The paranormal investigation team of Department 7 are thrust into a whole new set of unsettling and disturbing cases in the third series of The Omega Factor; a set of four stories that culminate in a final showdown with a formidable nemesis bent on the team’s destruction.
With the department’s now fully re-established and resourced, their attentions are directed towards a series of supernatural, otherworldly and demonic happenings, each of which test the capabilities, mettle and resolve of dedicated lead investigator Professor Anne Reynolds and her sometimes less than fully convinced associate Adam Dean.
One of the things that the latest series of Omega Factor audio adventures does so well is to blend historic and contemporary chills: combining traditional Gothic ghost stories, which unfold in creepy cobweb-strewn catacombs and crypts, with cutting-edge, virtual reality nightmares, and threats fuelled by popular cultural anxieties ripped from today’s headlines.
Roy Gill’s inventive “Under Glass” offers a new take on the horror anthology staple of cursed artwork, while Natasha Gerson’s “Let Us Play” is a tautly-wound tale of computer game skulduggery. Louise Jameson brings an intelligent and empathic sensibility to her script for “Phantom Pregnancy”, which sees a worried refugee with strange powers become an exploited laboratory test subject; before Phil Mulryne brings things to a menacing and rather disturbing conclusion in “Drawn to the Dark”, a tale of punishment and revenge which unfolds beneath the streets of Glasgow and which resolves some key series’ arcs.
In this latest series, there are important shifts in the dynamic between John Dorney’s Dean and Louise Jameson’s Reynolds. Now fully preoccupied with the department’s mission, Reynolds seems to lose sight of her natural sense of empathy, which forces a reluctant Dean to take on the role of the team’s conscience. This adds some interesting (and occasionally explosive) tensions to their relationship. Dorney and Jameson are both excellent, their natural chemistry and their impressive individual talents as vocal performers are evident throughout.
The disembodied consciousness of the comatose Morag plays a key role in several stories, as her voice manifests in others’ minds. Natasha Gerson brings a strong emotional reading of the role, but it’s good to see Big Finish recognise that the time has come to bring this particular phase of her character’s story to a conclusion.
The rich and textured sound design that has become one of the signatures of the series, succeeds once again in reinforcing the stories’ malevolent atmosphere, getting the best punch possible from audio “jump scares”, and ratcheting up the mounting sense of dread at key points. The writers also commit to evoking the strong sense of “place” that can give supernatural stories that vital sense of believability.
In the behind-the-scenes interviews, producer David Richardson confirms that The Omega Factor has already been commissioned for a fourth series. That’s an enticing prospect – all the more so because the events of the series’ finale pitch the Department into a new era of uncertainty and instability. Together with Survivors, these new Omega Factor stories reaffirm the series’ reputation as one of Big Finish’s most grown-up and gritty dramas, delivering genuinely unnerving stories which linger in the mind long after the strains of the closing theme have faded away.
THE OMEGA FACTOR: SERIES THREE / WRITERS: ROY GILL, NATASHA GERSON, LOUISE JAMESON, PHIL MULRYNE / DIRECTOR: KEN BENTLEY / CAST: LOUISE JAMESON, JOHN DORNEY, NATASHA GERSON, ALAN COX / PUBLISHER: BIG FINISH / RELEASE: APRIL 30TH
