The Silurian Candidate [AUDIO/2017.9.12]

★☆☆☆☆

  Dear gosh, that cover is gorgeous. It's a shame it's rather wasted on what I perceive to be a huge dud of a Dr. Who adventure.

  The Silurian Candidate supposedly has a tanked reputation amongst Big Finish listeners; I don't give a fig about what other people think, but that's still an interesting thing to know because I pretty much agree with the general consensus. This is a Who story without any stakes, without any fun and (most damning of all) without any will to thrill, emote or stand out. Bar the sound design (which is pretty darn exquisite), I wouldn't even consider returning to this adventure. I have a sneaking suspicion Matthew J Elliott was watching The Manchurian Candidate one day, came up with the title and tried to write a "complex" story around it only for it to be a redux of Warriors of the Deep with only the barest of bones for what constitutes as fun. It's just not fun at all, and I feel absolutely nothing.

  Practically every cast member sounds bored by the material, even Sylvester McCoy, and Sophie Aldred is clearly struggling to sound like a younger Ace with the most abhorrent dialogue. Bonnie Langford, oddly, seems to be having the most fun but the script simply won't let her enjoy her time with the Silurians without a constant barrage of checklist moralising lines. Nothing about The Silurian Candidate feels palpable, tangible, even remotely interesting; not even Nicholas Briggs doing a shoddy accent is able to make it the least bit enjoyable. Big Finish reaches a low here that they rarely ever do (thank heavens for that); there's nothing to enjoy here in The Silurian Candidate.