Storm Warning by Alan BarnesIt is normal for me to try and add a little contextualisation to my reviews, a little colour if you prefer, so that seasoned Whovers such as you can really decide whether this story is for you. However, there will be no such gastronomic shenanigans in this one. Ladies and Gentlemen I have for your delectation an absolute jewel from the Big Finish stables.
Storm Warning (written by Alan Barnes) is a real cracking audio drama and the debut of Paul McGann's 8th Doctor. I could spend ages describing the plot, however I will leave that to the blurb on the back cover of the CD (sumptuously decorated on the front cover by the phenomenally talented Clayton Hickman)
"October, 1930. His Majesty's Airship, the R101, sets off on her maiden voyage to the farthest-flung reaches of the British Empire, carrying the brightest lights of the Imperial fleet as well as the hopes and dreams of a breathless nation.
Not to mention a ruthless spy with a top-secret mission, a mysterious passenger who appears nowhere on the crew list, a would-be adventuress destined for the Singapore Hilton... and a Time Lord from the planet Gallifrey. There's a storm coming. There's something unspeakable, something with wings, crawling across the stern. Thousands of feet high in the blackening sky, the crew of the R101 brace themselves. When the storm breaks, their lives won't be all that's at stake...
The future of the galaxy will be hanging by a thread."Good eh? Well, it gets better! The Paul McGann 'era' begins with a swirling and etherial version of the classic Who theme, a short prologue and we're off. Meanwhile I have heated up 3 packets of chicken satay on skewers together with warmed through pitta breads and a quick can of Budwiser. I check that everyone in the house is asleep and I board the R101. First things first, I have run out of monster munch so I am in a bad mood, but even that doesn't stop me appreciating that BF have assembled a first class supporting cast in Gareth Thomas (or Blake as he prefers to be known) playing English toff Lord Tamworth, the urbane Barnaby Edwards as proto-Bond agent, Rathbone. Atop the tree, however, is the beguiling India Fisher as Charley Pollard, a character who is ultimately set to put the Doctor in a rare old temporal fix. But that, as they say, lies in the future. In this story she has more than a dash of Ace about her and that makes it ever more easy to accept her as a companion for McGann's time traveler.
As I have said elsewhere in another thread, I have a particular affinity to audio dramas. I think they are a more inclusive performance with the audience forced to do some of the work. BF, however, provide admirable assistance with some really impressive sound-scaping, particularly in the creation of a claustrophobic atmosphere aboard the airship and with a convincing fight scene. I realise that my pitta breads have left crumbs in my bed - surely the ultimate taboo in terms of midnight snacks but I don't care. The drama is engaging and gripping and more than makes up for the lack of peanut sauce.
It is not without its flaws. To be sure episode three has some difficulties in terms of pacing and structure. The alien presence (known as the Triskele) start off as haunting but end up as irritating as the crumbs in my bed. However, this is a ripping introduction to a very good first season for McGann's Doctor. As I take half a packet of Rennie, I slumber and contemplate how great this would have been on the screen.
