They broke the mould when they made Evelyn Smythe. She’s
everything that (typically) a companion wasn’t supposed to be. Weak of body (if
not spirit), old, domestic, intelligent, argumentative…and yet she is simply one of
the greatest gifts that Big Finish has given us. Evelyn Smythe was the first
original companion to be introduced by the audio dramas and remains one of the
most popular (if not the most popular) to this day. Played by the
meticulous, delightful and erudite Maggie Stables who shares gorgeous chemistry
with Colin Baker, Evelyn has taken us on a roller coaster of emotions and this
is the closest I imagine us ever seeing the Doctor getting to one of his
companions without actually marrying them and forming a long term commitment.
It’s an intellectual as well as an emotional connection that bonds them and
they sometimes argue as though they were husband and wife! Evelyn is a
university lecturer with penchant for chocolate and a lust for something more –
she’s kind and thoughtful but also has a crabby side that you don’t want to be
on the wrong side of! Introduced in a historical gem (The Marian Conspiracy),
Evelyn has walked through the dangers of Daleks invading Gallifrey (The
Apocalypse Element), Silurians (Bloodtide), Vampires (Project Twilight),
murderous pirates and the Doctor’s singing (Doctor Who and the Pirates),
politics and war (Arrangements for War), Burke and Hare (Medicinal Purposes),
space walking (The Feast of Axos) and she has always come out with a song in
her heart, a smile on her face and a slice of chocolate cake in the wings!
There is a saddening arc in her middle period (Pirates through Arrangements for
War) where she is sickened by all the young lives that they have lost on their
adventures and has to try and find a way to understand how the Doctor copes
with that that allowed us to see both characters in a new light. She’s a marvel
and I would welcome her return at any time. We’ve already had her departure
story (Thicker than Water) and her very last story (her death features
heartbreakingly in A Death in the Family) but she was too good a companion to
let go of so she pops up every now and again to show these young
whippersnappers how its done. This is a walk through Evelyn’s best moments and
further reasons why it would be in your best interests to check out this
marvellous creation.
Favourite moments – some of these are the big, dramatic
moments of her tenure but others are simply examples of how wonderfully
entertaining she could be, especially in her interaction with Sixie.
‘Oh its you…the lunatic!’ The Marian Conspiracy (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qxqh3r3bA3E)
This is where it all begins for the Doctor and Evelyn. After
he interrupts her lecture and is given a swift ear bashing the Doctor decides
to terrorise Evelyn at home instead. There is something wonderfully innovative
about this audio in how it completely re-establishes the sixth Doctor’s
character with the minimum of fuss. Whispers of Terror saw a petulant,
argumentative Sixie but here he is calmer, more adjusted and wonderfully warm
and good humoured, a Doctor is would have a been a delight to see on screen but
in a way I am glad he is restricted to audio as it is a real feather in Big
Finish’s cap. Colin Baker and Maggie Stables have an instant rapport and their
chemistry bursts into your ears from their first scene together. I love the
domestic scenes in episode one as he follows Evelyn about, simple things like
answering the phone, shouting through the letterbox…he comes across as a big
brother to Evelyn’s irritated fussiness! He drops names like nobody’s business
and is shouted down by Evelyn hilariously as they both try and give their
opinion on Queen Mary – he has truly found his match! It establishes Evelyn as somebody with a life
of her own, a formidable personality and a woman of considerable charm.
Full review here: http://docohobigfinish.blogspot.com/2010/02/marian-conspiracy-written-by-jac-rayner.html
Buy it from Big Finish here: http://www.bigfinish.com/06-Doctor-Who-The-Marian-Conspiracy
‘Smells like a physics undergraduate!’ Bloodtide (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nUqpL_cR3JU)
Evelyn manages to be effortlessly cool without even trying by
this point in her adventures. By simply getting on with the sixth Doctor we see
him in a whole new light and she seems like his ideal equal. Maggie Stables has
such a warm voice and she manages to instantly charm practically anybody she meets
– it’s a voice like warm chocolate and coffee. Her rapport with the Doctor is like that of an old
married couple but a couple who are madly in love. She has always admired and
been fascinated by Charles Darwin and this is scene where he reveals that as a
special gift he has brought her to meet one of her heroes. Its just so sunny.
Full review here: http://docohobigfinish.blogspot.com/2010/04/bloodtide-written-by-jonathan-morris.html
Buy it from Big Finish here: http://bigfinish.com/releases/v/project-twilight-648
Even in the direst of situations, even when she is
absolutely terrified and out of her depth, Evelyn shows incredible bravery. You
have never seen Evelyn so muted when she witnesses Cassie’s abuse, it’s a
complete anathema to anything that she is used to. I love how defiant she is in
the face of Amelia and Reggie’s threats (they call her old and past her best to
which she reacts she is as tough as old boots!). She faces up to death with
bravery (‘Just get on with it!’).
Full review here: http://docohobigfinish.blogspot.com/2010/04/project-twilight-by-cavan-scott-mark.html
Buy it from Big Finish
here: http://www.bigfinish.com/23-Doctor-Who-Project--Twilight
‘Still the best thing that ever happened to me…’ Jubilee (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_EdMnjBJ_Pc)
Stables, one time French teacher turned actress injects
Evelyn with real heart and intelligence that ranks her amongst the very best of
the Doctor’s travelling companions. However it is stories like Jubilee where
she steps from that role and becomes a fully-fledged protagonist driving the
drama of the story. Stables is lucky in a way, companions are not usually
offered quality material like this and she runs with it giving her best
performance yet. In a moment of heartbreaking drama Evelyn confesses to the
Doctor that he is the best thing that has ever happened to her. He has given an
old woman a new lease of life and it really captures the joy that the Doctor
can bring to your life without any of the Russell T Davies’ style hero worship.
Okay it might be a wizened, disabled, alternative version of the Doctor but the
sentiment is gorgeous and the scene beautifully played by both actors.
Full review here: http://docohobigfinish.blogspot.com/2010/08/jubilee-written-by-robert-shearman-and.html
Buy it from Big Finish
here: http://www.bigfinish.com/40-Doctor-Who-Jubilee
‘You’ll kill me because I ask why you wont kill me? What is
the matter with you?’ Jubilee ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RDlYQrrYo6A)
It plays out similarly to the Rose/Dalek sequences in
Dalek except it doesn’t descend in twee mush (and is so much superior for it).
A battered, broken, tortured Dalek is being held prisoner and rather than feel
repulsed by it (she has met and been threatened by the Daleks before) instead
she feels great sympathy for a creature that is suffering. However things turn
even darker as the Dalek starts to gain automony and stretch his psychological
powers over the guest cast, to the point where he can convince one character to
murder another through sheer strength of will. The scene where Evelyn discovers
Farrow’s body and confronts the Dalek is so murderously played I had goose
bumps. Evelyn’s violent, almost suicidal anger as she confronts the Dalek for
killing Farrow is devastatingly dramatic.
Full review here: http://docohobigfinish.blogspot.com/2010/08/jubilee-written-by-robert-shearman-and.html
Buy it from Big Finish
here: http://www.bigfinish.com/40-Doctor-Who-Jubilee
‘Though strangely disguised in bombazine…’ Doctor Who
and the Pirates ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cyNTRM2ptxE)
It’s a glorious story that mixes comedy with tragedy (and
throws in some musical numbers too!) that highlights Evelyn at her best. She
forms a close bond with Jem the cabin boy when they escape a burning ship
together and are forced to paddle across the ocean on a makeshift raft! He
reaches a tragic end and in a moment of heartbreaking emotional honesty Evelyn
cannot stop the flow of tears. In the same story she is trying to provide some
kind of therapy for her ex-student Sally who has suffered a terrible blow,
crashing her car and killing her boyfriend. If all this sounds maudlin then you
are mistaken because somehow, somehow the divine Jacqueline Rayner manages to
squeeze a hilarious, massively entertaining pirate tale out of it. Don’t
believe me? Check out this musical number which pauses to celebrate everything
that is wonderful about Evelyn Smythe.
Full review here: http://docohobigfinish.blogspot.com/2010/08/doctor-who-and-pirates-written-with.html
Buy it from Big Finish
here: http://www.bigfinish.com/43-Doctor-Who-and-The-Pirates
‘Oh Doctor! You can’t always make everything better with a
cup of cocoa and a slice of cake!’ Project Lazarus ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QKCTa3hmwDg)
This is a real turning point in the Doctor and Evelyn’s
relationship. Having seen Jem killed, Evelyn suffers another blow as another
young life is taken from her. Its also the story where we discover that Evelyn
has been ill with a heart condition since before we first met her. She is
desperate for him not to find out because she believes it will end their
travels together. If there was ever a moment to give you a slap around the face
then this it. Evelyn’s reaction to Cassie’s death is violent hysteria; she
rejects the Doctor’s attempts to comfort her and storms off to her room in
tears, leaving their relationship up in the air. Her tears are just horrible,
its like listening to your nan have a breakdown.
Full review here: http://docohobigfinish.blogspot.com/2010/08/project-lazarus-by-cavan-scott-and-mark.html
Buy it from Big Finish here: http://www.bigfinish.com/45-Doctor-Who-Project--Lazarus
‘I find it weighing heavier on my mind…’ Arrangements for
War ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7sIEon78qWw)
Evelyn’s story has been meticulously played out over the past
four stories to give her the sort of development that some Doctor’s never even
achieved. It has been a roller coaster ride of emotions and not always entirely
enjoyable because she has become much more than a companion but a good friend
and to see her so distressed has made for uncomfortable listening, but utterly
gripping all the same. We have been fortunate indeed to have had the unmatchable
Maggie Stables on hand to play Evelyn, surely one of the strongest actresses to
play such a role and some of the best material as well. Thank goodness her
horrors are over for the time being and we can get on with some good
old-fashioned adventuring but Arrangements for War is one of the most important
stepping-stones in Evelyn’s evolution and its events would return and help her
to make a very important decision in her life. Halfway through this story
Evelyn suffers a physical shock when she jumps from a train and wakes up in a
hospital next to Rossiter, a man who has fallen in love with her. Evelyn’s
confession that she is dying is heartbreaking and her tears will break the
heart of even the most hardened fan. When she first met the Doctor he was so strange
and exciting she didn’t dwell on her heart problems anymore. She has started to
remember her husband’s good points and thinks in his own way he was a truly
wonderful man. Her mum used to call her a bookworm and her sister was always
the favourite. Rossiter tells her she needs people around her who love her like
he does. Its never twee or overly
sentimental, this is beautifully judged characterisation.
Full review here: http://docohobigfinish.blogspot.com/2010/10/arrangements-for-war-written-by-paul.html
Buy it from Big Finish here: http://www.bigfinish.com/57-Doctor-Who-Arrangements-for-War
There is a very telling moment in this story where she
accuses the Doctor of letting Cassie and Jem die, falters, and changes her mind
– they both let them die. Watching
the Doctor experience what she has been through with Cassie and Jem, she
realises that you cannot change what has happened and changes the time
co-ordinates to prevent the Doctor from doing so. She comforts him, tells him
she doesn’t want him to change because she likes him just the way he is. Now
they understand each other better she wants to put this all behind them. When
Evelyn says ‘I like you’ you realise that it was primarily through her
acceptance and friendship with the Doctor that we have come to fall in love
with his gentler persona. This scene almost threatens to tip over into
mushiness but the performances of the leads is so strong and the sentiment so
worthwhile after everything they have been through I just went with it.
Full review here: http://docohobigfinish.blogspot.com/2010/10/arrangements-for-war-written-by-paul.html
Buy it from Big Finish here: http://www.bigfinish.com/57-Doctor-Who-Arrangements-for-War
‘I love you…’ Thicker Than Water ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pBuY9Yhx1tk)
So this is where the Doctor and Evelyn say goodbye. Or rather
this is set after the Doctor and Evelyn have failed to say goodbye properly and
need to heal their relationship. After some bumpy moments in their reunion they
soon come to admit their feelings for each other. Evelyn tells the Doctor he
has been such a great friend, she met him at a time when her life was going
nowhere and he gave it back to her. She feels very close to him and wants to
tell him that she loves him very much. Now if you’ll excuse me I need to go and
blub like a big baby whose had all his sweets taken away. What a beautiful examination of both Evelyn and
her relationship of the Doctor. We couldn’t have asked for a finer departure
story. Its all due credit to Paul Sutton, Colin Baker and Maggie Stables that
this soap opera storyline is as sensitive and touching as it is. It could have
so easily have been farcically melodramatic but we are so invested in these
characters and their relationship now it really and it brings this chapter of
their lives together with warmth and friendship.
Full review here: http://docohobigfinish.blogspot.com/2011/01/thicker-than-water-written-by-paul.html
Buy it from Big Finish here: http://www.bigfinish.com/73-Doctor-Who-Thicker-than-Water
‘Messing around in space like Barbarella!’ The Feast of
Axos ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5V50smswLsI)
The Doctor, Evelyn and some British astronauts are space
walking around the edge of Axos and suddenly it all goes horribly, terribly
wrong. The end of episode three is absolutely devastating; Evelyn unhooking
herself and just out of reach of Axos, floating out of reach of the Doctor. Her
quiet despair and his desperation not to lose his best friend will break your
heart. Colin Baker and Maggie Stables both give outstanding performances to the
point where tears were forming in my eyes. It is a cruel and beautiful
affirmation of their incredible friendship and a terrifying reminder of the
dangers of space travel.
Full review here: http://docohobigfinish.blogspot.com/2011/09/feast-of-axos-written-by-mike-maddox.html
Buy it from Big Finish here: http://www.bigfinish.com/144-Doctor-Who-The-Feast-of-Axos
Stories
·
The Marian Conspiracy - http://docohobigfinish.blogspot.com/2010/02/marian-conspiracy-written-by-jac-rayner.html
·
The Spectre of Lanyon Moor - http://docohobigfinish.blogspot.com/2010/02/spectre-of-lanyon-moor-written-and.html
·
The Apocalypse Element - http://docohobigfinish.blogspot.com/2010/02/apocalypse-element-written-by-stephen.html
·
Project: Twilight - http://docohobigfinish.blogspot.com/2010/04/project-twilight-by-cavan-scott-mark.html
·
Real Time -
·
The Sandman - http://docohobigfinish.blogspot.com/2010/08/sandman-written-by-simon-forward-and.html
·
Doctor Who and the Pirates - http://docohobigfinish.blogspot.com/2010/08/doctor-who-and-pirates-written-with.html
·
Project: Lazarus - http://docohobigfinish.blogspot.com/2010/08/project-lazarus-by-cavan-scott-and-mark.html
·
Arrangements for War - http://docohobigfinish.blogspot.com/2010/10/arrangements-for-war-written-by-paul.html
·
Medicinal Purposes - http://docohobigfinish.blogspot.com/2010/10/medicinal-purposes-written-by-rupert.html
·
Pier Pressure - http://docohobigfinish.blogspot.com/2011/02/pier-pressure-written-by-rupert-ross.html
·
Thicker than Water - http://docohobigfinish.blogspot.com/2011/01/thicker-than-water-written-by-paul.html
·
The Nowhere Place - http://docohobigfinish.blogspot.com/2011/03/nowhere-place-written-and-directed-by.html
·
Assassin in the Limelight - http://docohobigfinish.blogspot.com/2011/06/assassin-in-limelight-written-by-robert.html
·
A Death in the Family - http://docohobigfinish.blogspot.co.uk/2012/07/death-in-family-written-by-steven-hall.html
·
A Town Called Fortune - http://docohobigfinish.blogspot.co.uk/2011/10/town-called-fortune-written-by-paul.html
·
The Crimes of Thomas Brewster - http://docohobigfinish.blogspot.com/2011/03/crimes-of-thomas-brewster-written-by.html
·
The Feast of Axos - http://docohobigfinish.blogspot.com/2011/09/feast-of-axos-written-by-mike-maddox.html
·
Industrial Evolution - http://docohobigfinish.blogspot.co.uk/2011/09/industrial-evolution-written-by-eddie.html
Novels
·
Instruments of Darkness
·
Spiral Scratch
Short Stories
·
"Mortlake" by Mark
Wright (Short Trips: Past Tense)
·
"The Diplomat's Story" by Kathryn Sullivan (Short Trips: Repercussions)
·
"Jupiter" by Andy
Russell (Short Trips: The Solar System)
·
"Christmas on the Moon" by Simon Guerrier (Short Trips: The History
of Christmas)
·
"Old Boys" by James
Parsons & Andrew
Stirling-Brown (Short Trips: The Centenarian)
·
"The Eighth Wonder of the World" by Simon Guerrier (Short
Trips: Dalek Empire)
·
"The Crackers" by Richard
Salter (Short Trips: The Ghosts of Christmas)
My advice would be to check out all of Evelyn’s stories
because it is a terrific run of form for Big Finish and a wonderful character
journey to go on. If you were looking for somewhere to start with Doctor Who on
audio I can think of no finer place because it offers an innovative take on the
sixth Doctor, a fantastic companion and a wealth of great stories. Here’s to
Evelyn Smythe, the most wonderful, witty, surprising and heart-warming of all
of the Doctor’s companions.
7 comments:
I couldn't agree more. Both Maggie Stables and Evelyn are wonderful!
Yea, totally agree. She took my heart since the first moment. I laughed my head off on the first minutes of her first interaction with Six, when she was lecturing and he was with an annoying "beeping" machine
Love, love, love Evelyn Smythe. One of the best companions in any medium!
Thanks for commenting guys and gals...isn't she just fabulous?
i guess i have to listen more i have only heard the marian conspiracy and found both that story and evelyn rather dull.
Have only listened to Jubilee, but loved every second of it. Evelyn makes Rose's role in Dalek have considerably less gravitas. She just filled the role so well. The way she acted as devil's advocate for both the Daleks and the Doctor throughout, and the fact that, without giving it magic compassion powers, she is the only companions to find goodness in a Dalek make her one of the best companions ever. And I've only listened to one story from the middle of her run.
Just recently finished all Evelyn's stories. She is an incredible companion, her voice like a warm hug on a cold morning. Beautifully played and wonderfully written, she's in my top 3 companions!
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