The Eighth Doctor and Charley find themselves… nowhere. And all they have is each other.
1 Comment
Styre
on May 7, 2016 at 11:50 PM
SCHERZO
If 2003 was the high-performance sports car of Big Finish’s output, Zagreus was the crash of that car into a brick wall at 100 mph. Out of the twisted, flaming wreckage, the McGann arc had to continue, so of course now Gary Russell felt it was appropriate to once again commission Rob Shearman, greatest of all Big Finish authors. But the restrictions came in: this was to be the first post-Zagreus release and it had to be a two-hander between Paul McGann and India Fisher. Shearman thus went the only way he could have: an exploration of the diabolical “love” relationship which evolved between the Doctor and Charley during Neverland and Zagreus, mixed together with some exciting new-universe physics.
As this relationship between Doctor and companion had never been seen before, Shearman wisely decided to explore the standard relationship and the manner in which the eighth Doctor and Charley differed. His supposition, in keeping with his traditionally dark tone, is that the Doctor’s companions serve as a sort of memento mori: a reminder of the Time Lord’s own mortality in a universe in which he can cheat death twelve (or more) times. Of course, this doesn’t gel with the relationships we saw before, but this is also a much darker and more cynical Doctor than before. My concern is with why Charley has suddenly built this deep relationship with the Doctor: we’ve seen nothing, in my opinion, in their adventures thus far that the Doctor would not have done for his other companions. Indeed, the concept sounds forced and hollow, as if the decision to make Charley “special” came down from on high rather than from Shearman’s own mind. The lack of Inside Story-type material on post-Zagreus stories makes it difficult to say, however.
Scherzo is also Big Finish’s first attempt to create a universe wholly different from our own, one in which “time does not exist” or some such nonsense. Of course, with the play restricted to two actors, it’s difficult to do much exploration, as evidenced by Shearman’s decision to lock the Doctor and Charley in a circular glass tube. The sensory deprivation on display is amazing, as Shearman establishes early on that time has no meaning to the characters without their other sensory inputs, and then plays games with the listener, sometimes setting consecutive scenes hours or days apart. The sound creature is also fascinating, communicating as it does not with words but with intonations. Furthermore, the rapid, unusual nature of evolution within the tube provides both drama and a cathartic moment between the Doctor and Charley near the conclusion. Of Shearman’s varied settings in his BF work, this clearly took the most imagination, and its execution demonstrates just why Shearman is so highly acclaimed among Doctor Who fandom and the outside world.
After a shaky performance in Zagreus, Paul McGann is on amazing form in Scherzo, showing a dark, embittered Doctor angry at himself, at Charley, and at the universe for seemingly invalidating his sacrifice. There’s a threatening edge to his voice, something that Zagreus attempted but failed, that makes his actions truly unpredictable. And his fatalism is quite depressing — this is not the standard behavior of the Doctor, and as such it unsettles. Furthermore, Shearman leaves the nature of the Doctor’s love for Charley ambiguous, easily the best move he could have made — had McGann been (metaphorically) all over Fisher, it would have irreparably damaged the drama.
It’s incredibly easy to get a laudable performance out of India Fisher: don’t write Charley as insufferably smug. Here she’s frightened, confused, and near hysteria by the differences between the universes, and to top things off she sees her expressed love for the Doctor apparently go unrequited. As a result, Charley is necessarily crushed, and Fisher gives an impressive, powerful performance. Unfortunately, she does have a tendency to inject too much melodrama into the love dialogue, but this is a relatively minor flaw.
As sound design creates the third character in this play, Gareth Jenkins & Andy Hardwick had an incredibly difficult task in front of them. Their work, however, is phenomenal, mixing together McGann and Fisher lines along with various other sound effects and music samples to create a bizarre, unnerving creature of sound. Russell Stone provides the limited incidental music, and it is up to his usual brilliant standard, especially that used underneath McGann’s precredit narration. Gary Russell rises to the occasion with his direction, and the knowledge that the actors delivered these performances on what was basically a straight run through of the material in one day further underscores his achievement.
For the most part, Scherzo is up to Shearman’s usual standard of production. However, much like Robert Holmes before him, it seems that despite the excellence of his work it could have been even better without constraints imposed by the production office. Shearman does a better job with this concept than, I suspect, anyone else could have, but I still remain unconvinced that the characters can stretch to accommodate this material. Highly recommended regardless, but be forewarned.
SCHERZO
If 2003 was the high-performance sports car of Big Finish’s output, Zagreus was the crash of that car into a brick wall at 100 mph. Out of the twisted, flaming wreckage, the McGann arc had to continue, so of course now Gary Russell felt it was appropriate to once again commission Rob Shearman, greatest of all Big Finish authors. But the restrictions came in: this was to be the first post-Zagreus release and it had to be a two-hander between Paul McGann and India Fisher. Shearman thus went the only way he could have: an exploration of the diabolical “love” relationship which evolved between the Doctor and Charley during Neverland and Zagreus, mixed together with some exciting new-universe physics.
As this relationship between Doctor and companion had never been seen before, Shearman wisely decided to explore the standard relationship and the manner in which the eighth Doctor and Charley differed. His supposition, in keeping with his traditionally dark tone, is that the Doctor’s companions serve as a sort of memento mori: a reminder of the Time Lord’s own mortality in a universe in which he can cheat death twelve (or more) times. Of course, this doesn’t gel with the relationships we saw before, but this is also a much darker and more cynical Doctor than before. My concern is with why Charley has suddenly built this deep relationship with the Doctor: we’ve seen nothing, in my opinion, in their adventures thus far that the Doctor would not have done for his other companions. Indeed, the concept sounds forced and hollow, as if the decision to make Charley “special” came down from on high rather than from Shearman’s own mind. The lack of Inside Story-type material on post-Zagreus stories makes it difficult to say, however.
Scherzo is also Big Finish’s first attempt to create a universe wholly different from our own, one in which “time does not exist” or some such nonsense. Of course, with the play restricted to two actors, it’s difficult to do much exploration, as evidenced by Shearman’s decision to lock the Doctor and Charley in a circular glass tube. The sensory deprivation on display is amazing, as Shearman establishes early on that time has no meaning to the characters without their other sensory inputs, and then plays games with the listener, sometimes setting consecutive scenes hours or days apart. The sound creature is also fascinating, communicating as it does not with words but with intonations. Furthermore, the rapid, unusual nature of evolution within the tube provides both drama and a cathartic moment between the Doctor and Charley near the conclusion. Of Shearman’s varied settings in his BF work, this clearly took the most imagination, and its execution demonstrates just why Shearman is so highly acclaimed among Doctor Who fandom and the outside world.
After a shaky performance in Zagreus, Paul McGann is on amazing form in Scherzo, showing a dark, embittered Doctor angry at himself, at Charley, and at the universe for seemingly invalidating his sacrifice. There’s a threatening edge to his voice, something that Zagreus attempted but failed, that makes his actions truly unpredictable. And his fatalism is quite depressing — this is not the standard behavior of the Doctor, and as such it unsettles. Furthermore, Shearman leaves the nature of the Doctor’s love for Charley ambiguous, easily the best move he could have made — had McGann been (metaphorically) all over Fisher, it would have irreparably damaged the drama.
It’s incredibly easy to get a laudable performance out of India Fisher: don’t write Charley as insufferably smug. Here she’s frightened, confused, and near hysteria by the differences between the universes, and to top things off she sees her expressed love for the Doctor apparently go unrequited. As a result, Charley is necessarily crushed, and Fisher gives an impressive, powerful performance. Unfortunately, she does have a tendency to inject too much melodrama into the love dialogue, but this is a relatively minor flaw.
As sound design creates the third character in this play, Gareth Jenkins & Andy Hardwick had an incredibly difficult task in front of them. Their work, however, is phenomenal, mixing together McGann and Fisher lines along with various other sound effects and music samples to create a bizarre, unnerving creature of sound. Russell Stone provides the limited incidental music, and it is up to his usual brilliant standard, especially that used underneath McGann’s precredit narration. Gary Russell rises to the occasion with his direction, and the knowledge that the actors delivered these performances on what was basically a straight run through of the material in one day further underscores his achievement.
For the most part, Scherzo is up to Shearman’s usual standard of production. However, much like Robert Holmes before him, it seems that despite the excellence of his work it could have been even better without constraints imposed by the production office. Shearman does a better job with this concept than, I suspect, anyone else could have, but I still remain unconvinced that the characters can stretch to accommodate this material. Highly recommended regardless, but be forewarned.
8/10