The Worlds of Big Finish

Iris Wildthyme #Special

by David Llewellyn, David Warner (Narrator), Nicholas Briggs (Narrator)

From the streets of Edwardian London to the corridors of a near-infinite library in the distant future, a single book holds the key to the fate of life on Earth.

Some believe it predicts our future – and the apocalypse - with unnerving accuracy. Others will stop at nothing to destroy it, and will chase it from one side of the universe to the other; from a country house in the Roaring Twenties to the casinos of Mars, and from 221B Baker Street to the terrifying desert world of Sisyphus IX...

Featuring Abby and Zara [Graceless], Sherlock Holmes, Dorian Gray, Iris Wildthyme, Vienna Salvatori and Bernice Summerfield, The Worlds of Big Finish brings together some of Big Finish’s best-loved characters in an adventure spanning thousands of years!

This release includes a fourth bonus disc - Round the Worlds - where director Scott Handcock leads a roundtable discussion with writer and cast about this special adventure, plus a selection of outtakes from recording.

Cast:

Lisa Bowerman (Bernice Summerfield), Nicholas Briggs (Sherlock Holmes), Laura Doddington (Zara), Ciara Janson (Abby), Katy Manning (Iris Wildthyme), Chase Masterson (Vienna Salvatori), Alexander Vlahos (Dorian Gray)

1. Graceless: The Archive

Barnaby Edwards (Romulus Chang), Hugh Skinner (Lucian Theta-Singh), Lisa Bowerman (The Archive), David Menkin (Security Drones)

2. Sherlock Holmes: The Adventure of the Bloomsbury Bomber

David Warner (Mycroft Holmes), Michael Thomson (Alexander Korvo), George Rainsford (Albert Taylor), Katy Manning (Mrs Waters), Terry Molloy (Mr Robins), Barnaby Edwards (Alfred Vandermeer)

3. The Confessions of Dorian Gray: The Feast of Magog

George Rainsford (Evan Morgan), Rebecca Night (Pamela St John-Edwards), Michael Thomson (Alexander Korvo)

4. Iris Wildthyme: Kronos Vad’s History of Earth (Vol. 36,379)

Hugh Skinner (Captain Turner), Katharine Mangold (Jenni Marcel), David Menkin (Zack Hoffman), Barnaby Edwards (Mr Vandermeer), John Dorney (Bridge Controller)

5. Vienna: The Lady from Callisto Rhys

Rhys Jennings (Cage Zorn), Rosanna Miles (Magenta Dotrice), Rebecca Night (Lara Memphis), John Dorney (Rodrigo), David Menkin (Check-In Attendant), Katharine Mangold (Passenger), Terry Molloy (Driver)

6. Bernice Summerfield: The Phantom Wreck

Terry Molloy (Captain Quinn), Rosanna Miles (Selina), Rhys Jennings (Phillips), John Dorney (O’Neill), Katharine Mangold (Jenni Marcel), Barnaby Edwards (Romulus Chang)

Genres: Science Fiction, Audiobook, Doctor Who, Fantasy

Audio CD

First published May 1, 2015

About the author

David Llewellyn is a Welsh novelist and script writer. He grew up in Pontypool and graduated from Dartington College of Arts in 2000. His first novel, Eleven, was published by Seren Press in 2006. His second, Trace Memory, a spin-off from the BBC drama series Torchwood, was published in March 2008. Everything Is Sinister was published by Seren in May 2008. He has written two novels for the Doctor Who New Series Adventures: The Taking of Chelsea 426, featuring the Tenth Doctor, and Night of the Humans, featuring the Eleventh Doctor and Amy Pond.

In addition to writing novels, Llewellyn wrote the Bernice Summerfield audio play Paradise Frost and the Dark Shadows audio drama The Last Stop for Big Finish Productions.

Llewellyn lives in Cardiff.

Reviews

[Rick · Rating 4 out of 5]

(1) Graceless: The Archive ~ This was fascinating. Enough so that I think I’m going to have to pick up the Graceless series. Which is exactly what Big Finish intended, of course. Get audiences of one series to listen to this crossover and then get them hooked on another series (those dirty greedy jerks!). In any case, this chapter has some interesting set up for a story intended to span centuries and the performances are wonderful. The sisters are definitely interesting and I certainly wouldn’t mind getting to know more about them. (4/5)

(2) Sherlock Holmes: The Adventure of the Bloomsbury Bomber ~ This is another series from Big Finish that I haven’t really delved into very much. Unfortunately, Nicholas Briggs’s interpretation of Doyle’s Great Detective doesn’t quite work for me. Nothing against his performance, it just doesn’t really jive with me. I’ve read the various volumes of Doyle’s cases and I’ve got a fairly cemented image in my mind. In any case, this story was quite good. Holmes makes one of his rare blunders, but recovers nicely. For me though, the real highlight in this episode was the presence of David Warner. Always a joy to hear his voice. (4/5)

(3) Confessions of Dorian Gray: The Feast of Magog ~ The Dorian Gray series is why I decided to get this set. I adore the series and so I, of course, had to get this little interlude. Interestingly this story is actually among the darkest of the confessions, although there is a lot of stuff that’s hinted at or alluded to but not actually related. Although ... I’ve not finished the Dorian Gray series, so there is still a ways to go. Good story. Nice performances. I do love stories where Dorian gets into lots of trouble, is revealed to be a right bastard and still gets to be somehow heroic. Absolutely delightful. And I’m rather enjoying the whole overarching narrative of this anthology. (4/5)

(4) Iris Wildthyme: Kronos Vad’s History of Earth Vol. 36,379 ~ From the very dark, we switch to something a little less ... dark, and a lot more humorous. And now we have ... Iris Wildthyme! Katy Manning is hilarious as a sort of mad-as-a-hatter Doctor, traveling through time and through alternate realities. This is another series that I’m not as familiar with, but perhaps I should be. Manning is impossibly incorrigible and impossibly outrageous. If there was scenery that could be eaten, she’d be doing it all while spoofing and paying homage to Doctor Who. While this is rather hilarious, it does rather break the thematic tension of the previous chapters. (3/5)

(5) Vienna: The Lady from Callisto ~ I’ve listened to quite a few of the Vienna stories. I started out really enjoying them, but as the series progressed I’ve become less enamored with that series. Having said that, I’m a huge fan of Star Trek Deep Space Nine and I was thrilled to find out that Chase Masterson had her own Big Finish series. As I said it starts off brilliant, but they’ve tried to change the concept in progress and I’m not sure the direction is working as well as it continues. Nonetheless, I enjoyed this particular chapter as it seemed to have more in common with the earlier Vienna episodes. Lots of fun. Classic sci-fi detective noir type stuff (if such a thing is allowable as “classic”). (4/5)

(6) Bernice Summerfield: The Phantom Wreck ~ Another series that I have some slight familiarity with, Bernie Summerfield is a great character and this chapter is a smashing closure for the entire story. Well, this story, not Bernie’s story - I cannot imagine that ever ending at this point. But this story was great, this episode was great and this whole mash-up crossover has been executed brilliantly. (4/5)

The whole reason such a thing as this exists, of course, is to sell more product. There’s always the chance that a fan of one series will become interested in another series included in such an crossover anthology. These things have become quite common in the realm of comic books, and now movies, but in literature it’s not quite so common (but that may be changing). Like all anthologies, this is a bit uneven, but overall it was handled brilliantly. I could really see that all these desperate genres in a crossover like this would be a complete disaster. But I’ve grown to realize that Big Finish is worthy of trust on the part of the audience in being able to pull off some seemingly pretty impossible challenges. So in the hands of Big Finish, this anthology mash-up crossover is a wonderful little gem.

[Jamie Revell · Rating 3 out of 5]

Intended as an introduction to some of the lesser-known Big Finish series, this is a compilation of six 30-minute stories, each belonging to a different one of those series, but linked by a single plot arc and occasionally crossing over with one another. The overall premise is perhaps, debatable, since, outside of this collection, it’s not at all obvious that the different series belong to the same ‘universe’. At any rate, the strength of the collection is that the stories do contrast effectively in terms of tone, showing BF’s range and versatility; the weakness is that the format often prevents them from being truly effective introductions to the individual series they are based on.

• The Archive (Graceless) – The Graceless visit a near-infinite library where they become embroiled in a murder mystery and first encounter the MacGuffin that drives the plot arc. The mystery elements are confined to the motive, rather than the identity, of the killer (there are only two guest characters) and the story is more of a scene-setter than anything else. While it does have some connection to the rest of the Graceless series, it is necessarily blunted by both the short length and the lack of the usual “adults only” rating, nor is there adequate time to explain who the Graceless are for those unfamiliar with them, although the story does at least try.

• The Adventure of the Bloomsbury Bomber (Sherlock Holmes) – The latter problem doesn’t exist for this episode, even if somebody hasn’t listened to any of BF’s other Holmes stories (as I haven’t); we all know who the central character is. Sensibly, the story steers clear of any supernatural or science fiction elements, although these are clearly implied by the rest of the arc. It’s a decent enough Holmes story, with the now-retired detective investigating a series of bombings in 1911, without the presence of Watson. But it doesn’t inspire me to seek out the rest of the audio series it’s based on.

• The Feast of Magog (The Confessions of Dorian Gray) – From detective fiction, the tone switches to horror. The central element of the story is a séance, but, as with the Graceless episode, the lack of an “adult” rating limits what can be done in terms of the horror elements. As a result, it’s toned down from the usual stories and, moreover, Gray acts more heroically than usual, not really letting his true self shine through.

• Kronos Vad’s History of Earth, Volume 36,379 (Iris Wildthyme) – This time, we switch to comedy as the scatty old Time Lady finds herself tasked with preventing the end of the world. Again, I’ve not listened to the rest of this series, but the basic idea of “bonkers pastiche of Doctor Who ” is probably clear enough to newcomers – although I confess to having no idea who the companion character was, since he isn’t the one Wildthyme companion that I’d previously heard of. The story does have a few decent laughs in it and is appropriately mad; it’s one of the better ones in the set.

• The Lady from Callisto Rhys (Vienna) – The interstellar bounty hunter is hired to track down the MacGuffin in a story that, once again, doesn’t have the opportunity to bring the series’ usual strengths to bear. While it does do a reasonable job of introducing the character, the twists of perspective that normally characterise Vienna stories aren’t appropriate here, both for reasons of length and for fitting in with the plot arc. So a new listener is perhaps getting a half-way introduction to what the series is normally about (which, to be fair, is still quite good). Perhaps also for reasons of length, the story is partly narrated and, for some reason, there’s a positive slew of fake American accents.

• The Phantom Wreck (Bernice Summerfield) – The story that wraps up the set is fortunately, another good one, and closer in tone to what its regular series normally offers. Tying together a number of threads from the earlier episodes, it concerns Bernice supervising an archaeological dig on an ancient crashed spaceship and concludes with a fair amount of action and drama once the main villains actually turn up in person (albeit briefly). Given that they share a similar interplanetary milieu, it’s also good that both the specific settings and, perhaps more importantly, the personalities of the lead characters, contrast clearly between this and the Vienna episode.

[Seb Hasi · Rating 2 out of 5]

The Archive -

I haven’t listened to any of Graceless but am aware of the characters Abby and Zara. For this instalment of the boxset there is a simple murder mystery which gets solved in quite literally five minutes. I didn’t mind it so much as the dialogue was quite fun, and the story of the book; which is the narrative through-line for this set was set up well. I don’t think you really got to see much of what their characters are like in this which is a shame. I imagine their own Big Finish range is completely different to this, so suffers somewhat having to fit a particular role as part of a story arc.

The Adventure Of The Bloomsbury Bomber -

I am neither a fan of Nick Briggs as a writer nor actor, so this was one I wasn’t really going into with particular excitement. I tried to be unbiased but given it’s obvious who the bad guy is after about two lines of dialogue from them, I wasn’t exactly going to be taken aback by this story. Perhaps I’m reading too much into it but this story felt like it placed the least importance on the same book that each story is talking about. Instead it felt like ‘oh look how good I am as Sherlock Holmes’ so I came away rather uninterested. There wasn’t much of a plot either, once the crime is solved it’s just Sherlock monologuing for a bit then the story ends.

The Feast Of Magog -

The Dorian Gray story, quite literally the only reason I own this boxset. This one did manage to regain my interest as there is some excellent horror in this. The possessed characters are actually quite scary and the fact we focus on the monsters who are part of the overall story arc, instead of people in relation to the book; made it so much more interesting. I adore Alexander Vlahos, and Dorian Gray so I can find no fault in him as the main characters, and unlike the last two stories the characters in this felt more real. They don’t feel like they’re there just to serve as conduits for exposition. They have pasts, emotions, hopes and that is why I love the Dorian Gray stories and found this one to be quite good.

Kronos Vad’s History Of Earth Vol 363379 -

I had never listened to a single Iris Wildthyme story before this, and safe to say after this I never plan to again. It’s just Katy Manning putting on a cockney accent and being insufferable for thirty minutes. There wasn’t even much of a plot either, it was just an endless series of quips and comedic asides that really served no purpose. The only takeaway from the story is that the book is still important and the background characters who were natural sceptics, now have open minds. What exactly am I meant to like about this story or character, when there is absolutely no aspect of her to be taken seriously. A comedic character is great but when there’s no depth or personality beyond the jokes I find myself getting bored of their presence rather quickly.

The Lady From Callisto Rhys -

I had heard a few Vienna Salvatori releases prior to this so had a rough outline of what she was like as a character. I do like that they emphasised the sexy bounty hunter aspect and made it feel more like a James Bond film, but the story didn’t really go anywhere. She just sort of chats with the bad guy for a bit, does some investigating, chats with him some more and suddenly saves the day. This, I can say is unlike normal Vienna releases as this story had no complexity to it and is burdened with ‘oh yeah we have to mention that book because the ending’s next’.

The Phantom Wreck -

This story is quite funny to review really. I love Bernice Summerfield and she is great as ever here, but the culmination of the three hour storyline is some guy shoots the time travelling monsters; the end. I mean the last five minutes of this story is literally just music. I do like the dialogue and so on but given I had no time to connect with the antagonist who ends up saving the day, I felt no reason to care about him or his story. The only thing I will really end up remembering is the ex machina that finished off a storyline that was never interesting to start with. The ending was alright, the establishing of a narrative loop but that’s the only really commendable thing I can think to say.

In Conclusion -

Overall this boxset has small glimpses of great horror, comedy, and character drama but the thing that ties these stories together is so bad that it really detracts from every individual episode. If you are thinking of listening to this set to get to know a certain character features I would say avoid this boxset. Just buy something from their own range because this is not a reflection of any of the characters or stories they are normally in, in any way. This is just a series of bits of exposition with the odd moment to highlight the main character of every part.

[Tania Rook · Rating 3 out of 5]

The world is going to end because it says so in the book called The History of the World, but this edition wasn't written by Mel Brooks so it doesn't have the cool musical number about the Inquisition in it. Only Doctor Who can save the day, but apparently Llewellyn didn't have the write to use his name, so some other time travellers step in to clearly fill the roll. You can't categorically not mention the TARDIS or a sonic screwdriver and assume we'll all not notice this is Doctor Who.

Apparently you can call on Sherlock Holmes and Dorian Gray with gay abandon (sorry Oscar, cheap shot), so the story does. And that is great. Cameo from Sherlock Holmes - happy days. Dorian Gray rocks up and the story is pregnant with untold meaning. Fantastic. But the story overall takes place in many different times and places, and so Sherlock and Dorian can't be everywhere. And when they're not there, I miss them. The rest of the book is first time actors taking the stage with legends of the game. The overall effect is to highlight how much a great character lifts a story. And how a great story that references legends of literature, no matter how strong the story, is weakened overall because Sherlock and Dorian weren't in all of it.

[Julia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Crossover cd of a bunch of Big Finish ranges: Graceless, Sherlock Holmes, Confessions of Dorian Gray, Iris Wildthyme, Vienna, and Bernice Summerfield. The story is a linked series of short pieces, rather than everyone meeting together, so you have them all reacting to their part of the storyline, without know how it will ultimately turn out. Surprisingly it worked pretty well. I'm curious to explore some of the ranges I wasn't as familiar with.

[Heather · Rating 3 out of 5]

This would have been a fun listen if I had listened to every series that Big Finish had made. Unfortunately, I haven’t, and the two series I have heard were barely touched upon here. It was hard to follow when you didn’t know who the characters were.

[Mary · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really loved how they used several of the Big Finish worlds and connected them into one continuous adventure. I do not know if Big Finish has others out there, but this one was very well done.

[Lee Gannon · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Archive only.

[Sara Habein · Rating 4 out of 5]

4? 4.5? I dunno, but I do like a Big Finish crossover and this one is better than most.

[Idamus · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Archive 3 stars (must read the beginning)
The Adventure of the Bloomsbury Bomber 2.5 stars
The Feast of Magog 3 stars
Kronos Vad’s History of Earth (Vol. 36,379) 2 stars
The Lady from Callisto Rhys 3 stars
The Phantom Wreck 2.5 stars

While none of the stories were great in themselves, only 2-3 stars, the red thread weaving through them makes the complete book closer to 4 stars, very interesting idea indeed.
And great narration from everyone.

[Annathea · Rating 5 out of 5]

Jakie to było dobre!Nie tylko dostałam przygody dwóch już znanych bohaterów, to jeszcze mnóstwo nowych bohaterek. Koniecznie muszę sprawdzić Graceless i Iris, Berenice nieco mnie przeraża ilością odcinków. Oraz, Hugh Skinner!

[Steven Shinder · Rating 4 out of 5]

I expected the characters from each series to interact with each other, but it was ultimately a better decision keeping their tales standalone while connecting them through a book. That makes it feel less cheesy. I enjoyed jumping between different genres and hearing familiar characters.

[Anne Barwell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved. Very clever way of tying all the stories together, yet keeping true to their own series. A couple of new series in here I'll need to try.