Sadly no, not quite. The
intention is clearly there though. We have a “sideways” story in The Invention of Death and another “pure”
historical in The Barbarians and the Samurai
which sound and feel precisely like
1960s Who. The story The Invention of
Death most closely resembles, however, is the second half of The Sensorites. It is slow and torpid,
lacking in incident and with performances muffled not by face masks but by
voice distortion. Howard Carter’s sound design on both stories is terrific
actually and the performances of The Invention
of Death’s Ashtallahns are both audible
and ethereal; it’s just that there are no other human voices, aside from our
regulars, to latch onto and so the story starts to feel distant in a Web Planet kind of way. The plot, as
simple as it is, only kicks in during Part Three and even then, the murderer
gives themself away by checking themselves mid-sentence: “But I didn’t… Oops.”
It’s exactly the kind of moment relished by William Hartnell as only his Doctor
could spot such a little mistake like that. Well, him and 8 million child
viewers. Of course, the point of The
Invention of Death is that it is a rumination, a philosophising on the nature
of death; it’s not about plot at all. The trouble is, it hasn’t really got anything
to say about it, other than death being necessary for a species to make progress,
which in the end is as sterile a reason for the need for death as it possible.
John Dorney has a very specific agenda in writing this story, and he succeeds
on all counts. It does indeed end up feeling like a slow, slightly crap, none-Dalek
Hartnell sci-fi story. Whilst Dorney is usually one of the truly great Big Finish
writers whose scripts I hugely look forward to hearing, in The Invention of Death he has set out with a flawed set of aspirations
and whilst meeting them, has delivered something he is demonstrably more than capable
of bettering.
The Barbarians and the Samurai is far more successful. Why Andrew
Smith never continued to write for the show in the 1980s is beyond me. Full Circle is a masterfully constructed
story and almost every one of his Big Finish scripts proves him to be a great
talent. This is no exception. The
Barbarians and the Samurai sits somewhere between Marco Polo and The Crusade.
It has the same educational bent and Eastern exoticism as Marco Polo and the 4-act structure and sub-plots for the regulars as
The Crusade. This is a taut script
with a strong narrative motor, propelling events forwards and boasting an exceptionally
strong sense of place. It is incredibly difficult to create a plot the likes of
this – mistaken identities, swordfights and emperors - but Smith makes it look
easy. Whilst some poor performances (one almost incomprehensible) threaten to
knock the tale down a peg or two, for the most part this is as typically
enjoyable as those Hartnell historicals of yore.
I remain as unconvinced by David
Bradley’s performance as I was when reviewing the first volume – his dithering
delivery feeling like a first reading - but Jamie Glover’s Ian Chesterton has
the rich steadfastness of a dashing 60s hero and becomes the boxset’s leading
man, his voice a reassuring presence across the two stories. I’m also quite
taken by Claudia Grant’s impish Susan. All told, I’d happily listen to more of
this TARDIS team and am hugely looking forward to finding out what Marc Platt has
in store for us with his Phoenicians.
With one poor story and one very strong,
this boxset, ends up with an overall score of 6 out of 10. (3 for The Invention of Death, 8 for The Barbarians and the Samurai, for the
record.)
JH
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