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| Doctor Who: The Companion Chronicles - 5.06 Quinnis Written by Marc Platt Directed by Lisa Bowerman Published: December 2010 |
This isn't the first time I'd listening to Marc Platt's Quinnis, as I'd heard it during my last marathon in June 2012 and listening to it a couple of times just for fun, so I was aware of what was coming up, but just wanted to see if I developed any different impressions this time.
For those who aren't aware, the background to Quinnis picks up on a line from the TV story The Edge of Destruction, when Susan mentions that she and the Doctor had visited the planet Quinnis in the Fourth Universe "four or five journeys back" and we were treated to a still picture on the TARDIS scanner of a jungle-type environment.
Using that sparse information, Platt has created a well-realized planet, in particular, Bridgetown where this story is set. The descriptions of brightly-coloured wooden houses built upon rows and rows of bridges proceeding up a large mountain, as well as the foreboding plains beneath it all with unidentified figures prowling around. The cherry on this particular cake though has to be the inhabitants of Bridgetown that fill out and add flavour to the market scenes. Though we only have three main inhabitants that we meet in this episode, Umlante (quickly nicknamed the Piglet woman) on the market stall, Booweyan and of course the street urchin, Meedla, they certainly provide a well-rounded view of the inhabitants. They are a superstitious people who believe that only Rainmakers can bring the rains and end the seasons' long droughts and the belief in a bad luck bird.
When the Doctor and Susan arrive, it doesn't take long for the Time Lord to have the position of Rainmaker foisted upon him, after the last one had been thrown out of time for his failure. Literally. While the Doctor is hard at work attempting to make it rain, Susan is reduced to fetching and carrying from the TARDIS, and soon strikes up a conversation with the urchin, Meedla. Meedla seems to be on the periphery of Bridgetown society, mocking the inhabitants as they burn down the old Rainmaker's house as it brought "bad luck" and then wasting their precious water supplies to bring the fire under control, as well as serving as a harbinger of doom stating that things will change when the rain comes.
Only time will tell what happens in the second and final episode, "The Plains of Despair", but it has started raining in Bridgetown and the TARDIS has been swept away in the deluge...
Episode 2: "The Plains of Despair"
It is rather a bizarre experience to be listening to and forming thoughts about this particular episode about a year after the first episode was written. A year ago I had listened to the episode and was preparing to write the blog post, but then I hit a wall of uncertainty and writer's block. Naturally, I overcame this and the blog continued, so it was interesting for me to revisit the episode and see where I stand on the story twelve months later.
While "The Rainmaker" was all about painting a picture of the planet Quinnis, Bridgetown and its many and strange inhabitants, "The Plains of Despair" goes beyond settlement and begins explaining why this planet functions the way it does. The people of Bridgetown are a superstitious people because of the fear of the schrazer, a so-called "bad luck bird" that is viewed as a harbinger of doom. Bridgetown is built up high and on stilts because once a rains the pastures below undergo a massive acceleration of growth and the plants become very hungry, climbing their way up to consume anything in their path.
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| A stiltman of Bridgetown. |
With the Doctor's problem of trying to bring rain to this parched land, the relationship between Susan and Meedla is brought to the fore. It should probably come as no surprise that Meedla is a schrazer who is preying on the gentle folk of Bridgetown, feeding off their fear. Where Meedla is different from the common-all-garden schrazer is the fact that she is vindictive and malicious: killing Umlante's husband as it was his trap that she fell into at the end of the previous episode as well as bullying Susan so that she can gain access to the TARDIS and travel far and wide.
A clever and manipulative villain has to be matched by an even more clever and manipulative hero and her arrives in the form of Parch. I absolutely adore Parch, in my mind he was the embodiment of a Victorian adventurer and hunter with a tinge of Van Helsing, travelling the world on the trail of fantastical beasts. Armed with his ornithopter and an arsenal of trinkets, Parch assists Susan in stopping Meedla, taking on the wild plant-life on the plains and making their way back to the TARDIS.
To sum up, Quinnis was a cracking great adventure filled with some great guest characters such as Umlante and Parch, and a great villain in the form of Meedla. What is really amazing is the fact that these characters were only brought to life by two actors, Carole Ann Ford and Tara-Louise Kaye, and yet each one was distinctive. A marvellous piece of work and you can see why Big Finish Productions were keen to get more pre-An Unearthly Child Companion Chronicles off the back of this particular story.
8/10
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Continuity Corner:
- The TARDIS' chameleon circuit is still functioning as the ship takes an appearance of a brightly coloured shed upon their arrival in Bridgetown.
- The Doctor and Susan have previously visited Constantinople where they acquired some Turkish delight, which they trade for goods at the market. They were also aboard the Golden Hind, where they acquired some salt peter.
- Susan believes that the next place the TARDIS landed after leaving the Fourth Universe was London, Earth in the Summer of 1963.
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