Alien Orphan: It is true that Vicki can tend to be fairly patronising
towards Ian and Barbara and the time that they come from (suggesting that
paracetamol are akin to leeches in The Web Planet, mocking the primitive
educational system of the 1960s, labelling The Beatles as classical music). It
gives her an air of superiority and sniffiness that raises her above the
facsimile of Susan that she was originally designed to be. She's not exactly
hyper rational like Zoe but Vicki was still brought up on a healthy dose of
science and fed facts as a child and so the idea of indulging in a séance
doesn't sit easy with her. There are simply too many ways this sort of thing
can be faked. Madame Violet suggests that such scepticism doesn't suit one so
young but Vicki tries to find holes in the logic of convincing performance that
she gives as the Ancient Roman Crispus. Despite her objections, once Vicki
learns that it is a female that is trying to speak to her from beyond the grave
she automatically thinks (and hopes) that it might be her mother. She tries not
to think about her too much because it breaks her heart to do so. It has been
quite some time since Vicki had been with somebody her own age and she
naturally draws towards younger people, anything to escape the unadventurous
and occasional stuffiness of Ian and Barbara. Poor Vicki, as soon as she finds
a new best friend in Annet it would seem that she is destined to lose her.
Vicki is a little like Jo Grant when it comes to other beings in danger, she
forgets her own safety an flings herself into mortal peril to help. She
remembers her mind leaving her body and floating up towards the stars, hearing
the Doctor's gentle, reassuring voice all the time. Vicki's a intelligent girl
and can hunt out all the inconsistencies in her 'spirits' story but is smart
enough to go along with it to find out what the wraith is ultimately directing
her to do. She sees the good in everybody too, recognising that the Waneshe
child did save all the stars.
Hmm: The Doctor makes his views on talking to the spirits
very clear. You can imagine where he falls on this debate. He loves exploring
new places.
Standout Performance: Better known as Sylvia Noble in the TV series, Jacqueline King has
turned up in a number of audios now and has never failed to make an impression
me when she has. Given that her voice has broken down several octaves with age,
it is astonishing that O'Brien can still find Vicki's voice after all these
years. It feels like she has never been away, not that she has had a 50 year
break from the show.
Sparkling Dialogue: 'I like the sound of that. Perhaps it
could almost be bearable losing people if you knew they were still somewhere.
If every now and then you could sense their presence, even if you never hear
their voices again.'
'We are the last people to understand ourselves.'
'You'll meet me again but I wont you.'
'That's one of the things I love about travelling in the
TARDIS. You never know where you're going to end up next...'
Great Ideas: What an awful dilemma for Vicki and no wonder
she tries to fight the idea - she is told that if she goes into the TARDIS
again and leaves this world that she
will die in the near future. The only way to prevent that is to never step foot
in the time ship again. Having lost her family and had her world turned upside
down by Bennett, the TARDIS has become a sanctuary and its crew her surrogate
family. The thought of having to lose all that must chill her to the bone.
There is always a spirit guide that helps the person maintain a link between
this world and the afterlife and in this case it is Crispus, an ancient Roman.
Imagine the horror of attending a séance and the spirit that reaches out from
the ether is you. A wraith-like visage warning Vicki of her imminent
death on a bright, hot, oppressive world. This world gets all its energy from
the stars and is capable of turning people into stellar objects. Living stars
joined in a network that surrounded the planet. Most people on this world have
star blood in the bodies but would live out their lives normally like any other
but a few would transcend to the heavens. When a star fades away in the sky, a
new one is born and takes their place. If the hole wasn't filled then every
drop of energy this planet possess would drain away. The planet itself would
die. A small amount of energy would always be released when those chosen
transformed and the people on the surface would be bathed in star thought.
People from all over the world would attend an ascension, both to witness the
spectacle and to feel the touch of their departed loved ones. I have to say
this is a really gorgeous notion, that you could look up into the sky and bathe
in the glow of a departed loved one and that you could immerse yourself in the
radiance of their essence, their soul, before they go. If things were
that poetic on Earth I don't think we would fear death quite as much as we do.
It is a very different kind of danger in this story; when the stars are bled of
energy that is person that is slowly being exhausted. The wraith-Vicki
turns out to be one of the Waneshe that is after all of the star energy that is
trapped inside the Doctor's ring. As the Master once said for a lie to work it
has to be shrouded in truth and so much of what the faux Vicki recounts is
true...it just wasn't her who stepped into the light. His ring has always
seemed to contain magical properties and so find the idea of it being fit to
bursting with swirling star energy a magnificent one.
Standout Scene: The conclusion has a mournful tone and
proves that whilst things cannot be altered, the friendship between Vicki and
Annet wasn't all a lie. Unknowingly there were three people involved and they
all got something from the relationship...even if one of them was always
condemned to death. You can't cheat fate.
Result: 'I have to tell you how
you died...' This is a first for Big Finish and Doctor Who in general...an
adventure that is written, directed and performed by women. There has been some
debate in fandom about the lack of a female presence in the ranks of Big Finish
(beyond the prolific Lisa Bowerman) so this is a pretty unique experiment to
see what the stories might be like if the table were turned and the ladies
dominated the creative staff. Whilst I genuinely believe that the output should
be produced by those who are right for the job rather favouring either sex to
balance the scales, there is an undeniably genteel edge to Staborn that makes
it a genuinely refreshing piece of work. There is a clever use of the framing
device, a story being told within a story but not in the traditional way of the
companion chronicles (which again is turned on its head at the conclusion).
Appropriately enough there is an Enlightenment feel to Starborn (which was the
only time Doctor Who was written and directed solely by women), in tone if not
its content. A lyrical, poetic, imaginative piece, one that gets in touch with
the characters feelings and takes them on a journey of discovery. For Vicki
this is her most challenging adventure yet, having to face up to the horror
that she might die in the near future and discovering the steps she took to
reach that state. Jacqueline Rayner characterises her beautifully; naive and
childish at times and gifted and plucky at others. With O'Brien and King doing
the honours Starborn is delivered magnificently and the production values of a
high standard too. It's distinctive little tales like this that make me mourn
the loss of the companion chronicles. They deliver consistently strong
storytelling in tight, easy to digest packages. It's going to be a sorry day when
I put the last one into my player. Luminescent: 8/10
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