Doctor Who – The Monthly Adventures

#016. Storm Warning ~ 9/10

◆ An Introduction

I’d been putting off ‘Connections’ for some time because I feel like the modern McGann adventures have lost their spark: I also think the writers need to wake up and realise that they’ve done everything they possibly can with Liv, and that keeping her on post-’Stranded’ was a terrible idea.

To that end, I think a trip down memory lane is called for. Let’s return to an era where creativity and experimentation was rife; a time where the characters were fun and likeable, and often came with some of the most questionable accents you’d ever hear.

Memoirs of an Edwardian Adventuress, by Charlotte E. Pollard.

Chapter One…

◆ Publisher’s Summary

October 1930. His Majesty's Airship, the R101, sets off on her maiden voyage to the farthest-flung reaches of the British Empire, carrying the brightest lights of the Imperial fleet. Carrying the hopes and dreams of a breathless nation.

There's a storm coming. There's something unspeakable, something with wings, crawling across the stern. Thousands of feet high in the blackening sky, the crew of the R101 brace themselves. When the storm breaks, their lives won't be all that's at stake…

The future of the galaxy will be hanging by a thread.

◆ The Eighth Doctor

‘Storm Warning’ wasn’t the first audio adventure McGann recorded, which explains why he seems somewhat confident being back in the role already. An excellent performance.

Whilst searching through his bookshelf, the Doctor comes across his copy of Frankenstein and reminisces about the “real story” behind it. He once took a train from Switzerland to Petrograd with Lenin: he had a remarkable mind, but was dreadful at tiddlywinks. The Doctor used to ride Vortisaurs bareback when he was at the Academy. After being caught by Lord Tamworth, he pretends to be a spy employed by the Zeppelin Company – Johann Schmidt from Stuttgart, to be precise. Upon realising that Charley should’ve died aboard the R101, he claims that it’s his duty to return her there… but he simply can’t bring himself to do so.

◆ Charley Pollard

India Fisher makes a brilliant first impression as the Edwardian Adventuress. Can I also mention how nice it is to have a companion who’s NOT from present day Earth.

Charley smuggled herself aboard the R101, but her disguise is already slipping: she is supposed to be impersonating a crewmember from Hampshire… so why is she doing a Cockney accent! The real Simon Murchford is probably still lying dead drunk in the stables of The Hare and Hounds at Ickwell Green. Charley got him plastered on the special ale, took his papers and kitbag, and snuck aboard! She loves lightning: so scary and powerful. Charley met a trader, not that long ago, who works all over the world, but mostly in the far east: he told her that you haven’t lived until you’ve had a gin sling on the terrace of the Singapore Hilton, as the sun goes down. She made him promise to meet her there on New Year’s Eve and he just laughed in her face… hence why she smuggled herself aboard the R101 in the first place! Charley pretty much invites herself aboard the TARDIS, and quickly comes up with a name for their pet Vortisaur: Ramsay, after the Prime Minister of her time.

◆ Great Gas Dirigible

‘Storm Warning’ is a pseudo-historical romp, but it still taught me about the great flying gas-bag the Doctor finds himself aboard. The R101 was created and built by the British Air Ministry, as part of a government programme to develop civil airships that could be used on long-distance flights across the Empire.

Around the same time it was being developed, the German Zeppelin Company were in the process of creating the now infamous Hindenburg Class Airships… the first of which was meant to land in New Jersey, but instead caught on fire and exploded!

The Hindenburg was essentially a giant balloon filled with hydrogen gas, so who would like a guess at what happened to the British attempt at creating a dirigible? You’re absolutely correct, dear reader! It crashed into a field in Northern France during the early hours of October 5th, 1930.

I would love to meet the person who thought it would be a genius idea to traverse the globe in enormous flammable balloons, because someone needs to call them a complete moron! In all seriousness though, the R101 is a fantastic setting for a Doctor Who adventure.

◆ Edwardian Adventuress

Nowadays, the companion archetype is always a girl from present day Earth, so it’s always refreshing when BigFinish go the extra mile to make them unique. Charley Pollard – an Edwardian adventuress – is the definition of a fan favourite. That’s likely why she became a Sixth Doctor companion in a series of intriguing releases following her final outing with Eight.

Right from her first appearance, she is utterly charming, and the chemistry between India Fisher and Paul McGann is sparkling!

◆ Sound Design

Alistair Lock has always been a reliable pair of hands, and he does a stunning job with the audio landscape for this adventure. He skilfully brings the airship to life.

A bleeping alarm sounds in the TARDIS console room, as the ship comes to an emergency stop. A time ship crashing over and over again, caught inside a glitch in space-time. Screeching Vortisaurs in the time vortex swarm to pick over the time ship debris. A crackling radio broadcast announces the launch of the R101 from RAF Cardington. The Doctor’s shoes splash through water in one of the airship’s ballast tanks. The entire R101 shudders as a Vortisaur scrapes along the side, causing glasses of Cognac to smash all over the floor. The panting of an alien in Cabin 43. The skies are filled with heavy rain, thunder and lighting, as the storm gradually intensifies. A bell rings throughout the R101, as the ship reaches five-thousand feet. There is a tremendous whoosh of air as the Triskelion spaceship comes into view. The noise made by the Triskele when they materialise is utterly ear piercing! Rathbone fires his pistol at Charley, only just missing her. The Uncreator Prime fires at the crew of the R101 with their energy weapon. The R101’s wreckage burns in the fields of Northern France.

◆ Conclusion

“Memoirs of an Edwardian Adventuress, by Charlotte E. Pollard…”

On the 4th October 1930, the R101 set out on its maiden voyage, bound for Karachi. Unbeknownst to nearly all aboard, they would be making a brief stop at a spaceship to return a lost alien ambassador – hoping to be rewarded with incredibly advanced technology and weapons, which would allow the British Empire to topple any force that dare stand against it. Unbeknownst to everyone aboard… the airship wouldn’t reach its destination!

‘Storm Warning’ is a bit difficult to talk about, because anyone who wants to call themselves a BigFinish fan with a straight face has heard it dozens of times already. If you’ve somehow managed to miss this gem, then what are you doing with your life?

A really fun little adventure, some incredible performances from McGann and Fisher, and the introduction of everybody’s favourite Edwardian Adventuress. This is just the definition of classic BigFinish.