Review: The Lone Centurion – Volume 2 ‘Camelot’

Review by Jacob Licklider


Mild spoilers…..

 

The Lone Centurion was kind of a dark horse for Big Finish Productions, coming in under the radar with a premise of being a spin-off set in between The Pandorica Opens and The Big Bang, in Roman times with Rory trying to survive while guarding the Pandorica and Amy inside of it. Because of an already vague premise it meant that the writers could really do anything with the premise, the first volume being a three part miniseries in the Roman empire while The Lone Centurion: Camelot does what it says on the tin, a three part miniseries in Camelot. There is one overall issue with the set, it follows the same formula as the first set to the letter with the first story being mostly set up of the world ending with Rory in a position of power that he doesn’t quite want, the second being an interlude leading to an ending with Rory at a low point, and the third being the finale ending with a large set piece as a conclusion before Rory moves on to pastures new. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, formulas work for a reason and there are plenty of amazing stories that follow established formulas, but for a spin-off it isn’t something that can always be relied upon to the letter. Going forward Big Finish will have to mix things up if the want this spin-off to stay interesting. That isn’t to say the formula can’t be followed, it just needs to be mixed up a bit, especially if there is going to be a third box set. The Lone Centurion: Camelot also has an interesting setting, being mostly fictional and not really based on anything in history while doing three stories in a pure historical mood. There aren’t any science fiction elements outside of the Pandorica being a McGuffin that the villain of the set is after, the fact that Rory is an Auton. Some of the science seems a bit too advanced for the era, but there are no instances of magic or sorcery that you would expect from a King Arthur legend.

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Review: Doctor Who – Time Apart

Review by Michael Goleniewski


The Fifth Doctor is on his own. After the events of “Conversion” and seeing yet another friend fall victim to one of his greatest foes, the Doctor has left his companions behind on an alien world and is traveling alone to give himself some time to think and recuperate. “Time Apart” as a release picks up more or less right where that story left off and is an anthology of adventures for the Doctor in Earth’s history set in the vein of releases such as “Breaking Bubbles” or “Circular Time”. Continue reading

Review: Class – Volume 3 & 4

Review by Jacob Licklider


Class is simply an odd series at its conception and connection to Doctor Who.  Announced in 2015 as a spin-off, the reaction to it was overall negative and who could blame it?  The only connection the show has is that it takes place at the same school as the first ten minutes of An Unearthly Child and that the Doctor shows up in the first episode.  It ran for eight episodes in 2016, ended on a cliffhanger, and was quietly cancelled a year later.  Major criticisms of the show were that it was generic and had characters closer to a soap opera than a science fiction program.  The show was revived in 2018 by Big Finish Production with a deal to make 12 hour long episodes set during the series, though not following up on the cliffhanger and released their first six.  It would not be until late April of 2020 that the other six would be produced and released as Class: Volume 3 and Class: Volume 4 and like most things in the Doctor Who universe that isn’t well received, Big Finish Productions have taken the potential Class had and allowed the actors to fulfil said potential.


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A New Term For Class Thanks To Big Finish

Big Finish is going back to Coal Hill Academy for six new full cast audio adventures, based on the television series created by Patrick Ness, in arrangement with BBC Studios.

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