SNS: All Fall Down

Audio episode 1.3: All Fall Down by David Bishop

SAPPHIRE: Shall we walk back together?
STEEL: If you want.

Ah, now this is more like it. Lots of myterious happenings, not much idea of what's going on, and not entirely derivative. Of course, David Bishop picks on the one nursery rhyme known to every single fan from Assignment 1! (Which neither Sapphire nor Steel comment on... in fact, in some ways it was a pity Mary wasn't called Helen...)

That aside, this is pretty good. We've got a nice 'base under siege' story going on, we've got little attacks and tricks, and we've go no angst or domestic breakdowns! See, it is possible! But there are also a few moments where you are just wondering how something happened (the fire tunnel for instance) and just what exactly some plot deviceds were supposed to do (I'm sure there's something about the plague pit journal that wasn't explained properly). But at least David Bishop knew the series and was going for something new...

All this and one other treat: the return of Silver! However, don't be expecting any metions of Cafes, or abandoment. Or much Sapphire/Silver banter, either. There is some but, like with David Warner, David Collins (no recasting needed here) is old enough to be Susannah Harker's father, so a fine line needs to be tread.

But is is good to hear Silver again, but he seems to have acquired many of Sapphire's abilities as well as being able to rewire everyday objects into devices capable of breaking several laws of physics...but hey, these are the Elements after all... (not that this will be the last of Silver that we hear...)

David Warner plays a very grouchy Steel here. In some ways this is, to a degree, justified by the story, but you almost get the impression David was wishing he was recording something else. (And just what is the deal with Steel succeumbing like that, anyway?)

Susannah Harker gets a larger role, being the lead for nearly half the story, albeit with David Collins hanging around to provide the male lead. Still, Susannah shows that Sapphire is still more than capable of handling the situation on her own if need be, as well as finally getting to play with her Time manipulation abilities.

I liked Kate Dyson as Professor Fleming, Kate making her into an interesting character and not just a generic human victim for the story to use and dispose of. I wasn't quite sure about Suzanne Proctor's accent as Mary, and she's a bit too ineffectual as 'slightly misunderstood good girl' to be completely likeable. (Two David's, and now Suzanne/Susannah. I bet director Nigel Fairs had fun!) Michael Chance gets to fill in a few roles (complete with dodgy German accent), but doesn't really make an impression with Doctor Webber.


All Fall Down is the third (and last!) double CD story of Season 1, supposedly clocking in at 120 minutes, but more like 105. And there's no 'behind the scenes' segment here. But I'm not how well the two single CDs will work when it took Big Finish this long to get the formula right.