Big Finish Lost Adventures, January 2010
Wow. I can't say wow enough on this one! The Haern is a menace out of medieval England and that menace is really well done here! There is a mysterious something going on and the Doctor and Peri walk right into something strange. And the mysteries only deepen, which is a fantastic way to keep the audience interested. I've heard a complaint that this was something the person couldn't imagine being part of the 80s TV show. I do not look at these audios as "how would they be done in the 80s" unless it's very obviously an 80s throwback, which The Nightmare Fair and Mission to Magnus obviously were. The music was very 80s and the screaming from Peri really took her back a few steps in character development.
Leviathan is 5 steps above those audios! This audio is so good it doesn't need to fit into just the lost adventures and could be on TV today easily. There's adventure, mysterious circumstances, space ships, heroes, and the Doctor's sense of right and wrong. It's not too heavy-handed on the 6th Doctor's wacky personality and Peri doesn't run around screaming and being generally useless. It's fantastic how the pieces fit together and the dialog is very well done. The interview with Paul Finch really lets you know how he went through the process of converting his dad's finished script into something amazing for audio.
Excellent, excellent job, Big Finish! I'd recommend this audio for anyone starting out listening to BF audios and this is exactly the type of audio that the 6th Doctor deserves. Great stuff!
wr: Brian and Paul Finch
dir: Ken Bentley