When the Sixth Doctor and Mel visit the National Foundation for Scientific Research, Mel is unexpectedly thrown in to the past of her own family.
When the Sixth Doctor and Mel visit the National Foundation for Scientific Research, Mel is unexpectedly thrown in to the past of her own family.
CATCH-1782
While “above average” is hardly a condemnation of a production, it hardly implies greatness — and for a company like Big Finish that regularly achieved greatness in its first few years, a seemingly persistent inability in 2004 to return to those heights was troublesome. The first three releases of 2005 were no different: two above-average yet flawed plays, and one purely average release. The fourth release came from the pen of Alison Lawson, whose short stories in Big Finish’s anthologies were uniformly excellent character pieces. As expected, some of her character work in this audio is equally good — but unfortunately she forgot to include a plot, something which cripples the production.
Here’s the plot: Mel visits her scientist uncle John Hallam, and a piece of rudimentary time technology flings her back in time. The Doctor and Hallam go back in time after Mel, but discover that she has apparently become part of her own history and can’t leave. Then they find out they were wrong and take her back. The end. That’s bad enough, but the interesting part — the possible consequences to history — takes place entirely within the fourth episode. Catch-1782 is very poorly structured — the entire first episode, for example, involves the Doctor and Mel arriving at her uncle’s conference. We don’t learn anything significant about the regular characters during this episode, nor does anything of any interest happen, other than some blatant foreshadowing for later episodes. Mel’s disappearance happens without any warning, and the cliffhanger is simply bizarre, coinciding not with Mel’s disappearance or her reappearance in the past, but with John’s discovery of her absence and questioning the Doctor about his identity.
The bulk of the play takes place in the past, as a confused Mel is, in a way, held prisoner by her ancestors, who drug her with laudanum, suspecting that she suffers from a mental disorder. Dr. Wallace thinks she should be committed to an asylum, while Henry Hallam wants to keep her around, first out of a sense of duty and later because he finds himself falling in love with her. The maid, Mrs. McGregor, secretly loves Henry. That’s all the listener learns for two episodes. Sure, the characters engage in endless conversations, rife with period detail, but absolutely nothing of interest is conveyed. Wallace and Hallam seemingly engage in an hour-long argument over whether or not to send Mel to an asylum — the passage of time doesn’t change anything.
And when the final episode rolls around, we’re finally presented with a conflict — Mel might have to stay in the past to become the mysterious Eleanor Hallam. But the possible consequences of this are never explored, and when the obvious foreshadowing elements (the dress) reappear, the solution becomes clear even before it is revealed. And it’s such a simple solution that it almost beggars belief — there actually is no problem and the Doctor just misinterpreted the situation? This isn’t the only shortcut: despite fairly convincing period characters, Lawson’s Dr. Wallace is way too easily convinced that the Doctor and John are time travelers, for example.
Colin Baker gives his usual steady performance — this is the later, mellowed sixth Doctor, and his jibes with John never stop sounding friendly. His sympathy for Mel is touching, and his outrage at the treatment she receives is quite convincing. However, there is absolutely nothing new or challenging given to the character — this is the sixth Doctor by numbers. Accurate as Lawson’s characterization may be, it simply isn’t interesting. Fortunately, Colin Baker does his best with the material.
Mel, on the other hand, is given the lion’s share of the development — or at least it appears that way for most of the play. After all, she is sent backwards through time and forced to live in quasi-captivity for six months under the influence of drugs. Mel’s suffering is presented well, and Bonnie Langford’s performance is very strong — a haunting portrayal of a confused person stranded in time. As Mel recovers her senses, Langford reads the character with a stronger voice, ultimately restoring her to her original outgoing personality. Unfortunately, at this point the time travel-induced amnesia rears its head once again, and Mel claims to have forgotten the events of the past six months. I hate reset buttons, and this is a particularly egregious example.
The supporting cast is a particular strength. Derek Benfield presents a great character in John Hallam, an aging eccentric that is a delight to hear. Keith Drinkel’s obsessive Henry Hallam is equally convincing, tipping over the edge at the conclusion in heartbreaking fashion. Dr. Wallace is an interesting character, one who shifts in the listener’s estimation from “villain” to “hero” as the play progresses, and Michael Chance’s portrayal is subtle enough to allow for both interpretations. Finally, Jillie Meers gives an appropriately dignified performance as Mrs. McGregor. It should also be noted that these characters are uniformly well-drawn; much of my review has been critical of Lawson’s writing, but her greatest strength — characterization — should be underscored as much as possible.
On the production front, Gareth Jenkins’ sound design is up to his usual standard of excellence, matching the quiet tone of the play with subtle yet accurate effects. Andy Hardwick’s score fits the period quite well. Despite the repetitive nature of the script, Gary Russell’s direction keeps the pace up — despite the fact that I recognized that I should have been bored, the play held my interest, and I put that down to the director.
Overall, there are some commendable elements to Catch-1782. Lawson has a real knack for characterization and dialogue, and her characters are a pleasure to the ears. However, she appears to have no idea how to construct an interesting plot, as the plot here is barely sufficient for a short story, much less a four-episode audio drama. If this play was truly a character piece, the absence of plot wouldn’t matter — but it isn’t, it’s a set of characterizations in search of a framework. My score may seem unnecessarily harsh, but despite the performances and production, this is a deeply flawed and badly structured script, one that I score as a disappointment and one that I would struggle to recommend.
Unfortunate.
4/10