Caught in the inevitable path of its own history, the TARDIS arrives on the planetoid Grace Alone, where the Doctor, Steven and Oliver expect to face their fate. What they don’t expect to find is a massacred crew – and a race of alien invaders known as the Vardans.
When the Doctor is apparently killed, his companions attempt to survive against the odds. But those odds are narrowing. Their borrowed time has expired.
THE COMPANION CHRONICLES: THE FIRST WAVE
As the Companion Chronicles have proceeded, several of them have started to take on a serial aspect, and the latest linked trilogy from Simon Guerrier comes to a close with “The First Wave,” the fifth release in the sixth series. As with its predecessors, “The Perpetual Bond” and “The Cold Equations,” “The First Wave” is a strong, powerful story that entertains throughout.
So this is the end for Tom Allen as Oliver Harper, a short-lived yet brilliantly effective companion for the First Doctor and Steven. It’s interesting to note that Oliver’s secret – he was a gay man living in notoriously intolerant 1960s London, a plot point that dominated his first two appearances – isn’t even mentioned in this story except for a brief, oblique reference. But it shouldn’t be – as soon as Oliver realized that neither the Doctor nor Steven was concerned about his sexuality, he had no reason to dwell on it, so why should the story? Instead, we get to see Oliver as a comfortable member of the TARDIS crew. He’s intelligent, cautiously adventurous, and very curious, full of positive qualities that make him a good listen. He’s still quite aware that he’s cut off from his own time, however, something that informs his decision at the conclusion of the story. That decision leads to his death; it’s a traditional sort of heroic sacrifice but it’s perfectly in keeping with what we’ve learned about him.
Which brings us to Steven, still nursing the wounds of the deaths of Katarina and Sara Kingdom, still trusting the Doctor but questioning the vagaries of time travel. To some extent, we know Oliver’s story has to end tragically: the next television story ends with an enraged Steven leaving the TARDIS, angry and frustrated at his inability to stop friends from dying, and guilty that they always seem to die to keep him alive. Such is the case here as well: without Oliver’s sacrifice, the Doctor and Steven would not survive, and yet Steven’s reward for making it out is a worsening case of survivor’s guilt. The seeds of “The Massacre” are sown here, as the Doctor appears willing to sacrifice both his friends and himself to preserve recorded history. It should go without saying by now that this is another fantastic performance from Peter Purves, both in his note-perfect Hartnell impression and in his increasingly pained performance and narration as Steven.
As if the emotional content wasn’t enough, “The First Wave” also tickles the fan gene as it features the Vardans, the energy creatures that spearheaded the invasion of Gallifrey in “The Invasion of Time.” We learn considerably more about them here: how they exist in the form of pure energy, travel at the “speed of thought,” and yet build ships to conserve energy over long journeys. The mass of transmissions coming from Earth draws them in, and it’s suggested that their crackling sound effect might be a manifestation of all these transmissions jumbled together. Director Lisa Bowerman steps in to voice a Vardan in an uncredited role, making them sound dangerous without resorting to over-the-top megalomania.
I’m not entirely sure what I think of the conclusion. Oliver doesn’t die – the Vardan converts him into energy – but he’s unable to communicate with the Doctor and Steven, so he follows them and observes their adventures together. This part is fine, but the very end, in which he witnesses the Doctor’s regeneration, almost seems to imply that Oliver’s “ghost” inspires the Doctor to become more of an interventionist, giving him the “evil that must be fought” mantra he proclaims in “The Moonbase.” This always seemed to be a natural progression of the character from his earliest days through his first regeneration – I’m not sure that a moment of inspiration helps that progression in the same manner. It’s thought provoking, however, and I did like how it tied back into the title of the story.
Lisa Bowerman is excellent as always in the director’s chair, and the sound design from Richard Fox and Lauren Yason is particularly effective, especially the haunting score. Overall, “The First Wave” is another triumph for Simon Guerrier and the Companion Chronicles. Intelligent, emotionally honest storytelling like this is always a delight. This range has really matured into something special.
Fantastic.
9/10