Interesting. I actually prefer this one to Winter for the Adept.
3 Likes
Same here, although I enjoy both
2 Likes
Just finished this story. It was just kinda meh. The handling of the Native American storyline, especially when the Doctor suggested the Permians may have been the cause of some of their beliefs, was cringe-inducing.
I liked Monica. I especially liked how her being vegetarian was a key plot point 
But overall it wasn’t a very good story. 2/5!
7 Likes
I must just say, some of your responses and reviews here are absolutely excellent, reading them makes listening to sub-par stories definitely worthwhile
6 Likes
Even when I’m listening or reading or watching ‘sub-par’ Doctor Who, I’m always finding something to enjoy. That’s the marvel of Doctor Who for me.
10 Likes
The first dud of the Big Finish Doctor Who releases. The plot is a dull thudding of nothingness that just keeps going with a drudging game of hide and seek that leaves you lost in a void of generic rooms, to the point that the CD release has a floor plan. The characterisation is either annoying and whiney, or baffling to the point of me audiable say WTF or groaning. The sound design is OK with the caviet that generic_monster_sound_24_MASTER is supposed to do some heavy lifting, along with, even more generic, verbal descriptions. This was a struggle to get through. I actually stopped about half way through for a full day and just couldn’t bare getting back to it. I think only sleep deprivation allowed me to finish it. All-in-all a very diapointing and never-to-be-listened-to-again release. 1/5
8 Likes
I hadn’t been looking forward to this one, as it was one of the releases responsible for putting me off BF in the early days - I had found it boring - and Nyssa was also one of my two least favourite classic companions (the other being Peri). I had never understood why they brought her back - she hadn’t been pre-announced as a companion, unlike Tegan, and it made the TARDIS too crowded. She didn’t seem to add much and I found her personality initially very wooden, although she improved towards the end of her run.
So I was fully expecting to hate the story this time around too, but I actually didn’t find it too bad in the end.
Yes there was too much “educational info-dump” and it got off to a very slow start, and I groaned when yet again Nyssa came over faint & unwell, and I still found the formal way she spoke irritating, but there was actually a story underneath it all, even if the premise turned out to be somewhat preposterous!
I think the difference is in the way I listen now (while driving in the car) rather than trying to just sit there at home and “listen” like I would watch a TV episode. No wonder I found it dry under those conditions!
Monica & Tulung were the most interesting characters, so I was glad that they were the two who survived. I felt that the Doctor managed to be so patient with Monica and get the best out of her because of all the practice he had recently had in dealing with Tegan!
9 Likes
Just finished this up, I don’t think I’ll remember much of it at all to be honest, generally just felt a bit meh
Some fun things in there, but not enough for me to rate it higher than a 6/10
8 Likes
this is a very mixed bag for me, I love the idea of the monster and I really enjoyed the character of Monica but that’s really where the praise ends.
it really suffers from being too long I think and the others characters are about as interesting as brick wall
overall a 5/10 for me
11 Likes
I’m only surprised it wasn’t out first for the elimination game. 
6 Likes
It’s got some interesting ideas, and I love the team of Five and Nyssa, so it wasn’t bad, but the execution was kind of boring.
7 Likes
this sure was one of the stories ever. the first part had some nice atmosphere but after it kinda fell off.
7 Likes
I like this one. Considering Five is my lowest rated Doctor and I was consistently bored out of my mind while watching most of his episodes, this one was surprisingly enjoyable. I considered skipping it like I did Phantasmagoria, but I decided to give it a try as Nyssa is my favourite of his companions and I really wanted to see her get a little more of the spotlight, and I’m glad I did. Sure, it’s not an amazing story, but it’s enjoyable enough. I’m looking forward to enjoying more Five stories now that I can do something productive while experiencing them rather than forcing myself to watch the TV, and that’s all I could hope for from an early Main Range story.
10 Likes
Whilst I don’t know that I’ll ever understand what’s boring about Five’s TV stories, I’m glad you enjoyed this one as it tends to get forgotten about because it’s such an early story and doesn’t get many plaudits. I always liked it and thought the Permians were a fun monster.
8 Likes
Five just never really grew on me, and I felt that he lacked a lot of the whimsy and strangeness that the other Doctors have. Add on to that the fact that his companions were pretty one-note for most of their run, and it’s just not fun. There’s nothing necessarily wrong with the stories themselves, but the characters leading the stories just don’t carry them the way they’re supposed to. Maybe I’d change my mind on a rewatch, but that’s a long way off.
4 Likes
These are my main gripes with Five and his er as well, and why I’m not a fan. But I’m, also going to rewatch his era this year, so I might warm up to him better.
3 Likes
Usually the Doctor is a little much post-regeneration, but I actually like Davison’s energy a lot more in Castrovalva than his usual performance as the Doctor. Sadly that seems to extend to Big Finish as well.
5 Likes
I’ll give you the lack of strangeness - that was a deliberate direction to follow Tom Baker and make Five different - rightly or wrongly.
But whimsy. Nah. I think Five gives a lot of whimsy.
And I’ve never found his companions one-note at all. No more so than any other classic companions anyway.
11 Likes
Agree - in all of DW there are stories where clearly the writer has a Plot and the character stuff is secondary to them. I’m backwards from most people here though, I enjoy Five and co on TV more than on audio - more than the early audios anyway. I think mostly solo Nyssa doeen’t work well for me 
6 Likes
Plus no one does underplayed exasperation as well as Peter Davison 
6 Likes