Synopsis For Doctor Who - The Final Phase

The conclusion to the two part Dalek story and the 4th Doctor and Romana 1 series as it finishes up on a high note.  Sadly this is the last time Mary Tamm will play Romana as she passed away after recording this series.  You can order it from the link below.
http://www.bigfinish.com/releases/v/the-final-phase-692

The raw power of the very fabric of reality itself. And you dare to think you can conquer it?'

Cuthbert's plan for the Proxima System is reaching its final phase.

The Doctor and Romana have been separated. The Doctor is aiding the Proximan fight-back. Romana and K9 are prisoners of the Daleks.

And as the countdown to the opening of the Quantum Gateway begins, the Daleks reveal their true intentions.

Written By: Nicholas Briggs
Directed By: Nicholas Briggs

Cast
Tom Baker (The Doctor), Mary Tamm (Romana), John Leeson (K9), David Warner (Cuthbert), Toby Hadoke (Mr Dorrick), Dominic Mafham (Chidak), Nicholas Briggs (The Daleks), Jane Slavin (Halka), John Dorney (Security Man/Warrior)

Synopsis For Big Finish's Doctor Who - Phantoms of the Deep

The next story in the Audio Adventures of the 4th Doctor and Romana takes us underwater.  Phantoms of the Deep stars Tom Baker as the 4th Doctor and Mary Tamm as Romana. Yoou can order it here.

http://www.bigfinish.com/releases/v/phantoms-of-the-deep-690

On their mission to explore the Mariana Trench at the very bottom of the ocean, the deepest and most inhospitable place on Earth, the crew of the deep sea vehicle Erebus make an unusual and startling discovery.

A battered blue police box.

As the Doctor, Romana and K9 join them on their journey, the submariners soon discover that the TARDIS is not the only unusual find lurking on the sea floor.

Super-intelligent squid, long-lost submarines and their miraculous occupants are only the start of their troubles. The Goblins are coming. And they won't let anyone out alive.

Written By: Jonathan Morris
Directed By: Ken Bentley

Cast
Tom Baker (The Doctor), Mary Tamm (Romana), John Leeson (K9), Alice Krige (Dr Patricia Sawyer), John Albasiny (Chris Fleming), Charlie Norfolk (Terri McCulloch), Gwilym Lee (Jack Hodges)

Doctor Who - War Against The Laan Review

Doctor Who:

War Against The Laan

By Nicholas Briggs

Starring Tom Baker and Mary Tamm

The Laan are posed to attack Earth after the aggression against the Laan who is giving birth there.  Cuthbert wants to destroy them but The Doctor’s warning that Earth would be destroyed is going on death ears.   The Doctor tells the Earth President that if Cuthbert attacks the Laan they will destroy Earth to protect the Laan that haven’t been born yet.  Romana is trying desperately to get the Laan to stop by using the psychic connection she has with the Laan.  But she is not having much success.  If The Doctor doesn’t come up with a solution it could be the end of all life on Earth human and Laan.

The second part of the Sands of Life is actually not all that bad but not as exciting as the first part.  It was good but there just seemed to be a lot of the typical must destroy the alien stupidity that you get a lot of in Doctor Who.  Cuthbert played by “Cold Wars” David Warner is just that type of character that you have seen many times before. But even with that said David Warner is really good as Cuthbert and worth buying the audios just to listen to him.

The performances of Tom Baker and Mary Tamm are spot on and it takes me back to season 16 as the two still have that chemistry together.  Their performances has been the high point so far in these series of stories and worth listening to.  War Against the Laan also has another big time guest star as Hayley Atwell plays the President of Earth and is good as always when she takes time out of her schedule to do one of these audios.  War of the Laan was a decent adventure to with a good solution but isn’t as good as the first part.

Doctor Who 50th Anniversary: The Armageddon Factor

Doctor Who: 

The Armageddon Factor 

By Bob Baker and Dave Martin

“I shall destroy you for this! I will disperse every particle of your being to the furthest reaches of eternity!”

The search for the final piece of The Key to Time brings The Doctor and Romana to the war torn area of between the planets Atrios and Zeos.   What they discover is that there is another entity manipulating the events of the war for his own bidding.  What he really wants is The Doctor and the other segments of the Key to Time.

Hidden away on a hidden planet is the Shadow.  He is an agent for the Black Guardian and he has the last piece of the Key to Time but he doesn’t really know it.  It appears that Princess Astra is the final piece and she is a prisoner of the Shadow.   What other problems they have is that The Marshall is still hell bent on war and winning the day even though the Shadow has stopped the war and that the Planet he is attacking is run by a battle computer.   The Doctor uses the Key to Time with a fake piece to stop time with the Marshall’s Ship and the battle computer while he can confront the Shadow and get the last piece of the Key before The Black Guardian arrives and takes it from him.

Doctor Who 50th Anniversary: The Androids of Tara

Doctor Who:

The Androids of Tara

By David Fisher

“Hear that, K9? Wedding bells or a funeral knell? Do hurry up. A hamster with a blunt penknife would do it quicker.”

The Doctor and Romana have landed on Tara in search for the fourth segment of The Key to Time.  The Doctor wants nothing to do with it and decides to do some fishing.  So Romana heads off and finds the fourth segment in fact she finds it pretty quickly as it was a piece of a statue.  Romana gets into trouble as she is attacked by some sort of creature.  She is rescued by Count Grendal who thinks she is an android of the Princess Strella.  In fact Romana is looks just like her and can pass as her twin.

The Doctor has some problems of his own as he is persuaded to help Prince Reynart with his android double.  Of course The Doctor accepts and finds himself embroiled in the feud for the crown of Tara as Count Grendal drugs their drink and kidnaps Prince Reynart in his quest for the crown.  Things get crazy as androids get destroyed and Grendal goes on the offensive and the double cross is the word of the day and it is up to The Doctor to save Romana and Prince Reynart his throne.

Synopsis For Big Finish's Doctor Who : The Justice of Jalxar

Big Finish has pushed up the release of this release so fans who are attending Big Finish Day on March 23rd can get their copies signed by Tom Baker, Trevor Baxter and Christopher Benjamin.  It yet again sees The 4th Doctor and Romana on the case as they run into old friends Jago and Lightfoot.  It is available for order on the Big Finish website.
http://www.bigfinish.com/releases/v/the-justice-of-jalxar-689

They call him The Pugilist.
It is the dawn of a new century and a vigilante is on the loose. The scourge of the criminal underclass. The saviour of the virtuous and the protector of the weak. The police are baffled, the public enamoured…  but Professor George Litefoot and Henry Gordon Jago are on the case. Or at least they will be when they've finished their beer.
What is the source of The Pugilist's spectacular supernatural powers? Is he alone in his noble quest? And what is his connection to the spate of corpses discovered around London?
As they descend further into a nefarious netherworld, the infernal investigators may be out of their depth. They're going to need help if they're to get out of this alive. The help of an old friend and his new assistant. The help… of the Doctor and Romana.

Written By: John Dorney
Directed By: Ken Bentley

Cast
Tom Baker (The Doctor), Mary Tamm (Romana), Trevor Baxter (Professor George Litefoot), Christopher Benjamin (Henry Gordon Jago), Mark Goldthorp (Bobby Stamford), Rosanna Miles (Mary Brown), Ben Bishop (Stone), Adrian Lukis (Harvey Marsh

Doctor Who: The Sands of Life Review

 

Doctor Who:

The Sands of Life

By Nicholas Briggs

The Doctor and Romana are traveling along when Romana hears voices.  The Doctor doesn’t hear them and Romana claims they are saying The Sands of Life.   The voices really bug her as she wishes she could determine what they mean.  Meanwhile aliens are heading to earth and have destroyed a space platform owned by Cuthbert who is a powerful Earth CEO of the Conglomerate who is feared and has lots of power and influence on Earth and who many see as the true ruler of Earth and not Earth’s President Sheridan Moorkurk. 

What’s worse is The Laan have decided to have their babies in the desert on Earth.  It appears the voices Romana is hearing and now The Doctor is coming from The Laan.  In particular the Laan that is giving birth on Earth.   That is not satisfactory to Cuthbert as he wants to destroy it for destroying his space platform and if The Doctor and Romana don’t come up with a solution Earth will be at war with The Laan.

At first I thought this story would have a jumbled finish as there was a lot going on to be resolved in one 72 minute adventure on one disk.  But then I was pretty surprised to find out that this story ended on a cliffhanger.   That was pretty cool as this was in fact disk one of a two disk story.  So disk one has episodes 1 to 3 and disk two will be out in March and hopefully it will have a pretty good ending to go with a pretty decent first part.

I liked how this story centered more on Romana and gave Mary Tamm a bigger part to flex her acting prowess and add something more to her version of Romana.  It makes me sad thinking that these are it for her since she passed away last year.   I’m glad the people at Big Finish gave her the chance to expand on the character by writing her better than she was portrayed on TV. 

David Warner guest stars in The Sands of Life and delivers a great performance as always.  It will be good to see him in a televised story this year when Series 7 continues.   Tom Baker is great as well and at 80 years old it’s amazing that he still can step into the role as The Doctor and sound like he did back in the 70’s when he was the mainstay. 

The story so far is a pretty good mystery and hopefully the next part will be just as good as the first part.  There was a lot of action to get through which is quite a turn for Big Finish as they usually do not feature that much action.  I enjoyed this story so far and loved what they did with the characters and am looking forward to seeing how everything is resolved.

Grade B

Synopsis For Big Finish's Doctor Who : War Against The Laan

This month's Tom Baker adventure is the second part from last months Sands of Life. It also stars Mary Tamm as Romana and David Warner.  You can order it at the link below.
http://www.bigfinish.com/releases/v/war-against-the-laan-688

Just a taste of Armageddon, Romana. It’s what happens when acquisitive minds are left unencumbered by conscience.'
 
The Doctor, Romana and newly elected President Sheridan Moorkurk take on the all-consuming powers of business tycoon Cuthbert and his vast Conglomerate. But the situation goes beyond a struggle for political power. Cuthbert is intent on revenge on creatures he feels have attacked his interests. But when his revenge looks like leading to inter-species war, the Doctor knows the stakes couldn't be higher.
The Laan are on the move. Is it too late to prevent the destruction of all life on Earth?

Written By: Nicholas Briggs
Directed By: Nicholas Briggs

Cast
Tom Baker (The Doctor), Mary Tamm (Romana), Hayley Atwell (President Moorkurk), David Warner (Cuthbert), Toby Hadoke (Mr Dorrick)

Doctor Who: The Auntie Matter Review

Doctor Who:

The Auntie Matter

By Jonathan Morris

The Doctor and Romana are enjoying some time in 1920’s England as they wait for the TARDIS to return from the wild goose chase The Doctor sent it on to confuse The Black Guardian.  While Romana is bored and heads off into town The Doctor continues working on his device for picking up alien tech.  When the machine suddenly springs to life The Doctor is off in search of the alien tech that was detected.  While in town Romana comes across Reggie.  Reggie is a man who lives with his Aunt.  She is a very strange Aunt at that as she is not even human.  In fact she wants Reggie to bring Romana back to the manor so she can take a look at Romana.  Meanwhile The Doctor with the aid of his maid Mabel head off in search of the tech and come across some strange stuff also.  Like robotic butlers and the true meaning of what the Aunt is really up to.

The second series of Tom Baker Doctor Who adventures for Big Finish starts with The Auntie Matter and this time he is accompanied by Romana played by the late Mary Tamm.  It was sad to listen to to this story and the rest of the ones in the series as this was one of the last things she did before she died last summer.  She was really good as Romana in The Auntie Matter and it seemed like she was never away from the show for so long.  It was like listening to a story in season 16 with her as Romana again.

The overall story was ok.  It was nothing special to write home about.  At times I was enjoying the story as Tom Baker was superb as always as the Fourth Doctor but at times I just couldn’t really get into what was happening. It seemed to be a tad too silly and the character of Reggie was pretty lame and annoying same with Mabel.  I did like the aspect of the Aunt cheating death by stealing female bodies but found the solution to defeating her tad too easy.   But in all a story that for the most part is entertaining due to the great performances from Tom Baker and Mary Tamm that makes up for the subpar story.

Synopsis For Big Finish's Doctor Who - The Sands of Life

The 4th Doctor and Romana continue their adventures with The Sands of Life with guest star David Warner who also has a guest role in the upcoming Series 7 of Doctor Who with Matt Smith.  You can order this adventure from Big Finish at the link below.
http://www.bigfinish.com/releases/v/the-sands-of-life-687


Sheridan Moorkurk has just been elected president of Earth... but the harsh realities of who really runs the planet are just beginning to dawn on her. And what's more, she's starting to hear voices.

Meanwhile, the Doctor and Romana encounter a mass of aliens heading to Earth... Aliens who have already made the mistake of upsetting the infamous Cuthbert, all-powerful CEO of The Conglomerate, by destroying one of his space platforms.

Will the Doctor and Romana be able to avert inter-species war that will destroy all life on Earth?

Written By: Nicholas Briggs
Directed By: Nicholas Briggs

Cast

Tom Baker (The Doctor), Mary Tamm (Romana), John Leeson (K9), Hayley Atwell (President Moorkurk), David Warner (Cuthbert), Toby Hadoke (Mr Dorrick), Jane Slavin (The Laan), Duncan Wisbey (General Vincent)

Synopsis For Big Finish's Doctor Who "The Auntie Matter"

The Tom Baker adventures start up again and this time he is joined by Mary Tamm in her last appearance as Romana.  You can order this adventure at the link.

http://www.bigfinish.com/releases/v/the-auntie-matter-686


England in the 1920s.

Whilst K9 is off in the TARDIS leading the Black Guardian on a wild goose chase, the Doctor and Romana are enjoying a leisurely lifestyle as the Lord and Lady of a London townhouse. But trouble never stays away from them for long, and before they know it a chance discovery of alien technology leads them deep into the heart of the English countryside where a malign presence lurks.

As the Doctor dodges deadly butlers and ferocious gamekeepers, Romana is faced with a malevolent Aunt and an even deadlier peril - marriage.

Written By: Jonathan Morris
Directed By: Ken Bentley

Cast

Tom Baker (The Doctor), Mary Tamm (Romana), Julia McKenzie (Florence), Robert Portal (Reggie), Lucy Griffiths (Mabel), Alan Cox (Grenville), Jane Slavin (Ligeia)

Mary Tamm's Husband Dies

Mere hours after giving an Eulogy to his wife, Mary Tamm, Marcus Ringrose died of a heart attack on Tuesday August 7.  Mary Tamm, who played Romana during the Tom Baker Doctor Who years, passed away late July after a battle with cancer.  Her husband had just come from the funeral and was replying to people wishing him well on the computer when he collapsed.

Source - The Telegraph

Mary Tamm Doctor Who's First Romana Has Passed Away

Another sad day for Doctor Who fans as Mary Tamm who played Romana during Tom Baker's era of Doctor Who has died at age 62. She lost her long battle with cancer and died at her South London Home.

Mary Tamm played Romana during The Key to Time season 16.  She was a companion to Tom Bakers 4th Doctor and just stayed on Doctor Who for the one season.   I had the good fortune of meeting Mary Tamm at a USA convention in Springfield, MA.  My friend and I were also lucky enough to have been in the elevator with her  and have a one on one talk with her for the duration of the ride.  She will be missed along with Caroline John who Doctor Who also lost to cancer earlier this summer.  RIP Mary Tamm.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/tvandradio/doctor-who/9428411/Mary-Tamm-Doctor-Who-actress-loses-cancer-fight-aged-62.html

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/news/doctor-who-actress-mary-tamm-dies-7978859.html

http://www.doctorwhonews.net/2012/07/dwn260712100008-mary-tamm-1950-2012.html

http://www.denofgeek.com/tv/doctor-who/22136/mary-tamm-1950-%E2%80%93-2012