The Monsters of Gokroth [AUDIO/2019.4.17]

★☆☆☆☆

  Another day, another Seventh Doctor that fails to connect with me entirely. I feel a bit sorry for Sylvester McCoy at this point, really; he tries everytime to make the material given to him as exciting as possible, but his charm falls on deaf ears when everything else around him comes crashing down. I realize I'm not being very nice to the story, but it is what it is — The Monsters of Gokroth is the worst Big Finish audio drama I've listened to in quite a while.

  It's not just the fact that Matt Fitton's script has no interesting factor whatsoever... it's all the less-than-impressive acting and the direction. I don't know what went on behind the scenes, but I can't imagine anyone thought a full hour of growling monsters and screaming people (who also turn out to be "monsters", a twist I actually liked) was a good idea for a two-hour audio drama, especially when the ones that aren't shouting are also totally unengaging characters. I can't remember the last time a story from Big Finish left me with such an unpleasant feeling — this just doesn't feel like it was made with any care, sorry to say. I understand keeping the Doctor out of the proceedings for a while increases suspense and all, but when neither the Doctor nor anyone else of seeming import (including Mags, in a story that's supposed to be her long-overdue reintroduction) do anything at all for the longest time, how can we be expected to keep our interest? I'm thoroughly disappointed by The Monsters of Gokroth — which implies that I still care, very much, about Big Finish and know that Matt Fitton can do a lot better than this. What worries me is that judging from the Seventh Doctor's monthly range output, this could be more than just a one-off fluke... at any rate, I don't think I have anything else to say about such a terrible adventure.

*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ  

  Despite all this, I'm overall quite glad that Mags is back. She was one of those characters in Sylvester McCoy's tenure of the show that had companion potential, and I'm extremely happy that she's now given the chance to travel time and space with the Doctor. Jessica Martin may sound a bit older, but that's never been a problem for Big Finish.