The Fragile Yellow Arc of Fragrance (2010)

The second story from the first Doctor Lost Stories Box set is a lot shorter than Farewell Great Macedon. Also written by Maris Farhi, this story is a simple tale of love and how it can literally end your life. It was the first to be written by Maris as a sort of introductory story which is why it runs in at 35 minutes as opposed to the 2 and half hours of the previous story. The story sees Barbara become friends with a guy called Rythym except that Rythym has fallen in love with Barbara. The story also sees the Doctor waiting for a new component to be built.

It’s always interesting how people use Barbara as the one who has the love interests. That might have something to do that Jacqueline Hill was so good at developing relationship unintentionally. Even though she is not in this it’s easy to believe that Jacqueline would have done another great job. There is a wonderful scene when Barbara is about to leave the TARDIS to spend the rest of her life with Rythym. In a moment reminiscent of An Unearthly Child when the Doctor sets of controls of the TARDIS and dematerliases.

Like the previous story there are wonderful performances from William Russell and Carole Ann Ford. Though there was slightly more of the old Susan in this story than in the Farewell which was a slight worry but overall the pair did a great job. John Dorney has a smaller role in this than as Alexander. However it was still a nice performance. The new voice in this is Helen Goldwyn whose performance is quite good. It sounds weird and wonderful and helps create the impression that this is an alien world with weird seas and suns. All in all, the performances are what help make this story more than a bland story.

There is something quite lovely about The Fragile Yellow Arc of Fragrance. It’s not the most action packed story however as its so well told by William Russell and Carole Ann Ford the whole thing is something that still makes it enjoyable. Both of these stories have been worth the money. Admittedly they are dangerously close to been called Companion Chronicles because they are stories that weren’t actually lost because it got cancelled due to lack of studio time or something else but just never got commissioned as a TV story. That said I Nigel Robinson has done a good job adapting these stories for audio and Lisa Bowerman directed these stories brilliantly. A good job all round.

Farewell, Great Macedon (2010)

Due to the success of the Sixth Doctor Lost stories, we now get some of the first Doctor Lost Stories. The thing about those adventures is that the two characters the stories were written for are still alive and its easier to tweak it to make it feel like a story from that time. The difference with this one is that as both William Hartnell and Jacqueline Hill are no longer with us it essentially becomes a Companion Chronicle story. This story is a six part adventure written by Moris Farhi which was commissioned by then script editor David Whittaker to form part of the first season in 1964 though it didn’t get made.

The story is about how the Doctor, Ian, Barbara and Susan arrive in Babylon where they meet Alexander the Great. However there is an attempt on Alexander’s life as well as the three people that would become king and the Doctor and his companions are framed for their murders. With the three successors dead it at this point when the Doctor and his friends get put on trial with the Doctor forced to walk over fire and Ian choosing to wrestle. The story works along the knowledge that is pointed out that Alexander does die and when that moment comes there is a desperate debate about whether the Doctor should try and put this off. Alexander suffers a slow death with the instinct desire for no one to save his life. Given the friendship that Alexander had worked up with the Doctor and his friends it was a difficult thing and well played by William Russell, Carole Ann Ford and John Dorney. It’s quite a familiar thing that the Doctor and his companions strike up a nice relationship with whoever they meet and that is the case in this.

I must say that all three actors did a superb job. Especially John Dorney who was just splendid as Alexander. The character of Alexander was likeable and was a character that you bought to life superbly by Dorney. Dorney’s best scenes came towards the end when his death was at the centre of the story. Carole Ann Ford and William Russell were also superb in this story and bought a lot of enthusiasm to the story. I have heard Russell read Target Novels that have been turned into audios and his companion chronicles. He is a great reader and has a voice that I could listen to for hours. Likewise with Carole Ann Ford who I think gives a great performance and at times seems to be putting in a better performance than Russell. Both Russell and Ford do a great job in pretending to be William Hartnell and Jacqueline Hill. It’s never going to be an exact impersonation but they still do a good job.

The thing that strikes me about this is how much like a first Doctor story that it feels like. You could believe that it’s a story that has been wiped and only exists on audio that was made in 1964 as opposed to being made by Big Finish in 2010. Over the course of the three and a half hours the story moves at the sort of pace that the Hartnell era did in the early years. It’s not entirely perfect. The first 10 minutes were painfully slow and I wasn’t quite sure that this story was going to work. There was a lengthy scene which was introduced all the characters and I just kept hoping that the story would get going soon.

Farewell Great Macedon is a good story and it’s a shame that it never got made because I think it would be rated higher than other historical stories such as Marco Polo and The Aztecs. I think at times the episodes were slightly too long with no episode shorter than 30 minutes. There are some wonderful scenes between all three actors and even if this wasn’t released with the other story then it would still be worth the £20 that I paid. I think that this is one of the best Lost Stories that Big Finish have produced.