Survival of the Fittest (2010)

Following on from the fantastic A Thousand Tiny Wings we have a very different story. For the first time since The Minds Eye back in November 2007 we are treated to a three plus one story. The difference in this case is that the first episode is the single story and the next three episodes form the main story which is the opposite of how it has been in the past. The first episode was called Klein’s Story and as you would imagine it’s about Elizabeth Klein.

It’s about what happened to Klein when she went travelling in the TARDIS during the events of Colditz. It’s a curious tale where Klein ends up in 1962 Cambridge where in this story Ace has been executed, Hitler has survived (he dies in 1961) and the Doctor gets shot in Colditz in 1955. During these events the Doctor regenerates into Paul McGann’s Doctor. This is where the story gets weird as McGann’s Doctor manipulates Klein into changing history back to what it should be. This was because Laser technology had been discovered sooner than it should have been. This leads to Nuclear weapons been developed and major cities being destroyed like New York and means that the Third Reich win the war. This story moves at a fast pace which makes time for Klein to get intimately involved with Major Jonas Faber. As if this episode needed anything else to make it stand out then it has Paul McGann as the guest star. He is obviously playing the Eighth Doctor who is pretending to be someone else to hide the fact that his earlier incarnation might hear this story. McGann plays Johan Schmidt who is someone who makes Klein curious about what he knows and uses her ambition to get her to change history.

The character of Faber is someone who has uneasy feelings about Schmidt/Doctor but is ignored by Klein who was blind sighted by the possibility of success. Rupert Wickham plays the role of Faber brilliantly. The tale does well to highlight that Klein is more ambitious than evil. Whilst Nazi’s are terrible people with terrible beliefs there is a fine line that Big Finish has to walk on. It’s a good story that serves no other purpose than to help give Klein a back story that she desperately needed. Not much is known about Klein apart from what we know so a bit more knowledge about her is always going to be appreciated. John Ainsworth and Lee Mansfield are responsible for this story which is short snappy and more importantly is an intriguing tale.

As we progress into Survival of the Fittest. A three part story which sees the Doctor and Klein arrive on a planet which is being threatened by two humans who are trying to capture a particular source that helps the Vrill grow to the size they are. The story does take quite a long time to get started but once it does we have a setting which sees the Vrill on the verge of extinction. I quite liked how the idea that the TARDIS can translate alien languages into English that little bit further with the idea of scents actually saying something.

The characters were all good enough. I particularly found Steffan (Adrian Bower) to be a typically nasty character. It initially looks like he is trying to lay the groundwork for colonisation but then his true motives came out. I recognised Bower’s voice because he was in the Channel 4 drama Teachers. His character wasn’t the most original one but Bower played it just right and made it a relatively normal character. However it was Klein that stood out for me but not necersarily in the way that I would have expected. Sylvester McCoy is on usual good form, he seems to enjoy having debates/arguments with Klein and this is perhaps the most passionate that we have seen from McCoy in quite sometime. The Klein we get in this story isn’t quite what I am use to. For part of it she was the traditional companion and concerned with the future of the Vrill and then later on she was back to her Nazi self. I think at times it was quite confusing and also frustrating. It was quite interesting listening to Klein and seeing her trying to support the Vrill. Tracey Childs is really got into her stride in the latter half of the story which saw Klein realise that the GO Police were essentially fascists and this seemed to spur Klein on and once she discovered the TARDIS key she was off and away quicker than you could say ‘Ace would never have done that!’. The last five minutes were the best part of the story. Once Klein had the key she basically turned the Vrill against the Doctor and Steffan and that’s where the whole thing really got interesting because with the TARDIS gone the thing that I wanted to know was how the Doctor was going to get off the planet then there was the death of Steffan which came as quite a shock. What we are left with at the end of this story is the Doctor without his TARDIS with a Nazi scientist roaming around in time and space free to pursue her ambitions and that sets up the final story of this series brilliantly.

There are problems with this story the first is how the four episodes are laid out. Now traditionally the first three episodes would be at the beginning and so the extras would come between the second and third episode where the story had got going a bit but in this instance we would get the first episode and then have to stop to listen to the extras. Now I know that you’re reading this and thinking that I could just skip the extras until the end but I haven’t done it before and I don’t see why I should start now. But the real issue that I have was with the story itself. I don’t think it’s a bad story just average and with the potential of this series it’s seems wrong that we have an average adventure. Like The Angel of Scutari in the last Seventh Doctor series, this story will unfortunately be seen as the weakest story of the series.

Immortal Beloved (2007)

The fourth episode of this first series featuring Paul McGann and Sheridan Smith sees a curious story written by Jonathan Clements. This story sees the historical elements of Ancient Greece and the modern images such as helicopters. What we get in this story is a clear example as to why science can be a bad thing. After three strong stories the series needed to get into its stride and show that it doesn’t need to rely on Daleks to get a good story but what we get in this story is a different type of story.

Essentially what is going on is that a spaceship has crashed on a planet that isn’t earth but is in fact a long lost Earth Colony far in Lucie’s future which has been breeding clones of themselves for the sole purpose of transporting the brain of an old person and then placing it in this young and new body. It didn’t start out like this but when Zeus and his wife Hera and the rest of the colony started to live their life based on Greek Myth. In a classic attempt to try and keep their life going beyond its intended time. The remains of the original inhabitants of the colony have placed themselves in a God like position and force the clones to go through this horrible and deplorable process. There is a thrilling moment when Hera’s mind is transferred into Sararti but it doesn’t work and that leaves Sararti in control of her body and kills Zeus which frantically leaves Zeus having to transfer into another body. With Zeus dead it leaves the Doctor to convince Kalkin and Sararti to pretend to be Zeus and Hera. They reluctantly agree to do this and allow the Doctor and Lucie to leave. This was a clever end to it because it seemed that everyone would die and it was nice that the current inhabitants would be able to live their lives normally and not needed the mind transfer machine.

Paul McGann is on very good form in this story. He really puts in a great performance and in particular being appauled by Zeus’s use of the machine which transfer the brain for body to body. He does seem to take a bit of a back seat in this story but still manages to show why he is such a good Doctor. Sheridan Smith puts in another good performance as Lucie. Unlike other stories in this series we don’t get any real character development. She seems to spend most of the story fending of lustful Zeus and preparing to be tortured to be cloned time and time again. She does seem to take the lead out of her and McGann but shows what she can do. It feels like this relationship between McGann and Smith has firmly been set and shows signs of going from strength to strength.

Ian McNeice plays Zeus. McNeice has plays all sorts of characters. He plays Gerhard Klopfer in the 2001 HBO/BBC Movie Conspiracy and can also be seen in the ITV drama Doc Martin. The Zeus we have in this story isn’t quite the Zeus I learnt about as a child. We learn in the story is actually the pilot of the original colony ship and perhaps over time thinks of himself as a god being that he is the oldest inhabitant of the colony. He is superb playing this god like role and revels in what he is given to do. Anthony Spargo plays Kalkin who at first appears to be Zeus’s son but is in fact next clone. Spargo does a good job in rebelling and not accepting his fate. What I liked about Spargo was that he acted well alongside Lucie and the Doctor but it was with Zeus that he has some of his best moments and that is where he shines. Jake McGann plays Ganymede and also as you can tell he is Paul McGann’s son. The role of Ganymede isn’t the biggest in the story but does have a significant role towards the end. McGann does play the role well and clearly has inherited some of his dads acting talent. What is a shame about the character is how destined he seems to his fate. He will lose his personality and inhabit someone else’s and thus cease to exist. Elspet Grey is truly a delight in this story as Hera. Grey appeared in TV Who as Thalia in the 1983 story Arc of Infinity. She plays Hera with a nice sense of decency and works well with all the cast and becomes a likeable and reliable character.

With such a strong series of stories over the course of this series, this always had the look of a story that might be seen as a weak link in an otherwise strong chain. Jonathan Clements made his first contribution to the main Doctor Who range after writing scripts for the Unbound series and for the UNIT series. This isn’t a weak script from Clements as there are some interesting elements to it. The idea of continuing life in a different body could be argued to have been borrowed from The Trial of a Timelord: Mindwarp. Whether or not that is the case it is well used in this story and there are interesting characters. Jason Haigh-Ellery did a good job as director. Being the Managing Director of the company perhaps means he doesn’t have to try too hard to push to become director or writer or do any part of the story. He manages to keep the story going at a steady pace that never gets tiring or feels rushed at the end.

A good story throughout and whilst it would have been nice to have more of the Headhunter storyline in this story and perhaps they could have change the setting and use less of the Greek Myths. This is an ok story that is worth listening to but it isn’t the best by any stretch of the imagination. One to listen to if you in the mood to watch Jason and the Argonauts on DVD.

The Destroyer of Delights (2009)

2009 TOMS TARDIS AWARD WINNER

• Best Guest Star (David Troughton as The Black Guardian)

The second instalment of the Key 2 Time series sees the first full appearance of the Guardians both Black (played by David Troughton) and White (played by Jason Watkins). Now I am not a big fan of historical stories really as I think that they will tend to focus on a particular moment in history however from time to time there are stories that work really well and have me gripped from start to finish. This was Jonathan Clements first contribution to the main Doctor Who range having written Immortal Beloved (2007) and Brave New Town (2008) which were stories that could best be described as enjoyable stories that you would be quite happy to listen to again and again with Brave New Town being the stronger of those stories.

Whereas the Judgement of Isskar took a long time to get started, this story got off very quickly. The immediate resolution of the cliffhanger was well completed and was a believable conclusion. This is always a potential banana skin because expectations are so high that the writer could have written something so out of the ordinary and so bizarre that it would have been a disappointment but in this case it wasn’t. Liked the link to the Black Guardian Trilogy from 1983 and mentions of Turlough and how the Black Guardian forced him to try and kill the Doctor and the tracking device that was put in Tegan’s Tiara in the story Enlightenment. It was nice lump of nostalgia that might be confusing to new fans but for older fans like myself it was expected and Clements didn’t go overboard but just stated the bear facts. The story paints the Guardians not as the mighty and powerful figures that we have previously known them as but as weak and not at all mighty. There was a comedy feel to the way that the characters have been written. By the end of the story we get the point that they are a bickering couple that are just waiting for the Doctor the save the day, just sitting in the background waiting just like they did in the original Key to Time series. There was a slightly uncomfortable scene where Amy is slapped and wondered what the relevance of this was and whether it was suitable with this being a story that could be listened to by children. It was the only time that there was such an uncomfortable moment in this story which take a bit of the shine out of the story.

Peter Davison puts in another good performance. He had a good opening scene with the Black Guardian and also an enjoyable scene with the White Guardian. He carries to story along well buts it is his moments with the Guardians was the highlight of this story. The Guardians have always been portrayed as mighty and powerful but it was different to see them in this powerless situation. David Troughton was a superb as the Black Guardian and his performance was superb from start to finish. . His version of the Black Guardian was completely different to what Valentine Dyall portrayed between 1978 and 1983 but then this should have been and was the case. There was certainly a comedy element to the role. The idea that the Black Guardian who was playing Lord Cassim was hoarding all the gold so that he could leave that planet was quite a smart idea. Jason Watkins was also good as The White Guardian and as Legate of the Caliph though he was better as the White Guardian. He worked very well against Troughton and their rivalry was well acted out between the two. Ciara Janson was very good as Amy in this story. Amy continues to develop well showing some nice human emotions and her lack of knowing what they are and how to deal with them. Despite there being no Zara in this story for the character to bounce against she still put in a good performance. There is still a feeling that she is a more intelligent version of Erimem I do wish they had included Zara in this story in some way as it does give the impression that her character isn’t as important as we were led to believe. I think that if Zara was so important then they could have found something for her and that would have helped add to the drama in the story.

All the guest stars performed well in this story and none really stood out but then that’s probably the best thing because with everything going on it was always going to rely on the strong main characters and not really digress to lower and less important characters. I think Bryan Pilkington played a nice character in the form of Prince Omar, the character created enough of a drama for Lord Cassim to create some entertainment for us to enjoy.

Jonathan Clements has written a good story that continues the Key 2 Time story strand going well and it is a clear and simple (ish) story that as we know that the collecting of the segments isn’t going to be quite like what it was in the original series. This is probably Clements best story so far, it has everything you would want from a story and whilst it takes a while to really get into it, once you do then it totally grips you. Lisa Bowerman did a good job as Director. She has really started to develop well as a director and whilst at times the story is hit and miss she has proved herself to be a competent director and this is perhaps her best work. The story kept a consistent speed once it get into its stride and never slowed down even at the end. The twists were well done and came totally out of left field. This was an improvement on The Judgement of Isskar but to me the setting could have been changed.

The Destroyer of Delights did exactly what it was supposed to do and that is to maintain interest in the story until The Chaos Pool. It was a better story than Judgement of Isskar.

Brave New Town (2008)

2008 TOMS TARDIS AWARD WINNER

• Best Eighth Doctor Adventure

This was a bizarre story from Jonathan Clements who had previous written the 2007 story Immortal Beloved. The story is set in what it made to look like a traditional English village with inhabitants who are living the same day over and over again. Its soon obvious that al is not what it seems. It turns out that The Doctor and Lucie have infact materialised in Uzbekistan. It Is then revealed that the inhabitants are infact Autons who aren’t the sort of Autons we all know but Autons who seem to want to be more like humans. By the end of the adventure the Autons are treated like Asylum Seekers.

This story isn’t as good as Dead London and Max Warp because it seems to lack any tension or actual drama. Whereas Clements previous attempt had a bit of drama in it this one seemed to not have any pace to it. There just wasn’t any tension which was a shame because a story which features the Autons for the first time ever should have had been a bigger and better story. The actors in this story were as good as they could be considering the quality of the script. Paul McGann and Sheridan Smith were Its was revealed in the Extras section at the end of the story that Jonathan Clements isn’t a Doctor Who fan which is why it feels a bit distant.

This story isn’t a good as the previous stories from the series and is a let down from the good Immortal Beloved.