Review by Daniel Mansfield

Back in 2011, Big Finish released four Lost Stories audios based on the episodes planned for the ultimately unmade 1990 series of Doctor Who. Fourteen years later, another unproduced story written for Season 27 joins the Lost Stories range – Alixion, by Robin Mukherjee.

Despite the script having been lengthened from the original 80s draft, Alixion feels completely of the era, from the writing down to the performances and music. Like much of latter day 20th century Who, there’s an effort here to delve deeper into the Doctor and Ace’s characters, exploring their pasts and putting both them and their relationship with one another through the wringer. This, combined with Sylvester McCoy and Sophie Aldred‘s effortless ability to sound exactly as they did 40 years ago, and Jamie Robertson‘s synth-led score, makes Alixion feel like it really could have been made way back when.

While its authenticity is the best thing about Alixion, it also proves to be its undoing. In the vein of 1989’s Ghost Light, the actual plot of the story is utterly, utterly incomprehensible, filled with inscrutable flashbacks, dream sequences, and imagined characters, strange detours and interesting ideas that seem to go nowhere. Aside from the basic premise, I couldn’t tell you a single thing about this story or any of the characters in it – it’s that confusing.

That said, once I gave up on trying to understand what was going on, I found myself having quite a good time listening, if only to boggle at just how much was going on. In short: complete nonsense wrapped in pitch-perfect 80s trappings.

Alixion is available on CD or as a download from http://www.bigfinish.com