Edwardian Adventuress: Trapped in the swirling mass of the
Prolixity, Charley is properly scared and that makes her the most alive she has
been in years. She has no regrets about escaping the Viyrans because she was slowly
dying day by day. There was a time when she thought that a hundred lives
wouldn't be enough to do all the things she wanted to do, meet all the people,
visit all the places...but the way she has been living with the Viyrans is
stifling. Living on somebody else's terms is not living. Charley is so used to
having her guard up these days that she wilts like a flower denied light when
she achieves the impossible...finding her parents again. Louisa can barely
believe it is her daughter until she looks into her eyes and then slaps her
hard around the face for all the pain and misery that she has caused. Probably
not the reaction that Charley was expecting but an understandable moment of
anger from her mother given the misery that has followed in the wake of her
disappearance and suspected death. Clearly Charley was always a dreamer, always
talking about running off and having thrilling adventures. Louisa genuinely
wonders if Charley has only returned home from her travels because she has run
out of money. She never wanted her time with the Doctor (either Doctor) to end
but it did. Charley is still under the impression that the last time she saw
him that the eighth Doctor died - there is a finality to their parting. Charley
is a little blaze about her attitude when she was eighteen, young, headstrong
and wanting to see the world. Whilst there is nothing wrong with that it might
have been a little less catastrophic had she taken a look over her shoulder
from time to time to think about those she was leaving behind. Charley knows
the Viyrans and their methods and so agrees to go with them as long they leave
her parents alone. She asks them to tell her they are proud of her before she
goes, knowing that they will have their minds wiped.
The Parents Left Behind: We have caught up with Louisa
Pollard in the past but this the first time we have been able to see what kind
of man brought Charley up. Richard Pollard is a shell of his old self, having
lost one daughter to politics and another to and with no news to suggest that
his youngest didn't die on the R-101. Richard's financial decisions are a
farrago of bad decisions and downright lotteries and like so many men he finds
it easier to bury his head in the sand (or rather in his studies) rather than
face up to his responsibilities. Louisa has finally had enough of his
evasiveness and makes him face the responsibility of their financial ruin. She
tells him in no uncertain terms that he is not the only one who misses their
daughters but she has had to pull herself together and try keep their estate in
one piece whilst he loses himself in academia. People are advising Louisa to
leave Richard but she feels it her duty to stay behind and look after him. She
made a commitment when she married him and that is just the sort of woman she
is. She's even considering sending Richard to a sanatorium, somewhere where he
can be made to eat and have some respite from his dusty old books (just not
somewhere in England where he might be recognised). It is heartbreaking to hear
Louisa admit that she failed as a mother, not indulging Charley in her romantic
fantasies so she headed off to revel in them as soon as she could. After the
news of the crash of the airship there were interminable evenings where Richard
would stare at Louisa in an accusatory fashion. Charley dismisses her mothers
self criticism, she genuinely believes that Louisa gave her children everything
they needed to leave and find their own way in life. She made them strong
enough to set off. It is glorious to watch Richard throw off his fugue of
despair once he is reunited with Charley and to thank Louisa for being such a
rock for him. We leave Richard and Louisa in a much better place, the former
having found his place in the world and lust for life again and the latter
basking in their new good fortune.
Standout Performance: Terrance Hardiman and Anneke Wills are
perfectly cast as Charley's parents, one is gravel voiced and stubborn the
other gentle, understanding but with a layer of steel that is admirable for a
woman of the age when little was expected of them. As well as two imperial
performances from the heads of the House of Pollard, this story also features
two excellent turns from Charlie Norfolk and David Dobson as Violet Warren and
Michael Dee. I would very much have liked Michael to have stayed on as
Charley's companion if that could have been arranged somehow, he's cheeky and
likeable and would make an excellent foil.
Stories Mentioned: Since there is so much to catch her
parents up on much of The Fall of House Pollard turns out to be a love letter
to Charley's travels with the Doctor. If you are a fan of that period (and
let's be honest you would have hardly picked this set up otherwise unless you
are subject to whims) then this is will be a real treat.
'Edith, that was her name' 'I believe so, sir. A
spinster, wasn't she? When she did what she did' 'Such a waste. Louisa found
her, you know. As if that winter weren't bad enough for Lotty...' - The
Chimes of Midnight
'Said a chap in Singapore swore blind he danced with
Charlotte on New Year's Eve at the Raffles hotel. Grayle...' - Seasons of
Fear
'The boy came to you himself in the end, didn't he? What
was his name...Medford?' 'Merchford.' - Storm Warning
'I know the name of every person on that manifest. From
Lord Tamworth to the lowliest cabin boy.'
'We haven't heard from Sissy. Not in a long while. She's
fallen in with rather a rum lot.' - Gallifrey: A Blind Eye
'You've had Agents looking for me?' 'Everywhere you may
have arrived. Everywhere the Prolixity touched. Viyrans with the time virus
could be placed at the appropriate junctures' 'Where?' 'London. Malebolgia.
Karachi. Singapore. Endrara. Simerian System. Gallifrey.'
Sparkling Dialogue: 'The way things stand I can't even pay
for this telephone call!'
'I was on the airship but I was saved before it went down.
Whisked away by an unbelievable, impossible, marvellous man.'
'We all thought Lotty was lost but I never realised I was
too.'
'Thank heaven there were only the two of them. Whatever would we have done with three!'
Great Ideas: The money has run dry at House Pollard and
there is a reasonable offer on the table for the estate. It would appear that
Richard spent a great deal of money looking for Charley after the airship
crashed into France, any clue that might suggest that she didn't make it on
board was followed up. Time was Christmas used to be such a noisy affair at the
House of Pollard, the girls giggling and laughing and running around but now
the House is a deserted, cold draughty place that will be taken up with
academic study come the Yuletide season. Richard and Louisa have been taken in
by all manner of cheats and false spiritualists who claim to be able to get in
touch with Charley from the great beyond, which caused the haemorrhage of
another incredible sum of money. There was a time when Richard Pollard
associated with the top brass in politics, Louisa genuinely believes that he
could have tackled Wallis Simpson in his heyday. Since the crash Richard sold
off his gold stocks unwisely, had an awful run with the currency markets, gave
some bad advice to some unsavoury types and had to pay a considerable
settlement to avoid being dragged through the courts, not to mention the
Doctors bills and Detectives. Charley cheekily informs her father of what the
next big things might be to improve his financial situation. I'm not sure the
Doctor would approve but it is the least she can do given her flight was the
catalyst for his financial ruin. Apparently motor cars are the way to go...
Audio Landscape: Going through books, the rumbling,
screaming Prolixity, scrubbing vegetables, running water, horses clip-clopping
in the background, wind, scattering papers, Viyrans expunging knowledge (how do
you make a sound effect of that?), hydraulics, memory adjustment screams,
Viyrans stomping into view.
Musical Cues: Delicate, subtle, barely registering at times
because the drama that is unfolding does not require any bombast.
Isn't it Odd: Mrs Warren turns out to be nothing more than a
pleasant, accommodating maid servant but there is something about how she is
written for/portrayed in the early scenes that made me think that she was
trying to seduce Richard Pollard: 'I did it how you liked it last time.'
I was convinced she was up to no good when nothing could be further than the
truth.
Standout Scene: Richard remembering that he got the tip about
investing in motor cars but not having a clue where from. Heartbreaking.
Result: Character drama of the highest order and
satisfyingly tying up threads from Charley's time with the Doctor, The Fall of
House Pollard is by a small margin the most accomplished story of the set. The
soundscape is minimalist because the action is scaled right back and this story
is given over to a great deal of talking, conversations that are long overdue
between Charley and her mother and father. The first half of the tale reveals
just how badly things have fallen for Charley's family in her absence and
delays the reunion that I was foaming at the mouth for. At one point I wondered
if we were only going to be exploring the ramifications of her failure to
return to her parents and tell them that she is alive without them ever meeting
but Matt Fitton is simply make you wait for the really good stuff until you are
well into the second half. There are questions to be answered, truths to be
faced and bridges to mend and I would say that the long dialogue scenes between
the family justify the existence of this set alone. There is a great deal more
to recommend but this serves as a poignant coda to Charley's adventures with
the Doctor. India Fisher, Anneke Wills and Terrance Hardiman excel and I truly
believed that this was a genuine (if dysfunctional) family unit. If the ending
seems unjust after all the therapy that has paid off then that is further
testimony to how well these three characters work together and that it would
have been nice to spent some more time with Richard and Louisa. I hope the
injustice of the Viyrans interference is rectified one day, I would like to see
Charley back home with her parents and settled eventually. The extra ten
minutes are justified and very welcome. I didn't expect anything as rewarding
as this in the set: 9/10
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