What's it about: The Doctor and Flip visit Victorian London,
where investigators Jago and Litefoot explore theatrical performances that have
echoes through the Doctor's past lives...
Softer Six: The Doctor is trying to offer Flip a little
history and culture, like a father trying to get his child into history.
Because his latest companion is from 21st Century Earth he is willing to make
pop culture references but it clearly pains him to do so. The Doctor tends to
bring a fresh perspective to a grisly murder. In a multitude of realities there
must be some where the Doctor did succumb to his darker impulses. A wardrobe
featuring hundreds and hundreds of the Doctor's coat? He's mocking the Doctor,
as good as waiting outside the TARDIS and squirting a water flower in his face.
If it is emotions that the Valeyard is feeding on, can you imagine an
incarnation of the Doctor that was more suited for the larder? It suddenly
makes sense of the Doctor's erratic behaviour during his Trial. The Valeyard
was deliberately providing him with as much fuel for the fire as possible to
set him off like a powder keg. The more he emotes, the more it nourishes his
nemesis. It will make me watch season 23 in a whole new light. All the Valeyard
understands is corruption and degradation of everything the Doctor holds dear.
He threatens to tell the Doctor what becomes of Flip. Stage Fright reaches a
fine conclusion about why the Doctor will always best the Valeyard. Because he
has friends to support him. If that sounds remarkably twee then don't worry,
it's played out in an uplifting, can't get the smile off my face way. He
ponders what he must do that makes the Valeyard (who is essentially the Doctor)
hate himself so much. The Doctor knows the Valeyard will find him when he is
ready.
Flipping Heck: 'Lad! Oi whiskers, d'you wanna wear that
pie?' I think the best way to describe the reaction to Flip has been mixed.
She's appeared in eight adventures in total, only two more than Mel did on the
television, and it looks like after the cliffhanger of Scavenger and the reveal
of what happened to her in The Widow's Assassin her story has been pretty much
tied up. That's not to say that further adventures cannot be written, it would
seem that some time passed between the end of her first trilogy (Wirrn Isle)
and the beginning of her second (Antidote to Oblivion). This is not a companion
in the mould of Evelyn Smythe who took the sixth Doctor on a journey of
discovery, she's more like a companion of old. A mate, somebody to tag along on
adventures and bring some danger and derring do with her. Whilst that might be
underselling her slightly, Flip's biggest salvation comes in the form of Lisa
Greenwood who plays her with infectious enthusiasm and brings a bit of street
cred to the sixth Doctor's tenure. The relationship between her and Sixie is
more akin to that of a father and child than I have seen in Doctor Who, the age
gap between Colin Baker and Lisa Greenwood is a factor but so is the fact that
Flip is so reckless and like a frustrated parent the Doctor is often heard
berating her for it. I thought they were a fun combination and I would have
welcomed some more adventures but ultimately I'm not entirely sure where Flip
could have taken us if there wasn't that much of her character to explore
beyond 'street wise.' However her inclusion in this set is very welcome since
we are covering a lot of ground in Sixie's Big Finish tenure. Flip recalling
her trip to the London Dungeon is hilarious, it is exactly that sort of (sorry)
flippant remark that made her so funny. She has no hankering to tread the
boards herself, it isn't really her thing after the year three talent show
where she got terrible stage fright. The Doctor is surprised, he didn't think
she was afraid of anything. Somehow Flip manages to boil down the enormous
concept of the Valeyard down to a single pop culture reference: he's Darth
Vader. The Doctor, if he turned to the Dark Side. When it comes to calming the Doctor
down, Flip provides some really terrible entertainment to shake him out of his
rage.
Theatrical Fellow: You would think that Jago & Litefoot
would be synonymous with Tom Baker's fourth Doctor but after paring the dynamic
duo with Sixie for a series of their own range and then two trips in the TARDIS
with him too the man with the rainbow coloured coat has taken the lead with
them. Jago's pockets are ladened with coins at the moment and it is having a
transformative effect on his character. Described by the Valeyard as providing
effusively entertaining and eruditely epigrammatic introductions to his stage
shows. Jago considers the plot of Planet of the Spiders 'a bit far fetched.'
Posh Professor: Just as the Doctor adopts a parental role
towards Flip, Litefoot often has to assume that role for Jago who is a man of
extremes and needs them tempered on occasion. He receives the highest of
accolades from the Doctor; there is no ailment so serious and no death too
macabre that the good Professor Litefoot cannot diagnose. The Doctor and
Litefoot spend more time around death than is healthy for any soul.
Standout Performance: Jayston finally gets the chance to
swish his cloak again and give the audio performance of a lifetime. I'm not
sure how he is going to top what he achieves here in The Brink of Death. In the
latter half of Stage Fright I would go as far as to say we've not heard such
masterful villainy in many a year.
Sparkling Dialogue: 'My society is divided between various
houses. It follows you all the way through the Academy' 'What like Hufflepuff
and Slitheren?' '...I suppose.'
'These scenes are all echoes of how I died.'
'You can maketh yourself whatever the heck you wanteth!'
Great Ideas: Why is the Valeyard staging the Doctor's deaths
on stage in Victorian London and then claiming the lives of the other actors?
The Palace Theatre has been closed all month, paid for upfront by a mysterious
benefactor. A vanity project, perhaps? The Valeyard is trying to get the
Doctor's attention by killing his victims and carting them off to the morgue
dressed as friends of his. Litefoot has the concept of regeneration explained
to him in detail by the Doctor and an explanation of who the Valeyard is...the
foreshadowing begins. The Valeyard has been bleeding these kids of their life
force to prolong his own obscene existence.
Audio Landscape: Rats, cobbled streets, pub atmosphere,
ruffled paper, doorbell, a tiny explosion pipped by an enormous one.
Isn't it Odd: It seems that the Valeyard has taken a leaf out
the Master's school of pseudonyms. He's calling himself Mr Yardvale, a name so
tough to crack it might just take the Doctor to the end of time to decipher its
meaning and uncover his foe. Although to be fair to Matt Fitton, the Valeyard
is rather trying to get the Doctor's attention so perhaps that was the idea.
Standout Scene: The staging of the climax of The War Games
by the Valeyard with Flip as Zoe. Impulsively fun.
Result: 'Our courtroom confrontations were pure ambrosia
for me!' The sixth Doctor, Flip, Jago & Litefoot might not be your
first choice of top trump team but the chemistry that exudes between them is
ridiculously addictive. Sixie all piss and vinegar, Flip with boundless
enthusiasm and wit, Jago dropping alliteration bombs and describing everything
to the hilt and Litefoot keeping everyone in check and attempting to solve some
grisly murders. I don't exaggerate when I say this is the best Flip has ever
been and it makes me quite sad that we wont see her in the near future since Lisa
Greenwood has really found her groove. Her earthiness fits in very well in the
Victorian London setting. However Michael Jayston steals the show from under
everybody's feet in Stage Fright, the Valeyard re-enacting the Doctor's deaths
in his own, twisted, theatrical ways. Jayston is allowed to step out of the
shadows and lock horns with the Doctor head on and it's a healthy reminder of
the fantastic rivalry that was brewed between him and Colin Baker in Trial of a
Time Lord (say what you will about it, the acting was frequently astonishing)
before their real tussle in the sixth Doctor's curtain call. It seems very
appropriate that in a box set that not only celebrates the sixth Doctor's life
but also his entire life to that point, that certain pivotal moments of his life
should be played out in his penultimate story. If you can call this a
celebration, it is a dark one where the death of the Doctor is championed and
his forthcoming regeneration is foreshadowed in a dramatic and creative way. I
also really like how the one major criticism about the sixth Doctor - his
emotional attitude - is worked into the plot with such class. It could be his
downfall. We've had an unnerving horror cum high concept jigsaw, an outer space
morality tale and a theatrical delight so far in the Last Adventure box
set...what on Earth are they saving for the climax? Without featuring the
pivotal companions of the sixth Doctor (Peri & Evelyn without a doubt) we
have been treated to a fine celebration of his audio era; complex storylines
(the Charley arc), wonderful friends (Flip, Jago & Litefoot) and a
fascinating future (Constance) with all shades of the sixth Doctor on display.
Add in the Valeyard and it feels remarkably comprehensive. We've had some
fun...now it's time to die. Stage Fright skipped by in a heartbeat and provided
some magical entertainment. I was pretty much hooked throughout: 9/10
4 comments:
I loved the climax - the affirmation of the difference between the Doctor and the Valeyard, and what could be a better reason for having old friends in the story?
I thought it was possibly the best of Flip so far - yes, flippant, and impulsive, and a bit reckless and foolhardy. But her actions at the end were entirely in keeping with her character and utterly charming. I'd like to hear more from her - possibly 6 & Peri at her wedding?
While I enjoyed hearing Jago, Litefoot, and Flip, this story also really made me miss Evelyn, both from a "how would her story have gone" point and a "I miss Maggie Stables" view.
I have yet to listen to this box set (I hope I will have a little more time this next weeks) but I feel I'm gonna miss Peri and Evelyn in this farewell to the Sixth Doctor. C'mon, they were the ultimate companions to old Sixie, and wehereas ,for obvious and very sad reasons we couldn't have Evelyn, what about the longest Sixie serving companion?? didn't Peri deserved more to be in here than companions that have only been with 6 for a few adventures? (or companions inherited from future incarnations who, at the end, the Sixth Doctor didn't even remember travelling with)
I loved this! but then again I'm a huge fan of Jago and Lightfoot and the Valeyard, I love Victoriana and the idea of stage fright exemplifying the doctor's death?
I'll say more about why the idea of the sixth doctor confronting his darker self means so much to me next time (sinse I think I'm going to be defending the last of this set), but really there were points I was choked up here, jago playing the brigadier?
I will be the first to admit I never liked Flip much, indeed she seemed very much an excuse for another Rose Tyler Wonabe in the tardis. While I did enjoy sevral of her outings (especially Curse of davros, fourth wall, scavenger and antidote to oblivian), it was not largely because of her, indeed only in Scavenger and to a lesser extent Brude of ares did she actually feel like she had any point in the story.
All that being said I'd agree with the above comment that this is probably the best we've seen from Flip, or at least the most heart warming addition she's made to any story, possibly even more than her plight in Scavenger.
While I also agree with the comment that it would've been lovely to see Perry and Evelyn here, Evelyn's absense is of course understandable, but with Perry most definitely unable to meet the sixth Doctor again before The Widdow's assassin (and I'm really not a fan of the timy wimy oh they forgot no consequence approach), I do see why she didn't make it into this box set for plot reasons, but I won't say that any of the companions here short changed us, and that goes as much for Flip as Jago and Lightfoot, Charley or even Mell.
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