Time Walkers have descended upon the Earth. This alien race, known as The Vist, has claimed an area of time for itself – any species entering into the immediate future will pay the most terrible forfeit.
The human race is in a state of panic, but one woman knows the truth. Her name is Polly Wright, and she visited that future many years ago, with the Doctor, Jamie and Ben.
She has stepped into the Forbidden Time – and this is her story…
THE COMPANION CHRONICLES: THE FORBIDDEN TIME
The fifth series of Companion Chronicles rolls on with the ninth entry, David Lock’s “The Forbidden Time,” another story that uses the vocal talents of two TV regulars. There are some fantastic ideas on display here, but they’re held in check by a curiously uninspiring framing device that’s too clever for its own good in places.
Nobody seems to know for sure who David Lock is; there’s a lighting designer from “Battlefield” with that name, while the various Doctor Who wiki entries seem to think it’s a pseudonym for Andy Lane. It certainly could be a Lane script, but why the pseudonym in the first place? In any case, most of “The Forbidden Time” takes place in what the Doctor describes as a shadow of normal time, a place where everything is seen in a fragile, monochrome version of reality. The quiet, haunting nature of this environment is brought out expertly by the sound design of Richard Fox and Lauren Yason, as are the sounds of the alien Vist that inhabit it. It’s fun to think about how this would have been presented on television, given that everything was in monochrome in the first place!
The characterization is also of a high standard. Credit to Lock for setting a story in the crowded TARDIS of the early Troughton era, but “killing” Ben midway through the first episode is a rather transparent way of reducing the number of characters. Polly is great, though – this is the combination of fragility and heroism that the best writers give her, rather than the helpless coffee maker she too often becomes. It’s also interesting to get insight into Jamie’s early days in the TARDIS, and how close he already feels to the crew. Frazer Hines gives a great performance despite his limited role, especially when Jamie gets choked up reflecting on Ben’s apparent death. This is also the more manipulative second Doctor of this era; unfortunately his plan involves saying “Oh no, don’t do that!” when he actually wants the Vist to do that, and it works!
The weakness of “The Forbidden Time” comes in the framing device, in which Polly gives a speech to an assembled, indistinct group of experts to inform them of the reasons behind a telepathic message received by the entire planet. There’s no reason for her to tell this entire story start to finish, the “cliffhanger” is far too “meta” for its own good (Really? A five-minute break?), and relaying Jamie’s parts of the story through voice recordings feels forced and unnecessary. It also runs into Big Finish’s long-standing inability to present convincing crowd scenes, though I won’t hold that against this story in particular. It reminds me of “The Trial of a Time Lord” in that the story crashes to a halt every time it returns to the framing sequence – though here the story itself is much better.
Overall, “The Forbidden Time” is still a success. Anneke Wills and Frazer Hines give fine performances, the script is a fine example of atmosphere and occasional creepiness, and Lisa Bowerman’s direction is up to its usual high standards. If the framing sequence is a bit of a slog, that doesn’t entirely take away from what is otherwise an entertaining, intriguing example of Troughton-era science fiction.
Recommended.
7/10