Episode CC6.02a: Assault on Platform Five

Okay, the official episode title (I have discovered) is actually The Rocket Men, but if I can avoid names that match both an episode and the whole serial then I will. So since I only have this on download subscription and it was hard to find, I'm pretending that I didn't know.

I've had this quite a while - since before I reviewed Quinnis, in fact - and have managed to put off listening to it until now, so that I could get a fresh perspective. It's a tricky decision to make, as there are advantages both ways: once it has had time to settle I can offer a more matured, better thought-out view; whereas reviewing straight after my first experience benefits from the excitement of a new story. Since there are very few stories that are still new to me, I've decided to grab them when I can.

From the opening line I could tell that this was going to focus on Iananbarbara's relationship. It's another take on Ian coming to a realisation about his feelings for Barbara, which, as a follower of expanded universe print material, I have already seen happen. More than once. So basically, it's a bit late in the day - though if you only pay attention to audio and TV it's a case of "about time"! How to reconcile the two? You could say that Ian, as narrator, is attributing more to this moment than was the case at the time. Or perhaps this was a point when the depth of his feeling - or rather, his understanding of it - expanded. I like the second idea better, but whichever you go for it's not irreconcilable with the stories that have built this up over a longer period like The Time Travellers, Roman Cutaway and The Eleventh Tiger. And the trigger for this realisation is certainly believable!

There's no real framing sequence; it's just Ian telling the story to the listener. This means that the second actor (Gus Brown as Ashman) is simply a different voice in the narrative, something I've complained about in the past. Writing this review I realise that it is a feature of the Companion Chronicles I've since grown accustomed to hearing. There's still no logical in-story reason for it - no space for the other speaker - but it no longer bothers me.

Having said there's no framing sequence, the plot is still divided into two timelines. Unusually we begin right in the middle of the action, with Ian, Barbara and Vicki being held captive by Ashman and his rocket men. The second timeline shows how they got to this point (though it still hasn't caught up by the end of the episode, so this device will presumably continue next episode). Writer John Dorney has a lot of fun with the transitions, presenting us with echoes and repetitions in the dialogue that mark the boundaries. They are supported by sometimes-subtle differences in the soundscape, but it's still an interesting and novel way of marking the change. As an example:

Ian narrating in the 'past': We should have remembered that with the Doctor, it was always best to take things one day at a time.

Ashman, speaking in the 'present': "I'll take one of you at a time."

The first episode has the responsibility of setting up the action, showing us the people and locations our heroes are going to be interacting with. This is harder on radio than television, and can slow things down; but starting in the middle and then looking back allows that introduction to have the space it needs without us metaphorically looking at our watches. Instead, we're thinking "how did they get from there to here?", in a kind of inversion of the way that cliffhangers hold our interest between episodes.

And speaking of cliffhangers, this episode ends on a doozy: this isn't just hanging from the cliff, it's throwing yourself right over! Waiting a day to listen to the second part will require some willpower...

Rating:
8/10.

Next Time:
The Fall.