The Angel of Scutari is the third story in this mini series. After encountering the Toymaker and the Daleks, it was time for the Doctor to meet a historical icon. Florence Nightingale was the lady in the lamp who was a nurse during the Crimean War. Nightingale was born on May 12, 1820 and died on August 13, 1910. During this time she became a pioneer in medicine and we got to see Florence Nightingale as a person instead of the icon she would late become. I learnt about her at school but that was a long time ago but at least I remember her significance in history and so it was this little bit of knowledge that I took when I pressed play on Track 1. This story is written by Paul Sutton who has written for the main range in Exotron, Thicker Than Water, Arrangements for War and also wrote No More Lies back in 2007.
First thing that strikes me is how it doesn’t glorify war in any way. From the moment that William Russell starts talking we get a grim reminder of what war is like and ultimately how its essentially a waste with no real winner. It is a sad an unapologetic piece that really shows what the boundaries are for this story. The story is about giving Hex a chance to make himself feel like someone who could be helpful. Following directly on from the Enemy of the Daleks we see a Hex that seems quite content to be on his own and without the Doctor and Ace for a short time. Hex gets to me what appears to be an idle of his and he spends a short time with her. Meanwhile the Doctor gets captured and we are led to believe that he was killed by the Brigadier-General but this is revealed at the end to just be a lie because the Brigadier-General can face to say what really happened. Seeing the TARDIS dematerialise is what set his mental unbalance off. There was also the matter of the TARDIS being used as firewood but we know just moments before this revelation that the TARDIS went away. This is revealed (from what I understand) that the cannon ball hit the TARDIS thus reawakening a device never heard before in Doctor Who and this meant that the inside of the TARDIS separated itself from the main exterior and was linked to Ace.
Sylvester McCoy performs well in this story. He doesn’t give dud performances unless the script is poor. Whilst this story isn’t poor ultimately all the McCoy has to do is just bide his time and isn’t allowed to be heroic or have that big scene that shows us what McCoy can do. The final scene with him, Ace and Hex was perhaps the best that it got for McCoy. Philip Olivier seemed to have the most to do and the story was centred around him and it was for his benefit that they go to and meet Nightingale. However I felt that it slightly got away from Hex as the story got on and I wish that it would have stayed with Hex because it made him for the first time since he joined the series like a human being with a history and ambitions. Sophie Aldred spent most of the story trying to get back to the Doctor but flirting with Lev Tolstoy. This wasn’t the most important story for Ace but again like McCoy she wasn’t really allowed to show us the Ace that we all know she can be.
The supporting characters are what help make this story enjoyable. The first being Sir Sidney Hulbert who was played by Hugh Bonneville. Now Hulbert was a character that I really liked because he seemed to be a nice guy. He seemed to be the sort of character that the Doctor could do business with and trust him. Bonneville plays Hulbert in quite a nice way but also plays Tzar Nicholas I brilliantly. Nicholas was a character that you just got the sense from way he interacted with the Doctor. Both characters were very well written and its Bonneville that makes both characters equally enjoyable.
Jeany Spark plays Florence Nightingale with a feeling of here is someone who is willing to put her life and potential happiness to make other lives better. You know in you heart that there is a line that you draw and you think that you would do your job up to a that point. Spark simply played the character beautifully, there was complete dignity in the performance from start to finish and at certain points you feel sorry for her even though you know what she would go on to do. Alex Lowe plays the superbly named Brigadier-General Bartholomew Kitchen. Lowe plays the Brigadier-General as a slightly unbalanced figure who spent most of the story shouting “collaborator” or “spy”. I really liked the character and felt that Lowe had played him with a certain feeling that you just couldn’t forget because the character was so instrumental in the proceedings of the story.
Sean Brosnan plays Sir Hamilton Seymour who was a sort of background character who ultimately lets the Doctor go to resume history. You know that he doesn’t really understand what is going on but is still willing to help the Doctor. Its not a massively big character considering you have the Brigadier-General and Florence but its still a good performance from Brosnan. John Albasiny plays Lev Tolstoy who sort of becomes a love interest for Ace, he starts off as this cold soldier who is just doing his duty and over the course of the four episodes would be someone who would desert the army for her which just shows how fickle love can be. John Paul Connolly plays William Russell who is a journalist but his voice gives the impression that he is a sort of Phil Mitchell type who could beat you up if that was what he felt like doing. His deliverance of the monologue at the beginning was just brilliant and that just left a great impression in my mind and throughout this story the character was just a really good character.
The ending was quite a shock because whenever we have a companion that is hurt or injured during the story there is quite a tendency for everything to be sown up at the end and so with Hex’s impending death we are left with a cliffhanger that will take several months to resolve itself and that is an issue I have. Whilst its good to have a cliffhanger with a companion that is easily expendable, was it really wise considering the next scheduled 7th Doctor story isn’t till January 2010. By which point most people will have forgotten what was going on and it will take 5 or 10 minutes to remind people of what is going on.
To be honest, this story was always going to struggle against the fantastic Magic Mousetrap and even better Enemy of the Daleks. It was a story that is really split into two parts, the first being episodes one to three and then the fourth episode. That feels rushed to me, I spent most of this story wondering whether I was going to understand what was going on and though it might have been another Brotherhood of the Daleks type of story but thankfully it was all explained. Ken Bentley has directed another good story which manages to use the music and Sound Effects to great effect. This story had a lot of time travel going on and where I thought it was going to get out of control, Bentley managed to keep it together and put together a story that was smart and one that everyone could understand. Paul Sutton has written a very smart and intelligent piece that sort of uses the idea of war when its needed to be but allows the characters that live it and breathe it the chance to tell the listener that war isn’t glamorous and is in fact a dirty and pointless encounter. The main characters don’t really shine for me and its Hex that is the best out of the three but I think that it’s a story with a lot going for it and pushes limits of what a Doctor Who story can be.
First thing that strikes me is how it doesn’t glorify war in any way. From the moment that William Russell starts talking we get a grim reminder of what war is like and ultimately how its essentially a waste with no real winner. It is a sad an unapologetic piece that really shows what the boundaries are for this story. The story is about giving Hex a chance to make himself feel like someone who could be helpful. Following directly on from the Enemy of the Daleks we see a Hex that seems quite content to be on his own and without the Doctor and Ace for a short time. Hex gets to me what appears to be an idle of his and he spends a short time with her. Meanwhile the Doctor gets captured and we are led to believe that he was killed by the Brigadier-General but this is revealed at the end to just be a lie because the Brigadier-General can face to say what really happened. Seeing the TARDIS dematerialise is what set his mental unbalance off. There was also the matter of the TARDIS being used as firewood but we know just moments before this revelation that the TARDIS went away. This is revealed (from what I understand) that the cannon ball hit the TARDIS thus reawakening a device never heard before in Doctor Who and this meant that the inside of the TARDIS separated itself from the main exterior and was linked to Ace.
Sylvester McCoy performs well in this story. He doesn’t give dud performances unless the script is poor. Whilst this story isn’t poor ultimately all the McCoy has to do is just bide his time and isn’t allowed to be heroic or have that big scene that shows us what McCoy can do. The final scene with him, Ace and Hex was perhaps the best that it got for McCoy. Philip Olivier seemed to have the most to do and the story was centred around him and it was for his benefit that they go to and meet Nightingale. However I felt that it slightly got away from Hex as the story got on and I wish that it would have stayed with Hex because it made him for the first time since he joined the series like a human being with a history and ambitions. Sophie Aldred spent most of the story trying to get back to the Doctor but flirting with Lev Tolstoy. This wasn’t the most important story for Ace but again like McCoy she wasn’t really allowed to show us the Ace that we all know she can be.
The supporting characters are what help make this story enjoyable. The first being Sir Sidney Hulbert who was played by Hugh Bonneville. Now Hulbert was a character that I really liked because he seemed to be a nice guy. He seemed to be the sort of character that the Doctor could do business with and trust him. Bonneville plays Hulbert in quite a nice way but also plays Tzar Nicholas I brilliantly. Nicholas was a character that you just got the sense from way he interacted with the Doctor. Both characters were very well written and its Bonneville that makes both characters equally enjoyable.
Jeany Spark plays Florence Nightingale with a feeling of here is someone who is willing to put her life and potential happiness to make other lives better. You know in you heart that there is a line that you draw and you think that you would do your job up to a that point. Spark simply played the character beautifully, there was complete dignity in the performance from start to finish and at certain points you feel sorry for her even though you know what she would go on to do. Alex Lowe plays the superbly named Brigadier-General Bartholomew Kitchen. Lowe plays the Brigadier-General as a slightly unbalanced figure who spent most of the story shouting “collaborator” or “spy”. I really liked the character and felt that Lowe had played him with a certain feeling that you just couldn’t forget because the character was so instrumental in the proceedings of the story.
Sean Brosnan plays Sir Hamilton Seymour who was a sort of background character who ultimately lets the Doctor go to resume history. You know that he doesn’t really understand what is going on but is still willing to help the Doctor. Its not a massively big character considering you have the Brigadier-General and Florence but its still a good performance from Brosnan. John Albasiny plays Lev Tolstoy who sort of becomes a love interest for Ace, he starts off as this cold soldier who is just doing his duty and over the course of the four episodes would be someone who would desert the army for her which just shows how fickle love can be. John Paul Connolly plays William Russell who is a journalist but his voice gives the impression that he is a sort of Phil Mitchell type who could beat you up if that was what he felt like doing. His deliverance of the monologue at the beginning was just brilliant and that just left a great impression in my mind and throughout this story the character was just a really good character.
The ending was quite a shock because whenever we have a companion that is hurt or injured during the story there is quite a tendency for everything to be sown up at the end and so with Hex’s impending death we are left with a cliffhanger that will take several months to resolve itself and that is an issue I have. Whilst its good to have a cliffhanger with a companion that is easily expendable, was it really wise considering the next scheduled 7th Doctor story isn’t till January 2010. By which point most people will have forgotten what was going on and it will take 5 or 10 minutes to remind people of what is going on.
To be honest, this story was always going to struggle against the fantastic Magic Mousetrap and even better Enemy of the Daleks. It was a story that is really split into two parts, the first being episodes one to three and then the fourth episode. That feels rushed to me, I spent most of this story wondering whether I was going to understand what was going on and though it might have been another Brotherhood of the Daleks type of story but thankfully it was all explained. Ken Bentley has directed another good story which manages to use the music and Sound Effects to great effect. This story had a lot of time travel going on and where I thought it was going to get out of control, Bentley managed to keep it together and put together a story that was smart and one that everyone could understand. Paul Sutton has written a very smart and intelligent piece that sort of uses the idea of war when its needed to be but allows the characters that live it and breathe it the chance to tell the listener that war isn’t glamorous and is in fact a dirty and pointless encounter. The main characters don’t really shine for me and its Hex that is the best out of the three but I think that it’s a story with a lot going for it and pushes limits of what a Doctor Who story can be.
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