Doctor Who...ish

STORY PLACEMENT

THIS STORY TAKES

PLACE BETWEEN THE

NOVELS "PALACE
OF THE RED SUN" AND

THE BIG FINISH AUDIO
DRAMA "THE REAPING."

PRODUCTION CODE

6Z/B

WRITTEN BY

PHIL PASCOE

DIRECTED BY

NICHOLAS BRIGGS

WORKING TITLE

(...ISH)

RECOMMENDED

PURCHASE

BIG FINISH CD#35

[MISLABELLED CD#34]

(ISBN 1-903654-73-4)

RELEASED IN AUGUST

2002.

BLURB

A CONFERENCE OF

lexicographers;

bromides in tweed.

But the leading expert

in the field is found

dead by her own

hand. Is it madness?

Seeking transcendence

in the complete

lexicon?

..isH.

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...ish

AUGUST 2002

(4 EPISODES)

I cannot think of another instance where Big Finish have erred quite so badly. Some of their releases have been of average quality, but until now I have never come across a Big Finish production that I would consider to be one of the worst Doctor Who stories ever; not even close in fact. Gary Russell has put his faith in new Australian writer Phil Pascoe whose story (if you will pardon the cringeworthy joke) is, well... rubbish.

The Doctor and Peri versus a baddie logophile and an artificial intelligence, the Lexicon - a misguided ‘electronic’ dictionary… Oh dear.

To be fair though, I thought a few elements of this story did work well. I liked the ‘Babel Fish’ and Blackadder jokes, for example. I also enjoyed Colin Baker’s enthusiastic performance – he obviously took great delight in bringing the arcane dialogue that had been written for him to life. The best thing about "...ish" is that it is perfect for the sixth Doctor; big words,

loud voices...

Moreover, I enjoyed Peri’s slight character development through her flirtations with Chris Eley’s Warren in the first episode. It is nice to see her portrayed as a real young woman rather than a little girl for the Doctor to push around.

Finally, “…ish” has to at least earn a few marks for taking the unpopular, bickering duo and making their differences the heart of the plot. The Doctor speaks BBC English, Peri speaks Americanised English. Ultimately, it is the confusion of all the synonyms in what is essentially the same language that saves the day.

“…ish” is certainly based on a novel concept, but although the premise is interesting as an idea it does not translate well into a story – not even in the audio medium for which one would think it ideal. I do not think I have ever struggled so hard to concentrate on such a lacklustre plot, the four half-hours seeming like an eternity.

Ah well, it had to happen sooner or later. They can't all be good...

E.G. Wolverson has asserted his right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988 to be identified as the author of this work.

This play’s blurb places it between the television stories Revelation of the Daleks and The Trial of a Time Lord, and after Whispers of Terror. As the story offers no clues as to a more specific placement, we have made it the Doctor and Peri’s fourth post-Lost Stories, pre-Trial adventure, simply because it was released fourth.

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