Sequels are sometimes a tricky thing, depending on what you are writing a sequel to. If it is something that wasn’t particularly brilliant or remembered with a lot of affection – I would suggest that The Claws of Axos may fall into this category – then it may be a bit easier than picking something that is well loved and may even considered to be a Classic.
I wonder what the reaction was when James Cameron went into a meeting and said he wanted to do a sequel to Alien? To me, trying to do a sequel to The Robots of Death is almost the same sort of thing.
And just like Cameron, Nicholas Briggs, the writer of this story, manages to pull it off by doing something totally different while at the same time riffing on and being respectful to what has gone before.
It is one of these nods to the past that provides the story with its strongest scenes. In episode three, the listener is left in no doubt as to what is going on because of the knowledge they have carried over from The Robots of Death.
The cast are, as is usual, wonderful. McCoy is at his mysterious best as the Seventh Doctor as he does his I-know-what’s-going-on-but-I’
Nicola Walker is beyond good in her supporting role- she does some amazingly subtle things with her voice acting here, managing to convey complex emotions with the slightest inflection. In this Ace-less adventure, she makes a more than worthy replacement, and I for one would not be averse to seeing her return- that’s not a spoiler, merely my opinion!
Great stuff as usual from Big Finish. Actually, writing this review has got me in the mood to listen to this one again…
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