What's it about: From time to time, everybody makes mistakes. Everybody has things from their past they'd like to undo, but nobody gets a second chance. What's done is done and we can't change that. Zoe's mistakes have led her to imprisonment at the hands of the Company. But when news reports trigger memories of the Doctor, Jamie and an appalling threat, she begins to sense a way out. An opportunity for redemption opens up to anyone willing to take it. Nobody can alter what's been done. Nobody gets a second chance. Or do they?
Brains'n'Beauty: Zoe is haunted by the events that happened
on Artemis because she feels as though she failed the people who died, that her
skills weren't good enough to stop the virus that was ripping through both
metal and flesh. It was a valuable lesson for her to learn, to realise that
sometimes she wasn't smart enough to make a difference. It punctured her ego
and left a scar. Now in the present she has a chance to make amends for those
deaths, to prevent the same thing from happening again. How could she possibly
refuse? Being able to look at the Doctor and Jamie in the flesh again is an
experience that cements her belief that she had more adventures with them than
the one true memory of them that she can trust (their adventure on the Wheel
with the Cybermen).
Who's the Yahoos: Jamie wants to know why the TARDIS never
takes them back to Scotland and the Doctor cheekily suggests that the Ship
might scared that he will leave if it does, to become a Laird.
Oh My Giddy Aunt: The Doctor can lose the TARDIS key in an
instant because he keeps a lot of things in his pockets. He has brooding dark
eyes with scan the room as he fidgets uncomfortably.
Standout Performance: Wendy Padbury has always been critical
of her interpretation of Patrick Troughton's second Doctor but she has nothing
to worry about. She has perfected it to a fine art by this point, to a point
where I would say she rivals even Frazer Hines' authentic portrayal. She's got
both the subtle consideration and menace of the character and the panicked
apologies to perfection. She also tackles two versions of Zoe (taking her voice
up several registers when she is playing the younger version) and does a
passable Scots accent too. Where I have had some issues with the storytelling
in some of the Wendy Padbury narrated stories in the past I have never had a
problem with the delivery itself. Padbury is a marvellous actress and this
showcases her skills to a very high standard.
Sparkling Dialogue: 'Let's skip the capture and escape
stuff. We don't need that. Let's not pad it out.'
'I don't remember. What a brilliant abdication of
responsibility.'
'She gets to live, gets to dream of a second chance...'
Great Ideas: It has been a while since I have recoiled in
horror at a Big Finish cover like this for a long while. The Wheel billowing
with explosions, the second Doctor and Zoe looking remarkably perturbed and a
man centre stage screaming in horror as his face is eaten away by...
something.
It suggests that the very last companion chronicle (for the time being) is
going to be a dramatic affair. You cannot go back and change events in your
life, no matter how much you might want to. Every event in your life makes you
who you are. Does your life flash before your eyes when you die to give you a
final sense of peace as it all falls into place? How wonderful that a story
aping a quaint 60s science fiction show can ask such profound questions that
make you examine your own life with its prompts. Anything can die...space
stations, computers, dreams. Kym wants Zoe to focus on the negative emotions of
this particular memory and I agree that it might be the best way to lucidly
actualise them in her mind, it is often the most anxious moments of your life
that you can most vividly recall. Kym is looking older than when Zoe first met
her because the Company withholds your Spectrox allowance when you go off
payroll. I like how this story worms its way into the memories of Kym as well
as Zoe's, giving a new spin on the theme of remembrance and how it can cheat.
Space Station Apollo broke up two days ago for no readily apparent reason and
it looks like Artemis Station that the Doctor and company have arrived on is
about to go the same way. Sync-Ops is humans plugging themselves into computers
and interacting with them giving them a tactical advantage in warfare. A
computer virus that crosses from code to actual bacteria? The internet is
riddled with diseases that if they became a possibility it might mean the end
of the human race. That would teach those who put the damn things out there for
profit or pleasure a lesson. A fatal one. The code that is causing all of the problems
on Artemis is designed to eradicate the targeting systems of their weapons.
When it completes its work it is automatically linked to the nearest network,
as a means of wiping out an entire enemy. Apollo released it accidentally,
destroying them and submitting itself to Artemis. We're made aware of the
artificial tension that is generated by somebody narrating a story, when it is
told from one persons point of view we are denied the bigger picture and you
can suggest that people are in real danger through lack of information that
tells you otherwise. Zoe recalls that she thought the Doctor and Jamie are dead
because that was her overriding emotion at the time...but Kym points out that
that was clearly not the case. Much of the companion chronicles (and Big Finish
adventures that feature TV companions) are built around such falsehoods...we
know nothing terminal will happen to these characters because we have already
seen how they depart the series. We allow ourselves to be tricked into thinking
otherwise for our own entertainment. In a desperate moment of panic it becomes
clear that Earth is going to leave Artemis Station to its fate to prevent the
risk of the infection spreading. The people on board are collateral damage, an
unfortunate consequence of isolation. Given that the Doctor has the ability to
travel in time there was always going to come a time when they visited the
point where Zoe ends up in the future in incarceration. This allows Dorney to
play some lovely games, having the older Zoe reflecting on these past events
and able to make differences if she wants to. Would she go as far as re-writing
her own history to prevent her falling into the hands of the Company? Zoe soon
realises that this mission isn't one of mercy but an attempt to capture and
contain the virus, something that Kym can take to the Company to get back in
their good books. What an insanely dangerous scheme. One that could have
terminal possibilities for this time. She also comes to see that their presence
her was ordained, that they must have been there all along in order for the
events to take place as she remembers them. Nobody gets a second chance in
life. For a moment I thought John Dorney was going to take the remarkable step
of killing off the future Zoe that Big Finish have created, putting the
character to rest. It seems as though the story is heading that way with Zoe
having an opportunity to save her younger self by sacrificing her own life. I'm
in two minds as to how I would have felt. It's an unforgettable notion and would
have brought this range to a shocking conclusion. On the other hand this is
well realised period now and Zoe is a massive part of the that and I can only
hope for more stories (from The Early Years perhaps) that continue to exploit
what has been set up here. Instead Zoe uses that remarkable brain of hers to
remember the entire sequence of the code that makes up the virus and bends it
to her will. She's going to use it to destroy the Company and
only the
Company, the cancer at the heart of the Earth in this time period. The people
who incarcerated her and mistreated her terribly. What a formidable presence
she is when she has harnessed a powerful weapon and righteous anger directing
her actions.
Audio Landscape: Door opening, TARDIS arriving, party music,
smacking out a fire, computers beeping, Zoe typing, asteroid strikes, creaking
bulkheads, heart monitor, alarms, crackling fire, screams, the airlock door
ripping away and people being sucked into space, the gunshot, the station
breaking up around them.
Musical Cues: Who else would be suitable to write the music
for the final CC other than Lauren Yason and Richard Fox? Their soundtracks
have pretty much defined the best of the range, given the personal material the
emotional pitch it needed to really strike home and made many a story more
fluidic and enjoyable to listen to. As for their best work? They brought much
emotional sincerity to the Oliver Harper trilogy, worked magic with their
bubbly songs for The Scorchies and provided The Last Post with one of the
finest scores for a Doctor Who story, emphasising the ticking of the clock in a
calculated and escalating fashion. As soon as this pair start tinkling at the
piano the hairs on my arm seem to lift.
Isn't it Odd: I wonder if this story should have ended just
a few minutes earlier and left Zoe's fate ambiguous.
Standout Scene: I literally had shivers when the shit hit
the fan towards the end of episode one and the crew of Artemis Station realised
that they were being left to look after themselves to prevent infection of the
virus. It has attacked the system and is starting to eat away at the crew and
mass panic erupts. It's gripping. I wasn't at all prepared for the twist
that Kym was using the information that Zoe was giving her in the first episode
to make those events happen. She is using Zoe's foreknowledge of the near
future to turn it into a reality. What a fantastic twist, one which I could
only imagine the timey wimey (shudder) mind of Steven Moffat could have
foreseen. Devilishly clever. And Zoe turns out to be the person on the other
end of the call informing Artemis Station that they are on their own. The final
scene on the station between Zoe and Kym is one of the highlights of Big
Finish's catalogue and had me on the edge of my seat.
Result: 'Nobody gets a second chance in life...' This
is not where I thought the Companions Chronicles would park themselves for the
time being, the decision to bring them to a close with a second Doctor story
quite surprising. Keeping me off guard right until the end, just as they always
have done. I imagined a powerhouse first Doctor story would take this slot,
probably read by William Russell or Peter Purves since they have been the
strongest of the range. The second Doctor entries have been far more varied in
quality, the Zoe stories especially so (Fear of the Daleks and Echoes of Grey
did nothing for me whilst The Memory Cheats and The Uncertainty Principle were
both superb) but they have been building a mini arc of their own for some time
now (in the same vein as the Sara Kingdom and Oliver Harper arcs) based around
the idea of Zoe and her inconsistent memories of the Doctor and Jamie. John
Dorney scores a double whammy in Second Chances with both storylines proving to
be a gripping draw; the framing narrative coming to an unforgettable climax and
the space station based disaster movie utilising Zoe's skills in a riveting
race against time scenario. Brilliantly he finds a way to tie up the two
stories, bringing the horror of Zoe's haunting memory into the present and
having some intellectual playtime with the idea. The second episode reminds me
pleasingly of Peri & the Piscon Paradox, the events of the first part
taking on much greater meaning (both emotionally and narratively) when they are
re-considered in a different context. Second Chances is clever, personal,
dramatic, emotional and imaginative...all the strengths that have come to
associate with the strongest range Big Finish has ever put out. What a
fantastic opportunity to put them to rest on a euphoric high. This is one of
John Dorney's best ever scripts and if you know anything about the standard he
regularly delivers, this is high praise indeed: 10/10
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