Big Finish Main Range
My one big complaint about this story is once again, Nyssa is the one “infected” by the alien/bad guy/evil. Sigh. As usual. I wish they could find a way not to do that to her all the time! They have a good explanation in the interviews afterwards – it wouldn’t be much noted if Tegan started being gruff and rough and tumble while it’s more noticeable for Nyssa. So there’s a reason but really? Do they have to do that to her quite so much?
The story starts with the TARDIS team responding to a distress call. And they arrive to an empty ship that has ghosts on it, echoes of another time perhaps? Those ghosts are a bit problematic as they disappear once Nyssa disappears, which doesn’t make sense. She should be a “ghost” as well! So Nyssa is stung by a plant that has grown out of control, the computer and robotic controller of the ship keeps losing his memory, and time storms wrack the ship as a black hole collapses nearby. So after a lot of running around and people gone crazy on this huge ship with only 4 crew members, the Doctor takes a chance in hopes of rescuing everyone.
Overall I really enjoyed this story, though the crew of the Aquitaine are extremely greedy or flawed or just crazy after 50+ years aboard, circling the collapsing black hole. Imagine that! There are moments where I wonder how they survived at all as there doesn’t appear to be any food actually eaten, though the robot is making it every day. Should there even be any food left? Shouldn’t the crew have crossed their own paths on the ship as it jumps around the crack in time? Lots of questions about the plot but I still enjoyed it quite a bit.
Peter Davison (The Doctor), Sarah Sutton (Nyssa), Janet Fielding (Tegan), Matthew Cottle (Hargreaves), Harry Myers (Dr Sergei Akunin), Nina Sosanya (Captain Anna Maynard), Gerald Kyd (Lt Maurizio Savinio), Danusia Samal (Lt Freya Jennings)
Writer: Simon Barnard and Paul Morris
Director: Ken Bentley
Release: February 2016