Right. I can't go any further into the review without talking about Barbara. If the story of Who to this point can be said to be about anybody, it has been about her. She has changed and grown far more than the others - the opposite pole to the Doctor's own development over the first three serials; driving the plot in The Aztecs; her growing emotional involvement in her travels in The Reign of Terror, Farewell, Great Macedon and here. Had these last two stories been shown on the telly at the time I would have said that she had more emotional development in one year than any other classic TV companion, with the possible exceptions of Ace in her last five stories (which, as I've argued before, mirror season 1 in more than one respect) or - stretching a point - Mike Yates in the run from The Green Death to Planet of the Spiders. This may be a function of the marathon, and I may see it in others as I progress; but even if I do the development of Barbara can still be held up as a fine example.
And yet, in the midst of all this change, she is the rock-solid emotional anchor of the team. There was talk at one point of getting rid of Barbara in the final story of the first production run - the upcoming Return of the Daleks - and presumably this was because Hill wasn't sure if she wanted to commit to more; but I am very glad she did. The show isn't ready to be without her, not yet.
So, imagine listening to this story without future knowledge. There is that doubt, kept bubbling for most of the story, over whether Barbara will stay on Fragrance. To begin with there's the "does she, doesn't she?" question: whether she loves Rhythm as a friend, or as something more. Ian's relief on learning the answer is palpable, and it occurs to me that their chaste love for each other - sometimes held up as a fan theory imposed on the era from the viewpoint of later years - is here acknowledged by a writer in 1964. One can only imagine what Ian would be like if, say, she had died of radiation poisoning as a result of their exposure on Skaro!
The tension (for both Ian and listener) continues as Barbara learns of the consequences for Rhythm should she leave, and everyone awaits her decision. Then - just as in Farewell, Great Macedon - the Doctor overrules her. This time it is more than just the arrogance of patriarchy, because it was held out that she actually had a choice. We are left in the uncomfortable position of feeling relief at a betrayal of trust, of being glad that Barbara had her freedom of choice taken away. It's not very flattering: we want her to stay, and are willing to sanction almost anything to keep her with us despite her own nobility. How selfish is that, compared to what she was prepared to sacrifice?
And then, kidnapped by the Doctor for the second time, she gets to watch the man who declared his love for her burn. A man she was prepared to give up everything for, not because she was in love with him but because it was the right thing to do. Now, that's hard.
A Confused Chronology, part 3: When Did They Visit Fragrance?
As a pair these audios do fit nicely into the inter-season gap, but which comes first? I can see why this is the second story in the boxset. It's very much the lesser attraction - single-episode, not one of the (now) highly-regarded historicals, never intended for broadcast. Its length also means that there's plenty of space on the disk for the extras, which should be heard after the stories. Unfortunately, this placement on the final disk means that most timelines, by default, set it chronologically after Farewell, Great Macedon. Having heard it I would say that it works better before: that way, the events here can inform Barbara's desperate need to leave before Alexander dies.
Rating:
5.5/10.
Next Time:
Very much sideways for Jim Mortimore's self-published PDA, Campaign.
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