A Most Excellent Match

"Do you think he has intentions?"

Writer: Matt Fitton

Format: Audio

Released: August 2011

Series: Monthly Adventures 150c

Featuring: Sixth Doctor, Peri

Synopsis

It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single girl in possession of a mind of her own must be in want of a husband. But which of Miss Peri Brown's rival suitors will be the one to win her hand: handsome Mr Darcy, or the mysterious Doctor?

Verdict

A Most Excellent Match was another great little adventure comprising the one-hundred-and-fiftieth Monthly Adventure from Big Finish! I enjoyed a foray into the historical once again but this very much differed from Recorded Time in that we were in a virtual reality of fiction instead of interference in established history. I like how different the three stories have been so far and this one worked well in providing drama and just a sense of lavish, particularly when it came to my imagination of the costumes that would have been used had this adventure been made for television. It was not the most traditional of Sixth Doctor and Peri adventures and that was absolutely great! It worked well with the shorter format to just thrust the listeners into events with Peri already well under the grasp of the Mindsmith and thinking she was ready to pick a suitor! That was a fun concept and the very prospect of the Doctor being one of those was very amusing. Of course, that was far from the Time Lord's intentions as he was just there to try and trigger a memory within Peri and show her that what she was experiencing was in fact fiction, but she was seemingly inundated with the prospect of marrying Darcy which I appreciated. He's almost a stereotypical name when it comes to female love interests and the whole Austen Experience sounded tremendous, and I would enjoy a visit in a longer format in the future though the chances of that are I imagine quite slim. It was fun for Peri to take on that historic dialogue and charm, and Nicola Bryant did a really good job with the material. Cranton was a fun character as the man employed by the Doctor to try and get Peri out and back to reality, and their interactions were always fun and good natured despite the threats at hand. It wouldn't do to have Peri returned with just half a mind! Heathcliff being named as the Mindsmith was really good and I enjoyed how even that name was stolen. The Mindsmith was a good concept and I liked how Cranton's reaction to their presence sold their threat. I'm sure they would make a good villain to return in future with more time at hand. I liked the use of AI and Cranton actually utilising his position and the fact he had 90 seconds of access to then mainframe was good, although it felt like much more than a minute-and-a-half from when he said that to the resolution! I thought it was a good conclusion and full of some intriguing action, and Peri's anecdote at the end about remembering everything and writing things down was terrific in fitting with the literary theme. It was also amusing to think that the Doctor had deeds to his House of TARDIS and the Lordship of Time. If only it were that simple! Overall, a charming listen and another strong story to continue the volume.

Rating: 8/10