Review Category: Reviews

TRICK

TRICK / CERT: TBC / DIRECTOR: PATRICK LUSSIER / SCREENPLAY: TODD FARMER, PATRICK LUSSIER / STARRING: OMAR EPPS, JAMIE KENNEDY, ELLEN ADAIR, TOM ATKINS / RELEASE DATE: MARCH 30TH

When a game of spin the, uh, knife goes wrong, troubled teen Patrick ‘Trick’ Weaver freaks out at the prospect of having to kiss a dude and instead busts out into an impromptu stabbing frenzy. Talk about gay panic to the extreme. Stabbed by his classmates and then shot (five times!) by detective Mike Denver (Epps), Trick pulls the full Mike Myers by disappearing, presumed dead, only to return every Halloween to kill off the cop’s colleagues and friends. It’s like doing five Halloween sequels, back to back. Can Denver bring in (or take down) a killer that his colleagues and superiors don’t even believe exist?

Co-writer Todd Farmer (Jason X) and Patrick Lussier’s seasonal slasher film shares more DNA with their My Bloody Valentine remake and the Saw franchise than John Carpenter’s classic. Their kills are clean and inventive – a combination of death trap and stabby slasher action. Epps makes for a workmanlike, if overly stoic hero, burdened with a slightly embarrassing script and a weird story structure that misses out on whole years of his life at a time. None of the characters are particularly interesting – not even Trick himself, in spite of a variety of creepy masks and violent kill sequences. That the killer manages to run rings around Denver and the cops is a bit too hard to swallow, but Lussier makes up for it with multiple twists and red herrings. Turning the monster into a Joker-like internet antihero is a nice touch, and one that the film could have done more with.

Amongst Trick’s various other treats are cameos from Scream star Jamie Kennedy and cult icon Tom Atkins. Slasher fans will enjoy the ample gore and violence on show, which Lussier certainly doesn’t skimp on. As with his My Bloody Valentine and Drive Angry, this film is a one trick pony, but a reasonably entertaining one.

VERONICA MARS – SEASON 4

REVIEWED: SEASON 4 (ALL EPISODES) | WHERE TO WATCH: STARZPLAY (FROM MARCH 27TH)

News that series-creator Rob Thomas had been given the greenlight to produce a new season of Veronica Mars was music to the ears of its faithful fans. Those same fans had helped Thomas to Kickstart the funds to make a Veronica Mars movie in 2013, which picked up Veronica’s life six years after Season 3 had ended in 2007. Season four adds another five years onto the titular detective’s history, and finds her once again working alongside her private eye dad, Keith, in the still class-driven city of Neptune, California.

With all eight episodes being dropped at once on Disney’s Hulu network (a week ahead of the announced date, in fact), the usual mystery of the week formula, which formed a season-long arc, was dropped in favour of one breakneck ride as Neptune’s annual Spring Break celebrations are cut short by a number of fatal bombings. Veronica is tasked with discovering who planted the bombs, and why, before Neptune’s reputation as a party city is completely ruined.

Returning alongside Kristen Bell as Veronica, and Enrico Colantoni as Keith, are series mainstays Jason Dohring (Logan), Percy Daggs III (Wallace), Francis Capra (Weevil), and Ryan Hudson (Dick Casablancas), and with Vinnie, Big Dick, Cliff, and Deputy Leo also reappearing, the show feels like meeting old friends once more. Joining the core cast are Patton Oswalt and JK Simmons; Veronica Mars’s strength has always been in its ensemble cast.

The story takes twists and turns along the way, with new bombings and a pair of Mexican hitmen complicating matters, and there’s the small matter of a sixteen-year-old girl called Matty, who is exhibiting some very Veronica-like behaviour in her own pursuit of justice.

Thomas’s showrunning keeps the eight episodes consistent and compelling, and there are enough glimpses of the modern crime noir feel of the original show to please long-time fans, as well as introduce new ones to the world of Neptune and its uniquely-nosy gumshoe.

There’s been no solid announcement of a fifth season, although Thomas has talked about his plans for Veronica going forward, and while shows are more likely to be renewed for their critical rather than commercial aspects in this new age of streaming TV, fans of Veronica Mars are used to disappointment. For now, though, we get another eight hours to spend in Veronica’s matchless world, and it’s a treat worth savouring.

JEDGE DREDD 100-PAGE GIANT

FORMAT: ONE-SHOT | PUBLISHER: IDW | RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW

Good news citizens: it’s 100 pages of Judge Dredd! Bad news: that’s IDW’s Judge Dredd. Good news: it consists of a number of sampler stories to get readers invested in this radical new Dredd, including the first chapters of his Mega City Zero and Blessed Earth stories. Bad news: you have to really pay up for it.

100-Page Giant is a sampler book of IDW’s most notable Dredd work to date, in the hope of getting new readers on board with stories they’ve been publishing since 2015. For the uninitiated, this alternate, American take on Judge Dredd generally plays fast and loose with the rulebook, taking Dredd far away from the Big Meg and his crew of supporting characters.

This book contains the first chapters of Mega City Zero, Blessed Earth, Under Siege and Toxic. It also includes a very short sampler for the upcoming False Witness. As a tasting board, it’s hard to complain, as it definitely does the job in hooking readers onto the world of IDW Dredd. There’s something for every kind of Dredd fan – the kooky, odd Mega City Zero and Blessed Earth who prefer more ‘out there’ sci-fi conceits, and Under Siege and Toxic for the grittier future crime fans. Mark Russell’s Under Siege should be of particular interest to fans of 2012’s Dredd, essentially telling the same story on a bigger scale.

This is an excellent showcase for the best of IDW Dredd, featuring gorgeous artwork from the likes of Dan McDaid and Daniel Irizarri. For better or worse, it also does well in showing how this Dredd differs from his 2000 AD counterpart; a more vulnerable, less mean version of the character, dialling back the satire and humour in favour of thrills and spills. It’s also unafraid to think outside of the box – “what if Judge Dredd had a big white beard?” is basically the whole reason for Blessed Earth’s being.

That readers should be expected to pay almost £6 for a glorified sampler palette is a bit rich, but it’s a solid investment for the uninitiated. After all, most 2000AD and Megazine readers should be used to getting their future shocks on a prog-by-prog basis anyway.

THE MAD MAGICIAN (1954)

THE MAD MAGICIAN (1954) / CERT: PG / DIRECTOR: JOHN BRAHM / SCREENPLAY: CRANE WILBUR / STARRING: VINCENT PRICE, MARY MURPHY, EVA GABOR, PATRICK O’NEAL / RELEASE DATE: MARCH 30TH

Following House of Wax, the Vincent Price vehicle that was a massive 3D hit, writer Crane Wilbur sought to replicate the success with the actor and the extra dimension with this fun tale of a homicidal magician.

Price plays trick designer Gallico, whose hopes to make a name for himself on the stage rather than creating them for the glory of others. Trapped by his contract, he does away with those in his way and adopts their personas thanks to his remarkable masks.

While not as famous as House of Wax, The Mad Magician has some similar story beats and has some genuine thrills. Price is fantastic as usual, and the methods of dispatch are suitably devious (particularly the buzz saw contraption for handy beheading and a portable cremation device), which adds to the fun. Plot wise, it’s a predictable affair, but Prices’ disguises are ingenious and very effective (well, they certainly fool the characters on screen!).

The new Indicator release thankfully includes both the ‘flat’ and 3D versions, the latter being particularly effective. There’s glorious depth to the image and if the foreground effects don’t pop as well as they should, it doesn’t matter as it’s surely the way it should be seen. Great care was obviously made in setting the shots up and it adds, dare we say, an extra dimension to the fun of the movie. There’s also a wealth of extras on the disc, including a 3D chat about the film and its place in the history of the third dimension. We also get two shorts starring The Three Stooges, also presented in both 2D and 3D. These may feature the Shemp line-up rather than Curly, but are still a lot of slapstick fun for those not adverse to their brand of humour.

Although the home 3D phase may be over, it’s well worth keeping hold of the equipment when gems like this get released, and Indicator should be applauded for offering the film in its original format. Even if you don’t possess 3D capacity, it’s an effective film that deserves its classic status.

ALTERED CARBON – SEASON 2

REVIEWED: SEASON 2 (ALL EPISODES) | WHERE TO WATCH: NETFLIX

Based in the 26th century, when humans can (sort of) live forever, if they decide to, through Cortical Stacks (technology that stores everything about you) and sleeves (just like a different skin in a video game), Altered Carbon chronicles the adventures of mercenary Takeshi Kovacs through different moments in time. One of the benefits of this is the fact that you can have different actors playing the lead. In Season 1, Will Yun Lee took on the Envoy story of Kovacs, then RoboCop remake star Joel Kinnaman lead us on a horrific and jealousy-filled tale involving his character’s sister, Reileen Kawahara. Now, Marvel’s Falcon, Anthony Mackie, sheds a new, much more advanced skin in Season 2, as he tries to find the love of his life, Quellcrist Falconer on Harlan’s World.

After Horace Axley (a founder of Harlan’s World) asks for Kovacs’ protection – in return for telling him where Quellcrist is – their mission is brought to a violent stop, as Kovacs wakes up to find Axley killed, by, who would have thought it, Quellcrist herself! As she runs away from the scene, instead of catching up with her once partner, this poses a whole slew of new questions, as not only is Kovacs trying to find Quellcrist once more, but now he has to find out about the person in that skin, as she is far from what he once remembers. Believing that Kovacs is behind the murder of said founder, Season 2 gets tangled up with a political agenda as the deceptive Governor Danica Harlan (Lela Loren) and the aggressive Colonel Ivan Carrera (Torben Liebrecht) try to track down our show-runner.

Emitting calm chaos (with a frustrated attitude), and at times cooly narrating his current predicament in the background, Anthony Mackie has done a profound job at taking over as Kovacs, and after the first episode, you will already accept his take on continuing this killer personality. For those of you thinking that a new protagonist would change the entire cast, then prepare to be mistaken as many fan favourites from Season 1 return! Pulling in massive intrigue with their screen-time has to be Chris Conner, as we see a glitched-up/deteriorating Poe again working alongside Kovacs, while he tries to figure out his own place in all of this madness. This side plot about Poe is a fantastic evolution for the character, and with the brilliant addition of their new close friend, Dig 301 (Dina Shihabi) it unravels so many interesting sides to Poe that will delight viewers.

The fast-paced flow of Season 2 (to keep up with the plot, we recommend that you don’t look away from the screen – ever) is firmly held together because of the time travel relationship between Kovacs and Falconer. As the continuation of this pair brutally confronting the darkest corners of their lives progresses, the story goes on to conclude in a fiery, and fulfilling fashion. They’ve fused key elements from the first season with this one, and by mixing that with plenty of thrilling, slow-motion augmented fight scenes (don’t forget that Kovacs has a high tech skin, so the action is going to be on a more stomping level), you’ll find it hard not to go straight on to the next episode as one finishes.

There’s no doubt that this comparison has been made before, but for fans of Blade Runner (with a pinch of John Wick) you will completely love the landscape that the series has created. (Please can the people that worked on Altered Carbon immediately start constructing a Blade Runner TV show?). The sets and cinematography are incredible, and as Kovacs searches for Quellcrist through neon-lit nightclubs, markets, and hotels, you’ll find yourself completely immersed in this addictive sci-fi scenario. Initially, Season 2 might seem like it has a lot of unnecessary layers to it, however, once you give those said layers time to grow, and a much closer look, then you’ll see that there is a lot to be adored.

CHARLIE’S ANGELS

CHARLIE’S ANGELS / CERT: 12 / DIRECTOR & SCREENPLAY: ELIZABETH BANKS / STARRING: KRISTEN STEWART, NAOMI SCOTT, ELLA BALINSKA, ELIZABETH BANKS, PATRICK STEWART / RELEASE DATE: MARCH 23RD (VOD), APRIL 6TH (DVD/BLU-RAY)

There is something inherently silly about Elizabeth Bank’s franchise reboot of Charlie’s Angels. The characters are woefully shallow, the set pieces are reminiscent of over-stylised rap video montages and the plot surrounding a potentially weaponisable renewable energy source is ludicrously hole-ridden. And yet, largely through stronger-than-you’d-expect performances and some fun action sequences, this unnecessary update is pretty good fun.

The central message is unashamedly -and why shouldn’t it be? – written in bold and emphasised from the very beginning. Women can do anything and that is clearly a good thing, but the strength of that message gets lost time and again due to throwaway, often clumsy writing seemingly intended to hammer it home with tedious repetition.

The premise now is that the Angels are no longer a small, secret entity but a global network with unlimited funding. The unseen Charlie Townsend is discarded for a team of Bosleys (in the original, John Bosley was Charlie’s right-hand man) played by Patrick Stewart, Djimon Housou, and writer/director Elizabeth Banks amongst others. Now, these highly trained operatives travel the world righting wrongs.

The main issue is that on the back of the Mission: Impossible series, and even the testosterone-injected remake of The Man From U.N.C.L.E. Banks’ film feels underwhelming and something of a missed opportunity. Yes, it’s fun in places, but there needs to be more. Where is even the vague semblance of tangible plotting to build around, with a smidgeon of witty dialogue? Where is the adrenaline-fuelled action and the glitzy visuals? Banks has strived for these action genre tropes but either through a lack of confidence or commitment has disappointingly veered off target.

There are positives, largely in the performances of both Stewarts; Kristen who genuinely seems to be enjoying her return to mainstream cinema and Patrick who chews the scenery in a way that implies the on-set catering was another element that missed its mark. Without the former, this relaunch would have been a much more turgid affair. The character of Sabine allows Stewart space to demonstrate her comic timing and action credentials as she dominates every scene she is in. Even when armed with some terrible one-liners and attempts at ‘banter’, Stewart remains consistent and perhaps only she emerges largely unscathed.

As disappointing is it is, the almost 2-hour runtime passes pleasantly enough although one viewing will most certainly be enough for any lifetime. This is a film that has its moments, but those moments are so sparingly scattered as to undermine the film’s reason for being.

SPACEHUNTER: ADVENTURES IN THE FORBIDDEN ZONE (1983)

SPACEHUNTER: ADVENTURES IN THE FORBIDDEN ZONE (1983) / CERT: 15 / DIRECTOR: LAMONT JOHNSON / SCREENPLAY: DAVID PRESTON, EDITH REY, DANIEL GOLDBERG, LEN BLUM / STARRING: PETER STRAUSS, MOLLY RINGWALD, ERNIE HUDSON, MICHAEL IRONSIDE, ANDREA MARCOVICCI / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW

It’s hard to know who Spacehunter: Adventures in the Forbidden Zone is aimed at. At first glance, it’s an adventure yarn, maybe for kids, but its 15 rating – as much for a general feeling of unpleasantness as for the usual partial nudity and sexual dialogue that rating parlays – lifts into a different sphere altogether, one which its lack of nudity and sexual dialogue will surely lead to disappointment. Originally released in May 1983, Spacehunter was part of a revival for 3D films, up there with Jaws 3D and the third instalments of the Friday 13th and Amityville series, and was at that point the most expensive 3D movie ever made, but this Blu-ray release sadly omits the third dimension, leaving the film to stand on the first two alone.

Peter Strauss is Wolff, a space garbage man on the run from debtors, who receives a mayday call to rescue three Earth women stranded on a quarantined planet. His only companion is Chalmers (Marcovicci), his mechanic-cum-lover, who is later revealed to be an artificial being. The quarantined planet, Terra XI, was struck by a deadly plague, and one of the doctors sent to deal with the outbreak went native and took over the planet, renaming himself Overdog. What is supposed to be a simple retrieval becomes complicated when Overdog’s men capture the women, and Chalmers is killed; Wolff resolves to complete his mission – the three thousand mega-credits (no exchange rate is given but it’s assumed to be a lot) at the heart of his motivations – and hooks up with a native Terran to guide him to Overdog’s lair, the Zone.

Strauss is incredibly charismatic, the action movie lead the 1980s lost (to insipid miniseries like Kane and Abel), and his partnership with Molly Ringwald’s Niki is wonderful in its awkwardness. Ringwald, at just fifteen and in only her second film, sparkles with the charm that would make her a Brat Pack star in the years following Spacehunter, and there is also a small part for Ernie Hudson, who would team up with executive producer Ivan Reitman on Ghostbusters a year later.

The Blu-ray is light on extras, with just a commentary track from film historians Allan Bryce and Richard Holliss, regulars on 101 Films re-releases of cult ‘80s films, and this is a missed opportunity, because the movie looked like it was a lot of fun to make; interviews with Strauss, Ringwald, and Michael Ironside – who hams it up as Overdog – would have been very interesting, even at thirty-seven years’ distance.

Spacehunter is fun but by no means a classic. There’s a healthy nostalgia for the films we rented from the video store in the early- to mid-1980s, and Spacehunter will appeal to fans of recent re-releases Class of 1984 and Howard the Duck. Whether it stands by itself as a movie outside that bubble, however, will depend entirely on whether hackneyed dialogue (although Niki’s Terran slang is cute), inconsistent acting outside the principals, and dirt cheap effects (one can only wonder where that budget went) take away more than the charisma of Strauss and Ringwald bring to the table.

EXIT THE GUNGEON

EXIT THE GUNGEON / DEVELOPER: DODGE ROLL, SINGLECORE / PUBLISHER: DEVOLVER DIGITAL / PLATFORM: PC, SWITCH (REVIEWED) / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW

So the adventurers from 2016’s smash hit Enter the Gungeon have made it to the final floor of the dungeon (something that very few of us managed to achieve in real life!), and now the whole place is collapsing due to the amount of damage dealt by careless gunfire during their previous mission. A kindly Gungeon resident has activated the central elevator and mapped out different routes for each adventurer to take back to the surface, so now it’s time to make your way back home!

A small-scale spin-off rather than a full-blown sequel, Exit does things quite differently to Enter. For one, the game takes a side-on rather than top-down viewpoint, and the entire game takes place on a single screen so there’s no more exploring rooms or hunting for secrets. All you need to do is fight waves of enemies until the elevator stops, jump off to fight some more enemies in a room (or perhaps do some shopping or play a minigame) until the next door opens, then continue this loop until you reach the surface.

The constant hunt for new guns and loot that Enter was known for is gone, replaced by a single “blessed weapon” whose properties change randomly every 30 seconds or so. There are lots of entertaining effects (and the better you perform, the better the effects become), but this comes with the slight drawback that by the time you get comfortable using a new weapon, or find one you really like using, it suddenly changes to something else, completely throwing you off your game.

Being confined to a single screen makes combat incredibly tricky, considering the insane amount of enemies and bullets flying all over the place. Your job is hampered further by a questionable control scheme that asks you to use your right thumb to aim your weapon but also to jump, dodge (you’re only safe from enemy fire while your feet are off the ground) and launch screen-clearing “blanks” that eliminate all enemy bullets, ideally (but impossibly) all at the same time.

You’ll die many many times, but any money gained during each run can be spent on adding new weapons to the available pool, adding variety to subsequent runs, so time is never wasted. Exit retains all of the quirky characters, bold visuals and chaotic atmosphere of Enter, and there’s plenty of fun to be had if you can get past the changes in gameplay. It’s fast-paced, full of action, addictive as anything, a bit silly (and it knows it) and, with each adventurer taking a different route through the Gungeon, there’s plenty of reasons to replay over and over again. As long as you don’t go into it expecting a full-blown sequel to Enter the Gungeon, you’ll be just fine!

DEAD OR SCHOOL

DEAD OR SCHOOL / DEVELOPER: STUDIO NANAFUSHI / PUBLISHER: MARVELOUS INC. / PLATFORM: PC, PS4, SWITCH (REVIEWED) / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW

78 years ago, war forced the residents of Tokyo underground, settling in subway stations and sealing themselves away from events on the surface. After learning of something called “school” from her old grandmother, Hisako decides to head above ground in search of an education. But it won’t be that easy. She’ll need to travel through seven districts of real-world Tokyo, completing missions and sub-quests, rescuing refugees and battling legions of undead monstrosities both down in the subway and up on the surface. In true anime style, events take a turn for the worse and it all gets very silly very quickly, but the story never fails to be entertaining (despite some shaky English translations from the game’s native Japanese).

Each self-contained level is based around a subway station, with Metroidvania-style layouts that prevent access to certain areas until keys or specific items are found. Levels are full of enemies that can be dispatched with either melee or ranged weapons – you can carry three at any one time, and there are plenty of different swords and guns to find throughout the game. Each weapon has its own unique stats and effects, and all can be upgraded (if you have enough of the right currency) and further enhanced with mod chips. Adding some variety to proceedings, several areas move away from hacking and slashing altogether, instead revolving around riding a mine cart, dodging and weaving through the streets on top of a tank, figuring out puzzles, and climbing buildings while being chased by saw blades. Experience points are earned by defeating enemies and completing objectives, and levelling up rewards players with skill points that can be spent on upgrading their abilities.

Dead or School might look like an HD upscaled version of something from the PS1 days, but its anime-style cutscenes – both static and animated – are very well-drawn indeed, although the animated ones are often strangely blurry. The soundtrack is absolutely top notch, to the point where suggesting it deserves some sort of award isn’t too much of a stretch – there are some fantastic tracks across a variety of genres, from ambient electro to full-on metal.

Originally conceived several years ago, a failed Kickstarter campaign threatened Dead or School‘s existence before it even really got started. It’s admirable that the project was completed without managing to amass the necessary funds, but budget constraints have lead to a slight lack of polish. The camera often zooms out so far that it can be difficult to see where you are on screen, enemies will sometimes spawn in and stand around doing nothing at all, items get lost under the floor, and combat sometimes feels a bit stilted due to not being able to swap weapons mid-combo. The presence of a stamina meter feels a bit superfluous too – being forced to stop attacking for a few seconds every now and again isn’t ideal in a game with such fast-paced combat.

It might sound like it’s got more than its fair share of shortcomings, but there’s some seriously addictive gameplay going on at the same time. If you’re willing to look past a few rough edges, there’s every chance Dead or School will grab your attention and not let go until the final bell rings. We’ll all be calling this a “hidden gem” in years to come.

DOCTOR WHO: THE PARADISE OF DEATH AND THE GHOSTS OF N-SPACE

DOCTOR WHO: THE PARADISE OF DEATH AND THE GHOSTS OF N-SPACE / LABEL: DEMON RECORDS / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW

When The Paradise of Death began airing on BBC radio in late August of 1993, it was only the second-ever radio serial based on the long-running series, and the first since 1986’s Colin Baker-starring Slipback. Taking place during the show’s eleventh season, which starred Jon Pertwee as the Third Doctor, the five-part radio drama also featured that series’ companion, Sarah Jane Smith, as played by Elisabeth Sladen and Nicholas Courtney as Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart.

While a follow-up, The Ghosts of N-Space, was recorded the following year in 1994, it didn’t air until January of 1996. Given that Pertwee passed away on in May of ’96, plans for more episodes featuring the Third Doctor were brought to a close. Thus, it stands to reason that Demon Records has collected the two series as a six-LP box set, the better to appreciate both back-to-back.

Writer Barry Letts has crafted two series which are definite throwbacks. Given that both series were recorded during a period wherein the only appearance of the Doctor on-screen was to be Paul McGann’s Eighth Doctor in the 1996 TV film and that many of the actor who had portrayed past incarnations of the Doctor, any number of actors could’ve been tapped for the audio series. Given that Letts was the writer for the duration of Pertwee’s run, however, it only made sense for the two to once again pair up.

Long-time Doctor Who character actor Peter Miles shines as Vice-Chairman Tragan of the Parakon Corporation in The Paradise of Death, really coming across as quite sinister. Not quite as sinister as the alien beasts kept as part of the Space World theme park, who get a little chompy, nor the planet of Parakon, where there’s a series of games to the death. It’s quite an adventure.

Less world-spanning, and more of a trip through time is The Ghosts of N-Space, which sees the Doctor going to both 16th and 19th century Italy in an attempt to keep a mad alchemist from fracturing N-Space and overtaking the world with monstrous ghosts. Again, a real joy to listen to, even if Pertwee’s not quite as robust as he was in his first audio outing.

The set of six vinyl LPs comes in a limited edition of 500 copies, with The Paradise of Death on ‘Space World’ pink splatter and The Ghosts of N-Space on ‘Spectral’ clear with green splatter vinyl. Side B of the first LP features an etched image of the Doctor’s hand holding a sonic screwdriver as well.

Each series is spread over three LPs, and the artwork on the jacket for each forms a panoramic image, with the entrance to Space World and the Sicilian castello pictured on each, respectively. Oink Collective has once again outdone themselves, resulting in a collection that’s as much fun to look at as it is to listen to.

And it’s a right solid listen, as well. The audio is crisp and clean, and the 180-gram vinyl pressings haven’t a trace of hiss or crackle. These are the last two productions before the audio drama task was taken on by a different company in 2005, and they represent a very different link to the past than those particular works. For those looking to dig into some lesser-known adventures of the Doctor, this is a wonderful place to start.