Splinters [AUDIO/2022.9.14]

★★★★☆

  It is good to hear (both in terms of general discourse about them and in my own firsthand listening experiences) that recent Big Finish Doctor Who audio dramas seem to be having something of a minor renaissance. It's no secret that I've had a critical view of Big Finish's reliance on established lore and characters to bring in new listeners becoming a staying trend; I really like new Doctors meeting past companions and vice versa, but one too many celebratory installments and one can't help but become fatigued with the general lack of imagination in the everything else department. Serviceable but unremarkable settings and stories, lacklustre direction... I have witnessed this being the case for so long that I had low expectations going into the Tenth Doctor Classic Companions boxset. If this first installment is anything to go by, however... it seems I'm in for a very good ride. 

  Splinters is John Dorney slipping back into his comfort zone of grand, grotesque ideas. It's Gothic horror mixed with post-2005 character angst and reflection, sprinkled with doses of adult fairytale logic that can be found in the best of the Doctor Who extended universe. It's David Tennant and Louise Jameson having a fun time together, with Tennant getting to play the big baddie this time around as well. In other words, it's all great fun. From the terrifying forest surrounding our main characters to the overgrown, wooden TARDIS interior of the big baddie, everything from the performances to the sound design work hand in hand very well.

  It's funny, really. Splinters is exactly the kind of Time War adventure that I think Big Finish should have leaned more towards in their own John Hurt-led War Doctor boxsets: less shooty-shooty and big explosions, more grotesque and celestial terrors and magical concepts. The Spriggan is exactly the kind of monster we could -- should -- have gotten in the exploration of that mysterious war, being an unknowable entity of another reality that is shown to be a mirror image of the Doctor. If only, eh... well, it's no good to dwell on the past. Splinters is a fantastic adventure that opens up soo many possibilities for the following installments of its boxset, and provides one of the most emotionally resonant resolutions in recent memory. It also works as a celebration of Leela's journey from The Face of Evil to the various Gallifrey boxsets she's crafted her part in, and Louise Jameson proves herself to be an utterly unique perfomer in the Who oeuvre.