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.

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.

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...

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?

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.

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.