Phobos [AUDIO/2007.1.28]

★★★☆☆

  I still cannot fathom why Phobos has the outstandingly negative reputation it has. Has it something to do with the performances? I don't see any big problem with the characters here, in how they were written or performed. Is it the story, which lounges in a lot of clichéd tropes about mystical entities possessing greedy men for an apotheosis? Maybe so, but I don't really care about a story indulging in clichés if the overall adventure is fun, and I never thought of Phobos as not fun; on the contrary, I find it to have a breezy pace and a very engaging performance from Paul McGann. Sheridan Smith sounds to be less comfortable with the material for some reason (again, I can't imagine why, since this is a great showcase for Lucie on paper), but she gets the hang of the atmospehre by the end and gives a pretty good performance overall. Sure, this isn't the most notable of Big Finish releases -- it's hardly their most original, and there are a lot of characters with their own stories to tell -- but it's still a perfectly fine time to have both within the confines of Series 1 of the Eighth Doctor Adventures and as a standalone release. If you like wintery vistas where adrenaline junkies test their luck, and monsters hiding underneath the unsuspecting natural landscapes, give Phobos a go.