The Fourth Doctor Adventures: Metamorphosis from Big Finish Review

The recent series for The Fourth Doctor has been great to listen to. From the introduction and departure of Margaret Hopwood alongside Leela to the recent meeting of Harry Sullivan and Naomi Cross, which has been teased for many years now over various ranges, The Fourth Doctor Adventures have had something of a renaissance recently. The latest set, Metamorphosis continues that trend with the Doctor facing off against the Toymaker and more bizarrely, Wombats!

This new set opens with Aurora Fearnley’s Matryoshka, which sees the Fourth Doctor, Harry and Naomi arrive against their will in a strange toyshop. They soon find that a child has gone missing, the walls seem to talk to them and they all find themselves quickly pulled into some strange games and it doesn’t take long for the Doctor to work out who is behind it all.

Matryoshka is a strong start to this volume, Fearnley has a great handle on the regulars, giving the Fourth Doctor a more serious tone as he faces off against one of his worst foes. This time in the role of the Toymaker is the brilliant Annette Badland, who does a brilliant job of bringing this chilling villain to life and she works fantastically well opposite Tom Baker. In fact, throughout this set, all of the regular cast are at the top of their game. But as nice as it is to have the Toymaker facing off against the Doctor again, it is the Toymaker who is the weakest aspect of this story, with little reason given for the character to return and any explanation and reasoning for it just winds up being slightly disappointing as the character ends up playing second fiddle to their own chaos.

But that is not to say that Matryoshka isn’t a good time, it’s a lot of fun to listen to with scenes which would only work on audio, the television series would never have had the guts to try and drown Ian Marter as Harry in a wine cellar! And from Big Finish this is one of their best outings for the Toymaker a character they luckily haven’t done to death yet so their return is very exciting. It even works as a sequel and prequel to the recent The Giggle with more than a few hints and nods to events that are both coming and have happened. I have a feeling all these nods and winks might have been accidental but it’s a fun little listen nonetheless.

Matthew Sweet pens the next story, The Caged Assassin. When the Fourth Doctor, Harry and Naomi arrive on Earth in the 1800s, they quickly find themselves embroiled in a plot to take over the world involving radioactive tigers and gun-toting wombats.

Again, this is a story that could only work on audio, there’s no way that we would have gotten to see wombats rampaging across the screen threatening to destroy the Earth! And it is also the biggest surprise of the whole set. On the surface, it’s a story that is incredibly silly and shouldn’t stand out against tales featuring the Toymaker and Master but ends up being the best story of the three. Sweet’s script is genuinely funny and feels like everyone is having a great time. For me, it’s the first genuinely funny Fourth Doctor story since The Auntie Matter way back in 2012.

Also worth a mention is the sound design and music from Jamie Robertson which is a big part of this story while his music is always great, it really captures the era the story is set in as well as adds to the comedic nature of the story, I’ll be honest and say I rarely pay a lot of attention to music in things, normally I find background music can drown out the performances, here everything has come together to form a truly excellent story.

The final story from Lisa McMullin, the set’s namesake Metamorphosis, gives us a long-awaited rematch between the Fourth Doctor and The Master, played by Geoffrey Beavers. When the TARDIS arrives on the planet Jaxus, they find people have been going missing and as the TARDIS crew investigate they soon uncover that an old foe is behind it.

McMullin’s script is a really strong end to this set and shows off how brilliantly dark and scary this decayed version of the Master can be. Beaver’s performance is electric and even though this incarnation of the Master is grotesque he is still charming and able to manipulate people into doing what he wants. What he has done to the missing people is genuinely disturbing and one of the darkest things Big Finish has ever committed to audio but it succeeds in making him one of the scariest and dangerous incarnations we’ve ever had.

Metamorphosis wraps up a strong set and brings to an end another successful box set. McMullin’s script is dark and disturbing with fantastic performances from all involved and it’s always interesting to hear companions who have never met the Master getting to face off against him.

If this set does anything it’s to prove why these sets deserve to be released as a once-a-month single like they always used to be because then we’d get three months of excellent stories. Overall this was a lot of fun and should be listened to by any fans of the Fourth Doctor and for people who have only just been introduced to the Toymaker thanks to the recently established Pantheon of Gods.