Doctor Who: Pier Pressure

Big Finish: Monthly Range #78

by Robert Ross, Colin Baker (Narrator), Maggie Stables (Narrator)

Brighton, Sussex; 1936

"Ere, listen listen, I've got one for you. There once was this bloke, you see. Good-looking sort of chap. Lovely, brightly coloured coat. No rubbish. Quality gear. Never bought a drink neither... or so they say. But his name wasn't Miller. Oh no, there'll never be another Cheeky Chappie, lady, there'll never be another. They broke the mould when they made me you know.

No, this bloke called himself the Doctor. Doctor who you ask? And may well you. Don't know me self. No one ever knew. Funny that. He was a real strange one. Odd things happened when he arrived.

Mind you, them were dark days. No one was laughing. And these were my people. My public. It was like playing first house at the Glasgow Empire. Just like the entire town was cursed it was. Cursed by something not of this world..."

Genres: Doctor Who, Audiobook, Science Fiction

Audio CD

First published January 1, 2006

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

Robert Ross wears many different hats: consultant, researcher, writer and audio commentary moderator, working for television and radio.

Reviews

[Ken · Rating 3 out of 5]

My introduction to the worlds of Big Finish!
Admittedly the story is quite weaker, but I do have a soft spot for it.
I must have enjoyed it enough to get a subscription for more audio adventures...

Having seen numerous adverts for these stories in DWM it was this one that peaked my interest. A story set in my home town of Brighton, I had to get it!

The Doctor and Evelyn arrive in Sussex 1936 along with reports of a disappearance along with strange lights emanating from the West Pier, the TARDIS duo along with Max Miller resolve to get to the bottom of the mystery.

The story itself is pretty generic and weak but the cast really sale this adventure.
Roy Hudd is practically brilliant as Miller and the idea of The Doctor travelling with audio companions with the brilliant Maggie Stables instantly hooked me.

The sounds of seagulls and the waves of the sea showed the care that Big Finish brings to their releases.
It’s not really a surprise that I was desperate to listen to more...

[Kelly McCubbin · Rating 3 out of 5]

I may be being generous here due to my love of the Sixth Doctor and Evelyn, who are in fine form here and mesh wonderfully with the legendary Max Miller, Brighton's favorite son.
But the story is as flimsy as they come.
I fear, at this point in the Big Finish Main Range run, that we're slipping into a deep rut.

[Arash · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is an odd story. It doesn't have any unusually horrible elements, but it's formulaic and generally bland. The villain feels like something out of a very different kind of fiction, and the Doctor seems distinctly out of character - he's oddly cowardly, and susceptible to magical thinking instead of being curiosity. Not one I'd recommend, even though it doesn't have any glaring issues.

[Yosef Shapiro · Rating 2 out of 5]

This one was a bit confusing and disjointed. The story was told in a herky jerky fashion, jumping back and forth through different parts of the narrative. Although this is a common technique, used by DR. who many times in the past. It was not well done in this story and only led to confusion.

[Sara Habein · Rating 5 out of 5]

A really great Sixth Doctor/Evelyn story.

[Tabitha · Rating 1 out of 5]

Confusing, hard to keep track of, and the Doctor was acting completely out of character. Didn't enjoy this one at all.

[Steven Shinder · Rating 3 out of 5]

At the very least, this reminded me how great the Doctor and Evelyn dynamic was.

[Michael Botterill · Rating 3 out of 5]

A weaker story but not terrible, just probably needed a bit more time in the kitchen

[Mel · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was so lovely to hear a new adventure for Evelyn and old Sixie that I really wanted to like this one a bit better. It was a nice slow story without much of a threat. It was all characterisation for the first half, there were some really wonderful moments between Evelyn and the Doctor, she is just such a wonderful companion for him. As the story went on though it did get brought down a bit. I was disappointed that the only woman character besides Evelyn (who was pretty weak) died early on and we were left with four men guest stars. Maxie was quite fun, though the "evil" "left handed" magician was pretty laughable. There was an awful lot of going on about "evil" and fighting it and being on the side of good, which was just a bit too simplistic. Colin's Doctor was just a bit too "good" in this one, and too prone to quotes, something I'd not really noticed him doing before. Not one of the best stories for these two but I am still glad I listened to it.

[Steven · Rating 2 out of 5]

Brighton, Sussex; 1936 "Ere, listen listen, I've got one for you. There once was this bloke, you see. Good-looking sort of chap. Lovely, brightly coloured coat. No rubbish. Quality gear. Never bought a drink neither... or so they say. But his name wasn't Miller. Oh no, there'll never be another Cheeky Chappie, lady, there'll never be another. They broke the mould when they made me you know. No, this bloke called himself the Doctor. Doctor who you ask? And may well you. Don't know me self. No one ever knew. Funny that. He was a real strange one. Odd things happened when he arrived. Mind you, them were dark days. No one was laughing. And these were my people. My public. It was like playing first house at the Glasgow Empire. Just like the entire town was cursed it was. Cursed by something not of this world..."

[Nicholas Whyte]

Pier Pressure brings the Sixth Doctor and Evelyn Smythe to Brighton in the 1930s where they encounter an alien presence and enlist the help of legendary entertainer Max Miller, played by the always excellent Roy Hudd, who I last heard as Bottom in A Midsummer Night's Dream and who is in real life the president of the Max Miller society. As usual with Robert Ross, the story doen't make much sense but Hudd and the regulars carry it. (One of the other guest actors is appalling, but fortunately gets killed off half way through.)

[Jamie Revell · Rating 2 out of 5]

A rather bland, and somewhat confused, offering about dark doings on Brighton Pier in the 1930s. And if you're going to have a historical person as a guest star, a '30s comedian who was big at the time, but, since he was pre-TV, is now largely forgotten isn't the best of ideas. If you're going to do an obscure (ish) historical character, at least make sure they're an interesting one.

[Melenia · Rating 1 out of 5]

If this had been done in order I think I would have enjoyed it, as it was, skipping around from the middle of the story to the beginning to the end back to the middle I did not enjoy it at all and barely finished it. Someone put this story in order for me and I will change my rating lol

[Debra Cook · Rating 3 out of 5]

An emotional imbalance is causing havoc in a seaside pier. The Doctor and Evelyn try to stop the evil from engulfing the area to counter the good.

[Nathan Friedl · Rating 1 out of 5]

Ugh. Not even Sixie and Evelyn can save this tripe. The plot is really really terrible.

[Anne Barwell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyable story with a bit of a bittersweet feel as sometimes not everyone can be saved.

[Ritchie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Dixie and Evelyn in Brighton circa 1930s. Not bad but not great either.