Survival of the Fittest: The hive of the Vrill bears the scars of a terrifying cataclysm. Only a handful remain alive, hatched after the holocaust of the mysterious Winterlack. The Vrill seek a new Authority. They find the Doctor, a two-legged creature who can lead them to survival. He must solve the mystery of the Carrion beast that haunts the lower chambers. He must face the Winterlack that still stalk the mountains. And he must find a path that does not lead to extinction…
Klein’s Story: Elizabeth Klein is an anomaly. A renegade from an alternate future in which the Nazis won World War II, In an attempt to get to know his latest companion, the Doctor invites Klein to tell him how exactly she came to be in possession of his TARDIS and of the events that led to her trip into the past to Colditz Castle.
KLEIN’S STORY
Sandwiched in between “A Thousand Tiny Wings” and “Survival of the Fittest,” and coming with very little fanfare, is the one-part Big Finish story “Klein’s Story,” co-written by John Ainsworth and Lee Mansfield. With Klein joining the TARDIS crew, it makes sense to flesh her out as more than just “displaced Nazi from alternate timeline,” and so a Companion Chronicle-style framework is brought to the main Doctor Who range as she tells the Doctor the story of her past. Perhaps that framework should be borrowed more often, because this story is a classic of a one-parter: we learn just enough background of the alternate Earth to understand it and see just enough of Klein’s softer side to appreciate her more as a character. The excellence of “Klein’s Story” lies in the plot: the seventh Doctor being killed in the alternate universe much as he was in ours is a nice touch, but Paul McGann suddenly turning up as “Dr. Johann Schmidt” is stunning. Observing as he expertly manipulates Klein into resetting the timeline is both gripping and fascinating – this is the sort of thing you’d expect from McCoy, but McGann’s more innocent take on the character makes the process more believable. Whether this is a true “multi-Doctor” story is debatable, but the idea behind it is one of the strongest of all such stories. Rupert Wickham is the only non-regular in the production, but his Jonas Faber helps make Klein more sympathetic while not allowing the listener to forget who runs this timeline. Ainsworth’s direction is first-rate, Simon Robinson’s sound design is effective, and the performances are uniformly excellent. If I have one complaint, it’s that everything moves so quickly – but how else to fit a story like this into a single episode? A strong contender for best Big Finish one-part story.
9/10
SURVIVAL OF THE FITTEST
After reintroducing Tracey Childs as a companion-like character in “A Thousand Tiny Wings,” the second story in the trilogy, Jonathan Clements’ “Survival of the Fittest,” is a more traditional outing that allows the listener to explore the relationship between the Doctor and Klein. The result is yet another success for Big Finish and Sylvester McCoy, though perhaps a bit too obvious to be considered truly great.
The lack of subtlety starts with the title, which reveals exactly what the play is going to be about. There isn’t even any wordplay here – we’re dealing with fascist characters and debating the morality of social Darwinism, so “Survival of the Fittest” it is. Klein notices something familiar about the human politics on display, but she doesn’t twig the relationship with fascism until Steffen (Adrian Bower) outright declares humanity to be “the master race.” There’s also a discussion of “lebensraum,” the Nazi philosophy of a people requiring sufficient living space, but this too is rather forthright and obvious. I commented in the review of “A Thousand Tiny Wings” that it’s difficult to put a Nazi in the TARDIS in part because it’s difficult to find nuance in her philosophy. Indeed, “Survival of the Fittest” deals directly with genocide and yet nobody even once mentions the Holocaust. I understand this is difficult subject matter, but honestly, isn’t this something the Doctor ought to bring up? I suspect I’ll be asking the same question in my review of “The Architects of History,” but we’ll see.
Despite my complaints about the politics of the story, Clements engages in some excellent character work with Klein herself. The Doctor’s plan to expose her to the wonders of the universe is only working partway: she grows to like and admire the Vrill and their society, but only because she perceives it through the twisted lens of her Nazism. It’s an insect society not dissimilar from a beehive, yet Klein thinks of the Vrill as a one-party, totalitarian society rather than the commune it much more closely resembles. And so she becomes outraged with Steffen and Jackson’s (Mark Donovan) attempts at genocide despite her own party’s embrace of the same. And while the ending may be predictable, it’s a very natural outcome of her travels with the Doctor: this is not a person to forgive or forget, as the Doctor learns the hard way.
Speaking of the ending, the resolution is one of the oddest I’ve heard in a Doctor Who story. Right from the start, the Doctor is unusually pragmatic: he’s more than willing to help the “colonists” steal precisely what they want from the Vrill if only it will make them leave the planet forever. While this solution does protect the Vrill, it also enriches two genocidal maniacs beyond their wildest dreams. Then, when the TARDIS departs and the language gift is taken away, the Doctor basically announces “We’re all doomed!” and runs away! Again, while this is certainly a realistic response to the situation, it’s rather unusual for the Doctor to fail to even attempt a solution. Perhaps this is an attempt to show how traveling with Klein has changed the Doctor? We’ll see in the conclusion.
On a couple of smaller notes, full credit to Clements for designing a believable yet truly alien society. The insect-like Vrill with their scent-based communication never fail to convince – Doctor Who often trips up when it ventures far afield like this, but here we see a complete success. More irritating, meanwhile, is the decision – more frequent of late – to mention in passing that Klein and the Doctor have been traveling for a while now and have already experienced fantastic adventures. Klein’s unique enough that this basically works – “evil Nazi scientist” is certainly a new companion archetype – but it robs the audience of any significant character development. Has Klein been waiting to betray the Doctor at the first opportunity? Did she ever start to see things his way before changing her mind back? We’ll never know, but the story would be much more rewarding if we did.
Another strong supporting cast is on display here, especially Hannah Smith and Evie Dawnay as the Vrill Rose and Lily. John Ainsworth’s direction is strong and well-paced, and while I’ve seen a lot of grief aimed at Simon Robinson’s score, I found its ‘80s inspiration excellent. Overall, “Survival of the Fittest” certainly has its share of ups and downs, but the ups dominate. This is a Renaissance period for Sylvester McCoy and Big Finish – I eagerly await the trilogy’s conclusion.
Recommended.
7/10