The Forth Generation

Humans aren’t just spare parts, and here’s the proof! You’ve got the bodies, you’ve got the metal, but you still can’t make them into full Cybermen!

The Ninth Doctor

Synopsis

The Forth Generation have emerged. The Doctor, the Brigadier, Sam and Fiona are at their mercy. Is there a way to defeat them? Has UNIT learned from the past? And can the enemy’s nature be changed for the future?

Review

With the completion of the first series of Ninth Doctor audios, we now have a trilogy of Cybermen stories to accompany this Doctor’s trio of Dalek stories in Series One.

Whilst The Way of the Burryman had time for Roy Gill to give us a slow burn story and allow for moments featuring character to take the lead, The Forth Generation is much more action packed and feels like a suitably epic series ending in the style of the modern series. Gill manages to largely successfully ground the action with the relationship between soldier Sam Bishop and his girlfriend Fiona, who falls into the hands of the Cybermen along with the Doctor early on. Her strong nature and knowledge of local history sees her chosen to be partially converted into the Cyber Planner. The solution to the problem is tied nicely into local history as well, meaning that the setting does play into the events of the story effectively. Whilst the story ends with these hybrid Cybermen surviving to live on the remote island of St Kilda, I think it does work well for the story not entirely having a happy ending, as Sam and Fiona’s relationship is ultimately doomed, although not for the reasons one might have thought at the beginning of The Way of the Burryman. Gill’s script is well directed by Helen Goldwyn, which helps the audio landscape function well, and helped by Howard Carter’s score. I particularly liked the theme for the Cybermen, and the theme for the Ninth Doctor, which works really well in this medium.

Whilst Kreel has created this army of new Cybermen, the Forth Generation, his role is pretty superfluous to the rest of the proceedings, and once the Cybermen manage to get themselves connected to the Cyber-Command, they are quick to dispose of him, recognising that he is damaged, both thanks to events prior to this story and the actions of the Doctor. The Doctor attempts to exploit the fact that they are not fully converted at the start of the story, and obviously the idea of memories being stored within the Doctor’s Memory Arch allows for a partial revertion at the end of the story. These ‘Forth Generation’ red Cybermen feel particularly ruthless, especially in their assault on their train as they attempt to get hold of UNIT’s anti-Cyberman kit which is sent in by train, unfortunately over the Forth Bridge, allowing the Cybermen to get hold of the necessary connection to Cyber-Command. This is followed by them taking over the HMS Columba with its nuclear capabilities. I think that Nicholas Briggs does do a good job here with the Cybermen voices, differentiating between the damaged Kreel and new Forth Generation Cybermen nicely, and even differentiating between the new Cybermen.

Eccleston continues to shine bringing his Doctor to audio, bringing the Ninth Doctor’s manic energy to life effectively. Despite coming off the back of the Time War, he remains optimistic and hopeful, trying to find solutions that will keep both humanity and these hybrid Cybermen safe. Eccleston also manages to capture the relationship between the Doctor and Brigadier really well, along with Jon Culshaw, even pleasantly surprised that his old friend can change. This adventure seems to have opened the Doctor up to the possibility of travelling with a companion once again. Due to the Doctor being captured early in this story, he and the Brigadier do not really get that much of a chance to interact in the early parts of this story, however, when they do, there is really that sense of the old friendship. Culshaw is given the opportunity to shine as the Brigadier when he has to take command of the Inchcombe base following the Cybermen taking command of HMS Columba and ensuring that he gets the staff on base away safely.

The Doctor reflects that his old friend has changed quite significantly, and the Brigadier muses that might isn’t always right and how important it is to listen to different voices, which is what he has passed on to Kate. Whilst this is an older Brigadier, it shows that he has lost none of his intelligence and authority, even without the Doctor being there to tell him what to do, as he refuses to hand over access codes to the invading Cybermen. The Brigadier had learnt from his previous experience of the dealing with them, instructing UNIT bases to hold anti-Cyberman equipment. He seems to have been deeply affected by seeing the Cybermen storm London in The Invasion, and in particular, Cybermen floating down the Thames. He and Sam form a bond, which leads to Sam joining UNIT at the end of the story, and Culshaw and Warren Brown have quite a strong bond through this story.

Verdict: The Forth Generation brings the first series of Ninth Doctor audios to a successful close, with strong performances from Eccleston, Culshaw and Briggs. 10/10

Cast: Christopher Eccleston (The Doctor), Jon Culshaw (Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart), Warren Brown (Sam Bishop), Elinor Lawless (Fiona McCall), Nicholas Briggs (Cyber-Scout Kreel/Cybermen/Cyber-Head) and Alexander Cobb (Foreman/UNIT Courier/Sergeant Lowe).

Writer: Roy Gill

Director: Helen Goldwyn

Music: Howard Carter

Sound: Iain Meadows

Release Date: 16 February 2022

Cast Notes

• Jon Culshaw has appeared in a number of Big Finish audio plays, including The Kingmaker (playing the Fourth Doctor), The Kamelion Empire (playing Kamelion) and The Auton Infinity (playing the ‘Tremas’ Master, as well as Kamelion). Since the release of The Third Doctor Adventures Volume 5, Culshaw has also played the Brigadier.
• Warren Brown appeared in the Thirteenth Doctor story Praxeus. In this story, he is reprising his role of Sam Bishop from the Big Finish Modern UNIT series.

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Previous Ninth Doctor review: Way of the Burryman

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