The TARDIS arrives on the Vanguard, a deep space vessel under attack by the Shifts. Can the travellers aid the crew’s battle for survival?
The TARDIS arrives on the Vanguard, a deep space vessel under attack by the Shifts. Can the travellers aid the crew’s battle for survival?
THE EARLY ADVENTURES: THE AGE OF ENDURANCE
The third series of Early Adventures kicks off with Nick Wallace’s “The Age of Endurance,” a story very much in the traditional vein of 1960s science fiction. While it has some redeeming elements, it mostly lives up to its title, in that it lasts an age and takes significant endurance to make it to the end.
There is some interesting material on display here. Wallace, who wrote a thoughtful, meditative tale in the Companion Chronicle “The Dying Light,” here writes a story about the relationships between parents and children, best exemplified in the twice-repeated adage that children are responsible for their own successes while their parents are responsible for their failures. The story also deliberately blurs the line between synthetic and organic life while simultaneously presenting a villain that is believable and at times sympathetic. It’s a smart story, in other words – so why did it have to be so crushingly dull?
“The Age of Endurance” is written in the style of a Doctor Who story from the first season, for good and for bad. I’m reminded of “The Daleks,” a story that very thoughtfully looks at hatred and prejudice when left to fester in the dark. But “The Daleks” also has a scene that depicts, in excruciating detail, a group of people jumping one-by-one over a short gap. While no scene in “Endurance” is quite that bad, the general effect is the same: everything is spelled out in careful detail, with very little left to the imagination. Much of the story involves one warship trying to escape the attentions of another, which leads to scenes of Ian, a 1960s science teacher, lecturing an experienced crew on military tactics. This is the sort of heroic thing Ian did all the time back in the actual Hartnell era, but the lack of realism coupled with the glacial pace makes it a very challenging listen.
In less significant news, “The Age of Endurance” marks the audio debut of Jemma Powell as Barbara in another example of recasting. Powell, who played Jacqueline Hill in “An Adventure in Space and Time,” was cast in that film due to her resemblance to Hill. Unfortunately, her voice doesn’t sound much like her predecessor’s, something that’s a bit more important on audio. Fortunately, I don’t care about that – I’d rather have the new actors provide their own takes on characters rather than attempting slavish impressions of the original actors. But it’s impossible to judge Powell’s performance on those grounds, because Barbara is barely in this story. William Russell and Carole Ann Ford are both great, of course, though Russell’s impression of William Hartnell is becoming less and less distinct from his portrayal of Ian. Still, given that the man is 91 years old, I’m not going to complain, especially since he’s still an excellent narrator.
I enjoyed the production. Ken Bentley directs, drawing some great performances from his cast, while Toby Hrycek-Robinson provides excellent sound design, incorporating some of the unusual effects that marked the early days of the program. Overall, though, “The Age of Endurance” is simply too dull to be enjoyable. There’s nothing wrong with a story with a slow pace, but the material needs to be delivered in an interesting fashion when it comes. This story doesn’t do that, even if its script is undeniably intelligent.
Mediocre, on balance.
5/10