Scan barcode
eleanorflovver's review
adventurous
dark
funny
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
There were parts of this I really liked, but others that I thought were less good. I'm a big fan of time lord lore and went into this audio blindly hoping for a fascinating new perspective on the origins of their society like some kind of gallifrey/zagreus crossover. but it listened like a very typical five story, which while not necessarily a bad thing, i was a bit disappointed with. i also think the recharacterisation of omega as an innocent doesn't make much sense for his character as we understand it from the classic series, and kind of undermines his complexity as a man driven mad by the potentiality of a race created by the inherent paradox of his existence. but i'm probably just being a bit harsh.
faiazalam's review
adventurous
emotional
funny
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Very strong story! Excellent character piece and a delightful way to build lore without it becoming overbearing or too complicated. Plus, Peter Davison is on form in this
geekywoman14's review
5.0
I loved seeing the Doctor like this. Definitely a great read for a Whovian.
nwhyte's review
Omega is attempting to re-manifest in this universe. Lots of creative playing with the listener's head, culminating in a brilliant moment at the end of episode three. And an Irish time lord - Professor Ertikus, played by Patrick Duggan. Really liked it despite my lack of familiarity with Arc of Infinity. Despite the serious theme I thought it borrowed more than a few elements from Douglas Adams.
colossal's review
4.0
This is a fifth Doctor story, without a recurring companion, and is #47 in the Big Finish main range.
This is part of a sort of trilogy leading up to the controversial 50th audio in the range that picks up from the shocking conclusion of the last eighth Doctor story. Fittingly given the subject of that one, this trilogy deals with recurring villains from the classic television series that help define the Doctor by being dark reflections of him in different ways.
This one is a direct sequel to the classic story Arc of Infinity which brings back the villain Omega who first appeared in the tenth anniversary story The Three Doctors.
In this a package tour spaceship visits the site of Omega's original black hole experiments and the Doctor is on board. It becomes apparent that things are not great, as the area of space they're in places significant psychic stress on visitors and some of the actors who are there to recreate the Omega story begin to experience elements of the source material including some fairly gruesome scenes. And then Omega turns up and things get very complicated because he's even more unstable than last time.
I found this to be a believable extrapolation of the Omega story we had in Arc of Infinity, and it certainly captures the feeling of pity for the character you get from both the tv episodes he was in. It also fills the remit of showing off a dark mirror of the Doctor, in a couple of surprising ways. Not including a companion gives the supporting cast more opportunity to shine, but unfortunately they mostly don't, largely because of how erratic the script calls them to be due to the psychic effects.
This is part of a sort of trilogy leading up to the controversial 50th audio in the range that picks up from the shocking conclusion of the last eighth Doctor story. Fittingly given the subject of that one, this trilogy deals with recurring villains from the classic television series that help define the Doctor by being dark reflections of him in different ways.
This one is a direct sequel to the classic story Arc of Infinity which brings back the villain Omega who first appeared in the tenth anniversary story The Three Doctors.
In this a package tour spaceship visits the site of Omega's original black hole experiments and the Doctor is on board. It becomes apparent that things are not great, as the area of space they're in places significant psychic stress on visitors and some of the actors who are there to recreate the Omega story begin to experience elements of the source material including some fairly gruesome scenes. And then Omega turns up and things get very complicated because he's even more unstable than last time.
I found this to be a believable extrapolation of the Omega story we had in Arc of Infinity, and it certainly captures the feeling of pity for the character you get from both the tv episodes he was in. It also fills the remit of showing off a dark mirror of the Doctor, in a couple of surprising ways. Not including a companion gives the supporting cast more opportunity to shine, but unfortunately they mostly don't, largely because of how erratic the script calls them to be due to the psychic effects.
kmccubbin's review
3.0
Coming up on Big Finish's 50th story, Zagreus, the ramp up was a series of three stories featuring classic (arguably in the first case) arch villans. I decided to listen to all three before reviewing them.
These three, either by design or because that's just sorta the way you do this kind of thing now, had some common factors. They all revealed somthing about the past of the baddie that fleshed out the character (and occasionally The Doctor as well) in a way that we'd never seen before. They all had some discussion about the nature of evil (usually one on one with The Doctor). And finally, they all mentioned Zagreus in passing.
Omega - Peter Davison gets the short end of the stick this time with a "barely a villan" villan who had been a character substitution, evidently at the last minute, for The Celestial Toymaker. While it's delightful to hear the Fifth and Omega talking through their particular rebellions against Time Lord society and the story does do some interesting things with the idea of hero worship, the piece as a whole feels awfully hashed together from disparate elements.
The comedy doesn't work and the violent tonal shifts don't really either. The idea of the the actors who are doing a recreation of Omega's story for "Jolly Chronoliday" tours suddenly becoming their roles as the actual historical figures begin to actually appear, could have been a neat idea, but it just doesn't make a lot of sense.
Davison is again wonderful and his scenes with Ian Collier's Omega where they are just working and talking are worth the listen, as is the twist which truly took me by surprise, but, on the whole, the story just doesn't hold together.
These three, either by design or because that's just sorta the way you do this kind of thing now, had some common factors. They all revealed somthing about the past of the baddie that fleshed out the character (and occasionally The Doctor as well) in a way that we'd never seen before. They all had some discussion about the nature of evil (usually one on one with The Doctor). And finally, they all mentioned Zagreus in passing.
Omega - Peter Davison gets the short end of the stick this time with a "barely a villan" villan who had been a character substitution, evidently at the last minute, for The Celestial Toymaker. While it's delightful to hear the Fifth and Omega talking through their particular rebellions against Time Lord society and the story does do some interesting things with the idea of hero worship, the piece as a whole feels awfully hashed together from disparate elements.
The comedy doesn't work and the violent tonal shifts don't really either. The idea of the the actors who are doing a recreation of Omega's story for "Jolly Chronoliday" tours suddenly becoming their roles as the actual historical figures begin to actually appear, could have been a neat idea, but it just doesn't make a lot of sense.
Davison is again wonderful and his scenes with Ian Collier's Omega where they are just working and talking are worth the listen, as is the twist which truly took me by surprise, but, on the whole, the story just doesn't hold together.
sshabein's review
3.0
Of the special baddies trilogy (the others being "Master" and "Davros"), I was probably least into this one, but it was still an enjoyable enough listen with a good twist partway through.
coffee_deer's review
4.0
(This year I've decided to take Big Finish plays into account, too. I'm still not a fan of the idea: to me, listening to audio plays is a completely different sort of experience compared to reading - but I simply don't know where else to keep score. So here we are.)
It's the second time, actually, that I've listened to the play and although it hasn't become one of my favourites, it's still a strong piece of work that gives you something to think about afterwards.
It's the second time, actually, that I've listened to the play and although it hasn't become one of my favourites, it's still a strong piece of work that gives you something to think about afterwards.
More...