Zagreus

DNF 50%

After a great season of Eighth doctor audios, I was really looking forward to the "season finale". However, after over 2 hours of listening, (only half way through,) I just can't finish it. After the strong opening, it's just an incoherent mess. So many characters are thrown in, and random settings and stories that have nothing to do with the main plot take precedence. If it had an hour or two shaved off its runtime, I think it would have been a story I'd enjoy.

Unfortunately, it felt like a waste of an afternoon. Hopefully Scherzo will be better, and it's only 2 hours.

I'll never complain about the length of a classic Who serial again, lol.

✅88% = Great! = Essential!

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

This time: a multi-Doctor adventure to celebrate 50 monthly audio drama releases and 40 years of Doctor Who, with Paul McGann playing the bad guy!

Zagreus represents the climax of a narrative arc that revolves around a Gallifreyan nursery rhyme, hints of which have been present in several previous Main Range releases. It has the air of a season finale while also celebrating 40 years of Doctor Who by including past Doctors and companions in the story. It also deepens the lore of the Time Lords and Rassilon, with concepts such as the Divergence.

Told through three separate parts, each clocking in at over 70 minutes, Zagreus is a complex, bizarre storyline, juggling comedic elements, scary aspects, and sci-fi concepts liberally. The Doctor’s parts mess around with familiar children’s stories (such as Alice in Wonderland), while Charley's parts deal with surprising takes on familiar characters.

Part 1 alternates between an amnesiac Doctor/Zagreus trying to figure out who he is and what is going on, and Charley joining a hologram of the Brigadier and attempting to connect the dots on her end. It’s somewhat hard to follow at times, as the listener is effectively as lost as the characters.

Part 2 takes a different turn as we head to Gallifrey and join the Great Mother, the High Priestess Cassandra, and Provost Tepesh (all played by familiar voices…) as well as Charley, in the guise of Rassilon. Simultaneously, the Doctor gradually unravels the mystery at his end, realising that his personality and the TARDIS have undergone a split. I cannot comprehend the exact nature of the situation or its purpose.

The latter half of Part 2 switches locations again, as Charley appears in another strange story, with animatronic animal soldiers in a theme park and the Jabberwock attacking the Doctor in the TARDIS. We still have no idea what’s going on, but the entire thing is bizarre, inventive, and strangely engaging.

Part 3 finally brings the three alternate Doctors and companions together for the finale, which takes place in the Death Zone. This one drops plenty of references to past stories and monsters, and I love how the three Doctors bicker and banter while Charley, Leela, and Romana try to keep everything together.

While it's not easy to always follow along and capture every detail of the narrative, I love the epic scope of the story and its majestic feel, as well as how everything fits together nicely in the last part.

Overflowing with characters, most of them old Doctors and companions in slightly different roles, Zagreus can feel a bit overwhelming at times, and it isn't always easy to follow along with the various voices and characters.

In one of his very best performances for Big Finish, Paul McGann is a creepy presence. He captures his confused, broken, and desperate nature with great accuracy, delivering a sprawling and altogether impressive performance as Zagreus. India Fisher, meanwhile, effortlessly carried the rest of the story in one of her strongest performances as Charley.

Past Doctors and companions appear in new roles, which is equally interesting and confusing. Peter Davison is Reverend Townsend, but he plays him like the Doctor. Colin Baker, in particular, is an absolute delight as Tepesh, and Sylvester McCoy is joyful as the Walt Disney-inspired Walton Winkle.

Nicholas Courtney is fantastic as a hologram popping in and out of the story, and he turns scary as he voices Zagreus and the evil TARDIS, providing one of his finest performances in the franchise.

Pretty much every single character is played by a Doctor or companion actor (including rarely heard voices such as Anneke Wills and Elisabeth Sladen). It’s fun trying to spot them all and listen to how each one of them provides wild and inventive performances.

Most of Zagreus is complex, strange, and confusing, but Part 3 feels the most like a traditional Doctor Who adventure and brings our favourite characters together against Rassilon and a bunch of fun monsters.

Even after the epic adventure in this story, Zagrerus takes a heartbreaking turn as the Doctor throws Charley out, only for her to sneak back onto the TARDIS…

 

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RANDOM OBSERVATIONS:

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This is the longest Main Range release and the second longest Big Finish story, after Dominion, at just shy of four hours.

Sadly, this is also the only Main Range release to feature Elisabeth Sladen and John Leeson as K9. It’s also the Big Finish debut for Louise Jameson as Leela.

 

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FINAL THOUGHTS:

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Zagreus is an epic and complex celebration of 40 years of Doctor Who, and while it's divisive within the fandom, it certainly feels like a celebratory adventure with big stakes and superb performances.