The Sixth Doctor and Peri must solve a murder at a conference of lexicographers. Is the pen mightier than the sword?
1 Comment
Styre
on May 7, 2016 at 11:30 PM
…ISH
It is rare nowadays to see something truly original in Doctor Who. This is not a criticism, of course, as inventing new territory to explore isn’t exactly easy, but forty years of accumulated material can become repetitive from time to time. Phil Pascoe’s …ish is thus quite refreshing in this sense: Pascoe provides a plot dealing with the intricacies of language, something which has not been explored thus far in Doctor Who.
The problem with scripts such as …ish is reconciling an objective review of the material with one’s own personal views. I absolutely cannot stand so-called logophiles — it’s one thing to speak using proper grammar and appropriate vocabulary, but it’s quite another to use unnecessarily florid, overcomplicated language merely for the purposes of self-indulgence. Meeting one person who behaves in this manner infuriates me, so imagine my reaction to a play set at a college populated with nothing but!
Furthermore, I am not enamored with the play’s view of the English language as transcendental. The concept of English as inherently superior, as a language that will never die out when all others will, as somehow “special” as compared to other languages, is remarkably close-minded. It’s one thing to accept the fact that everyone in Doctor Who speaks English because it’s a dramatic convention — indeed, in The Masque of Mandragora there’s even an attempt to explain this — but when you draw attention to this fact and attempt to justify it you approach a backward, colonial mentality. English isn’t even the most widely-spoken language on Earth; why, other than the fact that it’s the primary language of the West, will it spread through the universe like none other? Or are we to assume that Earth will function in the same culturally imperialist manner as the modern West? Is there a McDonald’s on the corner at this college?
Add to this the fact that the play is monumentally uninteresting and …ish falls down on far too many levels. The threat of language becoming disassociated from meaning is far too large to comprehend (unless you’re really into your Derrida), and a group of people repeating “ish” over and over cannot convey the proper scope. Despite some of the thought-provoking dialogue, the action takes place primarily in two locations between which the characters walk. Ultimately, this play suffers from the same problem as many of the season five base-under-siege stories: if the Earth is being invaded, it’s just not interesting to have people standing around watching a radar screen and telling you about it. Similarly, there may be a threat of the universe being reduced to chaos, but all the audience hears is a group of people speaking about the threat in abstract terms. This is the main problem with the play: Pascoe’s concepts are imaginative but he wraps them in a bog-standard Doctor Who plot.
It goes without saying that Colin Baker is great in this, since it’s well known that he loves verbally-complicated material. There are a number of moments wherein Baker gets to take the stage and yell, just as the best of his TV stories, and he plays them to the hilt — but he’s also given some fine contemplative moments and his relationship with Peri is entertaining.
Nicola Bryant is also strong as Peri. While her earlier appearance alongside Baker (Justin Richards’ Whispers of Terror) featured the argumentative relationship so familiar from season 22, here Pascoe writes a much calmer, friendlier series of interactions. It’s also nice to have a script that draws attention to the differences between Peri’s American English and the Doctor’s (and the surrounding show’s) English — but of course this amounts mostly to mockery of the American tongue.
Moray Treadwell’s performance as Book is wonderful, as he takes a standard unemotional artificial intelligence character and slowly fleshes it out with well-delivered deadpan humor and a surprisingly poignant performance. Marie Collett and Oliver Hume do well as Osefa and Cawdrey, while Chris Eley gives Warren just the right amount of insanity. Pascoe’s writing is very strong on character, as every member of the small supporting cast is given multiple dimensions.
On the production front, Neil Clappison provides his first sound design work for the Doctor Who series. The design is unique — he gives a distinct filter to Book’s voice while playing some fun tricks with the “props” such as the babel masters. His score is quite effective, as he allows it to remain in the background at all times — and there’s a great use of sound in the background of most scenes that quietly builds up a nervous sense of dread. Nicholas Briggs takes the director’s chair, and, considering the nature of the script, draws some amazing performances from his actors, none of whom sound as though they’re new to the material.
Overall, I can’t rate …ish very highly, as I do not believe it functions well as a piece of audio drama. My personal opinion of the play is very low, but that’s a function of my bias against much of the material — as a Doctor Who play it’s high-concept but otherwise rather boring. I think there’s a great story to be told using the same concepts, but this was off on the wrong foot from the beginning. It’s better than I remembered, but I still can’t bring myself to recommend it.
…ISH
It is rare nowadays to see something truly original in Doctor Who. This is not a criticism, of course, as inventing new territory to explore isn’t exactly easy, but forty years of accumulated material can become repetitive from time to time. Phil Pascoe’s …ish is thus quite refreshing in this sense: Pascoe provides a plot dealing with the intricacies of language, something which has not been explored thus far in Doctor Who.
The problem with scripts such as …ish is reconciling an objective review of the material with one’s own personal views. I absolutely cannot stand so-called logophiles — it’s one thing to speak using proper grammar and appropriate vocabulary, but it’s quite another to use unnecessarily florid, overcomplicated language merely for the purposes of self-indulgence. Meeting one person who behaves in this manner infuriates me, so imagine my reaction to a play set at a college populated with nothing but!
Furthermore, I am not enamored with the play’s view of the English language as transcendental. The concept of English as inherently superior, as a language that will never die out when all others will, as somehow “special” as compared to other languages, is remarkably close-minded. It’s one thing to accept the fact that everyone in Doctor Who speaks English because it’s a dramatic convention — indeed, in The Masque of Mandragora there’s even an attempt to explain this — but when you draw attention to this fact and attempt to justify it you approach a backward, colonial mentality. English isn’t even the most widely-spoken language on Earth; why, other than the fact that it’s the primary language of the West, will it spread through the universe like none other? Or are we to assume that Earth will function in the same culturally imperialist manner as the modern West? Is there a McDonald’s on the corner at this college?
Add to this the fact that the play is monumentally uninteresting and …ish falls down on far too many levels. The threat of language becoming disassociated from meaning is far too large to comprehend (unless you’re really into your Derrida), and a group of people repeating “ish” over and over cannot convey the proper scope. Despite some of the thought-provoking dialogue, the action takes place primarily in two locations between which the characters walk. Ultimately, this play suffers from the same problem as many of the season five base-under-siege stories: if the Earth is being invaded, it’s just not interesting to have people standing around watching a radar screen and telling you about it. Similarly, there may be a threat of the universe being reduced to chaos, but all the audience hears is a group of people speaking about the threat in abstract terms. This is the main problem with the play: Pascoe’s concepts are imaginative but he wraps them in a bog-standard Doctor Who plot.
It goes without saying that Colin Baker is great in this, since it’s well known that he loves verbally-complicated material. There are a number of moments wherein Baker gets to take the stage and yell, just as the best of his TV stories, and he plays them to the hilt — but he’s also given some fine contemplative moments and his relationship with Peri is entertaining.
Nicola Bryant is also strong as Peri. While her earlier appearance alongside Baker (Justin Richards’ Whispers of Terror) featured the argumentative relationship so familiar from season 22, here Pascoe writes a much calmer, friendlier series of interactions. It’s also nice to have a script that draws attention to the differences between Peri’s American English and the Doctor’s (and the surrounding show’s) English — but of course this amounts mostly to mockery of the American tongue.
Moray Treadwell’s performance as Book is wonderful, as he takes a standard unemotional artificial intelligence character and slowly fleshes it out with well-delivered deadpan humor and a surprisingly poignant performance. Marie Collett and Oliver Hume do well as Osefa and Cawdrey, while Chris Eley gives Warren just the right amount of insanity. Pascoe’s writing is very strong on character, as every member of the small supporting cast is given multiple dimensions.
On the production front, Neil Clappison provides his first sound design work for the Doctor Who series. The design is unique — he gives a distinct filter to Book’s voice while playing some fun tricks with the “props” such as the babel masters. His score is quite effective, as he allows it to remain in the background at all times — and there’s a great use of sound in the background of most scenes that quietly builds up a nervous sense of dread. Nicholas Briggs takes the director’s chair, and, considering the nature of the script, draws some amazing performances from his actors, none of whom sound as though they’re new to the material.
Overall, I can’t rate …ish very highly, as I do not believe it functions well as a piece of audio drama. My personal opinion of the play is very low, but that’s a function of my bias against much of the material — as a Doctor Who play it’s high-concept but otherwise rather boring. I think there’s a great story to be told using the same concepts, but this was off on the wrong foot from the beginning. It’s better than I remembered, but I still can’t bring myself to recommend it.
Disappointing.
4/10