The Ratings War

"You see, Doctor, I could never control you. That's why I had to cancel you."

Writer: Steve Lyons

Format: Audio

Released: January 2002

Series: DWM Bonus 02

Featuring: Sixth Doctor

Synopsis 

Beep the Meep is back - and he's found a new channel for his aggression! A brand new series is about to make television history, but can the Doctor prevent his furry for from turning a docu-drama into a crisis, or will the fluffy-wuffy animals get it in the neck? The first shots in the ratings war have been fired, and the next one is aimed at your head...

Verdict 

The Ratings War was a fantastic little bonus audio story! I love the idea of DWM and Big Finish teaming up to provide us with original stories featuring the Doctor travelling on his lonesome. As with last year's bonus, Last of the Titans, we had the Seventh Doctor and now we had the Sixth Doctor! The 35 minute format actually worked really well and allowed for fast paced unravelling of the plot and quick but brilliant solutions to conquering the villain's plans. And what a villain we had! The infamous comic strip foe Beep the Meep was back and making a debut in performed Doctor Who. Now, I sadly haven't done a story featuring the enemy before but I have read a lot and heard a lot of praise so I was looking forward to hearing how things panned out, and I was impressed. The plan of Beep was audacious yet surprisingly logical. This story seemed like it would also suit Sil, another famous villain but exclusive to the Sixth Doctor, due to the money piling in from the 80%+ ratings. But for Beep, money wasn't the aim at all! He was going to broadcast his own television show, 'Beep and Friends', and use it as a mind control signal to enslave over four-fifths of the population and use them to kill the other fifth that wasn't watching! A brilliant plan! I liked the reference to Star Beast II even though I haven't read it but any references to past stories, no matter the format, is welcomed! The Sixth Doctor was fantastic, as usual in the audios, and I really liked his disgust at Beep, particularly that horrendously wonderful song! Never did I think that Doctor Who would encourage feeding hamster fur to kids or putting dogs in blenders but courtesy of Beep the Meep that's what we got here! Very funny. The lack of a companion for Colin Baker's Doctor wasn't at all recognisable as he shone in the duelling conversation with his long time enemy. The fact that he used numerous bluffs to prevent Beep from enslaving the majority of the population was just staggeringly good! How could the Doctor afford to take that much of a risk? Nevertheless, it worked and the reactions were comical. The climax of the story was very good and despite Beep being defeated I liked how it left the door open for a future return. An infamous comic foe, why not become a memorable audio enemy as well? I'm surprised that over 12 years on from the release of this story that we haven't had a return in some form. But, there's still plenty of time and I think Beep deserves a full length audio! He was a tremendous villain to the Sixth Doctor in what was a very good audio. I just wish it went on longer!

Rating: 9/10