MR215: Maker of Demons (Spoilers)

I feel like Big Finish missed an opportunity at the end of Part 3. When the Doctor says "I'm a big fan of your videos, (name redacted to avoid spoilers). In fact, I'm seriously thinking about subscribing", the individual he was addressing should have replied "Subscribers get more."

This was my favorite of this trilogy. I still found Mel annoying, but not as annoying as in the first two.

Absolutely loved the first two episodes but didn't feel the ending lived up to the promise of the 1st 1/2. Maybe it is because the ending was written first. Not sure. Overall I would say Ace's scene were probably my favorite of the story.

I did like the information in the Extras that lines from the Tempest were used throughout, but as I never read that particular Shakespeare story this was lost in me. If I ever do read it I will have to revisit this one.

And once again practically no Mel/Ace interaction. Although at least this isn't the end of their adventures together so I will forgive them for that.

Finished this one this evening.

It's certainly the best Ace story of the trilogy. She's allowed to go off and be a real character rather than the rather bratty reverted Ace we've had in the first two stories of the trilogy. She's still very much Ace but she's more mature and reacts to events as such. Her relationship with Talpa is very well written. It reminded me of Lucie Miller with Phil Jupitus' robot in the 8DAs. I really believed Ace's hurt when Alonso takes her friend's life.

I was a bit worried this was going to be a re-tread of The Ark but it goes in pleasingly different directions and the idea that The Doctor has caused the future is really just the backdrop of the adventure. It's important, sure, but there's actual plot and story here outside of that. It's more than a premise.

Quite a lot of fan-service thrown in at the start. References to Tegan, Dodo - even Sharon who I presume is Sharon from the classic Mills/Wagner DWW comic strip. Then we get a Rocket Men gag right after those... and a Frank Sinatra joke after that - it's really a bit too  thick and fast with the references and winks at the start. Even outside of the extras saying so, anyone who's familiar with The Tempest will pick up not only story but character names and whole sentences from it but not to the stories detriment. Alonso spouts half the play on his own, but The Doctor gets in on the Shakespeare-spouting too. Not sure why Ace is name dropping the Super Furry Animals, being from the 80s well before the band were even formed...but I guess she could have heard them in the TARDIS somehow She also mentions Ghost Town by The Specials but at least she'd know that song from her own time. That's just me nit-picking though!

All in all, a nice ending to the trilogy with Matthew J Elliot showing he can write all 3 leads well which bodes well going forward. I should have liked a story where it's Ace and Mel who have to work together and The Doctor who is off on his own but the ending of this trilogy leaves it open for this TARDIS team to come back for more. It's odd to think that post-Hex, post-Benny Mel comes back in to play a big role all over again.  I like that she doesn't recognise the more cynical Seventh at the end - she's known the same incarnation but HER Doctor would still have gone back to check on the planet as she begs him to do. I think there's a lot of scope in Mel gradually discovering that she doesn't actually like the man The Doctor has become since Dragonfire.

The music, with a rare use of ethereal vocals on BF's soundscapes, was stunning especially towards the end of the last episode.