The Doctor, Steven and Sara encounter dark terrors in the home of a young couple.
1 Comment
Styre
on May 9, 2016 at 10:07 PM
THE COMPANION CHRONICLES: HOME TRUTHS
For the thirteenth Companion Chronicle, author Simon Guerrier returns to the Hartnell era and briefly tenured companion Sara Kingdom in “Home Truths.” It would be easy, given Sara’s small number of episodes, to bog a story like this down in continuity – but Guerrier avoids that completely and, in the process, produces the best Companion Chronicle yet.
While I’ve enjoyed the series thus far, the Companion Chronicles have been somewhat formulaic, most presenting some sort of framing sequence leading to a basic narration of a story. “Home Truths” breaks open this standard, delicately intertwining the framing device with the story itself. In the frame, there’s a house tended by an eternal caretaker, a house that cares for some of its guests and yet throws others out into the cold. Robert, an officer of indistinct description from Cambridge, arrives to investigate and interview the caretaker. And this caretaker is Sara Kingdom, and she has a tale to tell about the time she, the Doctor, and Steven investigated this house. But rather than launching into the story, Guerrier’s script moves back and forth between frame and narrative, allowing each to inform the other. When we return to the “present,” Sara expounds on her hopes and dreams, on her relationships with her companions. And when we’re in the story, these characters jump off the page, immersed in a genuinely unnerving ghost story.
It’s a tale of two halves: the first sees the Doctor and his companions investigating what appears to be an empty house… until the bodies turn up. With no indication of the cause of death, the trio is forced to explore the house, every sound a potential threat. Big Finish rarely goes for genuine scares in its Doctor Who, but this is a rare, successful example: even with the narrative, there is an immediacy here that aids the terror. And in the second part, once the nature of the house is explained, the story remains unnerving because of what it says about humanity: those fleeting, bitter thoughts that lurk in the dark areas of every mind, brought to the fore with violent, reckless abandon. Sara’s own lust for adventure nearly kills her friends, despite its essential harmlessness. And the Doctor is there as a counterpoint, presented at his most alien. He laughs at horror, and accepts impending death with serene calmness. Most affecting is how he never blames Sara for the events of the story: he knows she can’t help herself, and he never blames her for it, showing a gulf between Time Lord and human that goes far beyond the ability to fly a TARDIS.
I love the revelation about the narrator. It makes perfect sense, it fits elegantly in the script, and it neatly dodges any inconvenient continuity questions. I love Guerrier’s lack of specificity about the setting – what church Robert serves, what year it is, and so forth. I love ending the play on an ambiguous note, a decision left up both to Robert and to the listener. There’s a lot here that genuinely rewards further thought, something I crave in Doctor Who, and the story is affecting in a way most others aren’t. I also love Jean Marsh’s performance – Sara Kingdom is something of a lost role, with most of her (few) episodes destroyed, and Marsh offers a thoughtful, sympathetic performance that fits well with the final revelation. I love the score by Richard Fox and Lauren Yason, and the direction by Lisa Bowerman isn’t bad either. I can’t put my finger on it, but something’s preventing “Home Truths” from getting a perfect score – but this is easily the best Companion Chronicle of the first 13. Can’t wait for more like this.
THE COMPANION CHRONICLES: HOME TRUTHS
For the thirteenth Companion Chronicle, author Simon Guerrier returns to the Hartnell era and briefly tenured companion Sara Kingdom in “Home Truths.” It would be easy, given Sara’s small number of episodes, to bog a story like this down in continuity – but Guerrier avoids that completely and, in the process, produces the best Companion Chronicle yet.
While I’ve enjoyed the series thus far, the Companion Chronicles have been somewhat formulaic, most presenting some sort of framing sequence leading to a basic narration of a story. “Home Truths” breaks open this standard, delicately intertwining the framing device with the story itself. In the frame, there’s a house tended by an eternal caretaker, a house that cares for some of its guests and yet throws others out into the cold. Robert, an officer of indistinct description from Cambridge, arrives to investigate and interview the caretaker. And this caretaker is Sara Kingdom, and she has a tale to tell about the time she, the Doctor, and Steven investigated this house. But rather than launching into the story, Guerrier’s script moves back and forth between frame and narrative, allowing each to inform the other. When we return to the “present,” Sara expounds on her hopes and dreams, on her relationships with her companions. And when we’re in the story, these characters jump off the page, immersed in a genuinely unnerving ghost story.
It’s a tale of two halves: the first sees the Doctor and his companions investigating what appears to be an empty house… until the bodies turn up. With no indication of the cause of death, the trio is forced to explore the house, every sound a potential threat. Big Finish rarely goes for genuine scares in its Doctor Who, but this is a rare, successful example: even with the narrative, there is an immediacy here that aids the terror. And in the second part, once the nature of the house is explained, the story remains unnerving because of what it says about humanity: those fleeting, bitter thoughts that lurk in the dark areas of every mind, brought to the fore with violent, reckless abandon. Sara’s own lust for adventure nearly kills her friends, despite its essential harmlessness. And the Doctor is there as a counterpoint, presented at his most alien. He laughs at horror, and accepts impending death with serene calmness. Most affecting is how he never blames Sara for the events of the story: he knows she can’t help herself, and he never blames her for it, showing a gulf between Time Lord and human that goes far beyond the ability to fly a TARDIS.
I love the revelation about the narrator. It makes perfect sense, it fits elegantly in the script, and it neatly dodges any inconvenient continuity questions. I love Guerrier’s lack of specificity about the setting – what church Robert serves, what year it is, and so forth. I love ending the play on an ambiguous note, a decision left up both to Robert and to the listener. There’s a lot here that genuinely rewards further thought, something I crave in Doctor Who, and the story is affecting in a way most others aren’t. I also love Jean Marsh’s performance – Sara Kingdom is something of a lost role, with most of her (few) episodes destroyed, and Marsh offers a thoughtful, sympathetic performance that fits well with the final revelation. I love the score by Richard Fox and Lauren Yason, and the direction by Lisa Bowerman isn’t bad either. I can’t put my finger on it, but something’s preventing “Home Truths” from getting a perfect score – but this is easily the best Companion Chronicle of the first 13. Can’t wait for more like this.
Excellent.
9/10