Big Finish Main Range
This is another adequate and fun adventure with strange holes in the story. If there are aliens coming and going to this planet, the people sure are ignorant. And it is ships, according to Morian, not a transmat or something like that. The idea of a peacemaker who is just a front for the Doctor, the ultimate peacemaker. Cool idea but it’s another story that the Doctor and Nyssa aren’t really threatened, despite the few threats that show up. Nyssa, as usual, makes an emotional connection to the other characters in this story and the Doctor is a bit removed, unable to see things clearly until the villain, Morian, shows his hand. It seems a bit too convenient that a couple of the inhabitants realize what’s going on, are cooperating with Morian, but never give the game away.
I like the idea that there are aliens betting on the outcome of the games, hidden away, watching the torment. The amount of people killed is ridiculous in the game. Amazing how the inhabitants are, for hundreds of years, so involved in the game that they ignore the killing, making it all part of the world culture. It’s all very particular to the story and it just never really gets going for me. Interesting but the story meanders and never really captures my imagination.
Peter Davison and Sarah Sutton
Writer: Darin Henry
Director: G-Russell
Release: February 2005