➡️6/10 = OKAY!

Thworping through time and space, one adventure at a time!

“A MISHMASH OF SIXIE: A COMMENTARY”

Big Finish continues celebrating 40 years of the 6th Doctor with the second 6th Doctor set of the year—this time joining him with Mel against the Cybermen. The Quin Dilemma was a fairly uneven release for me, so will The Trials of a Time Lord serve any better?

• THE STORY

Part 1 goes all in on conversions and sinister atmospheres, to a point where I felt that I’d jumped straight into an adventure rather than to the beginning of it. It also sets up the plot of this strange planet, used by the Cybermen as a major cyber conversion factory, filled with prisoners who end up on the planet out of nowhere. Still, this opening installment is a bit of a rough start for the adventure.

Interestingly, we get a very intriguing ending to Part 1, which reveals everything to be part of a scripted reality horror series, thus changing the rules of the game significantly (and tapping into that 1980s media critique feel of the televised Sixie stories; see Vengeance on Varos). What makes it more intriguing is that we learn that the Cybermen are in on the ruse, just to receive more bodies to convert. And so begins the greatest show in the galaxy, the very first TV show starring the Doctor!

I guess part of the charm of this release comes from the way Big Finish tells a meta-level narrative here and pokes fun at the very show they are contributing to.

First off, Sixie has to make it through a cooking show with the Androgums in Roshana Patel’s Part 2. It doesn’t achieve much as narrative development goes.

Katharine Armitage takes over writing duties for the middle two parts. She brings the older warrior queen Peri into the fray and makes Part 3 a parody of The Traitors. It’s sort of annoying how there is a lot going on, yet somehow, the story barely moves an inch.

Part 4 brings in Davros, who is the “big boss” behind everything but really another pawn in the game. This proves to be a more fun episode, as the Doctor and Davros have to work together to make it through.

The final two episodes complicate things further as the Master pops up and reveals himself as the big bad. Jon Culshaw makes another great performance here.

The very last episode turns things tense again as Davros takes over and begins using Daleks and Robomen in an attempt to take over the universe.

• THE PEOPLE

Mel is mostly on her own, learning about the wider background of the people involved in the story. Bonnie Langford is delightful and plays as well along with ally Voss Nimm (George Naylor). Similarly, Peei is as energetic as ever, and since this is her older version, she is a bit more seasoned than usual.

Tiffany Jenkins takes on the role of the primary companion. She has supposedly been travelling with the Doctor and Evelyn previously, and her constant battle between her normal self and her Cyber self brings good dramatic tension to the plot.

The Cybermen show up right off the bat, as the TARDIS takes the Doctor and Mel to Siberia. We don’t have to wait three episodes until a sloppy cliffhanger reveal for once!

I really love to hear the legendary David Banks back as the Cyber Leader. He pops up here and there, but the focus is never on him, sadly. Similarly, Terry Molloy is a delight as Davros, whose cliffhanger reveal at the end of Part 3 is spoilt by the cover art. Davros is used well here, as he begins the story as an unwilling ally to the Doctor before attempting to take over the show from everyone.

The Androgums from The Two Doctors pop us as well, and they bring plenty of colour and humour into the story. John Culsahw provides yet another perfect impression of the race in his performance as Stunrib.

The aliens running the show are sort of annoying. They constantly stress about appreciation indexes and ratings but end up more grating than villainous. They are meant to parody all these TV channel bosses, but I think that the writers have overshot the characterisation a little.

There are a lot of minor voices here, and it is sometimes difficult to keep up with everyone.

• MUSIC AND SOUND

The sound design is quite nice. The conversions sound horrifying. The cold winds of Siberia sweep over you. The music is very reminiscent of the era.

• ATMOSPHERE

This story is mostly a mishmash of ideas, references, and plot points plucked from the Sixth Doctor's TV era, and it’s too thin to make for an exciting plot to fill out six episodes. The exciting ending means that it's not completely wasted, though.