STORY PLACEMENT

 THIS STORY TAKES

 PLACE AFTER THE BIG

 FINISH AUDIO DRAMA

 "THICKER THAN WATER"

 AND IMMEDIATELY

 PRIOR TO THE BIG FINISH

 AUDIO DRAMA

 "THE VANITY BOX."

 

 PRODUCTION CODE

 7C/V

 

 WRITTEN BY

 PAUL MAGRS

 

 DIRECTED BY

 JOHN AINSWORTH

 

 RECOMMENDED 

 PURCHASE

 BIG FINISH CD#97

 (ISBN 1-84435-284-5)

 RELEASED IN JULY 2007.

 

 BLURB 

 What can it mean

 when the Doctor and

 Mel are drawn to an

 asteroid by a

 message from the

 strange, elderly

 Applewhite sisters?

 The travellers are

 promised that they

 will receive their

 dearest wishes when

 they enter the frozen

 forests of this

 benighted shard of a

 world. But the ghosts

 that haunt this place

 are desperate to

 warn the Doctor

 about the sisters'

 promises. Only the

 ghosts know the true

 nature of the

 legendary Wishing

 Beast.

 

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The Wishing Beast

JULY 2007

(3 EPISODES)

 

 

                                                       

 

 

Paul Magrs unquestionably has a flair for crafting Doctor Who stories that have a decidedly unusual feel. More so than most writers, Magrs inimitable stamp can be felt in almost every line of every script that he writes. Unfortunately, Magrs stamp is not necessarily one of

quality – his ‘bonkers’ efforts range from the abysmal to the sublime… and, in my book at least, “The Wishing Beast” falls into the former category.

 

“A forest, an old creaking house, a few spirits drifting about in the shadows…”

 

Magrs story sees the Doctor and Mel visit a desolate world and find two old crones – the Applewhite sisters – living in isolation. In the CD Extras, Bonnie Langford compares these two sisters to the Rezzies in “Paradise Towers”, and she is bang on the mark. Superficially harmless, Eliza and Maria harbour dark secrets and wicked intentions that would not be out of place in one of Aesop’s fables. Geraldine Newman and Doctor Who veteran Jean Marsh clearly relish playing the two old witches, but despite their spirited performances and the evocative near-fairytale setting, the sister’s element of the story did not grip me in the slightest.

 

© Big Finish Productions 2007. No copyright infringement is intended.

 

The Wishing Beast itself was a little bit more interesting as Magrs explored the boy inside the monster – Daniel. At ten years old, young Daniel had wished to be a monster so that he could scare his two sisters. Simon Holub’s astonishing cover design shows Daniel in all his monstrous glory clutching The Wishing Beast box – the box that granted Daniel’s wish and then consumed him.

  

On the CD Extras front, the content was just as insightful as usual – I am salivating for a ‘Big Finish lunch’ as I write this – and Bonnie Langford’s interview about the new series was especially interesting. However, I get the distinct impression that Nicholas Briggs did not have much to do with these extras… and it shows. Some common sense stuff – like announcing the name of the person who is about to speak – is conspicuously absent. Fair dues, you do not need to announce Baker, Langford, or even Jean Marsh but even the most devoted of Who fans are going to have a hard time recognising the voice of the sound designer (no offence, Gareth!) Nevertheless, no matter how pretty the covers are and how crammed with extras the CDs are, if the stories are not great people are not going to subscribe.

 

On the whole, I found Big Finish’s ninety-seventh release to be intensely disappointing.

 

Copyright © E.G. Wolverson 2007

 

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

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