Big Finish Main Range
This story may have holes you can drive a truck through and jumps like Evel Knievel hurdling the Grand Canyon but I love it anyway. Erimem kicks serious ass and is a great character to introduce in counterpart to Peri. She doesn’t know the ins-and-outs of technology and all sorts of things but she is just a wonderful person and much like a babe in the woods, the Dr. and Peri will be taking her on crazy life adventures where she’ll be transformed by her travels and not always in a good way. This adventure is a good start to her adventures and The Church and the Crown is an excellent followup!
The most confusing part of the story has an assassin attacking Erimem and the Doctor saving her. Antranak says that the assassin must have taken poison himself but then he’s unconscious. So it’s very confusingly written—it’s difficult to understand that the assassin isn’t dead. Then there are the torture scenes. But “if he had lived, I would have made him a eunich”—oiy. Confusing as all get out!!! Then when Erimem and Peri go to the palace of concubines, Antranak tells them about the secret passageway. Erimem doesn’t know about it. Then when they are led to it, she suddenly knows that it’s hidden behind these tapestries because of whatever reason.
It just seems like a rewrite gone wrong with these few confusing portions where the story turns on something someone says then what they say is more confusing than it needs to be. Otherwise it would be a 5 jelloid storyline because this is a great story overall. Just enough danger and alien influence to make things go a bit crazy and fun in the end. And the Doctor has to pull the solution out of a hat at the end of it all, as usual. Good stuff!
Peter Davison, Nicola Bryant, and Caroline Morris
Writer: Iain McLaughlin
Director: Gary Russell
Release: September 2001