What's it about: Charlotte Pollard’s adventures are over. She escaped death aboard the R101 and travelled in time and space - but now in the service of the monolithic, unknowable Viyrans, their unending mission is stifling her. An encounter with would-be adventurer Robert Buchan, near the mysterious Ever-and-Ever-Prolixity, provides the opportunity Charley needs for escape… So, the adventuress is abroad once more: meeting a lost expedition in uncharted forests, solving enigmas, and hoping beyond hope to see the people she misses most: her family. But Charley cannot run forever. The Viyrans know the power of the ‘Lamentation Cipher’ and they have a solution… for everything.
Edwardian Adventuress: Jumping into the Prolixity is an
unpredictable business because you could wake up anywhere, any time having to
figure out precisely where you have ended up. When Charley wakes up in a
hostile jungle at the end of gun she figures she may have been a little rash.
She's bold as brass these days, willing to stand and fight the Slaverings even
though she doesn't understand quite what is going on. Her life is in danger and
that is enough. And when Turnerman starts pushing her around after she has
saved them she is bolshie enough to remind her that they might need her again
in the near future. Charley learnt a very important lesson from the Doctor -
you have to believe that you are going to succeed in order to achieve that and
never give up. When it comes to life (running away) or death (getting answers),
Charley would always choose the former. She has been given an opportunity that
she never thought would present itself - if she gets out of this life she can
seek out her parents again. It has only been a few years since she left and
despite the awkward subject of her death she can seek comfort with them again.
She thinks they will have hardly changed at all but she has changed so much.
Would they even recognise her anymore? Charley knows enough about this time
travelling lark to ask if the Viyrans that do not recognise her are from her future
or a her past...just as the Doctor would. She's already made the choice between
death and a lifetime with the Viyrans before and she is not going back on that.
Standout Performance: An astonishing performance from
Jacqueline King (that's Sylvia Noble to you and I) disguised in a heavy Scot's
accent (which seems inspired from David Tennant's own) that makes her
indistinguishable from the plummy actress I have listened to several other Big
Finish audios (Bad Habits, Starborn). She's terrifying at spots and I loved her
anger when she revealed what her previous occupation was. I never would have
guessed.
Audio Landscape: Birdsong, screaming Slaverings, snapping
off a stick, gunshots, the stillness as the Prolixity freezes the action, the
light screaming and scattering the Slaverings, crackling fire, owl hooting,
Slavering sniffing, scribbling in diary, the Prolixity.
Isn't it Odd: When a co-incidence is playing on somebody's
mind and they mention two apparently separate plot points (the first all-male
expedition vanishing and the appearance of the Slaverings) it is not hard to
put two and two together and figure where this is going.
Standout Scene: Susan taking her life is a genuinely
shocking moment. I was momentarily stunned. What awful truth could she possibly
know that this is the best solution?
Result: An all female cast is almost an impossibility in
main range Doctor Who (the lead character is generally a man) but I have
noticed an effort to try pull this feat off in the spin off ranges of late. One
of the final Companion Chronicles was a female written, directed and performed
script and whilst Jonathan Barnes takes up the writing responsibilities in The
Shadow at the Edge of the World it is the all female cast that bring that story
to life. Charity, Susan, Emmeline and especially Mrs Turnerman are all uniquely
characterised and very different from Charley herself and the acting plaudits
belong to Nicola Weeks and Jacqueline King but there isn't a weak link amongst
them. Placing Charley in a gaggle of strong women and allowing her to stand out
shows how she has grown as a character and has found her voice. She jumps head
first into the mystery of the Slaverings and is determined to find answers and
keep her skin wrapped tightly all over too. Whilst this a nice little character
drama for the most part (I loved the reveal of Mrs Turnerman's previous
occupation and Charley's realisation that she could go home) I did feel that
the conclusion was a rushed. It set up a mystery and interesting characters but
explains it away with a wave of the Prolixity and suddenly tosses away these
characters that we have become close to without any clue as to how they might
end up. That niggle aside, this is an entertaining second outing but still the
weakest of the set: 7/10
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