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Counter-Measures #1
Counter-Measures: Series 1 Box Set
After the mysterious events at Coal Hill School, the British government has created the Counter-Measures group, a specialist team that investigates strange phenomena and dangerous technology. Their first missions will involve a haunted warehouse, a ground-breaking artificial intelligence, a mysterious new town and a threat to the future.
Audio CD
First published July 1, 2012
2 people are currently reading
35 people want to read
About the author
Paul Finch
206 books467 followersPaul Finch is a former cop and journalist, now full-time writer. Having originally written for the television series THE BILL plus children's animation and DOCTOR WHO audio dramas, he went on to write horror, but is now best known for his crime / thriller fiction.
He won the British Fantasy Award twice and the International Horror Guild Award, but since then has written two parallel series of hard-hitting crime novels, the Heck and the Lucy Clayburn novels, of which three titles have become best-sellers.
Paul lives in Wigan, Lancashire, UK with his wife and children.
He won the British Fantasy Award twice and the International Horror Guild Award, but since then has written two parallel series of hard-hitting crime novels, the Heck and the Lucy Clayburn novels, of which three titles have become best-sellers.
Paul lives in Wigan, Lancashire, UK with his wife and children.
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
August 11, 2016
I listened to the first two of these today. I'd been wanting to listen to Counter measures for awhile but the price tag was putting me off so I waited for it to go on sale. I'm glad I did. It's enjoyable, but I'm not sure I'd pay £30 for the download when most other box sets are only £20! I will be waiting to get the rest of the episodes go on sale.
But it is enjoyable. It feels like the science fiction/supernatural television of the 70s. There's really great women scientists. It has a really nice feel to it. I was worried it would be a bit too much action but there is quite a lot of spookiness around, even if it does all have a scientific explanation. Half way through and looking forward to the rest of the episodes. Definitely one I will listen to again.
The third adventure I felt was the weakest of the bunch. It had the team infiltrating as a unit and felt like a much simpler and more formulaic story.
The fourth story I really enjoyed. Partly because it was so great to have the two women scientists off investigating together. It was exactly the type of thing that never happens in these type of stories on television, as at best you only have one woman in the story. It was fun and mysterious and a satisfying conclusion to the box set.
I'm glad I got to listen to these and will definitely look forward to hearing the later volumes.
But it is enjoyable. It feels like the science fiction/supernatural television of the 70s. There's really great women scientists. It has a really nice feel to it. I was worried it would be a bit too much action but there is quite a lot of spookiness around, even if it does all have a scientific explanation. Half way through and looking forward to the rest of the episodes. Definitely one I will listen to again.
The third adventure I felt was the weakest of the bunch. It had the team infiltrating as a unit and felt like a much simpler and more formulaic story.
The fourth story I really enjoyed. Partly because it was so great to have the two women scientists off investigating together. It was exactly the type of thing that never happens in these type of stories on television, as at best you only have one woman in the story. It was fun and mysterious and a satisfying conclusion to the box set.
I'm glad I got to listen to these and will definitely look forward to hearing the later volumes.
February 10, 2017
One of the more unlikely Doctor Who spin-offs, Counter-Measures was featured in a McCoy-era episode, "Remembrance of the Daleks," and though I've seen that episode, I have no memory of the Counter-Measures group.
But you don't really need to know anything about that episode for this series of four episodes to work. There is exactly one reference to the "incident at Coal Hill School," and that's it.
Counter-Measures features a government department organized to investigate strange happenings. Think of Counter-Measures as a sort of Red Scare-era X-Files (with the focus being more on sci-fi than paranormal), and this four-episode set features former Nazi scientists, extra-dimensional creatures, paranoia-inducing experiments, and political maneuvering. Sometimes all at once.
That cold war mood is heightened by the incidental music that perfectly evokes the era. Also assisting with the mood of paranoia is Hugh Ross's inscrutable character Sir Toby Kinsella, head of Counter-Measures, whose tendency to keep his underlings in the dark suggests he has his own agendas.
Listening to Counter-Measures feels like the rediscovery of a cool, early-60s sci-fi thriller you vaguely remember watching on television. It even sounds like it's in black and white. (That is not a knock on the sound design, which is up to Big Finish's usual high standards, just another signifier of how perfectly the era is evoked.)
But you don't really need to know anything about that episode for this series of four episodes to work. There is exactly one reference to the "incident at Coal Hill School," and that's it.
Counter-Measures features a government department organized to investigate strange happenings. Think of Counter-Measures as a sort of Red Scare-era X-Files (with the focus being more on sci-fi than paranormal), and this four-episode set features former Nazi scientists, extra-dimensional creatures, paranoia-inducing experiments, and political maneuvering. Sometimes all at once.
That cold war mood is heightened by the incidental music that perfectly evokes the era. Also assisting with the mood of paranoia is Hugh Ross's inscrutable character Sir Toby Kinsella, head of Counter-Measures, whose tendency to keep his underlings in the dark suggests he has his own agendas.
Listening to Counter-Measures feels like the rediscovery of a cool, early-60s sci-fi thriller you vaguely remember watching on television. It even sounds like it's in black and white. (That is not a knock on the sound design, which is up to Big Finish's usual high standards, just another signifier of how perfectly the era is evoked.)
August 23, 2012
A thoroughly enjoyable set of stories featuring a clearly defined set of characters.
Counter Measures is set in the 60s, and the period atmosphere is evoked very well. There's a sense of uncertainty and cold-war paranoia and a feeling of those great 60s spy thrillers, especially in the way that we're never quite sure if the person directing the group is a "goodie" or a "baddie".
Each of the stories is self-contained, although the first and fourth are linked, so should be listened to in the right order.
I'll definitely be returning to these audios, and am pleased to see that a second series is in preparation.
Counter Measures is set in the 60s, and the period atmosphere is evoked very well. There's a sense of uncertainty and cold-war paranoia and a feeling of those great 60s spy thrillers, especially in the way that we're never quite sure if the person directing the group is a "goodie" or a "baddie".
Each of the stories is self-contained, although the first and fourth are linked, so should be listened to in the right order.
I'll definitely be returning to these audios, and am pleased to see that a second series is in preparation.
May 5, 2020
Great 4 adventures dealing with teleportation, the supernatural, AI, and a government takeover. Highly recommend.
July 2, 2017
The Counter-Measures team, a sort of forerunner to UNIT, appeared on TV only in the 7th Doctor story Remembrance of the Daleks, but, although they never appeared again, did feel ripe with possibility. Here, they are given their own series, starring the original actors that portrayed the (surviving) members of the team. The result is a sort of '60s Torchwood without the bonking.
Set in 1964, rather like Big Finish's earlier spin-off series Jago and Litefoot this oozes with atmosphere. It's not just the nods to events and cultural reference points of the time, which one would largely expect, but also that whole thing rather feels like a British TV show of the period, with shades of The Avengers or Adam Adamant Lives!. I have to give particular praise for the theme and incidental music, which is absolutely '60s TV, and almost makes you feel that this must have been made, if not necessarily in black-and-white, at least in the bright tones of the early colour era.
This, the first season of many, consists of four hour-long plays, connected by a loose story arc, but largely standalone.
* Threshold - The team gets back together to investigate the case of a missing scientist. They are joined by a new regular character, the scheming and manipulative civil servant Toby Kinsella, who immediately makes an impression as the group's boss. Indeed, everyone is well fleshed-out, appearing as believable, three-dimensional characters from the off. The monster in the story is, for the most part, unseen, taking clear advantage of the audio format. It's never wholly clear what it is, which is logical enough (there's no reason the team would have any way to know), but perhaps a little unsatisfying. Even so, it's a great kick-off to the series. 4 stars.
* Artificial Intelligence - The second story is even stronger, based around an espionage training facility employing the sort of weird tech that feels like its straight out of The Avengers. There's also great use of the main character's backgrounds, with all four of them having a personal connection of some kind to the people involved, and it being unclear at times just who they can trust. Out of all the four episodes in this season, it's the one that most feels as if it could actually have been made in the '60s, and is all the better for it. Nice touches of humour also help to offset the personal drama. 5 stars.
* The Pelage Project - This is the most clearly standalone of the episodes, having no real connection to the other three. The team investigates a secret "new town" with vague overtones of The Prisoner, although it's really more of a play on concerns of overpopulation and Cold War paranoia. Kinsella does seem to be written rather differently here than in the first two episodes, making him a less ambiguous character, which, while it was inevitable in the longer term, does slightly dent the episode that follows. Nonetheless, it's an effective story taken on its own terms. 4 stars.
* State of Emergency - Plot seeds laid in the first two episodes come home to roost in the final instalment, set in the days following the 1964 general election that saw Labour return to power for the first time in 13 years. Much of the story is political in nature, with a fair chunk of it taking place inside 10 Downing Street, and with obvious parallels to real-world rumours about MI5 plots to unseat Harold Wilson as Prime Minister. Around this, there is a fair bit of action going on, which audio is not particularly suited to, and also a lot of betrayal and skulduggery, which it is. Overall, though, it's a nicely done story with a decent twist in the tail. 4.5 stars.
On average, that's 4.4 stars, which rounds to just short of the full 5.
Set in 1964, rather like Big Finish's earlier spin-off series Jago and Litefoot this oozes with atmosphere. It's not just the nods to events and cultural reference points of the time, which one would largely expect, but also that whole thing rather feels like a British TV show of the period, with shades of The Avengers or Adam Adamant Lives!. I have to give particular praise for the theme and incidental music, which is absolutely '60s TV, and almost makes you feel that this must have been made, if not necessarily in black-and-white, at least in the bright tones of the early colour era.
This, the first season of many, consists of four hour-long plays, connected by a loose story arc, but largely standalone.
* Threshold - The team gets back together to investigate the case of a missing scientist. They are joined by a new regular character, the scheming and manipulative civil servant Toby Kinsella, who immediately makes an impression as the group's boss. Indeed, everyone is well fleshed-out, appearing as believable, three-dimensional characters from the off. The monster in the story is, for the most part, unseen, taking clear advantage of the audio format. It's never wholly clear what it is, which is logical enough (there's no reason the team would have any way to know), but perhaps a little unsatisfying. Even so, it's a great kick-off to the series. 4 stars.
* Artificial Intelligence - The second story is even stronger, based around an espionage training facility employing the sort of weird tech that feels like its straight out of The Avengers. There's also great use of the main character's backgrounds, with all four of them having a personal connection of some kind to the people involved, and it being unclear at times just who they can trust. Out of all the four episodes in this season, it's the one that most feels as if it could actually have been made in the '60s, and is all the better for it. Nice touches of humour also help to offset the personal drama. 5 stars.
* The Pelage Project - This is the most clearly standalone of the episodes, having no real connection to the other three. The team investigates a secret "new town" with vague overtones of The Prisoner, although it's really more of a play on concerns of overpopulation and Cold War paranoia. Kinsella does seem to be written rather differently here than in the first two episodes, making him a less ambiguous character, which, while it was inevitable in the longer term, does slightly dent the episode that follows. Nonetheless, it's an effective story taken on its own terms. 4 stars.
* State of Emergency - Plot seeds laid in the first two episodes come home to roost in the final instalment, set in the days following the 1964 general election that saw Labour return to power for the first time in 13 years. Much of the story is political in nature, with a fair chunk of it taking place inside 10 Downing Street, and with obvious parallels to real-world rumours about MI5 plots to unseat Harold Wilson as Prime Minister. Around this, there is a fair bit of action going on, which audio is not particularly suited to, and also a lot of betrayal and skulduggery, which it is. Overall, though, it's a nicely done story with a decent twist in the tail. 4.5 stars.
On average, that's 4.4 stars, which rounds to just short of the full 5.
April 29, 2020
I have tried a few Big Finish spin-offs. This Counter-Measures series consists of a British government group from 1963. They are the people who have encountered an alien intelligence once before in the form of Doctor Who and his companion Ace. Also the Daleks.
Group Captain Gilmore has won the support of a patron civil serviceman who heads the small group. The same support scientists are brought back from their various university studies and we set off on a series of very well written adventures. Much of this involves machine science fiction and things generally going wrong.
One story with an entity getting inside a prototype device for material transportation or transmat I think it is sometimes called. Another with a giant computer that psychoanalysis and enhances an individual's paranoia. Even an attempted government take over by a group of rogue military officers and an enclosed brainwashed community unwittingly working for a devious desport.
This is a cross between Doomwatch, UNIT (Mind of Evil and Green Death etc) The stories have a wonderful 1960s retro setting but are very unique in their own right. Truly entertaining and very gripping. I will, of course, download the next series. Highly recommended.
Group Captain Gilmore has won the support of a patron civil serviceman who heads the small group. The same support scientists are brought back from their various university studies and we set off on a series of very well written adventures. Much of this involves machine science fiction and things generally going wrong.
One story with an entity getting inside a prototype device for material transportation or transmat I think it is sometimes called. Another with a giant computer that psychoanalysis and enhances an individual's paranoia. Even an attempted government take over by a group of rogue military officers and an enclosed brainwashed community unwittingly working for a devious desport.
This is a cross between Doomwatch, UNIT (Mind of Evil and Green Death etc) The stories have a wonderful 1960s retro setting but are very unique in their own right. Truly entertaining and very gripping. I will, of course, download the next series. Highly recommended.
August 25, 2023
Still feeling in the Doctor Who mood, I decided to revisit another of the old favorites today by listening to Counter-Measures again. The series, for those who are not familiar, spins off several popular characters who appeared in the Sylvester McCoy-era serial, Remembrance of the Daleks. They have formed a British government agency, Counter-Measures, that investigates paranormal goings-on that may pose a security threat to Britain.
One of the reasons I love these stories is that they have such a strong sense of place and time. This first series reflects that it is set at a time when World War II was still a recent memory and Cold War paranoia was kicking into high gear. The four stories here are varied with emphasis falling on different members of the team.
My favorite is probably Ian Potter's The Pelage Project in which the group investigates strange goings on involving pollution at an industrial town, but there isn't a bad story in the set...
Approachability: This boxset stands on its own in terms of Big Finish's output but listeners may want to revisit the TV serial 'Remembrance of the Daleks' to familiarize themselves with the main characters.
One of the reasons I love these stories is that they have such a strong sense of place and time. This first series reflects that it is set at a time when World War II was still a recent memory and Cold War paranoia was kicking into high gear. The four stories here are varied with emphasis falling on different members of the team.
My favorite is probably Ian Potter's The Pelage Project in which the group investigates strange goings on involving pollution at an industrial town, but there isn't a bad story in the set...
Approachability: This boxset stands on its own in terms of Big Finish's output but listeners may want to revisit the TV serial 'Remembrance of the Daleks' to familiarize themselves with the main characters.
September 5, 2022
The idea of having a pre-UNIT, UK-centric, paranormal event investigation organisation (early X-files) is a good one, and using the Counter-Measures group, from Remembrance of the Daleks, is inspired. Added bonus: the original cast performs, and performs well.
The stories are adequate. Fairly well-worn concepts which, especially if you've played any of the Nazi Zombie games in Call of Duty, have been thought out and used in a superior way elsewhere. The sound design is excellent, but is often used without context leaving the listener no real idea what is going on.
That being said the overall result was enjoyable. A good effort from Big Finish, and I'll be trying out Series 2.
The stories are adequate. Fairly well-worn concepts which, especially if you've played any of the Nazi Zombie games in Call of Duty, have been thought out and used in a superior way elsewhere. The sound design is excellent, but is often used without context leaving the listener no real idea what is going on.
That being said the overall result was enjoyable. A good effort from Big Finish, and I'll be trying out Series 2.
August 30, 2018
Have only listened to Threshold, thanks to this story being released free by Big Finish, so will update if I manage to get hold of and listen to the rest at some point.
Threshold is a good story, quite eerie, and in the feel of Event Horizon I think as well. Good to be reintroduced to the characters, they capture the feel of the Remembrance Crew quite well, with the addition of Sir Toby who is an interesting character - not a bad person, but very political / patriotic.
Enjoyable story, and has made me want to read the rest at some point :)
Threshold is a good story, quite eerie, and in the feel of Event Horizon I think as well. Good to be reintroduced to the characters, they capture the feel of the Remembrance Crew quite well, with the addition of Sir Toby who is an interesting character - not a bad person, but very political / patriotic.
Enjoyable story, and has made me want to read the rest at some point :)
October 29, 2019
This series is a Dr. Who spin off. The main characters were first introduced in the 7th Doctor story , Remembrance of the Daleks. That story was set in the Sixties at Susan’s school. The characters that were spun off were very one dimensional in the televised story. So, the production team had a chance to flesh them out. This series is set in and has the feel of the 1960s world of British tv. It fits in well with the Avengers and Doctor Who stories of this era.
August 18, 2023
Can’t really say why I wasn’t connecting with this one very much. Probably won’t consider continuing this series anytime soon.
November 16, 2024
Fun stuff. It feels dated, but in a very good way.
Read
September 7, 2025DNF for now. Nothing wrong with it-just need to be in right mind frame.
July 21, 2023
Threshold *****
Artificial Intelligence *****
The Pelage Project *****
State of Emergency ****
Artificial Intelligence *****
The Pelage Project *****
State of Emergency ****
November 19, 2016
I enjoyed the first series of C-M very much indeed!
It made a nice change from the True Who Big Finish audios I usually listen to, but still British and sci-fi enough.
I definitely see further C-M-related purchases in my immediate future. (And I'm gleeful that there are several series still to come, and probably more yet still being planned.)
It made a nice change from the True Who Big Finish audios I usually listen to, but still British and sci-fi enough.
I definitely see further C-M-related purchases in my immediate future. (And I'm gleeful that there are several series still to come, and probably more yet still being planned.)
May 21, 2016
I only listened to "Artificial Intelligence".
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