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3 thoughts on “Spare Parts (Doctor Who)”
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Highly regarded and deservedly so! “On a dark frozen planet where no planet should be, in a doomed city with a sky of stone, the last denizens of Earth’s long-lost twin will pay any price to survive, even if the laser scalpels cost them their love and hate and humanity.”And in the mat-infested streets, round about tea-time, the Doctor and Nyssa unearth a black market in second-hand body parts and run the gauntlet of the augmented police and their augmented horses.”And just between the tramstop and the picturehouse, their worst suspicions are confirmed: the Cybermen have only just begun, and the Doctor will be, just as he always has been, their saviour…””Spare Parts”, by Marc Platt, is possibly Big Finish Productions’ most highly regarded Doctor Who play, and is also supposed to be the inspiration by the new series’ “Rise of the Cybermen”. As such I had certain level of anticipation leading up to it (always a risk). As I listened to the first episode, I thought I was going to be disappointed: the sound design seemed lesser than usual, and the events altogether domestic in scale.However, “Spare Parts” really does turn out to be something special. “Spare Parts” is for the Cybermen what “Genesis of the Daleks” is for the infamous pepper-pots: an origin story, in which the chain of events leading up to the dehumanisation of an entire race is understandable and unavoidable. The twist is that the Doctor, who, once he realises that he and Nyssa have landed on Mondas, simply wants to leave, is eventually instrumental in the survival and development of the Cyber race.Spare Parts is also a direct prequel / sequel to “The Tenth Planet”, and I consider myself very lucky to have listened to “The Tenth Planet” for the first time recently, as I believe it enhanced my enjoyment of “Spare Parts” no end. True to form, Big Finish Productions have recreated the voices of the original “Tenth Planet” Cyberman to perfection, and whatever one’s views on those early Cyber voices, it gives “Spare Parts” a tremendous feeling of authenticity and canonicity.”Spare Parts” boasts a high quality script from “Ghost Light” and “Loups-Garoux” writer Marc Platt, with the Hartley family, with whom Nyssa spends a large part of the story, black market organ trader Thomas Dodd (Derren Nesbitt) and scrientist Doctorman Allan (Sally Knyvette) all being well-formed characters. As stated, the Cyber voices are perfect, while the voices of the Committee that runs the underground city recall the more electronic voices from the Cybermen stories of the Patrick Troughton era. The score is understated and effective and the sound design, which as it turns out offers a quite intentional silence in the first episode, is up to Big Finish’s usual high standard.”Spare Parts” is a fascinating origin story for the Cybermen with an explosive ending, and comes highly recommended.
Simply The Best In my opinion for what it is worth is that this is simply the BEST Big Finish adventure ever. It tells the story of the origin of the Cybermen and has echoes of the rise of Nazi Germany.Peter Davison is at his breathless frantic best and you can feel the tension rising as the story progresses and the twist at the end is unexpected but just right.
Spare Parts – The Doctor and Nyssa see the dangers of plastic surgery This is the thirty fourth release from Big Finish in their range of full cast audio adventures starring classic Doctor Whos. It stars Peter Davison as Five and Sarah Sutton as Nyssa. There are four episodes, roughly 25-30 minutes each, complete with original theme music between each, and cliff hanger endings. Two episodes per disc on 2 discs, and a short booklet with some pictures of the cast and production notes.This is a corker of a story. Five and Nyssa land on a planet much like Earth, but everything seems to be underground. The Doctor has some suspicions as to where they are, which are soon borne out. He and Nyssa are soon thrown into an adventure where they are presented with a variety of moral problems regarding the formation of one of the Doctor’s oldest enemies – the Cybermen. It’s a story right up there with Genesis of the Daleks as a thoughtful tale with some rip-roaring adventure along the way.The production is excellent. Nicely tying in with established Cyber-mythology, and strongly reminiscent of the Cybermen encountered by the First Doc in Tenth Planet. The gradual transformation of the proto cybermen to the fully formed article as the story progresses is achieved with subtlety and attention to detail. The script is very intelligent and emotionally literate, giving us some quite touching scenes, and a few big shocks. The supporting cast, especially Derren Nesbitt, Paul Copely and Sally Knyvette are top rate, and give us characters that we can understand and connect with. Davison and Sutton are also on great form, showing us the compassion of the characters, the panic as the situation gets out of control, and managing to explore the nature of the relationship between the two in a touching and believable way.For me this right up there with them as one of the best Who adventures – classic TV, Nu Who, Audio, book or other medium. It stands prodly alongside Daemons, Genesis Of the Daleks or Caves of Androzani. 5 stars, I wish I could give it more.