The Empire is lost.The Deathless Emperors are dead. The future may never happen. An urgent summons returns the noble Doctor to a planet he saved from disaster long ago. But Draconia, so elegant and so savage, is in worse turmoil than ever.
The Empire is lost.The Deathless Emperors are dead. The future may never happen. An urgent summons returns the noble Doctor to a planet he saved from disaster long ago. But Draconia, so elegant and so savage, is in worse turmoil than ever.
PAPER CUTS
There’s a certain amount of expectation that comes with a story like “Paper Cuts:” it’s Charley’s penultimate episode, it features the return of the Draconians, it continues the story of Mila stealing Charley’s identity, and it’s by famously creative author Marc Platt. Weaving those disparate plot elements together would be a rather difficult task – so I suppose I don’t blame Platt or Big Finish for utterly disregarding most of them, but it’s hard to avoid a subsequent sense of disappointment.
I accept that it’s unfair of me to criticize this play for not addressing Charley’s situation in any meaningful fashion: even in the new series, Doctor Who tends to lead into season finales with straightforward episodes so as not to scare away the casual audience. But with “Patient Zero” ending on a cliffhanger, and this play’s pre-credits sequence ending with the Doctor once again declaring his intent to find out who Charley really is, some expectations should be forgiven. Those expectations are wholly unaddressed: apart from one scene at the very end emphasizing Mila’s desire to remain alone with the Doctor, and a single line after the credits, the only indication that Charley has been possessed by an entirely different person is a slightly mannered performance by India Fisher and some slightly out of character lines. Clearly this is being left for “Blue Forgotten Planet,” but given the intrigue the script already displays, another character with questionable motives would not have been out of place.
I never understood the appeal of the Draconians. While I get that they’re one of the best-produced alien races of the classic series, their society seems lifted straight out of Star Trek with its class-based focus on honor and nobility. And that’s what this story generates: a tale of political intrigue revolving around succession to an alien throne. I absolutely love how Platt colors in the edges of Draconian society – the incorporation of paper, the Sazou, a young man wearing a necklace made from his own egg’s shell – but at its heart this isn’t especially distinctive. The Prince (Anthony Glennon) is ambitious and at times megalomaniacal, the high priest (Sara Crowe) has a secret agenda, the masterless soldier (John Banks) is an enigma, the peasant (Paul Thornley) just wants to go home, etc. I don’t want to sound as though I’m calling this a bad script, because it’s actually quite good – but Platt, in resurrecting the Draconians, has simultaneously resurrected the Pertwee era.
The conclusion is admirably elegant: while the description “Deathless Emperors” brings to mind the tombs of the pharaohs, the literal truth of the phrase comes as a surprise. The history of the Doctor’s time on Draconia adds depth to the proceedings as well. But at its heart, “Paper Cuts” is a very traditional Doctor Who story: whether you enjoy such stories and where you feel they should be placed in “arcs” will go a long way to determining your enjoyment of this play.
Steve Foxon’s sound design is masterful. This is a script that asks the listener to accept paper as a deadly threat, and Foxon incorporates rustling sound effects with a very minimalist score to create what is, at times, a very threatening environment. Colin Baker is back on form after “Patient Zero” – and much like the aforementioned Pertwee era, is in control throughout. India Fisher is playing Mila possessing Charley, but for most of the play her performance is not appreciably different. The supporting cast is variable: Crowe is over the top throughout, Glennon swings all over the spectrum, and Banks and Thornley are both excellent in their own ways. Nicholas Briggs’ direction is solid: the pace is intentionally deliberate and the various production elements are incorporated very well.
Overall, “Paper Cuts” is a fine example of traditional Doctor Who that would have stood as one of the finest stories of the early 1970s. My preference – especially in this story’s position – would be for something more ambitious, but that’s not a reason to knock the production unnecessarily.
A solid play, well made.
7/10