High octane excitement as the Doctor and Lucie join the greatest spaceship show in the galaxy – Max Warp!
1 Comment
Styre
on May 7, 2016 at 9:47 PM
MAX WARP
I admit, straight off the bat, that I’m not appropriately equipped to review this audio. I’ve never seen Top Gear, don’t understand any of the references, and only know who Jeremy Clarkson and Richard Hammond are because I browsed Wikipedia. So I can’t really comment on its effectiveness as a satire — I’m limiting myself to its effectiveness as a piece of drama. With that in mind, “Max Warp” is a solid if lightweight production, with more than its share of funny moments — but ultimately it feels remarkably inconsequential.
I’ve been a fan of Jonathan Morris ever since his PDA “Festival of Death” — he’s one of the wittiest voices in Doctor Who writing, and that ability is clearly on display here. The characters are broad and over the top, but the play has that feeling throughout — starting with Graeme Garden’s performance as Geoffrey Vantage, a character so thoroughly greedy, sexist, and reprehensible he’s delightful to listen to. Morris’s characters steal the show, including his regulars: the Doctor is at his most enthusiastic in this, and Paul McGann gives one of his best performances. We’ve known ever since Pertwee that the Doctor has a soft spot for fast vehicles — this is the same character that wanted to drive trains as a child — and here we see that geeky passion on display as he drools over fancy spaceships and takes offense at Lucie’s dismissiveness. Sheridan Smith is equally entertaining — she’s curiously made an object of mockery at the start of the play as the Doctor pokes fun at her ideas, but she rapidly gets her own back when put opposite Vantage. It’s more evident here than ever that these are two people who genuinely enjoy traveling together. And don’t forget Samantha Hughes and Nick Brimble, whose opposing leaders get to engage in some entertaining, if broad political humor.
Yet despite its entertaining characters, “Max Warp” falls down when it comes to the plot. Morris clearly enjoys skewering Top Gear, but the actual political machinations and Christie-like murder investigation seem almost perfunctory. The resolution is incredibly simple — it doesn’t seem to present any sort of challenge at all, and while that may be in keeping with the tone of the play, the lack of dramatic tension keeps it from being truly compelling. It’s more consequential than “Dead London,” certainly, but I don’t think it’s enough.
The production is, as always, up to a high standard, with the sound design from ERS expertly communicating the flashy, futuristic environment, and Barnaby Edwards again providing kinetic direction. I’ve enjoyed the directing efforts in general on the new McGann stories: there seems to be a conscious effort to “modernize” the stories in the vein of the new series, and while the writing doesn’t always approximate this, the stories have a notably distinct flow from their main range counterparts. This is a welcome change.
Overall, Max Warp is an entertaining, lightweight release. Perhaps, to those more familiar with its subject matter, it is also a strong satire — but I’m unable to comment. Listen to it to laugh, but if you’re looking for any drama outside of the most basic level, you may wish to look elsewhere.
MAX WARP
I admit, straight off the bat, that I’m not appropriately equipped to review this audio. I’ve never seen Top Gear, don’t understand any of the references, and only know who Jeremy Clarkson and Richard Hammond are because I browsed Wikipedia. So I can’t really comment on its effectiveness as a satire — I’m limiting myself to its effectiveness as a piece of drama. With that in mind, “Max Warp” is a solid if lightweight production, with more than its share of funny moments — but ultimately it feels remarkably inconsequential.
I’ve been a fan of Jonathan Morris ever since his PDA “Festival of Death” — he’s one of the wittiest voices in Doctor Who writing, and that ability is clearly on display here. The characters are broad and over the top, but the play has that feeling throughout — starting with Graeme Garden’s performance as Geoffrey Vantage, a character so thoroughly greedy, sexist, and reprehensible he’s delightful to listen to. Morris’s characters steal the show, including his regulars: the Doctor is at his most enthusiastic in this, and Paul McGann gives one of his best performances. We’ve known ever since Pertwee that the Doctor has a soft spot for fast vehicles — this is the same character that wanted to drive trains as a child — and here we see that geeky passion on display as he drools over fancy spaceships and takes offense at Lucie’s dismissiveness. Sheridan Smith is equally entertaining — she’s curiously made an object of mockery at the start of the play as the Doctor pokes fun at her ideas, but she rapidly gets her own back when put opposite Vantage. It’s more evident here than ever that these are two people who genuinely enjoy traveling together. And don’t forget Samantha Hughes and Nick Brimble, whose opposing leaders get to engage in some entertaining, if broad political humor.
Yet despite its entertaining characters, “Max Warp” falls down when it comes to the plot. Morris clearly enjoys skewering Top Gear, but the actual political machinations and Christie-like murder investigation seem almost perfunctory. The resolution is incredibly simple — it doesn’t seem to present any sort of challenge at all, and while that may be in keeping with the tone of the play, the lack of dramatic tension keeps it from being truly compelling. It’s more consequential than “Dead London,” certainly, but I don’t think it’s enough.
The production is, as always, up to a high standard, with the sound design from ERS expertly communicating the flashy, futuristic environment, and Barnaby Edwards again providing kinetic direction. I’ve enjoyed the directing efforts in general on the new McGann stories: there seems to be a conscious effort to “modernize” the stories in the vein of the new series, and while the writing doesn’t always approximate this, the stories have a notably distinct flow from their main range counterparts. This is a welcome change.
Overall, Max Warp is an entertaining, lightweight release. Perhaps, to those more familiar with its subject matter, it is also a strong satire — but I’m unable to comment. Listen to it to laugh, but if you’re looking for any drama outside of the most basic level, you may wish to look elsewhere.
6/10