Big Finish Main Range
This is a full cast with Nyssa, Tegan, and Turlough with the Fifth Doctor running around Jupiter. There are Jovians running around, allied with some rather wicked folks. And mayhem ensues! Naturally.
The year is 2329 and the “Earth empire” is expanding. There are human Jupiter colonies and they are in treaty talks with Earth. Meanwhile, this comet is being used to ship goods back and forth to Earth as it moves through the solar system. And that is where the Doctor and company land. They are greeted with the usual suspicion and Turlough actually uses his nature for them, which turns out good and bad. Tegan seems a bit wasted just running around and Nyssa does try to help out but she spends time running and talking more than anything.
Still, I rather enjoyed this story. The motivations of Major Nash are a bit flimsy but he’s not a character I can relate to very well. Violet is the most intriguing character introduced and with my second listen, I was giving a more concerted listen to her reactions. She is more than she appears but less important to the story then you would think, though she is part of the entire plotline, beyond what we see here. So it’s a story full of twists and turns, both good and bad. And the ending’s a bit crazy – Nyssa is definitely the wild card in this as she is not guaranteed a happy ending on the TARDIS. We know what happens to the other companions but she’s back and other than through other Big Finish stories, like Circular Time, we don’t know her future. So her survival is never guaranteed!
Peter Davison, Sara Sutton, Mark Strickson, Janet Fielding
Writer: Eddie Robson
Director: Ken Bentley
Release: May 2012