The continuing saga of the Eighth Doctor’s adventures resumes after the events of the previous boxset (Doctor Who-Ravenous 2.)
Faced with bringing back fan-favourite characters, allies and enemies alike, Big Finish presents an ambitious scope of stories for the third instalment in the Ravenous Series. Can the adventures of the Eighth Doctor still capture the audience’s imagination?
Deeptime Frontier- Written by Matt Fitton
The first story of Ravenous 3, Deeptime Frontier penned by Big Finish Mainstay Matt Fitton opens the boxset with an explosive auditory action piece. The opening scene starts with a mysterious attack on a Gallifreyan Vortex Base.
We’re thrown into the depth of the action, and all sorts of concepts are thrown at the audience; including a gender-swap regeneration (which since the 2003 story Exile have been eased into Big Finish continuity with continuing success.) Fans of Time Lord lore will love these stories, especially those concerning the titular “Ravenous.” We get a lovely causal reference to the Time Scathe’s as mentioned in the novel Cat’s Cradle- Time’s Crucible.
The lore surrounding the Ravenous is established further, linking them to the time of the Intuitive Revolution (When Rassilon became the first President of the Time Lords.) This leads to some excellent foreshadowing to Gallifrey’s war-torn future via an eerie vision of the Time War. The audio medium allows for some genuinely atmospheric scenes as the Doctor and co examine the creepily clown-like corpse of one of the Ravenous.
Overall, Deeptime Frontier is a superb start to the set and takes full advantage of the “Base Under Siege” format.
Companion Piece- Written by John Dorney
Companion Piece is by far the most ambitious story in Ravenous 3. John Dorney weaves together many characters from the Doctor’s past in this Doctor-Lite story. The episode begins with River Song kidnapping by The Nine, who on a whim, decides to start a menagerie consisting of a collection of the Doctor’s travelling companions.
Companions past, present, and future have to work together, which makes from some great scenes and character dynamics. In particular, the return of Charley Pollard was great to hear. Liv, Helen, and Charley also have to work alongside future companion, Bliss (who in this timeline has not yet met the Doctor.) There are some shocking cameos from fan favourite characters such as Adric, Jamie, and Romana. There’s also a quick reference to penguin shaped companion, Frobisher.
It’s lovely to have the villain’s motivation as a simple hedonistic pursuit of pleasure and personal gain, rather than some universe-ending scheme. Although I really enjoyed this episode, I felt the ending was a bit rushed and that Charley’s connection with the Doctor could have empathised more.
L.E.G.E.N.D- Written by Matt Fitton
L.E.G.E.N.D concerns an A.I is recreating fairy tales in 19th century Europe. and that leads to several inventive ideas from writer Matt Fitton.
The Doctor, Liv, Helen and the Eleven on the run from the Ravenous as they become entangled in tales of the Brothers Grimm and an alien professor’s Artificial intelligence that collects data from different culture’s folklore from across the universe.
The Doctor is forced to work with the Eleven demonstrating once again the thoroughly engaging chemistry between Paul McGann and Mark Bonnar. It is an inventive story with some clever ideas that perhaps need a bit more time to fully flesh them out.
The Odds Against- Written by John Dorney.
The Eleven takes centre-stage in the final story of this boxset. From the offset “The Odds Against” has the feel of a classic Doctor Who story, with lots of corridors, an outpost in space and a demon being summoned from the depths of the planet.
But all this is part of John Dorney’s plan to subvert audience expectations. The character interplay between the Eleven and the Nine is hugely amusing but scary in a Joker-like fashion as the character’s insanity stands out. The final twist is clever and Blogtor is very interested to see where this story goes in future boxsets.
The Ravenous are waiting and so are other old enemies…
Conclusion-
Blogtor wholeheartedly recommends this latest instalment in the Ravenous series. The stakes are high, the performances are stellar, the sound design is top-notch, and the storylines are intricate and enjoyable. The Ravenous is as threatening a species as any the Doctor has encountered and the many forms of the Eleven continues to shine as one of Big Finish’s most interesting original villains. On top of that, there’s some excellent fan-service as well. Blogtor cannot wait until Ravenous 4 in October.
Ravenous 3 can be purchased on the Big Finish website with a choice of digital download and physical CD format https://www.bigfinish.com/releases/v/doctor-who-ravenous-3-1799
This title was released in April 2019. It will be exclusively available to buy from the Big Finish website until June 30th 2019, and on general sale after this date.
3.1 Deeptime Frontier by Matt Fitton
Stranded on a desolate world by a dead TARDIS, the Doctor and his friends are trapped, surrounded by creatures from Time Lord nightmares – the Ravenous…
Elsewhere, on the edge of the vortex, a Gallifreyan research station takes on board an extremely dangerous artefact. Are the Time Lords sowing the seeds of their own destruction?
And if one Ravenous creature rattles the Doctor’s nerves, what will happen when the whole clan is hunting him?
3.2 Companion Piece by John Dorney
When the evil Time Lord known as the Nine comes across a rare and valuable item floating in the space-time vortex, his acquisitive nature means he can’t resist the urge to complete the set.
Soon a wicked scheme is underway. Only the Doctor’s friends – past, present and future – will be able to stop him.
But without the Doctor around will even the combined skills of Liv, Helen, River Song, Bliss and Charley be enough to save the day?
3.3 L.E.G.E.N.D by Matt Fitton
Over years of study and research, the Brothers Grimm built a compendium of folklore: stories of witches and wizards, magic and morality, strange creatures and treacherous forests…
Professor Marathanga does much the same, on a universal scale. But her methods are rather less rigorous, using technological shortcuts to fill her intelligent database – L.E.G.E.N.D.
When worlds collide, the TARDIS crew discover that fairy tales can become real. And the Doctor’s latest companion is put to the test. Will the Eleven be an asset, or one more monster to defeat?
3.4 The Odds Against by John Dorney
The Doctor, Liv and Helen have landed near an abbey housing the gateway to the dimension in which the Ravenous were originally imprisoned.
But their plans to enlist the inhabitants’ help in defeating their pursuers are disrupted when they stumble over a dead body. Strange creatures roam the corridors and something monstrous may be awakening beneath their feet.
CAST
- Paul McGann (The Doctor)
- Nicola Walker (Liv Chenka)
- Hattie Morahan (Helen Sinclair)
- Mark Bonnar (The Eleven)
- John Heffernan (The Nine)
- Alex Kingston (River Song)
- India Fisher (Charlotte Pollard)
- Rakhee Thakrar (Bliss)
- George Asprey (Ravenous 1 / Glitch)
- Ajjaz Awad (Handmaiden)
- Susie Emmett (Brallix / Ravenous 2)
- Arthur Hughes (Wilhelm Grimm / Legend-M)
- Damian Lynch (Rasmus)
- Tanya Moodie (Marathanga)
- Amaka Okafor (Agnes / Legend-F)
- Leighton Pugh (Jacob Grimm)
- Tania Rodrigues (Visteron)
- Dan Starkey (Original Brallix)
PRODUCTION DETAILS
- Cover Artist Tom Webster
- Director Ken Bentley
- Executive Producer Jason Haigh-Ellery Nicholas Briggs
- Music Jamie Robertson
- Producer David Richardson
- Script Editor Ken Bentley
- Sound Design Benji Clifford
- Written by Matt Fitton John Dorney
