A traveller in time returns to correct the mistakes of the past and faces a danger that could rob him of his future. Unless his future intervenes.
A traveller in time returns to correct the mistakes of the past and faces a danger that could rob him of his future. Unless his future intervenes.
PROJECT: LAZARUS
The 2003 experimental year rolled on for Big Finish, and after two strong successes in Doctor Who and the Pirates and Creatures of Beauty, Cavan Scott and Mark Wright were called in to sequelize their popular Project: Twilight audio. The experimental twist to Project: Lazarus? A new approach to the multiple-Doctor story, essentially composed of two separate two-episode stories, one per disc, and one featuring each of the two Doctors. The result? Yet another successful release from Big Finish.
Project: Lazarus, technically speaking, isn’t a multi-Doctor story at all. It’s divided into a sixth Doctor story and a seventh Doctor story, and though Colin Baker appears in both stories, he’s only actually playing the Doctor in one of them. Yet despite this technicality, this is easily the most workable approach to a multi-Doctor story ever undertaken by the series. Rather than having to explain precisely why the Doctors have come into contact with one another, it simply allows them to encounter the same location at different times and engage in different reactions to their surroundings. This also allows for a difference in style between the two stories, down to the use of each Doctor’s title music for his respective episodes.
This also adds to the effectiveness of Project: Lazarus as a sequel. After the immense popularity of Project: Twilight, and especially its ambiguous “villain” Nimrod, a sequel was always on the cards — and by mixing it with multiple Doctors, the story is automatically given an epic quality that might otherwise have been absent. Cavan Scott and Mark Wright pen a brilliant opening pair of episodes, the opening scenes in Scandinavia feeling incredibly horrifying and claustrophobic despite their outdoor setting. When events return to the Forge, the plot becomes more standard, but the strength of the central characters is such that everything holds together.
This is Colin Baker’s play through and through, and his performance as the sixth Doctor in the first two episodes is up to his usual standard of brilliance. After his first encounter with Nimrod, this Doctor feels as though he can reason with the deputy director of the Forge, but he finds out this supposition is completely wrong — Baker’s voice becomes increasingly desperate, conveying a feeling not often heard from this most confident of Doctors. His intense “Damn you, Nimrod!” near the end is stunning yet entirely in character — and his failed attempts to comfort Evelyn in the TARDIS are heartbreaking to hear.
Of course, he also plays a cloned sixth Doctor in episodes 3 and 4, and this time his character is much more vulnerable. This is a fake Doctor, one who attempts to put up the same facade as his doppelganger but fails to show much in the way of confidence or charisma. This is most evident as he goes to confront the arriving alien horde — you can hear him trying to reason with them as the Doctor would, but he fails, and gets his arm chopped off for his trouble. Baker is much more sympathetic here — and those few times when he is successfully playing the Doctor lead to some entertaining banter with McCoy.
After being put through the emotional wringer in Doctor Who and the Pirates, Evelyn could have used a break. Instead, she witnesses the horrible brainwashing and demise of a girl she thought she’d saved — it’s really no surprise that she finishes the first story an emotional wreck, and I’m pleased to know this is addressed down the line in her next story. Maggie Stables gives a great performance, and her sobbing fit at the end is as disturbing as it is convincing — nice old grandmotherly types aren’t supposed to go through this, by god!
Then, of course, there’s Sylvester McCoy, playing his companionless near-the-TVM seventh Doctor that we’ve seen infrequently in the books. The script scales back his active role, allowing him to remain in the background and issue intimidating comments — precisely the sort of thing McCoy does best, and he’s brilliant here. When he growls to Nimrod that he’s not as forgiving as his previous self, you believe him. When he appears in scenes seemingly out of nowhere (much like The Fearmonger), you don’t question it. And his lines in the rain at the conclusion send shivers down the spine. It’s performances like this that make you wonder why he wasn’t scripted this way for the NA audios.
Stephen Chance returns as Nimrod, and he steals the show without even trying. Scott and Wright give him lines that are at times ridiculous and supervillain-y — “Artemis, you’re fired!” and such — but Chance’s insanely melodramatic and threatening voice make all of these lines *work* so well it hurts. Every time he spoke, I was grinning — one (minor) problem with the BF output is a lack of truly memorable villains, but Nimrod is definitely the exception to this rule. Rosie Cavaliero returns to the role of Cassie, and she’s less over the top than she was in Project: Twilight, but unfortunately she can’t pull off the scenery-chewing like her counterpart. The other supporting characters (Crumpton, Frith, Harket) are little more than ciphers, but this might not be a bad thing as they’re overshadowed by their larger-than-life costars.
The sound design on display is excellent as usual, with Gareth Jenkins recreating all sorts of awful, violent noises of mayhem and destruction. Andy Hardwick’s score is excellent, giving the play an epic, big-budget horror feel. Gary Russell returns to the director’s chair and provides his usual steady hand, keeping two Doctors in line and drawing some of the best Sylvester McCoy performances seen in the range out of the actor. Lee Binding’s work on the double-cover is excellent, representing one of the best of the range.
There are undoubtedly some flaws with Project: Lazarus, but the play overcomes them through sheer drama. By the time you get past Evelyn’s emotional trauma, and Nimrod’s menacing tones, and McCoy’s quiet intimidation, are you left with much? Maybe not, but the play is simply too much fun to be brought down by other factors. A triumph in spite of itself it may be, but a triumph it remains.
Recommended.
8/10