Doctor Who – The Seventh Doctor Adventures: Silver and Ice

#1.01. Bad Day in Tinseltown ~ 8/10

◆ An Introduction

It’s been a hell of a long time since I last reviewed anything to do with the Seventh Doctor; I believe the last time was actually the brilliant ‘Earth Aid’.

Season 24 is honestly my favourite era from his whole run, so the fact his first set of 2022 is based around that season… oh, Christmas has come early! I might be having a good day, but the people of Tinseltown are having quite the opposite.

◆ Publisher’s Summary

The Doctor and Mel drop in on the frontier town of Brightedge – dubbed ‘Tinseltown’ after the curious by-products from its depleted mine. The Mayor thinks the future lies in entertainment, but as the locals start behaving oddly, a hidden force of Cybermen has other plans...

◆ The Seventh Doctor

Having been trapped in the South of France during lockdown – there are worst places to be stranded – this incarnation has been rather absent from the worlds of BigFinish for quite some time. It seems that a long break has actually done Sylvester McCoy a great deal of good, as he delivered a magnificent performance for ‘Bad Day in Tinseltown’.

The Doctor is known for his devastating charm, not his fists. He does have a number of tricks up his sleeve that may be of interest to Mitzi. He’s always been a trend-setter. After showcasing his close-up magic and nifty handiwork, he finds himself hired at the saloon! He’s dabbled in engineering, but he’s really a jack of all spades. The Doctor knows a lot about Cybermen, and warns General Juno of the fact cyber-technology tends to have a mind of its own: what’s the betting that she’ll completely ignore his warnings?

◆ Mel Bush

Bonnie Langford has already gotten a great deal of praise from me, from when I reviewed all her audio adventures with Ol’ Sixie, but she proves in ‘Bad Day in Tinseltown’ that she can still deliver gold with Seven.

Mel believes it’s not just the TARDIS that needs sprucing up: Brightedge is dingy enough to be in the Arctic Circle! She’s rather glad that this town isn’t full-on Wild West, and that Mitzi’s didn’t go silent as they walked into the saloon bar. She’s never seen a crocodile do jokes before. The famed Mitzi believes she could be a legendary BattleJanet from Catamole 5, as they’ve got hair as fiery as their tempers. Mel’s cover story is that she’s an entertainment journalist, here to put the famed Mitzi’s into her next story. After encountering her first Cyberman, she notices its teardrop eyes and feels rather sorry for it. You’d be surprised how often disastrous things, like the Tinsel conversion process, happen to her.

◆ Story Recap

Following the installation of a new dimensional stabiliser for the TARDIS, the ship makes a rather uncomfortable landing in a mining colony, the wrong side of the 30th century.

Brightedge is a frontier town, resembling something you would expect to see in a token Wild West film; including the rough-as-a-badger’s saloon bar! The people of “Tinseltown” use their beloved silver ore in a variety of applications, such as building materials and clothing.

It’s not long before the Tinsel begins transforming everyone wearing it… and the Doctor realises just who he is dealing with: Cybermen!

◆ Frontier Worlds

Considering this adventure takes place during the ridiculously camp Season 24, you would expect the location to be larger than life and completely insane. Dan Starkey more than delivered with the frontier town of Brightedge: a place plucked from the most stereotypical of Wild Western adventures. It honestly reminded me of Tombstone from ‘The Gunfighters’: you’ve got the slightly dubious saloon bar filled with live music and fighting, and let’s not forget the performers and variety acts.

These hour long stories can sometimes suffer from a lack of world-building, but it’s already been proven to me recently that you can depict a truly vivid landscape in only sixty minutes – see my reviews of ‘The Abandoned’ and ‘Peake Season’.

◆ Terrible Tinsel!

Much like when the prospectors of our own world hit the gold rush in California, the Tinsel rush on this planet resulted in the Frontier folk using the material in all manner of ways. They constructed their whole town from Tinsel – hence its nickname of Tinseltown. It was fashioned into clothing, with people even using it as rhinestones on performance outfits!

General Juno and Mayor Mungo made a grave error though, because Tinsel is actually a weapon being utilised by none other than the Cybermen! Once activated, it essentially converts all those in direct contact with the Tinsel – in that respect, it’s similar to the titular substance from ‘Dark Water’, that could result in mass conversions in no time at all.

◆ Sound Design

Howdy, partners! You looking to cause trouble in this here Wild Western inspired town? Well, don’t you worry, because Steve Foxon has done an excellent job at bringing it all to life.

A bleeping handset. Rumbling from within the Tinsel mines… which soon turns into a full blown cave-in! Mitzi’s is a rather shady saloon bar, but clearly very popular; live music plays throughout, whilst the punters laugh and shout, brawling for entertainment – good grief, and I thought some of the bars in Newcastle were rough! The voice of a 1960s Cyberman, dubbed Nelson by the people of Brightedge, emanates from a cupboard. The famed Cyberman mantra is chanted by different generations of the tin soldiers; the 1960s originals and General Juno’s lash-ups. Liquid tinsel raining onto the surface of the planet. The Cyber-ship detonates, making it look like there’s a genuine sunrise over Brightedge.

◆ Music

Steve Foxon’s score really leans into the whole Wild West feeling of this adventure, and is genuinely just marvellous to listen to: it’s the one time I’ve actually enjoyed the sound of a harmonica!

Generally, this music is bringing back fond memories of playing Hitman: Absolution, and hearing the track Black Bandana in all the Hope levels.

◆ Conclusion

“All that glitters is not gold… or silver.”

The mining town of Brightedge uses its most precious ore for everything, from manufacturing clothing to construction, but they’re in for a shock when they realise it’s actually a weapon controlled by the Cybermen… one which converts anyone who comes into contact with it!

Whilst listening to this adventure, I was honestly reminded of ‘The Tyrants of Logic’… the major difference being that Starkey’s script was actually entertaining, and didn’t make me want to take a cheese grater to my ear drums!

‘Bad Day in Tinseltown’ definitely would’ve benefited from double the runtime, but it still manages to capture the fun and campy energy of Season 24. Some brilliant performances and excellent post-production work, this is definitely worth a listen.