Steve Foxon: genius at work

Got my complementary copy of Sarah Jane Smith: Snow Blind on Monday and promptly uploaded the audio drama to my iPod, but I didn't get a chance to listen to it until last night. Some great performances by the cast, with Tom Chadbon doing wonders in the role of Will Sullivan. Director and producer John Ainsworth made some very canny casting decisions and get the best from his actors in the studio, so props to him. It was good to hear Big Finish stalwart Nick Briggs in a straight acting role, rather than providing voices for Daleks and Cyberman as he does on the new TV incarnation of Doctor Who.

I was particularly impressed by Steve Foxon's sound design for Snow Blind, an element that's all but unnoticeable when it's done well. Snow Blind contains a lot of challenging aural elements - fire, blizzards, planes, gunplay, death and lashings of action. Steve managed to bring all of those to life in my ears, but his work never drew attention to itself. Big Finish obviously has a fistful of very talented sound sculpters. David Darlington did wonders on my story Test of Nerve from the first series of Sarah Jane Smith audio dramas. Now Steve Foxon is creating Antarctic wastes and Florentine street scenes in pure sound. What a clever sod!