Big Finish, Fourth Doctor Series
It takes awhile to figure out who the villain is in this piece! Silent film stars are trying to transition to “talkies” and their voices are being stolen. By whom and why are the questions but why ultimately seems to be kind of weak – for money, really. But it’s enough of a motivation for Dr. Julius to do what he does, that’s for sure.
There are some fantastic, fun conversations in this story! Reversing the polarity comes into the solution, K-9 and Romana have a short discussion on why and how actors do what they do that is absolutely surreal, and the personality of Lulu Hammerstein is just fantastic. There’s a lot of running around, trying to discover the truth, people not listening to the Doctor, and super high tech camera gadgetry for stealing the voices (and souls, basically) of the silent screen stars. That one is never quite explained but I’m willing to let it go. A fun romp with some of the sillier motivations for things we’ve had in awhile.
Tom Baker (The Doctor), Lalla Ward (Romana), John Leeson (K9), Alec Newman (Dr Julius), Pamela Salem (Lorretta Waldorf), Jane Slavin (Nelly), Andrée Bernard (Lulu Hammerstein), John Banks (Cab Driver/ Director)
Writer: James Goss
Director: Nicholas Briggs
Release: March 2017