The Sixth Doctor and Peri arrive in Ostend in 1913 and confront Toby the Sapient Pig who plans to wipe out humanity.
The Sixth Doctor and Peri arrive in Ostend in 1913 and confront Toby the Sapient Pig who plans to wipe out humanity.
YEAR OF THE PIG
The end of 2006 saw the end of Gary Russell’s long run as producer of Big Finish’s range of Doctor Who audios. With a catalogue dating back to 1999, a main range comprising 90 releases, and countless spinoffs and special editions, with new companions, old enemies, and new genres for the series, with the return of Paul McGann to the role of the eighth Doctor and the reinvention of Colin Baker’s sixth Doctor — with all of these things on his resumé, how would Russell go out? Fittingly, with a lighthearted, leisurely Matthew Sweet script serving as an ode to Marcel Proust.
Any Doctor Who story that attempts to be anything other than a solidly-plotted adventure serial will suffer criticism from the same quarters: fans who, after 44 years and what has to be approaching a thousand stories, still can’t accept that Doctor Who can accomodate literate character pieces. Sure enough, “Year of the Pig” has been blasted for a weak plot, for a slight plot, for being too long, for featuring too much talking — and it has received far too little praise for being the subtly impressive work it actually is.
The references to Proust and to À la recherche du temps perdu are not coincidental — “Year of the Pig” is deeply tied up with Proust’s masterpiece. Central among its themes is memory: the plot revolves not only around Toby (Paul Brooke)’s mistaken ideas about his past but also on Chardalot (Michael Keating)’s, and their incorrectly-perceived relationship. Proust dealt with the notion of involuntary memory — memories stimulated by the senses, by a familiar sound or smell or taste — and “Year of the Pig” is a sensory overload, its characters indulging themselves to the limit and beyond. And just as World War I hangs like a pall over Proust’s later volumes, it shadows the perimeter of this story, the oncoming storm set to shatter the calm of 1913 Ostend, barely a year away from German occupation.
Indeed, the atmosphere is what sets “Year of the Pig” apart. A simple, touching tale of two lost little boys learning of their past resides at its heart, but “Year of the Pig” is wrapped in a languid, luxurious tone, feeling throughout like a seaside holiday. Sweet’s script is witty without ever feeling intrusive, letting the listener into the lives of his characters until it feels as though they’re all old friends. And while it may run 146 minutes, don’t mistake “long” for “plodding” — Sweet has a Malickian touch of letting his work breathe, of allowing setting and atmosphere to elevate a simple tale to something more profound.
“Year of the Pig” features a small cast, but it is one of the best ever assembled by Big Finish. Colin Baker is always at his best with these literary, verbose scripts, and this performance is no exception: he demonstrates an effortless command of the material. And while this Peri couldn’t be much different from the version presented in “The Reaping” just four plays earlier, Nicola Bryant is given a rare opportunity to show her character’s intelligence, and does so without flaws. Brooke and Keating present a fabulous double act, as two urbane, cultured gentlemen — one with a dangerous obsession and another, well, a pig. Maureen O’Brien returns to Doctor Who as Miss Bultitude, a character whose name signals her delightfully over-the-top personality. And while Adjoa Andoh didn’t have a very substantial role in season 3 of the new Doctor Who, I can tell from her performance as Nurse Albertine why she was cast as Francine Jones: she’s a calm, stable centering point for the storm of indulgence that is the rest of the play.
Gareth Jenkins’ sound design is strong as usual, though it is occasionally difficult to tell what is being communicated, especially when it comes to the falling cows. Andy Hardwick’s music contributes well to the atmosphere of Sweet’s script. And Gary Russell’s turn in the director’s chair is up to his usual high standard: it would be easy for a play of this length to fall apart, but Russell uses his brilliant cast to keep the pacing just right.
This is a fine conclusion to Big Finish’s best release year since 2003, and a fine end as well to Gary Russell’s reign as producer. While “Year of the Pig” is an excellent story in its own right, it also stands as a final monument to Russell’s strongest legacy: a demonstration that performed Doctor Who can accomodate any genre given great scripts, excellent casts, and superior production design. It would have been easy to try go out with a bang, or to write something self-indulgent and “celebratory” — but instead we’re left with a simple little character piece, a wonderful atmosphere, and one more good memory joining hundreds of others.
Highly recommended.
9/10