Post by π huss π on Feb 25, 2014 12:05:46 GMT -5
SYNOPSIS:
Thomas Hector Schofield (known as Hex) is a nurse at St. Gart's Hospital. Today is his 23rd birthday. His coworkers have organized a booze-up in celebration (and even invited that good-looking new HR girl, Ms. McShaneβI'm sorry "just McShane"), but he's not really feeling it. One of his old roommates got in a traffic accident that morning and died as a result of his injuries. Hex attempts to get back in the birthday spirit at the party, but it's not working.
On his way out, he bumps into McShane, who has just arrived. She attempts to calm his spirits, then gets a bit inquisitive about the doctor who worked on Damien (the dead guy). "Have you ever heard of C-Program?" she asks, and it is at this point that the Doctor Who-y-ness kicks in. Their conversation is being monitored, and they are given chase by a Mercedes, then on foot by its ridiculously tall and fast driver. Hex and McShane escape on his scooter and she directs him to drop her off at a car park in Totter's Lane. He is confused but intrigued (he calls her "pretty, but definitely mad"), and follows her to what he believes is a port-o-potty in a parking space. Door opens, it's the Doctor, who has been moonlighting as a janitor at St. Gart's.
Cue a lot of disbelief and "Oh my God"-ing from Hex. The Doctor isn't terribly impressed.
Anyway, it turns out thatMcShane Ace and the Doctor have been investigating some odd goings-on on the 31st floor of the hospital (the mysterious C-Program). The Doctor's been trying to get in through their computer system (named "System", showing about the same amount of imagination I used to name my cat "Grey Cat"). Hex decides to join them in their infiltration.
They break in, and it turns out the C stands for Cybermen. But not ye olde Cybermen of terror, these are Cybermen who want to shed their metal skins and become human again! The Doctor isn't sure whether to believe them, then he does believe them, and then they betray him. Who could have seen that coming?! In the end, Hex is able to activate a program that causes all the Cybermen's harvested human organs and grafts to fail (although they seemed to have been failing before, using the termination program probably just sped up when they were going to fall over). Hex asks to join Team TARDIS and is accepted.
OVERALL THOUGHTS:
I thought this was a very fun episode, and it would work as an introduction for someone getting into the Big Finish world for the first time. Although the Doctor and Ace are mostly absent for the first half hour, Hex is an interesting enough character on his own, and the mystery and reveal of C-Program was very well done. I didn't realize this was going to be a Cyberman story when I started it. It was a nice surprise. It doesn't deal with a ton of mythology, although probably listening to Spare Parts (MR 034) would give some good background.
Strengths:
Hex: I think he'll be a good addition to the TARDIS team. He's got good chemistry with Ace, and I think he annoys the Doctor in precisely the right way.
Story: There's relatively little filler in this episode. The reveal of the Cybermen is surprising, there's some tension and suspense when Ace is captured by them, and although I gave him a bit of shit for it, you can understand why the Doctor would want to believe in their goal to regain their humanity.
Weaknesses:
Music: There's a lot of strangely chosen electro-pop happening throughout. It doesn't really work.
Hex: He has a few reactions that seem a bit off. His recognition of Damien at the beginning of the episode does not ring true, it seems more like "Hey, it's that guy who was in a couple of my classes" than "Yeah, we were great friends who used to share a flat." It works a bit better later, but not at first recognition. Also, I'm with the Doctor, the "Oh my God"s get old, but I'm sure Hex will tone it down eventually.
Foley: Footsteps, whether walking or running, seem really distractingly amplified.
Dr. Mark Matthias: I was surprised he lived. Such an annoying character.
The Harvest is available here from Big Finish. I think it's definitely worth a buy, but I would wait for a sale. I got it for $5, and that seems like a fair price.
Thomas Hector Schofield (known as Hex) is a nurse at St. Gart's Hospital. Today is his 23rd birthday. His coworkers have organized a booze-up in celebration (and even invited that good-looking new HR girl, Ms. McShaneβI'm sorry "just McShane"), but he's not really feeling it. One of his old roommates got in a traffic accident that morning and died as a result of his injuries. Hex attempts to get back in the birthday spirit at the party, but it's not working.
On his way out, he bumps into McShane, who has just arrived. She attempts to calm his spirits, then gets a bit inquisitive about the doctor who worked on Damien (the dead guy). "Have you ever heard of C-Program?" she asks, and it is at this point that the Doctor Who-y-ness kicks in. Their conversation is being monitored, and they are given chase by a Mercedes, then on foot by its ridiculously tall and fast driver. Hex and McShane escape on his scooter and she directs him to drop her off at a car park in Totter's Lane. He is confused but intrigued (he calls her "pretty, but definitely mad"), and follows her to what he believes is a port-o-potty in a parking space. Door opens, it's the Doctor, who has been moonlighting as a janitor at St. Gart's.
Cue a lot of disbelief and "Oh my God"-ing from Hex. The Doctor isn't terribly impressed.
Anyway, it turns out that
They break in, and it turns out the C stands for Cybermen. But not ye olde Cybermen of terror, these are Cybermen who want to shed their metal skins and become human again! The Doctor isn't sure whether to believe them, then he does believe them, and then they betray him. Who could have seen that coming?! In the end, Hex is able to activate a program that causes all the Cybermen's harvested human organs and grafts to fail (although they seemed to have been failing before, using the termination program probably just sped up when they were going to fall over). Hex asks to join Team TARDIS and is accepted.
OVERALL THOUGHTS:
I thought this was a very fun episode, and it would work as an introduction for someone getting into the Big Finish world for the first time. Although the Doctor and Ace are mostly absent for the first half hour, Hex is an interesting enough character on his own, and the mystery and reveal of C-Program was very well done. I didn't realize this was going to be a Cyberman story when I started it. It was a nice surprise. It doesn't deal with a ton of mythology, although probably listening to Spare Parts (MR 034) would give some good background.
Strengths:
Hex: I think he'll be a good addition to the TARDIS team. He's got good chemistry with Ace, and I think he annoys the Doctor in precisely the right way.
Story: There's relatively little filler in this episode. The reveal of the Cybermen is surprising, there's some tension and suspense when Ace is captured by them, and although I gave him a bit of shit for it, you can understand why the Doctor would want to believe in their goal to regain their humanity.
Weaknesses:
Music: There's a lot of strangely chosen electro-pop happening throughout. It doesn't really work.
Hex: He has a few reactions that seem a bit off. His recognition of Damien at the beginning of the episode does not ring true, it seems more like "Hey, it's that guy who was in a couple of my classes" than "Yeah, we were great friends who used to share a flat." It works a bit better later, but not at first recognition. Also, I'm with the Doctor, the "Oh my God"s get old, but I'm sure Hex will tone it down eventually.
Foley: Footsteps, whether walking or running, seem really distractingly amplified.
Dr. Mark Matthias: I was surprised he lived. Such an annoying character.
The Harvest is available here from Big Finish. I think it's definitely worth a buy, but I would wait for a sale. I got it for $5, and that seems like a fair price.