What's it about: The year is 2163. Ten years since the Daleks invaded the Earth. One year until the Doctor, in his first incarnation, will help bring the occupation to an end. But for now, their reign of terror goes on. The TARDIS brings the Doctor and Peri to Scotland – enslaved, like everywhere else on the planet. But there are rumours of Dalek-free islands off its coast. Places where resistors and refuseniks are coming together, gathering arms and armour, preparing to strike back against the enemy. When the Doctor falls in with an unlikely group of freedom fighters making that dangerous journey to Orkney, he finds himself trapped – but not only by the Daleks, their robotised henchmen and their human collaborators. By history. Because history shows that for another year, resistance is useless... The rebellion must fail – and as a Time Lord, the Doctor can do nothing to help
Softer Six: We have the best of both worlds with the Doctor
and Peri these days. Once the black sheep of the Doctor/companion family, they
have both matured exponentially on audio to a point where the characters are
older and wiser and the actors are intimately acquainted and the net result is
a partnership that rivals the best of the best. I've always enjoyed the spiky
relationship between this pair but if you were to tell me that the day would
come when they would be my favourite Big Finish team over any other combination
of regulars I might have laughed in your face. There is a genuine warmth and
affection between them now that is palpable. And yet there is still that
spikiness and tension that rippled between them too, that can erupt when you
least expect it. The Doctor admits with a laugh how much he has missed her
these past five years. The Doctor has promised Peri a fresh start and complete
honesty. Like an authentic take on the first Doctor's adventures, the Doctor is
prevented from returning to the TARDIS to aid his rescue of Peri when it is
swallowed whole by a bog. Instead he has to ride across country in a
motorcycle, an image I would have loved to have seen on screen. It goes against
everything that he believes in but the Doctor cannot get involved. He doesn't
give a fig about the Web of Time, he just doesn't want to give the Daleks the
heads up about himself or the TARDIS. Trusting Peri with this information, he
asks her to do whatever it takes to prevent the Daleks from capturing him and
finding out his role in their demise. Even if that means extreme action... This
might be the only time in the Doctor's life where he has given his companion
permission to kill him, that's how high the stakes are. The Doctor promises to
never let Peri down again, a big guarantee to uphold. Listening to the sixth
Doctor talk about Dodo is just surreal. He chooses his friends very carefully
and his enemies usually choose him.
Busty Babe: Peri remembers that momentary fizz when the
Doctor
doesn't know where they are once they have landed. She saw enough
executions on Krontep to last her a lifetime. She's even more reckless these
days because she's enjoyed years of autonomy without his restraining influence.
After her experiences as the widows assassin her own name sounds funny in her
mouth like she is isn't sure who she is anymore. Because they have been apart
for so long Peri has started to wonder if the Doctor has changed more than she
thought and because it took him so long to look her up after the last time they
were split she wonders if he will just leave her to her fate. After all, he
doesn't seem to be particularly interested in getting involved in this conflict
with the Daleks. One moment that really stood was Peri calming Ross down in a
particularly tense situation when he doesn't think he can go on - this used to
be Peri that panicked in these fraught situations. She's furious with the
Doctor when he calls her a stupid woman and slaps him around the face, a
violent act that shows that she has really grown a pair. You have to feel sorry
for a woman who has spent the last five years in the thrall of a nasty from the
Doctor's worst imaginings and as soon as she gets her faculties back she is
preyed on by Varga plants and partially transformed. I think Peri might be in
need of some major therapy once her travels with the Doctor are over. Peri
channels Evelyn for a moment when the Doctor appears dispassionate about the
loss of one of their friends and she is appalled. Her reaction to the Varga
transformation is one of outright hysteria, a very natural response to having
your body and mind consumed by pure hate. The writers have Peri react to the
massacre at the end of this story in a way that Eric Saward should have had her
do in the mid-eighties. She's appalled at the loss of life and how the Doctor
got others to pull the trigger for him, keeping his hands nice and clean. In
that respect she doesn't think he has changed at all.
Standout Performance: Concentrating the story in Scotland is
another unique aspect, giving the story a distinctive location via the actors'
brogue. It's a great cast of actors with very natural chemistry, something
about how all the characters are working together desperately to survive that
gels them into a strong unit.
Sparkling Dialogue: 'Like brutal barons of old, the Daleks have
cleared the Highlands.'
'I've parked better.'
'Watch out the human race is coming...'
'The Daleks are evil...but they exist. It's not for
the likes of me to sign their death certificate.'
Great Ideas: The Dalek Invasion of Earth presented the ultimate
post apocalyptic nightmare, the subjugation of the human race by the most evil
creatures in the universe. Human beings were either exploited or killed. The
planet was raped of its resources. Whilst I question the execution of the story
in parts, on paper it is a compelling scenario and one of the few occasions
where the Doctor has been on the Earth to prevent its occupation by an alien
force. By the time he arrives to sort the problem out it the human race has
already suffered for over ten years. It's a huge stain on the planets timeline
and the Doctor's record. It is a period that has been mostly ignored since
given the end of the story has already been told but it provides Cavan Scott
and Mark Wright a fresh avenue to tell a Dalek story in, one where they can
explore the psychological ramifications of Dalek occupation without having the
burden of having to bring the invasion story to a climax. They can concentrate
on their handful of characters and how they are dealing with the nightmare
scenario. The human race is trying to hold onto its values but when it is every
man for himself the social niceties tend to go out the window. There is always
the chance that fresh writers can examine what was presented in an earlier
story and offer a gripping new spin on it and the idea that the Dalek neck
restraints are curved to prevent the slave workers from slicing their throats
open and free themselves from Dalek labour is a case in point. Pure Scott and
Wright. Meteor bombardments and sickness struck the Earth and then the Daleks
moved in six months later like the horsemen of the Apocalypse. The solar system
is blockaded and other worlds are unable to stand against the Dalek Empire. A
decade of occupation that almost brought the human race to its knees. Moira Brody
is on record as being the leader of the Scottish resistance, a woman who was
essential in the rebuilding of the Earth when the Daleks were defeated. Her
timeline has already been polluted by exposure to the Doctor and Peri and he is
starting to worry about further changes if they don't get her back where she
needs to be. A forest of Varga plants in Scotland? They are a particularly
nasty form of plant life native to Skaro and they have been shipped to the
Earth as another arm of the Dalek invasion. The Daleks are turning the Earth
into a battle platform that will be piloted through space and plan to shower
each planet with Varga seeds prior to their invasion. Varga literally means
'devourer.' If a return to the Dalek Invasion of Earth wasn't enough with an added
forest of Vargas, Scott and Wright throw in an ocean seething with Slythers to
truly take you back to the height of Dalekmania. Without realising it this band
of rebels have passed an intelligence test, managing to escape all the dangers
that have been put in their way and reach what was supposed to be an island of
safety. There are two types of robomen, the simpler versions and the Elite and
unwittingly the Doctor and his friends have been tested to see if they have the
appropriate skills to pass as one of the latter. Very sneaky. The Daleks are
growing tired of rebel factions springing up all over the world and want to
infiltrate those groups with sophisticated robomen that appear to be normal
human beings. The trouble with double agents that can blend in seamlessly is
that it can work both ways...and that's where things get a little be
complicated. Who can the Doctor and Peri trust? Who can the Daleks trust? After
all those years of fighting off Dalek subjugation is it any wonder that the
human race has developed a sense of xenophobia? Would they become as intolerant
of others as those who forced those feelings out of them? What if they had the
strength to make sure that no other races in the galaxy had a pop at them?
Would they really turn away from that opportunity? Fascinating questions this
story throws up. Whilst the Doctor and Peri don't get to bring and end to the
Dalek invasion (that was never on the cards), at least one arm of their attack
on the earth withers away and dies because of their intervention. Who knows, by
causing the Elite programme to fail they might have made a significant
difference to the events of The Dalek Invasion of Earth.
Audio Landscape: It's been a while since I have been this
impressed by the direction of a main range adventure and it comes as no
surprise that it was Nicholas Briggs that was responsible for bringing this two
hour long action set piece to life. Birdsong, a lynch mob, a Dalek saucer
descending and the landing ramp coming down, Robomen walking through wet mud,
the TARDIS swallowed by a bubbling bog, authentic Dalek spaceship background
noise and doors, lifted straight from The Dalek Invasion of Earth, pouring a
glass of liquor. heavy machinery in the refinery, motorbike spluttering out,
Daleks on the intercom, sparking Roboman helmet, gunfire, alarm, two Daleks
taken down by a truck, a bracing Scotland wind, a sheep on open land, Robomen
shooting at the truck, Dalek fire raining from the sky, the truck tipping down
a ravine, dogs barking, Varga plants smashing windows and slurping in hunger
for blood, seagulls screaming, waves both inside and outside the boat, a
screaming Slyther attacking the boat, heart monitor, high pitched whine, a huge
explosion, dragging the TARDIS out of the mud.
Musical Cues: I really enjoy Nick Briggs' soundtracks and
don't think we get nearly enough of them these days. He is more in favour of
ambient music rather than melodies which reminds me of the scores of stories
such as The Dalek Invasion of Earth ad The Daleks' Masterplan. There were
moments in Masters of Earth that reminded me strongly of Jubilee, The
Apocalypse Element and Dalek Empire. That's a good thing.
Isn't it Odd: It was a creative decision to update the
quality of the Daleks voices in Masters of Earth (the ones from Invasion Earth
were particularly effeminate dictators) and yet Briggs chooses to keep the
slurred voices of the Robomen authentic. I would have been bold and changed
those too because at times the remedial brogue of the metallic slaves makes
this sound like amateur hour. 'Escaped prisoner has escaped!' - Daleks have
never been known for their scintillating conversation but this bunch are
validly crass. With so many moments of high drama there were a few occasions
when the story descended into an awful lot of hysterical shouting.
Result: I have often complained in the past about certain
Big Finish stories coming across as big brash action adventure stories that
feel like soundtracks to missing stories, presenting big set pieces that should
be seen rather than heard. Rather than exploiting the audio medium for its
greatest strengths, the exploration of language and ideas, the stories instead
indulge in lots of shouting and explosions. Well I'm going to go against my own
argument when it comes to reviewing Masters of Earth because it features more
than your usual handful of action sequences and yet delivered by director
supremo Nicholas Briggs I was able to shut my eyes and see every frame of the
action taking place. Desperate rebels travelling across country and pursued by
Daleks at every turn, Masters of Earth presents a gripping scenario that is
well dramatised by the authors and expertly brought to life by the director.
The action is fast and furious and I was helplessly caught up in dramatic
kisses to Dalekmania throughout. The characters feel much more vivid than your
average 2014 main range adventure too; battered , bruised and desperate, this
band of unlikely friends have developed a no nonsense attitude to life that
sees them through the hardships of this story. It's an unusual Dalek story
insofar that the writers aren't in the position of having to put a stop to the
threat because that has already been dealt with elsewhere so they can
concentrate on their own band of characters and their journey exclusively. I
thoroughly enjoyed the Scottish setting and it was a delight to hear so many
distinctive accents in play, another unique selling point. Even the dynamic
between the Doctor and Peri has been given a fresh lick of paint. Whilst they
are far more comfortable with each other now they are older and wiser, her
return has brought a bit of that spikiness back to his character and she is
no-nonsense these days in an extremely forceful way. They make a great team but
there is room for some very interesting tension that comes from knowing each
other so well and trying to discover each other again after five years apart.
That I wasn't expecting. The final surprise is the fourth episode, which
from nowhere reveals that everything that we have been through in this story to
that point has been for a purpose. What appeared to be a plotless jaunt through
the Dalek invasion coheres into a very strong and well thought through
narrative. I was prepared to be very cynical about another Dalek story
(tenapenny these days) but this was much, much stronger than I was
expecting. I thought the setting and characters were brawny enough that this
could have been a pilot for a spin off series - mixing Terry Nation's Survivors
and Dalekmania. I'd buy them if they were as good as this: 9/10
1 comment:
I listened to this one the other day too and loved it. Really a strong classic adventure with some great twists. In fact this could easily have been a 6-parter I feel. Loved it.
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