Doctor Who Review: ‘Doom Coalition 4’ (Eighth Doctor Audio)
By James Aggas
The Eighth Doctor, Liv and Helen face the Monk, the Angels and the Eleven in ‘Doom Coalition 4’. (Credit: Big Finish)
The Eighth Doctor faces the Eleven, the Weeping Angels, and the Meddling Monk, as the Doctor Who audio series Doom Coalition reaches its conclusion!
It’s been almost eighteen months since Doom Coalition began. Initially, I wasn’t sure what to make of it. I really loved the first two episodes in the first box set, but the remaining two episodes didn’t work quite as well. It was hard not to compare it to previous Eighth Doctor epic Dark Eyes. Especially the first box set, which was rather unfair. Dark Eyes was initially planned to be self-contained before getting a three box-set sequel. Doom Coalition, however, was planned to be four box sets long from the start. With its first box set, it really was only a quarter of a story. This made it more difficult to judge, initially.
The second box set was much more satisfying. Plot lines developed considerably more. The individual stories worked better. Best of all, we saw it taking bolder risks, such as bringing in River Song.
It was with the third box set that all the build up started to pay off in an incredible and epic way. ‘Doom Coalition 3’ began with one of the best episodes for beautiful drama with ‘Absent Friends’. Then it gave us three action-packed episodes that really showed what the series as a whole could do. Told on an epic scale and full of shocking twists and turns, the set turned Doom Coalition from something with promise into becoming one of my favourite series that Big Finish has ever done.
I talk about all of this because I need to stress the incredibly high expectations I had for this fourth and final box set. It didn’t just need to resolve one of the best cliffhangers in years. ‘Doom Coalition 4’ also had to resolve a story that had been spread across 16 episodes in a well told and satisfying manner.
As if that wasn’t enough, the box set would also include River, the Weeping Angels, the Monk, and Ollistra from the War Doctor audio series! With so much to cram in and resolve, would the whole series end in an incredibly rushed disappointment?
The Eighth Doctor, Liv and Helen are trapped in ‘Ship in a Bottle’. (Credit: Big Finish)
It didn’t take long to find out that that was far from the case. The opening episode, ‘Ship in a Bottle’, is a wonderful three-hander. Continuing directly where the third box set left off, it’s an episode with an incredibly fast pace and great drama. All of this while entirely taking place in one room. Writer John Dorney is really great at getting the perfect balance of science-fiction and incredible drama in many of his stories. ‘Ship in a Bottle’ is no exception. (Also, I love that this bottle episode actually has the word “bottle” in the title.)
Now, before I go any further, I must warn you that, while I won’t go into spoilers for this set specifically, there’s a pretty big spoiler for the previous 3 box sets that I need to mention here. Specifically, the identity of who the lead villain of the series really is, which was revealed at the end of the ‘Doom Coalition 3’. So if you haven’t listened to Doom Coalition at all and want to be kept completely spoiler-free, please stop reading now.
River Song visits the planet of the Time Lords in ‘Songs of Love’. (Credit: Big Finish)
‘Songs of Love’ focuses on events on Gallifrey, as River tries to find a way to help her friends while events continue to escalate.
There was a lot I enjoyed about this episode. For one thing, Padrac – a childhood friend of the Doctor’s who played a key role in the first box set – is now revealed as the mastermind of the whole series.
As a result, we get to hear a lot more of his villainous side in this episode. Before, we heard him more in the “good cop” type of role, someone reasonable and a great ally to the Doctor. Now though, we get to find out just how dangerous and calculating he really is.
Obsessed with not only saving Gallifrey but also ruling it, Padrac comes across as one of the most dangerous Time Lord enemies that the Doctor has faced yet. He’s not completely insane, at least not in the same way that the Master and the Eleven are. Padrac’s not simply self-centred like the Monk.
Instead, he’s simply someone who believes he’s doing what he thinks is right and essentially saving the world from incoming disaster. Perhaps in other circumstances, he could have been a hero. It’s just a shame that saving his planet comes with not just high ambition, but also at the cost of the rest of the universe.
The Eighth Doctor encounters the Weeping Angels and the Monk in ‘The Side of the Angels’. (Credit: Big Finish)
Robert Bathurst is absolutely brilliant in the role of Padrac. He has the right mix of charm and politeness that made him such a likable Time Lord in the first place. Now however, he also gets to display the cold and fanatical sides to the character. After almost 12 episodes spent established as a good guy, ‘Songs of Love’ does a great job of letting us know what the man is really like in time for the final episodes.
Even better is River getting the chance to visit Gallifrey. Considering she’s someone who knows about the Time War and what’s to come for the Doctor’s race, it’s interesting hearing her reaction.
Once again, Alex Kingston portrays the character brilliantly. It’s been a real joy to get to see brand new sides to her throughout Doom Coalition. The whole episode resolves River’s part in the story rather nicely. It also sets things up for the remaining two episodes for the rest of the TARDIS crew.
‘The Side of the Angels’ is another fantastic episode. Set in 1970s New York, the Doctor and his companions encounter the Weeping Angels. But, as exciting as Eight meeting those statues is, it’s not even the most interesting reunion. At least, not if you’ve been following the Eighth Doctor’s audio adventures closely.
He also comes face to face with the Monk once again. This is the first time the Eighth Doctor’s met him since ‘To The Death’ in 2011. For old Big Finish fans, this is definitely a big moment. McGann portrays a great deal of understated anger at the Monk, for very good reasons. For new listeners, the story avoids going into too much detail. While there’s drama there, it doesn’t come at the expense of the plot, or confusing new listeners.
After initially being introduced in 2015’s ‘The Black Hole’, Rufus Hound’s incarnation of the Monk is a marvelous character. He’s got the right balance between childlike and sneakiness that Peter Butterworth and Graeme Garden have previously done so well. It’s great to hear him against McGann’s Doctor. Where this incarnation of the Monk takes place is still not made clear. Or even if he has a clue why the Doctor is so angry with him.
The Eighth Doctor, Liv and Helen have to stop doomsday in the
Doom Coalition
finale, ‘Stop the Clock’. (Credit: Big Finish)
But as great as the Monk is, it’s Mark Bonnar’s performance as the Eleven that has shined since Doom Coalition started. These final episodes of the series are no exception. The Eleven, while not the real mastermind of this epic story, still casts a huge presence. Bonnar is just so brilliant at switching between personas so easily. I still wonder why the TV series has never given us a Time Lord villain like him before.
‘Stop the Clock’ is an absolutely thrilling finale. Not only does it live up to its title, with our heroes needing to prevent the end of the universe. It’s also a great way of tying up all loose ends. Including the ones you didn’t even realize were there. There are a few final, satisfying twists, and the confrontation between the Doctor and Padrac is amazing to hear.
But it’s how well the story works as a character piece that really makes it shine. Once again, John Dorney gets the balance between the epic and the intimate exactly right, making ‘Stop the Clock’ a truly great finale to listen to.
‘Doom Coalition 4’ was everything I had hoped for and more. It was big, epic, dramatic and emotional. All the build up in the previous box sets paid off in a rich and satisfying way. That’s an incredible challenge to accomplish when telling a story across so many episodes.
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When I first started the series, I was unsure whether it could live up to Dark Eyes. Having finished it and already planning to re-listen to the whole series from scratch, I can safely say that, as brilliant and epic as Dark Eyes was, Doom Coalition was even better.