5th Doctor and Iris Wildthyme
Paul Magrs makes his debut for Big Finish, along with his most famous creation, Iris Wildtyme. Like his recently released novel, Mad Dogs and Englishemn Magrs' story is a pardoy of elements of The Lord of the Rings, this time the characters of the book are his focus, with Golum being personified in this case by the brilliant Zombie King. Iris is played by Katy Manning in Excelis Dawns, who sounds like she had fun in the role, bringing to life Iris perfectly. The story is well served by the decision to not edit the story down for one scene - I could only find about 15 minutes of material that could be cut without harming the story.
Preliminary Rating: 8 - 9/10
6th Doctor
The Doctor returns to Artaris and the city of Excelis, a thousand years after his last visit. Much has changed, but the Relic and Lord Greyvorn are still around. There is a danger with trilogies that the middle section is just 'treading water' so that the story can be resolved in the final installment, but David A McIntee's script manages to avoid acting as filler between the beginning and conclusion of Greyvorn's story. Colin Baker is in top form, with the guest cast also performing well. Anthony Stewart Head continues to impress as Greyvorn/Maupassant. Excelis Rising resolves one plot thread of the Excelis sequence, with the end leaving things open for an interesting conclusion in Excelis Decays.
Preliminary Rating: 8 - 9/10
7th Doctor
The Doctor makes his final trip to Artaris, and discovers that Excelis is a now a totalitarian state, controlled from within by Lord Sutton. Craig Hinton's script for the final part of the Excelis trilogy is a depressing story, as Greyvorn's plans are finally revealled and the Doctor's link to Excelis explained. Anthony Stewart Head excels as Greyvorn/Sutton, as his plans crumble and his sanity lost; Yee Jee Tso has an interesting role as Major Brant, nephew to Ian Collier's Sallis, with both actors putting on a believable performance. Excelis Decays has an explosive ending, setting things up neatly for the coda story The Plague Herds of Excelis.
Preliminary Rating: 8 - 9/10
Benny and Iris
Benny has set out to escape the men in her life for some time to herself, and is forced to land on Artaris to avoid a huge alien fleet of vessels. There she becomes involved in the fuitition of a plan that has spanned thousands of years, and with a mysterious woman named Iris Wildthyme... The final story in the Excelis trilogy (of four), The Plague Herds of Excelis fills in the final pieces of the puzzle: what 'the Relic' is, and how Iris became involved with it all. Steve Cole has written a story that is full of life, despite all the death that takes place within the story. The highlight of story would have to be the relationship between Benny and Iris, with Lisa Bowerman and Katy Manning giving it an extra spark through their performance. The Plague Herds of Excelis provides closure to the whole sequence in a very satisfying way, tying together all plot threads well.
Preliminary Rating: 8.5 - 9.5/10
Things you need: Doctor Who Magazine (Monthly) issue 113