was here to stay.
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by Robert Shearman
by Nicholas Briggs
by Nicholas Briggs
by Alan W. Lear
by Paul Magrs
