2 episodes. Running Time: Approx. 58 minutes. Written by: Jonathan Morris. Directed by: Nigel Fairs. Produced by: David Richardson. Performed by: Frazer Hines, Andrew Fettes.
THE PLOT:
It's been roughly forty years since James Robert McCrimmon had his memories wiped by the Time Lords before being returned to his own time. He's settled down and has enjoyed a long and happy life. Then a Time Lord agent (Andrew Fettes) arrives to question him about a divergence in history. The agent restores his memory, then probes Jamie about the time he, the Doctor, and Zoe visited the year 1688.
Jamie recounts how they materialized just in time to save a young woman from a mob. She turned out to be the wife of King James II (also Fettes), fleeing with her infant son in the final days of her husband's reign. When Jamie realizes that they've landed on the eve of "The Glorious Revolution," in which King James was overthrown by William III, he decides to change history.
He meets King James and urges him not to flee, which became the pretext for William to depose him. He makes a persuasive case, even presenting a plan for the beleaugured king to get the population to side with him, if only to be on the winning side. But as the change takes hold, Jamie begins to experience strange lapses - and in his present, even as he shares his story with the Time Lord agent, his memories begin to change to reflect the new reality that he created!
CHARACTERS:
The Doctor: He's horrified by Jamie's actions and is determined to make sure history follows its proper course. An amusing moment has him thinking quickly when they're discovered by a boatman, assuming an authoritative posture and ordering the man to search all boats - even as he and Jamie continue with their escape in their own vessel. Hines's Troughton impression, which was already good in Helicon Prime, is terrific here. Unlike in the earlier audio, there aren't any deliveries in which he doesn't adopt the "Troughton voice," and it can be easy to forget that the same actor is voicing both roles.
Jamie: As good as Frazer Hines's Troughton is, his best acting comes when Jamie angrily talks about how the transfer of power was only peaceful in England: "No one died - in England! A peaceful exchange of power - in England! ...The Glorious Revolution was only glorious for the English. For the rest of us, in Scotland and Ireland, it was the beginning of a civil war!" The refrain of "in England" grows steadily more ferocious as the speech goes on, and the bitterness with which Jamie spits those two words are all the more effective for the contrast with his usual laid-back demeanor.
Zoe: Given that Zoe is usually more knowledgeable than Jamie, this particular setting allows a reversal. For Jamie, this is history that is barely out of living memory that has continued to impact his present, so he's extremely familiar with it. For Zoe, the entire "Glorious Revolution" is ancient history, leaving her needing the Doctor and Jamie to explain it to her. Hines does a decent job of differentiating her lines from the male characters, giving her a softer tone.
THOUGHTS:
Big Finish's second Jamie Companion Chronicle is far better than Helicon Prime. Frazer Hines again gives a good reading, creating different voices not only for the three regulars, but also for multiple guest characters. The result feels only a step removed from being a full cast story, which helps to lend immediacy to events.
I usually prefer the Companion Chronicles that don't bother with framing devices, as most of the time those frames end up feeling labored and/or tacked on. Writer Jonathan Morris makes good use of the frame, though, weaving what initially seems to be just a bookend into the story in what I think is the range's cleverest way since Frostfire. Jamie's past actions change reality for the older Jamie even as he tells his story, and the interactions of Jamie and the Time Lord agent end up having an impact on the story being told.
The frame is also used for a strong character moment. Once his memories are restored, Jamie complains about his memory being wiped. The agent justifies it by pointing to the good life he's led, a life he might not have enjoyed had he known what was taken from him. Jamie angrily rebuts that he was given no choice - an anger not dissimilar to what he feels within the main story, in both cases reacting to decisions imposed by those who considered themselves above mere peasants.
Save for the time paradox issue (which not enough is made of), this is mostly a pure historical. Morris's script takes care to give us enough context to understand what is happening in the tale without smothering the story in details. The script maintains an energetic pace, moving quickly from one plot point to the next. There's also a rather nice action set piece with Jamie staging an exciting (if unlikely) rescue to save the Doctor and Zoe from a hangman's noose.
While it's a good story, I don't think it quite manages to be a great one. King James's characterization is inconsistent, with him veering from defeated to despotic within a single scene, only to become entirely passive again thereafter. I also think that more might have been done with the effects of Jamie's change to history. I think the story suffers slightly from being restricted to a single disc. At two episodes, it's sprightly, clever, and enjoyable - but the ideas and concepts here would have been more fully explored had this been about twice as long.
OVERALL:
The Glorious Revolution has the humor you'd expect of a story set in Season Six, but it also shifts seamlessly to some strong emotional moments. Jamie's eruption at the Doctor over the "peaceful" revolution is a highlight, an excellent character scene that also serves as a reminder that historical events can look a lot different depending on where one is standing.
Frazer Hines's performance is excellent. His Second Doctor is so good that I sometimes forgot it wasn't Patrick Troughton performing, and his acting as Jamie ranks among his best in the franchise.
Certain aspects feel underdeveloped, I suspect because of the short running time, and that costs the story a point. But this is an all-around good title, one that's well worth a listen.
Overall Rating: 8/10.
Set During: Season Six
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