Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Boom boom shake shake the...TARDIS?, 14 Sep 2007
My initial impressions on listening to this, the thirty-ninth Big Finish full-cast Doctor Who audio drama, were that it was a poor joke. The comedic tone seemed to jar, whilst the dialogue-heavy script appeared to be a mistake. However, after a while it began to grow on me; despite the appalling Wogan pastiche 'Logan' and Jane Goddard's irritating space-rodent; what makes this release good is the supporting cast. Bonnie Langford's inquisitive and bouncy Mel makes a far better audio character than she did on television, Nickolas Grace (better known as the villainous bug-eyed sheriff in the 1980's Robin Hood series) is appropriately menacing as the translator for a crackling alien and Graeme Garden, although little used, displays his usual deadpan wit and charm. The only weakness here is Patricia Quinn's atrociously accented Queen Angvia who falls in love with The Doctor and hams it up like you wouldn't believe. The 'DUM-DUM-DUM' musical motifs that appear after every murder are excruciatingly corny, but that aside the overall feel is a warm one, somewhat reminiscent of one of Colin Baker's better TV stories. Sylvester McCoy rolls his 'rrrrs' for all he is worth, but after several audio stories, he has settled nicely back into the roll he was never really given the time to develop.
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2 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Sublime Kitsch, 12 Jan 2007
BANG-BANG-A-BOOM! is a play that never seems to be very highly rated amongst the Big Finish audio range. Not, I assume, because it is firstly and foremostly DR WHO done as comedy - THE ONE DOCTOR written by the same authors (Roberts and Hickman) often seems to pop up on most people's list of favourites. More likely, I suspect, because it celebrates the kitsch silliness it also sends up, and this may not please everyone's comic palate. What tickles one person may bore another stone dead.
Personally, I hate Eurovision, but love (for example) the gleeful mickey taking of Terry Wogan's commentary. The send-ups of STAR TREK and SPACE:1999 also work for my money, partly because the excellent music and sound effects only subtly suggest the influences of these series. Partly also because whilst the characters echo protagonists of TREK etc, they are also people in their own right. They are given backgrounds, histories and motivations, which if not completely developed,are rounded enough to keep the narrative alive. Rest assured, there is a traditional DR WHO plot involving murder, intergalactic politics and alien representatives from rather strange cultures. This though, is just an excuse for some rather excellent satire and jokes.
The actors, who all play with commitment and energy, particularly Graeme Garden, Nickolas Grace and Patricia Quinn, are superb. Moreover, because he's surrounded by rather a strange,larger than life cast,Sylvester McCoy's comedic portrayal of the Doctor seems a little more grounded and reassuring than usual - even if he does still play the spoons as well as having a passionate love scene (this for me, is one of the funniest ever scenes in DR WHO). Bonnie Langford continues to prove what a good actress she can be when given the right material - she plays "straight man" to virtually everyone else in the cast with considerable skill.
Although perhaps not for every afficionado of WHO, BANG-BANG-A-BOOM! is lively, amusing and memorable enough to deserve more than the one listening. A personal favourite.
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0 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Welcome to the Intergalactic Song Contest!, 26 Oct 2006
"Dark Space 8 - an advanced monitoring station floating serenely among the stars. Its crew - a dedicated and highly-skilled group of professionals, calmly going about their vital work. Its mission - to boldly host the Intergalactic Song Contest.
"With representatives from myriad worlds competing, the eyes of the universe are on the station. But dark dees are afoot aboard Dark Space 8... and people are starting to die.
"The haughty Queen Angvia; the gaseous gestalt Gholos; disposable pop idol Nicky Newman; erratic Professor Fassbinder; and the icily-efficient Doctor Eleanor Harcourt - all are suspects. Could old political rivalries be manifesting themselves among the contestants? Is this the work of a breakaway terrorist faction? Or has someone just got it in for singer-songwriters?
"With peace in the galaxy hanging by a thread, it's vital that the mystery is solved - and fast! Can Dark Space 8's unconventional new commander, with the help of his personal pilot, Mel, find the murderer in time to prevent a major intergalactic war?
Or will it be 'nul points' for the entire universe...?"
With "Bang-Bang-A-Boom", Big Finish Productions revive the "Christmas romp" tradition set by the previous year's "The One Doctor". Commissioning writers Gareth Roberts and Clayton Hickman once again, and once again featuring Bonnie Langford's Mel as the companion, the scene is set for much silliness.
And silliness we get! Laced with obvious jokes, blatant recurring motifs and convoluted murders, the play provides an aptly characterised early Seventh Doctor with many opportunities to to mix metaphors and roll his 'R's throughout the various bizarre scenarios. To the extent that the previous year's entry "The One Doctor" had subtlety, "Bang-Bang-A-Boom" rather foregoes it in favour of a more conventional "comedy" approach. However, the satire of Eurovision, in all of its thinly veiled glory, is entertaining. Commentator Logan (David Tughan) is particularly entertaining; pity he gets a knife in the back at an early stage.
A rogue's gallery of special guest stars includes Graeme Garden, Patricia Quinn, Nockolas Grace and Sabina Franklyn. Against this extensive competition, however, Sylvester McCoy and Bonnie Langford ensure that they do not get sidelined, and recapture their characters (including the new, improved Big Finish Mel) with ease.
"Bang-Bang-A-Boom" is not universally loved, on account of its superficial humour and overblown performances, but I found it to be a highly entertaining romp, even if "The Caves of Androzani" it ain't. "Bang-Bang-A-Boom" is also the first of Big Finish's past Doctor range to use the version of the theme tune appropriate to the era of the story: in this case, the Keff McCulloch version from the late 1980s.
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