England, 1738. The Doctor and Charley arrive at a beautiful country estate but there’s a murderer on the loose, and the nearby woods are the haunt of the notorious highwayman Dick Turpin.
England, 1738. The Doctor and Charley arrive at a beautiful country estate but there’s a murderer on the loose, and the nearby woods are the haunt of the notorious highwayman Dick Turpin.
THE DOOMWOOD CURSE
or
THINGS STYRE IS SICK OF: A LIST
1. Self-Aware Pastiche
I’ve never understood this. It’s one thing to attempt a certain style, a pastiche, or even a stylistic parody, but packing in knowing wink after knowing wink doesn’t accomplish anything, in my view. Compare “The Doomwood Curse,” the latest Big Finish audio from author Jacqueline Rayner, to her earlier “Doctor Who and the Pirates,” one of the greatest releases in the history of the range. “Pirates” varied in tone, but Rayner wove this into her use of unreliable narrators: yes, some elements were played for laughs, but others were painfully emotional. “Doomwood” incorporates elements of the Gothic fiction, but plays them broadly, sometimes satirical but more often outright mocking. I understand the excesses of the style, but I keep coming back to this point in my reviews: if something is terrible, please don’t make your parody thereof excessively terrible in its own right! Bad is bad, and if you wink at me in the process and ask “See what I did there?” I’ll say “Yes, and it’s still bad!” I don’t want to listen to heaving maidens, endless horse chases, and diabolical villains just because that’s how they wrote back then: if you can’t come up with a better reason than your own perceived superiority to lampoon a topic, do something else.
2. Charlotte Pollard
Wasn’t the idea of putting Charley in the TARDIS with Colin Baker to give both characters a boost of energy? I admit I’ve been interested to see how her personality will contrast with the more abrasive sixth Doctor — he’s certainly a lot different from his r(R)omantic successor — but for the second play in a row, they’re separated from each other for 95% of the running time. The 5% they do spend together is tied up with Charley continuing her ridiculous charade that she’s never been in the TARDIS before — the Doctor obviously knows she’s lying by this point, so could we please have a resolution? It stopped being funny by the end of “The Condemned.” Also, the inconsistent development of this character continues to stand out: last time, it was her stunned reaction at the idea of Indian take-out, and this time we see this experienced time traveler shocked to discover that historical figures aren’t always as nice as they appear in the history books! Credit to India Fisher, though, who is hilarious in her shifting personalities. I might be getting sick of the character, but I enjoyed this performance in spite of that.
3. My Own Ignorance
I had absolutely no idea who Dick Turpin was. Hence, I knew absolutely nothing about the history vs. fiction comparisons being drawn in the script, and relied entirely on the dramatic heft of the story. This has happened more than once in recent memory — I admit it makes my reviews at least somewhat unfair, but there’s not much I can do about it beforehand.
4. Typical Review Formats
Okay, I’ll probably go right back to the usual format with “Kingdom of Silver,” but since I didn’t have much to say about the acting or production of “Doomwood” — both were solid and unmemorable — I figured I’d try something slightly different. I’m sure the play would be more rewarding had I understood the historical context, and I freely admit that it tripped a number of personal pet peeves, but ultimately these reviews reflect my personal taste. “The Doomwood Curse” was not to mine.
5/10