‘THE FALSE GUARDIAN’/’TIME’S ASSASSIN’
Please feel free to comment on the review.
Zephon and the Varga Plants on Kembel with the Fourth Doctor, Ann and K-9
‘THE FALSE GUARDIAN’ (Part 1)
It’s time to talk about the first four-part story in ‘The Syndicate Master Plan’ season of ‘Doctor Who’, except this story is classed as being divided into two stories. That does make things confusing.
You would also need to purchase both box sets of ‘The Syndicate Master Plan’ to hear the complete story, as ‘The False Guardian’ is in Series 8, Volume 1 and ‘Time’s Assassin’ is in Series 8, Volume 2. 😐
I’m very glad that ‘The Fourth Doctor Adventures’ went into proper four-part stories in Series 9 as opposed to making certain four-parters be divided into two releases and classed as two adventures.
If Big Finish were going to call this tale ‘The False Guardian’/’Time’s Assassin’, at least have ‘The False Guardian’ be a single episode and the same for ‘Time’s Assassin’ to match the new series standards.
‘The False Guardian’/’Time’s Assassin’ is by Guy Adams, who has contributed a lot to Big Finish’s ‘Doctor Who’ over the years. He’s also written a number of audio episodes for the ‘Star Cops’ series.
This is where things start to come together in ‘The Syndicate Master Plan’, especially when Tom Baker’s Doctor and Jane Slavin’s Ann are investigating the mystery that started in ‘The Sinestran Kill’.
This story is also a sequel to ‘The Daleks’ Master Plan’, except it doesn’t have Daleks in it. It’s classed as a sequel because it’s set on the planet Kembel in the 41st century and it features the Varga plants.
In ‘The False Guardian’, the TARDIS visits the planet Kembel when Ann wishes to continue investigating the trail of the Sinestrans. The planet is now desolate thanks to the Time Destructor. 😐
The Doctor, Ann and K-9 soon end up inside an unusual complex where patients are kept and experiments are being performed. Soon, the Doctor meets somebody who has a grudge against him.
In the first episode of the story, I like how the Doctor, Ann and K-9 are exploring the planet Kembel before they end up inside the complex. The camaraderie between the three characters is so evident.
Tom Baker, Jane Slavin and John Leeson are really into their characters when performing them in this story. The TARDIS travellers also come across dangers once they venture on the desolate planet.
This includes meeting someone who has been infected by a Varga plant as well as encountering the Vargas themselves. They also meet someone who’s claiming to be the Guardian of the Solar System.
That someone happens to be John Shrapnel as Nigel Colloon, who thinks he’s Mavic Chen. At this stage, I’m not sure why he thinks that he’s Mavic Chen, but it could be that he’s a mentally ill person.
John Shrapnel happens to be a versatile actor who’s worked in the Royal Shakespeare Company. I’ve not come across him much in my life, but I’ve seen him as Skinner in the ‘101 Dalmatians’ 1996 film.
The story also features Blake Ritson as Elmore, a scientist working at the complex on Kembel. Blake Ritson has done a number of Big Finish audios over the years, including ‘The Foe From The Future’. 🙂
He’s also worked with Billie Piper in 2007’s ‘Mansfield Park’. I’m not sure what Elmore’s angle is at this point in the story, but he does seem to be up to no good when he’s conducting his experiments.
There’s Anna Acton as Brox, the complex’s deputy director who works with Elmore. She’s suspicious of the Doctor, Ann and K-9 when they come to the complex. There’s also Roger May as Mac Foley. 🙂
Unfortunately, Mac Foley is attacked by one of the Varga plants and gradually becomes a Varga when he desires to kill. Tracy Wiles voices the robotic drones that are present within the complex. 🙂
Tracy Wiles isn’t a stranger to Big Finish. She’s played Jacqui McGee in ‘U.N.I.T.: The New Series’ and episodes of ‘Lady Christina’. She’s also appeared in ‘Nightmare Country’ and ‘Masters of Earth’.
In the cliffhanger for ‘The False Guardian’, the complex’s enigmatic director on Kembel happens to be…Jon Culshaw as Zephon. And no! It’s not the Zephon who appeared in ‘The Daleks’ Master Plan’.
That Zephon died, remember? This Zephon happens to be the son of that Zephon who died in ‘The Daleks’ Master Plan’. Confusing, isn’t it? 😀 Anyway, young Zephon wants the Doctor dead in this. 😮
‘TIME’S ASSASSIN’ (Part2)
Thankfully in ‘Time’s Assassin’, the Doctor is spared from death by young Zephon, only to be experimented on by Elmore. Ann also manages to get out of a fix with a monster in the basement. 😀
That monster must be a Varga. And the basement isn’t ‘Bradley’s Basement’ incidentally. 😀 K-9 also explains to Ann that she had been frozen during ‘The False Guardian’ whilst he’d been very mobile. 🙂
Jon Culshaw has played a variety of roles in ‘Doctor Who’ in terms of voice work, most notably the Fourth Doctor in audiobooks. I’ve even had a chance to briefly chat to Jon at ‘The Capitol II’ event. 🙂
I enjoyed his performance as Zephon in this audio adventure. It does match to the voice tones of Zephon in ‘The Daleks’ Master Plan’, even though he appeared in only two episodes of the 12-parter.
It’s amusing that the Zephon race think they’re so perfect that they name everything ‘Zephon’. Young Zephon must be Lady Zephon’s son too and she had to talk her way to Vice President Zephon.
I’m surprised nobody gets confused when everyone refers to themselves as Zephon. For all I know, they call their pet animals ‘Zephon’. They must also name all the oceans on their planet ‘Zephon’. 😀
A backstory is given on what happened when the Master of Zephon got killed by the Daleks. The Lady Zephon tried to convince the Vice President Zephon that the Master of Zephon wasn’t a traitor.
You see how confusing all this is when referring to every Zephon character as ‘Zephon’? 😀 The young Director Zephon also wants to be a member of the Syndicate in his latest plans for success. 😐
Young Director Zephon does seem to be one of those hyperactive villains, especially when his plans go wrong. He blames everything and everyone around him. I don’t plan to marry a female Zephon. 😀
Mind you, Zephon’s hyperactive behaviour is nothing compared to Elmore who goes way over-the-top (in my opinion) when experimenting on the Doctor. He reveals his diabolical plans to him in this.
Blake Ritson must’ve had fun playing Elmore in a more villainous over-the-top manner compared to how he played him in ‘The False Guardian’. I’ve never heard an OTT performance like that from him.
It’s amusing when Zephon tries to be a member of the Syndicate, but has to keep the Doctor alive in order to do that. He tries to prevent Elmore from killing the Doctor in the basement, but it’s too late.
That’s the cliffhanger for the whole story’s third episode. It’s also intriguing that the Syndicate want the Doctor to be one of their members, as the Doctor learns about them in this segment of the story.
Once ‘experimented’ on by Elmore and presumed dead, the Doctor becomes a part of the chronal wavefront that the TARDIS homes in on him in order to rescue him before his body’s completely lost.
There are three people that the Doctor speaks to in the chronal wavefront, voiced by Tracy Wiles, Roger May and Jon Culshaw. The Doctor soon sets to free the wavefront people in the time vortex. 🙂
Jon Culshaw also plays the Syndicate Agent that Zephon talks to via intercom. Roger May also plays a Duke character who dresses up as the Fourth Doctor for Zephon (I believe) before he ends up killed.
Something strange happens to Ann in this segment of the story. It’s revealed that she’s a sleeper Time Agent, as she shoots Brox and Zephon when they’re trying to escape Kembel aboard their ship.
She also sets the ship to explode. At this point, I’m not sure what this is supposed to indicate, but it’s clear that Ann Kelso isn’t who she appears to be. I’m looking forward to learning more about her. 😀
It’s also interesting the Varga plants, including Mac Foley, happen to have voices and they retain the memories of who they were when attacking the complex on Kembel. A new strain of Varga plants! 😐
The story concludes with the Doctor, Ann and K-9 in the TARDIS and sending the wavefront people off into the time vortex. The TARDIS soon goes out of control, as they head off for their next adventure.
Tom Baker, Anna Acton and Blake Ritson in ‘The False Guardian’/’Time’s Assassin’.
‘The False Guardian’/’Time’s Assassin’ has been an enjoyable four-part adventure featuring a Zephon character and Varga plants on Kembel. I’m currently intrigued about who Ann truly is as a character.
The CD extras are as follows. After ‘The False Guardian’, there’s a ‘coming soon’ trailer for Volume 2 of ‘The Syndicate Master Plan’ (Series 8 of ‘The Fourth Doctor Adventures’) with Tom Baker, Jane Slavin and John Leeson. There are also behind-the-scenes interviews with the cast and crew, including Tom Baker, Jane Slavin, John Leeson, John Shrapnel, Blake Ritson, Jon Culshaw, director Nicholas Briggs, etc. After ‘Time’s Assassin’, there’s a ‘coming soon’ trailer for ‘Fever Island’ with Tom Baker, Jane Slavin and John Leeson. There are also behind-the-scenes interviews with the cast and crew, including Tom Baker, Jane Slavin, John Leeson, John Shrapnel, Blake Ritson, Jon Culshaw, director Nicholas Briggs, etc.
‘The False Guardian’/’Time’s Assassin’ rating – 8/10
| The previous story
For the Fourth Doctor was For Ann was For K-9 Mk II was |
The next story
For the Fourth Doctor is For Ann is For K-9 Mk II is |
| Return to The Fourth Doctor’s Timeline | |
| Return to Ann/Anya’s Timeline | |
| Return to The Timelines of K-9 | |
| Return to The Doctors’ Timelines Index | |
| Return to The Companions’ Timelines Index | |
| Return to Doctor Who Timelines | |
| Return to Doctor Who | |
| Return to Sci-Fi |
Bradley's Basement 