Bang-Bang-a-Boom!

Main Range #39

Released: 19 December 2002

Listened: 10/26/20

This one was a Big Finish Christmas release, intended to be similar to a holiday panto. It’s a send-up of the Eurovision Song Contest, and Star Trek, specifically Deep Space Nine. Mel and the Doctor end up on the station where the song contest is taking place, among a tricky political situation, and are immediately mistaken for the new commander and his aide, which the Doctor goes along with. The station’s crew (which is mostly a doctor and a science officer) are strangely incompetent, even for parodies. There’s a murder mystery going on, but the Doctor is oddly reticent to discuss it, and lets Mel continually leap to outlandish conclusions. This isn’t one that the listener can try to figure out; you’re just along for the ride. The Doctor is still mangling proverbs, and Mel directly asks him to stop. In fact, Mel seems a lot less pleased with the Doctor in this story. Maybe it’s the way he keeps forgetting about her. I think the amount of enjoyment you get out of this one depends a lot on how much you know about Eurovision. The Star Trek parody is fine, but not particularly biting or insightful. It’s just a goofy story; merry Christmas!