‘THE LAST DAYS OF THE POWELL ESTATE’

Please feel free to comment on my review.

Mr. Fingers with the Ninth Doctor and Rose

Here we are again with another Ninth Doctor and Rose audio adventure by Big Finish! 🙂

It’s nice knowing that there are now Big Finish audio stories featuring Christopher Eccleston as the Ninth Doctor and Billie Piper as Rose. It’s something I’ve wanted to happen for a long time, and I’m pleased for the new TV show’s 20th anniversary that it did.

Despite the ups and downs I’ve had with the new TV series over the years, there are certain groups of characters from the two Russell T. Davies eras, the Steven Moffat era and the Chris Chibnall era that I’m glad have found a life beyond their TV appearances. 🙂

And it’s great knowing that actors like Christopher Eccleston and Billie Piper have been able to reprise their roles from the TV series because of Big Finish. Only time will tell as to when more new series ‘Doctor Who’ actors will reprise their roles from the TV on audio.

I would love it if actors like Matt Smith, Karen Gillan, Arthur Darvill, Jenna Coleman, Peter Capaldi, Pearl Mackie, Ncuti Gatwa and Millie Gibson are given the chance to reprise their ‘Doctor Who’ characters from the TV series into Big Finish audios. It could still happen.

I did get anxious about whether Chris Eccleston and Billie Piper would ever reunite as the Ninth Doctor and Rose on audio by Big Finish following Chris Eccleston’s initial solo audio box set stories. This is considering his latest thoughts about Russell T. Davies and the BBC.

At the ‘For The Love of Sci-Fi’ convention in Manchester in December 2023, Chris Eccleston and Billie Piper were guests and they did a panel talk together. Chris made it clear how he felt about RTD and the BBC, and what it would take for him to return to ‘Doctor Who’.

Bear in mind, that convention happened whilst the 60th anniversary specials by RTD were happening on TV in December 2023. And now we’ve had two seasons of the neo-RTD era with Ncuti Gatwa having just left and Billie Piper appearing at the end of ‘The Reality War’.

Thankfully, I needn’t have worried about it since it was such a relief to come across the announcement by Big Finish that Chris Eccleston and Billie Piper were returning to play the Ninth Doctor and Rose on audio. I’m glad more stories can be told about these characters.

And despite Chris Eccleston claiming that Series 1 of the new TV series was a ‘mess’ (in behind-the-scenes terms), I regard his season as the Ninth Doctor very highly. And hopefully through the Big Finish audios, that atmosphere of storytelling can be recreated.

Let’s talk about the second story of ‘The Ninth Doctor Adventures’ by Big Finish featuring the Ninth Doctor and Rose called ‘The Last Days of the Powell Estate’. This story is by a writer that I’ve come across before – Timothy X Atack. Surprisingly, I enjoyed this story.

I say that because, over the years, I’ve not been that impressed with Timothy X Atack’s efforts as a ‘Doctor Who’ writer. Mind you, I’ve only heard two stories penned by him, but like Lizzie Hopely, I approached this story with trepidation about whether I’d like it or not.

In the past, the Timothy X Atack stories I’ve heard include ‘The Wreck of the World’ featuring the Second Doctor, Jamie and Zoe. He also wrote an episode in the Ninth Doctor audio anthology ‘Respond to All Calls’ called ‘Planet of the End’. Not exactly favourites of mine. 😐

The style of writing that Timothy X Atack seems to go for with his ‘Doctor Who’ stories is more in the vein of Steven Mofatt’s style of writing. For some, that might be considered a wonderful thing. Personally, I can’t say I’ve been enamoured with Steven Moffat’s writing lately.

Despite that, I can safely say ‘The Last Days of the Powell Estate’ was a worthwhile listen. Maybe it’s to do with the fact that it’s more earthbound and more relatable, where stories like ‘The Wreck of the World’ and ‘Planet of the End’ have more futuristic settings to them.

I wouldn’t say ‘The Last Days of the Powell Estate’ was an excellent audio adventure, but it was engaging to listen to. Plus, the performances of the cast led by Chris Eccleston, Billie Piper and Camille Coduri held my attention in wanting to find out what’s happening.

In the story, the Doctor and Rose visit the Powell Estate in South London in the year 2036. So, that’s 11 years from now. Hopefully the dystopian-like future in South London in the year 2036 won’t happen and the Powell Estate still be standing, despite the story’s title. 🙂

In their visit to 2036, the Doctor and Rose team up with an urban explorer named Ellis Coates. He’s a vlogger and an investigator for the series ‘Total Abandonment’ and has come to the Powell Estate to investigate the mysterious invisible killer named Mr. Fingers.

Apparently, if you feel a hand on your shoulder, you must never turn around or else you die. As the Doctor, Rose and Ellis investigate what’s going on in conjunction with Rose’s mum Jackie and her friend Brainy Betty in 2006, the identity of Mr. Fingers may be more than it seems.

Christopher Eccleston continues to be excellent in the role of the Ninth Doctor in this Big Finish audio adventure. It’s so easy to visualise him from watching him in the TV series and you can hear his commitment and dedication to playing a character he loves playing. 🙂

It was fascinating to hear how he unravelled the mystery of Mr. Fingers in the Powell Estate in 2036 and how he shares that with Rose and Ellis when they’re trying to prevent death catching up to them. This is also an episode where the Doctor’s fears come to the fore. 😐

There’s a scene in the climax where the Doctor and Rose try to lure Mr. Fingers into a circle to trap him. Rose prompts the Doctor to share his fears to draw him in. Even though it’s not stated, it’s clear that the Doctor is sharing his fears about his actions in the Time War.

That scene is mesmerising to listen to, especially when Chris Eccleston is channelling his emotions of anger and regret in playing the Doctor who is distraught about causing the deaths of his people in that war. I do like how this episode gets to explore that side of him.

Billie Piper is equally excellent as Rose in this audio adventure. It was interesting to hear her reaction to how the Powell Estate has turned out in 2036 where it appears to have been decimated. Rose compares this to her witnessing Earth’s end in ‘The End of the World’.

I like how the Doctor tells Rose not to call her mum on the phone when the situation of the Powell Estate in 2036 is connected to thirty years ago in 2006. Rose says she won’t call her mum, but as soon as the Doctor has left, we know she’ll call her mum anyway. 😀

It was interesting to hear her interaction with Ellis, who seems to have an attraction to her. I didn’t pick up on this when hearing the audio story, but clearly Rose isn’t interested in Ellis, especially as the viewership of his podcast series seems very important to him. 😐

It was funny in the closing scene of this story when Rose was laughing away about the fact that the Doctor isn’t afraid of Daleks, Slitheen or Mr. Fingers, but of her own mum. The Doctor denies this of course, but Rose is convinced that’s what makes him afraid. 😀

Camille Coduri is back as Jackie Tyler in this audio story. It’s been interesting to hear these stories with Jackie tagging along with the Ninth Doctor and Rose at times. It makes sense, mind, considering Jackie’s a very vital part of Rose’s life as much as the Doctor is.

Looking ahead to the next story ‘Dare You’, Jackie seems to be in that too. There’s bound to be a point where it’ll be just the Doctor and Rose travelling together without Jackie in one of these audio stories. At this point, I don’t really mind, as it’s very nice to hear Jackie.

Mind you, Jackie is sort-of separated from the Doctor and Rose in this audio story, since she’s having her own adventure with Brainy Betty in 2006. It was interesting to hear how Jackie mainly coped without Rose and the Doctor, since she had Brainy Betty to rely on.

According to the story’s behind-the-scenes interviews, Jackie is considered as someone who makes friends with everyone and the ones she’s close friends with have something special to them. It’s quite amazing how Jackie is able to find these friends in these stories.

The guest cast includes Harki Bhambra as Ellis Coates, the vlogger and investigator of ‘Total Abandonment’. Harki Bhambra has been in an episode of the new TV series where he played a character called Mike in ‘The Magician’s Apprentice’. That’s intriguing to know. 😀

I did wonder about what happened to Ellis at the story’s end, especially as he’d been following the Doctor and Rose around the Powell Estate with his camera drone in 2036. I believe he got killed by Mr. Fingers, but was resurrected as soon as time was restored.

Mandi Symonds guest stars as Brainy Betty, one of Jackie’s friends in 2006. This isn’t my first encounter with Mandi Symonds, as she’s done plenty of Big Finish audios, including the story ‘Vampire Weekend’ with the Thirteenth Doctor and Yaz, which I’ve heard recently.

Brainy Betty (or Bethany Wise as is her real name) is part of Jackie’s bereavement support group. It was interesting to hear Mandi do a Jamaican accent for Brainy Betty, like she did for Mary Seacole in ‘The Charge of the Night Brigade’ from ‘The Twelfth Doctor Chronicles’.

Regarding Mr. Fingers, he’s supposed to be a character from an alternate dimension, voiced by Dan Starkey, who is well-known for voicing and playing Sontarans in ‘Doctor Who’. The thing is, I didn’t hear Mr. Fingers speak whilst listening to this audio adventure.

It might be just me, but I felt Mr. Fingers was a silent presence throughout this story. Why would Dan Starkey be cast in that role if he’s not going to say much? He’s not interviewed for the audio story’s behind-the-scenes extras either, both on CD and in the extended extras. 😐

Despite that disappointment, the day is saved, and Mr. Fingers is banished from our world once and for all by the Doctor. The Doctor and Rose head off back home in the TARDIS where Rose teases the Doctor about him being scared of her mum, as I mentioned earlier.

‘The Last Days of the Powell Estate’ has been a gripping audio adventure to listen to. It’s not perfect and the biggest disappointment for me was not being able to hear Mr. Fingers, voiced by Dan Starkey, unless I missed him and it was just him doing vocal sound effects.

Regardless, I’m pleased that this audio story by Timothy X Atack didn’t entirely disappoint me and it was good to hear another ‘Doctor Who’ audio story with Christopher Eccleston, Billie Piper and Camille Coduri. I’m looking forward to checking out ‘Dare You’ sometime soon.

The CD extras are as follows. At the end of ‘The Last Days of the Powell Estate’, there are behind-the-scenes interviews with the cast and crew, including Christopher Eccleston, Billie Piper, Camille Coduri, writer Timothy X Atack, producer/script editor Matt Fitton, director Helen Goldwyn, etc.

If you purchase ‘The Last Days of the Powell Estate’ from Big Finish, you’ll get the extended extras of the interviews. The extended extras total ‘The Last Days of the Powell Estate’ interviews for about 31 minutes.

‘The Last Days of the Powell Estate’ rating – 7.5/10

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The previous story For the Ninth Doctor was ‘Snare’ (Audio) For Rose was ‘Snare’ (Audio)	The next story For the Ninth Doctor is ‘Dare You’ (Audio) For Rose is ‘Dare You’ (Audio)
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