Running Time: Approx. 59 minutes. Written by: Rochana Patel. Directed by: Ken Bentley. Produced by: Noga Flaishon.
THE PLOT:
An alien ship crashes in Hallamshire Forest. With UNIT's funding frozen and Torchwood shut down, there's no clear government entity to call... so Police Superintendent Patricia Menzies (Anna Hope) calls in a favor from the Doctor.
Not long after the Doctor and Yaz arrive, they identify the ship as an Ice Warrior battle cruiser. But even as they attempt to gain access, Yaz learns that her sister, Sonya (Bhavnisha Parmar), has been detained after being caught snooping in the area. While the Doctor and Menzies enter the ship to search for survivors, Yaz goes to find her sister.
Yaz has only begun talking to her when one Ice Warrior appears, brandishing a weapon. This leaves her trying to defuse this situation before it turns deadly. Meanwhile, the Doctor and Menzies encounter Ice Lord Vaznyr (Mark Elstob), who informs them that the antimatter core is going to explode - and if they can't find a way to contain the blast, then it will destroy not only them, but potentially all life on Earth!
CHARACTERS:
The Doctor: Her pragmatic side shows early on; when Yaz remarks that it's good Menzies didn't call the army, as guns won't solve anything, the Doctor responds that it depends on which aliens happened to crash. She is very protective of Yaz. She deliberately materializes not at the crash site, but outside Yaz's parents' building, all but asking her to stay behind. Later, when they learn about Sonya's detainment, she seizes on that to keep Yaz from joining her and Menzies aboard the ship. Jodie Whittaker gives probably her best Big Finish performance to date. There's a confrontation near the end that provides a rare peek at the deep well of anger her Doctor hides, and Whittaker's voice shakes not just with emotion but with the strain of trying to hold it back.
Yaz: Firmly rejects the Doctor's attempt to drop her off with her parents, insisting that the crisis comes first. She's initially exasperated with Sonya, but she can't fully refute her sister's accusations that she's been evasive and secretive. By the way, I love the irony that Yaz is treating her own loved ones much the way the Doctor treats her. Yaz takes charge when one Ice Warrior appears, putting herself at risk to defuse the situation. When Sonya points out that she's giving orders to an officer who's technically her superior, the man chimes in that it looks like Yaz has a better idea what to do here than he does.
Sonya: In the months that have passed since Revolution of the Daleks, she has started following conspiracies and alien sightings in hopes of finding out what her sister is up to. She is upset that Yaz has gone so long without contacting her, and she's even more upset that she's lied to her. She's also entirely sincere in proclaiming that the public has the right to know about such incidents. Bhavnisha Parmar is very good in a script that gives her a more substantial role than most of her television appearances, and I hope it isn't too long before Sonya's next appearance.
Menzies: Anna Hope returns as the sardonic policewoman from the 6th Doctor/Charley run. The script knows that a lot of listeners either won't have heard those stories or (like me) last listened to them too long ago to remember them well. Aside from a few references, you can just mentally pencil her in as "old friend of the Doctor's" (TM) without missing much. Menzies takes the Doctor's very different new persona in stride, stating that she's learned to just roll with the surprises that always accompany the time traveler. She takes charge of the crash site almost immediately, brushing away suggestions about the military because they've always made a mess of past alien incursions.
Ice Warriors: There are only two Ice Warriors: Vaznyr (Mark Elstob), the Ice Lord who works with the Doctor to contain the explosion, and Ssor (Nicholas Briggs), the Ice Warrior who encounters Yaz, Sonya, and the police. When Yaz and Menzies wonder if the Ice Warriors are hostile, the Doctor admits that it's not that simple. They follow a strict code of honor, but that doesn't make them less dangerous - and as she's encountered Warriors both honorable and duplicitous, it's an open question as to whether this pair will end up being friend or foe.
THOUGHTS:
This is writer Rochana Patel's second Thirteenth Doctor audio. After this and the also good Ride or Die, two things are clear: Patel has an excellent grasp of the characters of the Thirteenth Doctor and Yaz; and she's a good enough writer that my eyes will now be peeled for any releases with her name on them.
The Hallamshire Incident shines in the characterizations of the Doctor, Yaz, and Sonya. I particularly enjoyed the parallels between the distance Yaz keeps with her sister and the distance the Doctor keeps with Yaz. It's an effective character beat that takes one of the Chibnall era's faults - the way that Yaz's family was set up and then all but ignored - and turns it into a virtue by confronting Yaz with this as a choice she has made.
The story itself is a solid one, the race to contain a potential disaster providing urgency while still allowing opportunities for strong cast interactions. There are a couple of plot turns that I probably should have seen coming, but the script manages to avoid telegraphing them. Plot and character material intertwines nicely. We're told that it's a source of shame if an Ice Warrior is seen without its protective armor, for example - a clear parallel to the near-impenetrable emotional armor this Doctor keeps around herself.
The audio series continues to get strong dramatic (and occasionally comedic) moments out of the not-quite relationship between the Doctor and Yaz. I could quibble that Big Finish have already pushed this past the point of fitting snugly in the pre-Flux gap... but I'm happy enough to blink at a little fudged character continuity if it means that the characters actually get to develop.
Though this is a strong story overall, I still have a couple of minor nitpicks: The local police are far too quick to forgive an exchange of gunfire with the Ice Warriors. I would have expected at least one officer to be emotional, and having to deal with that situation would have further strengthened Yaz's thread. Also, the music struck me as a bit heavy-handed, and there were a few times I found it distracting. In a more character-centric story like this one, I think a lower key musical approach would have been better.
OVERALL:
The Hallamshire Incident is my new favorite of Big Finish's Thirteenth Doctor Adventures. The Ice Warriors are well used, and the narrative balances urgency with some excellent character scenes. I enjoyed how well Sonya was written, with Yaz's often one-note comedy sister reinvented as a full person.
Overall Rating: 9/10.
Previous Story: Aegis
Next Story: The Greatest Train Robbery (not yet reviewed)
13th Doctor Audio Review Index
13th Doctor Television Review Index
13th Doctor Adventures Review Index
To receive new review updates, follow me:
On BlueSky:
On Threads:
No comments:
Post a Comment