REVIEW: Doctor Who 155: Army Of Ghosts

Original review over at my Doctor Who Review Site Wandering In The Fourth Dimension

Eighth Doctor & Mary Shelley

Cast:

The Doctor - Paul McGann
Mary Shelley - Julie Cox
President Vallan - David Harewood
Lady Meera - Carolyn Pickles
Nia Brusk - Eva Pope
Commander Raynar/Karnex - Mitch Benn
Sherla/Baden/Tox - Joanna Christie
Captain Maddox/Stennan/Sentries - Trevor Cooper

 Review:

The last one of the Eighth Doctor's trilogy. Can it improve on the previous two? Well story wise at least, it was enjoyable. But that's about as excited as I can get. It was another one where The Doctor didn't really seem to be a part of the story and was just along for the ride offering the occasional observation. Mary Shelley was useless or absent for most of it. Apart from the last part, where they had a couple of decent scenes together, they didn't seem to offer much to this story. But the story was still enjoyable despite this with a relatively simple plot line to follow and some mildly interesting characters. There's nothing here that I disliked but also nothing I can really rave about either.

Score:

0/7 - Non-existant
1/7 - As bad as you can get
2/7 - Poor
3/7 - Quite poor / too many poor points / didn't like it
3.5/7 - Neither good nor bad / undecided
4/7 - Quite good / plenty of good points / liked it
5/7 - Good
6/7 - As good as you can get
7/7 - Impossible perfection

Writer: Jason Arnopp
Director: Barnaby Edwards
Produced By: Big Finish
Released: December 2011



Synopsis:

"The TARDIS brings the Doctor and Mary Shelley to the continent of Zelonia, on the frontier world Draxine – where, many moons ago, the twin citystates of Garrak and Stronghaven bore testament to mankind’s colonial spirit.

That was before the sinister death cult of Garrak’s President Harmon took hold – and Garrak annihilated itself, utterly, in an apocalyptic explosion. Before the bones of Garrak’s dead came back to life, and its skeletal citizens began marching, marching, marching on Stronghaven itself.

But what do they want, this army of death? And can anything stop them? In search of answers, the Doctor and Mary must journey into the dead heart of a dead city to face a terrifying adversary, whose ambitions transcend the stuff of life itself."

Recipe: 6 Chilli Curry

This made a very spicy curry with a tangy sweet flavour.

Ingredients (serves 2 large portions)

1 chicken breast
1 large onion or 2 small
4 cloves of garlic
1.5 inch ginger
1 red bell pepper
3 tsp mustard seeds
4 tbsp White Wine Vinegar
5 tbsp Vegetable Oil
1 tbsp tomato sauce
1 tin (400g) chopped tomato
150ml water
1 tsp garlic paste
2 tsp tomato paste


(Spice Mix)
1 tsp fenugreek seeds
2 tbsp paprika
1 tsp garam masala
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp tumeric
1/2 tsp asefotida

(Chilli Mix)
12 slices of hot and sweet red Jalapenos
1 Fresno Chilli
2 Finger Chillies
2 Birds Eye Chillies
1 Scotch Bonnet
1 Dried Naga Jolokia
2 tsp coriander seeds
1 tsp Fennell seeds
1 1/2 tsp fenugreek leaves
3 tbsp Curry leaves


Preperation


Spice Mix
Dry fry the fenugreek seeds on a low heat till they start to turn colour then grind to a powder.

Chilli Mix
Coarsely grind the coriander seeds
Chop then dry fry the Naga Chilli for a couple of minutes then grind to a powder and try nit to inhale any of it.
Finely slice the Birds Eye Chilies and the Scotch Bonnet.
Half the Finger Chillies down the length and then chop in half.
Thickly slice the Fresno.


Finely chop and dice half (or one) of the onion. Thickly slice the other half.
Finely slice the garlic cloves.
Finely chop and dice the ginger.
Slice the bell pepper.
Dice the chicken.


Cooking

Heat the vegetable oil up and fry the ginger and garlic for a couple of minutes then add the onion and the chicken.
When the onions start getting soft, throw in the mustard seeds and fry for a further minute.
Add in the tomato paste and tomato sauce and fry it out for a about four minutes before adding the spice mix.
Fry out for a further two minutes before adding the chopped tomatoes, white wine vinegar, and water.
Throw in the chilli mix and leave to simmer.
Towards the end when almost at the desired consistancy (20-30 minutes or so depending on heat), chop in some corriander and leaving some to sprinkle on later as a garnish and continue to simmer till done.


I rarely use the exact same ingredients twice and always play around with quantities but most look something like this. Fenugreek is a must though and I like the texture you get from mustard seeds. Hold back on the chillies if you don't quite like them spicy.

Review: Doctor Who 154: The Witch From The Well

Review also up at my Doctor Who only page - Wandering In The Fourth Dimension

Eighth Doctor & Mary Shelley



Cast:

The Doctor - Paul McGann
Mary Shelley - Julie Cox
Master John Kincaid - Simon Rouse
Aleister Portillon/Squire Claude Portillon - Andrew Havill
Agnes Bates - Serena Evans
Beatrix - Lisa Kay
Finicia - Alix Wilton Regan
Lucern/Cornet Swallow - Kevin Trainor




Synopsis:

"A shrieking, killing nightmare erupts from an overgrown well, hidden in the grounds of an old house, Tranchard’s Fell – and Mary Shelley, the Doctor’s latest travelling companion, rescues teenage twins Finicia and Lucern from the clutches of the monster.

But a TARDIS trip in search of the origin of the horror goes terribly wrong when the Doctor, Mary and their two new friends find themselves stuck in the middle of a seventeenth century witch scare.

While the Doctor investigates the strange lights at Vetter’s Tor, and the twins go in search of an artefact from the Hecatrix Dimension, Mary confronts the secrets of her past…and her future. The truth will out: Master Kincaid, the terrible Witch-Pricker himself, commands it!"

Review:

This story started out very average, an Alien lives in a well and the locals think it's a Witch, and I fully expected the rest of the story to play out this simply with the only hope of enjoyment coming from Paul McGann's and Julie Cox's characters and performances. Towards the end of the first episode though, it takes a slight interesting turn and makes it a pretty entertaining story. (Note: I didn't read any synopsis or blurb before listening to this so I didn't know what to expect from the story other than how it was presented as it happened).

Paul McGann as the Doctor is once again great and has some good moments and the growing relationship he has with Mary Shelley is also a great listen. They work well together. There's also a good cast of interesting support characters here.

I think I'll give this one a 4 but it could have been pushing for a 5 with a bit more work.

Score:

0/7 - Non-existant
1/7 - As bad as you can get
2/7 - Poor
3/7 - Quite poor / too many poor points / didn't like it
3.5/7 - Neither good nor bad / undecided
4/7 - Quite good / plenty of good points / liked it
5/7 - Good
6/7 - As good as you can get
7/7 - Impossible perfection

Writer: Rick Briggs
Director: Barnaby Edwards
Produced By: Big Finish
Released: November 2011