Just before starting this story, I mentioned that this was next up on my listening order in the Guide server, and all the Project: Lazarus haters crawled out of the woodwork and told me how awful it is. Now that I've listened, I have to say - I can't agree. I largely enjoyed this story (although I can see how it might not be for everyone), and am giving it 4 stars. Spoilers throughout.

Loved this line from Evelyn: "Just trying to lighten the mood. It's what I do!" It was a great little nod to the role of the companion, but especially of Evelyn's role in darker stories. The "Sixth Doctor" (Lazarus)'s unsettling loyalty to Nimrod and insistence that he wouldn't lie to him... This is some toxic parent/child relationship material if I ever saw it... Gonna go see if I can find any fics about this hehe (UPDATE: there are only four (4) fics on AO3 about Nimrod. Someone needs to go fix this immediately!!) Also, that line about Evelyn never forgiving Sixie for what happened to Cassie, "right up to the end", nearly gave me a heart attack - I rushed to tardis.wiki to make sure this wasn't her last story! Cassie's death here felt brutal and out of place - which brings me to my negatives.

There is some quite gritty and disturbing stuff that doesn't really go anywhere - it's not bad, persay, and I don't dislike it, I just feel like this all could have been done with a little more purpose. Similarly, the idea of "just following orders" crops up - the Forge is a military operation. It has soldiers, including one (Frith) who would make a great focaliser - why didn't they go harder on the nazi comparison? The whole thing just feels like a missed opportunity. Also, we never get to hear the Huldran's side of things - they are a silent victim, never allowed their own voices. This is I think my biggest problem with the story. Half the story is supposed to centre around them and their war with the Forge, and yet I barely know a thing about them! The story also  occasionally suffers from "telling" instead of "showing". Usually it doesn't damage the story, but when Frith died and the only way we knew is because the Doctor said (rather too casually), that he must not have made it into the lift, that really took the story down for me.

Creating the world of the Forge has been done really well, with the relationships between the characters being believable and making sense in a way that makes me feel for every one of them. Well, almost... I admit, I cannot wrap my head around Nimrod. I'm not sure I want to. There's a nice use of time lord telepathy. And, oh... raining again... Nice use of weather and circularity there. Ooh - "Maybe it's time I went home..." HELLO???  Foreshadowing at the end there, liked that - the story isn't over.

Despite it's flaws (the telling instead of showing, the lack of purpose to it's violent themes, etc), I enjoyed this story overall. It never lost my interest, and made good use of some of my favourite concepts (especially around themes of the self). 3.5-4/5 (averaged to a '4').

The second half of this story is one of Colin Baker’s finest performances. He brings so much terror and emotion to his role as the cloned Doctor. It’s a beautiful *not quite* multi-Doctor story that outshines every other BF multi-Doctor story I’ve heard (even Cold Fusion). A proper plot to get their teeth stuck into (even if you work out pretty quickly that something is up with 6th Doctor).

On that note - Big Finish has dreamed up few images more abhorrent than vats full of failed Colin Baker clones. Yuck! Imagine them all in their coats.

Sylvester wins runner up prize for best performance - he is on stellar form as the sleuth of the episode, working out what has gone wrong with his predecessor and The Forge.

The first half of this story, and the whole of it’s predecessor ‘Project: Twilight’ were interesting but less exceptional for me. In their defense I am not at all a fan of vampire stories and Evelyn and the 6th Doctor bring more than enough to the table with their character moments. We’re left on a bit of a cliffhanger regarding Evelyn’s health - I can’t wait to see how this unfolds!

📝9/10

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

A TALE OF TWO DOCTORS: VAMPIRES, THE FORGE, AND TWISTS IN TIME

Big Finish follows Project: Twilight with Project: Lazarus, a dark and complex multi-Doctor story by Cavan Scott and Mark Wright. This gripping adventure sees the Sixth Doctor and Evelyn on a vampire hunt, reuniting with Cassie, the woman they left behind in Norway, to offer her a cure for the vampire virus. However, they soon find themselves entangled in a sinister plot involving vampiric murders, scientific experimentation, and the mysterious Forge organisation.

A Grim Start:

Part 1 sets the stage with chilling ease, establishing the atmosphere and reintroducing key players like the manipulative Nimrod and the tragic Cassie. By Part 2, the focus shifts to the Forge’s experiments—using alien DNA to enable vampires to stun rather than kill their victims. While the Doctor investigates the Forge’s dark plans, Evelyn reconnects with Cassie, whose transformation into a vampire has made her bitter and angry. Evelyn’s own heart condition is a subtle yet poignant reminder of her vulnerability, adding layers to her character.

The tension escalates dramatically when the Doctor is lured into a trap—Nimrod needs Time Lord regeneration knowledge for his experiments. In one harrowing scene, the Doctor endures immense pain as part of Nimrod's attempts to force him to regenerate. The conclusion of Part 2 is both shocking and sombre, as Cassie sacrifices herself to save the Doctor and Evelyn, leading to a gut-wrenching moment where Evelyn is left weeping alone in the TARDIS.

A Twist in Time:

Part 3 introduces an unexpected twist: the Seventh Doctor arrives at the Forge, only to discover the Sixth Doctor working for the organisation as their scientific advisor. This unusual take on a multi-Doctor story is fascinating. The Seventh Doctor is appalled by his predecessor’s apparent betrayal, while Six insists he’s trying to reform the Forge and prevent an invasion of Earth (an oddly underdeveloped subplot).

The tension between the two incarnations is palpable, with Baker delivering a strikingly different performance. His version of Six is cowardly and conniving, raising doubts about his true identity. The reveal in Part 4—that this “Doctor” is a genetically engineered clone, one of many—adds a surreal and thrilling layer to the narrative. McCoy also excels as the Seventh Doctor, unleashing his manipulative side while uncovering the truth about his predecessor’s replacement.

Dramatic Climax and Themes:

The final act pulls together the narrative threads as Nimrod faces rebellion from his own organisation, with the Forge itself turning against him. While the techno-babble in the second half dilutes some of the earlier drama, the contrasting approaches of the two Doctors in dealing with the Huldrans keep the tension alive. The mystery of Evelyn’s whereabouts adds intrigue, though it frustratingly remains unresolved.

Cassie’s arc is the story’s emotional heart. Rose Cavaliero shines as the now-vengeful Cassie (or Artemis), exploring her anger, newfound power, and tragic brainwashing to forget her son. Her journey raises weighty questions about the consequences of the Doctor’s actions.

The supporting cast is a mixed bag. Stephen Chance commands attention as Nimrod, particularly in his confrontations with Baker and McCoy, while the Forge scientists are more one-dimensional, though Dr Crumpton’s rebellion against Nimrod adds a spark. Vidar Magnussen is memorable as Professor Harket, capturing the essence of scientific passion rooted in folklore, but his early death in Part 1 feels like a missed opportunity.

Atmosphere and Sound:

The Norwegian setting, with its dark, wintry November backdrop, builds a chilling and eerie atmosphere, perfectly complemented by the dramatic score and stellar sound design. These elements heighten the story’s most intense moments, keeping listeners on edge throughout.

Final Thoughts:

Project: Lazarus is an ambitious, thought-provoking tale that expertly weaves character drama with political intrigue and moral dilemmas. While its complex narrative occasionally stumbles, it offers a bold and compelling continuation of the Forge saga. The performances, particularly from Baker, Stables, and Cavaliero, elevate the story, delivering both emotional depth and gripping tension.

A daring, multi-layered story that challenges its characters—and its audience—with haunting themes and clever twists.

RANDOM OBSERVATIONS:

• Finland and Sweden are mentioned in passing - this makes me happy!

This is part of a series of reviews of Doctor Who in chronological timeline order.

Previous Story: Doctor Who and the Pirates

Better than Project: Twilight, but that's not saying much. It certainly has a lot less of the things I despised about it's predecessor but it's not without flaws. I'll start by talking about the first two parts. It picks up where we left off in Project: Twilight with the Doctor going back to meet up with Cassie only he overshot it so that this story could have a reason to exist. Long story short Cassie's evil now and it turns out everyone's favourite edgelord Nimrod is back. He's somehow an expert on Time Lords now. I get that there's an explanation for it, but it feels like a cheap attempt to artificially increase how much of a threat the Forge actually are. It was my main issue in the last story, that this new villain who's come out of nowhere is suddenly one of the Doctor's greatest enemies and is hyper-competent. To make this work though, they also had to make the Doctor rather incompetent.

There's a gratuitous torture scene for the Doctor (because why not) and then Cassie dies and everyone escapes. Now I will say something positive, Maggie Stables' performance here is fantastic, maybe one of her best ones and she really sells just how utterly distraught Evelyn is at knowing Cassie is dead. The way she responds to 6's callousness is also fantastic and I'm glad to hear it gets picked up on in the next story.

Now we get to the Seventh Doctor. Because I'm doing this in timeline order, this is my first ever experience of 7. Ever. From this, I really like Sylvester Mccoy, his performance is great here and I'm glad that he isn't portrayed as absolutely useless like 6 was earlier. He meets up with what is presumably the Sixth Doctor, I quite like their chemistry and it's fun to have that classic multi-doc banter.

7 uncovers the mystery behind 6's appearance here and it turns out he's a disposable clone. Previous 6 clones have died of a heart attack, had their throat slit and now had their arm ripped off (I'm beginning to think the writers don't like 6). 7 gets out of there but not before shutting them down and saving some aliens who feel rather out of place. And then we get a teaser that the Forge have survived because the writers just can't kill off their little pet organisation.

All in all, the gore is toned down, which might seem ridiculous considering some of the things I described are already fairly rough. I think it could have done with just being a 7 story, the prequel stuff with 6 feels really tacked on and means we have two under-baked stories when we could have had one really solid complete one. Colin Baker, Maggie Stables and Sylvester Mccoy are giving this story everything they've got which is way more than this story deserves but at the very least it helps to make it a lot less dull.

Next Story: Arrangements for War