What's it about: The TARDIS brings the Doctor, Steven and Vicki to the Italian city of Ravenna in the year 540 – besieged by the army of the celebrated Byzantine general Belisarius. Caught up in the fighting, Steven ends up on a boat bound for Constantinople, the heart of the Roman Empire. Rescuing Steven, however, is the least of the Doctor's problems – because he shouldn't be mixed up in this particular adventure at all. Someone has sabotaged his own personal timeline, putting him in the place of his First incarnation... but who, and why? The truth is about to be revealed – but at what cost to all of the Doctors, and to the whole future history of the planet Earth?
An English Gentleman: The Doctor manages to convince Vicki
and Steven in record time that he is a younger version of the Doctor, partly
because he is such an amiable fellow that it is hard to distrust and partly
because these companions ask intelligent questions. Listening to this story is
almost enough to make you weep, Davison instantly raises his game when he is
paired up with two such fine actors for his companions and it makes you wonder
just how his era would have fared had he been travelling with characters of the
calibre of Steven and Vicki rather than the drudgery of Adric and Tegan. The
Doctor ponders that all of his problems back in his first incarnation seem to
start with somebody wondering off...although that has been a problem throughout
all of his lives, let's be honest. Does the Doctor have the weight of history
pressing down upon him? During his first incarnation it would often seem to be the
case. The difference between what the Doctor and what the Monk do is that the
former cares about the consequences of his actions and the latter is relying on
the knock on effects of the consequences of is actions. Saving one life could
change everything, what a position to the overtly moral fifth Doctor in. The
Monk suggests that the first Doctor was much more decisive man and would have
made the impossible choice that the fifth refuses to make, the inaction of
which results in calamity for the timelines.
Alien Orphan: Vicki manages to boil the setting down to the
emotional level and wonders how people managed to live in these times, never
knowing if they were going to be conquered and ruled by somebody else. Vicki is
appalled at the very idea that she might be expected to perform services of a
certain nature for anybody, men of status or otherwise. Vicki is the past
mistress at poking her nose in other peoples business and being exactly where
she shouldn't be and Robson captures that mischievous streak in her nature
perfectly (and oddly enough when acting up like this Maureen O'Brien sounds
just like a teenager again).
Aggressive Astronaut: I love the dramatic irony of Steven
being paired up with the Monk but being completely unaware of who his companion
is. Of all of the Doctor's companions to land on their feet when swept away
from the Time Lord I think that Steven fares better than others. At times
during his tenure he had to hold up entire adventures and learn to cope on his
own. How cool is the notion of Steven as a chariot rider? He's used to handling
much more sophisticated equipment than a horse and there was excellent scope
for comic mileage in fitting him for this role. For once Steven has doubts that
he will be rescued, he knows that his Doctor would risk anything to find and
help him but isn't sure that his stand-in would do the same.
Standout Performance: I want hand out praise to Peter
Davison, who is clearly stoked at getting such a rich script or Graeme Garden,
who once again aces his role as the Monk. However it's Peter Purves and Maureen
O'Brien who are going to get the plaudits this time around because they capture
their exact voices from the 1960s in such a way that you would swear this was
recorded when they were still playing the roles in TV. It's uncanny. Whereas
Wendy Padbury and Katy Manning are noticeably older in their delivery, these
two are utterly authentic.
Sparkling Dialogue: 'No man should trust himself around
beautiful women.'
'Sometimes we need conflict. Often it's pointless and
destructive, yes but it's also how tyrants are defeated.'
'Imagine Roman spaceships! Imagine how cool they'd look!'
Great Ideas: Much like the early Hartnell adventures, The
Secret History starts educating as soon as the Doctor and company land in the
selected period of history. The Astardi were exiled here in their form and
blended into the world around them, sealed in stone and exiled here by those
who resent their power. If the Emperor of the most influential Empire in the
world is working under alien influence...well it could mean devastation for the
established course of history. Staged like a true historical adventure of the
early sixties, the Doctor and Vicki are separated from Steven but the plot
conspires to bring them together at a dramatic point. In this case it is the
chariot race but it could just as easily be the Doctor rushing in to Ian's
trial by combat in The Aztecs of Barbara spotting Ian in the arena in The
Romans. When there is money on the chariot racing, even the sick will forced to
ride on. At this point in the Doctor's life the Time Lords are new to his very
unique style of mopping up evil in the universe and when they spot a
discrepancy in the timelines big enough they are ready to pounce on his and
cauterise the wound to the timeline. Imagine the very idea of the Monk taking
on the role of the Doctor and all the havoc he could cause wandering through
his timeline and making alterations to his decisions. He could do a great deal
of damage and have a great of fun. Listening to him advise the Emperor in all
the worst ways is a great endorsement of the Doctor's lifestyle. The Monk
genuinely thinks he is building a better universe but he is motivated by his
love for somebody he has lost and that clouds the judgement. Mind you anybody
who wants to rewrite the entire universe is clearly suffering from a monumental
God complex in the first place.
Audio Landscape: Smashing on the door of the TARDIS, an
excitable crowd, doors opening, the creaking deck of a ship, seagulls screaming
in the sky, a horse screaming, an owl hooting, whinnying, cheering at the
chariots, coughing patients, the Time Lords descending.
Isn't it Odd: As much as I was hoping that this story was
going to be the one that introduced the idea of the Locum Doctors with some
skill, the pre-credits sequences is as awkward and as unnaturalistic as the
other two stories (but at least it gets straight to the point rather than
labouring it like the first two). The feeling in this story seems to be less
'let's go along with this guy and hope that he proves himself to be the Doctor'
and more 'he is the Doctor and we're stuck together so we may as well have an
adventure together and see what happens.' It's not great but it's the more
desirable of the two options. When we discover that the other stories in this
trilogy were just 'practice runs' for the Monk's plan in this story the writer
is as good as saying that those stories were irrelevant as he ploughs on and
does something intriguing with the formula himself. It's the equivalent of
having three Master stories in a trilogy and the bearded wonder making a grand
speech in he final adventure declaring 'those last two schemes of mine were
never meant to defeat you Doctor, they were just practice runs for this - my
Masterplan!' I cannot believe that a trilogy that was designed to see in the
200th release of Main Range adventures was structured in such a retarded
fashion. Should the Monk's actions in this story really be hinged upon his
reaction to an event in the long defunct eighth Doctor adventures? I liked
Tamsin and her inclusion in the range but an obscure reference to her being the
sole motivation for his meddling in this story seems a little underwhelming. If
you aren't aware of their relationship from the other range I could imagine you
feeling mighty short-changed. I am aware of it and even I find it a
little unfathomable. The story definitely switches to an eighties story in the
final episode, the Doctor coming up with a less than clever technobabble ending
to defeat the Monk. A shame because everything before that was rather smart.
Standout Scene: Savvy listeners will be aware that Graeme
Garden played a vital role in the final season of eighth Doctor adventures, a
villainous character from the Doctor's past who sold him out to the Daleks.
Whilst his name has been left out of the credits, JNT 'conceal the mystery'
wise, Garden has such an instantly recognisable voice that it is easy for the
regular Big Finish to put two and two together. Especially in this adventure, a
historical with time meddling aplenty where there is somebody influencing
events in a very cheeky way. I really enjoyed that the reveal of the Monk
wasn't a big cliffhanging moment but rather dropped in halfway through part
three where there were enough inexplicable things happening that the uncovering
of this meddlesome foe provides a perfect explanation for. It feels part of the
structure of the story rather than something that has been included for shock
effect like so many appearances of the Master did during the 1980s. It might
sound like a criticism but the story that has been presented is strong enough
to survive without the shock appearance of the Monk but I mean it as compliment
in the best possible way. His inclusion adds colour and charm to the piece but
it was doing very well before we found out who Quintus really was.
Result: The most assured of the Locum Doctors adventures by
some margin but it's isolated nature renders the other, lesser adventures in
this trilogy as something rather irrelevant and even addresses that they are.
It's less of a culmination of the trilogy and more of an example of how good
all three adventures should have been. The treats are manifold though; a rich
an engaging historical adventure in the style of a Hartnell story, a
challenging and engaging guest cast of characters affording excellent roles to
the cast, the surprise return of an old villain that works beautifully well in
this context and with these companions, the surprisingly charming team of the
fifth Doctor, Steven and Vicki and typically gorgeous direction from Barnaby
Edwards. It strikes me that the last time Eddie Robson and Edwards teamed up
they produced magic (Fanfare for the Common Men) and this isn't far off
reaching the same standard. Certain contributors to the main range (Morris, Dorney,
Robson, Edwards) can always be relied to generate the best results and I wonder
if perhaps they should be left in charge of a range that is shockingly
inconsistent month in, month out. The last episode opens on the most glorious
of conceits and plays about with it successfully to justify the awesome return
of a baddie from the past. Appropriately enough, removing the Doctor from the
action has the adverse effect of reminding us why we need him there in the
first place (Turn Left did something very similar). The Secret History isn't
the best of the best as far as Big Finish is concerned (and it's a shame that
Rob Shearman couldn't have been tempted back to write the celebratory release
because he is still the writer responsible for the ultimate audio knockouts)
but it's a stonking good audio all the same from the ever reliable (and showing
no signs of exhaustion) Eddie Robson. I was educated, entertained and
surprised. The only story of this trilogy I would heartily recommend: 8/10
2 comments:
I really enjoyed this one. Great appearences by everyone, a surprising historical period, and if your going to toss off an explanation for the prior stories, monkeyings by the monk is as good as any. Sinse I have really strong memories of the 8th doctor's adventures and the horrific events of To the death, I liked the idea of the Monk so affected by Tamsin's death myself sinse it made him more than just the stock "well I'm going to fudge up time because I'm eeeeeeevil!" sort of villain.
It's funny, I'm listening to the companion chronicles at the moment and it's almost weerd how accurate the historical period feels with Steven Vicky and the fifth doctor.
The emperor and the general were both superbly played, indeed I have extremely strong memories of the entire guest cast and sinse it's now a couple of weeks sinse I heard this one that is saying something.
My only really major issue with this one, is there really was enough plot there for two stories, the ending came so much out of left field it wasn't even on the pitch. I'd have loved to see more of the devastated timeline that was predicted, Architects of history style and have a better way for the Doctor to set matters right, perhaps even taking into account elements of the first two stories somewhere. Then again, sinse Bf seem wedded to the trilogy format whether or not it suits their plot, this probably wouldn't have succeeded and would likely have cost them more of the historical end. Still, I do rather feel that we'd have been better with starting this series with Last of the Cybermen, then having Secret history as a second part, and perhaps a doctor monk substitute story as the third, missing out the drectacula defectors, which is the only one of these Locum doctors stories I've really felt was an absolute clunker.
I would never have pegged the 5th doctor's story to be my favorite of these three before listening to them, but here we are. It was great stuff. It helps that it features two of my very favorite companions. I'm just getting to the Tamsin story in my purchases of the 8th Doctor adventures, so I guess I have tragedy to look forward to.
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