The Doctor and Peri visit the planet Targos Delta to check in on old friend Professor Albrecht Thompson, only to discover that he has vanished. The Doctor’s curiosity is piqued. They must investigate, but they must do so stealthily… Peri will go undercover on Paradise 5, while the Doctor hides in the shadows. Because paradise holds a terrible secret beneath the white marble and golden trimmings. And the Elohim are coming.
THE LOST STORIES: PARADISE 5
While three of the first four Lost Stories releases came from the “lost” season 23 of Doctor Who, the fifth comes from the actual season 23. PJ Hammond’s “Paradise 5” was originally intended to be the third part of “The Trial of a Time Lord,” introducing Mel and serving as the Doctor’s defense. That it was eventually abandoned in favor of “Terror of the Vervoids” doesn’t inspire confidence, but the end result, as adapted to audio by veteran Doctor Who spinoff media scribe Andy Lane, is a solid, satisfying story.
While “The Hollows of Time” was largely left unchanged in its transition to audio, “Paradise 5” apparently went through multiple significant changes. Big Finish opted not to present the story as a lost “Trial” segment, and so Lane excised all of the courtroom material from Inquisitor to Valeyard. Furthermore, Bonnie Langford was unavailable for recording, so Lane further alters the script to feature Peri instead of Mel. Lastly, with all the “Trial” material removed, the script no longer accommodated a four-episode running time, obligating Lane to massively rewrite the first and fourth parts.
The story as presented has two substantially different styles: the material on the Paradise 5 station in which the Doctor and Peri investigate, which takes up most of episodes 2 and 3, and everything else before and after. It’s easy to assume this shows the joins between Hammond and Lane, but I don’t actually know if this is the case. But I do find the story much more interesting during the investigative stages, despite some ironic similarities with “Vervoids” itself. The Doctor sending his companion undercover was a device rarely explored in the classic series, but it works incredibly well here with Peri, who rapidly integrates herself into the resort culture. There’s a bit of drooling over the thought of Peri in a bikini, though it’s perfectly in keeping with her costuming at the time. It’s also amusing to think of the sixth Doctor, of all his incarnations, working surreptitiously behind the scenes – and the story doesn’t even take the concept seriously, as he investigates the “backstage” area while loudly singing Gilbert & Sullivan to himself!
The biggest problem with “Paradise 5” is that it doesn’t build to much of anything. The true nature of the Paradise Machine is predictable but appalling nonetheless, and Gabriel (Alex Macqueen) and Michael (James D’Arcy) make a fantastic, villainous double act – but the revelations about the Elohim fail to satisfy. I will admit sacrilege here: I didn’t particularly care for Sapphire and Steel; I found it esoteric and difficult to relate to. The Elohim are the sort of “villain” Hammond would have used in that context: multidimensional, truly unknowable, and happy to use real-world avatars to do their dirty work. They’re also fighting an incomprehensible war against an unknown opponent, and it’s thoroughly unclear if either side of that war is in the right. Hammond loves this sort of story – even his Torchwood episodes involved people in the real world catching a brief, limited glimpse of the fantastic – but it rarely works for me. Serious fans of his work will probably find much to enjoy as it translates to a Doctor Who context. I, on the other hand, found the conclusion unrewarding – the tone doesn’t even seem to match the rather grim material.
This isn’t to say there’s nothing to like about “Paradise 5.” While the first episode treads quite a bit of water, director Barnaby Edwards keeps the pace satisfying and the mysteries intriguing. Simon Robinson goes for an extremely-‘80s soundtrack, complete with soaring guitar riffs between scenes – and again, I love this stuff, so I enjoyed it. Colin Baker’s back on top form, along with Nicola Bryant, after the disappointment of “The Hollows of Time,” and the cast is clearly having a ball with the script. “Paradise 5” is a success – and if not for a matter of taste I’d probably score it higher.
Recommended.
7/10