Sometimes it's easy deciding where to split this marathon into chapters;
sometimes, like now, it's blinkin' impossible. I started with the first
three serials because I wasn't sure if I wanted to do a full marathon
with hundreds of reviews; in hindsight that didn't make sense, but never
mind. The next obvious division was between production blocks, after
Susan had left and before Vicki joined, though I also put a break in at
the end of the first season just to keep it from being too long.
Iananbarbara leaving was another clear breakpoint, and that nailed down
the start of this run.
But then I hit a problem. Tonally there is no logical dividing line anywhere between Mission to the Unknown and Dodo's arrival, and a split any earlier than Mission
is pretty pointless. Every other reason I could come up with to make a
division within that span felt wrong; in the end I decided to bite the
bullet and just include the whole lot. 29 TV episodes in (nominally) 6
serials, 24 audio episodes in 10 dramas, a measly one novel, about 37
short stories and at least 40 comic stories (for reasons which will
become clear when I get there). Something like 150 reviews (assuming Big
Finish don't add to that in the meantime), and I'm going to want to do
some fiction as well for Vicki and Sara at least (though probably not
Katarina, Bret or Oliver). Even at an average of about two substantial
posts a week - whic I haven't managed for quite some time - we're
talking at least a year and a half!
Hang on to your hats - it's going to be a long and bumpy ride...
Next Time:
The Watcher.
Thursday 24 July 2014
Thursday 17 July 2014
Iananbarbara
I've been doing timeslipped reviews covering the early period of the
show for a while now, and will continue to do so for at least as long as
William Russell and Carole Ann Ford keep on recording audios; but I've
decided that it's past time to draw a line under this era. Ian's Tale
will also continue at some point, but I'll just treat that as a timeslip
too. So, just as I did when Susan left, I'm going to do a round-up post
for our latest two retirees. This post isn't really as I want it, but
as I mentioned before the wait is getting to be ridiculous. Hopefully
there's still enough in here of interest.
Iananbarbara
I came up with the portmanteau description of the schoolteachers in my very first review for this marathon. Indeed, the very first scene with significant dialogue in the show was their conversation about an unearthly child, and they left the show together; so the connection is obvious. The description is almost a ship - a canon ship, if you count expanded universe material (heck, last year we even got to see their wedding). I knew about shipping before I started this marathon, though not under that title, and not with the mashed together names; since my daughter became a teenager I've been exposed to a lot more. I suppose the proper version would be 'Barbarian', but that's just wrong.
The standard line is that Iananbarbara teach the Doctor to be a better person, and are then no longer needed. There's truth in that - it's certainly the 'arc' of the first thirteen episodes - but it tends to overemphasise their supporting role. From a modern perspective we think of the show in terms of "the Doctor and his companions", but that idea only really came in with Jon Pertwee; it's not really how the show was set up in the 1960s. What we have at the beginning is an ensemble cast, which only tends to revolve around the Doctor because he's the man with the vehicle. Once Iananbarbara stop being kidnap victims they are part of a group of friends travelling space and time together, each with strengths and weaknesses. They really are so much more than just the people that turn the Doctor into a hero!
Apart from the very first episode, An Unearthly Child - one of the most awesome introductions to a cast ever to open a TV show - my favourite stories to focus on the pair are probably The Time Travellers in books, probably The Fragile Yellow Arc of Fragrance in audio, and... well, TV's difficult because of the way all the cast tend to get separated, and in general focus on the group rather than the couple. Probably The Romans, which has the lovely villa scenes and Ian's determination to find Barbara driving him on when they are separated.
So much for the pair; what about individually?
Barbara
Barbara has been the heart of the TARDIS since the beginning, the emotional core of the team but also holding her own intellectually - and in terms of bravery. She was certainly no "screamer"! Her confrontation with the Doctor in The Brink of Disaster demonstrates all these traits, as she almost singlehandedly creates the family we have been watching for almost two seasons.
On television, I'm going to stick with the crowd and say that the best showcase for Barbara has to be The Aztecs. Audio is harder; she's at a disadvantage in that the viewpoint character is generally someone else, and partly for that reason, I'm going for Farewell, Great Macedon. In books, it's probably The Plotters; for short stories, perhaps The Mother Road.
Ian
Ian, the man of action, is loyal, determined, a fierce fighter though with an ex-military man's sense of humour. Like Barbara he cares deeply for his fellow travellers.
Ian's best moments on TV are spaced throughout his run, making choosing a single showcase story hard. I'm going to be more controversial here and select The Web Planet, which has a good mix of scenes for him. On audio, I'll go for The Rocket Men to highlight the action man, and The Library of Alexandria for his other side; with The Time Museum thrown in to cover his post-TARDIS self. Meanwhile, in books, if I can't have The Time Travellers again I choose Campaign. In short stories we have the lovely Rise and Fall, but he doesn't do much there so I might have to pick the grim The Last Days.
Jacqueline Hill and William Russell
Of course, there are real people behind the fictional faces; and just as Iananbarbara were important to the development of the show's story, Russell and Hill were important to the show's production. They supported William Hartnell, giving him an anchor when he was struggling; but by mid '65 Maureen O'Brien and Peter Purves were able to take on that responsibility. Hill in particular was an acting rock, scarcely putting a foot wrong in her entire run on the show; Russell was not far behind, and, of the two, had the bigger role in covering for Hartnell's slips (which he generally did elegantly). It's telling that when thinking about weaknesses, the one that sprang to mind was the fact that he couldn't fall down for toffee!
William Russell's real name is Russell Enoch, which is why people keep calling him Russ in interviews. He was an action hero before he was Ian, particularly as the star of The Adventures of Sir Lancelot, and indeed was the closest thing Doctor Who had to a leading man, despite not having the title role. Afterwards, he continued to have a busy career - including a brief stint as a regular cast member of Coronation Street, the supposed arch-rival of our show (though I know plenty of people have enjoyed both) - before taking up the audios in a new millennium. My daughter May met him at Comicon last weekend, and said he was lovely; I'm jealous.
It was Russell who decided to leave before Hill, but it seems she didn't take much persuading and the two landed a run working together in theatre. I get the impression that in the US there is more of a divide between actors of stage and screen, whereas here in the UK people switch between the two more freely. For non-theatre-goers (and for casual researchers - like me - who are reliant on Wikipedia and IMDB to find out what people have done), this means that actors who have busy careers can still seem to disappear from the map for long periods. Still, we do know that Hill mostly stopped work to raise her children with her film-director husband, while Russell carried on. We haven't seen the last of Hill, quite - when she took up acting again in 1979 she accepted a final role in the show for which she is best-remembered - but it'll be a while before we see her again. Russell will continue in the timeslipped audio reviews, of course.
Tragically, Hill died in 1993, of cancer. There is an excellent extra on the DVD of The Chase about Russell and Hill (and their roles in the show), which I can thoroughly recommend.
It's been a fun time travelling with this pair since I started my marathon. Although I think the incoming team is underappreciated, they will be missed.
Next Time:
In a new thread, at last, the beginning of a new strand to the marathon...
Iananbarbara
I came up with the portmanteau description of the schoolteachers in my very first review for this marathon. Indeed, the very first scene with significant dialogue in the show was their conversation about an unearthly child, and they left the show together; so the connection is obvious. The description is almost a ship - a canon ship, if you count expanded universe material (heck, last year we even got to see their wedding). I knew about shipping before I started this marathon, though not under that title, and not with the mashed together names; since my daughter became a teenager I've been exposed to a lot more. I suppose the proper version would be 'Barbarian', but that's just wrong.
The standard line is that Iananbarbara teach the Doctor to be a better person, and are then no longer needed. There's truth in that - it's certainly the 'arc' of the first thirteen episodes - but it tends to overemphasise their supporting role. From a modern perspective we think of the show in terms of "the Doctor and his companions", but that idea only really came in with Jon Pertwee; it's not really how the show was set up in the 1960s. What we have at the beginning is an ensemble cast, which only tends to revolve around the Doctor because he's the man with the vehicle. Once Iananbarbara stop being kidnap victims they are part of a group of friends travelling space and time together, each with strengths and weaknesses. They really are so much more than just the people that turn the Doctor into a hero!
Apart from the very first episode, An Unearthly Child - one of the most awesome introductions to a cast ever to open a TV show - my favourite stories to focus on the pair are probably The Time Travellers in books, probably The Fragile Yellow Arc of Fragrance in audio, and... well, TV's difficult because of the way all the cast tend to get separated, and in general focus on the group rather than the couple. Probably The Romans, which has the lovely villa scenes and Ian's determination to find Barbara driving him on when they are separated.
So much for the pair; what about individually?
Barbara
Barbara has been the heart of the TARDIS since the beginning, the emotional core of the team but also holding her own intellectually - and in terms of bravery. She was certainly no "screamer"! Her confrontation with the Doctor in The Brink of Disaster demonstrates all these traits, as she almost singlehandedly creates the family we have been watching for almost two seasons.
On television, I'm going to stick with the crowd and say that the best showcase for Barbara has to be The Aztecs. Audio is harder; she's at a disadvantage in that the viewpoint character is generally someone else, and partly for that reason, I'm going for Farewell, Great Macedon. In books, it's probably The Plotters; for short stories, perhaps The Mother Road.
Ian
Ian, the man of action, is loyal, determined, a fierce fighter though with an ex-military man's sense of humour. Like Barbara he cares deeply for his fellow travellers.
Ian's best moments on TV are spaced throughout his run, making choosing a single showcase story hard. I'm going to be more controversial here and select The Web Planet, which has a good mix of scenes for him. On audio, I'll go for The Rocket Men to highlight the action man, and The Library of Alexandria for his other side; with The Time Museum thrown in to cover his post-TARDIS self. Meanwhile, in books, if I can't have The Time Travellers again I choose Campaign. In short stories we have the lovely Rise and Fall, but he doesn't do much there so I might have to pick the grim The Last Days.
Jacqueline Hill and William Russell
Of course, there are real people behind the fictional faces; and just as Iananbarbara were important to the development of the show's story, Russell and Hill were important to the show's production. They supported William Hartnell, giving him an anchor when he was struggling; but by mid '65 Maureen O'Brien and Peter Purves were able to take on that responsibility. Hill in particular was an acting rock, scarcely putting a foot wrong in her entire run on the show; Russell was not far behind, and, of the two, had the bigger role in covering for Hartnell's slips (which he generally did elegantly). It's telling that when thinking about weaknesses, the one that sprang to mind was the fact that he couldn't fall down for toffee!
William Russell's real name is Russell Enoch, which is why people keep calling him Russ in interviews. He was an action hero before he was Ian, particularly as the star of The Adventures of Sir Lancelot, and indeed was the closest thing Doctor Who had to a leading man, despite not having the title role. Afterwards, he continued to have a busy career - including a brief stint as a regular cast member of Coronation Street, the supposed arch-rival of our show (though I know plenty of people have enjoyed both) - before taking up the audios in a new millennium. My daughter May met him at Comicon last weekend, and said he was lovely; I'm jealous.
It was Russell who decided to leave before Hill, but it seems she didn't take much persuading and the two landed a run working together in theatre. I get the impression that in the US there is more of a divide between actors of stage and screen, whereas here in the UK people switch between the two more freely. For non-theatre-goers (and for casual researchers - like me - who are reliant on Wikipedia and IMDB to find out what people have done), this means that actors who have busy careers can still seem to disappear from the map for long periods. Still, we do know that Hill mostly stopped work to raise her children with her film-director husband, while Russell carried on. We haven't seen the last of Hill, quite - when she took up acting again in 1979 she accepted a final role in the show for which she is best-remembered - but it'll be a while before we see her again. Russell will continue in the timeslipped audio reviews, of course.
Tragically, Hill died in 1993, of cancer. There is an excellent extra on the DVD of The Chase about Russell and Hill (and their roles in the show), which I can thoroughly recommend.
It's been a fun time travelling with this pair since I started my marathon. Although I think the incoming team is underappreciated, they will be missed.
Next Time:
In a new thread, at last, the beginning of a new strand to the marathon...
Saturday 12 July 2014
Procrastination
From the Latin pro cras: literally leaving stuff "to tomorrow". In case you didn't know.
My school was a comprehensive, but when I first went it had only just changed: all the exercise books still said "Toynbee Secondary Modern" on them. Which, again for those of you who don't know, meant that it had been a working class school occupied by the children who failed their Eleven Plus exam upon leaving primary. This system was basically a social tool for making sure everyone got the right education for their expected role in society, although set up with a slight chance for people to move in order to defuse enough of the resentment. Keeping the masses in their place, in other words.
Anyway, we had a very good headmaster who was looking to cast off the "school for drongos" reputation. (Yeah, class oppression really does promote such thinking, at least here in England.) He was skilled at motivating the existing teachers and at hiring decent new ones, and also came up with some wacky ideas. One of which was to encourage pupils who showed an interest in something.
I'm not just talking about praise and gold stars. No, there were four of us who were interested in learning Latin - not enough to make it worthwhile including in the curriculum - so what he did was to hire a part-time Latin teacher to come in before school started and teach us then. I got my 'O' level Latin, and as a result can spot where quite a few words come from and figure out more spelling than I would have been able to otherwise.
Which reminds me of my daughter, currently at Comicon in London, dressed as Neil Gaiman's Death (one of the Endless). So far she's met William Russell, Bernard Cribbins and Paul McGann, plus Summer Glau (briefly). I'm jealous, but the reason I'm reminded is that tomorrow she will hopefully be meeting that wonderful logophile, Colin Baker.
So. Procrastination, then.
Um.
Back in February, before I went on holiday, the Final Iananbarbara Post (FIP) was half-complete. I've written a lot since then - mostly not for this blog, but even here the published wordcount is over 6,500, none of it intended for publication before the FIP. I came to a firm decision a month or so ago to stop and draw a line under this era.
Since then, the FIP has crept up to maybe three-quarters written. It's pathetic, and I know that this is happening (or rather, not happening) because I am so desperately resisting moving on.
I will be 50 on Thursday, and I have decided to make a public statement. If I have not finished the FIP by then, I will post it as-is. Even if there are still sentences that finish in the middle.
There, Maybe my pride will push me to actually complete it. See you Thursday!
My school was a comprehensive, but when I first went it had only just changed: all the exercise books still said "Toynbee Secondary Modern" on them. Which, again for those of you who don't know, meant that it had been a working class school occupied by the children who failed their Eleven Plus exam upon leaving primary. This system was basically a social tool for making sure everyone got the right education for their expected role in society, although set up with a slight chance for people to move in order to defuse enough of the resentment. Keeping the masses in their place, in other words.
Anyway, we had a very good headmaster who was looking to cast off the "school for drongos" reputation. (Yeah, class oppression really does promote such thinking, at least here in England.) He was skilled at motivating the existing teachers and at hiring decent new ones, and also came up with some wacky ideas. One of which was to encourage pupils who showed an interest in something.
I'm not just talking about praise and gold stars. No, there were four of us who were interested in learning Latin - not enough to make it worthwhile including in the curriculum - so what he did was to hire a part-time Latin teacher to come in before school started and teach us then. I got my 'O' level Latin, and as a result can spot where quite a few words come from and figure out more spelling than I would have been able to otherwise.
Which reminds me of my daughter, currently at Comicon in London, dressed as Neil Gaiman's Death (one of the Endless). So far she's met William Russell, Bernard Cribbins and Paul McGann, plus Summer Glau (briefly). I'm jealous, but the reason I'm reminded is that tomorrow she will hopefully be meeting that wonderful logophile, Colin Baker.
So. Procrastination, then.
Um.
Back in February, before I went on holiday, the Final Iananbarbara Post (FIP) was half-complete. I've written a lot since then - mostly not for this blog, but even here the published wordcount is over 6,500, none of it intended for publication before the FIP. I came to a firm decision a month or so ago to stop and draw a line under this era.
Since then, the FIP has crept up to maybe three-quarters written. It's pathetic, and I know that this is happening (or rather, not happening) because I am so desperately resisting moving on.
I will be 50 on Thursday, and I have decided to make a public statement. If I have not finished the FIP by then, I will post it as-is. Even if there are still sentences that finish in the middle.
There, Maybe my pride will push me to actually complete it. See you Thursday!
Friday 27 June 2014
ST23:02 Short Trips, Destination Prague: Room for Improvement
Well then. This is the only story I know of written by American author
James A. Moore, though from his biography I see he's a successful
novelist and games writer. Despite being published in 2007 it feels like
typical 1990s SF, with its emphasis on nano- and bio-tech,
posthumanism, and political grunge; there's definitely a millennial
feel. Which isn't a criticism, by the way, just an observation.
Unfortunately the political aspect suffers a bit from the story's
length, in that the parties standing for office are too clean in their
divisions, being entirely based on single-issue platforms. This is
useful for making clear what everyone stands for in a few words, but
lacks nuance and adds a layer of unreality which doesn't fit with the
overall grimy street-level tone of the piece.
The prose itself is decent; it's easy to read, with Ian and the Doctor's speech and action coming across as fitting the characters as performed by Williams Russell and Hartnell. The complete absence of Susan and Barbara felt odd, with a particularly flimsy excuse offered for them staying behind in the TARDIS, but this is a minor complaint.
I have more problems with the pacing. After a nice, leisurely amble for most of the running time, the story suddenly becomes so hectic that it decoheres and is quite hard to follow. In addition, the reactions of the local inhabitants to the Doctor's revelation felt both too exaggerated and too confused. In practise this worked like one of the more recent TV episodes, which race by so fast you don't have time to notice the flaws, and I wasn't strongly put off; but it did sour things somewhat when thinking about it afterwards.
Short stories are a very tricky medium to get right, and even though I have made a number of negative comments this is still a slightly above-average example. The set-up and ideas are a lot of fun, the wordsmithery is good, and it doesn't outstay its welcome. I didn't 'get' the title to start with, but it fits well in retrospect.
This story really could go anywhere during Ian, Barbara and Susan's travels after they've all settled down a bit, so I think I'll put it between two stories of a different stripe. Perhaps just after The Reign Makers.
Why Does the TARDIS Return to Earth So Often?
Since we seem to have some space, I just want to say a little about a topic that has been bugging me lately: why do they keep revisiting Earth? The Doctor has affection for our world, sure, and during the periods when he has some control over his destination that is a good enough reason; but when he doesn't, his feelings aren't relevant.
(I should make it clear that I'm not talking about artistic, production or marketing decisions. Extradiegetically - to insert a posh word I've learned from reading Doctor Who blogs - it makes perfect sense. Want to include history lessons? Or make use of the BBC's expertise in period costume drama? Or avoid putting off people who can't relate to the Zogs of planet Zog? Or just save money by using locations that are actually on the planet you're trying to represent? Pick Earth! No, I'm talking diegesis here: in-story explanations. And hoping I'm using the big words correctly.)
So, what do we know? As confirmed by the ship herself, the TARDIS takes the Doctor where he needs to go. All well and good, but why is that so often somewhere (and somewhen) on Earth? Despite the second Doctor's comment that the Earth seems more vulnerable than other worlds, there are a hundred million worlds in just one galaxy named in one recent episode (which actually means it was probably well below average size based on current estimates, but what the heck); and there are more than a hundred billion galaxies in the observable universe. You can't tell me that Earth is more than 10,000,000,000,000,000 times as vulnerable as the average world! Can you?
There has to be a better explanation; and perhaps I discarded the Doctor's feelings too soon, because the TARDIS is a far from objective arbiter of where he needs to go. "Need", itself, is a subjective word, and I can certainly see her paying as much attention to the Doctor's needs as to the universe's. Add in Susan, Earth-lover extraordinaire, and I don't think I need to say any more.
So I won't.
Published:
Date: June 2007
ISBN: 1-84435-253-6
Rating:
6.5/10
Next Time:
A look back at Iananbarbara.
The prose itself is decent; it's easy to read, with Ian and the Doctor's speech and action coming across as fitting the characters as performed by Williams Russell and Hartnell. The complete absence of Susan and Barbara felt odd, with a particularly flimsy excuse offered for them staying behind in the TARDIS, but this is a minor complaint.
I have more problems with the pacing. After a nice, leisurely amble for most of the running time, the story suddenly becomes so hectic that it decoheres and is quite hard to follow. In addition, the reactions of the local inhabitants to the Doctor's revelation felt both too exaggerated and too confused. In practise this worked like one of the more recent TV episodes, which race by so fast you don't have time to notice the flaws, and I wasn't strongly put off; but it did sour things somewhat when thinking about it afterwards.
Short stories are a very tricky medium to get right, and even though I have made a number of negative comments this is still a slightly above-average example. The set-up and ideas are a lot of fun, the wordsmithery is good, and it doesn't outstay its welcome. I didn't 'get' the title to start with, but it fits well in retrospect.
This story really could go anywhere during Ian, Barbara and Susan's travels after they've all settled down a bit, so I think I'll put it between two stories of a different stripe. Perhaps just after The Reign Makers.
Why Does the TARDIS Return to Earth So Often?
Since we seem to have some space, I just want to say a little about a topic that has been bugging me lately: why do they keep revisiting Earth? The Doctor has affection for our world, sure, and during the periods when he has some control over his destination that is a good enough reason; but when he doesn't, his feelings aren't relevant.
(I should make it clear that I'm not talking about artistic, production or marketing decisions. Extradiegetically - to insert a posh word I've learned from reading Doctor Who blogs - it makes perfect sense. Want to include history lessons? Or make use of the BBC's expertise in period costume drama? Or avoid putting off people who can't relate to the Zogs of planet Zog? Or just save money by using locations that are actually on the planet you're trying to represent? Pick Earth! No, I'm talking diegesis here: in-story explanations. And hoping I'm using the big words correctly.)
So, what do we know? As confirmed by the ship herself, the TARDIS takes the Doctor where he needs to go. All well and good, but why is that so often somewhere (and somewhen) on Earth? Despite the second Doctor's comment that the Earth seems more vulnerable than other worlds, there are a hundred million worlds in just one galaxy named in one recent episode (which actually means it was probably well below average size based on current estimates, but what the heck); and there are more than a hundred billion galaxies in the observable universe. You can't tell me that Earth is more than 10,000,000,000,000,000 times as vulnerable as the average world! Can you?
There has to be a better explanation; and perhaps I discarded the Doctor's feelings too soon, because the TARDIS is a far from objective arbiter of where he needs to go. "Need", itself, is a subjective word, and I can certainly see her paying as much attention to the Doctor's needs as to the universe's. Add in Susan, Earth-lover extraordinaire, and I don't think I need to say any more.
So I won't.
Published:
Date: June 2007
ISBN: 1-84435-253-6
Rating:
6.5/10
Next Time:
A look back at Iananbarbara.
Thursday 19 June 2014
CC7.10 The Library of Alexandria
This has been my favourite audio for quite a while - since I heard A Death in the Family sometime last year - and probably scrapes into my top five Companion Chronicles to date. Even though the second episode suited me less, I find that barely affects my overall enjoyment of the story as a whole, something I've observed before.
So, onto a few more general points I didn't mention in the episode reviews. Let's start with chronology. Ian refers to their old friend Alexander and also tells us that this is only weeks after his travels with Cook during Transit of Venus, so it has to be very soon after The Reign of Terror (as well as later than Farewell, Great Macedon, which supports my placement of that story during season one rather than in the 1964 summer break). There's not much leeway, but I'd rather not make this the first serial of the break just because that would be three historicals in a row. (It's a thing of mine.) Still, there are stories that don't take up vast stretches of the travellers' time and would fit - Rise and Fall, for instance. So I'm going to put it after that and before City at World's End, thereby breaking up a solid run of SF stories. Perfect.
Next, a cultural point: there is something quite horrific about book-burning. I don't know how specific this is to my background - whether it's common among everyone in literate cultures, a Western Middle-Class hangup, or something even more focused - but it's quite visceral. And the Doctor (as written by Simon Guerrier, at least) shares that view. This is what makes the destruction of the library so affecting, far more so than the deaths (which, let's face it, are commonplace in Doctor Who). It ought to be the deaths. But it isn't.
Extras next, then. I was looking forward to listening to people talking about this story, and wondered if we were going to get Simon Guerrier's writerly thoughts; William Russell and Susan Franklyn's opinions of the story (positive, I suspect, based on Russell's performance); or something else. So I was a little disappointed that there was just Toby Hrycek-Robinson's music. Not that the music's bad, or boring - I happily listened to it again my second time through - but I wanted to hear people's thoughts, darn it.
I mentioned the film Agora. This is largely about belief, and has a very different take on the destruction; but Hypatia - the key (local) figure in both works - is pretty consistently presented between the two. Again, in the film, she considers the solar-centric model of the universe - why is that always the go-to example of how the ancients missed opportunities to Get It Right? I'm sure there must be plenty of other theories that would fit the bill. Still, it's a very powerful one, and when pitching Hypatia as the rationalist it offers good ammunition.
I can't help wondering what the historial Hypatia was really like. I do hope she didn't get too screwed up when she was kidnapped by the Rani.
Published:
Date: April 2013
ISBN: 1-78178-084-8
Rating:
9.5/10
Next Time:
Room for Improvement.
Saturday 14 June 2014
CC7.10b The Library of Alexandria, Episode 2: The Pathway to the Stars
[No spoilers to begin with...]
After the splendid first episode, I almost failed my will roll to resist listening to The Library of Alexandria's conclusion straight away. I still had to do the dog walking and cooking, things I much prefer in the company of an audio; so instead I relistened to the Companion Chronicle that I obliquely referenced towards the end of my last review. The following day I made some quick notes of my thoughts on the story so far, in order to preserve some of my first-time freshness, and then put this one on at the first opportunity.
In some ways it was a pleasant surprise, in others not. To deal with the negatives first, this has two problems which it shares with many other stories. One is that it is more of a large-scale action piece, which suits my personal taste less well than the small-scale, atmospheric, character-driven first part. There's nothing much anyone can do about that - other people prefer the action, and I wouldn't deprive them of it. Another is simply that this is the conclusion, and nine times out of ten I find the set-up more enjoyable in any performed medium (though it's not so stark in books and comics). I've not yet been able to figure out why.
[...but minor spoilers from now until the subtopic.]
One surprise was the moment when Susan Franklyn took over the story. I'm used to there being either a single narrator (as with most Companion Chronicles) or two in conversation (The Suffering, for example), but this bends the standard idea of framing in an odd direction. it's not completely frameless because Hypatia, like Ian, refers to events after the adventure's conclusion; but since they go their separate ways at the end we actually have two frames. I believe this is the first time this has happened, and it felt quite disorientating. It made perfect sense - Ian wasn't around, whereas Hypatia could describe the events that happened when she was off with the Doctor - but the novelty gave me pause. Still, I recovered quickly, and won't be quite so thrown next time.
The soundscape during the destruction of the library offers a decent (though not perfect) impression of the large-scale catastrophe, conjuring up images that would have been tricky in the 1960s (though possible with modern CGI). All the travellers' reactions are spot on, too; but perhaps unsurprisingly, my favourite part of the episode was the dénouement, where we got a few final scenes of quiet character-based moments. Hypatia's emotional wobble and the way it was handled was a little compressed, perhaps; but not enough to spoil it. I also enjoyed the later revelation concerning the Doctor's lesson, and the return to the TARDIS, both of which considered the issue of changing history and used the topic in new ways. Small moments, but hardly unimportant. And then there's Hypatia's conversation with Ian concerning Barbara.
A Confused Chronology, part 12: When Do You Know?
So, let me return to the Iananbarbara relationship angle raised last time. All of fandom "knows" that the teachers became a couple during their time with the Doctor - and so do the expanded universe writers, given how much time they spend on the subject. The only argument is at what point this happened - "when do we know?", to paraphrase Ian's line from The Rocket Men. On TV, of course, it was deliberately kept ambiguous; but it's been made explicit in several books, audios and comics since.
The trouble comes when putting them all together into a single chronology. Ian finally recognises his feelings in multiple stories set during their time with Vicki, which is tricky enough, but both of them openly acknowledge it in The Time Travellers - before Vicki joins. The Library of Alexandria is unique (so far) in that it concentrates on Barbara's feelings for Ian rather than vice versa, and happily can be made to fit with any of the others.
There are so many tangled paths here. The stories are being written out of order, across different media, and then experienced by me in an order which is chronological neither by publication nor in-story timeline. In addition, relationships can have times when they move backwards rather than forwards. With a little bit of massaging I think they can be made to fit reasonably well.
Rating:
7.5/10
Next Time:
Companion Chronicle 7.10 as a whole.
After the splendid first episode, I almost failed my will roll to resist listening to The Library of Alexandria's conclusion straight away. I still had to do the dog walking and cooking, things I much prefer in the company of an audio; so instead I relistened to the Companion Chronicle that I obliquely referenced towards the end of my last review. The following day I made some quick notes of my thoughts on the story so far, in order to preserve some of my first-time freshness, and then put this one on at the first opportunity.
In some ways it was a pleasant surprise, in others not. To deal with the negatives first, this has two problems which it shares with many other stories. One is that it is more of a large-scale action piece, which suits my personal taste less well than the small-scale, atmospheric, character-driven first part. There's nothing much anyone can do about that - other people prefer the action, and I wouldn't deprive them of it. Another is simply that this is the conclusion, and nine times out of ten I find the set-up more enjoyable in any performed medium (though it's not so stark in books and comics). I've not yet been able to figure out why.
[...but minor spoilers from now until the subtopic.]
One surprise was the moment when Susan Franklyn took over the story. I'm used to there being either a single narrator (as with most Companion Chronicles) or two in conversation (The Suffering, for example), but this bends the standard idea of framing in an odd direction. it's not completely frameless because Hypatia, like Ian, refers to events after the adventure's conclusion; but since they go their separate ways at the end we actually have two frames. I believe this is the first time this has happened, and it felt quite disorientating. It made perfect sense - Ian wasn't around, whereas Hypatia could describe the events that happened when she was off with the Doctor - but the novelty gave me pause. Still, I recovered quickly, and won't be quite so thrown next time.
The soundscape during the destruction of the library offers a decent (though not perfect) impression of the large-scale catastrophe, conjuring up images that would have been tricky in the 1960s (though possible with modern CGI). All the travellers' reactions are spot on, too; but perhaps unsurprisingly, my favourite part of the episode was the dénouement, where we got a few final scenes of quiet character-based moments. Hypatia's emotional wobble and the way it was handled was a little compressed, perhaps; but not enough to spoil it. I also enjoyed the later revelation concerning the Doctor's lesson, and the return to the TARDIS, both of which considered the issue of changing history and used the topic in new ways. Small moments, but hardly unimportant. And then there's Hypatia's conversation with Ian concerning Barbara.
A Confused Chronology, part 12: When Do You Know?
So, let me return to the Iananbarbara relationship angle raised last time. All of fandom "knows" that the teachers became a couple during their time with the Doctor - and so do the expanded universe writers, given how much time they spend on the subject. The only argument is at what point this happened - "when do we know?", to paraphrase Ian's line from The Rocket Men. On TV, of course, it was deliberately kept ambiguous; but it's been made explicit in several books, audios and comics since.
The trouble comes when putting them all together into a single chronology. Ian finally recognises his feelings in multiple stories set during their time with Vicki, which is tricky enough, but both of them openly acknowledge it in The Time Travellers - before Vicki joins. The Library of Alexandria is unique (so far) in that it concentrates on Barbara's feelings for Ian rather than vice versa, and happily can be made to fit with any of the others.
There are so many tangled paths here. The stories are being written out of order, across different media, and then experienced by me in an order which is chronological neither by publication nor in-story timeline. In addition, relationships can have times when they move backwards rather than forwards. With a little bit of massaging I think they can be made to fit reasonably well.
Rating:
7.5/10
Next Time:
Companion Chronicle 7.10 as a whole.
Tuesday 10 June 2014
CC7.10a The Library of Alexandria, Episode 1: The Great Library
[I'm cheating a little with the title here, which should match the story
as a whole; but since I had to resort to threads on Gallifrey Base just
to find out the intended episode names, I doubt anyone will object. And
I do so like distinct titles!]
I wasn't going to cover this yet. I'd decided (having reviewed rather too many audios in a row) that it was time to draw a line under Iananbarbara's era and get on with the next phase; but I was in the mood for listening to something new, and it caught my fancy.
I'm very glad it did. This is excellent.
First off, William Russell is on particularly fine form here. He's always good value, but there have been a couple of audios lately - The Masters of Luxor and The Wanderer - where he wasn't quite up to his normal standard. This, on the other hand, is right back to the heights of Rise and Fall or Transit of Venus: there's more power in his voice, which supports the rhythm of his reading. Lovely.
The second voice artist, Susan Franklyn, is no letdown either, giving a strong performance as Hypatia. Because I came to this after watching (and enjoying) the film Agora, with Rachel Weisz in the role, I picture Hypatia as Weisz. Franklyn's voice and interpretations are similar enough that this didn't clash, which meant I had a clearer picture than I often do.
Staying with the sound for a minute, the use of Spanish guitar surprised me, but is effective in creating the right atmosphere (and felt like the sort of music they might have had on TV, being used in a fairly restrained manner). In fact, overall, Toby Hrycek-Robinson's soundscape is great - pleasant to listen to, and I always had a clear image of what was going on. Presumably this is also down to Lisa Bowerman's directorial choices, and it is certainly helped by Simon Guerrier's script, which the rest of this review will focus on.
[There will be minor spoilers in the next few paragraphs, and major ones at the end - I'll warn you when those are coming up.]
There are a few things which mark this out as being the product of an era later than the one in which it is set. First is a repeat of the trick they pulled in The Romans, opening the story after the travellers have been relaxing in the location for a significant period of time. (Well, Ian's been working, fulfilling the traditional postwar male role of sole provider; but he seems to be quite happy in his job.) That's not too far out, though, since it happens on TV three episodes into the second production block. Second is Susan's use of the phrase "meme farms", followed by an immediate comment that she shouldn't have mentioned it, since it was an idea from after Iananbarbara's time. Indeed, the concept was only formulated in the 1970s (by Richard Dawkins).
There's an interesting contrast between these two features. The first is something that could easily have been shown on TV at the time. That it wasn't done more often is mainly due to the way the program worked as a single ongoing narrative, with one serial linking straight into the next - indeed, they had to have a cliffhanger leading into The Slave Traders, which they then cheekily ignored - but it's something that the Companion Chronicles don't have to worry about. The second feature maps nicely onto moments like Susan's comments about decimalisation, and so is an example of a technique the show had already tried; but the specifics weren't possible, given that predicting the idea of memes in 1964 would have been pretty darned unlikely, let alone the name!
The third out-of-era feature is different again, a matter of intent. In this episode it becomes quite clear that almost everyone except Ian - including Barbara - thinks of Iananbarbara as "an item". This issue is a bit tricksy, and because this review is already a monster I'll save it for next time - I'm quite sure that the subject will come up again in episode 2! For now, I want to say that the different reactions when the other travellers believe that Ian has been on a date with Hypatia are varied and perfectly judged. Hypatia's own comments - the way she gently wards Ian off when she mistakenly thinks he is coming on to her, and her amused deductions about Barbara after the fact - are a joy.
There are also some other very nice touches in this episode. Ian's wry comment that the travellers don't have Sophocles' comedies where they come from (and Hypatia's disdain for the quality of the writing) made me smile, as well as wonder how many of the lost works mentioned in Aristotle's Poetics they got to see. I'm odd like that. I also enjoyed the disagreement between Iananbarbara over whether they were dealing with science or history, which pokes gentle fun at the early division of focus among both serials and cast. That this division becomes part of what drives the plot is just icing.
[Major spoilers coming up now - I strongly recommend listening to the episode before reading on. You have been warned!]
Time to talk about the ending. The use of the mysterious book to set up the plot for the second episode was a classic Chekhov's Gun moment, developing naturally from the events of the first scene. It came as a total surprise to me that this wasn't a pure historical - which is the fourth way it deviates from the era. Like the (lack of) cliffhanger resolution which opens The Romans, it's the pure brass cheek of this that saves it. The identity of the threat - a recurring foe, though not one from the early 1960s - was also a surprise. I have only previously encountered it once, in my second(?) Companion Chronicle, where it proved an intriguing variation on an old theme.
Then we have the cliffhanger itself, which was delightful for two reasons. One was the fakeout, with a potential mundane problem being interrupted by the arrival of the main threat; the other was the way this last echoed the closing moments of opening episodes from 1960s serials, particularly World's End (the first episode of The Dalek Invasion of Earth). Spot on.
Rating:
9.5/10, only dropping half a mark for Ian being just a little too dense and for a fairly standard use of the "can't change history" meme. I guess I just expect more from the author of The Time Travellers!
Next Time:
The Pathway to the Stars.
I wasn't going to cover this yet. I'd decided (having reviewed rather too many audios in a row) that it was time to draw a line under Iananbarbara's era and get on with the next phase; but I was in the mood for listening to something new, and it caught my fancy.
I'm very glad it did. This is excellent.
First off, William Russell is on particularly fine form here. He's always good value, but there have been a couple of audios lately - The Masters of Luxor and The Wanderer - where he wasn't quite up to his normal standard. This, on the other hand, is right back to the heights of Rise and Fall or Transit of Venus: there's more power in his voice, which supports the rhythm of his reading. Lovely.
The second voice artist, Susan Franklyn, is no letdown either, giving a strong performance as Hypatia. Because I came to this after watching (and enjoying) the film Agora, with Rachel Weisz in the role, I picture Hypatia as Weisz. Franklyn's voice and interpretations are similar enough that this didn't clash, which meant I had a clearer picture than I often do.
Staying with the sound for a minute, the use of Spanish guitar surprised me, but is effective in creating the right atmosphere (and felt like the sort of music they might have had on TV, being used in a fairly restrained manner). In fact, overall, Toby Hrycek-Robinson's soundscape is great - pleasant to listen to, and I always had a clear image of what was going on. Presumably this is also down to Lisa Bowerman's directorial choices, and it is certainly helped by Simon Guerrier's script, which the rest of this review will focus on.
[There will be minor spoilers in the next few paragraphs, and major ones at the end - I'll warn you when those are coming up.]
There are a few things which mark this out as being the product of an era later than the one in which it is set. First is a repeat of the trick they pulled in The Romans, opening the story after the travellers have been relaxing in the location for a significant period of time. (Well, Ian's been working, fulfilling the traditional postwar male role of sole provider; but he seems to be quite happy in his job.) That's not too far out, though, since it happens on TV three episodes into the second production block. Second is Susan's use of the phrase "meme farms", followed by an immediate comment that she shouldn't have mentioned it, since it was an idea from after Iananbarbara's time. Indeed, the concept was only formulated in the 1970s (by Richard Dawkins).
There's an interesting contrast between these two features. The first is something that could easily have been shown on TV at the time. That it wasn't done more often is mainly due to the way the program worked as a single ongoing narrative, with one serial linking straight into the next - indeed, they had to have a cliffhanger leading into The Slave Traders, which they then cheekily ignored - but it's something that the Companion Chronicles don't have to worry about. The second feature maps nicely onto moments like Susan's comments about decimalisation, and so is an example of a technique the show had already tried; but the specifics weren't possible, given that predicting the idea of memes in 1964 would have been pretty darned unlikely, let alone the name!
The third out-of-era feature is different again, a matter of intent. In this episode it becomes quite clear that almost everyone except Ian - including Barbara - thinks of Iananbarbara as "an item". This issue is a bit tricksy, and because this review is already a monster I'll save it for next time - I'm quite sure that the subject will come up again in episode 2! For now, I want to say that the different reactions when the other travellers believe that Ian has been on a date with Hypatia are varied and perfectly judged. Hypatia's own comments - the way she gently wards Ian off when she mistakenly thinks he is coming on to her, and her amused deductions about Barbara after the fact - are a joy.
There are also some other very nice touches in this episode. Ian's wry comment that the travellers don't have Sophocles' comedies where they come from (and Hypatia's disdain for the quality of the writing) made me smile, as well as wonder how many of the lost works mentioned in Aristotle's Poetics they got to see. I'm odd like that. I also enjoyed the disagreement between Iananbarbara over whether they were dealing with science or history, which pokes gentle fun at the early division of focus among both serials and cast. That this division becomes part of what drives the plot is just icing.
[Major spoilers coming up now - I strongly recommend listening to the episode before reading on. You have been warned!]
Time to talk about the ending. The use of the mysterious book to set up the plot for the second episode was a classic Chekhov's Gun moment, developing naturally from the events of the first scene. It came as a total surprise to me that this wasn't a pure historical - which is the fourth way it deviates from the era. Like the (lack of) cliffhanger resolution which opens The Romans, it's the pure brass cheek of this that saves it. The identity of the threat - a recurring foe, though not one from the early 1960s - was also a surprise. I have only previously encountered it once, in my second(?) Companion Chronicle, where it proved an intriguing variation on an old theme.
Then we have the cliffhanger itself, which was delightful for two reasons. One was the fakeout, with a potential mundane problem being interrupted by the arrival of the main threat; the other was the way this last echoed the closing moments of opening episodes from 1960s serials, particularly World's End (the first episode of The Dalek Invasion of Earth). Spot on.
Rating:
9.5/10, only dropping half a mark for Ian being just a little too dense and for a fairly standard use of the "can't change history" meme. I guess I just expect more from the author of The Time Travellers!
Next Time:
The Pathway to the Stars.
Wednesday 4 June 2014
The Prisoners of Time, Chapter One: Unnatural Selection
[This review spoilers the identity of the menace for this chapter, but nothing else.]
I wasn't even aware that this comic existed until a couple of weeks ago, when deltaandthebannermen on Gallifrey Base put me on to the humble bundle containing loads of Doctor Who comics sold as (legal) PDFs. The humble bundles are a neat idea, selling collections of digital stuff for a variable price (decided by the buyer) with a proportion going to charity (also decided by the buyer). IDW - the publishers - are not going to be licensed to sell these comics for much longer, so it makes sense for them to get as much money as they can from a property that will soon lose its earning power. An all-round win!
I'm not a big comics buyer any more, though I used to be in my youth. I have actually read a lot of the issues contained herein because the Sheffield public library system has a good selection of the IDW graphic novels, but I don't buy them. I have a handful of DWM collections from both Marvel and Panini that I found cheap (though in the case of The Collected Ninth Doctor Comics, 'cheap' is a relative term); and that's it (well, for Who, anyway).
I'm also not much of one for reading digital comics. I like paper. But both money and storage are at a premium at the moment, and the opportunity to get so much for a little over £9 was irresistible.
So, on with the review, and let's get one of the minor points out of the way first: The lettering, by Tom B. Long, is clear and easy to read. But, as usual, I don't have anything else to say about it. The list of artists in the front of the book is extensive, but I think that this is because we have four issues collected together - the TARDIS Data Bank lists only Simon Fraser on art and Gary Caldwell on colouring for this issue. So I can be pretty sure I know where to direct my boos and cheers.
Ignoring the introductory section (which isn't part of the first Doctor's adventure), Fraser's layout on every page except one is clean and simple, using grids of rectangular panels separated by regular white borders. This gives more impact to the exception - page 23 (24 in the PDF), which is the climax of the story - but it doesn't offer much of interest elsewhere, beyond the use of uncommonly short/wide and tall/thin panels. Still, there is never any confusion over where you need to read next. Within the panels - and across the pages as a whole - elements are arranged much more interestingly, so that there is a good sense of the energy of each scene, and a good variety of camera angles.
The worst job of any artist in these adaptations is getting the likenesses of the main characters right - I discussed a similar issue when talking about the animation for The Reign of Terror. The Doctor is so visually distinctive that he presents the smallest problem, and Fraser's version is fine; but to be honest I found Vicki and Barbara almost unrecognisable here when wearing hats. Not knowing what the celebrity guest star looked like in real life, I don't know if he is accurately represented or not. I'm getting used to the recognition problem (it comes up a lot), so it bothered me here less than it did in my previous IDW comic review. But it still knocks a point or two off my rating.
I have fewer reservations about Caldwell's colouring. It is quite subdued for most of the comic, which works well for a story set in the black and white era. When he strays from this it is generally to good effect: for example, page 14, which is set in a tunnel, has very dim browny-grey tones with small areas of orange where the illuminations of the hand-held lanterns fall; but the centre panel of the page is in much brighter shades of green, drawing attention to the dramatic events focused here. Another fine example is on and around page 22, where both colour range and brightness change as the protagonists reach the chamber of the Animus.
Ah yes, the Animus. This brings us on to the plot. Scott and David Tipton are the writers with Denton J. Tipton editing, making this, I presume, very much a family affair. I was almost instantly put off, seven panels in, when the Doctor explains why he brought his companions to this time (1868) and place (the Royal College of Surgeons). Grr. Why can't writers seem to remember that the Doctor can't control his TARDIS?! It really bugs me. And it's not even necessary to the plot, though it's so woven into the dialogue that it's hard to ignore. Add to that a fairly clichéd discussion on the appropriateness of interfering with the past and I was soon ill-disposed to enjoy the story.
Which is a shame. There are some more problems later - the discussions of science are trite, and the Doctor getting Chesterton's name wrong is horribly overused - but the general plot is fine. I groaned when I saw the Zarbi, but actually they are well used.
After I had finished reading I had a minor epiphany. This is, in a way, a tribute to the first Doctor comics published in TV Comic in the 1960s. The inhabitants of Vortis were, I think, the only aliens from the TV show to appear in these stories; so their use here is particularly appropriate for a modern comic series that is so heavily based on nostalgia. The resolution of the threat is more the kind of thing we would see in the comic than the series, and not just because of budget! And I could even pretend that because the Doctor (the only humanoid character from the TV show to appear in the comics) didn't resemble William Hartnell much, slightly dodgy attempts at his companions here are also fitting. I don't know how much of this is intended - surely not that last point! - but it does retrospectively improve the experience.
Overall, this was more fun than the first Doctor's other IDW outing, but still lacked a certain something. There's at least one eleventh Doctor story in the bundle that I enjoyed more, and I've only read one!
Published:
Date: 29th January 2013
ISBN: 1-78178-084-8
Rating:
4.5/10. Higher for the visuals, lower for the story.
Next Time:
The Library of Alexandria.
I wasn't even aware that this comic existed until a couple of weeks ago, when deltaandthebannermen on Gallifrey Base put me on to the humble bundle containing loads of Doctor Who comics sold as (legal) PDFs. The humble bundles are a neat idea, selling collections of digital stuff for a variable price (decided by the buyer) with a proportion going to charity (also decided by the buyer). IDW - the publishers - are not going to be licensed to sell these comics for much longer, so it makes sense for them to get as much money as they can from a property that will soon lose its earning power. An all-round win!
I'm not a big comics buyer any more, though I used to be in my youth. I have actually read a lot of the issues contained herein because the Sheffield public library system has a good selection of the IDW graphic novels, but I don't buy them. I have a handful of DWM collections from both Marvel and Panini that I found cheap (though in the case of The Collected Ninth Doctor Comics, 'cheap' is a relative term); and that's it (well, for Who, anyway).
I'm also not much of one for reading digital comics. I like paper. But both money and storage are at a premium at the moment, and the opportunity to get so much for a little over £9 was irresistible.
So, on with the review, and let's get one of the minor points out of the way first: The lettering, by Tom B. Long, is clear and easy to read. But, as usual, I don't have anything else to say about it. The list of artists in the front of the book is extensive, but I think that this is because we have four issues collected together - the TARDIS Data Bank lists only Simon Fraser on art and Gary Caldwell on colouring for this issue. So I can be pretty sure I know where to direct my boos and cheers.
Ignoring the introductory section (which isn't part of the first Doctor's adventure), Fraser's layout on every page except one is clean and simple, using grids of rectangular panels separated by regular white borders. This gives more impact to the exception - page 23 (24 in the PDF), which is the climax of the story - but it doesn't offer much of interest elsewhere, beyond the use of uncommonly short/wide and tall/thin panels. Still, there is never any confusion over where you need to read next. Within the panels - and across the pages as a whole - elements are arranged much more interestingly, so that there is a good sense of the energy of each scene, and a good variety of camera angles.
The worst job of any artist in these adaptations is getting the likenesses of the main characters right - I discussed a similar issue when talking about the animation for The Reign of Terror. The Doctor is so visually distinctive that he presents the smallest problem, and Fraser's version is fine; but to be honest I found Vicki and Barbara almost unrecognisable here when wearing hats. Not knowing what the celebrity guest star looked like in real life, I don't know if he is accurately represented or not. I'm getting used to the recognition problem (it comes up a lot), so it bothered me here less than it did in my previous IDW comic review. But it still knocks a point or two off my rating.
I have fewer reservations about Caldwell's colouring. It is quite subdued for most of the comic, which works well for a story set in the black and white era. When he strays from this it is generally to good effect: for example, page 14, which is set in a tunnel, has very dim browny-grey tones with small areas of orange where the illuminations of the hand-held lanterns fall; but the centre panel of the page is in much brighter shades of green, drawing attention to the dramatic events focused here. Another fine example is on and around page 22, where both colour range and brightness change as the protagonists reach the chamber of the Animus.
Ah yes, the Animus. This brings us on to the plot. Scott and David Tipton are the writers with Denton J. Tipton editing, making this, I presume, very much a family affair. I was almost instantly put off, seven panels in, when the Doctor explains why he brought his companions to this time (1868) and place (the Royal College of Surgeons). Grr. Why can't writers seem to remember that the Doctor can't control his TARDIS?! It really bugs me. And it's not even necessary to the plot, though it's so woven into the dialogue that it's hard to ignore. Add to that a fairly clichéd discussion on the appropriateness of interfering with the past and I was soon ill-disposed to enjoy the story.
Which is a shame. There are some more problems later - the discussions of science are trite, and the Doctor getting Chesterton's name wrong is horribly overused - but the general plot is fine. I groaned when I saw the Zarbi, but actually they are well used.
After I had finished reading I had a minor epiphany. This is, in a way, a tribute to the first Doctor comics published in TV Comic in the 1960s. The inhabitants of Vortis were, I think, the only aliens from the TV show to appear in these stories; so their use here is particularly appropriate for a modern comic series that is so heavily based on nostalgia. The resolution of the threat is more the kind of thing we would see in the comic than the series, and not just because of budget! And I could even pretend that because the Doctor (the only humanoid character from the TV show to appear in the comics) didn't resemble William Hartnell much, slightly dodgy attempts at his companions here are also fitting. I don't know how much of this is intended - surely not that last point! - but it does retrospectively improve the experience.
Overall, this was more fun than the first Doctor's other IDW outing, but still lacked a certain something. There's at least one eleventh Doctor story in the bundle that I enjoyed more, and I've only read one!
Published:
Date: 29th January 2013
ISBN: 1-78178-084-8
Rating:
4.5/10. Higher for the visuals, lower for the story.
Next Time:
The Library of Alexandria.
Thursday 29 May 2014
The Reign of Terror, redux
Back when I first reviewed The Reign of Terror, the DVD wasn't
out and we had to make do with soundtracks and recons for the missing
episodes. We knew that these were going to be animated, though, and I
promised I would revisit them when I had the opportunity.
Ta-DA! The time has come. Isaac didn't want to join in this time because there are too many other stories he wants to watch in his increasingly limited free time and he couldn't remember the story well enough to enjoy the two episodes on their own.
Animation is a very different beast from live action, particularly live action in the mid 1960s. There are things it can do well - there's no restrictions on camera movement, for one thing - but it loses the expressiveness you get from actual actors. And here, where it's trying to recreate an already-filmed missing episode, the animators are caught in a bit of a double bind. If they stick closely to the camera scripts (as was done with the animation for The Ice Warriors) there's a sense of faithfulness to the original, but you are then combining the restrictions of both methods and using none of the advantages. It's like a director on a televisual production deciding to mimic the viewpoint of a theatregoer sat in one seat. On the other hand, if they go for sweeping camera moves and quick cuts, it loses some of the 1960s tone.
Here, the animators have decided to use some of the extra freedom afforded by animation. For most of the first missing episode - The Tyrant of France - I preferred this to the other approach; but then came a series of quick cuts to extreme closeups of people's eyes. These were very short and the eyes were not distinct enough for me to quickly see who they belonged to, so this became a distraction. Again the animators were hampered by their brief: in other circumstances the characters would be designed to be distinct and recognisable, but here they have to be based on specific actors in specific costumes. In addition, the off-air recordings used for the soundtrack are of particularly low quality - poor enough that I turned on the subtitles - so it was sometimes hard both to figure out who was speaking and what they were saying.
Fortunately, the second animated episode - A Bargain of Necessity - is more restrained in its framing. They still have plenty of cuts, showing people's faces as they are speaking and the reactions of listeners, but few of these shots are extreme, and this works better for me. The episode also benefits from having clearer sound, so I didn't need the subtitles.
The cuts and animation style came in for a lot of criticism on Gallifrey Base when this was first released. Reading the comments, I felt some were slightly unfair because they were not taking into account the differing requirements of the two forms, but the version of the argument that said that it didn't fit with the surrounding episodes made more sense to me. Having now watched them I've moderated my opinions in both cases. The stylistic change isn't so noticeable if you watch the episodes on separate days, as I try to do; but there is also an inevitable sense that this comes from a different era. And the quick cuts to extreme closeups don't work, regardless of style.
I was impressed by the monochrome models created for the sets and people, which are both pleasant to look at and matching the originals. The mouth movement is very good, and the other motion acceptable. Having worked on motion capture I am a bit of a nitpicker when it comes to realistic movement, so 'acceptable' is actually higher praise than it might sound - the motion in Dreamland made that almost unwatchable for me.
So, what effect does the animation have on these episodes, and the serial as a whole? Certainly it makes it easier to watch, and I will revisit this story more often because of it; but I don't think I want to change my ratings. I must have done a good job adjusting for the fact that I was watching a recon before!
I did promise to say something about the DVD extras, too. There aren't many - even cheap animation done by people who undercharge because they are working on something they love is expensive - and I haven't had time to listen to the commentaries, but two of the others are rather fun. The virtual set tour takes us round the empty models - a bit like some of the photo galleries, but with continuous camera motion. The idea of behind-the-scenes shooting on a virtual set is rather wonderful, and would only have been improved if they'd put in virtual gantry rigging for lights and such.
The best extra has to be the talking heads making-of documentary, Don't Lose Your Head. This does nothing out of the ordinary, but the content made it fascinating. Most of the talk revolved around director Henric Hirsch, and the recollections of Production Assistant Timothy Combe and Carole Ann Ford were quite gripping. It brought the story behind Hirsch's somewhat traumatic production to life, and gave us some interesting instances of historical uncertainty. Still no definite answer to the question of who stepped in to direct when Hirsch collapsed, for instance, but a heartwarming tale of Combe stepping up to the plate and gaining valuable confidence and experience from the near-disaster. Best of all, two primary source accounts of William Hartnell's clashes with the director - one (from Combe) where he does so because of Hirsch's nationality, the other (from Ford) where it is because of his inexperience. Lovely.
Overall, then, a fine DVD - recommended, even with the quibbles about the animation (and with such a tiny fraction of a Hollywood budget I doubt you'd find better).
Next Time:
Unnatural Selection.
Ta-DA! The time has come. Isaac didn't want to join in this time because there are too many other stories he wants to watch in his increasingly limited free time and he couldn't remember the story well enough to enjoy the two episodes on their own.
Animation is a very different beast from live action, particularly live action in the mid 1960s. There are things it can do well - there's no restrictions on camera movement, for one thing - but it loses the expressiveness you get from actual actors. And here, where it's trying to recreate an already-filmed missing episode, the animators are caught in a bit of a double bind. If they stick closely to the camera scripts (as was done with the animation for The Ice Warriors) there's a sense of faithfulness to the original, but you are then combining the restrictions of both methods and using none of the advantages. It's like a director on a televisual production deciding to mimic the viewpoint of a theatregoer sat in one seat. On the other hand, if they go for sweeping camera moves and quick cuts, it loses some of the 1960s tone.
Here, the animators have decided to use some of the extra freedom afforded by animation. For most of the first missing episode - The Tyrant of France - I preferred this to the other approach; but then came a series of quick cuts to extreme closeups of people's eyes. These were very short and the eyes were not distinct enough for me to quickly see who they belonged to, so this became a distraction. Again the animators were hampered by their brief: in other circumstances the characters would be designed to be distinct and recognisable, but here they have to be based on specific actors in specific costumes. In addition, the off-air recordings used for the soundtrack are of particularly low quality - poor enough that I turned on the subtitles - so it was sometimes hard both to figure out who was speaking and what they were saying.
Fortunately, the second animated episode - A Bargain of Necessity - is more restrained in its framing. They still have plenty of cuts, showing people's faces as they are speaking and the reactions of listeners, but few of these shots are extreme, and this works better for me. The episode also benefits from having clearer sound, so I didn't need the subtitles.
The cuts and animation style came in for a lot of criticism on Gallifrey Base when this was first released. Reading the comments, I felt some were slightly unfair because they were not taking into account the differing requirements of the two forms, but the version of the argument that said that it didn't fit with the surrounding episodes made more sense to me. Having now watched them I've moderated my opinions in both cases. The stylistic change isn't so noticeable if you watch the episodes on separate days, as I try to do; but there is also an inevitable sense that this comes from a different era. And the quick cuts to extreme closeups don't work, regardless of style.
I was impressed by the monochrome models created for the sets and people, which are both pleasant to look at and matching the originals. The mouth movement is very good, and the other motion acceptable. Having worked on motion capture I am a bit of a nitpicker when it comes to realistic movement, so 'acceptable' is actually higher praise than it might sound - the motion in Dreamland made that almost unwatchable for me.
So, what effect does the animation have on these episodes, and the serial as a whole? Certainly it makes it easier to watch, and I will revisit this story more often because of it; but I don't think I want to change my ratings. I must have done a good job adjusting for the fact that I was watching a recon before!
I did promise to say something about the DVD extras, too. There aren't many - even cheap animation done by people who undercharge because they are working on something they love is expensive - and I haven't had time to listen to the commentaries, but two of the others are rather fun. The virtual set tour takes us round the empty models - a bit like some of the photo galleries, but with continuous camera motion. The idea of behind-the-scenes shooting on a virtual set is rather wonderful, and would only have been improved if they'd put in virtual gantry rigging for lights and such.
The best extra has to be the talking heads making-of documentary, Don't Lose Your Head. This does nothing out of the ordinary, but the content made it fascinating. Most of the talk revolved around director Henric Hirsch, and the recollections of Production Assistant Timothy Combe and Carole Ann Ford were quite gripping. It brought the story behind Hirsch's somewhat traumatic production to life, and gave us some interesting instances of historical uncertainty. Still no definite answer to the question of who stepped in to direct when Hirsch collapsed, for instance, but a heartwarming tale of Combe stepping up to the plate and gaining valuable confidence and experience from the near-disaster. Best of all, two primary source accounts of William Hartnell's clashes with the director - one (from Combe) where he does so because of Hirsch's nationality, the other (from Ford) where it is because of his inexperience. Lovely.
Overall, then, a fine DVD - recommended, even with the quibbles about the animation (and with such a tiny fraction of a Hollywood budget I doubt you'd find better).
Next Time:
Unnatural Selection.
Saturday 24 May 2014
Short Trips, Seven Deadly Sins 15.01: Sloth - The Duke's Folly, by Gareth Wigmore
It's that man again! Mr. Wigmore must be a fan of Hartnell's Doctor,
because there's still one more of his for me to review and after that
only one each for the next two incarnations.
This is a slightly tricky episode to review individually, because the book has such a strong thread which runs through the stories in the collection. Many of the Big Finish Short Trips have some theme, which generally sets the tone (e.g., horror for A Universe of Terrors) or setting (historical for Past Tense, Christmas for several volumes of which I've only read the first). A few tie all the stories closer together (much as Virgin did in their first Decalog collection), and this is one of them.
There are, of course, only seven deadly sins and eight Doctors to include in the book. Editors Jacqueline Rayner and David Bailey handle this by assigning one sin to each of the first seven incarnations, and adding a framing story starring the eighth in the form of prologue, epilogue, and short introductory pieces for each of the individual stories. This works well, and is a model I have subconsciously borrowed for my own "Short Trips: 2013" fanfic collection. The stories themselves are linked to their respective sins in differing ways; this one approaches the subject by having a main strand revolving around a guest character who exhibits sloth while the plot revolves around him. It makes sense; a slothful story would be a hard one to enjoy!
Having said that, though, the part of the story that I enjoyed least was the one with the most action. A subplot which sends Ian and Susan trekking across America during the days of the Wild West - and fits Ian into the role of wanted sharpshootin' gunslinger - really didn't work for me. I think the idea was to provide a contrast to the slothful Chilgrove, but it raised my hackles (like all the takes on Ian that involve him being hypercompetent).
Back in Blighty, the Doctor being a member of the House of Lords while Barbara joins the hunting and shooting fraternity also felt wrong; but the character work here - in particular the obvious affection the Doctor has for Chilgrove, despite the claim that he's only doing it for the feckless young man's father - makes up for the shortcomings of this strand. The message at the end was also just far enough away from trite to work for me. Another good thing is the dialogue, which rings true to the characters; but these positives aren't enough to save the story for me.
Published:
Date: March 2005
ISBN: 1-84435-146-7
Rating:
3/10.
Next Time:
The Reign of Terror DVD.
This is a slightly tricky episode to review individually, because the book has such a strong thread which runs through the stories in the collection. Many of the Big Finish Short Trips have some theme, which generally sets the tone (e.g., horror for A Universe of Terrors) or setting (historical for Past Tense, Christmas for several volumes of which I've only read the first). A few tie all the stories closer together (much as Virgin did in their first Decalog collection), and this is one of them.
There are, of course, only seven deadly sins and eight Doctors to include in the book. Editors Jacqueline Rayner and David Bailey handle this by assigning one sin to each of the first seven incarnations, and adding a framing story starring the eighth in the form of prologue, epilogue, and short introductory pieces for each of the individual stories. This works well, and is a model I have subconsciously borrowed for my own "Short Trips: 2013" fanfic collection. The stories themselves are linked to their respective sins in differing ways; this one approaches the subject by having a main strand revolving around a guest character who exhibits sloth while the plot revolves around him. It makes sense; a slothful story would be a hard one to enjoy!
Having said that, though, the part of the story that I enjoyed least was the one with the most action. A subplot which sends Ian and Susan trekking across America during the days of the Wild West - and fits Ian into the role of wanted sharpshootin' gunslinger - really didn't work for me. I think the idea was to provide a contrast to the slothful Chilgrove, but it raised my hackles (like all the takes on Ian that involve him being hypercompetent).
Back in Blighty, the Doctor being a member of the House of Lords while Barbara joins the hunting and shooting fraternity also felt wrong; but the character work here - in particular the obvious affection the Doctor has for Chilgrove, despite the claim that he's only doing it for the feckless young man's father - makes up for the shortcomings of this strand. The message at the end was also just far enough away from trite to work for me. Another good thing is the dialogue, which rings true to the characters; but these positives aren't enough to save the story for me.
Published:
Date: March 2005
ISBN: 1-84435-146-7
Rating:
3/10.
Next Time:
The Reign of Terror DVD.
Monday 19 May 2014
Short Trips, Indefinable Magic 31.09: The Reign Makers, by Gareth Wigmore
I love audio, I really do; but sometimes it makes a pleasant change to experience a story in another medium. Comics and short stories are near the bottom of the heap for me, but that doesn't mean I can't enjoy them - particularly when I'm in the mood for something different. And a short story doesn't take much time to experience, me being a fast reader an' all.
So, The Reign Makers, then. This is chronologically the third of Gareth Wigmore's stories featuring the first Doctor, at least by most people's reckoning. The first, The Mother Road, is a rather lovely little character piece with very little plot; the second, Mire and Clay, a particularly grim slice of history. This one lies somewhere between the two, being set at Agincourt (I wouldn't call that a spoiler since it becomes apparent quite early on) and quite action-orientated, while focusing on the feelings of the characters in the midst of the danger more than on the perils themselves.
The story starts in media res, which isn't something we saw on the TV program in this period, but suits the shape of the piece. It also has a lot of cuts - a very visual technique (or at least written in a televisual style) which threw me initially but again proved effective in the end. More traditional was the inclusion of the "educational remit" - in this case, since it's a pure historical, history. I don't know much about Agincourt, other than that (a) it was the setting for one of Shakespeare's most famous speeches; and (b) since it's one of only two significant victories the English achieved during the Hundred Years' War, it's one we hear about rather than any of the bazillion or so French wins. I know a bit more now.
Also in keeping with the times was the way we had Susan playing a boy. I don't know how bras were made in the 50s and 60s, but I can say that this wouldn't have worked much better for Carole Ann Ford than it did for Anneke Wills, even though Ford has shorter hair; but within the logic of the universe, of course, women get away with this sort of thing. In other words, the panto nature of this is appropriate, and made me smile.
The other key thread here is the continued look at interfering in history. It's the Doctor rather than Barbara pushing for it this time, which makes a later placement more attractive (certainly later than Farewell, Great Macedon, anyway). The Doctor goes to extremes, here, interfering massively - though in an attempt to preserve rather than divert the timeline. So his motives are the same as they were in The Aztecs, but his means are almost at the levels they reach in The Myth Makers. It also echoes some aspects of Quinnis, leading me to consider why the Doctor wasn't worried about interfering there (and in future-set stories). I haven't come up with a decent in-universe explanation yet.
Probably my main problem with the story is that it tries to do too much in the available space. It feels cramped, and while I applaud the ambition I think it would have worked better either as a longer story or with one aspect cut out. The Doctor's unpleasant attitude at the close, for example, could have done with being explored more, if it was going to be included.
Overall, then, a decent story I enjoyed, though more as a pleasant diversion than anything truly stirring.
Published:
Date: March 2009
ISBN: 1-84435-384-2
Rating:
5/10.
Next Time:
The Duke's Folly.
I'm back - for a while, at least...
Well, it's been a long time since I posted here. I was thinking about
how to start again while on the treadmill at the gym this afternoon. I
do sometimes wonder what other people think of me: I have long hair and
(at the moment) a shaggy beard, and I was wearing a t-short with
tentacles. It's actually a Terry Pratchett one that my brother-in-law
designed and had painted for me as a present. The front has a monster
trying to get through a red stop symbol (you know the one - a circle
with a diagonal bar across the middle), while the back says "Young Men's
Reformed Cultists of the Ichor God Bel-Shamharoth Association Gym". So
it seems appropriate when I'm working out. If they could have got inside
my headphones, they'd have found I was listening to old Jethro Tull
albums; if they made it as far as my mind, they'd have found a lot of
Doctor Who stuff going on. Mainly to do with this blog. All a bit
suspicious in a man of my age (still 49, just) - perhaps it's a midlife
crisis.
The gym is part of my drive to get myself healthy enough for longer work - and, of course, longer life. It's contributed to a reduction in my weight and in the amount of pain I'm in each day. I also do a Pilates class specifically designed for people with bad backs and hips, and a Tai Chi class. In between I do daily exercises recommended by my physio, and am on a diet that seems to be working well most of the time (I've lost more than two stone) - though I do get very fed up eating vegetable soup! Overall, I probably spend more than 16 hours each week just on looking after my body, and that doesn't include the rest periods (which are actually vital).
My main problem is my glutes, which are reluctant to work at all. My daughter teases me that I've got no bum, and says I'll lose my wife to someone fitter if I don't do something about it. So, no pressure then.
All of which has precisely nothing to do with Doctor Who. I've just finished working at the local primary - thanks to zero hour contracts they don't need to pay me after SATs - and this means I have more time for writing. I'm going to be mostly working on selling my completed novel and trying to write a second, but I'm hoping this blog can be kept going too. Fingers crossed. The next post is already written, so I should be able to hit the ground running on Monday.
Upcoming reviews include The Reign Makers, The Duke's Folly, The Reign of Terror DVD, and The Prisoners of Time chapter one.
Next Time:
The Reign Makers...
The gym is part of my drive to get myself healthy enough for longer work - and, of course, longer life. It's contributed to a reduction in my weight and in the amount of pain I'm in each day. I also do a Pilates class specifically designed for people with bad backs and hips, and a Tai Chi class. In between I do daily exercises recommended by my physio, and am on a diet that seems to be working well most of the time (I've lost more than two stone) - though I do get very fed up eating vegetable soup! Overall, I probably spend more than 16 hours each week just on looking after my body, and that doesn't include the rest periods (which are actually vital).
My main problem is my glutes, which are reluctant to work at all. My daughter teases me that I've got no bum, and says I'll lose my wife to someone fitter if I don't do something about it. So, no pressure then.
All of which has precisely nothing to do with Doctor Who. I've just finished working at the local primary - thanks to zero hour contracts they don't need to pay me after SATs - and this means I have more time for writing. I'm going to be mostly working on selling my completed novel and trying to write a second, but I'm hoping this blog can be kept going too. Fingers crossed. The next post is already written, so I should be able to hit the ground running on Monday.
Upcoming reviews include The Reign Makers, The Duke's Folly, The Reign of Terror DVD, and The Prisoners of Time chapter one.
Next Time:
The Reign Makers...
Wednesday 12 February 2014
CC6.10 The Wanderer
Author Richard Dinnick has had one hit with me so far - Paradoxicide - but neither of his Hartnell stories (the other being A Star is Born,
which I reviewed a long time ago) have impressed. I have no real
problems with the acting and production, but this audio was still quite a
disappointment - worth my time, but not one I will be returning to
soon.
The extras are fairly typical fare, composed of enjoyable and disposable chat with various participants; but one thing interested me in particular. I had thought during the story - or episode 2, at least - that what happened to Grigori would have fitted better with Nostradamus; and sure enough, we find that it was originally written for him! A main range story due to be released around the same time was using the French prognosticator, and that gazumped the Companion Chronicle. A rewrite followed. This surprised me because I thought the Russian setting was the best thing about this story - perhaps Dinnick is an author who works best under pressure! By coincidence I've since heard that main range story, which was quite interesting - not an absolute favourite, but better than The Wanderer.
I am trying to figure out what I can do with my marathon at the moment: I am not managing to get any momentum going, so something needs to change. From next weekend I will probably be away from the Internet for almost a fortnight, so I will have an opportunity for a bit of a ponder - in between doing various exciting things that I shall say a little about when I get back. At the moment my best thinking is that I should write the conclusion to Iananbarbara's run (since everything I am doing is a timeslip anyway) and dive into the next section, which opens with one of my all-time favourite TV serials, and that might get my enthusiasm going again. We'll see...
Published:
Date: April 2012
ISBN: 1-84435-621-8
Rating:
3.5/10.
Next Time:
Who knows?
The extras are fairly typical fare, composed of enjoyable and disposable chat with various participants; but one thing interested me in particular. I had thought during the story - or episode 2, at least - that what happened to Grigori would have fitted better with Nostradamus; and sure enough, we find that it was originally written for him! A main range story due to be released around the same time was using the French prognosticator, and that gazumped the Companion Chronicle. A rewrite followed. This surprised me because I thought the Russian setting was the best thing about this story - perhaps Dinnick is an author who works best under pressure! By coincidence I've since heard that main range story, which was quite interesting - not an absolute favourite, but better than The Wanderer.
I am trying to figure out what I can do with my marathon at the moment: I am not managing to get any momentum going, so something needs to change. From next weekend I will probably be away from the Internet for almost a fortnight, so I will have an opportunity for a bit of a ponder - in between doing various exciting things that I shall say a little about when I get back. At the moment my best thinking is that I should write the conclusion to Iananbarbara's run (since everything I am doing is a timeslip anyway) and dive into the next section, which opens with one of my all-time favourite TV serials, and that might get my enthusiasm going again. We'll see...
Published:
Date: April 2012
ISBN: 1-84435-621-8
Rating:
3.5/10.
Next Time:
Who knows?
Sunday 9 February 2014
CC6.10b The Scorpion Men
Oh dear. I've been struggling with this marathon, and having to write a
negative review always applies the brakes to my (already stuttering)
momentum. I've been putting off reviewing the second episode of The Wanderer for weeks; time to bite the bullet. Still, this is going to be short one.
First, then, to tie up a couple of loose ends from last time. I was right about Grigori, which tends to make me feel good unless it's meant to be a mystery and is too obvious, which isn't true in this case. That's a plus. However, I also said that - as the first pseudohistorical drama I've covered - this needed to have a good alien plot. This one is bog-standard.
(An aside: I have reviewed a Hartnell pseudohistorical in this marathon, but it was a short story. For some reason I hold those to a different standard.)
The alien plot, as I say, is generic, and this puts pressure on the aliens themselves to provide interest. They threaten, they bluster, they kill... and that's it. No real character tics that we haven't seen many times before. They are admittedly visually impressive (and wouldn't have worked at all on TV, which isn't a complaint), but this is not enough. And the final solution to combating the menace is all rather "wha? where did that come from?", bringing up thoughts about how geology doesn't work like that - an inappropriate complaint for a Doctor Who story, but the fact that it came up is a red flag. Basically, this part of the episode falls very flat - and it is the main part.
What about the rest of the story? In terms of action it felt like running back and forth between the same two places, so not much to work with there. The business with Grigori is handled okay - Tim Chipping's performance is suitably mad, and the resolution was quite coolly crazy (in a 1964-ish way) - but the manner in which the potential opportunity to return Iananbarbara home was short-circuited felt clumsy. It wasn't even really necessary to hold out this promise in the first place! Grigori's situation could have been resolved by judicious use of the Fast Return Switch.
At the beginning of the first episode Ian was ruminating on lessons learned during his travels, and by the end of this one I had no idea why this particular escapade taught him what he said it did. Which was quite disappointing.
And that's quite enough for now.
Rating:
3/10. Though to be honest, weeks later, I'm surprised it's not lower - there must have been something more I enjoyed that I've forgotten!
Next Time:
Companion Chronicle 6.10, The Wanderer, as a whole.
First, then, to tie up a couple of loose ends from last time. I was right about Grigori, which tends to make me feel good unless it's meant to be a mystery and is too obvious, which isn't true in this case. That's a plus. However, I also said that - as the first pseudohistorical drama I've covered - this needed to have a good alien plot. This one is bog-standard.
(An aside: I have reviewed a Hartnell pseudohistorical in this marathon, but it was a short story. For some reason I hold those to a different standard.)
The alien plot, as I say, is generic, and this puts pressure on the aliens themselves to provide interest. They threaten, they bluster, they kill... and that's it. No real character tics that we haven't seen many times before. They are admittedly visually impressive (and wouldn't have worked at all on TV, which isn't a complaint), but this is not enough. And the final solution to combating the menace is all rather "wha? where did that come from?", bringing up thoughts about how geology doesn't work like that - an inappropriate complaint for a Doctor Who story, but the fact that it came up is a red flag. Basically, this part of the episode falls very flat - and it is the main part.
What about the rest of the story? In terms of action it felt like running back and forth between the same two places, so not much to work with there. The business with Grigori is handled okay - Tim Chipping's performance is suitably mad, and the resolution was quite coolly crazy (in a 1964-ish way) - but the manner in which the potential opportunity to return Iananbarbara home was short-circuited felt clumsy. It wasn't even really necessary to hold out this promise in the first place! Grigori's situation could have been resolved by judicious use of the Fast Return Switch.
At the beginning of the first episode Ian was ruminating on lessons learned during his travels, and by the end of this one I had no idea why this particular escapade taught him what he said it did. Which was quite disappointing.
And that's quite enough for now.
Rating:
3/10. Though to be honest, weeks later, I'm surprised it's not lower - there must have been something more I enjoyed that I've forgotten!
Next Time:
Companion Chronicle 6.10, The Wanderer, as a whole.
Saturday 18 January 2014
CC6.10a The Dark Pilgrim
The first episode of The Wanderer has probably been the hardest
episode for me to listen to in a long while. Not due to any fault in the
story, I hasten to add: it's just that everyday life (in the form of
Christmas and New Year visits, preparing for the new term, and so forth)
has kept on interrupting. I must have heard the first five minutes at
least half a dozen times before I made it halfway through, and I
eventually gave up on listening to it in one sitting.
Actually, one of the delaying features was very welcome: during the school holidays I never had to walk the dog on my own. I rarely had to so it at all, and when I did there was always someone to chat to. Now that I'm not working at the school any more the increased human contact was very welcome.
So, having eventually heard it, what did I think?
Let's start with the oft-repeated opening. Fortunately it bears repeating. William Russell is on fine form, the prose is decent, and the framing (Ian reminiscing some time after he has left the Doctor) is a safe, natural way of introducing the story. I've also tried to listen to Vengeance of the Stones lately, and have been struggling with it at least in part because it seems so odd for Richard Franklin to be talking about Mike Yates in the third person. The Wanderer (like most Companion Chronicles) is more comfortable for me.
Once we get past the framing (with its obligatory continuity references, the first of which is fine, the second unnecessary) we are into the story proper with the TARDIS landing in Russia (well, Siberia). This is where the sound design comes into its own. I didn't notice it consciously, but it bolsters the descriptive-but-not-overly-expository dialogue to make the setting particularly atmospheric. Great stuff.
Now for kind of an anti-spoiler, in that this paragraph will reveal something that isn't in the play. I thought at this point - with shooting stars over turn-of-the-century Siberia - that this was going to be a story about the Tunguska incident. This idea also sent me down another blind alley: I considered the title, which is the original translation of "planet", and wondered if there might be something Mondaslike in the works. It was fun speculating during the gaps between my various attempts at listening to more of the story, and I am happy to report that I didn't mind being wrong in the slightest.
What we get is a much more human plot. I'll ignore the umpteenth iteration of Iananbarbara discussing how near they are to their own time, which might have been intriguing if I hadn't heard it all before, and note that the interactions with the people they meet - such as the group of women they quiz about strange events - are realistic, varied, and interesting.
Which brings me to Grigory. He is definitely a larger than life character, both in the dialogue he is given and the way it is performed by Tim Chipping. If he is who I think he is - something we'll presumably find out next time - this is entirely appropriate. So far this has been very much Ian's story, and his conversations with Grigori are an important part of that.
Finally, an opinion tied to a very minor spoiler. When it was confirmed that the events were definitely of alien origin, I had mixed feelings. A pseudo-historical with this TARDIS team? There's something wrong about that, surely? And yet, why not? This couldn't possibly have been written at the time - there's too many references to things that occurred or details that were fleshed out later in the show's history - but that's a perfectly valid approach. Nothing says that Iananbarbara never encountered the effects of aliens in Earth's past, and just because I like to pretend it's 1964 when writing for this point in the Doctor's history it doesn't mean everybody has to do the same. Still, the grumpy old man in me says, it better be a good alien plot...
Rating:
5/10.
Next Time:
The Scorpion Men.
Actually, one of the delaying features was very welcome: during the school holidays I never had to walk the dog on my own. I rarely had to so it at all, and when I did there was always someone to chat to. Now that I'm not working at the school any more the increased human contact was very welcome.
So, having eventually heard it, what did I think?
Let's start with the oft-repeated opening. Fortunately it bears repeating. William Russell is on fine form, the prose is decent, and the framing (Ian reminiscing some time after he has left the Doctor) is a safe, natural way of introducing the story. I've also tried to listen to Vengeance of the Stones lately, and have been struggling with it at least in part because it seems so odd for Richard Franklin to be talking about Mike Yates in the third person. The Wanderer (like most Companion Chronicles) is more comfortable for me.
Once we get past the framing (with its obligatory continuity references, the first of which is fine, the second unnecessary) we are into the story proper with the TARDIS landing in Russia (well, Siberia). This is where the sound design comes into its own. I didn't notice it consciously, but it bolsters the descriptive-but-not-overly-expository dialogue to make the setting particularly atmospheric. Great stuff.
Now for kind of an anti-spoiler, in that this paragraph will reveal something that isn't in the play. I thought at this point - with shooting stars over turn-of-the-century Siberia - that this was going to be a story about the Tunguska incident. This idea also sent me down another blind alley: I considered the title, which is the original translation of "planet", and wondered if there might be something Mondaslike in the works. It was fun speculating during the gaps between my various attempts at listening to more of the story, and I am happy to report that I didn't mind being wrong in the slightest.
What we get is a much more human plot. I'll ignore the umpteenth iteration of Iananbarbara discussing how near they are to their own time, which might have been intriguing if I hadn't heard it all before, and note that the interactions with the people they meet - such as the group of women they quiz about strange events - are realistic, varied, and interesting.
Which brings me to Grigory. He is definitely a larger than life character, both in the dialogue he is given and the way it is performed by Tim Chipping. If he is who I think he is - something we'll presumably find out next time - this is entirely appropriate. So far this has been very much Ian's story, and his conversations with Grigori are an important part of that.
Finally, an opinion tied to a very minor spoiler. When it was confirmed that the events were definitely of alien origin, I had mixed feelings. A pseudo-historical with this TARDIS team? There's something wrong about that, surely? And yet, why not? This couldn't possibly have been written at the time - there's too many references to things that occurred or details that were fleshed out later in the show's history - but that's a perfectly valid approach. Nothing says that Iananbarbara never encountered the effects of aliens in Earth's past, and just because I like to pretend it's 1964 when writing for this point in the Doctor's history it doesn't mean everybody has to do the same. Still, the grumpy old man in me says, it better be a good alien plot...
Rating:
5/10.
Next Time:
The Scorpion Men.
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