Paradise 5 (Doctor Who: The Lost Stories) [Audiobook] [Audio CD]

Another in the series of Doctor Who audio plays that star Colin Baker as the Doctor and Nicola Bryant as his companion Peri, bringing to life on CD stories that were written for the show back in the 1980's but which for various reasons never got to screen.

Paradise 5 sees the time travellers go to visit an old friend, only to find he's gone to paradise 5, a space station that functions as a luxurious holiday resort, and then disappeared. The Doctor and Peri head to the station to investigate. The place is run by a man called Gabriel. Little humanoid creatures called Cherubs do the menial work. People are vanishing. And strange creatures are being seen.

Can the Doctor and Peri find the secret of Paradise 5?

Originally written for the 1986 trial of the a timelord season and featuring Bonnie Langford as Mel, the script has been rewritten by another writer to remove all the courtroom scenes that the trial season had, and to add in Peri in place of Mel as Bonnie Langford wasn't available to reprise the role. And they've also created a new opening episode that makes the story stand on it's own with no need for the trial format.

And a very good job they've done of it. Because this story works really well on audio. The plot isn't anything special but all the extra little details of the story are good enough to make you unconcerned about that. Peri spends a lot of time investigating on her own and this allows for her to have some very strong scenes of character. And wear costumes that you can but visualise in your mind's eyes.

Excellent villainy comes the wonderful double act of Alex Macqueen as Gabriel and James D'arcy as his right hand man Michael. The two play off each other ever so well and the former is more than a match for the doctor in the use of language and big words.

The best thing about this though is the length of the episodes. The previous stories in this range have all been long two parters, but this one has four episodes, two each on a disc, ranging in length from twenty six to thirty minutes approx. It makes them much better paced.

Not the greatest story ever by a long shot, but one that's well above average and a very enjoyable listen.

There are interviews with cast and crew on the end of each disc - worth listening to for an interesting insight into the writing process that goes into the lost story range - and a trailer for the next story in this range at the start of disc one.

This is the fifth of the productions from Big Finish in which stories written for Colin Baker's sixth Doctor on TV, but were never made, are finally brought to life.

This, for me, has been the highlight of the series so far. The Doctor and Peri are trying to investigate the disappearance of an old friend of the Doctor's, on the luxury holiday resort of Paradise 5, a floating space station. Peri goes undercover as a stewardess, whilst the Doctor creeps around behind the scenes. It is soon clear that all is not well, and something very untoward is happening to the guests.

This story starts off as a decent mystery, and evolves into an entertaining adventure as things start to hot up. There is a decent script, originally intended for the `Trial of a Timelord' season, which works well on audio. The cast members gove it their all, and provide memorable and interesting characters, especially Michael and Gabriel, the two people who run paradise.

THis is an entertaining release, and one that I am glad has seen the light of day at last. Well done Big Finish, more like this please!

A really atmospheric story this one with a closed spooky setting. The two villains are well realised - I developed a soft spot for the posh chap. Colin's portrayal is a mixture of the brash TV persona and the further developed persona from the main Big Finish range. This is a bit of a twist on the original intention of the story (which was meant to introduce Mel) however the story still holds up and is enjoyable - must give a special mention to the cherubs who struck me as a good idea.