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Doctor Who: The Companion Chronicles 8.05
The Beginning Written by Marc Platt
Directed by Lisa Bowerman
Published: November 2013 |
Episode 1: "The First Flight"
It's impossible for me to start this marathon and pretend that I have absolutely no knowledge whatsoever when it comes to Doctor Who. I was thinking just this morning that it would be infinitely more terrifying and exciting if I had never seen a single episode of Who, then I wouldn't have that foreknowledge of the events to come in the life of our titular Time Lord. I intend to embrace that knowledge of what is to come and see how each of the Doctor's lives and adventures have made him into the man he is today.
What better place to start than at The Beginning. The Beginning is a Companion Chronicle by Marc Platt and released by Big Finish in November 2013. Through the eyes of Susan Foreman (and the voice of Carol Ann Ford) tells of the Doctor and Susan's departure from their homeworld and their first destination. What better story to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of Doctor Who with.
It certainly hits the ground running as we join the Doctor and his granddaughter as they are fleeing from scarlet-robed guards armed with stazers, stumbling into a workshop and discovering a row of TARDISes. This leads to one of the great nods to the future in this story, when Susan is hiding in one of the cylinders and the Doctor is outside talking to somebody. He then suddenly grabs his granddaughter and leads her to a different cylinder. Without knowledge of future stories this is easily passed off, but for anyone who has seen "The Name of the Doctor", broadcast on television a few months before this stories release, we've seen who the Doctor was talking to and what led him to take Susan from one TARDIS to another.
What we have next gets to the real heart and, indeed the best part, of the episode for me: the moments after successfully escaping from Gallifrey where Susan takes stock of what exactly they've done, running away from all that they held dear and facing the reality that they may never see home again. The reasons for the Doctor taking his granddaughter and "borrowing" a battered old TARDIS has always been a fascinating one for me. Considering all we later learn about Time Lord society and their stuffy, non-interfering way of doing things, perhaps it was a bit obvious that the Doctor's views would be at odds with that. What The Beginning does, however, adds a slightly sinister edge to that by suggesting that the Doctor had made some serious enemies and that his very life was in danger, implying that his departure wasn't so much a choice but a necessity.
Away from the serious undertones behind their departure, you can't help but be swept away by the wonder as the pair complement the cosmos before them. It's only a brief moment before the adventure begins proper, but it was one which filled me with optimism for the journey ahead.
Quadrigger Stoyn. I don't know whether to feel sorry for him or feel annoyed at him. Stoyn was just a technician working on the TARDIS, preparing her to be destroyed, when the Doctor and Susan burst in and started up the time engines, injuring the man in the process. Looking on the surface, I couldn't see what purpose he served, taking the optimism and wonder out of hearing the Doctor's first adventure. On further consideration, I can see why he was absolutely necessary for the story: someone to show that the Doctor's actions have consequences, and indeed, someone to highlight the traditional Time Lord view of non-interference and viewing aliens with suspicion.
Moving on to the bulk of the story itself as we find out that we have landed on Earth's moon and that the alien race known as the Archaeons are seeding the planet in order to their specification of perfection. An interesting idea, and something I hope will be further explained in the next episode.
In summing up, a promising opening episode, but I fear the story may drag in it's second episode as the first contact with the Archaeons failed to live up to the first half of this episode.
What better place to start than at The Beginning. The Beginning is a Companion Chronicle by Marc Platt and released by Big Finish in November 2013. Through the eyes of Susan Foreman (and the voice of Carol Ann Ford) tells of the Doctor and Susan's departure from their homeworld and their first destination. What better story to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of Doctor Who with.
It certainly hits the ground running as we join the Doctor and his granddaughter as they are fleeing from scarlet-robed guards armed with stazers, stumbling into a workshop and discovering a row of TARDISes. This leads to one of the great nods to the future in this story, when Susan is hiding in one of the cylinders and the Doctor is outside talking to somebody. He then suddenly grabs his granddaughter and leads her to a different cylinder. Without knowledge of future stories this is easily passed off, but for anyone who has seen "The Name of the Doctor", broadcast on television a few months before this stories release, we've seen who the Doctor was talking to and what led him to take Susan from one TARDIS to another.
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| Our adventure begins on Gallifrey. |
Away from the serious undertones behind their departure, you can't help but be swept away by the wonder as the pair complement the cosmos before them. It's only a brief moment before the adventure begins proper, but it was one which filled me with optimism for the journey ahead.
Quadrigger Stoyn. I don't know whether to feel sorry for him or feel annoyed at him. Stoyn was just a technician working on the TARDIS, preparing her to be destroyed, when the Doctor and Susan burst in and started up the time engines, injuring the man in the process. Looking on the surface, I couldn't see what purpose he served, taking the optimism and wonder out of hearing the Doctor's first adventure. On further consideration, I can see why he was absolutely necessary for the story: someone to show that the Doctor's actions have consequences, and indeed, someone to highlight the traditional Time Lord view of non-interference and viewing aliens with suspicion.
Moving on to the bulk of the story itself as we find out that we have landed on Earth's moon and that the alien race known as the Archaeons are seeding the planet in order to their specification of perfection. An interesting idea, and something I hope will be further explained in the next episode.
In summing up, a promising opening episode, but I fear the story may drag in it's second episode as the first contact with the Archaeons failed to live up to the first half of this episode.
Episode 2: "Red Lightning"
I must admit that I was less than enthused to listen and review today's episode. Surely, fatigue hasn't set in after only one episode! I've never considered giving up so early in the experience. To be sure, I've only completed a TV marathon once back in 2008-09, and completed the first three Doctor's when undertaking a similar marathon in 2012. It's got me slightly worried, but I'm determined to complete this marathon even if there are a few breaks here and there.
Right. Back to The Beginning where we left the Doctor, Susan and Stoyn being caught in a temporal stasis field which had been broken when the Archaeons started messing around with the TARDIS. We begin this episode with Susan having a bizarre dream where she is back on Gallifrey as a small child playing with an untamed chair!?! She then wakes up aboard a lunar rover being tended by a human doctor. It didn't take long for us to show up did it.
We're greeted to a bit of exposition, but the most intriguing thing for me is the fact that the human doctor seemed to treat the fact that Susan had two hearts completely in her stride. No details are given about the astronauts, but the fact that they have knowledge of Time Lord physiology suggests that they may be affiliated with UNIT in some way.
Unfortunately, what could have turned in to an interesting first contact between the Doctor and humanity is swiftly brought to a halt as the Archaeons kill the astronauts off in a truly horrific way as worm-like creatures consume the humans from inside. You don't need visuals to be repulsed at that.
The rest of the play is Stoyn convincing the Doctor and Susan to return to the Archaeons cavern and assist them in their plan to destroy the "experiment" on Earth that the Doctor had ruined with his interference. Naturally, this involves a lot of talking and shouting, with Stoyn switching sides like there's no tomorrow. Thank the lord that humanity takes the initiative and launch missile attacks against the Archaeons in response to them unleashing their lightning on the planet.
So, the first adventure has concluded and I must admit to being rather disappointed. The escape from Gallifrey at the beginning of the story was handled fantastically, but the rest of the story just failed to maintain my interest. The Archaeons could have proved to be an interesting race of people whose quest to create an ordered world on Earth really explored. I suppose, that was to much to ask for in a two-part story when so much else has to be explored and set-up. After all, The Beginning was the first story in a trilogy featuring Stoyn. Stoyn and his motives for hating the Doctor had to be established, and that came at the cost of an interesting story.
I won't finish on a negative though. What we did get from this story was the start of the Doctor's fascination with humanity as he watches the first contact video from the lunar rover again and again and is determined to finally visit the Earth. When the Doctor argues for allowing the Earth to remain as it is, one could not help but think of the Tenth Doctor at the end of "The Christmas Invasion" as he confronted the Sycorax. "It is defended!"
Right. Back to The Beginning where we left the Doctor, Susan and Stoyn being caught in a temporal stasis field which had been broken when the Archaeons started messing around with the TARDIS. We begin this episode with Susan having a bizarre dream where she is back on Gallifrey as a small child playing with an untamed chair!?! She then wakes up aboard a lunar rover being tended by a human doctor. It didn't take long for us to show up did it.
We're greeted to a bit of exposition, but the most intriguing thing for me is the fact that the human doctor seemed to treat the fact that Susan had two hearts completely in her stride. No details are given about the astronauts, but the fact that they have knowledge of Time Lord physiology suggests that they may be affiliated with UNIT in some way.
Unfortunately, what could have turned in to an interesting first contact between the Doctor and humanity is swiftly brought to a halt as the Archaeons kill the astronauts off in a truly horrific way as worm-like creatures consume the humans from inside. You don't need visuals to be repulsed at that.
The rest of the play is Stoyn convincing the Doctor and Susan to return to the Archaeons cavern and assist them in their plan to destroy the "experiment" on Earth that the Doctor had ruined with his interference. Naturally, this involves a lot of talking and shouting, with Stoyn switching sides like there's no tomorrow. Thank the lord that humanity takes the initiative and launch missile attacks against the Archaeons in response to them unleashing their lightning on the planet.
 |
| The TARDIS flies through the time vortex. |
I won't finish on a negative though. What we did get from this story was the start of the Doctor's fascination with humanity as he watches the first contact video from the lunar rover again and again and is determined to finally visit the Earth. When the Doctor argues for allowing the Earth to remain as it is, one could not help but think of the Tenth Doctor at the end of "The Christmas Invasion" as he confronted the Sycorax. "It is defended!"
6/10
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