The Annihilators [AUDIO/2022.2.8]

 

★★★☆☆

  Season 7 is one of my favorite television runs from Doctor Who; a sharp, unrelenting change of pace and a fascinating dive into international politics in the face of alien dangers, with an Earthbound Doctor and a cast of very real characters (not in the literal sense, but in the way they act and react to the fantastical circumstances of the show). Pair a setting and cast of characters from that cherished era, the cherry on top being the accurate seven-part structure, with elements of Season 6B — and there you have it: a recipe for giddy thrills.

  The Annihilators certainly has these thrills, sprinked throughout its generous runtime (though sometimes they verged on being irritating). Nostalgia can hardly make a good audio drama on its own, however, and the adventure consequently suffers from many of the downsides shared among many Nicholas Briggs scripts: a lack of actual things happening. Within these seven episodes, a handful of interesting events are stretched thin with repetition and Briggs-standard shootout sequences. The alien catalysts failed to catch my attention, and even the majority of the main cast were simply there for the sake of it, even the Second Doctor and Jamie. 

  Luckily for The Annihilators, the combined efforts of Tim Treloar, Daisy Ashford and Jon Culshaw more than make up for many of its faults. I've become so used to Treloar's interpretation of the Third Doctor by now that it almost feels odd to watch actual televised stories with Jon Pertwee, and Ashford proves to be a wonderful new actor to step up to her late mother's role. Speaking of hereditary roles, Michael Troughton's Second Doctor seems to be a Peter Purves First Doctor situation for me. It's only the first time I heard his take on the character, and I gathered from the making-of disc that he wishes to imbue the role with his own twist. Perhaps he'll grow on me in time, as Purves' Doctor did many years ago. 

*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ  

  Perhaps I was a bit harsh on The Annihilators when I started writing this review; it is still a fine seven-parter that every Season 7 fan will find enjoyable. There's an atmosphere with that particular season that this installment (not to mention every Big Finish outing set in that timeframe) captures effortlessly, and that's the biggest compliment I have for it. I know it's a pipe dream at this point, but Briggs really ought to put more effort on devising an interesting story.