6-12. The Rings of Ikiria.

2 episodes. Approx. 58 minutes. Written by: Richard Dinnick. Directed by: Ken Bentley. Produced by: David Richardson. Performed by: Richard Franklin, Felicity Duncan.


THE PLOT

A series of crop circles has appeared on Sark, one of the Channel Islands. These aren't ordinary crop circles, but instead are pictograms, whose intricate shapes the Doctor identifies as letters in the Etherian language. The Etherians are trans-dimensional beings, a race the Doctor is happy to say are non-aggressive.

When the final pictogram appears, the Doctor realizes that they spell out "Ikiria" - the name of the Etherian who is making contact. Ikiria (Felicity Duncan) introduces herself as an artist, who manipulates matter to create works of beauty. She gives the Brigadier a ring to show to his superiors as a gesture of friendship. He then returns to the Home Office to make arrangements for Ikiria to meet some high-ranking officials, leaving Capt. Mike Yates in charge.

Mike quickly finds the situation slipping out of his control. The Doctor disappears, apparently (and rather suspiciously) having fallen from a nearby cliffside. Ikiria is distributing her rings among UNIT soldiers, and it is clear that she has a disturbing influence over them. With the officials soon to meet Ikiria, Mike is left with no choice but to take desperate action that could spell the end of his military career - if it doesn't cost him his life!


CHARACTERS

The Doctor: Though he knows the Etherians to be essentially peaceful and non-aggressive, he does not give Ikiria his full trust. She identifies him as a threat early on, and takes steps to remove him. Though he's absent from the middle of the story, the Doctor has already made an impression on Mike as someone to be relied upon, and the captain never stops believing that the Doctor is still out there and ready to fight Ikiria - faith that is rewarded in the story's final Act.

Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart: When the Doctor states that the pictograms are letters, the Brigadier reaches for the most obvious question: "What do they spell?" He likes concrete, practical answers, and has little patience when the Doctor tries to explain that the meaning of the letters won't become clear until all of them have appeared. After Ikiria gives him the first of her rings, the Brigadier becomes a cartoon of his own worst traits. This apparently alien-influenced Brig refuses to listen to Mike's concerns about her influence over the men and responds to Mike's doubts by threatening to transfer him out of UNIT.

Capt. Mike Yates: UNIT is the first posting that has seen Mike truly "at home." He has an enormous amount of faith in both the Doctor and the Brigadier. He seems to look upon the Brigadier almost as a father figure, which makes it all the more painful when the Brigadier says that UNIT may not be for Mike. Even knowing that the other man is under Ikiria's influence, hearing these words from him is painful to Mike.


THOUGHTS

The Rings of Ikiria hits the ground running. Literally, as it opens with a teaser in which Mike Yates runs from his UNIT comrades. He runs through a field of crops until he finds himself at a cliffside, surrounded. The Brigadier appears, brandishing a gun which he levels at Mike, firing and sending the captain over the edge.

Which yes, means we go into credits literally on a cliffhanger.

The story itself is basic, bread-and-butter Who, very much of the era in which its set. A remote country area on a peninsula, an alien claiming to come in friendship but having another agenda... Heck, it's even resolved by the Doctor putting together a Thingie to Reverse the Polarity of something-or-other. It's such a complete pastische of Pertwee-era Who that it could easily have been dreary in its predictability.

But that opening demonstrates the story's big assets. It may deliberately be formulaic, but The Rings of Ikiria zips along. The story moves breathlessly from plot point to plot point, making up in sheer momentum what it lacks in surprise. It also has real verve to it. Writer Richard Dinnick isn't cynically ticking off boxes on a list labeled "Pertwee UNIT story." His script sparkles with energy, made even more evident by Richard Franklin's enthusiastic reading. It may all be a bit lightweight, but it's such good fun that it's impossible to fault it for that.

Things do weaken a bit toward the end, with the resolution to the crisis seeming a bit too easy. Technobabbling a gadget may be in keeping with the television era, but it doesn't make it a good climax to a story. Also, the Companion Chronicles' own format means that a Third Act twist is easy to see coming well in advance. I'm not saying the twist in question would have been a big surprise in a full-cast story, but in a Companion Chronicle the nature of the presentation makes it regrettably obvious.

In the end, this story is solid fare. It's hardly indispensable, and it's far from ambitious. But its energy, enthusiasm, and spark make it a lot of fun. Its ambitions are modest, but it achieves them splendidly, making it an easy story to recommend. 


Overall Rating: 7/10.

Previous Television Story: Inferno
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6-7. The Anachronauts.

4 episodes: The Island, The Door, The Wall, The Betrayer. Running Time: Approx. 131 minutes. Written by: Simon Guerrier. Directed by: Ken Bentley. Produced by: David Richardson. Performed by: Jean Marsh, Peter Purves.


THE PLOT:

The Doctor, Steven, and Sara Kingdom have just left Liverpool on Christmas Day. They're still enjoying the moment when suddenly the TARDIS alarms sound. The Doctor realizes that they are about to collide with another timeship in the Vortex, and there's nothing he can do to avoid it!

After the collision, they find themselves on a beach. The TARDIS is nowhere to be found, but they are quite close to the other ship, which is now a wreck. The crew of that experimental vessel and their leader, Natalie Lang, reveal that they are from a time far in Steven's or Sara's future. They are at war with an enemy they call "The Wall of Noise," and their haphazard trip through time was a desperate attempt to stop this enemy.

The Doctor is appalled at the prospect of using time travel as part of a war. But the immediate problem is escaping this place - something that may prove easier said than done as they come to realize three things: they are on a desert island; the TARDIS does not appear to be anywhere; and they are not alone...


CHARACTERS:

The Doctor: He is initially pleased to meet Natalie's crew, praising them as "pioneers." His attitude shifts once he realizes that they want to use time travel technology as a weapon. The First Doctor has no control over the TARDIS - but even if he did, he plainly states that he would not take them home, detailing the horrific consequences of time travel being used to expand the war of Natalie's people to every point in history.

Steven: His attraction to Sara is clear, to the point that in a crisis, his first impulse is to demand to know where she is. He also knows that any romantic feelings he may have are not returned, a situation he accepts with grace. Peter Purves has been reliably excellent across every range he's contributed to, and that is very much the case here. There's a particularly strong scene near the end, when he realizes the nature of the situation in which he and Sara find themselves. Steven suddenly becomes cold and firm, and Purves makes this moment memorable.

Sara Kingdom: She was at war with the Daleks, and Steven's time also saw humanity at war. When she learns that Natalie's people, who are from a point far in both of their futures, are also at war, she feels despair. She has come to rely on Steven. He hasn't judged her for her actions under Mavic Chen, offering his friendship unconditionally. She does not reciprocate his feelings, but she also doesn't seem keen to discourage them either. Jean Marsh is quite good, with the four episodes allowing her to show different sides of Sara: strong determination, emotional vulnerability, and even abject terror at one point.


THOUGHTS:

The Anachronauts reunites writer Simon Guerrier with Jean Marsh's Sara Kingdom. This is not an extension of Guerrier's earlier Sara Kingdom Trilogy, but instead a standalone adventure that is specifically set right after "The Feast of Steven," the seventh episode of The Daleks' Master Plan.

As with Guerrier's earlier audios, the focus is kept on the characters. There are sci-fi concepts here, some of which I won't reference to avoid spoilers, but everything is in service to the characterizations of Steven and Sara. The script follows the preferred template of the 4-part Companion Chronicles, which is to say that it's really a pair of 2-parters with narrative links. Both halves study the Steven/Sara dynamic in slightly different ways.

The first two episodes separate them, using that separation to show the concern they have when each believes the other is in danger. By the end of the second episode, they are reunited, enjoying a moment of peace by the warmth of a fire. The latter half reverses this, keeping them together for the bulk of the running time, only with circumstances creating an emotional wedge. It's an effective contrast, and the performances of Jean Marsh and Peter Purves are strong throughout.

The story benefits from Simon Guerrier's skill at crafting vivid descriptions extremely quickly. There are two main settings, and both are brought to life quickly and effectively. The plot has one big issue, though: The resolution is too easy to see coming, particularly after the midpoint shift in setting from the island to the Cold War-era Berlin Wall.

I can't say more without spoiling it, but I don't think it's unparalleled powers of narrative perception that led me to see exactly where the story was going - I'm pretty sure a lot of listeners will make the same realization at roughly the same point.


OVERALL:


I would still rate The Anachronauts as a good story. It's well-told, the dynamic between Steven and Sara is wonderfully realized, and there are several clever flourishes throughout. But the story's direction becomes predictable, and I found myself left to wait for the characters to catch up with me.

Ultimately, it's the character interaction that carries this, and fortunately the Steven/Sara relationship is splendid... but the obviousness of the resolution keeps me from ranking this as highly as most of Guerrier's earlier Trilogy.


Overall Rating: 7/10.

Set immediately after: The Daleks' Master Plan, Episode 7

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3-6. The Darkening Eye.

2 episodes.  Approx. 68 minutes. Written by: Stewart Sheargold. Directed by: Ken Bentley. Produced by: David Richardson. Performed by: Sarah Sutton.


THE PLOT

The TARDIS materializes on a destroyed ship that's barely holding together in the wake of a devastating space battle. The Doctor insists on investigating a nearby anomaly; against his wishes, his companions insist on accompanying him into the unstable wreckage. This proves to be unwise. They have only begun to search the ship when some debris cuts through the hull. The Doctor is on one side of the breach, while Nyssa, Tegan, and Adric are on the other.

The Doctor motions for them to stay put while he uses the TARDIS to recover them. But the ship is starting to break up. That's when the Death Collectors come for them. The Dar Traders (Derek Carlyle) are scavengers, drawn to death by a desire to understand it. They have come to this battlefield, to this ship. They use their technology to transport the Doctor's companions to their own vessel. There, the time travellers discover a cabinet recently scavenged by the Dar Traders.  It's made out of dwarf star alloy, and is the source of the anomaly the Doctor had detected.  It is also the personal life support of Damasin Hyde, an assassin who may just have business of his own with the Doctor!


CHARACTERS

The Doctor: This is essentially a "Doctor-lite" story, with the Doctor appearing only in the first half of Part One and the last ten minutes or so of Part Two. The story does reinforce what was shown on-screen in The Visitation and Black Orchid - that the Doctor has a bond with Nyssa that isn't necessarily there with his other two companions. This is particularly evident at the story's end, as the Doctor talks with Nyssa about what has happened.

Nyssa: Takes charge in the Doctor's absence. When the Dar Traders insist on "cataloging" the time travelers, to verify them as alive and not dead, Nyssa volunteers to go first. She endures the painful process without complaint, then shields Tegan and Adric from having to undergo the same treatment. Despite assuming the role of de-facto leader, she becomes too trusting of Damasin far too quickly... which actually makes sense. Remember, she had always had her father to look out for her. When her father was gone, she moved immediately on to the Doctor. There has always been a "father figure." Now, with the Doctor temporarily gone as well, another older male authority figure appears. It's hardly surprising that she goes along with it.  Her anger when her trust is betrayed is quite well-portrayed both by writer Stewart Sheargold and by Sarah Sutton.

Adric: He is described as "truculent," and often comes across as arrogant and condescending, particularly to Tegan. His fascination with the Dar Traders' technology overrides his common sense, as he shows no sign of caution when exploring their ship. His recklessness is suitably punished. The Episode One cliffhanger sees Adric stabbed in the chest - a scene that would likely be a fan favorite had this actually been a televised story!

Tegan: Of the three companions, she is the one who's completely out-of-her-depth dealing with the Dar Traders and their technology. Still, she refuses to be excluded when Nyssa and Adric are observing and discussing what's in front of them. She does have a genuinely quick mind, drawing on what she's already seen with the Doctor to connect the dots and identify the machine made of dwarf star alloy as a "dimensional anomaly." Though Sarah Sutton does little to capture the voices of either the Doctor or Adric, her reading is startlingly dead-on when she delivers Tegan's lines. The hint of an Australian accent in her delivery brings Tegan to life in a way that Sutton can't quite manage with the other regulars.


THOUGHTS

The Darkening Eye was the first Companion Chronicle to feature a Doctor who was already performing full-cast plays for Big Finish. As such, my immediate reaction when it was announced was that this was a wasted slot. We had plenty of Fifth Doctor stories coming already, via the main range. What I wanted from the Companion Chronicles were more stories from the early Doctors!

Well, I was wrong. For one thing, the Companion Chronicles format even now remains the only viable way for Big Finish to deliver stories set during Season 19, given that Matthew Waterhouse has expressed no interest in playing Adric again. But the format also allows us a story that gets inside Nyssa's head. As one of the most introverted companions in the series run, really getting to see what she's thinking and feeling in more than postcard glimpses is a rarity.

More importantly, The Darkening Eye is a good story. It's well-made and atmospheric, with several highly visual moments. The Dar Traders' ship, stuffed with remains of the dead, all being used in different ways is like something out of a horror movie. Then Episode Two moves to a war-torn planet, with smoke from recent or distant battles a constant. Stewart Sheargold uses the luxury of complete narration to create vivid mental images, in a way that music and sound effects can only hint at with the main range releases.

Death hangs over this story, almost an extra character in itself. Everything in the story connects to it: The ruined spaceship, with no survivors. The Dar Traders' corpse-laden vessel. The assassin. The war-torn planet, in which all we really see of the battles are the smoke, the dead, or the dangerously feral survivors. The tone is bleak throughout - something which I suspect will make this story one that's "not for all tastes." It is unquestionably ambitious, however, and most of that ambition is realized.

Sarah Sutton's reading is mostly quite good. Her voice is well-pitched to convey the grim atmosphere of this story, and she is able to show both Nyssa's constantly working mind and the pain which she keeps as tightly buried as she can. She does well not only with Nyssa, but also with Tegan and Damasin. She is less successful with the two male regulars. She is unable to vary her pitch when delivering the Doctor's lines or Adric's lines. As a result, there are a few occasions in which I was temporarily confused as to which character was speaking. It's really not too significant an issue - but it does jerk me out of the story in a couple of places, and perhaps shows one reason why Sutton has only performed one Companion Chronicle to date.

Still a good story, and one that fits quite neatly into its continuity placement in late Season 19.


Rating: 8/10.

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