Lucie has returned to her life on Earth, grief-stricken at the death of the doctor. Then, one night, an alien visitor arrives at her front door and shoots her. Could it be that Lucie’s days with the Doctor are not over?
Lucie has returned to her life on Earth, grief-stricken at the death of the doctor. Then, one night, an alien visitor arrives at her front door and shoots her. Could it be that Lucie’s days with the Doctor are not over?
ORBIS
2009 was the “gap year” for Doctor Who on television: a transition year between production teams in which a full series of weekly episodes was replaced with four hour-long “special” episodes broadcast throughout the year. With the monthly series continuing as usual, Big Finish decided to offer the third season of Paul McGann stories as a replacement of sorts: breaking each story into multiple episodes and offering them as weekly downloads. “Orbis,” the first story in the third season, came from co-authors Alan Barnes and Nicholas Briggs, and while not without flaws, appears to stand as the best Doctor Who story Barnes has written.
After the terrible “Vengeance of Morbius” ended with the Doctor plunging to his apparent death and Lucie being shot on her front porch by the Headhunter (Katarina Olsson), “Orbis” could have started in almost any situation — and the scenario it presents is surprisingly interesting. The Doctor is living on the aquatic planet Orbis, working with the native jellyfish-like population, and defending them from the evil clam-like Mollusci, who aim to wipe them out. The twist comes when the Doctor reveals he has been living on Orbis for six hundred years, such a long time that he has totally forgotten his travels with Lucie. Yes, this revelation throws the Doctor’s age into question yet again, but the story offers enough possible explanations (the Orbisian year might be rather short, for example) that it’s only a big deal to those who obsess over such things. More important is the way that this plot device gives the tired “amnesiac eighth Doctor” cliché a fresh look: he doesn’t really have amnesia, he simply just forgot!
This, of course, allows the story to put Lucie in the central role: after she is abducted by the Headhunter, she is taken to Orbis to recover the Doctor, and is confronted with the harsh fact that he no longer remembers who she is. Sheridan Smith portrays Lucie’s frustration exceptionally well, ranging from anger to depression to determination. Perhaps the ultimate cure — repeatedly slapping the Doctor — will strike some the wrong way (ha), but I thought it entertainingly appropriate. Credit Paul McGann as well: while he has no memory of Lucie for much of the play, his compassion still comes to the fore. We’ve also seen something of an edge to this character since his travels with Lucie began, and that continues here, as he prepares to abandon her to the Headhunter when he suspects the two are in league.
The ending is also surprisingly effective: the story appears structured toward a traditional ending, in which the Doctor will find a way to fight off his friends’ oppressors and bring about a satisfactory conclusion. Instead, however, events spiral out of his control in a manner that is shockingly bleak for a season opener. It’s been a while since I’ve heard a Big Finish play end like this, and I’m curious about the potential repercussions as the season progresses.
Some complaints: first of all, we’re presented with another race of comedy alien villains. Their actions may not be comedic, but this sub-Adams humor has pervaded multiple Big Finish productions of late and it’s detracting from the drama. The ending makes up for it, but I’m finding myself rolling my eyes more often than not. Secondly, the story relies a bit too much on technobabble: while I enjoyed the relationship between the Doctor and Selta (Laura Solon), their conversations revolve too often upon local technology or points of difference between human and jellyfish physiology. This isn’t inherently bad, but as an intended replacement for the television series, which pointedly avoids that sort of thing, it doesn’t work.
On the production front, “Orbis” is another success for Big Finish. Andy Hardwick’s sound design and music are believable without being intrusive, and Nicholas Briggs directs his own material with pace and flair. There’s a lot to recommend “Orbis,” in sum: it’s a confident start to a new season that contains actual surprises mixed in with the traditional elements. Of course, Big Finish is notorious in my book for failing to follow through on strong starts, but I’m definitely looking forward to this season.
Strong stuff, and highly recommended.
8/10