Edwardian Adventuress: 'I've been to a lot of places,
I've been to a lot of times and the one thing that's always there, the one
constant...people die. Everyone dies.' There is an air of finality to
Charley's opening monologue that speaks of this being her closing adventure.
Cleverly Matt Fitton sets this up so it could be a very satisfying finale for
her but also leaving open possibilities to pick this up at a later date. As far
as her character is concerned there is only really one story that fully
exploits all the potential of the past (The Fall of House Pollard) and the rest
have been less probing and more showing how Charley reacts in certain
situations. Regardless, she has been excellently written throughout and given
some thoughtful moments and strong dialogue. If the idea of this set was to
prove that Charley had to the ability to go it alone then I would call it a
complete success. However since the events of this story also scream of closure
it would have to return as something completely different.
Charley is grateful for the chance to see her parents one
last time. She never knew how much she missed them until they were there in
front of her. She wished she could have seen him too before the end.
She's been to more places and seen more sights than most people ever get to
experience in a lifetime. Charley feels as though she has lived several
lifetimes, even though she is barely older than when she started. In a moment
that quite choked me up Charley admits that she never got to have a child...and
she doesn't know how that makes her feel. She discovers just how disposable she
is when the Viyrans inform them that they have found a new human agent...and
somehow I knew it was going to Robert Buchan. Charley has some understanding of
temporal causality. Described as being a little bit ordinary looking (I would
have thrown something back at Millicent for this but I suppose she has every
right to be angry given she is Robert's long suffering wife). The bitchy
tension between Charley and Millicent is delightful to listen to ('Charley
to my friends. You can call me Miss Pollard...'). Her travels with the
Doctor taught her that thinking that life cannot be wiped out because we are
here already doesn't mean a thing - everything can change. The Web of Time can
shake apart and break in a strong breeze and the Viyrans are sending a
hurricane. She certainly picked up a great deal of temporal knowledge during
her travels, I would say (Romana aside) that she is the most knowledgeable
individual in the mechanics of time travel to have ever travelled in the
TARDIS.
Sparkling Dialogue: 'You idiots. You haven't got any
idea of what the Viyrans are capable of when they're being reasonable and
you've just antagonised them.'
'You don't have to go back and end all life...because it's
going to happen anyway.'
'I know life can have some pretty awful symptoms; greed,
revenge, fear but there are people out
there treating them. Doctors if you like. And I do what I can. But there are
good symptoms too. Side-effects like joy, love, adventure!'
'I'm never serious...but I'm always shockingly sincere!'
Great Ideas: Many species are now converging on the
Prolixity and require decontamination. Original Amethyst strains have adapted
and mutated. The Viyrans are drawing all viruses in whilst tracking them to
their source. Not the Amethyst Station or even the war that the Viyrans were
created to tidy up after... The Viyrans are convinced that they can complete
their mission to destroy the viruses without moving from the Prolixity since
they all seem to be converging here. They also think that the Lamentation
Cipher is something that is inside Charley and it frightens them. The Viyrans
created the Prolixity. When a aggressive strain of virus escaped the
laboratories it made for the Prolixity, having developed some form of
sentience. They captured it inside a containment field and decided to detonate
an incendiary within the field. As a feature of the time virus, the Viyrans can
now travel in time. In the Prolixity they can traverse time through a portal via
the power of thought. When the containment incendiary was detonated the virus
attempted to avert its own destruction backwards through time. The virus is
the Prolixity, a tear in space-time extending back as far as can be measured.
That might be one hell of an info-dump told in a fashion that if you haven't
been paying attention in the previous stories (shame on you) then you will be
completely lost but it does at least find a clever way of clearing up how the
Prolixity came to be. The Prolixity provides a window on history, one where
they can analyse and track every virus back to Amethyst and beyond. Many
viruses were dispersed further back in time, beyond the beginnings of this
galaxy. One virus escaped beyond the beginnings of life in the universe...and
that is the new Viyran mission. A self proliferating, self replication
virus...that we happen to call life. Evolution, the constant capacity
for change, that is the infection. I think this a rather clever development
because it uses the rather cold and clinical backdrop to this series to
generate a serious threat for Charley to deal with. The Viyrans are just about
obsessed enough with their work to be willing to wipe out all life in the
universe to ensure they have stamped out every virus, especially if life itself
happens to be one. The unique Viyran amongst their number is from
pre-pre-history, the time when the Masters first sent the Viyrans out in the
universe. If necessary, the Viyrans will deploy deadly force to ensure that
their work continues...as Robert Buchan learns when his men are all eliminated.
The Viyrans were frightened that Charley would terminate their mission by
summoning the Pre-Viyrans. Charley is being used as a carrier of a virus that
will take the Viyrans back to the same condition as they were in the early
days. Bert Buchan features in one of the more disturbing deaths in an audio for
some time...screaming as he melts away to nothing.
Isn't it Odd: You would have had to have been paying very
close attention to the rest of the set in order for The Viyran Solution to make
any sense. It is almost entirely plot driven and has a great many expository
moments that push the series towards its epic climax. On criticism of the
series would be that it seems to have split its stories into two categories;
plot and character with two stories revelling in the former (the opening and
conclusion) and two focussing on the latter (the two stories in the middle).
Whilst there are elements of both in all stories I wouldn't say there is one
adventure that has an equal amount of both, like all the best stories.
Standout Scene: Matt Fitton opens with a revealing speech
and a dramatic set piece featuring Charley about to open an airlock and commit
suicide. After the title music we are several hours in the past and the entire
story is about to lead up to this conclusive decision. How on Earth did Charley
get to this point?
Result: 'All in all it's been...rather marvellous.' I
think I realised a long time ago (around about the time of The Apocalypse
Element) that I really enjoy stories that stress big ideas, especially when the
plot itself and the explanations are dense and thoroughly explored. Brotherhood
of the Daleks is one such example and there were plenty more in the first three
series of Gallifrey. You can add The
Viyran Solution to that list, a series of complicated explanations that might
bring out those who enjoy light and fluffy adventures in hives but manages to pull together all the intelligent ideas that
have been generated by this set and create a dramatic and universe-wide threat
to be overcome. This is conceptual storytelling at its most striking, posing
some insane concepts such as asking you to consider that life in the universe
sprang into existence accidentally as a consequence of temporal tinkering at
the other end of time. It's bat shit crazy, but it works and what Barnes and
Fitton have done is to carve out a fascinating new corner of the universe for
more Big Finish stories to be told in. I loved the further exploration of the
Viyrans (although I still think there is more to be done with them...I would
like to meet the Creators), I have loved the chance to tie up so many loose
ends from Charley's time in the TARDIS and I have really loved the opportunity
to be reminded of what a great director and musician Nick Briggs is. This timey
wimey (shudder) epic wouldn't be half as good if it wasn't for the stunning
production values. My one complaint about The Viyran Solution is that it seems
to be building to a real crescendo but it lacks the biting climax that four
hours worth of storytelling demands. I was expecting something a little more
dramatic (although it does end on a big bang). Let's hope that means there is
more to come...to tie up the spanking new loose ends that have been left
hanging. I was a fool to question the integrity of this series, it has far
exceeded my expectation by being above average at worst and excellent at best: 8/10
1 comment:
Never been a fan of Charley myself, I have always prefered Lucie any day. A Lucie spin-off would have been great!
But it seems by your reviews that these series are worth a try. So, do you recommend them?
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