Physician, Heal Thyself: Bernice might be the Doctor’s best friend but River is his wife. Since Bernice was around when the Doctor turned human and enjoyed his time with Joan Redfern she must be think he is a bit of a player by now. He’s travelling with a woman called Ria, who is awfully posh and approachable and as such he has three women to try and appease in this story. He doesn’t recognise either Bernice or River, which clearly trips up both of them. What on Earth could have happened for the Doctor to have to have dropped his smile? He’s no good at War because he doesn’t like pointless things. For once he has obeyed the cardinal rule of his people by staying on the fringes of the Time War and not getting involved (those of us that have been following the Time War series will know that that is his intention but it’s not the way it always works out). The Doctor never dreamt that the Time Lords could lose the War but the implication that Gallifrey has been destroyed forces him to face that possibility for the first time and it haunts him. Haunted by the ghosts of Time Lords, he screams ‘I should have done more!’ Listening to him weep and cry out, lost and afraid, is unlike anything we have ever heard before. The Doctor stood by whilst the War raged on and look what happened. War is the most boring game of all and he refused to play. He never thought it would come to this and accepts that he was wrong. River suggests that a War Doctor is a brave new Doctor that she will come to get used to. Maybe he has been standing on the sidelines of the Time War for too long. Perhaps it is time he interfered. Always do what you do best.
Archaeological Adventuress: ‘It started out fun, and then it all got so sad…’ Bernice and River meeting is something that has been suggested for a long because on paper they have essentially the same character spec, but in realisation (mostly down to the actors and their initial creators) they are quite different characters. Russell T Davies started something in School Reunion when he had Rose and Sarah have a cat fight over the Doctor because that’s precisely what happens here. Personally, I would have preferred for the two of them to have found a more mature stance to their meeting but it’s written so well (some of the insults are top notch) that I cannot really complain. And it’s not long before they are working together. If River had bothered to come to more of Benny’s lectures then she might be more experienced. Bernice made such an impact in the wilderness and is probably the companion that has had the most life outside of their original run with the Doctor (Sarah Jane excepted) and River has easily had the most impact on the New Series, and is now spreading her wings across all of the classic Doctors. Bringing them together is a momentous event. Having a Bernice Summerfield story set during the Time War gets my fanboy senses tingling in all the right ways. She only popped in on Gallifrey for mini breaks. Bernice says the Doctor always listens to her in the end because that is why he keeps his companions around. She will tell him he is being an idiot at any time, no fee. River tells Bernice that one day all of this comes good.
Hello Sweetie: ‘Selective amnesia was our boxes of chocolates and bunch of roses…’ They both think they are the best archaeologist in the universe. That’s a problem. That’s why River selected Bernice to be her tutor and that reason is the Doctor. River has a sonic trowel (this gag is getting out of hand) and Bernice raises an eyebrow at that but as long as it gets the job done. She loves all the Doctors in their different ways. Bernice wants to turn her ears off when river alludes to herself and the Doctor making love. River has an entire building fall on her head and her hair is still immaculate. She’s an expert in hiding what she thinks. River knows that in the long distant future for the Doctor that it all becomes right with Gallifrey and the Time War but she also knows that she can’t tell him that. As the Doctor rebuilds his world River claims she has never seen him look so powerful before. To try and snap him out of his near murderous lunacy, Rivers canes the Doctor right around the face.
Standout Performance: Paul McGann. Let’s never underestimate what an incredible actor this man is and Life in Ruins brings the full force of his skills to fore. The rawness in his voice at times is the most emotional we have heard the Doctor on audio. In many ways I’m hoping it doesn’t get more unstripped than this. I couldn’t handle it.
Sparkling Dialogue: ‘Isn’t that massively complicated?’ asks Bernice of River’s timeline with the Doctor. ‘Yes,’ River sighs.
‘Where did you get married?’ ‘On top of a pyramid during an apocalypse’ ‘Right. Right, course you did.’
‘This is my planet!’
‘I’m rebuilding Gallifrey, stone by stone. The whole planet. The Capitol. Home of the wisest, most boring race the universe has ever known. And isn’t it magnificent?’
‘Run and hide children because the Doctor’s coming.’
‘The universe must be in big trouble if it’s doing this to the Doctor.’
Great Ideas: One of the constant joys of hanging around with Professors Benny and River is that the series’ internal continuity can be referenced a lot within their adventures and the Slithergee (Flip Flop) and the Chelonians (The Highest Science) get a nod in the very first scene. Imagine standing on the ruins of Gallifrey being haunted by the souls of all the Time Lords trapped in the Matrix. The Time Lords built a great computer to map the universe and the ghosts are echoes of it. The use the Matrix to predict things. Int eh wrong hands that technology, that knowledge could be very dangerous. The Matrix has gone mad and its spectres are reaching out to punish. The Times Lords wanted to be left alone and so they built the biggest fences around their planet. When they said keep out, they meant it. The Doctor turns the ruins of Gallifrey into a world at his command, to reach out into the universe and right wrongs. That’s not my Doctor.
Audio Landscape: A very familiar horn sounds out and I got the tingles again.
Isn’t it Odd: There’s something clearly very off about Ria from the start, bouncing around ruins like an excitable child. The Doctor built the perfect android companion, the weirdo. When the Doctor yields power and threatens to destroy other worlds and civilisations Bernice suggests that this just isn’t him. I hope she is talking about this incarnation because that is exactly like the Doctor she travelled with.
Standout Scene: The moment that Bernice says what both River and the Doctor are thinking that the ruins of the planet are might be one of the most spine-tingling scenes in any Big Finish story. The implications are enormous.
Result: ‘Who are you to stop me?’ The eighth Doctor, Bernice and River on a mysterious alien world in ruins…what could possibly go wrong? The Legacy of Time kicks off with an outstanding opening story courtesy of one of the best writers on Big Finish’s staff and exemplifies precisely what this company produces at it’s best; escapism, mystery, drama, and a life for characters established elsewhere that can be explored in more depth. Here you have a Doctor who was given a one-shot wonder in the TV Movie, a companion who was created in novels during the wilderness years and another female protagonist who was given prime attention during the TV series revival all coming together to show off new shades of their characters. No matter how hard they might try, I can’t imagine the TV series torturing the Doctor more than this Big Finish adventure does. It’s an astonishingly dark take on the character, especially shocking since it is the cuddly eighth Doctor who is the focus. Forced to face the reality and finality of the Time War, it is the Doctor’s first true realisation that his planet is doomed and his people are destined to be lost. McGann gives one of his most memorable performances (I won’t say best because there are simply too many to choose from); desperate, depressed, angry and terrified. It’s a version of the Doctor I never thought I would see. I haven’t even mentioned the meeting of Bernice and River, which is as spectacular as you might imagine. If there were ever two companions that deserved to be present when the Doctor is stunned by this portent of the future that will consume his life, it’s Professors Summerfield and Song. Even if things don’t quite turn out to be as they appear, this is still a watershed moment for the series mythos. Lies in Ruins has the weight of the Time War and over a decade of TV storytelling behind it and uses that to create something powerful, complex and emotional. It’s going to take something truly special to top this in the rest of The Legacy of Time: 10/10
3 comments:
While the last season sucked big time and I have the feeling the whole Chibnall era will stink, you can always rely on big finish to deliver quality content. What a relief after the dross we are being fed on TV. And with the new series license we can remember when the TV show used to be good and thrilling
I half liked the story, Paul McGann was wonderful as was Lisa Bowerman and love the idea of a damaged TARDIS altering it's appearance to manifest the Doctor's fair and anger of the time war as a a ruined Gallifrey. However I found Ris really a irritating and I still find River Annoyingly smug and it just drags the story down for me.
I actually turned it off and kept away from it for a few months because I can't stand Ria. But then I accidentally read a spoiler on who Ria really is — it helps a lot on listening to how unnaturally annoying and perky she is, as well as easing my guilt on wishing rocks would just fall down and smack her head..
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