Doctor Who BF-011 The Apocalypse Element

"When the planet Archetryx is threatened by a Dalek assault squad, the Sixth Doctor and Evelyn become embroiled in an ever-deepening mystery. What has become of President Romana, missing for twenty years? What lurks in the vast gravity wells of Archetryx? What is the secret of the ancient element the Daleks are synthesising -- and how does Gallifrey feature in their plans?"

Romana trapped for over 20 years, on a planet disappeared from time... That was such an interesting  concept, and I looked forward to the Doctor and friends trying to find out where its gone... But suddenly it appears. I'll admit, I liked it how it was. It kept the pace going, and was entertaining.

I loved how the planet was a mix of several other invasion attempts. The planet was piloted from the core, it's mass was less, so it had been mined, etc. Great elements.

And, of course, I love the character of Evelyn. I felt like I didn't see enough of her in this story, after seeing so much of her in "The Marian Conspiracy." But I also would have been disappointed if we had any less of the Doctor or Romana. A brilliant cast, well done Big Finish!

Glad to have Romana back, she is such a great character. The banter between the sixth doctor and Romana was as good as it was with the Fourth Doctor. We also saw the return of the eye of harmony. It was on the Doctors TARDIS during the TV, my theory is that he took it from Gallifrey in his seventh incarnation, by order of a Time Lord who foreseen the Time War, or something.

I also like it how the rod and sash of Rassilon were used to aid the opening of the eye of Harmony. I chuckled when the Doctor said: "You'd need everything down to the poka-dot pyjamas of Rassilon!"

One thing I was confused about was- where's Leela? Leela is human, so she would have been able to open doors using the retinal scan! It would have been good to hear her alongside the Sixth Doctor, but we did get that again in Jago and Litefoot Series 4, so I suppose it's not too bad.

Yet another perfect Big Finish story.

10/10

[Oh, and as I'm writing this blogpost, I have just got off the phone to a friend who told me that Mary Tamm, who played Romana I has just passed away. Condolences to her family! Rest in Peace, Mary Tamm. A beautiful, talented actress. You will be missed.]