Still looking for a way out of E-Space, the TARDIS crashes to Isenfel – a realm of snow and ice. Snarling beasts stalk the frozen plains, a feisty princess leads the hunt, and a queen in an ice palace rules over her loyal subjects.
But this is no fairytale kingdom, and everyone in Isenfel knows the price of survival. While Nyssa and Tegan uncover deadly secrets hidden in the palace, Turlough flees for his life across the tundra.
And as for the Doctor… he only ever wants to change things for the better. But in a world such as Isenfel, such a hope may not even be possible.
EQUILIBRIUM
After a lackluster start to the “return to E-Space” trilogy, Big Finish turned to Matt Fitton for the second story, “Equilibrium,” which picks up where “Mistfall” left off: the TARDIS crippled and the crew desperately searching for a missing part and the man that stole it. Fitton basically ignores this setup in favor of a much different tone, and the result, pleasingly, is hugely successful and constitutes the best main range release in quite some time.
The concept behind “Equilibrium” is quite simple: a pre-industrial society has been told by a higher power that its population must never change, and so any births must be offset by the execution of an older family member. Naturally, when the Doctor and his companions arrive, this causes a problem, but rather than going the obvious route and sentencing the regulars to death, Fitton’s script schedules four innocents to die in their stead. From there, the Doctor must figure out what’s happening and undo the problem. What I loved about “Equilibrium” was its pace and quiet tone: there are very few action scenes, very few clichéd confrontations, and very few instances of contrived, obvious writing. There’s not even a villain: the society is the sad result of an experiment gone wrong, and the people in charge aren’t evil – in fact, the society would die if it became overpopulated. Everyone is sympathetic, everyone has believable motives, and even the Doctor solving the “problem” doesn’t resolve the situation. It’s mature writing, in other words, divorced from the tiresome action sequences and tedious appeals to nostalgia that have been the hallmarks of Big Finish Doctor Who for quite some time now – and it’s almost inarguably the best script yet from Fitton, one of Big Finish’s most reliable writers.
There are a few cracks around the edges that keep “Equilibrium” from the best of the best Big Finish stories. The strain of the four-person TARDIS crew is evident: the Doctor works to undo the equilibrium of Isenfel and Nyssa aids him and explores the palace, but Tegan and Turlough are sent off on largely extraneous quests to keep them occupied. There are also more instances of a recent, chronic Big Finish problem: having large yet mostly silent groups of people following actual characters around, and those characters issuing orders starting with “Everyone!” to obviously empty rooms. The final episode also has a few instances of clunky expository dialogue – (paraphrasing) “Look! The snow beasts are circling the TARDIS!” and so forth – but they don’t detract significantly from the experience.
The performances help set “Equilibrium” apart as well. In addition to the usual strong turns from the regulars, especially a melancholy Peter Davison, the play employs guest appearances by Annette Badland and Nickolas Grace as Queen Karlina and Balancer Skaarsgard. These are two excellent performers, of course, and their scenes together and with Davison are all highlights. Badland in particular is both resolute and sensitive: when the story begins, she sounds like the typical pompous science fiction dictator, but by the end she’s every bit as sympathetic as every other character and that’s in large part down to the performance. Grace, too, is excellent, walking us through his character’s crises of confidence and identity before achieving redemption. Mention should also be made of Joanna Kirkland’s turn as Inger, though that character is a bit broader and doesn’t develop as interestingly as the others.
The production is excellent – Ken Bentley’s direction is reflected in the performances, and the sound design from Richard Fox and Lauren Yason is top-notch, especially the wonderful piano-driven score that eschews the synths I would expect from an E-Space story. Overall, “Equilibrium” is a very, very strong release with only a few small missteps that keep it from the Big Finish elite. I’ve been rather unforgiving in my main range reviews of late, so it’s good to have releases like this to renew my confidence in BF’s ability to create excellent Doctor Who.
Highly recommended.
9/10