Thin Ice [AUDIO/2011.4.?]

★★★☆☆

  I've always had a fondness for the Lost Stories range. They're snapshots of history, stories that would have been had circumstances been different, stories that were denied their place in the mythos. Big Finish struck gold with this raange, offering multiple fascinating ideas brought to life by the typically dependable sound design and performances from the company. I wonder... now that Big Finish has firmly established itself within the New Series territory, are there lost stories from the Tenth Doctor's era coming in the future? I'm sure David Tennant would be up for it — I'm filled with excitement.

  The dramatisation of Season 27 is a fascinating selling point, and I'm quite pleased to report that Thin Ice holds up to the promise of continuing Ace's story we've seen on telly and further exploring the Seventh Doctor's morality. Sylvester McCoy and Sophie Aldred are fired up, ready to go and they give great performances. Nicholas Briggs is always dependable as the hissing Ice Warriors from Mars, and Beth Chalmers (one of my personal favorite Big Finish actors) is finally given a role of companion... though she won't properly appear until the next story of the bunch. Ice Warriors looking for their ancient relics in Soviet Russia is one of those ideas that just feels right, and Ken Bentley makes sure that the potential is brought to life with some pretty good sound design and music. Overall, I'd say there aren't any huge faults in Thin Ice... except for the fact that the development of Ace's future and the Doctor's hand in it is waved away a bit too quickly for my liking. I understand that it's to make sure this story doesn't deviate from Ace's future stories with the Doctor (Benny, Hex, etc.), but still... a little letdown.

*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ  

  I'm very curious on what Thin Ice would have looked like on telly. Its visuals of motorcycle chases in the middle of Soviet parades and giant spaceships hauling everyone onboard via tractor beams would have been ambitious, surely. Location filming, perhaps? Who knows at this point — I'm just satisfied with what Big Finish has created here.