Episode CC9.03b: Founding Father

This episode is actually called The Founding Fathers, of course (see my previous review). There is more than one founding father figure in the story, once the frame is taken into account; but I think the singular form still works, just utilising ambiguity rather than inclusivity. Hence I am adopting it as a minimal change.

Big Finish have this to say about CC9.03, The Founding Fathers:

The TARDIS lands in Leicester Square in the summer of 1762. When the Doctor, Steven and Vicki find themselves locked out of the TARDIS, only one man can possibly help them. But the American, Benjamin Franklin, has problems of his own...

Well, the framed story in this episode is, if anything, even sparser than last time, with most of the drama residing in the frame. That doesn't leave me much to talk about, and rather than pad it out I'll leave this as a short review.

Let's talk about characterisation. Most writers seem to "get" Vicki, and Simon Guerrier is, of course, no exception: he has her mannerisms down pat. Cleverer is where he shows us Vicki as seen through Steven's eyes, when he describes her as seeing the world in black and white (another nod to the TV show?) - which is almost true, but with a world-weary twist that is slightly dismissive of youthful idealism.

Steven is a harder character to get a handle on, partly because of the circumstances of Peter Purves' time on the show (which forced him to take on whatever role the plot required, to a greater extent even than William Russell). Here, his finding work as a boatman reminded me very much of Ian in The Library of Alexandria. His anger and sense of justice do come through strongly, but moreso in the frame.

Right, on to the plot. Minor spoilers coming up!

If last time was mainly about the Doctor and Benjamin Franklin, then this one is more about Steven, Vicki, and Abigail (with the Franklin/TARDIS thread dealt with briskly, and mostly offstage). Abigail's story holds echoes of Clara's in The Snowmen (it's obvious when you hear it, so I won't go into detail), but holds up well on its own merits. My favourite moment this time around is a scene where she is picked up by a cab, which is seen from Steven's viewpoint - he is already there. It provides an elegant twist on the classic "heroes get into a vehicle to find their enemy waiting " trope.

(Incidentally, I found listening to this episode to be a particularly visual experience. I pictured a lot of the action in my head in low-definition black and white, and with a definite difference between the outside location shoots and the inside sets.)

Of course, Abigail was never in the history books, and her story is left frustratingly incomplete. That's something which doesn't happen often, because we're dealing with fiction here. Usually, by the time the TARDIS leaves, the main guest cast are either dead or at the end of one chapter of their lives (perhaps journey completed, danger averted, about to start work on rebuilding their world; or thwarted and imprisoned or on the run). Indeed, there's often a "who was that masked man?" moment to underline the end of the story so that we aren't left hanging. There's nothing like that here.

But then, that's kind of the point - in two ways. For one thing, the Doctor and his companions are intruders into other people's lives, and their stories generally begin before the TARDIS arrives and continue after its departure. The Doctor is a transformative force, certainly, but there's no reason that the chapter breaks in the various tales should always match up neatly.

Plus, of course, this isn't the end of the story anyway. The adventure in the past is over, but - moreso than almost any Companion Chronicle not written by Guerrier - that is just one part of a larger tale.

Normally, I'd add a post on the story as a whole next. Instead I'm going to leave that until the framing sequence fits, after Steven's parting from the Doctor, and link back to these.

Huh. Guess I had more to talk about than I thought.

Rating:
3.5/10.

Next Time:
Plague of Death.

Episode CC9.03a: The Fire in the Sky

I hate Simon Guerrier.* He is in my opinion the best writer of the Hartnell era, post-1966: other writers may have some stories of similar quality, but they don't keep churning them out like Guerrier. Even Marc Platt only has about half as many stories to his name, and their average quality isn't quite so good (sorry Marc).

So why am I grumbling about him? Two reasons. The first (and most minor) is that he regularly uses the story title as an episode title, which is particularly galling in season 3 when the TV series had already stopped doing that.** I'm mostly going to be bloody-minded about this and change them, though I'll make the odd exception (I'll keep The First Wave, for instance, where changing the episode title would ruin a pattern).

The second, bigger reason is that he very often ties the frame very tightly to the inner story - which makes it hard for me to review without either jumping ahead of myself or waiting until the right position for the framing sequence. As a result, after listening to just this one episode I'm beginning to think my plan for the Sara Kingdom trilogy just isn't going to work.

Still, I'm going to give it a go, and The Founding Fathers - which suffers from both problems - provides a good trial run.

OK, let's get the boring stuff out of the way. As usual, Peter Purves gives a great performance (and I think his version of the Doctor just keeps getting better and better). The sound design is spot on - I was out walking when I heard this, and took my headphones off to see if the birds were in the woods or in my ears. Later, the thunderstorm made me want to hurry home. Oh, and whatever Lisa Bowerman does as director works.

I'm not going to talk about Alice Haig here since her part is restricted to the framing sequence, except to say that it is also a solid performance. However, there is a third actor present, since Bowerman steps in to provide the voice of Abigail Holt, the figure at the centre of the mystery which is set up to keep the travellers on their toes. She did the same when directing The Mahogany Murderers, playing a barmaid called Ellie; and Abigail has a similar accent. Or rather, she has a fake accent that sounds like Ellie's, so I was impressed to note that this did sound less realistic, somehow, without my being able to put my finger on why. A fine line to walk.

Speaking of accents, there's a moment in the framing story where Steven's listeners tease him about his American accent. I don't know if that was a reference to Morton Dill - the part Purves originally played in The Chase - but it amused me anyway.

There isn't an awful lot to the story, but it has a cliffhanger that you might think had been used before, but actually I think it's unique: someone's first introduction to the TARDIS.

* This is manifestly untrue.

** Yes, yes, the story titles aren't actually a TV thing in this period. You know what I mean: we don't have titles taken from the episodes after The Space Museum.

My Soapbox, part 1: A Few Thoughts on Class
There's a coffee shop in this story where people of all classes sit cheek-by-jowl and discuss matters such as politics. I admire the principle, but wonder how well it works in practise. You see, I am solidly Middle Class, and one of the delightful results of this is that I am utterly useless at talking to people of other classes. Unless I try really hard - which probably looks just as odd as it sounds - I end up subconsciously trying to modify my accent when with Working Class people so that I can fit in. Like that's going to work - I remember once being (gently) mocked for using the word 'datum' in a casual discussion about films we'd seen recently. No amount of accent-manipulation is going to obscure the fact that I naturally use words like 'modify' and 'obscure' where 'change' and 'hide' would do (note: not an artificial example, I simply glanced at what I'd just written). Similarly, with Upper Class people I tend to feel small and go very quiet.

One thing I find sad is that ever since I went to university I have lost my original accent. When reading out loud I can do a passable Mockney, Mummerset, et al, but I cannot even remember the voices I grew up with in Hampshire, let alone mimic them. And my current voice sounds stupidly posh to me.

As an aside, I realised during the election in May that it has become very obvious that the interests of the Middle Class - or at least the lower Middle Class, which is where I sit - now align with those of the Working Class. While there are still many differences - for instance, I have savings I can dip into in times of trouble, whereas my Working Class friends don't - the policies that support them are also the ones that support me. I would try to stand by them on principle anyway, but actually enlightened self-interest tells me to do so as well.

But that's quite enough of that.

Rating:
5/10.

Next Time:
Founding Father