Well now, this is... different. It's probably best classed as a Companion Chronicle, but it has elements of narrated soundtrack too; and there are three narrators, which is common to neither format. William Russell and Carole Ann Ford are back, along with the multitalented John Dorney (who we haven't encountered before on this marathon, but who has written or starred in some of the best-received Big Finish audios). I'd expected them to divide up the roles - Russell playing Ian and the Doctor, Ford playing Susan and Barbara, all three the supporting cast - but it doesn't work like that. Dorney plays only one character - Alexander of Macedon - and the other two take it in turns to narrate the story. It seems a bit bizarre when Russell is doing the Doctor's voice one minute, Ford the next, and it threw me at the start; but after a while I became used to it, and by the end I hardly noticed.
So, why hasn't this been written to conform more to the normal rules of a Companion Chronicle? Because - and this is the exciting bit for me - the script is an adaptation to audio of an actual TV script from 1964. This shows, in both good and bad ways. As accurate a tribute to the timeframe as Transit of Venus undoubtedly is, this is closer. But more on that later; I want to look at how that script plays out.
The opening scene in the TARDIS gave me a bit of a sense of déjà vu. The ship is suffering from a power drain caused by the fuel running out - didn't we just go through this with Leif Ericsson? Of course, they couldn't have known I would be listening to this just after reading a story written much later, and they give less detail this time, which makes it work better. So it's not too bad - until Susan decides they must have died. Because of the heavenly music she's hearing. I'm sorry, but what?! They then step out onto an alien world where the plants make music, and at this point I stop to check that I haven't put the wrong CD in. But no, this isn't The Fragile Yellow Arc of Fragrance; and actually there is a myth-historical explanation. Still, combined with the disorientating way the story is narrated, it definitely gets off on the wrong foot.
Things improve dramatically once we move outside. Iananbarbara together figure out where they are, we are introduced to four conspirators who look like they are going to be driving the plot, the Doctor has an amusing encounter with a prophet, and then we meet Dorney's Alexander and his companions. It's a scene-setting episode where little actually happens, but that doesn't matter - the dialogue is good, the scenario intriguing (pun intended) and the characters well-rounded.
One thing I've noticed a lot lately is how I imagine visuals to go along with the audio (or even the text in some cases). Here I can picture a very appropriate black-and-white view. When Barbara looked through the gate at the sea of tents on the plain outside the city, I even saw it as a painted backdrop! This would all have been filmable in Lime Grove Studio D, and although there could have been some problems making the Hanging Gardens realistic - they might have ended up more like the screaming jungle on Marinus - it is obviously a script written for television of the time.
So, a good recovery after the rocky start. I'm definitely interested, and with the next episode following on straight after this one on the CD I had to use quite some willpower to stick to my "one episode a day" rule.
Development of a Script, Part 1: Sign of the Times
These sections are going to appear in a somewhat odd order, but bear with me. While adapting the TV script for audio Nigel Robinson noticed a scene at the start that didn't really fit: the travellers begin their adventure strapped to a machine that teaches them multiple languages, thus explaining how they can speak ancient Greek. In some ways it's a neat idea, and it's certainly the sort of thing early Who did quite often; but the translation has been explained differently since and so it would have created a barrier to acceptance of the story for modern listeners. It also doesn't explain how Iananbarbara could talk to the cave people of The Tribe of Gum, so I think it's better avoided.
Rating:
5/10.
Next Time:
It's quite exhilarating listening to a proper serial again; I hadn't realised quite how much I was missing it. On to episode 2, O, Son! My Son!
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