208. The Waters of Amsterdam

Fantastic premise and start to this story but it can't quite go the distance. The setup with Tegan's ex-boyfriend is solid and the mysterious Rembrandt are both great hooks. The water monster is well executed and does a great job of adding suspense and pushing the plot along. Unfortunately, around the midway point the story drags on with a very unconvincing romantic subplot that really doesn't do much to expand on Tegan's character nor her ex whom we will probably never hear from again. By comparison, The Gathering did a much better job of fleshing out Tegan's personal life. Subtracting that bit, it's still a solid release.

The most impressive thing about this story is of course how Big Finish manages to wedge an adventure into the span of the TARDIS crew walking back to the TARDIS at the end of Arc of Infinity whilst creating another gap in the ending where the classic audio Omega fits in. That's a story within a story within another story from a continuity standpoint. Bonkers.

Set after Arc of Infinity, this story has the Fifth Doctor, Tegan, and Nyssya coming across a picture Rembrandt painted of spaceship, and then head back in time to discover what happened while also being dogged by dangerous water monsters.

The writing is good, although very predictable in places. The story tries to have a surprise villain reveal, but by the time it happens, it's no surprise at all, and even less of a surprise when the villain goes over the top. What does work quite beautifully about this story is the soundscape. The water-based monsters, the Nix are brilliantly realized, and the music is top notch. At the same time, the main cast gels together and Tim Delap is good as Tegan's Ex-boyfriend with a secret.

We are quite solidly back on Terra forma with this release, it is quite frankly a good old fashioned Who release. No.5, Nyssa and Tegan, the quartet are back in play. The story itself is a Johnny Morris stable grounded adventure very much on form. The action takes places with the Doctor and Nyssa in Amsterdam, where upon Tegan is being pursued by her love struck ex-boyfriend. You can imagine the Doctor's intrigue when looking thought the Rembrandt exhibition that is currently on show, that we have the masters work on "space ships". There is something not quite right here armed with this and the fact that whilst Nyssa and Tegan have a girlies chat about men, the Doctor and her the ex-boyfriend exchange what it is that makes Tegan tick. However things take a turn for the worse when a water based alien species starts to pursue Nyssa and Tegan, and then the Doctor and the ex-boyfriend, however, it does not seems to care about anyone else around, so what exactly is going on, and what is it about Tegan new flame that makes the whole things not quite add up.

I enjoyed this, fully, it was excellently acted, produced and the story is strong enough for you to dip in and out and enjoy to the full without worrying about time whimey stuff going off left right and center, it took me back to an time of the more innocent Big Finish releases which were much more story line centric on the story that was being told, as opposed to them being a liberal slice of the Who Canon, and the listener to be aware of half a dozen other going's on in the particular Doctor's time line. I especially like the fact that this comes over as a story of the 5th Doctor reign, of the time, so it is firmly based in that late 90's period of Who. The whole thing sounds wonderfully well acted, and, as per the extra additional bonus material, you can tell that this team of Dr, and companions are just having a massive amount of fun, whilst still maintaining a cracking story.