Here He Comes in a Great Big Tractor: The face of the Doctor may change but the hearts stay the same. If you think for even one moment that John Barrowman is hamming it up as the Doctor or putting far too much theatrical gusto into his performance then I suggest you go and watch the sixth Doctor’s era all over again. If anything, he’s underselling it. He keeps saying the villains name because it is brilliantly funny and for no other reason. He’s not just wearing the Doctor’s coat, he’s rocking it! Hearing Jack call the sixth Doctor ‘chicken’ is worth the admission price alone. The Doctor thinks he is nothing but a braggadocios fliperdigibbet. Jack playing the sixth Doctor with a big gun, murdering his way through the universe isn’t that far removed from the Doctor of season 22. It’s not as controversial as you might think. First he slaughters the peoples of the universe with weapons, then he impresses them with his wisdom and then he is charming. A hard one to pin down. It is inferred at one point that Jack has had sex in the sixth Doctor’s coat (what an idea) because he heads back to the TARDIS and sings tacky seventies porn music as he walks through the door. When you’re as antediluvian as he is you learn to improvise per adventure. He makes it up as he goes along, even if he can make it appear as though he had it plotted out all along. He wants the address of the Doctor’s tailor so he can burn the building down. Jack berates himself that he wasn’t up to the coat. Saving untold billions is just how he rolls. Does Jack really offer to snog old Sixie?
Softer Six: At the point of regenerative collapse, the sixth Doctor falls into the arms of Captain Jack who absorbs all of that regeneration energy. He suggests that being the Doctor requires tact and delicacy and no guns. Wits are a far better weapon. A wandering philosopher in exile. A fount of wisdom and kindness. And above all, humble. This is the sixth Doctor describing himself! Yeah, I was laughing too. He believes a heightened vocabulary is nothing to apologise for. He can’t remember why he was dying, which is useful for not contradicting The Last Adventure. He admits that he is not the marrying kind but Jack has already met his wife (what a tease Goss is). In the great coat exchange, the Doctor rather wants to keep Jack’s because he cuts a dash in it. He apologises on behalf of the ninth Doctor for abandoning Jack – sometimes he’s not great at apologising so he is getting it in early. Several lifetimes early. When you’ve lived as long as he has its easy to forget the bits that don’t fit: see now that is exactly the sort of adherence to continuity I wish the River Song series would stick to. Not thinking up elaborate ways for the past Doctors to forget about her. Just telling the story they want to tell and letting the listener deal with the issue of contradictory continuity. If they like the story, trust me they will find a way of making it fit in.
Standout Performance: A lot of the fun of this release comes down to listening to John Barrowman doing a really hammy impression of Colin Baker’s Doctor. It’s as bonkers as that sounds and is both mildly irritating and really, really funny. So I’ll call that a success. In fact, it is more an amalgam of Colin Baker and Sylvester McCoy’s Doctor (but then it is supposed to be Doctor 6.5) and if those are your least favourite Doctors then you’re in for a world of trouble. In Barrowman’s charismatic hands, this is a wild ride.
Sparkling Dialogue: ‘Aggressive statuary. Have I done that?’
‘You can tell a bucket about your enemies from the quality of their soft furnishings!’
‘You? You’re not my Doctor! You’re a rail replacement bus!’
‘You and Davros sitting in a tree. K-I-S-S-I-N-G…’
‘Captain Jack Harkness! Amoral space adventurer!’
Great Ideas: It’s almost a shame that the Big Finish marketing machine was all over this release because the opening is genuinely arresting and would have been far moreso had images of Jack in the sixth Doctor’s coat not been plastered all over social media to try and encourage people to buy this set. Just why is the sixth Doctor dying in Captain Jack’s arms?
Standout Scene: Even funnier than Captain Jack doing a sixth Doctor impressions is the sixth Doctor doing a Captain Jack impression. Lordy lord. This is very funny stuff. You literally have a scene with Jack playing the sixth Doctor conversing with the sixth Doctor pretending to be Jack. What madness is this?
Result: ‘If you’re single and ready to mingle…’ I was initially perturbed by the cover that was released for this release, wondering if perhaps Big Finish had finally jumped the shark. It’s the sort of godawful mash up of continuity that Gary Russell used to perpetuate. I should have known better to trust Goss and Handcock, because everything they touch these days seems to turn to gold. If you can, check out the trailer that was release to co-incide with this release. It’s a blast. Piece of Mind is as insane, gaudy and continuity driven as the sixth Doctor era mixed with the confidence and charisma of Captain Jack. The story bombards with its big revelation at the beginning and then offers no explanation as to why Jack is suddenly behaving like a cross between the sixth and seventh Doctors. You’re expected to just go with the flow and enjoy the ride for a while. It’s one of Goss’ wittiest scripts, finally let off the leash completely and able to dive into complete absurdity. I haven’t seen Colin Baker comically matched with anybody this sublimely for years, not since the time the sixth Doctor came up against Banto Zame in The One Doctor. He and Jack make quite a pair. If you’re looking for a multi-layered plot then you’re going to be disappointed but if you come to this particular release with an expectation of outrageous farce and a comical look at both the sixth Doctor and Captain Jack then you’re in for a treat. I particularly like how they are contrasted against each other, pointing out each others flaws and ultimately learning plenty of each others strengths. Jack learns what it means to be the Doctor in a fairly profound way, which I didn’t expect from such an outrageous tale. I’m not I really paid too much attention to what was actually happening in the story, I was too busy falling for the irresistible chemistry between Barrowman and Baker. I can’t think of a Big Finish release that is quite this obsessed with sofas: 8/10
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