‘THE HIGHEST GROUND’

Please feel free to comment on my review.

The sixth and final episode of the ‘Mars’ saga in ‘Star Cops’ is a really gripping action-packed audio episode to listen to. I couldn’t help but feel so gripped about what happened in the final instalment.

‘The Highest Ground’ by Andrew Smith is a very satisfying finale to the ‘Mars’ saga. I’m pleased with how he’s shaped the ‘Star Cops’ series for Big Finish audio, making me care for the characters in it. 🙂

In the episode, Nathan Spring is determined to expose Mark Elstob’s Bryon Lachman as a fraud for endorsing illegal human experimentation taking place on the red planet for the survival of its people.

Bryon Lachman is firm in his vile agenda and is determined to silence the Star Cops once for and all. He goes to great lengths, enlisting the help of Issy Van Randwyck as co-ordinator Barbara Holmberg.

It’s amazing how Andrew Smith has crafted the ‘Mars’ saga with writers like Una McCormack, Guy Adams and director Helen Goldwyn. Everything connects so well together in a very fulfilling manner.

Bryon Lachman is clearly a pretty amoral person, only seeing his personal aim above everyone else’s lives. He even goes to the lengths of murdering people and obtain what he wants no matter the cost.

Lachman is definitely a compelling ‘Star Cops’ villain to listen to on audio. Barbara Holmberg comes to realise the error of her ways by helping Lachman in his endeavours and sees how vile a man he is.

Oliver Dimsdale is great to listen to as Jean Arnaud, who becomes an active supporter for Nathan and the Star Cops in this tale. 🙂 This is especially when a siege occurs at his colony of Olympus Mons.

As well as playing Jean Arnaud, Oliver Dimsdale also plays Jude Molina, who is Lachman’s top henchman in the episode. I’m surprised Jean Arnaud and Jude Molina didn’t meet each other in this. 😀

The tension continues to escalate when Priya, Pal, Colin and Paul are in danger. An armed squad led by Jude Molina hunts them down as the four Star Cops escape the LRI base at the Mariner Valley.

Thankfully, Nathan and Jean come to the rescue when Jude Molina and his lot are about to gun them down. The Star Cops and Jean soon make for some refuge at the Olympus Mons colony in this story.

I like how the action and drama balance together when the siege of Olympus Mons occurs. Priya, Colin, Paul and Jean have to defend themselves when Jude Molina and his lot come forth to attack. 🙂

Thankfully, Pal has an inspired idea to go in a shuttle up to the top of the Olympus Mons mountain in order to transmit a message for help and to expose Lachman’s duplicity. Nathan accompanies her. 🙂

It was exciting how Nathan and Pal reached the top of the Olympus Mons mountain to transmit their message whilst the Star Cops down below are defending themselves against Jude Molina and his lot.

Lachman goes too far when he shoots two mountain hikers who rescued Nathan and Paul from their crashed shuttle on Olympus Mons. Nathan confronts Lachman whilst Pal’s injured inside the shuttle.

Thankfully Paul and Jean come to Nathan and Pal’s aid when they ride upon rescue drones to the mountain. It seems Nathan’s message of ‘help’ got through to the outside of Olympus Mons after all.

Lachman is beaten when the shuttles and the Mars rovers come to the Star Cops’ aid as it is revealed what vile project has been conducted by the LRI. Lachman soon commits suicide in the story’s finale.

I like how Barbara Holmberg comes round and helps Priya and Colin with defending the colony against Molina’s lot. She’ll still be put on trial for her crimes, but at least she saw the light in the end.

I like how the episode concluded with Jude Molina surrendering to Priya and Colin once Nathan told him Lachman is dead. I also like how Nathan visited Barbara Holmberg inside her prison cell on Mars.

Nathan wins by having a Star Cop base on Mars and Jean Arnaud gets to be the first new Star Cop on the red planet. I would have preferred Robson Green from ‘Grantchester’ being the first new Star Cop! 😀

Joking aside; ‘The Highest Ground’ is a tremendous finale to the ‘Mars’ saga of ‘Star Cops’! I’m glad everything turned out alright in the end and Andrew Smith does deliver a great action-packed finale.

The CD extras are as follows. At the end of ‘The Highest Ground’, there are behind-the-scenes interviews with the cast and crew including Trevor Cooper, Linda Newton, Philip Olivier, Rakhee Thakrar, Issy Van Randwyck, Mark Elstob, Oliver Dimsdale, director Helen Goldwyn, writer/script editor Andrew Smith, etc. Sadly, David Calder didn’t get interviewed for this episode, which is rather unusual. I was amazed that Helen Goldwyn compared a scene in ‘The Highest Ground’ to ‘Toy Story 3’.

The second ‘Mars’ box set of the ‘Star Cops’ series is certainly better than the first ‘Mars’ box set by Big Finish. Everything worked well in terms of the writing, the acting and the directing in the two ‘Mars’ box sets, but I found the last three episodes of the ‘Mars’ saga very compelling and enjoyable.

David Calder, Trevor Cooper, Linda Newton, Philip Olivier and Rakhee Thakrar excel in their roles as Nathan, Colin, Pal, Paul and Priya in the ‘Mars’ audios. The five Star Cops have come together as a team compared to how they began life as characters in the TV series and the ‘Mother Earth’ audios.

I find I’m enjoying the ‘Star Cops’ series more by listening to the Big Finish audios and that’s down to Andrew Smith who’s crafted each of the two audio seasons ‘Mother Earth’ and ‘Mars’ very well. Andrew Smith is clearly a terrific writer in both the mediums of ‘Doctor Who’ and ‘Star Cops’ here. 🙂

The audios are also well-directed by Helen Goldwyn as she gets a grasp of how the ‘Star Cops’ series should be in Big Finish. I’m looking forward to how the ‘Star Cops’ series will continue and what new ideas that Andrew Smith will bring forward to develop the Star Cops’ journey into space and beyond.

‘The Highest Ground’ rating – 9/10

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The previous episode was ‘Human Kind’ (Audio)	The next episode is ‘Sins of the Father’ (Audio)
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