On my last re-listen to this story, I started listening to it on October 1st 2020. October 4th 2020 was the 90th anniversary of the R101 airship disaster as depicted in the story (albeit with a fair number of fictional embellishments and alterations). I’m not aware of experiencing any of the historical stories so close to the anniversary of the events depicted and, having enjoyed this story immensely – even on this, probably about the third or fourth time round – the anniversarial aspect adds a new dimension.

Listening to Storm Warning again and I was transported back to 2001. It was a heady time to be a fan of Doctor Who and, especially, of Big Finish. After a couple of years of stories featuring rotating incarnations of the 5th, 6th and 7th Doctors alongside a bunch of Bernice Summerfield audios, we suddenly had Paul McGann on board. Paul McGann. The ‘current’ Doctor. The Doctor who, up to that point, was sometimes referred to as the George Lazenby of Doctors – only having one TV outing which many saw as a failure due to it not spawning the hoped-for series (I wasn’t one of those – I loved the Movie at the time and still love it now).

And here was the 8th Doctor getting a whole four more stories (with probably more beyond that). I can distinctly remember listening to the story for the first time on the stereo in my bedroom having purchased it at a signing event at Tenth Planet involving India Fisher, Helen Goldwyn and Alan Barnes.

I spent a lot of my early twenties at Tenth Planet with my friends. Travelling up to London on the train and taking the Jubilee Line to stand in line in a shopping centre in Barking on Saturday mornings was how we hung out. A trip to the Wimpy across the road for food afterwards was a common ritual. We made friends with the owners of the shop. We would see the same fan faces each time and even made a few new friends.

India herself was already familiar to us having attended a signing for her first Big Finish appearance in Winter for the Adept. Alan Barnes had just been appointed editor of DWM. Helen Goldwyn had already been in quite a few stories and was also a familiar face at the signings. It was a friendly, fun atmosphere.

In a previous life I wrote up these little misadventures and published them on the net. I managed to find what I said about this signing and it seems that, after attending the signing we listened to the first two episode together (which wasn’t something we often did – audio listening isn’t the easiest of communal experiences unless you’re sitting in a car, I find). It also seems like we didn’t actually have the covers for the CD at this point as they had been sent by Tenth Planet to be signed by Paul McGann himself.

But what I distinctly remember is that opening sequence of the 8th Doctor in the TARDIS by himself. On that first listen is was both thrilling and slightly strange listening to McGann recreate his Doctor. I recall finding the Doctor talking to himself for a good few minutes as awkward and clunky.

This time round, I really didn’t feel that at all. I thought the opening monologue actually worked. Maybe its the 11 extra years of audio listening that’s meant I’ve become more accustomed to different styles of presenting story on audio that a bit of a character talking to themselves doesn’t jar as much as it seemed to back then. Maybe I was just enjoying the wave of nostalgia.

But, even allowing for a bit of clunkiness in this scene, the story soon rips along to the Doctor being aboard the R101 and meeting the best thing about this whole story – India Fisher’s Charlotte Pollard.

The rapport between McGann and Fisher is instant and the Doctor and Charley feel like best friends after about three lines of dialogue. Barnes’ script for the two characters is absolutely spot on. The 8th Doctor is born anew in this story. It takes the TV Movie depiction and adds new layers to him which feel natural and atuned to McGann’s performance. All the ‘played tiddlywinks with the Tzarina’ and breathless excitement is perfect and the steel he later shows when confronted by various adversaries is 100% the Doctor.

Charley is perfect companion material. Awe and wonder, no nonsense around fools, determination and an adventurous spirit are all brought to scintillating life by Fisher. I love every scene she is in and when it is with McGann it’s a positive joy to listen to. More than once I found myself smiling as the audio played, wallowing in the dynamic between them.

The rest of the cast more than match the two leads. Principal guest star, Gareth Thomas, is absolutely brilliant as Lord Tamworth. Initially painted as a gruff, aristocratic entrepreneur, he softens and grows as the story progresses and he realises his folly. His relationship with the Doctor grows and forms a mutual respect as the story progresses and his decision to join the Triskeli as a guide and adviser demonstrates a man of honour and humility which maybe wasn’t evident in the first episode but bubbled under the surface of Thomas’s performance.

Big Finish stalwarts (particularly in these early days of the company) Nicholas Pegg, Barnaby Edwards and Helen Goldwyn form the majority of the rest of the cast. Pegg is a bit of comic relief as Frayling, the designer of the R101 and Edwards chews the scenery as the villain of the piece, Rathbone. His South African accent is probably a bit broad but in audio heightened accents (yes, even slightly dodgy American ones) don’t bother me as the more distinct the voice the easier it is to follow who is who on audio. There’s nothing worse than characters sounding similar when there are no visuals to guide the listener. Helen Goldwyn is lovely as the various forms of the Triskeli trinity. She is ethereal and alien in just the right measure.

The sound design on the audio isn’t always something I comment on but something about Storm Warning really struck me and I remember it being the same on my first listens. The soundscape of the Triskelion ship makes it sound vast and cavernous and it is incredibly easy to imagine. The climactic scenes of Triskeli appearing in multitude behind the the Doctor, Frayling and Tamworth whilst they stand on a three-armed sigil is a long-lasting image I have from listening to this audio even now 11 years later. Something about the imagery in this story is very memorable and the soundscape and direction are to thank for this.

Historically, the R101 disaster did occur but this audio plays fast and loose with the facts. Mentions of the Cardington base (also featured in Zagreus) are factually correct as that is indeed where the R101 was built and launched from. But whilst the Doctor is adamant there are no survivors from the crash, there were, in fact, six people who did. None of the characters are historical figures or based on anyone.

It’s a slightly odd approach for a Doctor Who pseudo-historical, particularly one based around a specific event as, usually, Doctor Who writers delight in riffing on real people involved in real events. But I imagine that a disaster which is, just, in living memory is a sensitive topic to deal with. It’s a matter of record that families of people involved in the Titanic disaster were unhappy with various elements of the movie.

It was an absolute delight listening to this story again and I think it ranks as one of my favourite audios of all time. McGann and Fisher hit the ground running and, frankly, they don’t put a foot wrong from here until The Girl Who Never Was. They are the best Doctor/Companion pairing ‘people’ don’t know about. When Big Finish does stories as good as this, it makes me cross that there is still a group in fandom which refuse to acknowledge the audios as ‘proper’ Doctor Who. If this isn’t proper, I really don’t know what is.