The colony planet Delafoss is occupied by the army of a rapacious alien force known only as the Eminence. These slave armies of terrified humans are commanded by the dreaded Infinite Warriors - impervious to most forms of fire-power, voices like icy death. The Doctor and Leela arrive expecting to find Earth’s most successful, unspoiled colony. Instead, they are confronted by a planet choked by industrialization. And at the heart of it all, the construction of something that the Eminence intends will wipe out all human resistance once and for all.
Fourth Doctor Adventures 3.06
For the first time in his life, the Doctor confronts the Eminence… and things will never be quite the same again.
Destroy the Infinite is the latest in the Tom Baker series of stories and sees him once again accompanied by Louise Jameson as Leela; It’s an unusual story as it’s the first time the Doctor meets the Eminence, a force that we have already encountered through an adventure with Colin Baker, and for once we the audience know more about them than the Doctor.
The Doctor and Leela arrive on the planet Delafoss, as the Doctor is trying to give Leela an idea of how her ancestors spread across the galaxy, and are shocked to find it in the middle of a war. Naturally the two time travellers quickly become embroiled in the conflict and are soon to be found helping the resistance fight back against the Infinite Warriors.
The basic story is fairly standard but the inclusion of the Eminence is a master-stroke and it raises it well above the rather obvious and adds many extra layers to the plot.
We know that there is a connection between the Doctor and the Infinite Warriors due to events in the Colin baker story, The Seeds of War, and half the fun of this story is seeing how we arrive at that point; indeed a lot of information is given although much is still left shrouded in mystery, it is safe to say that whilst this story gives a better insight into the mysteries of the Eminence there is still much left for us to find out.
The acting throughout the story is excellent with particular praise for Ian Hallard whose depiction of the rebel agent Davent who is exposed to the breath of the Eminence and transformed into an Infinite Warrior is superb, you can’t help but feel for him as his mind is twisted and then subsumed by the Tom Baker and Louise Jameson as ever are excellent in their roles although Tom does appear to have a sore throat at the beginning of the story and it makes him sound his age, although that does ease off throughout the story and he returns to a more recognisable timbre; Louise Jameson, as I have noted previously, sounds exactly the same as in the 70s and is very much in character and it shows how good a character actress she is that I didn’t for one minute think that she was the same woman I had been listening to in Survivors just the other day ( a truly fantastic revival of the Terry Nation series from the 70s by Big Finish ).
The direction is very good, the story moves at a fair old rate of knots but never feels forced or rushed and the excellent sound design coupled with the fine performances from the cast combine to make the story an immersive experience that really pulls the listener in right from the word go.
Written By: Nicholas Briggs Directed By: Nicholas Briggs Cast: Tom Baker (The Doctor), Louise Jameson (Leela), David Sibley (The Eminence), Michael Fenton-Stevens (Moorson), Clive Mantle (Tillegat/Lieutenant Treeves), Hywel Morgan (Larivan/Lieutenant Garrett), Christine Roberts (Sarla), Ian Hallard (Davent/Infinite Warrior)
Destroy the Infinite is available now from BigFinish.com and the Amazon link below.
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