The Harvest

The 7th Doctor Audios are a funny breed. Whilst all the other 3 Audio Doctors have found their niche, their best combinations (5th Dr, Peri, Erinem - 6th Dr & Evelyn - 8th Dr, Charley and C'Rizz) the 7th Doctor stumbles from one team to the next - without ever finding that elusive ideal combination.

I happen to think that this Doctor works better on his own than any other, Master being a fine example of this. He's most often though paired up with various companions (Ace - Ace & Benny - Mel). Big Finish have no doubt realized that the 7th Doctor hasn't quite received the plaudits that the others have - and it was high time they brought him an established, regular team of performers.

Sticking with Ace was a bold move. Fans have turned rather cold against this once lauded companion. Over exposure, thanks to New Adventures, is the main reason. Possibly that 80s Ace attitude is out of place now - I'm not sure, so I won't go on about it. Bringing in a male companion, one that we can identify with (he's from the near future - close enough to us) is a good move. Judging from this audio Ace will have a new lease of life, with Hex as her accomplice.

Harvest does follow a sort of arc with the 7th Doctor and Ace. It started way back in Fearmonger - another story set in the near future. The Genocide Machine and Dust Breeding felt more traditional, but Colditz and Rapture continued this Ace/McShane nonsense. Harvest really comes from the same canvas as Fearmonger however. There's that modern techno-type musical accompaniment, signifying our future, but not that far away. It also shares an Earth setting - one that is highly probable, rather than possible.

I really liked Hex. My family is full of medical people. My Mums a Medical Secretary, one Sisters a Nurse, another Sisters a Physiotherapist, the other Sister training to be a Doctor. I am very familiar with Medical people as a result, and the character of Hex, with his Medical background struck a familiar chord. I felt I knew him - and that has to be the intention.

I was also pleased how well Ace fared in this Audio. I'm still not too struck on the Ace/McShane thing, but I thought Sophie Aldred put in a fine performance here. I have always liked Ace, and a few Ace audios each year is nice.

Sylvester McCoy is an interesting Audio Doctor. It doesn't seem to be as natural for him as the others somehow. All that rolling of the Rs grates after a while - yet this is still the excellent mysterious Doctor of the TV series, and New Adventures. His Audio Doctor can only get better, and Harvest is a step in that direction. I'm confident that with the team of Hex and Ace, the 7th Doctor can find the success that the above other Doctors have done.

Best supporting character definitely goes to Dr Ferrer, as played by Richard Derrington. What a wonderfully smooth voice! At times I could have sworn I had heard it before, possibly some TV advert voice-overs. I was so impressed with his quiet menace throughout.

Dan Abnett wrote some brilliant Comic Strips for DWM a very long time ago. It's interesting that 2 of the new writers for Audios this year, are not new at all, but have written for the Doctor in the Comic medium. Both have produced very good scripts for Big Finish, and I would be quite happy to see their names appear again in the Big Finish range. Harvest is impressive for its character building, and its surprises.

My review wants to glory in the big surprise of this Audio - but it would be too big a spoiler for those who haven't sampled it yet. I don't want that eye-opener to be denied another fan - so I will leave it there.

Every year, when me and my wife go on Holiday, we take a couple of audios to listen to the car. Harvest had just come out, the week before we were off to the South Coast of England. Maybe therefore I was in a better mood for enjoying this story. I was probably in holiday mode, and more relaxed. Each day we played a new episode, and thoroughly enjoyed it.

The audios have definitely swung in a more consistently excellent direction since the old Doctors have taken the reigns again. We all knew that the 5th and 6th Doctor could do it - it's pleasing that the 7th Doctor can too. An entertaining story, with its gritty depiction of a near future society, and it's wonderful surprises - Harvest gets a thumbs up from this reviewer. 8/10

Although Dan Abnett is new to Big Finish, his name will be familiar to many Doctor Who fans as the other of several Doctor Who comic strips, including several that feature the Cybermen. Such fans may have noted that Abnett's work boasts several characteristics, which include a tendency towards butch, macho dialogue, and tough military types often with questionable ethics. His Big Finish debut, 'The Harvest' features both of these traits, and also sees him tackle the Cybermen once more. But with a new companion and an interesting twist on one of the series' most popular foes, he gets to add something new to the mix, and the result is rather enjoyable.

I noted when I reviewed 'Spare Parts' and 'Real Time' that without the constraints of the television series' traditional timeslot, Big Finish writers can exploit the true body horror of the Cybermen to its full effect. 'The Harvest' is no exception, but it works in a different way to its predecessors, as the Doctor and Ace encounter a group of Cybermen seeking not to convert humans into Cybermen, but to regain their own lost humanity using human body parts. This results in some truly grisly scenes, such as during the scene at the end of Episode Three, as the Doctor and Hex find various bodies in tanks and the Doctor grimly describes their condition, "Stripped of organs and body parts, but kept alive in stasis". Despite the initial suspicion that the Cybermen's literal change of heart will send the story down the cheesy path of Kroton the Friendly Cybermen, Adnett emphasizes the terror of the creatures throughout; the end of Episode Two for example is very creepy, as Ace, Hex and Matthias descend into the morgue and discover the truth, Ace crying out in alarm, "Doctor, they're Cybermen!" and frantically telling Hex, "It means just about the worst thing you can imagine." Subject One muses on Farrer's obvious fear of him, saying of Polk, "It would be curious if he were afraid of me. That thing that came in to the room at his side is far more terrifying." And yet Subject One is a chilling creation, actor William Boyde injecting an ominously cold, sepulchral air into his performance, and the script helps, illustrating that whilst this Cyberleader is weak and vulnerable, Farrer is still obviously terrified of him.

It is partly due to Boyde's performance that the plot of 'The Harvest' is so successful; he brilliantly conveys the Cyberleader's fascination with his new senses, such as when he proclaims, "I have never seen London like this… I have never seen anything like this. I have never seen in this way before" with a sense of wonder that suggests that his desire to regain his lost humanity is genuine. He later adds, "I am eager to walk down there in the sun, to walk along the riverside. It pleases me to feel that eagerness" but his most powerful moments come when he recognizes the Doctor and plaintively tells him, "We have wearied of our cold existence", explaining, "The organic state possesses nuances of thought and behaviour… The ability to regard an issue with more than just the binary yes/no of pure logic." The impact of this moment is enhanced by the fact that the Doctor sounds genuinely shocked, and tells him, "I'm not sure you can go back," but when Subject One tells the Doctor that they want a chance to enjoy life, the Doctor is obviously keen to believe that even Cybermen can find redemption. All of which sets things up brilliantly for the admittedly predictable but well-handled twist, as Subject One smugly informs the Doctor, "Cyber-kind has overcome its one fundamental weakness: the rigidity of its logical thought process" and it transpires that the real reason for C Program is not redemption, but to find a means of defeating their illogical foes. Having sought to regain emotions in order to best humanity, the Cyberleader meets an end that smacks of poetic justice, as he goes into terminal organ failure. In an especially good moment, he begs the Doctor for help, only to meet the icy response, "Forgive me Cyberleader, but I know now you're capable of lying." His last lines are, fittingly, "I… am… experiencing… pain and fear… You must help us… you must help me! I… am… dying!", prompting the Doctor to rather cruelly note, "Ah yes, the flesh is weak, isn't it?" before walking away.

However, despite this plot, 'The Harvest' is not with out its flaws, which unfortunately consists largely of Sylvester McCoy and Sophie Aldred. In the style of the New Adventures, the story opens with Ace and the Doctor already investigating C-Program, with Ace having infiltrated St. Gart's hospital and established a cover story. Similarly, and rather amusingly, the Doctor has also been busy hacking the AI computer network at the hospital, resulting in a scene in which the Doctor asks System how it is, and it slightly agitatedly informs him that it thinks it really ought not be obeying him, and should raise the alarm, but somehow can't. This is very much an all-powerful manipulator version of the Seventh Doctor, but unfortunately, this leaning towards the grittier tendencies of the much-missed Virgin line is undermined by McCoy's attempts to sound appropriately manipulative and mysterious; he managed this with some success in 'The Shadow of the Scourge', but here he lets subtlety fly out of the window, as he exaggerates his inflections to a distracting degree and just sounds hammy. An especially painful example is his delivery of the line, "We're investigating Saint Gart's, because we have reason to believe that someone there is conducting potentially dangerous experiments with xenotech" and there are other examples, including his overacting when the Doctor explains the history of the Cybermen to Hex, forcing his diction into new and painful shapes. He also sounds ridiculous when he rants that the Cybermen are "implacable in war, impossible to reason with" and generally rolls his r's too much throughout.

And then there's Ace. Following on from 'Colditz' and 'The Rapture', the character is still under the impression that using her surname rather than her nickname makes her sound more mature, resulting in the painfully repetitive and atrociously delivered catchphrase, "Just McShane." On the other hand, Aldred again demonstrates that she is better at playing an older, wiser Ace instead of a disaffected teenager. Unfortunately, she faces a new problem; after clamoring from numerous fans, Big Finish finally introduce a brand new companion for the Seventh Doctor, but rather than using Hex as a replacement for the increasingly unpopular Ace, he's an addition. Which is fine, except that Philip Olivier immediately proves that he's a better actor than Sophie Aldred and thus shows up the limitations of her performance throughout. This is partly due to the script, which in an attempt to emphasize that he is the new companion whilst she is an experienced old hand makes her spend a lot of the time sounding smug, all knowing, and thoroughly irritating.

Fortunately, Hex works extremely well. Having found myself pathologically unable to sit through an entire episode of Brookside, a pompous, overblown, crass programme even by the standards of soap operas, I was none too enthusiastic about the casting of Philip Olivier, but he puts in a superb performance here. Hex is put through the wringer, as his former flat mate Damien Boyd is brought in to casualty and he's forced to cope with the fact that, "It's my birthday, and a good mate of mine has just died." This gives Olivier a chance to show of his range, and he conveys misery effortlessly. He also sounds perfectly natural when Ace manages to cheer him up, and he ends up asking her to the pub, where he promises to tell her his real name. Which is incidentally Thomas Hector Schofield, a name that begs the question of why Big Finish felt the need to give us another companion with a stupid three-letter nickname when "Tom" would have been perfectly adequate. Abnett scripts their interaction in such a way that it sounds convincingly natural, as Ace realises what he's been through and forces him to talk about things before he goes off on his scooter. In dramatic terms however, the main benefit of pairing them together is that it provides a contrast between the life he leads ordinarily and the invariable fantastic world lead by the Doctor and Ace; his reaction to response to Polk's attempt to run Ace down is to shout, "Bloody nutter!" which is very realistic, and a reminder of just how used to this sort of thing Ace has got. She smoothly dismisses it to Hex as "road rage" and persuades him that he was imagining the size and speed of the man in the heat of the moment.

When Hex finally meets the Doctor at the end of Episode One, he thus immediately steps into the role of point of audience association, as we get to see the Doctor and the TARDIS through his eyes. Annoyingly, Abnett's tendency towards catchphrases has this manifest in the constant repetition of the line, "Oh my God!" which starts to grate and even the script pokes fun at later on when the Doctor tells Hex that the TARDIS is a time machine, optimistically telling him that he hopes to avoid another round of "Oh my God!" Nevertheless, he gets some great lines, and combines shell shock with astonishment and wonder, telling the Doctor, "You appear to live in something the size of a public toilet, that's actually bigger than my gran's house on the inside." When the Doctor patronizingly tells him that if he can't handle the TARDIS, he won't be of much use to them, he gets a great moment as he indignantly tells them that he is feels entitled to "flip out" for a moment whilst he adjusts to the concept. It's a great character introduction, but it also succeeds in reaffirming just how wondrous Doctor Who can be at its best, ultimately allowing me to forgive the considerable self-indulgence of having the TARDIS is parked up in Totter's Lane, which is of course where Hex first stumbles into the TARDIS.

Abnett's characterisation of Hex is generally impressive, effortlessly making him seem good companion material. He keeps his head when Farrer is shot, forcing Matthias to concentrate on the problem as they treat him by firmly reminding him, "Mark! Dammit, you're the doctor." He also gets plenty of time to bond with the Doctor as well as Ace; when the Cybermen capture her, the Doctor quickly decides to trust Hex, and likewise and both characters and actors quickly develop a rapport. Olivier's performance is superb when he finds Damien's cadaver, and cries, "I can't do this Doctor!" and in one of his better moments here McCoy sounds gently reassuring when the Doctor encourages him, "It's always harder when it gets personal. I know." The ending promises much for this TARDIS crew, as Hex nervously tells the Doctor, "I was considering a change of career" and he replies, "Do you know what you're getting into?" Hex's response is the cheerful, "Not even slightly". Points are deducted however for the line, "Doctor? It's just Hex."

As for the other characters, Abnett does a decent job of them too. Mathias, well meaning but slightly bumbling, is another convincing character, especially when he awkwardly tries to comfort Hex in Episode One, organizes birthday celebrations for Hex that include him asking Ace out on Hex's behalf, and having stumbled upon the secret of C program naively but realistically asks Garnier, "Can't we sign some non-disclosure waver? The official secrets act?" There's also a cringe worthy scene when Matthias meets Hex and Ace the morning after Hex's birthday, and starts saying, "Say no more!" with an implied nudge-nudge and wink-wink. It's terribly embarrassing, but also very convincing, largely due to Paul Lacoux's naturalistic performance.

Doctor Farrer, initially seemingly cast as the token human collaborator, also works extremely well. In some ways he's a cliché, driven by his work, and more than willing to use the bodies of the dead to further this work, before eventually realizing what he's done, repenting, and losing his life in the process. Abnett however chooses to portray the initially rather cold Farrer as a man well-meaning from the start; Actor Richard Derrington injects sincerity into Farrer's line, "I'm so very sorry Schofield, I really didn't mean to be brusque" when he realises that Hex knew Damien, and we also learn that the bodies he's using are brain-dead casualty victims. The topically morally dubious idea of using the bodies of the dead without their permission withstanding, he does at least believe that he is genuinely doing the right thing, and he seems genuinely shocked at the prospect of murder, telling Garnier, "these are people, living people, you can't just expect me to render them down."

Inevitably, there is a token human collaborator even if it isn't Farrer and Abnett scripts him as an odious and obnoxious utter bastard. In a slight variation on previous Cybermen stories, Garnier's superiors authorized his collaboration, and the benefits of cyber conversion to the Eurozone as spelt out by the Doctor (cybernetic soldiers and astronauts) gives them and Garnier a perfectly logical and believable motivation for being involved. Unlike Farrer however, Garnier is not just a man doing what he thinks is his duty or moral obligation, but also a sadistic bully. Actor David Warwick makes him thoroughly unlikable, especially when he is condescending towards Matthias, whom he describes as a buffoon. He's also brimming with pompous self-importance, most notably when he unwisely tells a Cyberman, "Recognise my authority and stand down" and as such it is inevitably rather satisfying when he gets his comeuppance.

Overall, 'The Harvest' is a decent first audio for Abnett, and one of the better stories to have arisen out of Big Finish's period of commissioning only new writers. It's not perfect, and Gary Russell's direction fails to bring the impact to some of the more dramatic moments that it could do, suggesting that he needs a break now that he's directing virtually every story, but it remains an entertaining attempt to do something new with an old foe, and is a promising debut for Hex.

It seems remarkable that the most refreshing and successful Big Finish audios of late have been the more traditional ones, given that so much attention has been paid to developing new styles, story arcs and presentations.

The current run of past-Doctor adventures is certainly shaping up to be a highly enjoyable one, for the very reason that they are not bogged down in continuity and a desire to be anything other than what fundamental Doctor Who is. Yes, the past few stories have pushed a few margins; the Sixth Doctor and Evelyn’s relationship, the idea that all TARDISes end up in a mass graveyard. However these changes have been done within the confines of the Doctor Who format, just as The Deadly Assassin or Genesis of the Daleks were new and invigorating, whilst at the same time recognisably Doctor Who. Scherzo was definitely not Doctor Who and was all the more unappealing for it.

Anyway, here, the programme’s ethos is furthered a little more, but again sticks to the never-beaten formula that is the show itself. The Cybermen have always been a favourite villain of mine, despite never showing their true potential until Big Finish got hold of them. (See Spare Parts, Real Time or Sword of Orion for evidence of how terrifying they can be.) The Harvest is no exception, proving that the Cybermen are formidable opponents, never to be out beaten.

In this case, they are hiding in a hospital after a crash landing. European Beaurocrats have taken it upon themselves to make a deal with the devils. Things are a little different here. It would appear that the sole intention of this group of Cybermen is to re-convert themselves, having deduced that humanity is a far more positive force. They wish to experience emotions and relinquish their blind faith in logic. In return they offer humanity Cyber technology. This doesn’t sound very much like the Cybermen, I hear you say. As always, it’s not.

The final revelation that the hospital contains enough spare parts to produce 30,000 free-thinking Cybermen, intent on world domination, is terrifying. The prospect that within 6 weeks they will have accomplished their mission is even more frightening. The Cyber Leader’s recognition that a reliance on logic was the only hindrance to the Cybermen’s plans is wholly unsettling, as they now pose an unbeatable force, having disposed of that reliance. The Cybermen again prove that in the hands of a writer who understands them, they can be as unnerving and utterly menacing as people seem to remember them from 60s Who.

Clues to the Cybermen’s involvement are scattered throughout the play. The codename “silver” and the 8 ft Mercedes driver spring to mind, but there are certainly more, including ominously, the opening soundscape, which sounds surprisingly like the St Paul’s scenes from The Invasion. It’s heart-warming in a way that only a fan could know.

Sound design here is incredible. The drum ‘n’ bass monotony is oppressive and exciting at the same time, and evokes a real feel for this Earth-of-the-not-too-distant- future. The noted horns section of Sword of Orion even seems to make an appearance, sparking some continuity with the rest of the Big Finish range.

Performances too are top notch. Philip Olivier as new companion Hex, makes a fine first showing, bringing just the right degree of weight to the character. Giving him such a range of emotional experiences here was a great idea, showing off all Olivier’s talents, yet in the hands of a lesser actor, it could have been disastrous. His accent is a refreshing change too, making for an interesting voice, and a great improvement on the likes of C’rizz and Erimem. Sophie Aldred, as always impresses as Ace, now “Just McShane.” Why writers could not have scripted Ace this way before is a mystery to me. In my view she reached adulthood long before the TV series ended. Why try to grow her up again, especially if it’s not going to be done as successfully as it was in the TV show and devolve into angsty nonsense? The Fearmonger delivered a perfect Ace, only to be super ceded by a childish one.

Stealing the show here though is Sylvester McCoy. This is definitely his best performance since The Fearmonger. He doesn’t degenerate into R-rolling or whimsy, preferring to act with total sincerity in this case. McCoy’s performances of late have been somewhat erratic and it is difficult to know what to expect from him, as he plays the part according to his mood as opposed to the script, it would seem. Here, though, especially in Episode 2 and the final scenes with the Cyber Leader, he is excellent. His “We’ve been rumbled” is a credit to both actor and writer. A defining moment for this new TARDIS crew, the Doctor being the thinker, Ace the action heroine and Hex the apprentice.

The Harvest has few faults. Perhaps, like all Cyber stories there is a distinct lack of Cyber action. Indeed they don’t even speak until the end of Episode 3. However, their sudden killing of everyone in the hospital in Episode 4 more than makes up for this.

Also, the Doctor actually believing that the Cybermen are a changed species is a little hard to muster, given his utter abhorrence of them. The Seventh Doctor especially, the master of manipulation, would not have made such a poor judgement of events. In fact, he appears a little less on top of his game in this story, although this is noted by Ace, making it a little more forgivable.

The climax too is a little “blink and you’ll miss it,” with Ace and Hex typing a password into a computer to resolve things. Although a little unsatisfying, it by no means disappoints and the story can hold its head high as one of the best Cyber outings ever, along with his stable mate Spare Parts. Big Finish really has found a great villain in the Cybermen, hitting on the subject of Conversion being a leap of genius for them. Spare Parts, Real Time, The Harvest and Sword of Orion now present themselves as fine adventures for each of the Doctors. I cannot wait for their return.

It would seem then that after the very disappointing McGann season and the “experimental” stories of the anniversary year, Big Finish have pulled their heads out from their backsides and got back to good old fashioned story-telling, whilst adding a little bit of new mythology in the process. Long may it continue.

The Harvest is one of those stories that relies heavily on the ‘shock’ revelation of a returning old enemy half-way through, so if you don’t want to be spoilered look away now – BUT, unlike Dust Breeding for example, the identity of the villains is so obvious you’d have to be deaf not to spot them coming a mile off.

Despite listening to this 3 months after it was released, I remained blissfully unaware of the returning villains identities when I picked it up, by some fluke even managing to miss the giveaway ‘copyright Kit Pedlar & Gerry Davis’ actually printed on the CD, yet the huge number of clues given meant that I’d successfully guessed the Cybermen were involved within the first 10 minutes, then had to suffer the tedium of waiting until the very last minute of disc 1 before the play stopped faffing around with delaying tactics and the silver giants actually stepped out of the shadows. Episode 1 remains listenable as it concentrates on setting up the character and location – St Gart’s hospital, London, 2021, where dodgy biological experiments are going on on the top floor – but episode 2 is utterly tedious, consisting of nothing more than the Doctor and Ace attempting to break into the hospitals restricted area.

To Abnett's credit he does at least have a new angle for the Cybermen, as intriguingly he’s thrown their usual conversion ethic on it’s head, with Cybermen being augmented with human parts in an effort to regain their lost humanity. It’s a clever conceit, but unfortunately it’s never really fully exploited – we’re told that this is in effect ‘The Human Factor’ plot from Evil of the Daleks, with the ‘humanised’ Cybermen being superior – unfortunately Abnett chooses to display this new found strength by explaining that humanised Cybermen now have the ability to tell lies, as though Cybermen used to be robots under some compunction to only tell the truth (what about the ‘promises made to aliens have no validity’ stuff from the Five Doctors and Silver Nemesis?). While the fate of the humanised Cybermen is at least interesting, they’re still doing a bit of the standard Cyber-conversion on the side, which is rapidly losing it’s drama value – Big Finish were right to remember that the conversion process had been often forgotten during the latter years of the TV series, but after Sword of Orion, Spare Parts and Real Time all featuring conversion scenes the concept of a character being placed in such peril is becoming a little stale.

Beside the Cybermen, the other big ‘event’ in The Harvest is the debut of new companion Hex, in an effort to try and inject some new dynamics into the rather stale and over-used Doctor and Ace relationship. This far in, it’s too early to tell – the most interesting thing about Hex is his name, with the character being the most normal character to step foot in the TARDIS for years. This results in a lot of ‘Oh god, oh god!’ freak out moments, complete with a full re-creation of Ian and Barbara’s entry into the TARDIS at the end of An Unearthly Child, though these occasions are already starting to get tiresome by the end of the play it will be interesting to see how Hex develops in the future. With such a grounded normal everyday character, you would expect them to fulfil the standard ‘what’s this? /. where are we? / I’ll just fall down this hole’ function of the basic companion against Ace’s more bolshy ‘been there, got the T-Shirt’ attitude, but time will tell. As for Ace, I’m still not sure where they’re going with all this ‘The name’s McShane’ bollocks – seeing as the Doctor still persists in caller her Ace it’s just as annoying and pointless as when she used to call him ‘Professor’ all the time. While I’m here can I also mention the soundtrack – I don’t normally notice the incidental music, which must be a good thing – but David Darlington’s farting electronic disco score is the most intrusive and annoying I can remember, and detracts from the play enormously.

The Harvest isn’t a particularly bad play – but despite it’s intriguing premise it’s not a particularly good one either. Personally I’d rather the play had worried a lot less about hiding the Cybermens appearance for a cliff-hanger reveal, got them out earlier and got down to exploring the premise of humanised Cybermen. All in all another mediocre release in what’s shaping up to be a bad year for Big Finish.

What do The Marian Conspiracy, Storm Warning, Creed of the Kromon (eek!) and The Harvest all have in common? Do not fear, it is not me trying to ease your pain of losing the Watcher from DWM by quizzing you sporadically in my reviews…no the answer is not a whole bunch when you look at the actual stories themselves. But they do all introduce a new regular to Big Finish productions and The Harvest is the latest in BFs attempts to explore the existing Doctors by planting a character in their lap that they would never have been allowed on the telly. Let me introduce to Hex (another Ace type name!) or rather Thomas Hector Schofield.

And what a babe he is. When I first heard that Philip Oliver was skipping from Brookside to Doctor Who I was popping open the champagne. I mean…he’s gorgeous isn’t he? The first totally desirable male companion we have ever been blessed with…and we are limited to hearing just his voice. Oh gee thanks for that. What a kick in the teeth.

But wait…all is not lost. Lets face it after their last few adventures together the seventh Doctor and Ace are about as popular as syphilis with all the usual complaints thrown in. Sylvester McCoy overacting (or under acting…but never just acting!) and all this Mcshane nonsense with Ace…trying to fit her round character into a square hole. Plus the stories…Colditz and The Rapture were received with cold receptions, whether its inadequate productions or kiddie storytelling, they were unpopular before they got to the bland Doc/companion effectiveness. Honestly I think you could wedge a sentient mouldy carrot between these two and introduce it as the new companion and it would improve the reputation of this pair. I know that might sound harsh but people were crying out for more Evelyn stories after Project: Lazarus left them hanging for a year but everyone was quite happy to forget about Ace after the Rapture.

Allow me now to be more positive because Hex has arrived to give the Big Finish McCoy era a breath of fresh air. On the strength of this one story it is obvious that his presence will shake things up and in a mighty good way. Hex has excellent chemistry with both the Doctor and Ace and gets moments with each of them in the story that mines their potential. His character is extremely sympathetic which is the biggie emotion which has been missing in the Doc/Ace pairing…the story is written to push the character to the limits (basically his friend is used as spare parts, he finds out about aliens and his introduction to the TARDIS is peppered by a few believable “Oh my Gods!”) and watching this brave but naïve kid coping with all this outer space wackiness is great fun. When he turns around and snaps at the Doctor (who is mocking him for his astonished reactions to everything) and tells him he is coping pretty damn well considering what has been dumped on him I was cheering for him all the way. Throughout there is a sense that Hex thinks he is mad but there is a point near the end where he has seen too much sci-fi madness to accept it.

And he slots in between the Doc and Ace perfectly. She’s the sassy seasoned time traveller who cane show him the ropes and he is the smug, arrogant little Time Lord who has no time for little boys and their personal vendettas. The friction when they are all together is great but they actually work together really well, Hex’s wide-eyed enthusiasm a useful tool for the Doctor to use. Plus it helps that they didn’t make the story about Hex…so many companions lose their potential because you find everything out about them in their first story, this just happens to be a story with Hex involved and a small but memorable scene with the Doctor looking up Hex’s background information proves there is a more to find out about this blank character and it might not all be nice…

So the story is highly memorable for introducing the luscious Oliver (that accent is divine!) but is the story any good in itself? Well yes actually and its nice to be able to report three consecutive winners, one for each Doctor, although I would place The Harvest as the weakest of the three (with Axis of Insanity first and Arrangements of War second) it still has much to recommend it.

The story is ultra traditional in the sense that it could have been made for the telly and it has all the hallmarks of Doctor Who. It is contained to one location (the superbly creepy St Gart’s hospital in London), has a whole bunch of running around and being captured, re-introduces and old enemy of the Doctors (which I shall not mention unlike other reviewers who spoiled my surprise!) and uses them in a refreshingly unusual fashion. In fact reading over that sentence it could almost be a really good JNT production, which I guess means Dan Abnett has done his homework.

And while it may sound especially challenging there are plenty of shocking moments and energetic performances to see you through. For a story set in a hospital it would be wrong of the writer to ignore the potential of body part harvesting and he puts a memorably disgusting spin on the idea. When the Doctor and Hex walk into a room full of people being kept alive but with bits missing it is clear we are not in kiddie territory. And the revelation as to what is being done with the bloody parts, stitched together like Frankenstein monsters, is astounding…honestly your jaws will smack to the ground! I like how carefully the story has been considered with lots of hints being dropped in the first two episodes but waiting until the final two to confirm your worst suspicions…

Sylvester McCoy is still having some problems. There I said it. Had to get nasty at some point. Are these stories taped in order of the script because bizarrely as the story progresses he gets better and better until in the last episode his letting his rage out (a common complaint with McCoy is that he cannot portray anger effectively) and it is terrifyingly good. But it is those early scenes with Hex that are MORE important and McCoy botches them totally. When I read a novel aloud I sound terribly stilted, as though I am reading it for the first time and am uncertain of the material and that is exactly how McCoy sounds as he patronises Hex in his first TARDIS scenes. He doesn’t quite get the inflexions right and rambles occasionally, a fault I have yet to notice in the other three Doctors. Still his scenes with Hex infiltrating the hospital are a joy and when he is tapping into System there is a growing sense of that New Adventures menace that McCoy pulls off so well…despite my reservations it is probably his best performance since Shadow of the Scourge.

Sophie Aldred however is much, much better; there is none of that horrendous shouting that has plagued her performances of late. Abnett makes no attempt to write Ace as an angsty teen with issues, instead he writes her as an intelligent and capable WOMAN who has learned a lot since travelling with the Doctor. Aldred laps it up; coping with Hex (and the ultra annoying Mathias) and the volley of problems the story throws at her. The first episode practically belongs to her (and Hex) and there is a sense of a character that has left her awkward transition phase (from Ace to McShane) and is getting on with her life with the Doctor. With her new friend in tow (it was Ace’s choice to get Hex involved, not the Doctor) the future with these two looks quite interesting…

Subject One was a fascinating character and one I feel Big Finish should deal with again. William Boyde was the perfect choice for this robotic performance, how he starts to experience emotions from fear to anticipation to pleasure is quite chilling and his personality emerges in the last story as quite psychotic. His reaction to a massacre in the hospital was horrific.

One issue I had with the story was the music, which many have commented as being hugely effective but like Chilli con Carne it just did not agree with me! It reminded me of Malcolm Clarke’s score for the Sea Devils, utterly discordant; a collection of repeated bleeps and screeches. I get how it was supposed to enhance the ‘techno’ feel of the story and one piece of music in the second episode hints at the returning baddies (it sounds like their voices from on appearance) but at times the music interfered with the story, sound FX and voices were drowned out and at times I thought the damn sound FX were part of the music! Sort it out Darlington!

Still I don’t want to be too harsh on a story that utilises my least favourite Big Finish team THIS WELL and makes me hungry for a repeat performance of this success. Gary Russell has done it again and Hex is definitely an intriguing new character…can’t wait to see where he takes us!

“Remember, it’s answers we want. Not heroics or relentless chases up and down hospital corridors.”

This review contains spoilers, from the beginning.

Big Finish have sometimes used the subtlest of misdirection to conceal the return of old monsters and villains from the original Doctor Who television series and the introduction of a new companion in Dan Abnett’s The Harvest should have also provided a sufficient degree of sleight-of-hand to have the same startling effect. But unfortunately the trailer for this gave away enough clues for the astute listener to realise that The Harvest will not only see the TARDIS gain a new inhabitant, but that it will also see the Doctor come face to face with the Cybermen once more…

The introduction of the Seventh Doctor’s first original to audio companion was first hinted at in director Gary Russell’s contribution to the Doctor Who Unbound series He Jests At Scars… where the name “Hex” was mysteriously included in a list of the Doctor’s future companions. Given that Hex’s arrival was also announced months in advance in the pages of the Doctor Who Magazine, Abnett’s script allows for the listener’s knowledge that he’ll be leaving with the Doctor and Ace at the story’s conclusion and takes the time to present Hex properly by telling much of the early part of the drama from his viewpoint as he discovers some unnatural and unearthly experiments occurring amongst the wards of St. Gart’s hospital…

Big Finish’s track record at bringing in new blood to the companion characters has been extremely impressive with Evelyn, Charley and Erimem all showing immediate potential and adding something different to their respective TARDIS teams. The only exception so far has been the bland C'rizz, who failed to make any kind of impact upon the third season of Eighth Doctor plays, but there seems to have been more thought put into Hex’s induction into the world of Doctor Who as by the end of The Harvest the listener will have a clear picture of who he is and what he stands for.

In many ways Hex is perhaps the most ordinary person to feature as a companion for Big Finish. As a longstanding member of the now defunct soap opera Brookside, Philip Olivier is certainly the most high profile actor cast in this function but it proves an inspired move as he brings with him a level headedness which makes this down-to-earth and decent guy extremely convincing. Unlike some of his audio predecessors, Hex doesn’t feel as if he was created to fill a vacuum of characteristics overlooked by the television series. He isn’t an older character, he doesn’t have a significant historical background, nor is he a true alien with strange special skills – although his background in medicine may be useful given the type of danger the Doctor and Ace routinely find themselves in. And while The Harvest is set in the near future of 2021, it’s clear that its people have not changed much which ensures that Hex feels like a contemporary character and it is this combination of factors which make it very easy to like him.

In the production notes The Harvest is described as a “five-minutes-into-the-future-style-thriller,” which neatly sums up Abnett’s approach to establishing the London setting which is very recognisable yet filled with the trappings of advanced technology and plausible changes to the political landscape. Although some of his attempts to emphasise the familiarity of the setting backfire badly – there’s no excuse at all for the sheer indulgence of having the TARDIS based in a parking garage in Totter’s Lane. The political development with a centralised bureaucracy of a European government with European citizenship for all is an influence on the motivations of some of the characters and explains how the foundations of the main narrative came about but because Abnett deals with these issues in a very incidental manner, this venture into real life politics concerning the unification of the continent seems ill-advised given the lack of depth in exploring the ideas. The absence of any representatives from the European powers seems a little conspicuous at first but this proves to be an unexpected benefit of the limited cast size as they are not only faceless bureaucrats – but voiceless ones too. But this is all part of the story’s background and doesn’t detract from the intrigue at the heart of The Harvest which revolves around the mysterious patients within St. Gart’s, who are undergoing treatment to allow them to restore their organic identities and experience the subtle nuances of life for themselves.

The problem with resurrecting old monsters from the television series is that it’s difficult to find something genuinely new to say about them without resorting to radical reinvention. For one of the rubbish monsters with nothing but a solitary appearance behind them, this task is easier as there is a greater freedom as to what can be done but with a race like the Cybermen, who repeatedly fought the Doctor in most of his incarnations, it becomes a much harder feat to successfully achieve. Their previous Big Finish appearances in Sword Of Orion and Real Time were tinged with nostalgia because they drew heavily upon the general perception of the Cybermen and ended up feeling as if they were a retread of old ground. Only Marc Platt’s superlative Spare Parts dared to do something exceptionally different, despite being heavily rooted in the Cybermen’s own mythology by virtue of returning to their creation, as by focusing on the tragedy of the Mondasians whose circumstances dictated their fate in choosing to loose their flesh and emotions to the coldness of metal and logic he produced one of the most striking and poignant Doctor Who audio dramas of them all.

Abnett appreciates that the Cybermen at their best when examining the differences between their impassive existence and the humanity they have left behind. He devises an exceptionally clever and intriguing idea in which to explore this divide by questioning what would drive a Cyberman to want to restore his ability to feel through his organic identity? As a surgical process destroyed their emotions can a similar one restore it? This is all told through the experiences of the enigmatic Subject One, whom the doctors of St. Gart’s Nanosurgical ward are operating upon in a bid to make him feel both emotionally and physically again. In many ways, this aspect of The Harvest seems to have been inspired by the idea of a Cybermen embracing the Doctor’s suggestion from Earthshock that “small beautiful events are what life is all about” as Subject One appears to take pleasure in simple things such as being able to see London without optical implants or to simply feel the warmth of sunlight on his hand.

But as fascinating an idea as this is, it is a flawed one as once the listener works out the identity of the Cybermen - which isn’t difficult given there are plenty of generous clues sprinkled throughout the first two episodes - the question remains as to why a Cyberman would want to do this? The Cybermen’s rejection of emotion in favour of logic is emphasised repeatedly and you have to ask how would they come to have the desire to be human again? Abnett’s solution to this question, that they recognise the advantage of individuality and freedom of thought, never really convinces enough for the audience to believe that Subject One has changed his nature so drastically. So despite William Boyde’s fine performance, it all seems rather inevitable that the Cybermen possess an ulterior motive and that they have taken advantage of the base emotion of greed that the European Government has in abundance to do what they do best and launch another invasion attempt. This is perhaps the most disappointing aspect of The Harvest as such an inventive and unusual idea for examining the Cybermen gives way to conventionality as they revert to type and start killing everybody in sight.

The introduction of the Cybermen at the conclusion of the second episode marks a shift in the balance of the play, as their presence eliminates the pretence of suspense as to the mystery villains, which sees the measured development of the opening half change into something altogether more frantic and it’s here that Abnett begins to loose control of the momentum he’s built. Out of this chaos comes an appealing moral quandary for the Doctor as he is faced with the possibility of Cybermen who crave redemption and restoration but this aspect is underdeveloped due to the twist towards conformity with the revelation of the Cyber Leader’s true agenda. The surest sign though that the play has run out of steam comes with the manner in which the converted Cybermen are defeated which is terribly convenient and doesn’t compare favourably against the darkness of the Doctor’s final scene with Subject One.

Typically Big Finish’s Seventh Doctor and Ace stories have tended to disappoint due to the fact that few of the writers seem to know which direction to take them in. Whether it’s the arrival of Hex or a more cultured approach by Abnett, this is arguably the best they’ve been together since their first Doctor Who audio adventure The Fearmonger (2000) – a story which The Harvest shares a similar feel, even if their storylines are poles apart. Abnett, perhaps unintentionally, evokes the spirit of Virgin’s New Adventures novels with the way the Doctor’s presence is kept to a minimum during episode one with his shadowy cameo as a janitor emphasising the impression that something dark and disturbing is happening and he’s here to sort it out. Sylvester McCoy is in good form with a restrained performance reminiscent of his best during his final television season with the only time he seems to struggle slightly being when the script calls for his Doctor to rattle off large speeches, such as when denouncing the Cybermen to Hex, and his performance becomes somewhat garbled. But he clearly relishes the chance to work with someone different in Olivier and they form a good repartee which bodes well for future adventures.

With the Doctor lurking in the shadows, it falls to Ace, who has infiltrated the hospital as a member of Human Resources, to be the overt investigator and Sophie Aldred responds well with her most impressive performance for some time. While Big Finish irritatingly continue to insist that she’s “Just McShane” (overlooking the irony of where that surname came from given their current stance regarding novel continuity) the Ace of this story is more rounded than usual being confident but refreshingly lacking in the teenage angst that so many of her previous audio plays have drowned in. It’s clear that Abnett has grasped the difference between writing Ace as if she’s trying to be grown-up rather than actually writing her as a mature adult. It’s a subtle distinction but it makes the world of difference to Aldred’s performance which borders on the melancholic but is infused by a strong sense of determination to get the job done.

The Harvest may be Hex’s introduction but it’s not as focused upon him as it could be which lessens his impact to the extent that he doesn’t influence the story but rather simply gets caught up in the events and struggles to see his way through. The script does a very good job of establishing Hex’s personality and his principles during the initial episode and goes on to show how an ordinary person could cope with a multitude of seemingly impossible events such as alien beings harvesting human organs for their own gain. Philip Oliver seems a little uneasy at first which is totally appropriate for Hex as he’s very capable in his job as a staff nurse but soon finds himself out of his depth when being chased by eight foot giants and Olivier’s wide-eyed portrayal, typified by his constant refrain of “oh my god,” is extremely persuasive at showing how Hex is both intrigued and repulsed by his discoveries and will lead to his choice to step into the TARDIS and join the Doctor and Ace at the end. What’s particularly impressive about the performance is how by the end of the play it’s clear that Hex fits right in to the team and that he’s a worthy addition.

The Harvest is well cast, with William Boyde’s Subject One the standout although Mark Donovan and Janie Booth provide sterling support as Polk and the System respectively. Some of the other roles suffer a little from being derived from clichéd characterisation with Doctor Farrer being the egotistical and driven surgeon, obsessed with the status of becoming a medical pioneer in uncharted surgical ground, who crumbles when the reality of the harvest process is revealed in all its bloody glory while Executive Security Officer Garnier is a typical villain whose own arrogance and lust for power are ultimately his downfall.

David Darlington returns to the Doctor Who line to provide the musical score and the sound design work for The Harvest and delivers a very distinctive soundtrack that creates a modern atmosphere perfectly apt for the play which also contributes significantly to the fast paced feel of the production. Especially impressive is the work on Hex and Ace’s daring scooter escape from Polk near the end of the first episode which works really well as a tense getaway because of the excellent effects combined with Abnett’s restraint in the level of the dialogue.

The Harvest will be best remembered for its successful introduction of Hex, who brings a completely different dynamic to this particular TARDIS team and offers the hope that the new line up will have massive potential for the future. The fact that Hex is established so well makes it all the bigger shame that the rescheduling of the Eighth Doctor’s next season means that Olivier, Aldred and McCoy won’t be back together until early 2005. This is not a bad story, but simply a disappointing one as the inventiveness of its central idea is excellent but the script lacks the bite and the courage to maintain its individuality, as the promise of the first disc is wasted as the drama descends into an average and forgettable run-around.