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Big Finish: Monthly Range #44
Doctor Who: Creatures of Beauty
A planetary ecological disaster... An incurable, disfiguring, genetic disease... Aliens, in breach of galactic law...
Nyssa, under arrest... The TARDIS, inoperable... The Doctor, facing interrogation...
Another situation of dire peril is unfolding for the Doctor and his companion. However, what if it is not clear who is right and who is wrong? Who is ugly and who is beautiful?
Where does the story begin, and where does it end?
Sometimes, it is all a matter of perspective.
Nyssa, under arrest... The TARDIS, inoperable... The Doctor, facing interrogation...
Another situation of dire peril is unfolding for the Doctor and his companion. However, what if it is not clear who is right and who is wrong? Who is ugly and who is beautiful?
Where does the story begin, and where does it end?
Sometimes, it is all a matter of perspective.
Audio CD
First published May 1, 2003
1 person is currently reading
103 people want to read
About the author
Nicholas Briggs
375 books133 followersNicholas Briggs is a British actor and writer, predominantly associated with the BBC science fiction television series Doctor Who and its various spin-offs. Some of Briggs' earliest Doctor Who-related work was as host of The Myth Makers, a series of made-for-video documentaries produced in the 1980s and 1990s by Reeltime Pictures in which Briggs interviews many of the actors and writers involved in the series. When Reeltime expanded into producing original dramas, Briggs wrote some stories and acted in others, beginning with War Time, the first unofficial Doctor Who spin-off, and Myth Runner, a parody of Blade Runner showcasing bloopers from the Myth Makers series built around a loose storyline featuring Briggs as a down on his luck private detective in the near future.
He wrote and appeared in several made-for-video dramas by BBV, including the third of the Stranger stories, In Memory Alone opposite former Doctor Who stars Colin Baker and Nicola Bryant. He also wrote and appeared in a non-Stranger BBV production called The Airzone Solution (1993) and directed a documentary film, Stranger than Fiction (1994).
Briggs has directed many of the Big Finish Productions audio plays, and has provided Dalek, Cybermen, and other alien voices in several of those as well. He has also written and directed the Dalek Empire and Cyberman audio plays for Big Finish. In 2006, Briggs took over from Gary Russell as executive producer of the Big Finish Doctor Who audio range.
Briggs co-wrote a Doctor Who book called The Dalek Survival Guide.
Since Doctor Who returned to television in 2005, Briggs has provided the voices for several monsters, most notably the Daleks and the Cybermen. Briggs also voiced the Nestene Consciousness in the 2005 episode "Rose", and recorded a voice for the Jagrafess in the 2005 episode "The Long Game"; however, this was not used in the final episode because it was too similar to the voice of the Nestene Consciousness. He also provided the voices for the Judoon in both the 2007 and 2008 series. On 9 July 2009, Briggs made his first appearance in the Doctor Who spin-off Torchwood in the serial Children of Earth, playing Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Secretary Rick Yates.
He wrote and appeared in several made-for-video dramas by BBV, including the third of the Stranger stories, In Memory Alone opposite former Doctor Who stars Colin Baker and Nicola Bryant. He also wrote and appeared in a non-Stranger BBV production called The Airzone Solution (1993) and directed a documentary film, Stranger than Fiction (1994).
Briggs has directed many of the Big Finish Productions audio plays, and has provided Dalek, Cybermen, and other alien voices in several of those as well. He has also written and directed the Dalek Empire and Cyberman audio plays for Big Finish. In 2006, Briggs took over from Gary Russell as executive producer of the Big Finish Doctor Who audio range.
Briggs co-wrote a Doctor Who book called The Dalek Survival Guide.
Since Doctor Who returned to television in 2005, Briggs has provided the voices for several monsters, most notably the Daleks and the Cybermen. Briggs also voiced the Nestene Consciousness in the 2005 episode "Rose", and recorded a voice for the Jagrafess in the 2005 episode "The Long Game"; however, this was not used in the final episode because it was too similar to the voice of the Nestene Consciousness. He also provided the voices for the Judoon in both the 2007 and 2008 series. On 9 July 2009, Briggs made his first appearance in the Doctor Who spin-off Torchwood in the serial Children of Earth, playing Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Secretary Rick Yates.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 30 reviews
June 29, 2016
This is a fifth Doctor adventure with Nyssa as his companion and is #44 in the Big Finish main range.
Another one in which the audio series play with the nature of the story-telling itself. The story starts in media res and jumps around a fair bit as the Doctor and Nyssa get stuck in a story of a world devastated by toxic mutagenic pollution where the sentient inhabitants are facing extinction in the next few generations. There's a confusing plot where the Doctor and Nyssa are interrogated because of suspected alien interference while actual alien interference is going on from the alien race that caused the accident in the first place.
The story here is an interesting one, but ultimately I felt the format gets in the way. The interrogation scenes are a really clumsy way of delivering exposition and at no point did I ever feel that either of the main characters were seriously at risk. That sort of thing is ok with the 4th or 6th Doctors where they can play up the joke, but the 5th Doctor is very serious and underplayed most of the time. The conclusion is an interesting one that raises important questions though.
Ambitious, but I felt it didn't hit where it was aiming.
Another one in which the audio series play with the nature of the story-telling itself. The story starts in media res and jumps around a fair bit as the Doctor and Nyssa get stuck in a story of a world devastated by toxic mutagenic pollution where the sentient inhabitants are facing extinction in the next few generations. There's a confusing plot where the Doctor and Nyssa are interrogated because of suspected alien interference while actual alien interference is going on from the alien race that caused the accident in the first place.
The story here is an interesting one, but ultimately I felt the format gets in the way. The interrogation scenes are a really clumsy way of delivering exposition and at no point did I ever feel that either of the main characters were seriously at risk. That sort of thing is ok with the 4th or 6th Doctors where they can play up the joke, but the 5th Doctor is very serious and underplayed most of the time. The conclusion is an interesting one that raises important questions though.
Ambitious, but I felt it didn't hit where it was aiming.
October 14, 2017
Instantly Nick Briggs moves from solidly competant to brilliant. I don't know what happened in between "Embrace the Darkness" and this, but "Creatures of Beauty is a small masterpiece.
To say too much, given the narrative twists of this piece would be a mistake, but suffice to say that the Fifth Doctor and Nyssa find themselves on a planet just on the verge of interplanetary travel, but that may be dying before they get there. And yet somehow the people coming out of Lady Forlean's estate seem healthy and strangely beautiful.
Not only are its ambitions impressive, it inverts the narrative structure so that not only is the timeline exploded and out of order, but conclusions preceed insighting actions. And it's not just a gimmick. It works to take characters that seem almost like ciphers and then slash them apart as their timelines solidify so that by the end, their marrow is exposed and you feel for them with a surprising depth.
There is a melancholy that infuses the best of the Fifth Doctor stories (Think, the end of "Resurrection of the Daleks" or "Kinda" or "Spare Parts") and this story takes that melancholy and demands that you examine it.
To say more would be criminal. Simply one of the best Big Finish stories I've heard.
To say too much, given the narrative twists of this piece would be a mistake, but suffice to say that the Fifth Doctor and Nyssa find themselves on a planet just on the verge of interplanetary travel, but that may be dying before they get there. And yet somehow the people coming out of Lady Forlean's estate seem healthy and strangely beautiful.
Not only are its ambitions impressive, it inverts the narrative structure so that not only is the timeline exploded and out of order, but conclusions preceed insighting actions. And it's not just a gimmick. It works to take characters that seem almost like ciphers and then slash them apart as their timelines solidify so that by the end, their marrow is exposed and you feel for them with a surprising depth.
There is a melancholy that infuses the best of the Fifth Doctor stories (Think, the end of "Resurrection of the Daleks" or "Kinda" or "Spare Parts") and this story takes that melancholy and demands that you examine it.
To say more would be criminal. Simply one of the best Big Finish stories I've heard.
May 30, 2019
Dopo i toni leggeri di Doctor Who and the Pirates si torna ad atmosfere più cupe e ad una narrazione circonvoluta.
Quando la storia inizia i fatti sono già a metà del loro svolgimento e, mentre la narrazione procede, saltiamo avanti e indietro nel tempo, fino alla conclusione esplicatoria ma che non porta sollievo all'ascoltatore.
Il quinto Dottore e Nyssa si trovano su un pianeta sull'orlo del collasso ecologico e in guerra con un nemico misterioso.
Una situazione che, per certi versi, ricorda le atmosfere di Doctor Who: Spare Parts e che rende il quinto Dottore e Nyssa una delle accoppiate più sfortunate della serie.
Non racconto altro, perché si rivelerebbe troppo. La storia va svelata con i suoi tempi.
Quando la storia inizia i fatti sono già a metà del loro svolgimento e, mentre la narrazione procede, saltiamo avanti e indietro nel tempo, fino alla conclusione esplicatoria ma che non porta sollievo all'ascoltatore.
Il quinto Dottore e Nyssa si trovano su un pianeta sull'orlo del collasso ecologico e in guerra con un nemico misterioso.
Una situazione che, per certi versi, ricorda le atmosfere di Doctor Who: Spare Parts e che rende il quinto Dottore e Nyssa una delle accoppiate più sfortunate della serie.
Non racconto altro, perché si rivelerebbe troppo. La storia va svelata con i suoi tempi.
March 9, 2024
This was a very good story but it was told out of sequence with the timeline of events and that was just unnecessary. For me it added nothing to have to guess at which part of the story we were in (admittedly that was never difficult) and I can't see any purpose for it other than to try mixing up the delivery method, to try to spice up the storytelling. It's not necessary! I read (or listen) because I like storytelling. I have read other stories which didn't unfold in a linear fashion and sometimes it worked. Here, I posit that it was little more than annoying.
Oh. By the way, the very good story is about Five and Nyssa landing on a planet and being mistaken for some other infamous aliens, known as the Koteem. The very fact that they are not from the planet they land on is almost the only evidence that they are Koteem apart from their apparent beauty. A large portion of the story is taken up with trying to demonstrate that they are in fact not the Koteem but along the way we also learn of the relationship between these people and the dreaded Koteem.
It's a very good story with its roots planted firmly in scifi.
Oh. By the way, the very good story is about Five and Nyssa landing on a planet and being mistaken for some other infamous aliens, known as the Koteem. The very fact that they are not from the planet they land on is almost the only evidence that they are Koteem apart from their apparent beauty. A large portion of the story is taken up with trying to demonstrate that they are in fact not the Koteem but along the way we also learn of the relationship between these people and the dreaded Koteem.
It's a very good story with its roots planted firmly in scifi.
August 10, 2021
Bit confusing at times, felt like an episode of The Twilight Zone. That ending was super dark!
July 4, 2025
I'm a huge fan of Big Finish's experimental stuff ("LIVE 34" is my favourite release of all time), so having a story told in non-chronological order was an interesting take on this script. Apparently the actors recorded the scenes in linear sequence as well, and it shows, since all the acting seems well-versed and top-tier as always, helping me buy into the way this narrative was framed.
However, I do feel it was a slightly odd story to go all non-linear on. While I get why it was done this way (the themes and characters' ethics), the further into the story I got, the harder it became for me to piece everything together.
I think this one really only works on a thematic front and for characterization of the Fifth Doctor and Nyssa, but not so much as a structured audio drama with a fleshed-out narrative.
However, I do feel it was a slightly odd story to go all non-linear on. While I get why it was done this way (the themes and characters' ethics), the further into the story I got, the harder it became for me to piece everything together.
I think this one really only works on a thematic front and for characterization of the Fifth Doctor and Nyssa, but not so much as a structured audio drama with a fleshed-out narrative.
March 1, 2019
I get that Doctor Who is supposed to be wibbly wobbly timey wimey, but this story was a bit much in that aspect. The timeline was all over the place. It was like a puzzle, trying to figure out where I was in the story. Did we jump forward? Did we jump back? Why are we moving around so much?
I will say the ending wrapped everything up nicely, as I was able to keep up with the story, despite the confusion. The story was rather dizzying though.
I will say the ending wrapped everything up nicely, as I was able to keep up with the story, despite the confusion. The story was rather dizzying though.
January 15, 2021
ニッサが殺人容疑で誤認逮捕されてしまい、ニッサを助け出そうとするドクター。カディームとヴェルンのこじれにこじれた関係に否応なく巻き込まれていく。
時系列が逆行しているということに気がつくまでにとにかく時間がかかってしまった。
全体の構造がわかった後は「ああそういうことか！」と、そういう意味ではよくできたシナリオだったなと思うし、ショッキング度合いでも星4つにしてもいいぐらいの内容だった気もするけれど、いかんせ聴き取ることに必死なので「なんで
何度きいてもいまいちよくわからないんだろう。」と苦労させられたので。
環境汚染、隠蔽工作、営利、疑心暗鬼、誤解など国家間の関係性がこじれていく要因みたいなのをうまくメタファーしていたと思うし、2回目に聴いたぐらいで仕掛けがわかって「ああ、なんてことだー！」と驚けたらよかったのになと思う。
でもどうにか解明できてよかった。
ちょっとドクターぁああ？？？😨😱ってなったけれど。
時系列が逆行しているということに気がつくまでにとにかく時間がかかってしまった。
全体の構造がわかった後は「ああそういうことか！」と、そういう意味ではよくできたシナリオだったなと思うし、ショッキング度合いでも星4つにしてもいいぐらいの内容だった気もするけれど、いかんせ聴き取ることに必死なので「なんで
何度きいてもいまいちよくわからないんだろう。」と苦労させられたので。
環境汚染、隠蔽工作、営利、疑心暗鬼、誤解など国家間の関係性がこじれていく要因みたいなのをうまくメタファーしていたと思うし、2回目に聴いたぐらいで仕掛けがわかって「ああ、なんてことだー！」と驚けたらよかったのになと思う。
でもどうにか解明できてよかった。
ちょっとドクターぁああ？？？😨😱ってなったけれど。
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 5, 2023
The basic idea for this story was not bad but does not seem fully realized. The decission to start in the middle and jump around the time line overcomplicates things and detracts from the story telling. Maybe the story was weak and someone thought it would be stronger and more mysterious if the reader was confused. Yes, this did create a mystery but there was no payoff in the end. The actors did a good job; otherwise this would be two stars for me.
March 27, 2022
The fifth Doctor and Nyssa star in a story that starts in media res, and then we learn more from flashbacks to a rather unpleasant adventure that features lovingly detailed stabbing and finger-breaking, on a world of people disfigured and doomed to extinction by pollution. Might have felt more natural as a sixth Doctor story.
October 30, 2017
One of the darker, more serious Doctor Who stories! It does take a while to get use to the shuffeled timeline, but in the end in all make sense, and it is one of those stories, wher eknowing the end only makes you want to start all over right away!
May 8, 2023
Recorded in sequence and then edited to a more complex narrative Creatures of Beauty is an interesting experiment that sort of works but it can be a bit too dark for me. Jubilee and Pirates had some light touches but this is classic New Adventures "Doctor Who" and is pretty unrelenting in its bleakness. Worth a listen but I don't think you want to revisit this too many times. I'd be kind of interested to listen to this story in chronological order too though :)
April 27, 2018
Clever idea but ultimately the non linear story line is just too annoying
February 16, 2020
Crítica | Big Finish Mensal #44: Creatures of Beauty: https://www.planocritico.com/critica-...
June 3, 2020
This was confusing because of the jumping around in chronology.
June 9, 2020
Not the greatest.
October 2, 2020
Confusing, the way this one skipped around. Cool idea though.
June 2, 2021
The way the story jumps around, i was lost much of the time. Not one of my favorites.
July 7, 2022
Couldn't follow the plot, I was pretty lost with this one. But Peter Davison and Sarah Sutton are fun to listen to, as is David Daker and the guest cast.
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October 16, 2023That was FUCKING DEPRESSING.
May 23, 2024
The bouncing around made things a bit difficult to follow
February 10, 2017
One of the best of the early Big Finish stories.
The non-linear narrative opens in media res, with Nyssa having been arrested for murder on a world dying from an ecological disaster. As the details of the story are filled in, we learn that the poison in the atmosphere has resulted in four generations of physical disfigurement of the populace, yet a handful of people seek a form of cosmetic surgery to regain their original appearance.
But that's just the bare framework into which the Doctor and Nyssa have stumbled. The saying that appearances are deceiving is quite true here, as each twist and turn of the story causes listeners to rethink original assumptions about characters and their motivations. The final scene is the sort of conclusion that will have you wanting to start over from the beginning and listen again, having finally filled in all the pieces.
The non-linear structure enhances the narrative rather than frustrating it. There was a brief moment of confusion where I wondered if I had a flawed CD; the third episode ends with what is chronologically the last scene, and the fourth episode begins with what is chronologically the very first scene. No worries. This is intentional. And it works. Very, very well.
Continuity: Creatures of Beauty is preceded by Spare Parts and followed by The Game.
The non-linear narrative opens in media res, with Nyssa having been arrested for murder on a world dying from an ecological disaster. As the details of the story are filled in, we learn that the poison in the atmosphere has resulted in four generations of physical disfigurement of the populace, yet a handful of people seek a form of cosmetic surgery to regain their original appearance.
But that's just the bare framework into which the Doctor and Nyssa have stumbled. The saying that appearances are deceiving is quite true here, as each twist and turn of the story causes listeners to rethink original assumptions about characters and their motivations. The final scene is the sort of conclusion that will have you wanting to start over from the beginning and listen again, having finally filled in all the pieces.
The non-linear structure enhances the narrative rather than frustrating it. There was a brief moment of confusion where I wondered if I had a flawed CD; the third episode ends with what is chronologically the last scene, and the fourth episode begins with what is chronologically the very first scene. No worries. This is intentional. And it works. Very, very well.
Continuity: Creatures of Beauty is preceded by Spare Parts and followed by The Game.
July 20, 2014
The Doctor and Nyssa land in a garden, get caught up in a murder investigation and some alien interference. This is memorable for the totally non linear way of telling the story. You really have to concentrate to work out when different bits occur. I suspect the story wasnt that good if listened to in the correct order. An experiment, but only listen when you can concentrate on it. A good listen.
April 8, 2009
Another experiment in format, with the plot fragmented non-sequentially across the four episodes, so that the crucial contribution of Five and Nyssa to the very beginning of the story only really becomes clear at the end. Very well done.
November 25, 2017
I really liked this one. A disjoined story, with a mystery and a warning that you really had to pay attention to. I love listening to Nyssa on audio and she was very good in this one. Definitely one to listen to again.
May 7, 2020
The way the story jumped around was a bit odd at times, but fairly easy to follow, and even if you see the conclusion coming it's still stunning. A brilliant piece of non-sequential storytelling with some absolutely killer twists.
August 30, 2014
The Fifth Doctor and Nyssa are arrested on a planet generations after an ecological disaster that has led to disfiguring mutations.
July 16, 2014
Confusing story or a race that is dying because of an accident by another race. Not bad but hard to follow.
April 11, 2017
Wow. A pearl of the series. The way the story is told in the last third is very strange ... and unique ... and GOOD! The ending leaves you just a bit stunned.
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January 29, 2019I didn't love this one -- audio-only stories don't translate well to playing with time as much as this one did, and much of the dialogue was fairly clunky. Some of the clunkiness was down to getting this time-switching data out, but some of it was just clunky because it's an audio-production and you have to get across what's going on somehow. Typically Big Finish does better than this, but it felt like it was trying to go big and fell a bit short for my tastes.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 30 reviews