REVIEW: Doctor Who: 'The Mutant Phase' by Nicholas Briggs

Doctor Who is at its best when it challenges its audience. The Mutant Phase is as ambitious an adventure as Big Finish have ever produced. By the end of Part Four, it’s hard to remember where you came in. It is sprawling, epic and experimental. The plot begins with a simple arrival in Kansas during the Dalek invasion of Earth in 2158. Then, suddenly, the plot begins to twist and turn as the Daleks’ existence is threatened by something called ‘the mutant phase,’ a new stage in Dalek evolution that, as the Doctor and Nyssa discover, began in 2158. It infects the Dalek and causes them to mutate into unthinking mutant killing machines. The Doctor is recruited by the Dalek Emperor to assist two Thal scientists in changing history to avert the mutant phase and thus save his greatest enemies. But there are a plague of time paradoxes and time corridors to navigate first before the Doctor can find a solution to the problem. And not everyone is exactly what they seem.

 

It’s a huge gamble to attempt a story like this but writer and director Nicholas Briggs is clearly confident with his ideas and let them play out in the a brilliantly brazen fashion throughout. Sympathetic characters such as Dolores are exterminated when they have served their purpose in the story. It’s a dramatic device to up the ante and paint the Daleks as truly ruthless.

At the centre of this, Peter Davison is extraordinary. He must have been baffled by this script’s plot intricacies yet he chooses to hang his performance on the dramatic possibilities. He is incredibly comfortable here, The Mutant Phase distils all that is terrific about the Fifth Doctor into one story. He is ably supported by Sarah Sutton as Nyssa who is given a real chance to stand out as a strong, thoughtful and independent character. I have always admired Big Finish’s ability to flesh out characters that had bags of potential on television but were frequently let-down. Nyssa is one such example, and she compliments the Doctor beautifully.

The sound design is breathtakingly good, a wonderfully spooky and doom-laded score coupled with a terrific soundscape lends real credence to the adventure. The performances, too, are first-rate. The Daleks have never sounded so frighteningly crisp as they do here.

Hats off to Big Finish for taking a big, bold risk and succeeding admirably. 

Available from Big Finish here: http://www.bigfinish.com/releases/v/the-mutant-phase-640

REVIEW: Doctor Who: 'Resurrection of the Daleks' by Eric Saward

It all started off so well, didn't it? 

We open on a grey and gritty shot of London, and some people in strange uniforms are getting violently gunned down by silent and impeccable policemen. Some die quite badly, and the policemen continue on their beat. It's an excellent opening, setting the scene for what promises to be an exciting adventure.

Broken promises. After this wonderfully enigmatic opening, Resurrection of the Daleks goes badly downhill, and degenerates into one of the worst Doctor Who stories ever made. The main problem is the complex plot. That's not usually a problem in Doctor Who (see the excellent Ghost Light), but here the plot is so ridiculously and boringly played out that when the end came it took me another 25 minutes to recover. When the Daleks mention the Time Lords, I wonder how we got from point A to point B. Many talk about the Fifth Doctor's xenophobic tendencies in this story. I would enter this debate if the story weren't so full of itself that I really didn't care less.

When the story fails, at least a decent director can pull it out of the flames. Well, Matthew Robinson does a great job with the location scenes, but the studio scenes don't cut the mustard. Dramatic shots come across as flat and bland. To be fair to him, the cast don't do him any favours. This story contains some totally awful guest actors (mostly aboard the spaceship) with a few good performances (Lytton, Davros, Styles, Stien). "The morale on this ship is appalling." Yep, and so is the acting.

The Daleks deserved much better, too. They come across as stupid soldiers that just shoot at people. Davros has also passed his prime, though Terry Molloy gives a good performance.

But really, I'm just skirting the issue. The real problem with this story (notwithstanding the horrible "plot", terrible guest acting, uneven direction, pointless and ridiculous violence, continuity obsession, and rubbish Daleks) is the way the TARDIS crew are treated. Let's see, upon discovering Stien inside the warehouse, the Doctor, Tegan and Turlough investigate. Turlough vanishes, Tegan gets injured and the Doctor joins up with some army men and Chloe Ashcroft to walk around inside the warehouse doing nothing but poke sticks at cats and wait for some answers to some obscure questions no one seems to be asking. Turlough, meanwhile, walks around the Dalek ship, looking shifty and not really doing anything significant (at least Eric Saward's being consistent here). This is all intercut with boring scenes of Rula Lenska's Styles trying to figure out how to stop the Daleks, and boring guest stars moaning about the morale on their vessel. Slightly more interestingly, a mysterious man called Lytton resurrects Davros to tell him that the Daleks lost the war with the Movellans (but everyone's forgotten about Destiny of the Daleks, JNT, so no one really cares). This is all played over with excruciatingly awful music from Malcolm Clarke.

That's about as dramatic as it gets. The Doctor gets the occasional tense close-up, with poor Peter Davison doing his absolute best to inject some interest. Eventually, doubles of everyone pop up everywhere, so the Doctor gets aboard the Dalek ship, we get pointless flashbacks of past companions and Doctors, and the Doctor considers killing Davros. A big bomb goes off and kills lots of Daleks, but by this point everyone is dead anyway so what's the point?

In the midst of all this dreck is Lytton, a genuinely interesting character skilfully played by Maurice Colbourne. Lytton has his own motives for reviving Davros, but always keeps his cards close to his chest. He can't be trusted for the slightest second, and his return appearance was indeed warranted.

Fortunately, the story hugely picks up five minutes before the end credits. Tegan's emotional departure is both well written and convincingly portrayed by Janet Fielding and Peter Davison. This was quite a big deal at the time, as Tegan had been with the Fifth Doctor since before Day One, and her ultimate decision to leave is understandable. A brilliant scene, and wonderfully downbeat.

So, a great beginning and a great ending, shame about the middle. Says a lot about 80's Doctor Who as a whole, really...

REVIEW: Doctor Who: 'Horror of Fang Rock' by Terrance Dicks

There are some Doctor Who stories that just get better every time you watch them. Horror of Fang Rock is such a story. Really, it's quite rare for a Doctor Who story to scare me so much, but this story always succeeds in that. 

First good point about the story: the direction. Paddy Russell completely controls the flow of this claustrophobic story. It's a flawless piece of direction: dark and foreboding, with only a quiet menace stalking the lighthouse. Russell makes great use out of her setting, wringing tension from every scared look, terrifying revelation, or horrifying death. The smell of death lingers long in this story, and the tension is taken to the maximum. 

This is, hands down, the best script Terrance Dicks ever wrote for the classic series. It has excellent structure throughout, has some of the all-time best interplay between the Doctor and Leela, and manages to make you feel sympathy for all of the supporting characters in their own way. His bold decision to kill everybody, except the Doctor and Leela, is shocking, and satisfyingly so. The Doctor sees death wherever he goes, and at least here is able to avert catastrophe, even though lives have been lost as a result. It is a stark reminder of the Doctor's dangerous side. 

Ah, the Doctor. Tom Baker was rarely better than he is here, completely commanding yet refusing to hide the utter terror he feels. He is rude, abrasive, yet tough and resourceful. He's uncertain as to exactly what is going on, and all the more convincing for it. The Doctor is fallible. He can't save every life and here looks at the bigger picture. He has to confront human greed in the guise of Palmerdale and Skinsale, yet shows regret at their deaths. Baker plays this in a moody and totally magnificent way. His chemistry with Leela in this story is extraordinary. Recently seeing the partnership between the Doctor and Rose in the new series and then watching this makes me realise that there really, really were some great companion teams in the classic series. When written well, the Fourth Doctor and Leela sizzled on the screen. 

Similarly, Louise Jameson is excellent here. She shows Leela's passionate side, defending the Doctor and threatening Palmerdale with a knife and then slapping the incredibly annoying Adelaide in the face (hooray!). Wearing workmen's clothes really works for her; you get the impression that Jameson is much more comfortable like this and shows her savage yet loyal character. Particularly shocking is the moment when Leela gloats over the death of the Rutan, receiving only a quick and curt telling off from the Doctor. When the writers are brave enough to show the companion and the Doctor as flawed heroes, the story and atmosphere becomes all the more compelling. 

A mostly excellent guest cast ably supports the two regulars. John Abbott and Colin Douglas are both utterly convincing as Vince and his mentor Reuben. You really get the impression that these two men (and the third, Ralph Watson's Ben) have a great working relationship and close bond. The aristocrats are also well played, with the possible exception of Annette Woollett as Adelaide. She does her best, but was probably miscast in the role of a stuck-up secretary. 

The side plot of Palmerdale and Skinsale's shady dealings has been criticised as having little to do with the story, but it gives it an extra dramatic thrust and allows the characters to have their own motivations, their own respective greed being the end of them.

The sets and lighting are both magnificent, too. The lighthouse is perfectly structured and seems totally real. Likewise, Dudley Simpson's music is just as haunting as his superlative score for The Talons of Weng-Chiang.

Horror of Fang Rock is a marvellous story, expertly plotted, acted, and directed. Like most classic Doctor Who, this succeeds because of the restrictions set against it, not in spite of them. Everybody involved deserves a round of applause.

REVIEW: Doctor Who: 'The Crusade' by David Whitaker

I'm quite astonished at how good this story is. Let's face it; season two doesn't exactly grip you, does it? Planet of Giants is entertaining but hugely flawed, The Dalek Invasion of Earth is dull and cliched, The Rescue is a good but slight character piece, The Romans is a comedy romp, The Web Planet is an ambitious but odd tale that strays a bit too far, The Space Museum is completely flat, The Chase is so bad it's brilliant, and The Time Meddler is a pleasant runaround. So season two is missing a substantial tale. The Crusade is it.

All aspects of production are first class. Dudley Simpson's music is cultured and calm, Douglas Camfield's direction is controlled and dramatic, all of the guest performances are polished. But the best thing is David Whitaker's incredible script. It is pure poetry, powerful and precise yet also sparkling with wit and intrigue. 

The TARDIS crew in this story are all excellently portrayed: The Doctor is at his best here, delighting in stealing the clothes from Ben Daheer's stall, winding up the Chamberlain, advising Richard and doing his best to stay out of trouble, but not succeeding. Ian gets a smaller role than usual, but gets to show his heroic side after King Richard knights him, and overcoming all obstacles to rescue Barbara. Barbara gets the largest role, dragged through hell and back as the evil El Akir kidnaps her. Unfortunately, Vicki is again sidelined but has fun as the Doctor's ward. 

The guest cast are extraordinary. Julian Glover gives an incredible performance as Richard, and paints a picture of a complex man that often lets his heart rule his head as he struggles to find peace. On the other side is the fascinating Saladin. Soft-spoken but with a subtle hint of menace, he is by no means the villain of the piece. Bernard Kay plays him as cultured and calm, and his affection for Barbara marks him out as a noble man who believes his actions are right, just like Richard. He is markedly different from his blustering brother, Saphadin. Jean Marsh also does a good job as Joanna, a compassionate woman placed into a difficult situation.

The real villain here is Saladin's Emir, El Akir. He's prepared to throw away his position in Saladin's court because Barbara has embarrassed him, and he seeks revenge. He is cruel and callous, incredibly inadequate and he makes it his aim to find Barbara to get payback for a minor incident. How pathetic. When his end does come, it is justified.

There are some wonderful touches of high drama, such as when Haroun explains his family's plight to Barbara, and he tells her to kill his daughter and herself if they are found. The third episode, in particular, sees the most dramatic events, involving a ferocious argument between The Doctor and the Earl of Leicester, played to perfection by William Hartnell and John Bay. The scene between Richard and Joanna also crackles with intensity. But mixed in with this are the wonderful comedy touches, usually involving the Doctor and Vicki at court. Vicki's disguise causes the courtiers some confusion, as does the delightful predicament involving Ben Daheer and the Doctor.

The Crusade is wonderful, an example of how highly the series can reach when it puts its mind to it, and a shining example of the historicals at their best.