Meredith Burdett is a writer at Kasterborous Doctor Who News and Reviews - All the latest Doctor Who news and reviews with our weekly podKast, features and interviews, and a long-running forum.
This year’s last Seventh Doctor story featuring Ace and Hex finishes with a mighty and epic bang this month as Gods and Monsters brings to a close several story lines that have been open since 2009.
Followers of Protect and Survive as well as Black and White will know by now that something is definitely up aboard the TARDIS. The Doctor has been AWOL for what seems like an eternity, there are two ladies that appear in a black version of the TARDIS, said ladies have appeared in previous Big Finish stories with the Seventh Doctor and above all, there are quite a lot of Elder Gods to deal with for everyone including the return of Mr Chess Lover, the mighty Fenric.
Quite why Fenric has been left out of the Doctor Who world for so long is quite the mystery, his return in this story shows that the character still has plenty of wind left in his sails for more than one more return and writers Alan Barnes and Mike Maddox spare no expense in keeping his threat level high and his grand scheming exactly as you might remember it from The Curse of Fenric. The Doctor is used wonderfully here as well, his return is very welcome after a two story absence and McCoy delves deep into this rematch with his usual mysterious power that only the Seventh Doctor could deliver.
This is not a story for the faint hearted either, it’s bold, exciting, tense and riddled with revelations, plot twists and some heart breaking scenes that may leave one or two of you with a tear in the eye. Storylines that have been building since 2009’s The Angel of Scutari and 2001’s Project: Twilight are wrapped up and moved forward in this story with a few excellent uses of television adventures tied in as well, this is Alan Barnes at his continuity- riddled best. Fans new to the range will be able to enjoy the trilogy on its own, listeners that have been following the Seventh Doctor for a while can rest assured that there is no stone left unturned in this one.
What Gods and Monsters really does well is suck you into the vast and breathtaking story that, handled by others, could have been a complete mess. Messrs Barnes and Maddox wrap up in style here, all is laid to rest, everything is answered and no one is left unsatisfied.
To go into any more detail would spoil this exciting and original adventure which, trust us here, is something that you just do not want to happen. This run of Seventh Doctor stories has shown that this incarnation of the Doctor is still just as mysterious and as far out of our grasp as possible, if you buy just one trilogy of Doctor Who stories from Big Finish this year then make it’s the Seventh Doctor trilogy that includes this tale, if you buy only one story from Big finish this year, then make sure that it’s this one.
Gods and Monsters is available on CD for £14.99 or via download for £12.99 from www.bigfinish.com now.
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