Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #253822 in Books
• Published on: 2001-05-30
• Format: Audiobook
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 2
• Binding: Audio CD
• 110 pages

Customer Reviews

The Wolves are running...
This Fifth Doctor and Turlough adventure from Big Finish is a great werewolf story with a true Doctor Who flavour. Another audio drama that is arguably better than it could have ever been on television, whilst Marc Platt's characters get a great deal to do, helped by a top-notch cast. It is also a refreshing change from the current TV series to hear humans criticised rather than constantly praised, and overall this is a cracking effort.

A great character-piece with an almost mythic feel
"Germany, 1589: the townspeople of Cologne pronounce a sentence of death on a mass-murderer who has stalked the countryside in the guise of a ferocious wolf.
"Russia, 1812: retreating from Napoleon's invading forces, a merchant's daughter is rescued from bandits by a handsome partisan with a ravenous appetite.
"Brazil, 2080: the Doctor and Turlough arrive for the Rio de Janeiro carnival.
"Is wealthy heiress Ileana de Santos all that she seems? What sinister ailment afflicts her invalid son, tended by the mysterious Dr Hayashi? And who exactly is Rosa, engaged on a secret quest to fulfil the destiny of her extinct tribe?
"Time is running out for Rosa, Ileana and the Doctor, as the fearsome shadow of an ancient werewolf moves ever closer..."

So... Loups-Garoux, from the pen of Ghost Light author Marc Platt, is my first five out of five given to a Big Finish story. Why? I'm not exactly sure, but there's something about the story that just hangs together perfectly and feels right. Maybe it's the intelligent script and the slightly mythic feel of the whole thing, maybe it's the performances of the cast, or maybe it's the humanity attributed to both the Doctor and Turlough. I'm not sure.
Episode one opens with what sounds at first to be an answerphone message. Set to gentle guitar music, a desparate but quietly resolved American girl leaves what sounds like a final farewell message to her grandpa. Something is coming for her, and she can't escape it. So is set the tone of the story, but it isn't until episode three that we really find out who this mysterious girl is and what role she will play in the chain of events.
In the Loups-Garoux, meanwhile, Platt creates a vicious but somehow noble race of wolf people whose society revolves around the glory and rush of the kill. At first they are on the run, led by the quietly dignified Ileana, from the mysterious Grey One - but over the course of the story, we observe Ileana's plans unravel and she becomes increasingly desparate as the wolves begin to turn on her and almost giving in to her inner beast on more than one occasion.
Alongside the well developed supporting characters and events, we find the Doctor and Turlough, in over their heads but muddling through as usual. Peter Davison's Doctor acts with quiet courage true to his television incarnation, whilst Turlough is bang on character, wanting to help but constantly on the run from his own personal demons. The hints at near-romance for both characters add depth to the story and increase our sympathy for all involved.
All in all, Loups-Garoux is both an intriguing character piece and a good dose of intelligent sci-fi / fantasy. Well worth a listen.

Doctor Who and...werewolves?
Loups-Garoux is brilliant. But instead of slogging through the good bits before spoiling things and telling you the not-so-great bits, i'll tell you my one negative point. The title. Yes, its that silly. You see i thought it was prounced Loop-Garoo, when in fact its loo-garoo. Its a testament to how good the story, characters, acting and setting is when the only down side is an unlike pronunciation of its title.
And so - the story. Its the first time i believe Dr Who has encountered werewolves and in audio its even better, as visually werewolves are either great or terrible, but audibly we don't see them change, leaving everything to our imagination, and all the better for it. Peter Davison is excellent, recalling the best bits of his short tenure of the Doctor.Mark Strickson is a revelation: he didn't show this kind of potential in the series. He plays off Davison with great chemistry and there are some truly memorable moments (the Doc and Turlough talking about taking women out, for example). The secondary cast are equally brilliant. Burt Kwouk (Kato from The Pink Panther) returns to Dr Who (he was in Four to Doomsday) with a much better role as a troubled scientist, Nicky Henson's Stubbe is full of character and underlying evil, and Eleanor Bron's Ileana is a wonderful three-dimensional character that really makes you feel for the wolves. Only Rosa is a little off the mark, but it doesn't mire the story at all. The setting is great: Rio of the Future. The tension builts throughout (with some brilliant cliffhangers) to a real cresendo when we all remember why we love Doctor Who in the first place. Sticking up for...the bad guys or the good guys? Just who are they? The people or the wolves?
A fantastic story and definitely a credit to Big Finish's library.