Albie's Angels [AUDIO/2022.12.6]

★★★★☆

  The positive reception Albie's Angels has been getting almost immediately after its release in Connections is well-deserved. This is a truly adult piece of drama in every sense of the word; it's subtle enough as to not come off as gratuitous, and it's confrontational enough that it doesn't feel like compromising, or shying away from a very real and ugly part of human nature and history which extends to our lives today. It's another deep dive into Helen Sinclair's fractured family life, and her long-lost brother Albie turns out to be a wonderful character you immediately warm up to (all thanks to writer Roy Gill and actor Barnaby Jago) -- and it makes it even more painful to learn exactly what happens to him. Homophobia was, and is a vile and systematic thing.

  Hattie Morahan is given an emotional angle any great actor would find difficult, and it's a testament to her talents that she delivers what may just be one of her best performances as Helen. That character's been through a lot over the various boxsets (and as this story and Absent Friends flesh out her past and her family, I get to understand her more to the point in which she feels very close to me), and the hits keep on coming. I love that Morahan's performance feels utterly comfortable at this point, striking off on adventures of her own and flirting with Liv like nobody's business. Her and Liv have become iconic characters by now, and I really don't want to see them go. I know how Big Finish operates, but just the thought of them departing the TARDIS (something which has already been explored in Liv's case) makes me sad -- and I think that's wonderful.

  Albie's Angels really touched me, y'know? I can't say that about many recent Big Finish releases, but Gill wrote a fantastic story here. Characteristically for a Weeping Angel story, this is a tale wrapped in a proverbial Gordian's knot; layers exist upon layers, the story itself is a closed loop with cause and effect often being interconnected and existing as one. Big Finish knows how to use the Weeping Angels for the audio medium so well at this point, and this evocative journey into the recent past -- with the basement band practices, angsty romance and snowy streets -- feels right at home housing these monsters. It's a fresh approach to see the Doctor working with the Angels to accomplish something (I certainly hope you're not reading this review if you haven't listened to it yet), and it's also wonderful to see an actual happy ending for the 'prosecuted gay couple' trope for once. In a universe where stars burn, statues kidnap and time folds in on itself, why should we die for the sake of being realistic?

  Listen to Albie's Angels. Listen to Connections. Listen to Song for Helen. I don't think I'll ever forget this one.