A Journey Of A Thousand Eons...: 36.2.3 Behind The Mask (Domain of the Voord Episode Three, Big Finish, 2014)

Andrew Smith continues to seriously impress with this episode.  It's obvious that one of the main intentions of Smith is to flesh out villains who were visually intriguing--the Tokusatsu feel of their appearance still appeals to me--but were near ciphers save 'we're aquatic and we're Eeeeevil.'  In this episode, we're given insight into the totalitarian, assimilative culture of the Voord.

Suspecting that Barbara and The Doctor are still alive due to something Nebrin says, Susan and Ian surrender themselves to the Voord.  As the Overlord Tarlak arrive to make sure Predora City is in order, Nebrin attempts to persuade Susan to join them by donning the black outfit and literally becoming a Voord--as Pan Vexel does in a rather unnerving public induction ceremony.  Ian, meanwhile, is put to work on the strange construct off the coast of the city only to be saved by the resistance.  Upset that Susan won't don the Voord helmet--it turns out that the artifact bonds with the wearer on a genetic level, melding to his/her flesh and telepathically bonding him to all other Voords--she is thrown into the slave pens...and discovers that her suspicions are partially right.

This is one amazing story.  I feel that the Voord are a legitimate threat in this story, and not some guys in monster suits.  I am intrigued by this race and want to know more about them.  I am really pleased with the cast--I did not realize that Andrews Bone and Dickens play both human and Voord characters until I looked them up.  And the sound design and score by Toby Hrycek-Robinson simply captures the feel of a late first season episode.

I cannot wait to see how this all wraps up!

A Journey Of A Thousand Eons...: 60. Crater of Needles (The Web Planet Part Four)

Here is where this serial breaks utterly for me.

Not because there's more endless exposition.  Not because of the unintentionally silly ass combat sequence between the Menoptran Spearhead and the Zarbis.  Not because of the surreal scene where it looks like Vicki is slow-dancing with a Zarbi.

Here we meet the Optera, and I realize that the budget given to this serial just cannot be stretched to accommodate its ambitions.

The concept behind the Optera is pretty sound--as Vrestin and Ian learn, these are the descendants of the Mepoterans who stayed on Vortis and headed underground, thus losing their wings are becoming grub-like beings who treat the original Menoptrans as gods.  However, it is impossible to take them seriously with their styrofoam costumes.  I could never take them seriously whenever we got a close look at these outfits; they're just too artificial.  And given that the actors in the Optera costumes are highly restricted by those outfits, they don't even have the benefit of choreography to convey their alienness like the Menoptra do.

There is a definite sense that this is one of those episodes where everyone is running in place.  The combat sequence takes quite a largish amount of time, and there are moments that are striking--the way the Menoptrans swoop in, legs clenched together and swinging gives us a sense of their insectness....but then they're on solid ground wrestling with those guys in the plastic ant suits, and my suspension of disbelief is once more snapped.  The whole thread involving the Doctor and Vicki chases its own narrative tail, as we go back to the organic hairdryer crying that the Doctor betrayed them only for the Doctor to claim that all-important information the hairdryer needs is coming until the Spearhead lands and the hairdryer accuses him of betrayal yet again...I am confident in saying you could cut this entire episode out of the serial without affecting the narrative at all.  And that includes the nonsense with the Optera.

Even though the first half of this serial did keep my attention, it was doing so only tenuously.  Here is where my attention wanders, and no amount of creative costuming can help me get it back.

Meanwhile, Over At DREAD MEDIA...703

This week Des continues to play host to the great Greg Lamberson, who discuss one of Greg's favorite film franchises, Billy Jack!  They cover the 'prequel' Born Losers, the trilogy...and the fifth film that never reached the screen.

In addition to the trailers, below you will find a discussion of 'One Tin Soldier,' the song most associated with Billy Jack and the kick ass band that gave it to us and versions of that song by Killdozer, Gimp and...Tori Amos (shut up; she's pretty, and I could've given you something much worse).

To download this week's episode, go here

A Journey Of A Thousand Eons...: 36.2.2 Return To Terror (Domain of the Voord Episode Two, Big Finish, 2014)

Sound Designer Toby Hyrick Robinson, Writer Andrew Smith, Producer
David Richardson and Director Ken Bentley

Now that the Hydran flotilla has survived the attack by the Voord, Ian and Susan are left believing that the Doctor, Barbara and the Tardis, have been lost at the bottom of the sea.  The one Voord that Ian captured, Nebrin (Andrew Bone) is not cooperating much except when it comes to talking with Susan.  The Admiral of the flotilla (Andrew Dickens) decides to send an exploratory party to Predora City with Nebrin in tow as a hostage....and things go pear shaped.

Andrew Smith's script continues to take advantage of using the audio drama medium to tell a story grander than would have been possible with its budget back in 1963.  There is a scale to parts of the Predora City segment that would be impossible to do on those small BBC sets, and the fact that Smith has literally thousands of Voord making their presence known in a key scene paints a really vivid picture.  More importantly, Smith does something Terry Nation simply never bothered to do--he fleshes out the Voord.  We get a sense of what the Voords are actually about, with Nebrin hinting at a kind of ruthless missionary society in his conversations with Susan.  These hints make them into more than just guys in funky scuba suits and I really like what he's building with them.

Since this particular segment is more character driven, I became really impressed with the music composed by Toby Hrycek-Robinson because it feels very authentically of that first season, emphasizing electronic sounds that seems like it came out of the BBC Radiophonic Workshop.

To be honest, even though the David Bradley serials are literally full cast audios, this is shaping up to be my favorite of the three I own (we'll come across another Bradley drama, The Destination Wars, soon...basically so I can move on to the Vicki audio dramas!).  I am very engaged with this story, and I am intrigued by where this is going.

A Journey Of A Thousand Eons...: 60. Escape To Danger (The Web Planet Part Three)

Since this is an episode where Barbara was written out so she could go on holiday, it looks like we're going to concentrate on the Doctor, Ian and Vicki.  The helmet demands that the Doctor help them in locating the invading Menoptran Fleet, but the Doctor--being super-pissy, which is the Best Doctor--arrogantly play for time while Ian escapes.  Ian ends up paired with Vrestin, who tells them the Animus (you know, the voice that speaks through the helmet) drove the Menoptrans off Vortis using the otherwise placid Zarbi as its soldiers...and the Menoptrans, not being able to survive on the moon they retreated to, are trying to take the planet back.  Ian and Vrestin join forces to free Barbara and make for the Crater of Needles.  Also, the Zarbi are freaked out by a...spider?...in a glass case that Vicki mistakenly retrieves from the Tardis.

After two episodes of fiddling about, this is the Big Exposition Dump, and I can't help but thinking that we could have taken all this background and put a chunk of it in the second episode so this episode didn't seem like a big 'stop so we can explain the plot' thing (which also would have easily cut down the length of the serial).  It sets up background stuff, stuff that'll pay off in the third act, all sorts of stuff...and yet there's this sense of the characters (sometimes literally) standing still.  I understand that certain things had to be rearranged to give Jacqueline Hill her time off, but the whole episode seems to be just shuffling its feet.

I should probably mention there are a couple of moments that made me confused.  The reference to the 'Menoptran Invasion' made me wonder if the Menoptrans were the bad guys here even though it is obvious Bill Strutton is sympathetic to the butterfly/bee peoples.  Also, with Vicki in her hairstyle and outfit from 'The Rescue'...her behaviors would indicate this serial follows it even though there is explicit call backs to 'The Romans.'

So far 'The Web Planet' seems okay, but boy, are the grounds shaky and threatening to fall apart real quick.

A Journey Of A Thousand Eons...: 36.2.1 The Floating City (Domain of the Voord Episode One , Big Finish, 2014)

This serial is from the time after Nicholas Briggs and David Richardson became inspired to do new full cast audios about the First Doctor after viewing Adventures in Space and Time and before they were able to get David Bradley's schedule in order.  As such, it's a strange fish--it's partially a dramatized reading where Carol Ann Ford and William Russell switch off narrating duties and partially an actual audio drama with a very limited guest cast doing multiple roles.

The Tardis finds itself in a cargo ship on what they will learn is the planet of Hydra, which is submerged in water save for the single land mass Predora.  Predora's entire fleet is abroad, fighting a battle with invaders who are picking off their ships one by one.  Not surprisingly, given the title of the serial, the invaders are the Voord, and they manage to sink the cargo ship with the Tardis still in it.  Ian volunteers to help retrieve the time ship, only to find himself attacked by the Voord fleet of submersibles.

One of the things I really appreciate about this serial is how writer Andrew Smith takes full advantage of audio drama to do things that simply couldn't be done by the series back in 1963.  The bulk of the episode's later half is taken up by a naval battle between the Hydrans and the Voord with the Tardis crew stuck in between.  Smith gives this set piece a grandness and a gravitas that gives the listener a greater sense of scope.

I also like how the Russell and Ford switch off pretty rapidly, which takes the edge off the 'dramatised reading' formatting.  By going back and forth, Smith's script avoids the problems I have with many of the Companion Chronicles even though I wonder if this started out as one.

I'm actually very pleased with this serial.  Even though it is working at a disadvantage--two of the main cast not being around and a limited cast of three guest actors doing multiple voices--it manages to tell a compelling story that feels like it belongs in the era it was made in.  I am anxious to see how this develops.

A Journey Of A Thousand Eons...: 59. The Zarbi (The Web Planet Part Two)

So once again, we're at a point where our quartet is trifurcated.  The Doctor and Ian go in search of the Tardis and learn from...well, literally stepping into a dead carapace...that they are on the planet Vortis (although, oddly, there are moons in the sky of what the Doctor remembers as a moonless planet).  Barbara is saved from a dunk in the acid pools by a Menoptran, who are explicitly supposed to be butterfly-like humanoids, even though the costumes make them look more bee-like.  The three Menoptrans are trying to contact their 'invasion force,' but they are attacked by the Zarbi and seemingly killed save for Hrostar, who gets an off-screen wing-ectomy.  The Zarbi also grab the Doctor and Ian and bring them to the weirdly organic Carsinome, reuniting them with Vicki before a helmet descends on the Doctor and demands to know why they're here.

On one hand, I have to give credit to costumer Daphne Dare and choreographer Roslyn de Winter (who also plays Vrestin) for trying to make the Menoptrans seem so alien.  They have this weird body language that I find really appealing, even though their high piping, start-and-stop voices get on my nerves quite easily.  On the other hand, we're becoming more and more aware that this serial has ambitions way bigger than its budget will allow it, and that there are long stretches of just Le Structure Sonare just letting loose with beeps and boops to represent Zarbi communication.  I am very much aware that these people are striving hard to achieve a truly alien feel and failing because all they have is some fiberglass ant puppets and some high school play bee costumes.

So far, this serial is wearing a little bit on me, but it still promises to be a good story.  Of course, at this point it's still paced like a four episode serial...and as we'll learn, its length is going to bite it on its ass soon enough.

A Journey Of A Thousand Eons...: 42.2.4 The Great White Hurricane Episode Four (The First Doctor Adventures Volume One, Big Finish, 2017)

This final episode flows nicely from the previous one.  The Doctor, David, the Alley Dogs and the cops all converge on the East River and the Doctor, through sheer Doc-flavored pissiness, gets everyone to work together to save the people stranded on the shattered, partially frozen surface.  Meanwhile, Ian and Barbara help Rosalita resolve her storyline just in time for everyone to congregate on the Tardis.

Speaking of the Rosalita storyline, I am relieved that Adams wisely did not find a way to dovetail it with the David and Patrick storyline.  To do so, I think, would have stretched credibility, which is always a hazard when dealing with a historical.  Also, Rosalita's husband is given just enough nuance to avoid making him a cartoon monster but a more complex, troubled man.  The poverty porn aspect that bothered me melts away more or less save for one moment at the tail end of the story in favor of what I think is Adams' point--namely, the different levels of tribalism and how focusing on higher levels can help, rather than hinder, people as a whole.  I also admit that I found some resonance between the efforts in the play and the efforts of modern New Yorkers when faced with crisis.

Jamie Glover has grown on me as Ian, arguably because Ian has a more active role than in the other serial in this set, 'The Destination Wars' (which we will get to, I promise!).  I'm still not sure about Jemma Powell, which is weird considering that Powell played Barbara in previous Big Finish audios prior to her participation in Adventures in Space and Time, but Bradley continues to delight as the first Doctor.  I love how Bradley manages to bring elements of both the original, sharper, near dangerous interpretation of Hartnell with the softer but cranky version he ended up doing in the later part of his tenure to his interpretation.

You would think that Adams' style, which emphasizes quirkiness and unconventional narrative approaches, would not fit well into the historical mode, but here's a showcase for his versatility.  I certainly recommend this serial!

A Journey Of A Thousand Eons...: 58. The Web Planet (The Web Planet Part One)

With any long running media property, you will come across stories where you can see what the creators were intending, respect the effort they put into executing said intentions, but find the item as a whole very lacking.  This six episode series is one of those items with Who...and not just because it's six freakin' episodes.

The Tardis crew has found itself drawn to a peculiar planet.  There are these weird noises that seem to actively affect the quartet--especially Vicki, who is visibly shaken.  The Doctor and Ian go off exploring, leaving Barbara to keep an eye on Vicki.  As the guys explore the landscape filled with strange structures and acid pools (goodbye, Ian's school tie...), they discover there is a strange force plucking at anything gold...which doesn't do Barbara any good, as that force drags her out of the Tardis by that bracelet Nero gave her in the last serial.  By the time the Doctor gets back to the Tardis, he finds it--and Vicki--have disappeared.

To be honest, not a lot happens.  You could pretty much make the argument that this half hour has a whiff of the first episode of 'Dalek Invasion of Earth' in its 'our heroes wander around until the monster shows up'....except the monsters are shown, but don't actually show up.  While I liked some of the moments in this episode, it's hard not to see this as just wandering about waiting for the story to actually start happening.  I particularly appreciated the conversation between Barbara and Vicki that takes up the middle portion of the story, where writer Bill Strutton actually starts trying to fill out the background of the new companion and sets up a tension between her and our favorite school teachers.  Surprisingly, the conversation ends up creating a dynamic between Vicki and Barbara that is what we were promised with Susan but was rarely delivered on.

And then there are our monsters for this serial, the Zarbi, and the reason why this serial is admirable but doesn't quite work.  The Zarbi are big ants.  And since these are big ants made on the budget of a children's program in 1965, they're basically  big plastic shells with the be-pants legs of the actors sticking out of the back so they can 'walk' around.  Believe it or not, the production team had hoped that lightning would strike twice and these guys would be as popular as the Daleks, but it's just hard to take them seriously.  The chirps that represent the Zarbis' 'language'--provided, apparently, by the avant garde group Le Structure Sonore--won't get on your nerves now...but just wait.

I think that this episode in and of itself is okay...primarily because most of it is taken up by Tardis crew character stuff.  But keep in mind the key words here are 'in and of itself.'