People always talk about the BigFinish redemption of the Sixth Doctor, but I always found it more impressive how they managed to turn Mel into one of the most compelling audio companions.
So I’ve got a question for you all;
Best 6th Doctor and Mel audio adventure.
Best 7th Doctor and Mel audio adventure.
And also;
Worst 6th Doctor and Mel audio adventure.
Worst 7th Doctor and Mel audio adventure.
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My pick for the best Six and Mel story is relatively easy. ‘The Juggernauts’ was her first encounter with the Daleks, and she spent the majority of the outing proving her worth as a computer programmer. She even had a sweet romance with one of the people on Lethe.
My favourite Seven and Mel story… it’s basically ‘Paradise Towers’ written in the style of a Japanese psychological horror. It also has a really interesting perspective on themes of anger. Don’t see many people discussing it. Great little horror piece.
My pick for the worst 6 & Mel outing wins this spot simply because it was beyond boring. Even the cover art is bland and non-descript. Does have an excellent score though, I’ll give it that.
The cardinal sin of any comedy adventure is not being funny. That’s why stories like ‘The Dark Husband’ and ‘Heroes of Sontar’ make me reach for the Bailey’s bottle whenever someone suggests I listen to them. ‘Bang-Bang-a-Boom!’ was also pretty abysmal.
Quite easily the worst performance McCoy has ever delivered, and a total waste of a talented actor like Graeme Garden.
What? Bang-Bang-A-Boom! is absolutely brilliant!
It plays perfectly on all the Season 24 aspects of the 7th Doctor’s personality and is just one of the best pieces of comedy storytelling in the entire Whoniverse!
Retract that slanderous comment right now
The moment I read “best 6th Doctor and Mel audio adventure” I was itching to reply with the Juggernauts and I’m so glad to see you agree! I don’t have a lot of Mel audios though, but I think We Are The Daleks and Red Planets are due a relisten on my part, when I get around to that I’ll be sure to report back if they can be recommended or not!
I have heard that one, probably 6 or 7 years ago but can’t for the life of me remember the first thing about it… I’ll take it that’s a good thing then?
I had an exceedingly tedious manual labour job that I had a slight moral objection to for a couple of years where I basically had the first ~150 MR on a loop 7-8 hours a day - they honestly started to blur together a bit…
As someone who has listened to every Six and Mel audio to date, my favorites are definitely The One Doctor, followed by Loud and Proud, the Queen of Clocks, and the Vanity Box.
My least favorites are Technicolor Nightmare Coat, The Dream Nexus, and Mind of the Hodiac. Three boring stories. The first one was terribly confusing, and none of the three I could be bothered to finish.
Outside of ‘The Dream Nexus’ - where I seeem to be the only person who quite enjoyed it - I agree with those picks for the worst.
Actually, I would probably change my selection for worst from ‘The Seeds of War’ - I totally forgot ‘Hodiac’ existed because I spent so long burying the memories of listening to such dross.
I listened to Hodiac when it was added to BBC Sounds and i did feel a bit let down after all the hype. Wouldn’t say its bad but i wasn’t really into it. Feels a bit been there, done that when you think of other things RTD has written for the show.
I dearly love The Vanity Box. I have very quickly become a Paul Magrs fan, i think. one of these days im gonna have to draw six dressed like a little old lady from the 60s.
Seconding Bang-Bang-a-Boom being fantastic, i’m definitely a fan of over the top goofy BF stories…
I don’t think I have a worst 6+Mel story. i haven’t heard any i’ve actively disliked yet, maybe Thicker Than Water just because I love Arrangements for War SO much that it was a little bit of a disappointment to me in comparison.
Flip-Flop, in spite of how much i like the unique format and concept, was a drag to me and not very funny. sad…
Mel has gotten some good audios with both Six and Seven, I just haven’t listened to many recently. While not super outstanding, I do enjoy Bang-Bang-a-Boom! and think it’s better than The One Doctor. Another good Mel story is Fires of Vulcan which is one that starts bridging the gap between the Seventh Doctor of Season 24 and the darker Doctor of Seasons 25 and 26.
I don’t disagree about Bang-Bang-a-Boom not being great, but my least favorite is actually Flip-Flop. I really appreciate its structure and think it’s astounding how well that works, but the story just feels mean spirited for me.
Mel has a great time with Sixie on audio. I quite like Catch-1782; The One Doctor, The Juggenauts and The Wrong Doctors are great; Thicker Than Water is amazing. I actually love The Seeds of War, I found it to be such an engaging character piece. Unfortunately, not a fan at all of The Wishing Beast. Spaceport Fear is okay. Recently, The Queen of Clocks was superb.
The Hebe season one (still wondering if we’ll get a season two) is hit or miss. I strongly like sets one and four, strongly dislike sets two and three. Specially set three. I get what they were doing, but honestly I feel this same story was told better with Klein. One could argue this one could stand even stronger by giving Hebe the main role of the arc, but whatever momentum there was regarding that idea is lost when she disappears for set three.
Patricia McBride is the true protagonist of this story arc and I just don’t think she’s a fully realized character. And I don’t like how Sixie handles her. I understand the Doctor having compassion, but I find it out of place in the terms its done during this arc specially giving the character of this specific incarnation. I don’t think he would be as forgiving, and I don’t think that’s a flaw.
Mel with Seven is more complicated. Seven as a whole is a hit or miss incarnation; and when you hit with him you get the best Doctor Who have to offer. That’s true even with Mel. In my opinion her two best stories belongs to him, The Fires of Vulcan and Red. We Are the Daleks is great too. Unregenarate! and Bang-Bang-a-Boom are whatever, but I don’t like Flip-Flop, The Warehouse, Terror of the Sontarans nor any of the first six stories I heard from her returning to travel with him and Ace after Hex.
That’s rarely Mel’s fault tho. In fact, she is the only consistently good thing in that later arc. I also heard Bad Day in Tinseltown and The Ribos Inheritance. Bad Day in Tinseltown is another flop, but I think I may enjoy the second one better in a relisten. The Ribos Operation is my favorite classic serial so I was just very disappointed when I listened to it.
