Review: Frostfire

With The Companion Chronicles, Big Finish Productions expand their range of Doctor Who audio products, taking a new direction in both content and format. As the first three actors to play the Doctor have passed away, and the fourth is unwilling to work for the company, they have thus far been limited to full-cast audio plays featuring the fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth incarnations. But this new four-part miniseries is different - it consists of jazzed-up audiobooks, giving us adventures of the first four Doctors as told by their companions.

The first is Vicki, who travelled with the First Doctor and is played by Maureen O'Brien, reading Frostfire by Marc Platt. This clever story sees the TARDIS arrive in an icy nineteenth-century London, where its crew visit a frost fair on the River Thames, encountering Jane Austen and an unusual heat-absorbing phoenix egg.

Maureen O'Brien has more of an opportunity to showcase her range and talent here than she ever did on television, and she really is marvellous. She makes the sensible decision to tackle other characters by, for the most part, changing her tone and speech patterns, rather than putting on exaggerated voices, which works effectively; her rendition of the Doctor, for example, is mostly a generic grumpy old man, but with a few moments of impressive accuracy. Her interpretation of fellow traveller Steven is similar, with the mannerisms strong enough to make up for the lack of vocal similarity.

She is supported by a second voice, Keith Drinkel as The Cinder. This adds an extra dimension to the experience of listening to this story, sprucing up what could otherwise be a bit flat; and ensuring that listeners who dislike traditional audiobooks will still find this an interesting tale. The first-person story that Vicki relates is framed within an equally-engaging two-hand play, both of which work well, and the link between them (whilst obvious) is interesting enough.

Writer Marc Platt has made a massive effort to replicate the tone and style of the First Doctor's screen adventures, with a story that feels very reminiscent of that era in both atmosphere and structure - something that's reinforced by authentic sound design. His writing is polished and effective; the fantastic setting and intriguing monster he has skilfully created serve to complement this. The only fault is the division of the story into two 'episodes' - this felt unnecessary, as O'Brien could easily carry an hour of story without losing momentum.

Evocative and beautifully-written, Frostfire is a terrific story; a fantastic start for what could be a stunning series.