Doctor Who Watch review: The Human Frontier is highly recommended for fans of great sci-fi

With great characters, intriguing questions and a thrilling story, Big Finish’s new sci-fi The Human Frontier is a highly recommended series from a brilliant Doctor Who writer.

I must admit: this is my first time reviewing one of the Big Finish Originals releases. Being a website predominantly focused on Doctor Who, I generally like to keep things on topic. Even the non-Doctor Who audios I’ve reviewed have usually been a spin-off, at least.

But I felt compelled to cover the brand new series The Human Frontier. This is partly because it’s been written and directed by Nicholas Briggs. Not just the voice of the Daleks, but a writer of many great stories himself, his best work has arguably been his own spin-off series Dalek Empire. If you haven’t checked it out yet, do so. It’s an extremely dark and gritty sci-fi series that features not just a great depiction of the Daleks, but also explores both the best and worst of humanity, too.

So a completely original sci-fi series written by Briggs immediately grabbed my interest. Especially its simple but intriguing idea: a colony ship of over a thousand humans heading towards a distant world, remaining in deep sleep for a thousand years. There’s just one problem: by the time they finally reach their destination, the planet has already been colonized for hundreds of years by other humans.

What happens when these distinctly different generations of humanity meet each other? And does The Human Frontier do a great job of exploring both its key idea and its characters?

Worldbuilding

There’s a great deal that Nicholas Briggs packs into this four-part series. In some ways, it’s extremely fast-paced, as the story kicks off with Exographer Anna Swift (played by Pepter Lunkuse) suddenly waking up from her long sleep. She’s thrown into a dangerous situation immediately, and the stakes only get higher from there – especially when some comes into contact with the world of Triton.

However, while the core story itself moves quickly, at the same time, Briggs takes his time to introduce both this world and its characters to us. Especially in the first episode, which is extremely non-linear. We find out about these colonists, what made them want to take such a huge risk, and more importantly, the relationships that they share.

Anna is essentially our main pair of eyes, and she’s an absolutely brilliant character. She’s not a warrior or a leader, but she finds herself in a lot of danger very quickly, and she’s forced to make major decisions on the spot. Not only is she well-written, but she’s wonderfully played by Lunkuse, who portrays the strengths and vulnerabilities of the character equally well.

Another performance that leaps out is Clive Wood as Brett Triton, President of the planet. He’s a deeply unstable character, one who’s extremely smart, but also equally paranoid. Wood portrays this powerful and dangerous man perfectly, giving us a clear antagonist for the story, but not someone who’s a clearcut villain. Essentially, he’s just doing what he can to survive and to protect his world, even if he’s going to extreme measures to achieve that.

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Resolution?

With a fast pace, a lot of twists and turns, and a strong focus on developing believable and grounded characters, The Human Frontier passes by extremely quickly.

However, there is one thing that you should know before listening to it: if you’re hoping that everything will be neatly resolved by the end, unfortunately, this isn’t that kind of story. By the time The Human Frontier finishes, there is a lot left to resolve, and in some ways, it feels like the story is only just beginning. This isn’t a problem on its own terms – certainly, it’s much more preferable to a rushed and unsatisfying ending – but it is worth keeping in mind.

With that said, is The Human Frontier worth checking out? Absolutely. It’s a truly fantastic series, and one of the best Big Finish releases ever written by Nicholas Briggs. It explores both the best and worst of humanity; it raises some interesting questions, particularly on what it means to be human, and it tells a thrilling sci-fi story too. I’m already keeping my fingers crossed for series 2.

Have you listened to The Human Frontier yet? What did you think of it? Do you think Big Finish should make more original sci-fi series like this? Let us know in the comments below.