Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #403324 in Books
• Published on: 2007-09-30
• Format: Audiobook
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 2
• Binding: Audio CD

Synopsis
This title presents four, self-contained, 25-minute episodes, featuring the Sixth Doctor and Evelyn.1. "100 BC" is written by Jacqueline Rayner. The Doctor and Evelyn arrive in Rome, 101 BC, approximately, October. They meet a young lady of 19, Aurelia. She mentions her husband - Julius Caesar. Evelyn is excited, but her excitement soon turns to confusion. Surely you can't heal a wound in time with just a bit of sticking plaster?"My Own Private Wolfgang" by Robert Shearman. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart is born in 1756, a veritable wunderkind - playing music for the crowned heads of Europe as an infant, composing by the time he was five years old. But it's tempting to wonder whether his amazing longevity has overshadowed his creative genius - would Mozart's music be better respected, maybe, if he'd died as a young man? Would he be a legend of music, rather than of scientific curiosity, if he'd never lived to compose the film score for the remake of "The Italian Job"."Bedtime Story" by Joseph Lidster. Once upon a time...Jacob Williams is going to tell the tale of Sleeping Beauty but he realises he has told that one too many times so, instead, tells of how he once met this man called the Doctor.

..It's a tale of love and death and a family with a terrifying secret..."The 100 Days of the Doctor" by Paul Cornell. Someone has assassinated the Doctor. And he only has 100 days to find out who did it.

Customer Reviews

Deserves a telegram from The Queen at least...
With much fanfare and popping of champagne corks Big Finish have released this, as the title suggests, its one hundredth original audio Doctor Who play. To mark the occasion they have produced four mini-adventures featuring possibly the best audio Doctor: The Sixth incarnation (Colin Baker) and possibly the most irritating companion: Evelyn Smythe (Maggie Stables).
Now before you accuse me of ageism, that is not why I dislike Evelyn Smythe; I think her rapport with The Doctor is spot-on, it's just that the character seems to be such a know-it-all and fusses around getting into trouble like a particularly useless shop assistant. This is compounded by her determination to contradict The Doctor; he may often make a balls-up of any given situation but he is the Timelord and he always saves the day in the end, so why does she think she knows best? For example, in the first of the four vignettes: 100 BC, she decides that history would be far `nicer' if Julius Caesar had been Julia instead - even attempting to pervert the timelines to achieve her aim! "Just think Doctor, no war or suffering; if a woman had been in charge from the start, history would be so much better". Is she crazy? I believe in equality of the sexes but I think that's a pretty speculative conclusion to reach!
Anyway, back to the stories. After the aforementioned Roman holiday, the travellers visit an inexplicably aged Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and discover a roaring trade in celebrity doppelgangers; then comes a gothic tale of living death and family feuds with the last story concerning an almost successful attempt to assassinate The Doctor. Personally I think that Circular Time did the interlinked mini story thing better but this audio collection is certainly assured, whilst irritating companion notwithstanding, Baker is on top of his game; less bombastic and more relaxed than his TV version but full of vim and vigour and determined that the cosmos should remain unmolested by sinister forces. There are some particularly nice touches - such as The Doctor spying on previous and future incarnations and pondering on the fickle nature of regeneration - and all other aspects of the production are suitably glossy and satisfying.
The recent additions of CD extras continue here, giving a sometimes fascinating insight into the behind-the-scenes shenanigans of producing a Doctor Who audio adventure; the range certainly deserves to receive its telegram from The Queen and looks set to continue well into the future.

100 not out!
While Big Finish have produced a mass of specials and spin-off series, having reached the 100th release in their main range of original Doctor Who audio dramas is quite an achievement, and certainly one worth celebrating. The result of that celebration is this double CD set containing four seperate stories based around the number 100, all featuring Colin Baker's 6th Doctor alongside audio companion Evelyn Smythe. With four stories to go round one might suspect that including Davison, McCoy and McGann might be a more inclusive gesture, but some variety at least is achieved by dividing the tales between four of Big Finish's most important authors.

In Jacqueline Rayner's '100BC' the Doctor and Evelyn take a trip back to ancient Rome and find themselves unwittingly interfering in the birth of Julius Ceasar, with implications that may prove catastrophic for the timelines. The whole 'Doctor teaches companion how history cannot be altered' angle is very old hat by now, but the central premise is striking with a satisfyingly clever resolution. The clash between the Doctor and Evelyn is also the source of some good comedy between Baker and Maggie Stables.

Robert Shearman is undoubtedly Big Finish's greatest writer, so his return with 'My Own Private Wolfgang' should be the releases highlight, but this tale doesn't quite scale the dizzy hights of the authors best work. The idea, with a long-lived Mozart drifting from genius into mediocrity is inspired, but the sheer mass of multiple time-travelling Wolfgangs on display here ensure the story ends in a bewildering tangled ball of confusion. Shearman comments in the behind the scenes extras about wanting to ensure the story remained a comedy rather than drifting into more morbid territory, but to be honest a little darkness may have given this amusing but minor piece a little more impact.

Joseph Lidster's 'Bedtime Story' is a more moody tale, being a horror tale concerning a family curse where the birth of a new child signals the death of an earlier generation. Maggie Stables gets to have fun as an evil witch, but ultimately this variation on 'Sleeping Beauty' strays a little too far into the realms of melodrama, a problem that often afflicts Lidster's work.

Finally Paul Cornell's '100 Days of the Doctor' has the Doctor tracking down an assassin who has infected him with a slow-acting deadly virus. This story has it's moments of charm between the 6th Doctor and Evelyn, but it's ultimately a fairly hollow exercise in nostalgia, as the pair visit other Big Finish Doctors (and Bernice Summerfield) and wax lyrical about them.

'100' is a varied and interesting release, but it doesn't quite impress as much as it should. The situation isn't helped by the stories thunder having been stolen somewhat by 'Circular Time', a similar four x one-part story release which if anything was slightly superior.

Good, but not great.

3.5 out of 5

100 times four
The big finish range of doctor who audios celebrates it's 100th release with a sixth doctor story that is four self contained episodes, all centred round the title 100.


In the first episode, the doctor and evelyn find themselves in ancient rome, just as julius caesar is about to be born. but it looks as if history isn't going to work out how it should. Can the doctor put things back on track? and will evelyn let him?
Mixing high character comedy with some serious and thoughtful moments this is a strong and entertaining episode, and although the use of the title seems a bit arbitrary there is a very clever twist to things at the end. individually this gets 8/10

in the second, my own private wolfgang, the tardis crew meet mozart. and quickly realise that things aren't as they should be.

This is a riotous and very clever episode, featuring five supporting characters all of whom are played by john sessions. and it ends at exactly the right point, never outstaying it's welcome. 9/10

the third story, bedtime story, could be an episode of sapphire and steel with the doctor and evelyn instead of the two elements. visiting an ordinary family, they uncover their terrible secret. ordinary domestic scenes are contrasted with terror as the doctor battles to save the family from a terrible curse. but the creature that has done this won't give up lightly...

a very scary little tale with some excellent guest cast acting, and a great twist at the end. 9/10

the final story, one hundred days of the doctor, is the one that uses the title the best. the doctor has been poisoned, has one hundred days to live, and in the process of finding a cure embarks on a visit to past and future glories. This story is very self referential and may confuse someone who hasn't kept up with the big finish range, but will have fun moments for those who have, and hints at a few untold tales I'd like to hear. It's slightly annoying when it tries to break the fourth wall, and isn't as strong a piece as the first three stories on the discs, but it's worth 7/10

This is not an essential release, but it's good fun, and credit to the cast who are all very good, and to big finish for trying something a little different