Big Finish, Charley Pollard Adventures
I really like how these stories just jump right in – no musical interlude or theme music, just here we goooo!!!! We are introduced to Charley through her escape attempts, to get away from the Viyrans and make a future of her own in the universe. But the Viyrans just can’t let her get away due to the Lamentation Cipher that resides within her, which we don’t have defined until the 4th story, The Viyran Solution.
This story begins at the Ever and Ever Prolixity, with Charley on a mission for the Viyrans. Apparently she’s been searching out viruses for them for a thousand years or more, being stored until needed by them for many years on end. So she hasn’t aged much physically but definitely has matured mentally. Robert Buchan walks in and is immediately involved in her story, in a way. He is a congenial sort of fella and ends up helping Charley escape, indirectly. Charley is found by a “rogue” Viyran who helps her attempts to escape from the main ship, which eventually she does by way of the prolixity.
Now that I’m thinking about it, this story has lots of layers and is quite complicated in some ways. It’s not my favorite of the quartet but it’s a great starting point for Charley’s stories. Just not as memorable as there’s just a lot of running around and escape attempts. It’s probably the weakest of them all but for that, it’s a great start to a great series. There are lots of places to explore and Charley has time for them all, I presume. Look how far Benny’s gotten! Maybe she’ll run across her eventually, too. You just never know…
India Fisher, James Joyce (Robert Buchan), Michael Maloney (Viyrans)
Writer: Jonathan Barnes
Director: Nicholas Briggs
Release: May 2014