Previously … The Beautiful People …

The second series of Big Finish‘s range of The Companion Chronicles begins with Mother Russia.  A break from the first series that focussed on four of the female companions, this is the first to feature a male companion – in this case, Steven Taylor.  I have to admit to a slight bias towards Steven here, as I’ve always thought that Peter Purves should have had more roles with which to explore his acting talents.  Languishing in presenting for the majority of his life has denied us the chance to see him explore his acting potential.  So, for me, any chance of Steven Taylor returning is something I want to see/listen to.

Taking place shortly after The Gunfighters, when Steven travelled with Dodo and The Doctor, Mother Russia is set in 1812, in a Russian village some 50 miles from Moscow.  The French, with Napoleon at their head, are on their way but there’s plenty of time yet for the Doctor, Dodo, and Steven to take time out to rest from their hectic adventuring.

After partaking of a meal with the villagers, the travellers arrive at the main house of the estate of Count Nikitin. The Doctor agrees to tutor the Count’s young son, Dodo becomes companion and piano tutor to his daughter, and Steven … Steven does a little reading, holidaying, hunting, fishing, etc…

Several weeks later, with the imminent threat of the French invasion, the Doctor and Dodo prepare to leave after a village wedding but, before they have the chance, a crashed spaceship draws their attention.

They’re soon caught up in the machinations of a shape-shifting alien, confusing Steven at every turn, and having the Doctor join forces with Napoleon — or does he?

Thoughts

Like previous Companion Chronicles, this enhanced audiobook has the companion (Steven, in this case) narrating his tale to a second voice as he tries to get his memories straight in his head.  The second voice tries to confuse Steven, and becomes almost reminiscent of the Cinder in Frostfire.

Peter Purves has the fortune that his voice hasn’t strayed too far from his younger Steven Taylor and, unlike previous narrators, Purves does a creditable attempt at other voices, accents, and a fair attempt at the accent of Dodo (which was variable in the TV series anyway) and William Hartnell’s Doctor.  His first Doctor voice is constantly on the same level of irritability/irascibility regardless of the situation or scene, with almost every sentence ending in Hartnell’s familiar “hmm?”  Despite this, or perhaps because of it, you’re never in any doubt who’s talking.

Mother Russia is a good story with some great characters and plenty for everyone to do, especially Steven (naturally).  You always feel that the Doctor and Dodo are doing something, even if they’re not in the scene.  Over all, it’s up there with The Blue Tooth as one of the better Companion Chronicles so far.

Extras

After the adventure there’s a short interview with Peter Purves, who tells us more about his time on the show back in the 60s than about this current adventure.  We hear familiar tales of how he got on extremely well with Hartnell, whilst being quite aware that Hartnell didn’t suffer fools gladly and had started to get increasingly frustrated with his own inability to remember his lines.

Purves also remarks on the Big Finish range in that, although he was aware of them, he hadn’t previously been approached to reprise Steven Taylor.  On being given the chance, and being happy upon reading the script for Mother Russia, he leapt at the chance.  He talks about how he tried to work the accents and voices as best as he could, whilst apologising for any that aren’t entirely accurate.  He also tells us how acting roles didn’t come his way too often, and he enjoys presenting, and that’s the way it’s been for him.

Peter Purves comes across as a great person, with optimism and vigour for everything he does.  It’s reassuring to know that Steven Taylor will return in the future.

Next time … Helicon Prime …