Solitaire [AUDIO/2010.6.?]

★★★★★

  Remember what I said in my Iterations of I review, that for a while John Dorney was the golden boy of Big Finish? Well, his debut script here says it all; he could tap into something truly special, write something that blew absolutely everyone away.

   Solitaire remains one of the standout releases of the stellar Companion Chronicles range, utilising the audio medium to tell a fun and creative story about games and their often convoluted (and deceptively simple) nature. Where else will you experience the Doctor being a dummy, forced to talk through his companion's ventriloquism? Where else will you find a sentient game, forcing its players to keep on playing until the very end as it takes the form of a toyshop shrinking and shrinking until certain death for everybody? Where else will you get the delightful twist that the seemingly omnipotent Toymaker (played so wonderfully by the late David Bailie) is actually the player of the game instead of Charley, as we're led to believe? Solitaire wouldn't seem out of place from a list of monthly range releases from the early days of Big Finish, and if you know me and my reviews, you know that's the highest form of compliment I could ever give a Big Finish release.

  For its willingness to play around with its medium and be truly imaginative with its concepts (again, a sentient game), it's a spiritual successor to the Wilderness Years zeitgeist which produced so many of Dr. Who's best adventures. It's one of the best Toymaker stories as well, standing shoulder-to-shoulder with Endgame as the villain's best showcases -- and that's one mean feat. Listening to Solitaire for the first time is truly a sublime experience, and I can distinctly remember how awed I was by the end of it. It's a brilliant, brilliant audio drama; I love it so much.