Big Finish -Doctor Who: The Lost Stories - "Power Play" Review

rating: 4

WARNING: Significant spoilers follow! I've never really had the chance to develop much of an impression of the Second Doctor's companion, Victoria Waterfield (Deborah Watling). Like most people, I've only ever seen her one complete story ("The Tomb of the Cybermen"), and nothing else. She hasn't even been featured in very many Big Finish audios. But now she's back, and she's with the Sixth Doctor (Colin Baker) and Peri (Nicola Bryant). "Power Play", which is the most recent entry in the "Lost Stories" series (stories that were going to be made for the old TV series but, for whatever reason, weren't). It tells the tale of the Doctor and Peri on the run from what appear to be, essentially, space cops. They arrive on Earth in what I presume to be the current era and find a group of people protesting a nuclear power station. They also find out, eventually, that one of the protestors is Victoria, who has gone from being a young Victorian girl circa 1866 to a modern-day environmentalist. Yes, you read that right. For those who don't know, and even I had to look it up to be certain, Victoria met the Second Doctor in Victorian England. She wound up traveling with him and Jamie for several stories and then eventually left, electing to remain in 1966 England. It was quite enjoyable hearing Watling playing the character. Like I said, I wasn't really very familiar with her as a character, and therefore also not very familiar with Watling's acting, but I felt that she did a very good job, though she sounded a bit more...weathered...than I expected. Watling herself is not very old, but I suspect she might have been aging up Victoria's voice a bit. Regardless, she was fun to hear, and the eventual meeting between her and the Doctor was wonderful, at least in part because she didn't know who he was, having never heard of Time Lords or regeneration. Though she doesn't quite hold her own with Bryant and Baker, she did well enough for someone who has only done two audios before this one. The main plot of weird goings-on at a nuclear power station was well done, and I liked the fact that the story pointed out that, when handled correctly, nuclear power isn't really all that dangerous. I also was very pleased and amused by what was happening with the nuclear waste the plant generated, and the bad guy behind it all was charismatic and entertaining, all of which are a plus with something like this. I was also very amused by Victoria's friend who thought the whole thing was just a bizarre bit of performance art, or did until he realized he couldn't remove the rubber mask he thought the aliens were wearing... The whole "space police" plot, on the other hand, left me going "meh" just a bit. I mean, it wasn't bad or anything, but it did seem rather odd and unnecessary. I'm fairly sure one could have edited out their appearance and really not lost too much of the story. Well, aside from some run time. That complaint aside, I really did enjoy this audio. Despite my brief acquaintance with Victoria, it was lovely to hear her in a full-on audio, and this story pairs up nicely with the little mini-series Big Finish did a few years back with the Sixth Doctor and Jamie running around doing things. I really like that kind of "companion shifting" and I'd like to see (well, hear), more of it. Next month, the Sixth Doctor and Peri face off against the Sontarans!