Mass Movement Magazine

Doctor Who- The Companion Chronicles- Project: Nirvana – Starring Sylvester McCoy, Amy Pemberton, Maggie O’Neal & Written by Cavan Scott & Mark Wright – CD / Download (Big Finish Productions www.bigfinish.com)
A Companion Chronicle featuring The Seventh Doctor? The last Doctor to pop up in one of his companion’s tales was old Sixy, so maybe, just maybe this is going to happen more often, and maybe ‘Project Nirvana’ is where it’ll all begin. Or maybe not. These are the Companion Chronicles after all, and maybe we should just treat the occasional appearance by one of The Doctor’s as a rare and special treat. Yeah, let’s go with that. Anyway, back to the matter in hand. Set during The Doctor’s travels in the black Tardis, ‘Project Nirvana’ finds Sally Morgan and Lysandra Aristedes being dropped off on a mission in the snow swept mountains of Romania in 2015, a mission involving The Forge, and the ongoing war with the Elder Gods being waged by The Doctor. But there’s a slight problem. As this mission happens in Lysandra and Sally’s immediate past, and as Lysandra was serving with The Forge at the time, it’s a mission that’s going to involve her former and present selves, two very different versions of the same person destined to clash in a conflict to destroy an Elder God, a being who crashed to Earth, was worshipped by a cult and then stolen by The Forge in an effort to create the ultimate battlefield weapon. This time it’s up to Lysandra to set the record straight, and boy oh boy, she succeeds and then some, ironing out all the kinks, ensuring that the good guys beat Nimrod to the punch and save the day. Yeah, okay, it’s a spoiler, but come on; did you really think the Doctor was going to lose? Really?… Yeah, exactly. ‘Project Nirvana’ hits all the right buttons, with the Doctor and his companions knee deep in snow in a frozen wasteland, fighting monsters and covert, sinister military organisations, and preventing a “God” subjugating humanity and Earth. What’s not to like? Okay, so it’s a little different as the crew of the Tardis are more like a small Commando strike force or infiltration squad instead of stumbling from adventure to adventure as they usually do, but it’s this difference to the usual format that makes it so interesting, and oddly addictive, leaving you wanting more as the end music begins. A lot more. Could this be the start of something special? I hope so… Tim Mass Movement