Excelis Dawns [AUDIO/2002.2.11]

★★★☆☆

  Iris Wildthyme, transtemporal adventuress with a double-decker bus (and sometimes, if you're lucky, a panda) — how I love thee. Katy Manning is absolutely delightful with her aloof mannerisms and her headstrong and hilarious beliefs, and Paul Magrs gives his character every chance to shine. It's a wonder that Peter Davison and the rest of the cast aren't completely outstaged by her at this point! 

  Oh, dear reader, you must understand that dear ol' Iris is yet another of my 'favorite things in the entire Doctor Who mythos', and there's no chance I'm gonna give anything with her a bad score. Even if I were to not be a fan of the kind of story that Excelis Dawns is (i.e. a light-hearted trek through an alien landscape that rapidly turns into serious character drama and setup for future events), which I very much am too, thank you very much... I'd still say that the adventure benefits much from a fantastic characterisation of the Fifth Doctor (the slightly weary, slightly mischievous and definitely mysterious old man in a young man's body), Peter Davison's equally fun performance and his banter with Iris. Anthony Stewart Head is also able to present far more than his character is written to be, injecting depth and complexity. Just listen to the moment when Lord Grayvorn opens the Relic and is changed forever by the myriad voices inside, and how Head changes tones so effortlessly. It's like he's a completely different man!

*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ  

  The Excelis saga has always been one of Big Finish's more niche experiments, but I'm very glad it exists. This first installment is something I always enjoy with each revisit, a merry adventure with a merry Iris Wildthyme and not-so-merry-but-nonetheless-entertaining side characters accompanying her.