What a brilliant and whimsical character piece. Bold in scope and a well-needed story for a new companion. Villain is brilliant and I would have loved to see them again. I was fully captivated from start to finish. Fab story.

There are Stories out there where I differ vastly from the average rating of others. This is one of them. While by no means perfect or even as good as it's clear Inspiration Mind Robber. Axis of Insanity still has quite a few great Things to offer and even does the out-there Universe "Trope" so much better than the previous Entry in the Divergent Universe, which is quite ironic if you ask me.

Yet again our Tardis Trio of Peri, 5 and Erimem are as enjoyable as ever. I must admit I find myself really liking this TARDIS Team, despite finding Peri and 5 having rarely an intriguing dynamic (then again I rarely listened to most of their Audio Outings besides the Erimem ones, so maybe I am not the best Judge here).

The big Standout here is our villainous Force, who is played quite well. The Jester feels like such a great Concept and is used quite well, at least in my Eyes.

Not only that but as I mentioned this one does weirdly feel more fitting in the Divergent Universe Arc than some actual DU Stories we got in that Arc. The Setting is great and while I wished it was used a bit more, what we got is a lot of fun and creative! It does help that this Story has an Atmosphere that suits this adventure quite well.

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

“AXIS OF INSANITY: A NIGHTMARE FUNFAIR OF MADNESS AND MAYHEM”

The Axis of Insanity takes the Fifth Doctor, Peri, and Erimem to the Axis, a surreal and eerie realm that exists in the void between universes. Ruled by the sinister Overseer, who harbours a deep resentment for the Time Lords, the Axis is a place of madness, nightmares, and illusions. From the outset, the story plunges into chaos, with the Doctor ensnared in the deadly games of a maniacal Jester, while Peri and Erimem navigate the treacherous landscape, pursued by monstrous Firebreed dragons and haunted by ever-changing threats.

ATMOSPHERE AND SUSPENSE

The story establishes its unsettling tone right from the start, blending an eerie circus-like setting with moments of genuine horror. The Firebreed dragons provide a ferocious physical threat, while the creeping madness seeping through the Axis heightens the tension. The first episode’s climax—where the Overseer realises he has inadvertently summoned the Doctor as his only hope of restoring order—is an effective hook that raises the stakes.

A GAME OF ILLUSIONS AND MIND TRICKS

The plot itself is fairly straightforward: the Doctor evades the Jester’s tricks while trying to reunite with his companions, and Peri and Tog journey through the dangerous landscape to warn the Doctor. What makes it engaging is the series of mind-bending challenges and psychological torments along the way.

One of the best moments comes when the Jester impersonates the Doctor to manipulate Erimem, only for her to see through the deception with a brilliantly simple trick—testing his knowledge of her supposed home in Chicago. This reinforces Erimem’s intelligence and adaptability, showing that while she may struggle with some futuristic concepts, she is far from naïve.

THE JESTER – A TERRIFYING VILLAIN

Garrick Hagon delivers a chilling performance as the Jester, whose gleeful insanity and twisted sense of humour make him genuinely unsettling. He has shades of the Joker—his erratic behaviour and menacing laughter send shivers down the spine. Liza Ross is equally strong as Jarra To, the Jester’s female counterpart, adding another layer of menace. His shape-shifting abilities and manipulation of reality make him a particularly dangerous foe, and the reveal that he murdered a Time Lord and absorbed their knowledge—except for an understanding of the TARDIS—only makes him more horrifying.

A STRONG SHOWING FOR PERI AND ERIMEM

One of the highlights of The Axis of Insanity is the strong dynamic between Peri and Erimem. Their growing friendship is well-handled, with Peri’s patience and intelligence complementing Erimem’s curiosity and courage. Domestic TARDIS scenes—such as Peri teaching Erimem to read—add warmth and depth to their relationship. Caroline Morris is given plenty to do, particularly in the latter half, where Erimem must defend the TARDIS from the Jester’s attacks, proving her resourcefulness and bravery.

A SLIGHTLY WEAK THIRD ACT

While the first two parts maintain a strong pace, Part 3 loses some momentum, spending too much time in narrative limbo. Though there are still moments of tension—such as the Jester relentlessly pursuing Erimem through the TARDIS—the story feels like it’s treading water before the final confrontation.

📝VERDICT: 8/10

A twisted, surreal, and engaging adventure that delivers strong character moments, an unsettling villain, and a darkly atmospheric setting. The Jester is a memorable antagonist, and the nightmare funfair setting keeps the listener on edge. While the third act loses some steam, the overall experience remains an intense and gripping journey into madness. Fans of The Mind Robber or psychological horror in Doctor Who will find much to enjoy here.

Depois da horrível experiência com Nekormanteia, supreendentemente The Axis Of Insanity veio como um alivio aos meus ouvidos, digo isso porque antes de ouvir dei uma olhada nas avaliações desse áudio e notei que são poucos os fãs que o aprovaram. Produzido no chamado período experimental da BIG FINISH – The Axis Of Insanity traz consigo conceitos bem criativos e fantasiosos surfando um pouco no surrealismo exigindo seu ouvinte aflorar a imaginação em sua criação de mundo tornando a experiência bem imersiva. Acidentalmente a TARDIS é atraída pelo chamado Eixo, que é basicamente um complexo no espaço interdimensional, uma espécie de “nenhum lugar". A melhor definição é a de um playground distorcido, onde a realidade, a moralidade e a sanidade não se aplicam mais. Ele sustenta a estrutura de realidades danificadas ou truncadas, becos sem saída no tempo formados por mudanças na história que fazem o fluxo de eventos subsequentes ficar fora de controle, muitas vezes catastroficamente. Presos em um nexo dimensional os três viajantes da TARDIS precisam desvendar o mistério que envolve linhas de tempo danificadas e enfrentar um(a) vilão(ã) que está disposto(a) a fazer de tudo para sabotar o trunfo dos personagens principais, para assim então deixar que o Eixo se corrompa e desmorone sua própria realidade. Já que citei ele, vamos falar do que pra mim é o destaque principal de The Axis Of Insanity – Às vezes chamado de Jarra To outra vezes chamado de The Jester (em português Bobo da Corte), Liza Ross e Garrick Hagon dão a vida a um maníaco, psicopata pirado com uma personalidade muito semelhante ao do Coringa possuindo um pouco do conceito do Celestial Toymaker. A performances de ambos são incríveis compensando seu enredo simples e trazendo uma ótima dinâmica com o 5° Doctor e mais à frente com a Erimem também. Talvez o áudio ganharia mais pontos em minha avaliação se tivesse um pouco mais de capricho na sua escrita, trazendo mais reviravoltas, plot twits para surpreender seu ouvinte. Tem muita repetição e blocos que enrolam e se estendem muito, também senti a Peri com certo mau humor, às vezes se pagando de chata. Infelizmente esses deslizes acabam justificando sua história apenas ter 1 hora e meia de duração.

The Monthly Adventures #056 - “The Axis of Insanity" by Simon Furman

Twice in a row now we’ve had widely disliked stories that I’ve failed to see the issues with. The Axis of Insanity is fun, like really, really fun. “Insanity” is totally the right word for this, it is a cacophony of sound and absent visuals that turn into a peerlessly unique and fun story which feels like it should’ve been written for the Divergence arc - which this story is slotted between seasons of. The writer - Simon Furman - seems to be a primarily comic book author and that shows massively in the scope of this story and some of its not-so-subtle influences from a certain caped crusader’s archnemesis. A fun descent into madness with some cracking performances, what is not to love?

There is a place where chaos and instability converge - The Axis. A great equaliser keeping rogue timelines at bay. But when the Doctor and crew find themselves there, they find it tainted by a great madness, with all of time about to fall in its wake.

(CONTAINS SPOILERS)

I groaned when I read the synopsis for this story because instantly I thought it sounded so good. However, seeing as it was paired with an undesirable rating, I was prepared for some untapped nonsense keen to leave its ideas uncapitalised upon. So imagine my shock when I listened to it and it surpassed nearly all my expectations ten-fold. This is a mental story, it is a cacophony of sound and fury and dragons that I just couldn’t get enough of. Episodes that have a litany of great ideas instantly have my respect and The Axis of Insanity has one of those scripts that just won’t stop throwing new stuff at you, instantly putting it in my good books. From the bizarre, labyrinthine halls of the Axis to the dragons to the evil court jester, this is a world of surrealism and boundless creativity. The Axis itself makes for an incredible setting, a sort of Land of Fiction type affair with a bunch of overlapping realities all melded into a funhouse of universes that reminds me of something like Labyrinth, picturing this bizarre junction of possibility with all the upside-down staircases and twisting corridors of Jareth’s castle. And hell, maybe David Bowie was in the Axis too, you never know. And besides the setting, the other big thing we have to play around is our villain - the utterly mad Jarra To, who is totally not the Joker; no seriously, no parallels at all, absolutely no influence. Ok, enough with the bit, our antagonist is a camp wonder obviously inspired by the clown prince of crime, with elements of Hamill and Nicholson poking through in Hagon’s mesmerising performance. And whilst I wouldn’t dare say he matches with the greats, he gets bloody close for a Doctor Who monster of the week; his performance is utterly fantastic and by far my favourite part of this story, Hagon gives his all and it pays off. The Jester is a scary, insane and formidable foe who I can picture gloriously in my head through Hagon’s vocal efforts alone. Our other performances are pretty great too, especially from Davison; Five has always been one of my least favourite Doctors and in fact still is my least favourite Doctor from pre-2018 but in recent months I feel I’ve reappraised him. Davison turns out to be one of the most talented actors to take on the role and as I get more and more in tune with Five’s personality, which I had been foggy on beforehand, I enjoy his portrayal more and more. Especially here, battling with his Time Lord superiority and his wish to be friends with mere humans as he clearly quite painfully has to do his duty and sacrifice his life to stop Jarra To. Davison really puts his heart into this story and comes out the other end with one of his better depictions. Erimem also continues to grow on me, as she naturally becomes closer and closer with the Doctor and Peri. I really enjoy her and Peri’s friendship and stuff like her learning how to read English (though I don’t know how the chameleon circuit doesn’t just get around that) and managing to realise the Doctor isn’t the Doctor when he’s being impersonated by Jarra To, cementing her as part of the TARDIS team for good. As for other characters, we only really have one non-recurring protagonist and that’s the rather ineffectual Tog; he’s not bad and his performance is fine but he’s just not all that interesting.

One character I would like to highlight however is Peri and, whilst Nicola Bryant joins her fellow cast members with another great performance, Furman chooses to write her like an idiot for at least the first half of the story, having Peri constantly walk into the world’s most obvious traps constantly. I understand it was needed to set up stakes inside of the Axis but it feels done in such an uncharacteristic way. However, she soon recovers from this spell once we leave the Axis and get onto the third act. However, this itself becomes a problem as leaving the Axis means we stop exploring it, which I find really unfortunate. This is a very fast story and so we never really spend too long on one place, which really annoys me because it means we can never get a proper look at the Axis, briskly walking through classrooms of empty-eyed children and brightly lit Vegas casinos in the space of one scene, never stopping to explore its surroundings. Take The Mind Robber - a very similar story - for instance; that manages to both move at a highly reasonable pace and give a fantastic overview of its brilliant setting. If The Axis of Insanity simply took a little longer to bask in its worldbuilding, I think it would’ve made for a much more interesting listen. As for the main negatives people tend to bring up when criticising this story, I have to acknowledge that I think I can see why some people might dislike it. Whilst I had no problem with it, this story is a camp marvel and that is simply not to some people’s liking. And although I think it nails the tone for a majority of the story, I can admit there are moments where it goes too far. For instance, Jarra To’s true form, played rather passionately by Liza Ross, leans way to far into the eccentricities of the character and whilst the Jester form of Jarra To feels truly insane and macabre, Ross’ version just comes across as over the top and irritating, and it’s in her performance I glimpse the destructive flaws I failed to properly see. And if I did really have to nitpick, I’d have to say that Jarra To was defeated far too easily. It’s established that they have control over the fabric of reality, and yet is simply pushed off a cliff to their death. With some omnipotent villains, it’s established that they like to refrain from using their powers in battle as it would make the fight boring, however this is never established here so I’m just left wondering why this god of chaos allowed themselves to be even hurt.

However, The Axis of Insanity, I think, is a genuinely great hidden gem. Sure, it has its flaws, but they’re pretty much all minor nitpicks and whilst I can’t for the life of me grasp why this is so widely disliked, I understand why some people might not enjoy its ceaseless barrage of increasingly insane and singular ideas. However, for me, it’s a wildly creative, wonderfully acted and passionately made bit of Who that I can’t help but love.

8/10

Pros:

+ Utterly mad and filled with inspired ideas

+ The Axis is a fantastic setting

+ Davison gets an incredible performance

+ Erimem gets more time to shine

+ Jarra To makes for an all time great antagonist in my opinion

Cons:

- Admittedly could tone down the camp in sections

- Peri is underused

- If anything, doesn’t use its premise enough

- Jarra To, despite being an omnipotent being, is defeated somewhat easily