Space Security Agent Sara Kingdom is dead, her ashes strewn on the planet Kembel. But, in an old house in Ely, Sara Kingdom lives on…
Now joined in the house by her confidante Robert, Sara recalls her travels in the TARDIS with the Doctor – and a particular adventure when the ship appeared to land inside a giant clock, where old men are caught in its workings…
And behind this nightmare is an old enemy: Mavic Chen, Guardian of the Solar System.
Then and now, Sara’s past is catching up with her. The cogs have come full circle…
THE COMPANION CHRONICLES: THE GUARDIAN OF THE SOLAR SYSTEM
The fifth series of Companion Chronicles from Big Finish opens with Simon Guerrier’s “The Guardian of the Solar System,” the final story in a trilogy that began with “Home Truths” and tells the story of Sara Kingdom after her travels in the TARDIS. Rather than focusing on Robert, as in the first two stories, this story focuses almost entirely on Sara, and wraps her story in wonderfully emotional fashion.
“Guardian” is a story about fate, about being trapped by destiny, about being little more than a cog in a machine. Guerrier opts to symbolize this through the construction of a gigantic clock that anchors the space travel capabilities of Earth and is serviced by an endless series of elderly men. This is unsubtle, yes, but it’s SO unsubtle that its lack of subtlety is transformed into something audacious and appealing. Does it fit with the aesthetic of “The Daleks’ Master Plan?” No, but does it really need to? It helps to see Mavic Chen as a truly powerful man standing behind more than just orders, and fleshes out his character beyond the little we have left of Kevin Stoney’s performance.
With Robert’s story largely complete, the play reaches the conclusion the trilogy has built: he takes control of the house and Sara returns to human form for the first time in generations. This finally allows the tables to be turned on one of Doctor Who’s least well-known companions and gives us a window into what drives her: her guilt and remorse over killing her own brother. Guerrier writes this brilliantly, showing Sara’s difficulty at encountering Bret a year before she kills him and her desperation to alter history. But like many other times in Doctor Who, she is unable to do so; her own actions create the future she is trying to destroy. It’s a bleak, often depressing story that fits right into the downbeat mood of much of Season 3, but the conclusion is surprising and yet wonderfully hopeful. That it ends when it does is a smart move by Guerrier; the purpose of the trilogy is to bring Sara to the moment of redemption, and it would require new stories to progress beyond that point.
I really don’t need to point out that Jean Marsh is a brilliant performer, but she proves it again here with a subtle, layered performance. Guerrier’s script injects emotion even into the narrative passages, and Marsh provides that emotion with a master’s touch. Niall MacGregor is strong in his third appearance as Robert, but he’s very much in a secondary role this time around. The production is also excellent: the quality of Lisa Bowerman’s direction is proven by the performances, while the sound design from Richard Fox and Lauren Yason is an unsung star of the show. The cacophony of the innards of the clock is wonderful, overwhelming the ear without ever becoming needlessly confusing.
Overall, “The Guardian of the Solar System” is Big Finish at its best. Any complaints are so minor as to be irrelevant. An intelligent, layered script combines with brilliant performances and excellent sound design to create a gem of a release. Many trilogies seem to fall down in their final installments; this one goes out on a wonderful high.
Excellent.
10/10