From the other side of his black hole, Omega is plotting…

This is Cutaway Comics’ debut audio drama although not their first audio release. (There’s a considerable wealth of material available from them factually accompanying the various comics over the past couple of years.) It’s an adaptation of their four-part Omega comic book series, with Brian Blessed stepping into the shoes of the late Stephen Thorne and Ian Collier.

The comic book marks the return of John Ridgway to the worlds of Doctor Who, and his artwork is one of the series’ greatest strengths, bringing back memories of some of his classic work, particularly during the Sixth Doctor era. There’s a scope and scale that comes from his spreads, which is not easy to replicate on audio.

The selling point of this audio is Blessed, of course, and it’s 10 minutes before we get our first over the top moment but as the story goes on, he dominates any scene he’s in, using a similar technique to Adam West in the Batman TV series, emphasising syllables you don’t quite expect to be lengthened. The script is extremely faithful to the original – perhaps too much so – and without the visuals as counterpoint, some of the dialogue feels very arch, and, particularly in the final quarter, things are rushed, with the virtually non-stop music sometimes a little too much to the fore.

There’s strong performances from Claire Dean, director Anthony DP Mann and Adam Grayson that hold things together alongside some explosive sound design from Daniel Burnett.

Verdict: Some good moments make up for an uneven pace – hopefully the next one will play more to the medium’s strengths. 6/10

Paul Simpson

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