The Butcher of Brisbane (#161)

   Big Finish Main Range

There is a whole lot of running around happening and Magnus Greel is Back and, well, no, he’s introduced?  Not sure exactly how to put it.  This is the prequel to the TV episode that introduced Jago and Litefoot, The Talons of Weng Chiang.  And it’s a hum dinger with half of the TARDIS crew being separated and lost in time, while the other half arrive to rescue them three years later.  Zigma particles and the unknown species alien, Dr. Findecker, are responsible for the particles – an attempt at time travel in the 51st Century.

Nyssa and Turlough have found a place in the world and Tegan finds the world to be no longer what she expected.  The Doctor is not the focus of this story but takes his usual spoiler position, especially as he knows what happens to Greel.  And Greel begins his descent into paranoia and madness clearly in this story, which could partially be Nyssa’s fault, depending how you look at it.  And Turlough plays more of a supporting/minor role but it fits his character “to a T,” as they say.  It’s a great story and I think I’d like to go watch The Talons of Weng Chiang now, then perhaps listen to some Jago and Litefoot stories.


Peter Davison, Sara Sutton, Mark Strickson, Janet Fielding

Writer: Marc Platt

Director: Ken Bentley

Release: June 2012

© Laura Vilensky 2019