An experimental timeship smashes into the TARDIS, and the crews of both ships wake up on a desert island. Has the TARDIS been destroyed? And why doesn’t the Doctor want to escape?
Then, Steven and Sara find themselves on the wrong side of the Berlin Wall in 1966. And their only way back to the TARDIS is to betray the Doctor.
THE COMPANION CHRONICLES: THE ANACHRONAUTS
After the disaster that was “Beyond the Ultimate Adventure,” almost anything would have been an improvement, but the prospect of a Simon Guerrier-penned script featuring Steven and Sara is particularly appealing. The result, “The Anachronauts,” is unfortunately not of the same quality as the “Home Truths” trilogy, but it’s still a strong, entertaining adventure.
This is the double-length Companion Chronicle of the sixth series. Its length is its biggest problem, so I’ll deal with that first: there’s not enough material here to fill out four full episodes and it definitely shows. To reveal after the first two episodes that nothing is as it seems and the TARDIS engineered the scenario is a great moment. To then reveal that the NEXT two episodes are all a dream is to seem repetitive. As soon as events get suspicious in Berlin, it’s hard not to think “Oh, this again? Already?” The Berlin plot is also rather dull – it’s a long series of captures and escapes, the most traditional sort of Doctor Who padding.
But that’s not to say I disliked the story. The first two episodes hold the interest very well, the TARDIS colliding with an experimental human time ship and both ships ending up marooned on a mysterious desert island haunted by ghosts. It’s reminiscent of “Lost,” and the revelation that the entire island is contained within the TARDIS is brilliant. I understand they want to avoid looking inward, but I really think the TARDIS has gone underexplored in every storytelling medium – we should have “bottle” episodes inside this indescribably magnificent vessel.
Unlike the (brilliant) trilogy that started with “Home Truths,” this is a much more traditional story featuring the Doctor, Steven, and Sara, set between episodes 7 and 8 of “The Daleks’ Master Plan.” The fit is a bit uneasy – the Doctor keeps making references to the Daleks chasing them even though they never show up – but we’re used to hearing new Sara Kingdom stories now so it basically works. The characterization, always one of Guerrier’s strengths, sets the story apart: Steven figures out that the adventure in Berlin isn’t real largely because of the way Sara conducts herself. She’s more clingy, more emotional, more loving – and though it’s hinted that Steven might like it if she were truly that way, he knows she isn’t. Guerrier doesn’t make it obvious, either: it’s there, but Jean Marsh isn’t acting wildly out of character or anything like that. Subtle character work like this is always welcome.
There’s no framing device, similar to Guerrier’s Oliver Harper trilogy, but with both Peter Purves and Jean Marsh in studio, the narration switches between them with every new episode. This allows us to hear each story from both perspectives, adding detail to an otherwise straightforward adventure. This is put to best use in the final episode, as Jean Marsh takes over the narration right up until Steven figures out that Sara isn’t real. By having “Sara” narrate her feelings about Steven, Guerrier makes them much more believable and leads the audience away from questioning the reality of the situation. It’s a skillful example of misdirection, and Marsh hits it out of the park, as expected.
The narration features a couple of odd touches. The crew of the time ship, for example, are referred to almost exclusively by their full names – by the end of four episodes, it’s weird to hear both Steven and Sara say “Natalie Lang” almost every time they refer to her. Ken Bentley directs, and Toby Hrycek-Robinson provides a surprisingly broad soundscape for a Companion Chronicle. Overall, “The Anachronauts” is a solid, entertaining story. It doesn’t need to be four episodes long, and it’s repetitive in places, but there’s still enough going on here to make it worthwhile.
Recommended.
7/10