Wirrn Isle
Written by William Gallagher
Published by Big Finish
The wonderful audio drama trilogy of the Sixth Doctor’s travels with new companion Flip concludes with this release. Writer William Gallagher brilliantly creates a tale in the spirit of Who’s classic years, the slow build horror stories of the late 70s.
The Doctor and Flip arrive at Loch Lomond and discover an outpost of Nerva City, founded more than 40 years ago by colonists from Nerva Station (setting for Tom Baker tale The Ark in Space and recent Big Finish release Destination:Nerva). As the title suggests, the Doctor also discovers a colony of the insectoid Wirrn under the frozen Loch.
What follows will keep listeners on the edge of their earphones, as an incredibly atmospheric audio mix and brilliant sound design takes them out on to the ice to uncover the Wirrn’s plans and a few secrets harboured by the human colonists.
The main Wirrn villain is a compelling creation, and the human characters are well rounded, believable pioneers. Flip is given her largest role in the trilogy, and Lisa Greenwood doesn’t disappoint, anchoring the whole story from the loch to Nerva City itself, helping the listener to ‘see’ the horrors there through her emotional response to them.
I have a small confession to make. I was never an avid viewer of Colin Baker’s Doctor on TV, but on the strength of his performance in this and the previous two releases, I am now a confirmed fan. Let’s hope that this trilogy is as successful as it deserves to be, and Big Finish bring the Sixth Doctor and Flip back before too long. Highly recommended.