Storm Warning
Written by Alec Barnes
Directed by Gary Russel
Starring:
Paul McGann as the eighth Doctor
India Fisher as Charley Pollard
Storm Warning is the first Big Finish
audio adventure for the eighth Doctor, played by Paul McGann, meaning a lot is
riding on it. It needs to swim, and swim very hard at that, to make up for the
Doctor Who movie. Have you seen the 1995 Doctor Who movie? No? If you decide
to, let me advise you that watching it on fast forward will save yourself some agony.
Thankfully you can start with Storm
Warning instead, which serves as a much better introduction to the little-known
eighth Doctor.
Less than a minute into the
adventure we have our first name drop from the Doctor; mention of a signed copy
of The Murder of Roger Ackroyd by
Agatha Christie. Name dropping is sort of his shtick, by the way. Within four
minutes of its start, the TARDIS is being attacked by vortisaurs—basically a
type of pterodactyl that lives in the time vortex. Yes, you read that right; dinosaurs
in the space vortex, believe it. And then a brilliant new piece of opening
music plays that would come to be hailed as the eighth Doctor’s theme for many
audios to come. A wonderful and unique theme, if I might say so myself. So far,
we’re off to a brilliant start!
After
an exciting opening, we cut away to a radio broadcast from October 1930. The
broadcast covers the departure of the historical R101 airship as it makes its
maiden voyage. Right after the broadcast, we are taken to the deck as the R101
is in flight. Here we’re introduced to Lord Tamworth and Lieutenant Colonel
Frayling, the contractor for the R101 and one of its lead designers. Frayling
just keeps worrying about the need for some last minute modifications, but
Tamworth bats his inquiries away, saying there’s nothing to be concerned about.
Obviously Tamworth is hiding something. To deepen our suspicions, we have a
character by the name of Rathbone who bleeds conniving qualities just from the
sound of his voice and actually seems to be in Tamworth’s loop of secrets. This
could only spell trouble for the R101 and its crew. However, we have one more
character on the R101: a girl by the name of Charlotte E. Pollard, Charley for
short, self-proclaimed Edwardian Adventurous! Charley is not only on the R101,
but is actually a stowaway masquerading as a male ship worker. Early on it’s
obvious her ruse won’t last long, as she’s not too believable in her efforts as
a male. Oh yes, last but not least, we also have a mystery passenger in Cabin
#43. With all these secrets and subplots, plus the obvious arrival of the
Doctor, the R101 will either be a drama-filled extravaganza of fun… or it’ll
horribly crash and burn and kill everyone on board in the flames.
As anyone
who knows the real R101’s history could tell you, the ship does crash and burn
with plenty of death, and in Doctor Who’s canon it is an event that is time
locked, meaning there is no avoiding it. So, here we have the Doctor landing on
a doomed airship. Need I even mention that soon after the Doctor lands on the
R101, a vortisaur is on the loose and his TARDIS is accidently dropped from the
ship, plummeting to the ground far away from the Doctor’s reach? Things really
don’t look good for anyone on this ship, least of all poor Charley, who just
wanted an exciting adventure.
If you
hadn’t guessed already the Doctor is companionless at the start of Storm Warning, and we have a lone,
adventurous girl on a doomed ship. Let’s do some simple Doctor Who predictions…
hmm, I predict that the Doctor will have a new female companion by the end of
our story! Charley is a headstrong woman much like the seventh Doctor’s
companion Ace; however, Charley exercises caution and tends to think things
through to logical conclusions, while Ace tends to display her opinion—and her
fist—to everything in sight. Charlie is perhaps my favorite character in Storm Warning; she’s not a screaming
damsel in distress but a girl who really embodies the term “adventurer.” She
tackles problems herself and can succeed in solving them, but she also knows
ask for help when she’s faced with odds that aren’t in her favor. Rather than
shrieking at the unknown, like many of the female characters in the early days
of Doctor Who, she’ll poke and prod, taking the initiative in strange
situations. It’s a good quality for her to have, as wherever the Doctor is,
there is always trouble close behind.
Previously,
outside of one movie and a number of books and short trips, the eighth Doctor
didn’t have the same amount of television time as his other incarnations. This
has been a real shame, as I feel he is one of the Doctor’s strongest
incarnations. Within each of his regenerations a mistake of the previous
incarnations is subconsciously fixed, or so we’re led to believe so in other
audios. Seven previous forms over a few hundred years has to lead to a lot of
improvement, and this Doctor shows that he has learned a lot. He is generally
calm and controlled, but even when riled up, he doesn’t generally lose himself;
he keeps on the straight and narrow. While the seventh Doctor treated
everything like a chess board, manipulating friend and foe alike, the eighth
doesn’t need to use people or treat them as pawns in his greater scheme. No,
he’ll work through his trials without crossing the line between hero and
villain. He’ll put his friends first and show them the respect they deserve. He
also has this charming quirk of randomly telling you about the famous people
he’s met throughout history. He’ll name drop at any given opportunity; you
won’t even be inquiring about tiddlywinks, let alone aware of what it is,
before he’ll tell you he’s played it with the Tsarina Alexandra. He’s gentler than his previous forms,
especially kinder than Six in his early days, but also wiser and has learned
many a lesson. While tragedy is always bound to happen when you’re the Doctor,
I’d personally feel safer being with the Doctor’s eighth incarnation that any
of his other regenerations. He gives off the feeling that you can trust him to
know what he’s doing and let him take care of you. He’s time and space’s safety
attendant, with a knack for adventure. It’s a big universe out there, and for a
time, aliens and mankind were lucky to have this Doctor looking out for them.
I won’t
try and hide that there are space aliens in Storm
Warning; honestly, what Doctor Who story is complete without them? We’re
introduced to a unique set of aliens, known as the Triskele, who from
description seem like mutated dolphins in appearance. They were once a brutal
race that terrorized whole galaxies; however, like a smart progressing race,
they saw the error in their violent ways and came up with a solution. The
Triskele split themselves up into three classes: the Engineers, the Uncreators,
and the Law Giver. With this trinity in place, they were able to be both
productive and destructive, with a third aspect in place to mediate between the
two. Too bad for them that this trinity doesn’t exactly lead to equality on all
sides. The Engineers fear the Uncreators because they were once powerful—the
alpha males of the pack so to speak—and the Law Giver binds the Uncreators in
answer to their concerns, making the Engineers the dominant aspect, which of course
causes a massive power imbalance between the three. I won’t say any more, but
of course once mankind encounters these Triskele, total chaos ensues, lending
this four-part audio the major part of its entertainment and drama.
Storm Warning is a fantastic
introduction story not to just the eighth Doctor but to Charley, a fantastic
young woman who becomes an important cornerstone in the Doctor’s life. Here we
have a gripping story set in a time locked event, complete with history,
mystery, and of course, aliens. A common flaw in introduction stories is the concept
that the first episode doesn’t have to be fantastic; it just has to be decent
enough to keep you tuning in for the next episode. I hate this concept. It’s my
opinion that the first story needs to be fantastic; it needs to not just keep
my interest but have me excited for the next part. The introduction is arguably
the most important part of a series; it should always strive to be a crown
jewel in a series’ run. Storm Warning
is precisely this, making it a redeemer for the Doctor Who movie and a saving
grace for Paul McGann as the Doctor.
Rating: 5/5
Storm Warning can be purchased from Big Finish: http://www.bigfinish.com/releases/v/storm-warning-641
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