Reunited with the Doctor and Nyssa, Tegan joins them on a trip to Amsterdam’s Rijkmuseum to see a new exhibition of the work of Rembrandt van Rijn, featuring his drawings of “Vessels of the Stars”. The Doctor is astonished to discover that they are designs for spaceships that would actually work, and decides to pop back to the Dutch Golden Age for a quiet word with Rembrandt – but the world-weary artist is no mood to help.
Meanwhile, strange forces are swirling in the canals, creatures from ancient myth, the watery, goblin-like Nix. What is their connection to the mysterious Countess Mach-Teldak – and to the events of Tegan’s life during her year away from the Doctor?
THE WATERS OF AMSTERDAM
With a new year comes a new trilogy, and with the protracted “older Nyssa” arc finally over, the monthly range moves to a different point in the fifth Doctor’s life. Jonathan Morris’s “The Waters of Amsterdam” picks up right where “Arc of Infinity” leaves off, with Tegan rejoining the TARDIS crew after helping defeat Omega. Surprisingly, it’s not a continuity-packed “extravaganza” but rather a smart, low-key character piece, and it’s all the better for it.
It’s annoyingly rare these days to say a monthly range release is actually about something, but “The Waters of Amsterdam” is very much a story about loss. Almost every major character in the story is dealing with a loss of some kind, and the different ways in which they cope drive the plot along. This is textbook character-driven storytelling: let the story develop according to the characters, not the other way around. So we start with Tegan and what she was doing during the time between “Time-Flight” and “Arc of Infinity,” and we discover that she lived a relatively normal life, jumping between jobs, dating, and all the rest. It’s mundane, but because we know Tegan so well, Morris makes it easy to relate to and sympathize with her struggles and successes. Her relationship with Kyle (Tim Delap) ends for very simple reasons: she needs someone to challenge her and he doesn’t do that. There’s no dramatic revelation of infidelity or anything like that, just – from Tegan’s perspective – an ordinary relationship ending for ordinary reasons. And so, when he turns back up, she has to struggle with the fact that she likes him but knows that they’re ultimately incompatible.
Of course, being that this is a Doctor Who story, Kyle conceals a great secret, one that explains his struggles in the relationship. And as he gains greater self-awareness and independence, he has to learn how to lose someone he cares about while still retaining the ability to find someone new. Again, there’s nothing earth-shattering here, but Morris writes with a very human, believable touch, something that is quite effective considering Kyle’s true identity. And then there’s Teldak (Elizabeth Morton), dealing with the loss of her entire planet. She’s willing to sacrifice herself for the opportunity to see her home one final time. Rembrandt (Richard James) is the historical celebrity for this story, and he, too, is dealing with the loss of his wife – and Nyssa knows all too well the struggle of losing loved ones, leading to a great moment between the two characters.
All of this makes “The Waters of Amsterdam” sound downbeat or even bleak, but it is none of those things. It’s a very easygoing story, with a refreshingly light sense of humor. Morris’s scripts often have a quick wit, and this one is no exception. The plot is strong, and never convoluted, and only seems to put a foot wrong near the end. It’s also a story that actually makes use of time travel as more than a plot device, with a similar exploration of the “alternate future” concept to that seen in “Pyramids of Mars.”
My biggest issue with the story is the decision to make Teldak a villainous character. This wasn’t necessary: she could have taken many of the same actions out of pure desperation to survive rather than a megalomaniacal desire to destroy her enemies, and in that scenario the Nix (Robbie Stevens) could have remained the sort-of-allies they became. But no, it’s more “I killed them all! Ha ha ha!” dialogue that cheapens an otherwise intelligent, delicate story.
The production is excellent. Jamie Anderson directs, helping to lend the story its unusual feel relative to much of the rest of the range. Martin Montague’s sound design is quite good, and I very much enjoyed Jamie Robertson’s score. Overall, “The Waters of Amsterdam” is a very strong story, one that isn’t afraid to let its characters drive events without relying upon hoary old science fiction clichés. If the monthly range would produce more stories like this, I’d be much more satisfied.
Highly recommended.
9/10