Audio Review // Judge Dredd – Crime Chronicles: Double Zero

Judge Anderson. Judge Dredd. Spies, foreign agents, a mysterious child… and Anderson without her psychic abilities.

Yep. That got my attention. I’ve really been enjoying these shorter Big Finish Crime Chronicles audios. There’s something wonderfully simple about the format: usually two actors, a narrator, some sound effects and music, and away we go. No massive cast or sprawling production needed. Just a good Judge Dredd story told well. But this may be the last one for a while, as I am struggling to find the remaining audiobooks; sad times, Dreddhead, but we must go on.

And Double Zero certainly delivers.

The Details

Title: Judge Dredd: Crime Chronicles – Double Zero
Published: January 2010
Production: Big Finish Productions
Setting: Mega-City One, 2132
Judge Anderson: Age 52

The Crime Chronicles format is slightly different from the main Big Finish Judge Dredd dramas. Rather than having a full cast acting everything out, we get a more traditional audiobook approach. In this case, Louise Jameson narrates as Judge Cassandra Anderson, recounting a recent adventure, while Toby Longworth pops up as Judge Dredd. And honestly? It works really bloody well.

The Blurb

Anderson is forced to sleep naturally rather than relying on the sleep machines, and during the night she experiences one of her psychic feelings. Naturally, she follows it. That leads Anderson to Dredd and quickly pulls the pair into a world of spies, foreign agents and a mysterious target known as the Pariah. When they finally locate their objective, they discover something neither of them expected. A child and things get considerably worse from there.

Judge Anderson Takes Centre Stage

As a massive Judge Anderson fan, I knew this was always going to have a pretty big advantage going in. I’ve read a fair chunk of Anderson's solo adventures, and one of the things I really enjoy about her is that she isn't simply “Dredd, but psychic.” She has her own personality, her own weaknesses, and, thanks to her abilities, a completely different way of approaching situations.

Double Zero makes really good use of that. The story begins with Anderson being forced into something as simple and mundane as actually sleeping normally, and because this is Anderson we're talking about, naturally that leads to a psychic feeling, which sends her off looking for Dredd.

From there, things escalate rather quickly.

Now take away her powers…Here’s where the story gets particularly interesting. During the chaos surrounding the child, Anderson suffers a psychic attack, and suddenly…Nothing. Her psychic abilities are gone. For Anderson, that's a pretty massive problem. She has spent years relying on those abilities, and suddenly she has to operate without them. That gives the story a really interesting dynamic because we get to see Anderson having to rely on her training, instincts and good old-fashioned Judge skills, and Dredd is there alongside her, of course, which gives us a nice pairing of the two characters without simply turning the story into another Dredd adventure with Anderson tagging along.

Spies, Judges and a Very Dangerous Child

I'm deliberately not going too much further into the story because there are some pretty significant things going on here that are much better discovered while listening. What I will say is that the story expands beyond the initial mystery. Suddenly we're dealing with foreign agents, rival Judge Cities and a child who appears to be far more dangerous than anyone initially realised, and the question becomes pretty simple:

Can Anderson and Dredd find the child before someone else does?

And perhaps more importantly for Anderson…Can she get her psychic abilities back? That was enough to keep me listening.

The Audio

This is where the Crime Chronicles format really works for me. You've essentially got Louise Jameson carrying the majority of the story as Anderson, with Toby Longworth stepping in as Dredd. That's it. Well, not quite. There's music, sound effects and plenty of atmosphere, but compared with a full audio drama, it's a much smaller production.

And I really like that. There's something quite intimate about listening to Anderson tell you what happened. Louise Jameson is, unsurprisingly, excellent as Anderson. She has the character absolutely nailed, and because she's narrating the story rather than simply delivering dialogue, there's a slightly different flavour to her performance. Then Longworth's Dredd cuts through it all with that wonderfully familiar voice. “DROKK”. You know you're home.

About an Hour of Dredd

At around an hour, Double Zero is a really easy listen. It's the sort of audio you can throw on while you're walking, painting miniatures, travelling or doing something that doesn't require your complete attention. Although once the story gets moving, I found myself paying more attention than I expected.

There's enough mystery and intrigue to keep you wondering where it's going, without dragging the whole thing out for hours, and that's probably one of the biggest strengths of these Crime Chronicles stories for me. They get in, tell their story, give you some Dredd goodness and get out. No messing about.

Final Thoughts

I really enjoyed Double Zero. It gives Anderson a proper starring role, shows off both her strengths and weaknesses, and then takes away the very thing that makes her unique. That's a bloody good way of putting a character under pressure.

The story also gives us some nice Dredd action, international intrigue, rival Judge Cities and a mysterious child at the centre of it all. Most importantly, though, it was just bloody good fun to listen to.

These shorter Crime Chronicles productions are rapidly becoming something I'm really enjoying exploring. The two-actor format shouldn't work quite as well as it does, but Big Finish manages to make these feel engaging without needing a huge cast. My only real problem? These bloody things are like gold dust.

Every time I finish one, I immediately want to find another, and then discover that tracking the things down isn't exactly easy. Still…More Judge Anderson? More Big Finish?

Yes please. Now, where the hell is the next one?

Support Adventures with Peps

As always, thanks for supporting the blog, the YouTube channel and all the other daft projects I keep coming up with.

If you enjoy what I'm doing, you can help support Adventures with Peps through the links below.

Amazon: Just by clicking this link you support the blog thank you.
Instagram: Sector 102 bite size
YouTube: The home of Sector 102