DOCTOR WHO: STATIC [2017]

"WE ARE ALSO ARMED.  AND THE DEAD OUTNUMBER THE LIVING!"

"STATIC" is one of the best DOCTOR WHO audio adventures I've listened to and is surely at the top of the heap as far as Big Finish's audios go!  Written by Jonathan Morris (who gave us such corkers as BLOODTIDE, THE HAUNTING OF THOMAS BREWSTER and THE CRIMES OF THOMAS BREWSTER) and directed by Jamie Anderson (AND YOU WILL OBEY ME, VAMPIRE OF THE MIND and THE TWO MASTERS) provide one of the genuinely scary and creepy entries in Ole Sixie's (or any other Doctor's) career.  I listened to it on the recommendation of the indispensible Doc Oho whose glowing review (beware Doc Oho's reviews have spoilers) gave "STATIC" a 10 out of 10!  I was looking for a really great Big Finish Doctor Who I didn't already have and this one actually lived up to the high praise!

From the back of the compact discy comes this quite good blurb:   "Deep in the heart of nowhere, near a place called Abbey Marston, there’s a caravan site. The perfect place to get away from it all. Close by, there’s a stone circle they used for human sacrifice in olden times. A little further afield, there’s an old RAF research station, where they did hush-hush things in the war. There’s only one rule: the use of radios, cassette recorders and portable televisions is strictly forbidden. People come here to get away from it all, you see. No-one wants to hear the noise. No-one wants to hear the voices in the static… No-one wants to hear the ghosts." . . . and the creep factor rushes in 100%!  There are indeed ghostly voices in the static as well as warning not to answer a ringing phone . . . if you know what's good for you.  There are indeed also reanimated dead and strange, goop-covered bodies found inside trees.

Miranda Raison, Colin Baker & Lisa Greenwood

In this story, even though it IS a few years old, Colin Baker continues to reign as the greatest Doctor as far as audio adventures are concerned (with Paul McGann a close second).  The absolute renaissance Big Finish gave to Colin Baker's portrayal of the Doctor puts the TV adventures to shame.  Here is where Colin Baker shines and the stories in which he appears are usually superbly written as well.  Here Ole Sixie faces the ghoulish goings-on with his companions the World War II-era WREN Mrs. Constance Clark (Miranda Raison) and rambunctious teenager Flip (Lisa Greenwood) who, while both unfamiliar to me as this was my first time encountering them, quickly fit in like a pair of old gloves. 

David Graham & Nicholas Briggs

Special mention should also be made of the presence of veteran actor David Graham here as the quite scary and occasional axe-wielding Percy Till.  Graham goes back almost to the very beginning of DOCTOR WHO when in 1963 he voiced a certain pack of pepperpots in the serial "THE DALEKS" as well as "THE DALEK INVASION OF EARTH", "THE CHASE" and "THE DALEKS' MASTER PLAN" as well as appearing as Charlie the barman in "THE GUNFIGHTERS" and as scientist Professor Kerensky in "CITY OF DEATH".  If a stranger to the great job Big Finish has done with DOCTOR WHO audio adventures over many years, this would be a pretty good place to start.  And if you're looking for a fantastically good Big Finish DOCTOR WHO you haven't heard yet, here's a terrific one!